Why We Send Kids to Camp — And How Prayer Changes Lives

Well, much of our church family is at camp, and I've had a great week at camp.

I talked to Logan yesterday, and he said it's been going fantastic.

So I love to hear that. Nobody had a message for their parents to deliver today,

so they seem to be all doing okay.

I do want to take a second and just take five minutes to talk a little bit about

why we send kids to camp and why it's important, because it is impactful.

It is also a massive logistical headache.

It's a nightmare. It's actually a lost leader for a church a little bit.

It's expensive. A lot of scholarships are getting that given out.

And so it's expensive for the church.

Staffing it with volunteers is tough. There's a lot of paperwork.

In fact, I've worked many a camp and it stresses me out so much,

just kind of how my personality is.

I want the kids to be safe. You know, I want them to have fun.

I want all these things to line up that my hair falls out in random patches on my head.

At first, when it first started happening, I thought my barber was just like

kept nicking me in the same spot.

You know, I'm like, golly, this happens every year. But no, every camp season

came in, I realized, oh, I just had this like kind of either bizarre balding

pattern going on or some alopecia going on.

But I worked for a recruiter for OC one summer.

I traveled to six different camps over the course of a summer.

And some recruiters got beautiful California and Austin, Texas.

And I got remote Panhandle, Oklahoma and Arkansas. That was my territory.

And that summer in particular was one of the worst summers of my life.

I got pink eye, strep throat, stung by bees, and my lung collapsed all in the

same summer. So it was just terrible, you know?

And one kid came up and sat down at a table next to me and he said,

so I hear you're balding now.

And I said, I'm 24, not balding yet. I'm just stressed. And so...

Through all that, we send kids to camp. Why?

Like why does, I mean, Logan is bearing the weight of that sky,

like for taking our kids to camp, but we do it and it's so good.

Why do we say that? Because first we're stepping into a space with the kids

for them to be kids for a week, like for them to just have fun, full stop.

That is worth it. I think kids deserve the world. And if it's good for them

and it's fun, we should be a yes to that.

There was this one kid that every day he would walk into the lunchroom and he'd

have his tray, you know, there's a couple hundred kids in this space and he

would yell, who wants to sit by me?

And like the lunchroom expecting that, cause that was kind of his stick,

right? Like that was his thing.

They'd be like me, sit by me, sit here. And like, that's something only kids do.

And that's just something super fun to them. And I'll never forget that.

I was like, I love that guy, his boldness and just, anyway, that was great.

They're not only having fun, but they're also taking time and taking steps to

develop some relationships with each other that maybe they don't have to because

they go to different schools,

develop some good reading and journaling habits, and possibly develop some mentorship relationships.

Most importantly, however, the students are stepping away from the noise in their regular life.

They're stepping away from their routines, from their noisy days,

and giving space for some good kind of intrusive thoughts to come into their lives.

They're giving attention, thought, and wrestling to big spiritual,

philosophical, and relational questions.

They're asking, who am I? What is my purpose?

Why am I here? Who is God? Who am I before God?

Am I who I want to be? And am I becoming who I want to be? Who is Jesus Christ in my life?

Can I be different? And there is something powerful about taking a few days

at camp where kids can process those things out loud.

They talk things out. Their frontal cortex is firing in ways that's different

than if you're just sitting in those thoughts and being all cerebral about it.

They're processing out loud with people. They're feeling a little bit bolder

because like camp is designed to promote that, to process their life,

faith, and relationships.

So they are literally thinking differently than maybe they have all year.

Studies just show when your frontal cortex is firing, you're processing things

verbally, your brain just works a little bit different. So we're stepping out

for a week and saying, we're going to create a different kind of space than you're used to.

And hopefully through the work of the spirit who brings out the spiritual maturity

in our lives, helps us take those next steps, that those little things can become

big things over the course of a life.

Brayden Nagy, he was a high school boy who he showed up about two hours before

the buses rolled out about six years ago at camp, maybe seven years ago at camp.

