About three years ago I received an invitation from my friends in Colorado to come for a visit to celebrate my father's best friend's 25th wedding anniversary. I had just lost my job I had for almost 15 years. Although the thought of going to see my friends in Colorado was something I wanted to do. I did not see how I could afford to fly back to Colorado for a week with no income. To be honest, I really didn't think I would get to go. So I began to pray fervently about it and I began seeking advice from my mentor, pastor and the men in the men's ministry of the new church family I had joined.
But, as I have learned throughout my new life in Christ if it is God's will, He will make it happen in His time. It wasn't until a month before I was supposed to fly out that I made the final decision to go. And I never looked back. That leap of faith and one week in Colorado, changed the course of my life for the last three years. While I was there, I visited many places, including Focus on the Family's campus in Colorado Springs. During the tour, I picked up a flyer for the National Day of Prayer prayer summit and stuffed it into my backpack. At the end of that week Colorado had RECAPTURED my heart. My friends there urged me to come back during the Fall and winter to see how I handled the weather.
I have already explained in previous blogs(I will begin reposting old blogs after this series) how my fears about the cold weather and my disability had paralyzed me to the point of almost not taking the jump and driving across country by myself to visit. But every leap of faith starts with ONE STEP. I can still remember hearing Shirley Dobson pray during the opening night of the prayer summit, "some of you have come a long way to be here. And you don't know why. But if God has brought you to it, He'll bring you through it." I knew then that this was going to be a powerful growing season in my life. It was there that I met Jon Egan of the Desperation Band as he led the worship music for the summit and he invited me to visit New Life Church.
Throughout the weekend I heard some of the most powerful prayers, and speakers I've ever heard. I was encouraged by other believers that had suffered so much in their lives and God was using them to bless others, like Diane Dike. God had truly touched my heart. To think I almost never even went because I didn't trust God to get me there. Honestly, it wasn't an easy trip, Satan clearly didn't want me there. It was bad enough that my disability effected my ability to drive at night. Eight hours into my trip, my friends called to tell me that a snowstorm had pretty much shut down the interstate in Kansas and I needed to change my route. As I drove back south, I never felt so alone and scared in my life before.
I remember pulling over late one night at a church in the Ozarks because the fog had gotten so thick that I couldn't see to drive. I was too tired to look for in a hotel, so I prayed and then slept for a few hours in my car. The next morning when I woke the fog had dissipated and I could see the rolling hills of the Ozarks. Just beyond the church. The birds were singing and I could hear the cows mooing in the pastors on the hills. I felt the crisp Fall air as I breathed.
Refreshed and focused I continued my great adventure to Colorado as I praised God for bringing me this far, safely. Two months later, I wept as I pulled out of Colorado just after a snowstorm and in 13 below zero temperatures. Which, if you know me and how cold-natured I am is crazy ! But then again, we all know that prayer changes things(or does it?) I don't think that it is an accident that apostle Paul tells us after he tells us to PUT ON the armor of God, he tells us to Pray . In his letter to the church of Ephesus Paul wrote, "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. That whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fiercely make them known, the ministry of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." Since today is the sixtieth anniversary of the National Day of Prayer that is what this blog will be about, prayer, praise, worship, and the way they relate to spiritual warfare.
PRAYER?
Until I began working on this blog, I never knew the controversy over prayer or how it is misunderstood. So now I will attempt to give you skinny on prayer and how it applies to us as believers. There is a great deal of controversy about whether or not God hears the prayers of unbelievers, other than the sinner's prayer. I am not going to waste the time or the focus of this blog debating whether or not God hears the prayers of unbelievers. Due to the fact that the series deals with spiritual warfare and the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church at Ephesus, not the Gentiles. The Bible is full of passages explaining how and why God hears the prayers of His children and that is how we know that we are winning in spiritual warfare.
