OUR MOST EFFECTIVE PRAYERS

Jesus said, “From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who He is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.”  (John 14:13-14 MSG)

Healthy relationships are nourished by good communication, and good communication requires listening as well as talking. Relating to God is the same way -- it involves talking to Him in prayer, but it also requires listening to Him.

Our most effective prayers are those that we pray after having first listened to God. Our prayers are powerful when they are rooted in a knowledge of God’s person and based on His principles. Prayers that stake claim on God’s promises are full of promise, but prayers based on presumption profit nothing. Prayers that stipulate “Thy will be done” rise to heaven. Prayers that ask only “my will be done” fall flat. Prayers that embrace the diving purpose draw the petitioner into communion with God. Prayers that entertain only selfish interests draw little response from God…

Godly men and women guard their behavior and pray in keeping with what God has said. They can then claim God’s promises, pray with confidence, and anticipate the answers with uplifted hearts. 

-- Adapted from Stuart Briscoe in “Daily Study Bible for Men”

#5722

WHAT WE NEED MOST FROM FORGIVENESS

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23 NLT)

As we get older, we know what we need most from forgiveness is not suspension of punishment, but assurance that love is unbroken even when we are separated...  We must realize that God is against us when we are sinning; yet we dare trust that [in Christ] His gracious love reaches to us across the chasm which separates us from Him.  When we understand His loving attitude and accept His Grace, He releases His love in us.  By that love we are able to begin to keep His commands for us -- to love Him with heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  

-- K. Morgan Edwards in “Hoping to Be Somebody” 

#5721

THE GOAL OF FORGIVENESS

In December of 1997, fourteen-year-old Michael Carneal walked into the lobby of his high school in Paducah, Kentucky, and began shooting at a group of teenagers who had gathered early to pray. He killed three of those classmates and wounded four.

A day or two later, some students there did something they thought Jesus wanted them to do. With the national spotlight on them, they made up a sign that said, “Michael, we forgive you.”

Yes, Jesus tells us to forgive, but at that point, Michael wasn’t asking for anybody’s forgiveness. Offering him mercy did not help. Of course, those students would eventually need to let go of the hate and bitterness in their hearts, but extending mercy so quickly to one who had not asked for it, who had not repented, who had done something so terrible was surely not what Jesus had in mind. In fact, their actions could well have stopped the redemption process. Michael needed to come to terms with the terrible weight of what he had done. He needed to feel the horror of it, to confess and be changed because of it. Once that happened, it might have been appropriate to show mercy to him, although even mercy would not have waived the consequences of such an act.

Offering mercy before a person understands the need for it can diminish the gravity of the act. It gets in the way of the true goal of forgiveness, which is the redemption of the other person. 

-- Adam Hamilton in “Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go” 

#5720

DON’T WORRY, TRUST HIM – Part 2

Listen to God’s promise: “’I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11). Even if the future God chooses for you isn’t the one you would choose, trust Him.

It won’t be easy, but once you’ve walked with God for enough days and experienced His faithfulness time and again, you could actually stop worrying. Besides, we don’t need to worry, as Jesus assured us that our heavenly Father cares for us. Proverbs 3:5-6 says it this way: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

I don’t know what you’re worried about today, but I do know that worry distrusts the promises and the power of God. I believe in God, and I choose to live in a way that demonstrates my confidence in Him.

After all, God is wise. He is willing. And He is able. Trust Him. 

-- Craig Groeschel in “The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as If He Doesn’t Exist”

#5719

DON’T WORRY, TRUST HIM – Part 1

Who do we believe in more? Ourselves or God? Our actions and decisions will reflect that.

If God does what you think He should do, trust Him. If God doesn’t do what you think He should do, trust Him. If you pray and believe God for a miracle and He does it, trust Him. If your worst nightmare comes true, believe He is sovereign. Believe He is good.

In Matthew 6:33-34, Jesus says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” God is outside of time. He has no beginning, and no end. That means He has no yesterday and no tomorrow. He just is. So for God, tomorrow is the same as today, same as yesterday. Was God in control yesterday? Undoubtedly, yes. Is God in control today? You know He is. Then He’s in control tomorrow too. Time is not an issue for God. He’s already present in tomorrow. So no matter what happens, trust God. 

-- Craig Groeschel in “The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as If He Doesn’t Exist”

#5718

WHITEWASHING THE CROSS

Read Mark 8:27-38

We are told in this passage that Jesus began to teach the disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elder and chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. After hearing this, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. In other words, Peter was trying to get Jesus to avoid the cross of sacrificial service and become some messiah other than the Messiah God was calling Him to become.