This was at council and really didn't know Nagy, but he showed up with no bag, like full of clothes.

You know, they didn't bring their checkbook and he didn't have any of the paperwork filled out.

And of course, the deadline to go to camp was like, you know, 90 days earlier.

And most volunteers or many volunteers in churches would have probably said

like, and which is totally fine to have boundaries and deadlines with like,

hey, we hope you come with us next year.

But for whatever reason, we were like, come on, Nagy, let's do it.

So his parents, you know, they showed up, they filled out the paperwork and he barely got to go.

But on Wednesday of that week, so day three, he came to me, he's like,

Matt, I thought this was going to be this, you know, super deep conversation.

He goes, my socks are like cardboard.

And sure enough, they're the sweatiest, stinkiest socks there.

I was like, you need to get somebody else's socks.

So borrow somebody's socks. But by the end of that week, a very unlikely candidate

for someone to eventually become a major spiritual leader in our youth group, in our church.

Nagy took steps that week. And by the end of his high school career at council, he was the guy.

He was our youth group, one of our spiritual leaders. And so Nagy and I still have a relationship.

And anyway, that came from partially...

Because of the role camp played in his spiritual life. And so I say it to say,

camp is a lot. It's a very extroverted week.

You know, it's, you get off the bus and if you're tend a little bit introverted,

I tend a little bit introverted.

You're like, okay, when does everyone get to go to their own rooms and,

you know, get a break and you're there, you're locked in.

So if I always like to tell students, it is okay if you're not built for a week

for that. Like if that's not how you're designed, that's okay.

But as a church, many kids are. And so we love it.

We support it. So thank you for donating, for giving, and supporting to SimKids

for a great, powerful week like that.

So, okay, just wanted to set the stage with that. We are continuing our series, Imperfect Family.

And this morning, the premise is, within our imperfect families,

we want to raise kids that fill in the blank. And this morning,

we're going to focus on that word, pray.

We want to raise kids that pray. Now, should you stay engaged if you don't have

kids or if your kids are older and maybe you feel like you don't have as much

influence on them to talk about these things?

Absolutely, because while the theme is raising kids that pray,

what we're really wanting to do, what we're really trying to answer is what

are we wanting to fill the world with?

And that is people that pray.

I want to raise kids that pray because we want to see that embody in our kids

and ultimately in our world.

Best communication practice is to say less and repeat it more, really drive it home.

We're going to go to the other end of the spectrum with that.

We're going to actually fly through a lot and tickle the ADHD side of your brain today.

So first, we want to raise kids that pray. We want to fill the world with people that pray.

Why do we want to do that? Why do we want to do that? Well, first,

prayer is a vital part of experiencing the reality of God's presence.

Prayer is a vital part of experiencing the reality of God's presence.

Susan Sontag says that attention is vitality.

Attention is vitality. When we don't give something attention, we're numb to it.

We don't really know what's going on. We are dead to it.

But when we give it attention, all of a sudden, things can happen.

Energy, life, empathy, craving, understanding can develop from whatever you're giving attention to.

I was trying to think of what is something that if you put it on a plate out

here, I would give it attention to.

A million dollars came to mind i was like i would just think

it's somebody else's i can't take it what actually came to my

mind was tuna and so i don't know how many people

in the room resonate with that but if you put tuna on

a plate i guess i'm like a cat i literally my mouth would

start watering i would want it and i'd be like anybody have some boiled egg

a little salt and pepper i'd be looking for a fork maybe some toasted bread

like i would like it all of a sudden like literally a physical reaction is happening

and my brain starts thinking i'm giving it attention i'm noticing it than if

something that I'm not giving into,

because I'm giving attention to tuna, not giving attention to other things.

When we are praying, what are we giving attention to?

We're giving attention to the important things in our life.

We are communicating, thinking, meditating, reflecting, wrestling with these

things, these thoughts we have that we want to process.