Let's start in Genesis, the prophet Moses tells us that after Cain killed his brother. God declared, "listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." Then later in Exodus, Moses tells us,"the Lord said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering."God always hears us when we cry out to Him. We don't have to wonder if God is far away or if our prayers can REACH Him. God always answers His people, we don't have to worry CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
The law of gravity applies to prayer, they RISE UP and God sends an answer down(I'll talk more about answers later.) While I was working on this blog, I heard a message on prayer by Bill Purvis in which he explained, "prayer is about so much more than just communicating with God. It's about connecting to God." As I have explained in an earlier blog, before the fall in the garden God walked and talked with Adam. Because of the fall man's relationship with God was severed. Every sense then man has been trying to reconnect with God and God has been pursuing man as well. To the point of sacrificing His Son on the cross. This is called by some theologians the "Divine Romance." Personally, I think this is why God hates divorce(Malachi 2;10-16, Matthew 19; 3-12,) He understands the agony of BROKEN relationships. Christian missionary J. Hudson Taylor once said, "The branch of the vine does not worry and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine. … Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus."
The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah. It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning to judge oneself. This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God.The Yiddish word meaning "pray" is "daven," which ultimately comes from the same Latin root as the English word "divine" and emphasizes the One to whom prayer is directed. For an observant Jew, prayer is not simply something that happens in synagogue once a week(or even three times a day.) Prayer an integral part of everyday life. In fact, one of the most important prayers in Judaism, the Birkat Ha-Mazon, is never recited in synagogue!
The Greek word used here for "prayer" is proseuche which appears 37 times in the pages of the new testament writings. The first part of the word, “pros,” means to “belong to” or “come near to” or “to pertain to” or “draw nigh.” It means “drawing very close” as if to speak something clear and intimate from very close proximity. How could God possibly view a “one way” relationship, with requests but no belonging or nearness? The second part of the most frequent word for prayer is “euche” (ooo-kay, or yoo-kay.) This word means a desire, a passion, or a vow. It implies a surrender and capitulation, a sacrifice and a promise. Is it prayer, then, if there is no giving of who we are, in reality rather than generality(I'll explain in a minute?) IF YOU GO to the cross, you must go ALL THE WAY. You must GIVE HIM MORE, ALL YOUR ARE. That's why I give MY ALL, I GIVE MYSELF AWAY. Which brings to mind marriage, doesn't it?
You can tell a lot about a person from just listening to the prayer they pray. Most Christians and non-Christians tend to think we can treat God like He is some genie in a bottle. When we want something, all you have to do is pray and presto God gives us whatever we want. But that isn't the case is it? This is a truth that may disappoint a lot of you reading this. If God wouldn't spare His own Son the agony and embarrassment of dying on a cross( HE WENT FOR ME and you,) even after Jesus pleaded with the Father in the garden, twice. Why should He grant you everything that you want just because you send up a prayer saying, "I WISH this or that? Matthew tells us, "going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will." In modern day English this reads as, not as I want, but as you want. Try restating it with your name in the sentence. Father, not as Martin wants, but as you want. Pretty humbling, isn't it?
By now, many of you may want to turn away or stop reading. In Luke's letter to the church, Jesus told the parable about two different prayers. Jesus explains, " to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 'two men went to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, thank you that I am not like other people-- robbers, evildoers, adulterers-- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
Francis Chan explains in his book crazy love, "Before my wife and I got married. I knew that I had to tell her everything about me, the ways I'd messed up, all the things I had done. She had to know what she was getting before she agreed to marry me. That conversation was not easy, but at the end of it we still chose to be with each other, to commit our lives to one another. I find myself acting differently with God. Often, when I PRAY, I will phrase my sentences in a way that makes me sound better. I will try to soften my sins, or touch my true feelings before saying them before God. How foolish it is for me to be completely honest with my wife about my shortcomings, but try to fool God! God wants us to be open with Him. He definitely doesn't want us to 'season our wretchedness' as we would raw meat. He knows what we are, that we are disgusting, that all we are doing is trying to make ourselves feel better. God desires true intimacy with each of us, and that comes only when we trust Him enough to be fully transparent and vulnerable. People who are obsessed with Jesus are raw with God; they do not attempt to mask the ugliness of their sins or their failures. Obsessed people don't put it on for God; He is their safe place, where they can be at peace."