That temptation is still real for the Body of Christ today. John Donders tells about a church in Holland in which the members had a habit of bowing and kneeling before a whitewashed wall in front of the sanctuary before they sat down for worship. None of them knew why they continued the ritual throughout the years. One day the trustees decided to have the whitewashed wall repainted, but before painting the wall, they decided to scrape off the old paint. They were surprised to discover beneath the old paint a centuries-old painting of Jesus on the cross. Somebody had covered up the cross, and it was subsequently lost from memory. The people had forgotten their purpose for bowing and kneeling before they worshipped. Thus they were tempted to become some congregation other than the congregation God was calling them to be. They had kept the ritual, even though it had long since lost its meaning. For the congregation that covers up the cross cannot be a vital and faithful congregation. 

-- Zan W. Holmes, Jr. in “Encountering Jesus”

#5717

LIMITED UNDERSTANDING

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  (1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV)

C. S. Lewis once said, "[Sometimes] when I lay [my] questions before God I get no answer.  But a rather special sort of No answer.  It is not the locked door, it is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze.  As though He shook His head not in refusal but in waiving the question, like, 'Peace, child you don't understand'."

Sometimes it seems our greatest hope is that we don't understand. Because from the vantage we have when we are feeling low, the sense of the futility of life, and the apparent finality of death, can all but overwhelm us.

Far better to acknowledge that our understanding is limited, to relish the stories of faith and intuition that come to us -- and wait and see!  We stand so close.  What if someone trying to view Michelangelo's magnificent painting of "The Creation of Adam" in the Sistine chapel got so close that all he could see was two fingertips touching?  A good view, but a very small piece of the whole picture.

The questions are unanswerable.  The real question is one of trust. 

-- Martha Whitmore Hickman in “Healing After Loss”

#5716

ATTENDING TO THE PRESENT

Learning to attend to the present is one of the most critical -- and most rewarding -- disciplines we can cultivate. Our thoughts often stray in two directions. Both of them can sabotage any real hope of living in the present. One direction leads to the past, the unchangeable past. The past is filled with the words we should have spoken. The kindnesses we ought to have done. The dreams that went sour. You will know that you are living in the past tense when your thoughts and your words are filled with too many "if onlys" and you feel stung by regret.

The future, of course, is the other direction that pulls us away from the present. "What if" is the language of the future. Sometimes the specter of the future is full of dark images painted in fearful tones. What might happen, what could happen, what must not happen reaches out and grabs us by the throat. We can be paralyzed by fears that will never materialize. And we can be overwhelmed by challenges we may have to face, but not today.

Living in the moment, then, is the discipline that gets challenged from either end… Living in the present is so important because it is the place we meet God.

-- Paula Rinehart in an article titled "Living in the Present Tense", Discipleship Journal, Jan/Feb 1999 

#5715

THE FULLNESS OF JESUS CHRIST

“But we preach Christ crucified…”  (1 Corinthians 1:23a)

One of the most fascinating of all the preacher’s tasks is to explore both the emptiness of fallen man and the fullness of Jesus Christ, in order then to demonstrate how He can fill our emptiness, lighten our darkness, enrich our poverty, and bring our human aspirations to fulfillment. For to encounter Christ is to touch reality and experience transcendence. He gives us a sense of self-worth or personal significance, because He assures us of God’s love for us. He sets us free from guilt because He died for us, from the prison of our own self-centeredness by the power of His resurrection, and from paralyzing fear because He reigns... He gives meaning to marriage and home, work and leisure, personhood and citizenship... The main objective in preaching is to expound Scripture so faithfully and relevantly that Jesus Christ is perceived in all His adequacy to meet human need. 

-- John Stott in “Between Two Worlds” 

#5714

FEELING WHAT GOD FEELS

“My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”  (Psalm 84:2)

Let me ask you a question:  what will kill you if you don’t do it?

What makes you glad or sad or mad?  What puts a holy smile on your face?  What causes your spirit to sob uncontrollably?  What makes you pound your fist on the table out of righteous indignation?  Somewhere in the mixture of that gladness, sadness, and madness is your God-ordained passion.  Or maybe I should say compassion, because you are feeling what God feels.  And once you identify it, doing something about it isn’t optional.  You can’t not do something about it. 

-- Mark Batterson in “PRIMAL: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity”

#5713

MATURE CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”  (Acts 2:42 NIV)

One aspect of the world that I have been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. We assume that if something can be done at all, it can be done quickly and efficiently. Our attention spans have been conditioned by thirty-second commercials. Our sense of reality has been flattened by thirty-page abridgments.

It is not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to be born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness. 

-- Eugene Peterson in “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”

#5712

ROUTINE ACTS OF DEVOTION

“But as for you… pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”  (1 Timothy 6:11-12 NRSV)

A few years ago we started a praise band at church. In that context commitment took over where my desire has always tended to fall short. Simply put, I placed myself and my Ovation [guitar] in a position of discipline and encouragement, and my ability to play has grown accordingly.

It turns out my faith is a lot like that.

