Top 10 Prayers of the New Testament #7

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Speaker 1: Top ten prayer Number seven comes from a young woman who has just heard from an angel, hold of all things, as she is pregnant. I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said, one sentence, no sermon, no bargaining, no delay, just surrender. Welcome to Gospel Rant podcast a doctor Bill Sidrid YouTube channel. I'm your host, doctor Bill Siard. We are free where you get podcasts. Of course we're on YouTube as well, and if you're watching this on YouTube, please subscribe. As always, one of the fastest ways as you can help us grows by leaving your comments below if you're on YouTube or or Bill at gospel dash app dot com. If you're watching gospel as you're listening to Gospel Rant, thank you sincerely. Also thanks for making Gospel Rant podcast one of the top ten percent of the world. Thank you, thank you for listening every week. We hope that it helps regularly to hear about God's love that loves the unlovable, the love the unlovely, the unworthy and unlikely, and that's all of us on any given day if we were just a little bit honest. Well, going through my list of top ten prayers of the New Testament. We are at number seven. I did my top ten prayers of the Old Testament last year. It was a great hit, lots of discussion and dialogue. I'd love to hear your opinion on these, even if you disagree, I mean you're you're wrong, But still all of this is very subjective. They're all favorites of God. This list represents my highly subjective assessment. Let me know if you agree or disagree, Bill at gospeldaeshap dot com one way or another. As I've said, each is a powerful testimony of how real people really prayed, and we can learn from that. I sure couldn't hurt right. And as I said, the top five are from the lips of Jesus himself, clearly worth studying and embracing. So welcome to the Top ten prayers of the New Testament. I want to get right into it. After this brief word from our sponsors, we'll be right back. Number seven, Mary's be it unto Me prayer, Luke one eight. You know we've sentimentalized Christmas, soft lighting, shepherds and bathrooms, gentle lullabies, but the first Christmas trembled angels never arrive without heart. Palpitations. Nazareth's air was thick with fear of Rome, of Herod, of rebellion, a being a nobody, a bing a Jew, and a fear of God. And we carry our own fear questions. What if I'm not good enough for God? What if I've already wasted my life? What if he sees what I'm trying to hide? What if I missed my moment? What if he doesn't care for me right now? What if I'm alone forever? What if there is no God? What if there is a God and he is disappointed in me? And those questions hummed in their days too. In the sixth month, God sent his angel Gabriel to Nazareth by the way, not Jerusalem, not Rome, not Alexandria, Nazareth, backwater village on a ridge, overshadowed by Rome, scarred by rebellion, overlooked by history, a place to watch the world pass but never to be part of it. That's where Mary lived, And about her we're told nothing, not beauty, not wealth, that education, not spiritual resume, just a virgin pledged and her name. She could have been anyone, which I think is precisely the point. Zechariah meets an angel and is tarasso shaken, destabilized. Fear rises, questioned, sharping, He demands proof. Mary is da taraso, I mean even more scared, deeply troubled, deeply terrified. Her heart raises too. But along with fear rises, it appears wonder and what we will later recognize as spirit born faith. How will this be? She asked, What a great question. It's not defiance, it's not resistance. It's not negotiation. It's security wrapped inside of trust. It's the same stressor, but different route. Fear drives outward, defensive, grasping, hiding. Love anchors inward, steady, open, surrendered. Mary is not fearless. She's loved. The Holy Spirit, the angel says, will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. Oh, my goodness, can you imagine? Overshadow is temple language, the glory cloud, filling the Holy of Holies so that the priest and the witnesses couldn't even stand. And now the Holy of Holies is her body. This isn't safe, by the way, pregnancy before marriage. The tiny town whispers religious suspicion, Roman danger, poss violence, And she still says I'm the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said, Oh my, oh my. She's not minimizing the potential cost. She simply trusts the one who asks. Later, she sings what we call the magnificat. My soul magnifies the Lord by the way, not her reputation, obedience or sacrifice the Lord, and not what the Lord does. My soul magnifies the Lord. She calls herself typanos, which is lowly humbled, someone who is acquainted with loss, someone at the bottom of the societal food chain. You don't hear bitterness or resentment, just clarity. I think she knows she needs a savior. She needs a rescuer. She had been arguing her worth, or polishing her virtue, or or looking for a righteousness at a girl. She's hungry, and the hunger is the doorway to grace. She's grasped the great reversal. God lifts the humble, scatters the proud, He feels the hungry, He empties the self satisfied. The proud think they can fix themselves and mute their fears. To humble brings their fears to God. Mary doesn't conquer fear by trying harder. She's overcome by love. The child within her is actually love incarnate, perfect love growing inside her ribs, casting out fear from the inside. Wow. So what does this prayer tell us about God? God comes to ordinary, overlook people and overlooked places. God initiates with impossible, risky and intimate grace. God welcomes humble questions, honest questions. He carries what he commands. God's kingdom runs on reversal. What does this prayer say about us? We're more fearful than we want to admit under our doctrines and busyness, the same questions, Am I enough? Have I blown it? Does he care? So many of the kingdoms unwanted intrusions are terrifying to us. Now you're going to give birth. We crave control, options, proof. If an angel showed up in our kitchen, we'd want bargaining rights. Yeah. Next, our surrender can't be self generated, be unto me as a fruit of grace, not heroic temperament. This is a sign of the spirit in her. Third, we're invited to bring fear into the conversation, not try to get rid of it first, Like that's going to do you any good. Mary trembles and still says yes. Fourth, we're called to move from managing God to receiving him. These are said than done. We need a spirit for that, from negotiating terms to offering ourselves. I'm yours well as I've done in the other top ten. Here's a merry shape prayer for fearful hearts. Pray this when God feels risky. Always right here it is, Lord Jesus. I am afraid. I have questions I cannot solve and outcomes I cannot control. You know the parts of my story that feel wasted, the secrets I hide, the places I feel not enough. I believe you came to Nazareth people like me, ordinary, overlooked, unsure, overshadow me by your spirit. Let your perfect love grow in me until it is greater than my fear. I bring you my what ifs and my why nows. I lay down my kneed to negotiate and demand proof. I'm your servant, as trembling as I am, be it unto me according to your word. Make me want to proclaim to you I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said, Come in. What's next? I'll let you know, after our brief word from our sponsors, So what's next? At the core, the very heart of the entire letter of Paul to the Ephesians is a simple and profound prayer. It recognizes our desperate need for God's power every day. Too often we monitor forget that neediness. We prefer to be self sufficient. And how's that going for you? FYI? I'm finishing up a book that will include all twenty top prayers, old and new sometime later this year. Tentative title Good Enough Prayer. Email me Bill at gospeldieshat dot com if you want to know exactly when it will be released. Great for devotions or groups discussion questions, including this one. Mary is deeply troubled, yet surrenders. May it be to me as you have said, When has God's call felt risky or impossible to you? How does her honest fear plus trust challenge your response to your own? What is? This book? Will be great for devotions and for groups discussion questions. Email me Bill at gospeldeshat dot com and I will tell you what it will be released. We'll see you next time. Take heart, child of God