Like with any relationship, we have to spend time with God in His presence and communicate with Him through prayer. And this is where a lot of us, men especially drop the ball. When it comes to communicating, we tend to do more talking and less listening. Henri Frederic once said, "Women wish to be loved not because they are pretty, or good, or well bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves." In the first chapter of his book Crazy Love Francis Chan writes, "what if I said, 'stop praying?' What if I told you to stop talking at God for a while, but instead take a long hard look at Him before you speak another word? Solomon warned us not to rush into God's presence with words. That's what fools do. Often that's what we do. We are slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to become angry. The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of Him."
This is really difficult for me, those of you that know me know my number one pet peeve is being ignored. Especially when I take the time and effort to write or call you and you don't reply. I learned years ago through men's ministry that most women just want their boyfriends/husbands to just listen to what they have to say. Sometimes in order to listen to what God and the women in our lives are saying, we have to stop doing what we are doing and be still. Guys, I know how hard that is, we are the fixers, the providers and protectors. We want the best for our families, so does God. But in His wisdom He knows what is truly best, so we need to learn to be still and listen.
As Beth Moore explains, "God's Word is so clear that if we are not still before Him, we will never truly know, to the depths of the marrow in our bones, that He is God. There has got to be a stillness. We've got to have a time to sit before Him and just know that He is. We live in such an attention-deficit culture, and we're so entirely over stimulated. There is so much coming at us at once, one image after another that if we are not careful, we are going to lose the art of meditation. Charles Swindoll once said, "I do not believe anyone can ever become a deep person [intimate with God] without stillness and silence." Habit number five of the seven habits of highly effective people states, "seek first to understand(listen,) then to be understood(talk.) "Richard Foster observes, "while we are all equally precious in the eyes of God, we are not all equally ready to listen to God's speech in His wondrous, terrible, gentle, loving, all embracing silence."
I used to have a friend that I would go and talk to from time to time. I never went to talk to her with an agenda, just to listen to her and that is how I got know her. I have already mentioned in an earlier blog that I didn't even realize that I was studying her. But in HINDSIGHT, I know now that is what I was doing. Over the course of five years we both got closer to each other just by listening. Or as she would say, "we grew CLOSER to God as we each grew closer to each other." It wasn't until I hurt her and she pushed me away that I realized how much I care about her. You see, I was so set on what I wanted in someone to date and what I wanted in life that I forgot that according to the Prophet Jeremiah God says, "for I know the plans I have for you, 'declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on My name, and pray to me, and I will listen to you." THE PLAN God has for my life and how He will use me is not the same as mine. We don't get to tell God how our lives will go or even how we will serve Him.
We all have dreams about what we want in life, in love and expectations about the people we want in our lives. I even have some friends that spend their free time learning how to cook what they think their future husband/wife would want to eat. I have noticed a lot of women starving themselves to try getting in better shape before their wedding date. Which is sad, if a man has gotten to the point where he wants to marry a woman he obviously already likes the way she looks, why try and change that because you're getting married? Besides, he should love you for who you are, not how you look or how he wants you to LOOK. We worry about the what-ifs and whatnots, hoping that everything will be perfect by our standards. While writing this blog, I realized for the first time that my friend may not be what I wanted, but just what I need in my life and she may be THE BEST THING for me. I WISH(shouda, coulda) I would have realized this years ago, she already has A PLACE IN MY HEART. I'm missing you and you are always on my mind. Besides, I know that I'M NOT PERFECT.
I'm known for my chocolate Kahlúa pecan pies that I bake(welcome to the South, baby!) Yet, God may give me a wife that loves cake. Well, my Colorado Black Bear cake rocks(sorry!) My point is NOBODY KNOWS what God has in store for them. James puts it this way, "now listen, you who say, 'today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'if it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such BOASTING is evil. So then, if you know the good you ought to do and don't do it, you sin."