Being a disciple of Jesus is much like playing guitar in the band. While desire may be the spark that ignites the fire, my spiritual journey flames out with relative ease – all too readily and distressingly quickly. My love for God can also find its way into the closet, and there it gathers dust; God does not force His presence on me any more than my neglected instrument will leap into my hands to say, “Let’s play.”

There’s a lot to be said for showing up to play music with the band every week, for picking up my guitar every day, and for running through even the simplest songs of praise. In the middle of such routine acts of devotion, I often find that God’s love sneaks up on me unawares.

It’s that “long obedience in the same direction” idea. 

-- Derek Maul in “Get Real: A Spiritual Journey for Men”

#5711

WE THINK OF DEATH AS AN ENDING

We picture death as coming to destroy; let us rather picture Christ as coming to save. We think of death as an ending; let us rather think of life as a beginning, and that more abundantly. We think of losing; let us think of gaining. We think of parting; let us think of meeting. We think of going away; let us think of arriving. And as the voice of death whispers, "You must go from earth", let us hear the voice of Christ saying, "You are but coming to Me."

Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.”  (John 14:1-3 NIV)

-- Norman Macleod

#5710

THE GOD OF HOPE

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  (Romans 15:13 NIV)

If you have no faith in the future, then you have no power in the present.  If you have no faith in the life beyond this life, then your present life is going to be powerless.  But if you believe in the future and are assured of victory, then there should be a dance in your step and a smile on your face.

-- Max Lucado

#5709

LIFE IS FRAGILE

“Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  (Matthew 28:20b)

The thread of life is fragile.   A few cells within a healthy body grow erratically and we receive the diagnosis of cancer; a second's misjudgment at an intersection, and a life is lost; a heart that keeps its cadence for decades skips a few beats and we find ourselves in intensive care; a friend loses her baby during pregnancy; an aging parent shows signs of Alzheimer's; violence strikes someone we know.  None of us is immune to such devastating experiences for ourselves, our families, or among our friends.  Inexpressible suffering barges in at unexpected moments.  And everyone balances the more common (yet anguishing) anxieties, setbacks, and losses that challenge our ability to cope – conflict at home, financial loss, trouble with teenagers, struggles with alcohol, feelings of loneliness.  No one lives without facing a threatening darkness.

We overestimate our capacity to handle these things all by ourselves, and we underestimate the power of community to help.  Belonging to a caring community, we discover a sustenance that does not answer all our questions or end all our challenges, but which keeps us connected, rooted, grounded.  When the worst happens, God doesn't promise us an answer; God provides us a relationship.  Through sustaining relationships, we discover that God is not aloof from life and disinterested in us.  Instead, God gets in the trenches and suffers with us.  We are not alone.  God is with us.  God's presence reaches us through the people who love us.  The thread of life is fragile, but the fabric of life is eternal. 

-- Robert Schnase in “Five Practices of Fruitful Living”

#5708

A PRAYER FOR PASTORS – Part 2

“The gifts Christ gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)

In Your infinite wisdom You have given us shepherds to lead and guide us. Bless them with discernment and integrity as they instruct and counsel us to be obedient and faithful to Your Word. As they prepare us for works of service, inspire them with Your vision for the church and instill in each of us a profound longing to be the people You desire us to be. Make them powerful in prayer, fervent in their desires, and committed to Your will as they embrace this great privilege.

“‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekial 34:31)

Your infinite love for us is beyond our comprehension. You have created us for Your glory. You have redeemed us and long to have fellowship with us. May we, the sheep of Your pasture and the shepherds of Your flock, abide in Your love. Amen.

– Adapted from “God Gave Some to Be...Pastors: A service of prayer, gratitude, and encouragement for pastors” by Sharon Postma

#5707

A PRAYER FOR PASTORS – Part 1

(Editor’s Note: October is Pastor Appreciation Month. I have broken this prayer into four parts, shared over two days, adding scripture for each section. May it be used to support and build up the pastors among us.)

“Every time I think of you, I always pray for you with a heart full of joy...” (Philippians 1:3-5)

We acknowledge the gift of Your servants to the work of ministry; called in their weakness and strengthened by Your Spirit. May we support them with our love and prayers. May we cherish, honor, and respect them because they are Your anointed servants. May we, with joy, accept the awesome and privileged responsibility of helping them be all You want them to be.

“’Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?”  (Romans 10:13-14)

It is by Your love and grace that we are given pastors to preach the gospel. We thank You for the boldness with which they call us to repentance. They hold before us the truth of Your Word which strengthens our faith and gives us a sure hope for the glorious coming of Your kingdom. As they impart Your Word to us, be their joy and their inspiration.