And we're doing it with the understanding that we're not in isolation here,

but God also is giving attention to those things, that he is hearing, seeing,

receiving, wrestling, and maybe even working on those things as well in concert with us.

So if we're giving attention to a set of things in prayer, and we believe God

is also giving attention to those same set of things in prayer,

then we become more attuned,

expectant, sensitive to maybe the spiritual things that are going on.

If I am praying for our world or for something in my life, and I believe God

is also seeing and hearing those things, then I am going to start looking for

ways God is moving in those things.

His presence becomes alive in my life.

Attention is vitality. And a way we can start to see God working is to start praying.

In our prayers, we might say, God, life is too hard right now.

Please give me peace that surpasses all understanding.

I need it. When you pray that consistently, you will start to see it and find it.

His presence, his workings will come alive in your life. When you don't,

if you don't pray that, you'll never see it.

You have no idea if he is giving you peace or not giving you peace.

There's some scriptural support for this. 1 John 5.14 says, And this is the

confidence that we have towards Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Psalm 145, 18 says, The Lord is near to all who call on Him,

to all who call on Him in truth.

I want to raise kids that have a very real belief and sensitivity to the reality

of God's presence and His workings in our world.

A strong prayer life where they are communicating, wrestling,

meditating, pondering, all

the things that are going on in their life will help them to have that.

Secondly, why should we pray? Why should we pray at all?

Prayer is a means of grace. It's an avenue of grace.

It's a part of the overlap between the kingdom of heaven and our life on earth.

Tim Keller says in his book, which is pretty creatively called Prayer,

that in prayer, we get to taste the scriptures.

That prayer is not just theology in our head that we're just shouting out into

the wind, but it's something that we actually can start to experience through praying.

You can believe theologically that God loves the world and that he loves you,

but when you pray about it, you might actually get to start experiencing it.

You may ask God for peace and in prayer, you might actually experience that

because prayer is an avenue of grace.

It's a means of grace. It's where the kingdom overlaps. You might theologically

proclaim in prayer that God, you are creator of all things.

And in doing so, in praying that, actually find yourself left breathless and

in awe of who God is, just how big a deal it is to pull on the ear of God.

So, prayer is not just communication, but a way things are experienced.

It is an avenue of grace that we can communicate, ask, praise, wrestle.

When we do those things, we experience those things.

I want to raise kids that experience the love of God. I want them to know that

God loves them and that he loves the world too.

And one way they can start to experience that in their life and be sensitive

to it is by praying, God, pour out your love on the world.

That prayer right there, I think

they would actually start to see and experience God's love in the world.

God, I know you love me. Help me to believe this.

I think just praying that they're going to, as an avenue of grace,

start to experience and feel God's love for them.

And you could carry that into other examples. Lord, give your peace because

there's just power, not just words in prayer, because it is an avenue of grace.

Now, I do want to step aside for a second and just admit that prayer is really

hard. It has always been difficult for me.

Prayer is one of those mysteries of our faith that seems equal parts elusive,

challenging, and inspired.

Prayer is hard. It's hard to have a true inner life when we are constantly distracted and busy.

I'm so distracted and at times absent-minded because my brain is thinking about something else.

Sarah literally had to tell me when to turn once or twice on the way.

Here this morning because she had just asked me a question before my turn.

That shuts my brain off. I go into autopilot. I frequently have a tendency to lose my keys.

And so you think on those days where I'm busy and distracted that I am having

a strong and powerful inner prayer life?

No, it's the first thing cut, right? It's hard. It's a challenge.

And secondly, sometimes we find ourselves having to pray out loud, which is really hard.

We've all been there at the dining room table.

You've got grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles, right? Friends are there.

And the person who made the meal is like scanning the table and they land on

you and they say, would you pray for us?

And all of a sudden you're trying to think of the people who passed away that

year or those who are in need of healing and who made the meal.

And you're trying to, you know, you want to honor them and do well,

but also you're thinking of Jesus when he says in the book of Matthew,

don't pray like the hypocrites do who are a performance.

