Extraordinary in the Ordinary

If you had to choose between going to Disney World or sitting around the table at a family dinner eating Hamburger Helper, you’d choose Disney World. A big trip to Disney World is probably more exciting, but regular family dinners will lead to greater family well-being over the long run. Likewise, great spiritual experiences are exciting. We should want more of God’s glory. We should want to go to the spiritual mountaintop. But occasional mountaintop experiences aren’t what lead to your spiritual well-being. We need the equivalent of daily mealtime with God as part of the family of God.  

Someone commented to me this week: “We aren’t in danger of being too experiential here at Victory.” That is true! My concern is not that we are too experiential as a church; I think we need more experience. We have a lot of awareness of high-level spiritual experiences, and because we have this awareness, we can foster the idea that a low-level daily walk with God doesn’t really count for much.

Also, we have a cultural bias against anything defined as “ordinary”! We tend to think of “ordinary” as bad. “God didn’t create you to be ordinary!” we say. Here is the problem: If we dismiss ordinary, daily bread from God, daily manna from heaven, we will miss out on the extraordinary that God will sometimes suddenly do in the midst of the ordinary. The Bible is actually full of examples of God turning the ordinary into something spectacular. 

Daniel and the Lion’s Den

What specifically got Daniel thrown into the lion’s den? That he refused to bow to an idol? No, that’s not it. Is it that he refused to pray to king Darius, as Darius’s decree required? Not specifically. The thing that landed Daniel in the lions den, specifically, is that he maintained his habit of praying to God three times a day. Daniel got down on his knees, in his own house, and prayed three times a day.  

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.  Daniel 6:10 (NIV)

Daniel didn’t start praying because he was trying to make a statement about his faith in response to King Darius’ order. Daniel had an ordinary time with God every day, three times a day. Then, when he needed a miracle, he got one. God shut the mouths of the hungry lions so that Daniel could spend the night in the lion’s den and remain unharmed, without a scratch on him. Yes, prayer got him thrown in, but it was also part of a lifestyle that brought about a miracle.

David and the Psalms

This pattern didn’t begin with Daniel. David gives us an example, too. Psalm 55 is a Psalm of lament. David is pouring out his heart in anguish before the Lord. Verses 4 and 5 are a couple of verses among many that express his despair: 

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me. ⁵ Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.  Psalm 55:4–5 (NIV)

But David has hope! He knows that God will hear and answer his prayers. Look at these verses of confidence in God: 

¹⁶ As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me. ¹⁷ Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.  Psalm 55:16–17 (NIV)

Notice that David is praying “evening, morning, and noon.” Why does it start with evening and not morning? Because the Jewish day does not start with sunrise, it starts at sunset. But still, we see a pattern of three times of daily prayer. Why is David praying that way? It’s the way the people of Israel prayed. Would it be a big surprise if you saw this pattern in the New Testament, including in the Early Church, both before and after Pentecost? 

The Early Church

Before Pentecost:  

¹⁴ They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.  Acts 1:14 (NIV)

There were about 120 followers of Jesus who met together “constantly in prayer.” What does this mean? It probably does not mean praying for 24 hours a day. There would be nothing wrong with that, but they were all Jewish people who were probably being faithful to the Jewish practice of setting aside specific times to pray daily. They were engaged in something that would have been considered very ordinary by faithful Jewish people. But here’s a great example of how the ordinary becomes infused with the extraordinary! 

The Day of Pentecost:  

¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  Acts 2:1–4 (NIV)

Notice verse 2 says, “suddenly!” Suddenly, the ordinary became infused with the extraordinary. This kind of “suddenly” reminds me of the “overnight” success of someone in the music industry–overnight, in that case, is not literally overnight. There is a lot of groundwork laid before success is visible. That morning of Pentecost, the early church was back to its usual, everyday, very normal pattern of prayer. How do we know? We know it from the words of Peter:  

¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!  Acts 2:15 (NIV)

It’s 9 o’clock in the morning. Peter is using that as a defense against the accusation of being drunk. It’s too early in the day for that. But why were they gathered together at 9 in the morning in the first place? It was a regular time of prayer that gave way to something spectacular.  

Now that they are filled with the Spirit, the early church no longer needs this pattern of regular prayer, right? Wrong! The first miracle after the resurrection of Jesus and after Pentecost lets us know otherwise.  

Healing of the Crippled Man

¹ One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. ² Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³ When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴ Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” ⁷ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. ⁸ He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.  

At the time of prayer. Just because they were now filled with the Spirit didn’t mean that they abandoned set times of prayer! The time of prayer was so significant in their regular lives that it marked time. We recognize lunch time around noon, or dinner time around 5-6pm. What if prayer were so much a part of our rhythm that we marked time by it? Also, take note that the early church did not abandon these set times. They remained a part of the church’s rhythms of life for hundreds of years. This miracle probably wouldn’t have happened if they had not had this regular time of prayer. Let’s give God something to work with!  

Cornelius and Peter

¹ At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. ² He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. ³ One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” ⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. ⁵ Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. ⁶ He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”  Acts 10:1–6 (NIV)

What got God’s attention? Cornelius’s “prayers and gifts to the poor.” When did Cornelius pray? As a Gentile trying to follow the patterns of the Jewish people, he was praying at about 3 in the afternoon! This would lead to him and his family becoming the first Gentile converts to Christianity. This is not a coincidence! 

Who would lead Cornelius to Jesus? Obviously, it was Peter. But there was a problem: Peter did not yet know that it was OK to preach the Good News of Jesus to Gentiles. He was apparently thinking that it was for Jewish people only, and he would need a major spiritual readjustment to realize that the message of Jesus was for Gentiles, too. How would God do this major spiritual work in Peter’s life?  

Peter and the Gentiles

⁹ About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.  Acts 10:9 (NIV)

God interrupted an “ordinary” time of prayer with a vision that let Peter know it was OK to go to a Gentile’s home and proclaim the Good News. I think it’s important that we make giving time to God to change our thinking a matter of routine! It won’t always be an extraordinary moment that means reaching the whole Gentile world for Jesus, but it might be an idea, a thought, or an attitude change that will help you reach your neighbor for Jesus.  

The ordinary keeps us ready for the extraordinary. 

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