As Frances Chan explains in his book Crazy Love, "that is exactly what Christ asked us to do. He commands that we give without expecting anything in return(Luke 14:12-14.) People who are obsessed with Jesus give freely and openly. Let's face it. We're willing to make changes in our lives only if we think it affects our salvation. That is why I have so many people ask me questions like, 'can I divorce my wife still and go to heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Am I good enough, though I've had sex my girlfriend? If I commit suicide, can I still go to heaven? If I'm ashamed to talk about Christ, is He really going to deny knowing me?' To me, these questions are tragic, because they reveal much about the state of our hearts. They demonstrate that our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the KING. Jesus said, 'if you love me, you will obey what I command(John 14:15.)' And our questions quickly become even more unthinkable: Can I go to heaven without truly and faithfully loving Jesus? I don't see where in Scripture, how to answer that question could be yes. God didn't just give a little for us; He gave His best. He gave Himself. John is saying that it is no different for us: true love requires sacrifice. And our love is shown by how we live our lives: 'let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.' True faith is loving a person after he has hurt you. True love makes you stand out. People who are obsessed with Jesus, give freely and openly, without censure. They love those who hate them and who can never love them back." It has been said, "we like because, but we love in spite of."
In a recent interview with Rebecca St. James, the Christian Post asked, "I had read in an article before of how you dreamed of marriage, but you had to hand over that control of your dream to God. What advice do you have for all the single girls who are still waiting and how do we practically practice waiting and trusting in God fully?" Rebecca replied, "I think there’s a real delicate balance that God calls us to when we’re single. I don’t think He calls us to put our dreams on the shelf to the level that we’re just dead to it because then we’re not being true or honest. I think God calls us to come in our vulnerability as singles to God and say ‘Lord, I long for this, I really desire to be married, but I trust you with this dream."It was probably five years ago or so that I felt God was calling me to hand over my dreams to Him on the level that I almost had to grieve the possibility of not ever marrying; grieve how that would feel if I never got married. And to commit to God that I would trust Him even if he required that of me, which just seems like the ultimate in SACRIFICE." And who could blame her?
LOVE IS A BEAUTIFUL THING. Or at least, it is supposed to be. But it doesn't always end up that way and we are not guaranteed a fairytale ending like William and Kate. That is why I am LAYING DOWN MY WILL. It was Dudley Hall who once said, "all of life is a trade. If you choose to follow God's will, you might miss out on some things, but what you gain will be much better." The apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the church in Ephesus, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us." Sometimes God can't give us His best, because we won't let go of what we want. But what God has for us is much MORE THAN A DREAM.
I know some of you are saying God wants me to have my dream. I feel you. But when God gives us a new heart, He gives us new desires(can you guess mine.) Luke tells us that just after Jesus taught about asking and receiving, Jesus went on to ask, "You fathers--if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?" The fish was an early symbol of Christian faith that endures today on bumper stickers and businesses as a sign of Christian faith. The fish is thought to have been chosen by the early Christians for several reasons: the Greek word for fish(ICHTUS), works nicely as an acrostic for "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior." And we all know what the serpent symbolized. So, as children of God, we get salvation through Jesus. Instead of damnation through Satan. Could Jesus have been merely saying, you should want Me and not the things of this world?
The Christian Post continued in its interview with Rebecca St. James, "How has God met or exceeded your expectations for a husband through Jacob? Rebecca replied, "I dreamed up a lot of things....So you know He has exceeded my expectations and I have pretty high expectations. He’s a pretty wonderful man to live up to those. But I also know that marrying at this particular age, both of us know that neither of us is going to be perfect and I think [there’s] grace in that. Going in with that understanding is also really helpful because you can’t expect that person to be on all the time or to meet every need or to be able to guess what you’re thinking and I think that will really help our marriage to know not to expect someone to be like God; God is the only true faithful one." To which the Christian Post asked, "Is there any fear that you have in getting married or are you just calm and peaceful? No cold feet? Rebecca replied, "I think for me the biggest thing that God is teaching me is to just let go of control, to trust Him that He will teach both Jacob and I what we need to learn, when we need to learn it. It’s a day-by-day trust experience. Realizing too that marriage is like the Christian life, in that we don’t just make a one-time commitment to Jesus, and then that’s it for the rest of our lives."
Francis Chan continues in his book, Crazy Love, "My fear in writing the previous chapters that it only evokes in you fear and guilt. Personal experience has taught me that action driven by fear and guilt are not an antidote to lukewarm, selfish, comparable living. I hope you realize instead that answer is love. Grandma Clara used to say, 'I love love.' Don't we all? Don't we crave it? And isn't that what God wants of us-- to crave this relationship with Him as we crave all genuine love relationships? Isn't that what brings Him glory-- when believers desire Him and are not merely slaves, whom serve Him Out of obligation? The fact is, I need God to help me love God. And if I need His help to love Him, a perfect being, I definitely need His help to love other fault-filled humans. Something mysterious, even supernatural must happen in order for genuine love for God to grow in our hearts. The Holy Spirit has to move in our lives. It is remarkable cycle: our prayers for more love result in love, which naturally causes us to crave more, which results in more love."