They love to pray. And so there's this tension, like I want to pray, I want to do well.

I don't want to sound not smart, but also I don't want to be a hypocrite and

for it to be a not genuine thing. So prayer is hard.

So that kind of leads me into how can we do it well? How can we not be a hypocrite?

How can we just have genuine prayers?

How can we teach our children to do something that's hard well?

And I just want to say so much of prayer is just if it comes from the right

perspective, that God is big and beautiful and awesome, and we are lowly doing

our best, then you're probably in the right spot.

We have several prayers that we say in our house. Molly, I'm going to share

your prayer because I love it. We are thankful for our food today.

We're thankful we can learn and play. We're thankful for our family too.

Happy hearts for me and you. Bon appetit, you may eat. Shout out Primrose.

Like they taught her that prayer.

It's not a prayer. I don't think it's Primrose, but we use it as a prayer.

Sarah's is, God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food.

By his hands, we all are fed. We're thankful for our daily bread. Amen.

I love that prayer, Sarah. I don't know where that started. That might've came

from Karen or I don't know.

Jane's is, amen.

Five seconds. Although she's actually been spitting out some really great stuff recently.

And mine is, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven

our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

And that's the Lord's prayer. And that's actually where we're going to break

down in our last 10 minutes. That's just a great model for us.

If we want to pray well, and it's kind of tricky to pray, and if we can kind

of hit some things that it hits in Matthew 6, and we are having genuine, powerful prayers.

There are some variations. Maybe you memorized earlier in life that last little

part that says, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

That's still in the King's James version.

It's just not in the earliest manuscripts. And so the ESV, the NIV, they leave it out.

Not a big deal either way, but if you like fun facts, that's a fun fact for you.

So Matthew chapter six, nine through 13, we're just going to fly through this

and we're going to roll with it.

Our father who are in heaven, stop. What is that?

That is just an approach with a humble perspective, and that is a scriptural declaration.

In our prayers, we should declare spiritual truths.

This is language like starting a prayer with God, Creator God,

Christ, our Savior, Father.

We're not praying to Poseidon, God of the sea, right? Shout out Percy Jackson

books, but to the triune God.

Declare those things, and I think it helps us bring about the reality of God's

presence in our life by just saying, this is who you are.

I understand the situation. I understand the way our world is.

You are reigning in heaven and God's, your name is Jesus Christ.

So in our praise, in our prayers, set that stage of who we're praying to and kind of what's going on.

Hallowed be your name. What is that? That is just praise. That is again,

proper perspective of the goodness of God.

When life is good, it's actually really easy to declare, hallowed be thy name,

but it's super easy to forget to do it, right? Because life's good. We don't need him.

So while it's the easiest, it's also the easiest to forget it.

So we want to make sure in our prayers that we are proclaiming the positive

qualities of him because life really wants to blur it.

One great exercise to do is the ABC method.

It's literally going through the alphabet and saying, God, you are a awesome,

B, big, C, chasing after us, D, delivering us, right?

It's really just an exercise in how large your vocab is, which is not a great

sign if my first one was awesome, big, chasing, you know?

But that's a good way to really set the stage in your prayers too of,

God, you are just awesome. I'm going to worship you.

I'm going to speak out adoration. And that echoes the sentiment in the Lord's

Prayer of, God, we're going to praise you for who you are, for your qualities,

for your nature, your divine nature.

If we do that, then we will be praying in a way that is similar to Matthew 6.

Okay, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This is giving up selfishness and replacing it with the pursuit of a God's eye

view of the world, of God's kingdom reigning in the world. That's important

because if we chase after what we want, it'll be fun, hopefully.

But chase after a hundred years of pursuing what we think God wants in his kingdom,

and then all of a sudden we become really salty, we become light,

and we have impact in the world.

Pray that you would want what God wants and not just what you want.

And I think we become a people who have impact.

Now, I do wanna just take a quick side step and say, how do we know what God wants?

You really can't go wrong with reading the scriptures there, right?

