Prayer Part 3

To conclude this short series on prayer I could not think of a better passage to end on then John 17. This is one of my favorite passages in scripture. Jesus is praying to His Father right before He is betrayed by Judas.  We get a glimpse into the relationship between the Father and the Son. He prays for the disciples and for the all who will believe in the passage. That is us! To know that the Son of God was praying for me over two thousand years ago right before He was crucified is amazing.  Starting in verse 13 I went through and wrote down some thoughts on the different verses. I encourage you to spend some time going through this passage and thanking God for what He did for you and what how He continues to work. An important element in our daily prayer should be thanksgiving and adoration. Giving thanks makes us realize all the blessings in our life. Adoration takes the focus off of us and onto our Savior, which is where it should always be.

I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.  I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

(The world hates us because we are no longer of the world.  John 15:18-19)

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

(How often when we pray to overcome sin do we ask God to remove the temptation or the circumstances?  Let me tell you something there will always be sin on this earth. We cannot get away from it, but we can overcome it. Deliverance does not mean we will not be tempted, Jesus was tempted and did not sin. Deliverance does mean we will be able to overcome the temptation and not sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13)

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

(Everyone is searching for truth. Non-Christians try to find truth in many different things; they are always searching for answers. As Christians we know the truth and the truth is what sets us free. John 8:32)

As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

(This is the Great commission. Matthew 28:18-20)

And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

(Unity of the body of Christ. In many of Paul’s letters he exhorts the churches to have unity. In 1 Corinthians Paul writes about each part of the body having different parts but all working together in unity. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,

(Is that not amazing?)  

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

(God in Christ and Christ in us. Colossians 1:26-27.)

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

(Let us never get tired of hearing the gospel. We should live gospel centered lives that are focused on spreading it to those around us. The point of our lives is to point to Christ.)

I hope you have been encouraged by this short series.  If you have any questions or comments I would enjoy hearing them. Have a great week!

Prayer Part 2

In my last post I focused on our believing that God will answer our prayers and how He loves to bless His children with spiritual gifts. A comment I received on the post brought up the topic of praying for others. I thought it would be worthwhile to go into praying for others from a biblical perspective. It is common when we go to pray for others to pray for their temporal needs.  We pray for school, work, money, relationships, and other similar things. This is not necessarily wrong, but as I said in my last post we must be careful of the balance we have in our prayers.  If we look at how Paul prayed for the different churches he wrote to the central focus of his prayers is for their love to grow and that they would come to know Christ more.

Ephesians 1:15-18

 "For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you"

Do we pray this way for others?   

3:14-19

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Do we pray that God will strengthen them and that they will know Him more? 

At the end of Ephesians Paul gives final instructions on prayer and asks for prayer for himself.

6:18-20

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."

Do we pray that others would be bold in sharing the gospel?

Paul begins many of his letters by saying how thankful he is for the believers. He is continually thankful for the work that God is doing in them.

Colossians 1:3-4

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people"

Philippians 1:3-5

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,"

Philemon 1:4-6

“I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ."

Do we give thanks for the work God is doing in others?

The central focus in Paul's prayers is the gospel. He prays that the believers would know Christ and increase in their love towards Him and those around them. I ask again, do we pray this way? David Platt (the author of Radical) wrote an excellent explanation on the purpose of prayer. 

"Prayer is really more, designed to be more than just this thing where we ask God for things. We need to explore some of the depths of what prayer is instead of just settling for that.

Primary purpose for prayer is to:

1.     express the depth of our need for God

2.     explore the mystery of intimacy with Him

3.     experience the power of being used by Him

The power of prayer in and of itself is useless, but the power of people who connect with all mighty God is unstoppable!

Desire is the secret of Prayer:

1.     Make your wants God’s wants and

2.     then ask for whatever you want

That’s how prayer WORKS."  

I love the passage at the end of James. It shows how powerful prayer is. Verses 17 and 18 blow my mind every time that I read them. Elijah, who was just like us, prayed and the weather changed for over three years. How amazing is that?  

5:13-18

"Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

I encourage you as you go about your week to lift your brothers and sisters up in prayer. Do not just pray for their temporal needs but more importantly that the Father would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that they would know Him better.

Prayer

What comes to your mind when you think of prayer?

·         A time to ask for all the things you need in life

·         A time to communicate to your heavenly Father

·         A time to ask for forgiveness and give thanks for the blessings in your life

I believe prayer incorporates all of these, but we must be careful to have the right balance of them. John Piper in his book Desiring God asks "So how is God glorified by prayer? Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that he will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy, and exalts God as wealthy."