-- Adapted from “God Gave Some to Be...Pastors: A service of prayer, gratitude, and encouragement for pastors” by Sharon Postma 

#5706

TRUSTING GOD MORE COMPLETELY

In order to trust God we must know Him in an intimate, personal way. David said in Psalm 9:10, “Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.” To know God’s name is to know Him in an intimate, personal way. It is more than just knowing the facts about God. It is coming into a deeper personal relationship with Him as a result of seeking Him in the midst of our personal pain and discovering Him to be trustworthy. It is only as we know God in this personal way that we come to trust Him…

Pray that the Holy Spirit of God will enable you to get beyond the facts about God so that you will come to know Him better, and so be able to trust Him more completely. 

-- Jerry Bridges in “Trusting God”

#5705

KNOWING HOW TO PRAY

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”  (Romans 8:26-27 NKJV)

Prayer is worship. Our praying should be full of adoration, affection, and fondness for God. It is one of the best ways in the world to love Him.

Prayer is petition. We can ask anything -- even the most difficult things -- and know that God hears us. George MacDonald said, “Anything big enough to occupy our minds is big enough to hang a prayer on.”

Prayer is asking for understanding. It is the means by which we comprehend what God is saying to us in His Word.

Prayer moves what we know from our heads to our hearts; it’s our hedge against hypocrisy, the way by which we ring true.

Prayer focuses us and unites our fragmented hearts. We have a thousand necessities. It’s impossible for us to simplify them and integrate them into one. We should pray with David, “Give me an undivided heart” (Psalm 86:11).

Prayer is all these things but it is more: it is the means by which we fit in. It is the way God aligns us with Him and enables us to collaborate with Him in complete union and oneness. Seen in that way, prayer is more like listening than anything else -- being quiet in God’s presence, waiting on God until we know what to do. “If you pray the work,” Mother Teresa said, “you will know what to do.” 

-- David Roper in “A Beacon in the Darkness: Reflecting God’s Light in Today’s World”

#5704

ALWAYS BE PREPARED – Part 2

The confused look on the man’s face told me I wasn’t [making sense]. Shifting gears, I decided to tell him how I became a Christian. Several minutes into my story, he interrupted me to explain he had to get off the train at the next stop. Not sure what to say in the last minute or so, I stuttered and stammered awkwardly. When the sliding doors opened, he stood and looked at me before politely speaking words I’ll never forget. “Oh well, thanks for trying.” He stepped off the train, and I watched the doors slide shut.

The apostle Peter says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). Maybe you can relate. You’d like to be ready for anything, but you’re afraid you might choke under pressure. Preparation -- studying and thinking about what you’ll say -- will give you confidence.

Not every chance to share will be set up for you as obviously as it was for me on that train. You’ll recognize some opportunities -- clearly presented to you by God -- in which you are called to take the initiative. But no matter who starts the conversation, if you engage enough people, you’re going to be amazed how many of them are genuinely hungry to hear the truth from an honest, caring heart. 

-- Craig Groeschel in “The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Doesn’t Exist”

#5703

ALWAYS BE PREPARED – Part 1

Once, I was with a few Christian friends on the El in Chicago, and we were chatting about Jesus. A young man politely interrupted us and explained that he couldn’t help overhearing our conversation. He asked if we were Christians. On behalf of the group, I explained that we were.

His eyes brightened. “I’ve been searching for a while, and I don’t know what I believe,” he said with sincerity. “Can you tell me exactly what it means to be a Christian and how I can become one?”

…If you’re playing basketball you would say, “That’s a slam dunk.” …In other words, you couldn’t find an easier guy to lead to the Lord -- unless, like us, you were unprepared.

Stunned by his straightforward question, I hesitated. Wow. Where should I start? My mind flashed back to my seminary days. Reciting to him the opening line of the script from my evangelism class certainly didn’t feel like the best way to go. I remembered another witnessing technique called the “Four Spiritual Laws,” but a canned presentation to his heartfelt question didn’t seem right. As my mind raced, I couldn’t figure out what to say, so I just started talking, hoping I’d make sense. The confused look on the man’s face told me I wasn’t.  

-- Craig Groeschel in “The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Doesn’t Exist”

#5702

GOD’S SELF-REVELATION

Jesus said, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"  (Matthew 4:4 NIV)

Why has the Bible had such a powerful, pervasive, and enduring impact? There are many ways to answer this question, but surely the underlying reason is that the Bible is the Word of God, God’s self-revelation. The Bible contains truth about life and reality that we could not know by means of our own unaided reasoning. As such it has a special authority. The Bible acts as the final arbitrator of what is true. We shape our views (and our lives) to it -- not the other way around.

This being the case, the Bible has a special place in the life of Christians. It is where we go for accurate information about the way things really are, about who God is and what God intends for our world, about how we should live and what we should think. It is through the Bible that we come into personal contact with the Lord Jesus Christ…

Christian saints down through the ages agree that regular Bible reading and [study] is central to growth in the Christian life. 

-- Richard Peace in “Learning to Love God”

#5701