And I think when we do that, when we just go from front to back in our books,

we start to say, I see the orphan now. I see the widow now. I see the elderly.

And our eyes and our ears and what we say just kind of naturally starts to change.

We start to realize things like hope is never truly lost, no matter what happens.

You start to realize that work and money are important. They're factors of life.

But they have their proper positioning.

A reorganization of priorities happens in your life. When we continually include

in our prayers, God, I know I'm asking for these things, but I ultimately want

what you want. I want to see the world as you see it.

I kind of want to be objective and just let the scriptures seep into me.

Then all of a sudden our prayers get less selfish. And I think a little bit

more like salt and light prayers where we are wanting to and having impact in our world.

Give us this day our daily bread. This is a perspective that all that we have

comes from God. I have struggled with this.

I work hard so that I can get good things.

And so when I get the things that I was working hard for, I'm like,

yes, I did that, right? I'm proud of myself.

And that is certainly to an extent true, but it's such a limited perspective.

Yes, I played a role, a big role at times, but who causes my heart to beat but

God? who sustains the trees that are filling the world with oxygen.

For half a second, I was like, is it the carbon dioxide or the oxygen?

You know how that process goes.

God is sustaining the whole thing, much like an ant that's living in the little

tubes in the science classroom. He's doing stuff. He's having a good time. He's working.

But in a week, it's summertime. He's about to be thrown in the trash.

And all his stuff is going to, all his toiling will be for not.

We're not much bigger than an

ant, right? God holds it all. Let's give him thanks for all that we have.

We were at the zoo the other day. We saw this rhino.

He was throwing this big old log around. It was awesome.

You know, he felt like a big dog out there, right? You know,

he's like, I'm doing this. I found this log and I'm moving it around.

I mean, the caretakers in the zoo put that log for him to play with,

right? And to do stuff with.

And it's true for us, right? We have to have a perspective that God,

all that I have, I know I'm toiling, I'm working, I am reaping some of the rewards

of some hard work, but all that I have ultimately comes from you.

If we ever put our self in that kind of God spot, then we're

We're in trouble, right? There'll be a rude awakening for us because it all

crumbles in the end. And forgive us our debts.

Repentance should characterize our prayers. And I bet this is actually where

you and I are really strong.

I say we're strong because many of us, we have heard that we are a sinner in

need of a savior so much that I don't even question it anymore.

However, for those of us who have not grown up in the church,

this is actually probably a little bit more difficult of a concept because why

do I need to be forgiven, right?

The idea of us being sinners in need of a savior is maybe a little harder.

So I love that in Matthew 6, we have this example that the gospel is good news

because there's bad news.

And the bad news is that we aren't just all rays of sunshine all day.

We mess up and we need to be forgiven.

So it's powerful for us to consider and remember that we have made mistakes.

And the beauty of the gospel is we don't have to keep score on ourself or other

people, but we can all be brought into new beginnings through repentance.

And so that's certainly there in Matthew 6.

I do want to say that we probably have a tendency to go a little overboard and

crazy with this, and it's not from a healthy spot.

If you're like me, I have asked forgiveness many, many, many times for one thing, right?

Or I've asked for salvation or whatever many, many times.

And ultimately, that is coming from a place of not trusting God at His word and fear.

And so I think we would be better off having confidence that God is who He says He is, that he loves us.

He proved that on the cross.

And when we repent, his gospel is at work and we can leave it alone.

I don't think God is not smart. He can't be fooled either way by saying,

and I say, and I say, and I say it, like, I think he gets it.

And so just wanted to say that if you're a little bit like me and you just kind

of keep hammering home the same thing, like you are forgiven when you've repented.

And also, as we have forgiven our debtors, extending grace should make up our

prayers, and that just kind of stinks.

It feels oddly good to have a list. It's painful to extend forgiveness to others.

I've got people that I don't know. I'm not quite clear if I have forgiven them

or not. I think I have, but at the same time, I would really like it if they

stubbed their pinky toe on the coffee table every single day, right?