Which leads me to another problem Christians have with Prayer. Not only do we not listen to His answer. Unfortunately, we don't always like His answer. God answers prayer in one of three ways; yes, no, or wait. I recently heard a message by James Merritt on prayer. He explained how when he was 16 he wanted a 22 shotgun for his birthday, and on his birthday he saw a wrapped gift long enough to be a shotgun. And when he opened it, he found a BB gun. Merritt said for the next two years he asked for 22 shotgun for his birthday and each time he got a BB gun. Finally on his fourth plea for 22 shotgun, he received it. On his first outing to hunt with his father he saw a duck flying near his father and he pulled the trigger with the gun beside his hip. Not only did he get it, he obliterated the duck and he was knocked to the ground. When his father helped him up, his father explained, "that's why I didn't give you the 22 the first time you asked for it, I knew you weren't ready for it and probably would kill someone. The BB guns were supposed to help you learn how to use the 22 before I gave it to you."
God the father will ALWAYS AND FOREVER hear us and answer us HIS WAY in His time. This is yet another way IN THE CHURCH we are missing the purpose of prayer. There are a lot of denominations within the church that teach that as long as you keep praying, God will give you what you want. They teach as long as I BELIEVE HARD and pray IN THE NAME of Jesus, you receive whatever you want, FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS, you will GET IT. But that is not gospel. God promises to give us our needs and be with us when we are hurting. According to John, Jesus warned His disciples, "these things have I spoken to you that in me ye might have peace(Shalom.) In the world ye have tribulation; but be of good courage: I have overcome the world." This is the perfect peace God gives His children.
Craig Groeschel recently tweeted, "Jesus is no security against life's storms, but He is perfect security in them." Maybe that is why we are hurting, stressed about bills, suffering a BROKEN HEART and it seems like God doesn't hear us and we wonder if our prayers have been CASTAWAY. But remember, THIS IS THE STUFF that is going to make our faith in Him STRONGER. Sometimes God tears our worlds apart to help us grow in our faith. And sometimes He knows we are just not ready for it and all you have to do is just wait your turn. But sometimes, it is just not His will for you. So you might as well GET OVER IT. And while you're at it, get over yourself. Rick Warren recently tweeted, "Pain produces passion which leads to prayer which leads to intimacy with God." Answered prayers always glorify God, not the recipient or the vessel. When God answers our prayers, it's not, so we can SHOW OFF, but so we can BRAG ON MY LORD(I'll talk about this more IN A MOMENT.)
Take for instance, the prophet Elijah, first he prayed for a drought to teach king Ahab a lesson about obeying God, then he prayed for it to rain again, and it did. In the middle of all this prophet had to depend on God to feed him by ravens(will talk more about birds later.) Elijah wasn't using God to make himself look good, nor was he manipulating God as water faucet. First of all, God had already promised not to flood the earth after THE FLOOD He used in Genesis. So this wasn't a case of God changing His mind like some fickle schoolgirl. This was a case of God using a man to bring glory to Himself. If it doesn't glorify Him, He isn't movin'. We can't push God around. The purpose of prayer is not to control God, it's to admit He's in control and we are not.
I'm sure some of you are thinking Matthew says that Jesus taught, "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." That is, every one that asks aright; that prays in faith, and in submission to the will of God." He does not always give us everything which we ask, but He gives what would be better. A parent will not always confer the "very thing" which a child asks, but he will seek the welfare of the child, and give what he thinks will be most for its good. Paul asked that the thorn in his flesh might be removed. God did not "literally" grant the request, but told him that his "grace" should be "sufficient" for him(2 Corinthians 12:7-9.) When we are hurting, wanting, needing.