When our prayers become centered around us and only what we want we are on the verge of idolatry. On Sunday mornings we have been going through the book of Acts. This past Sunday Pastor Doug preached about prayer and he had a very convicting question. "How often do we pray and not expect God to do anything?"

 What does this show about our trust in our Savior when we pray and we don't expect anything to happen? What about all those times when we merely do it out of habit?  I know this, God loves to answer prayer. However, when we are just praying because that is what Christians are supposed to do and we are not fully engaging ourselves we need to look at our heart.

 Francis Chan writes, "I look deeply at myself. What's my motivation? Is it selfish? I look at my own personal holiness, ... at my faith. Is there doubt in me?" I am sure that we have all experienced feelings of doubt and confusion when our prayers seem to go unanswered, when things from our perspective would be better if our prayers were answered. Even when we don't understand our Father is working all things together for good. Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  We are not able to fully comprehend how God works, but God is molding and shaping us into His image.

Pray and believe that God is going to answer and do more than you can even image.

Matthew 7:11 "How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him."

Faith like a child

As I sat there tears started to fall down. Not tears of sadness but tears of joy. I was at the Good Friday service at my church and I was watching fifteen of my brothers and sisters in Christ come and give their testimony and be baptized.  I heard what God had been doing in their lives over the past few years. How He had broken the chains of addiction and brought them to repentance. However, this is not what brought the tears of joy to my eyes. It was the younger children that came up and proclaimed in front of the whole church what they believed. Because of Christ's work on the cross and His resurrection they are now righteous in His sight. Some of them had such excitement in their eyes as they were giving their testimony. They get it! They are not confused by different doctrines are theologies, but they understand God's love for them. How often do we get so caught up in the different aspects of what we believe that we lose our focus on Christ? Tomorrow is Easter, the day that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let us remember what has been done for us and because of that let us live to bring Him glory. Have a great Easter.

Devotions and Bible Studies

How often do we go into a church setting like a Sunday morning service or a college group with the expectation of getting a spiritual high?  A high that will make us feel good, convict us a tiny bit, and overall leave us with a feeling of satisfaction and general happiness. Then we leave and basically forget all that we heard. We continue on with our week almost in a spiritual low looking forward to the next service. Do we get involved in several ministries so we have these "highs" throughout the week? If our only times of prayer, study, and worship only happen in a corporate setting we are missing out on the most rewarding one on one times with our Savior. He loves when we come and spend time just being in His presence and learning from Him. We need to be filled daily with the Word through our devotions and prayer. Corporate meetings serve as a catalyst for studying throughout the week. Do our daily devotions stem off what we have heard or are they not connected at all? When we do this our devotions will grow deeper and the messages that we hear throughout the week will impact us for more than thirty minuets. Here is how I think we should approach church meetings/Bible studies.

Before:

• Prayer for the Spirit to work in our hearts and give the speaker the words to say.
• Remember the previous week's teaching and the lessons learned.
• Thanksgiving for what God has done since then.

During:

• Praising God for who He is and what He has done for us.
• Focus our mind completely on the teaching.
• Write down key points, application, and references to look up later.

After:

• Prayer for God's working during  the following week.
• Discussion with others about the message and service.
• Prayer for the church body.

There is one more area I want to address that goes along with all of this. We should apply this to the conferences and retreats we go to.  Personally when I have gone to different conferences or retreats I hear so many good things, but a few weeks later I can't really remember what they were and they have not done much for my personal growth. The reason for this is because after the conference we go back into our daily routine and forget about it. Invest follow up time to go over what you learned.


I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19 

Dating the Church

A few weeks ago I listened to a sermon by Joshua Harris titled "Married to the Church." It was one of the best messages I have heard on commitment to the local church. We have a serious problem today. Christians are no longer committing to the local body. The church is the place where we will grow and we are encouraged. If we are not committed then we are missing out on a critical portion of our Christian walk.


Joshua Harris writes "I want to see my generation get a hold of God's purpose and plan for the local church, too.  We live in an increasingly fragmented and isolated world, and this has influenced the way we approach our relationship with God. We often see faith as a solo pursuit. Many young adults in particular have given up on the church. If they do attend, it isn't something that they invest themselves in passionately.  I believe the church is the most exciting thing to be a part of on the planet. It's the privilege of every Christian in every generation to play a small part in this very big and very awesome story God is writing."

If you would like to listen to the message click here.  

Joshua Harris also wrote a book on the subject titled "Dating the Church." I have not read it yet but it is going on my reading list.  Here is a quick preview.

Are you committed to the church or are you dating it?

The Gospel

This video does a great job of explaining the gospel. I think too many times we over complicate it. It is not something that is hard to grasp, but it continues to amaze me the more I reflect on it.  "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21.