So that probably means I haven't. But in our model prayer, in Matthew chapter

six, we are called to forgive people, to rise above scorekeeping and moving

on with being a people that's just simply salt and light in the world.

And lead us not into temptation. That is a humble commitment to live holy.

It's oddly phrased that God would lead us not into temptation,

but essentially it's saying, God, we are weak and you are strong. Guide us into holiness.

We are going to mess up if given the chance. And we are so weak that we need

you to steer us clear of temptation.

It's just a posture of humility that we need all the help we can get to live

holy and to run as far from temptation as possible. So let in your prayers be

that level of humility that says, God, I want to live right by you.

Keep me from the bad. Help me to prepare for what's coming. Steer my course.

And this last one here is deliver us from evil. What is that?

That is a call to action. That is protection.

That is an asking for salvation, the workings of God. That's an ask for deliverance.

It's the last line in our model prayer. It's ultimately a call for him to move in our life.

That's what we love to do, right? Is ask for God to show up in big ways and

hope and believe that He can and will.

Or that can also be one of the most challenging parts of our prayer life,

because not everything we pray for, even the good things we pray for, happen how we want.

So what do we do with that? We have to be able to answer that question if we're

gonna have strong prayer lives.

What do we do with it when the good things we pray for don't come to pass how we would want it?

Well, we have to rest in a couple of things and accept a couple of things.

First, we have to rest in that if God is a loving God, which is a core belief

that we hold, then we need to sit in that and hold that as a pillar.

That's foundational. God is a loving God.

And the second thing we need to rest in is the fact that he hears our prayers, which is also core.

So if he loves us and he hears us and cares and gives attention to what we're

praying for, then we can accept a few things.

One, that we have limited vision, that we live in a fallen world,

and that ultimately we have a very short timeline and we don't see the full timeline.

And so I think if we can understand that God loves us, he hears us,

but that because of our limited vision, our fallen world and our just short

view of our shortened timeline, then we can understand, I'm not gonna have all the answers.

I'm not gonna have it all figured out and everything I pray for is not gonna

be answered how I would want it to.

But ultimately, every tear will be wiped away And ultimately,

God will bring out the healing and salvation of our world, and we just have

to rest in that and wait for it.

And so don't let seemingly unanswered good prayers blow up your prayer life.

Sit in those things and have a strong prayer life and wait expectantly for the

big picture eventually.

So, that is a lot in Matthew 6. Let me summarize it.

Molly, Jane, and Brooks, in the model Matthew 6, I want you to be children that pray.

It helps to bring about an awareness of the reality of God in your life.

He's there. Are you aware of it? It's also an avenue of grace where you are

changed and the world is changed and you get to taste the scriptures.

How can we do that? How should you pray? Well, you should humbly proclaim the

scriptures by declaring who God is, our Father.

Worship and give glory to God. Use the ABC method, hallowed be thy name.

Give up selfishness and pursue God's will in your prayers.

Thy will be done. And remember that all that we have comes from God.

Give us this day our daily bread. Ask for forgiveness. Forgive us our debts.

And extend forgiveness, which is so hard. Forgive us our debtors. Commit to live holy.

Lead us not into temptation. And never stop calling on God to change you and your world.

Deliver us from evil. It'll take years, many, many years to develop a strong

inner and outer prayer life.

But I think in small moments done consistently, we can do that.

We can experience that in our life and we can fill the world with salt and light

people who do that well and as a church that just might be one of the most impactful

things we could do let's pray.

Lord God, we just come before you and admit we don't have it all figured out.

We are doing our best, but we rest in the work you enacted in the world by your work on the cross.

And that is that we get to experience salvation and forgiveness of sins and

get to be freed up to love ourselves and to love others.

And so God just says, as a church, would you help us to do that?

Would you help us to run after you?

And ultimately, God, lead us into an impact kind of life. so we can be a church

made up of individuals who change our families and change our world. In Jesus' name.