God tells us His GRACE is sufficient, but we still want what we want, don't we? It's called being selfish. I'm sure many of you are now wondering about Jesus' parable of the persistent widow. Here Jesus emphasized that the widow keep going to the judge(God) and not giving up. Not that she could change the judge's mind, but that she would rely on God. Anyone who thinks that they can control, change or manipulate God through prayer doesn't serve the same omnipotent God that I do. We know from Scripture that God wants no one to parish, and He wants the best for us. Remember, God had plans for you to prosper before you were even born. The Hebrew word translated "prosper" commonly designates the blessings God brings His followers as they live their lives in His service is Shalom.
Which means Completeness, wholeness, harmony, fulfillment. . . .Unimpaired relationships with others and with God. The Hebrew word translated succeed(TSALACH) carries the idea of acting with wisdom or prudence. By obeying the Lord, we will avoid worldly landmines and pitfalls and achieve the good purposes, He planned. It is not about about God giving us things or money. So when troubles and hardships come, we can have faith that God will help us.
Charles Stanley explains it this way, "Prayer is an act of faith. Just by praying to God, we are declaring our trust in someone other than yourself. Your faith is increased as you pray and watch how God answers your prayers. God says in Jeremiah 33:3, 'Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know. God is awesome in power and there is never a time when He is not beside you. He is faithful and holy." As Martin Luther famously said, "Faith is a free surrender and a joyous wager on the unseen, unknown, untested goodness of God."
As Frances Chan writes In His Book, Crazy Love, "For so much of my life I didn't understand the desirability of God or trust in His love enough to submit my hopes and dreams. I lived in a constant state of trying to be 'devoted enough' to Him, yet I never quite made it. I knew that God wanted all of me, yet I feared what complete surrender to Him would mean. Trying harder doesn't work for me. Slowly I've learned to pray for God's help, and He has become my greatest love and desire. When I PRAY, I sometimes ask God to make it the most intimate time of prayer I've ever had." The apostle Paul put it this way, in his letter to the church in Phillipi, "for to me, TO LIVE IS CHRIST and TO DIE IS GAIN."
David Platt takes it to another level, in his book Radical by explaining, "at the end of Luke 9, we find a story about three men who approached Jesus, eager to follow Him. In surprising fashion, though, Jesus seems to have tried to talk them out of doing so. The first guy said, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus responded, 'foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.' In other words, Jesus told this man that he could expect homelessness on the journey ahead. Followers of Christ are not guaranteed that even their basic need of shelter will be met." I can hear some of you reading this now claiming God promises to give me the desires of my heart. God’s promise through David is, “A broken and contrite heart you will not despise.” So fall down broken before Him! And then, all of us, all believers. Seek His face! Be His people, then be part of His plan! Delight in Him and He will fulfill the desires of your heart. As you do that, God will give you shalom. Your shalom on earth may include earthly goods. It may not. A DESIRE is not something that is essential, but something which is enjoyable in the process of fulfilling God’s purposes. It is a hankering, longing, pining or yearning for something that we would like to have to enrich our lives here on earth. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul( It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.)” The apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the church in Rome, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans what words cannot express."
And this brings me to the next area we Christians drop the ball with prayer. And that is, when to pray. I'm not talking about the religious formula for prayer. I am talking about when we actually choose to spend time communicating with God. It's a lot like stretching during workouts. Most people have the wrong impression that you must stretch before you work out. Which is actually the wrong time to stretch. You're supposed to warm up before you work out and people have made stretching their warm-up. Warm up literally means warming the muscle up by doing light reps to get your heart rate up and blood to the muscle. In stretching a cold muscle is risking tearing a muscle. In fact, research exists to suggest that stretching prior to an athletic activity may decrease power output resulting in diminished physical performance. Probably because it releases the glycogen in the muscle. Glycogen is the storage form of glucose in animals and humans which is analogous to the starch in plants. Glycogen is synthesized and stored mainly in the liver and the muscles. The best time to stretch is after your workout. That way, the muscle can release the lactic acid that has built up in the muscle during your workout. This will help the muscle recover and minimize soreness. Runners are to stretch after a run to help minimize risk of shin splints. As you see, most people have this backwards. Then there are some that just stretch out of habit and don't understand the purpose of stretching, altogether.
PRAISE?
BACK IN THE DAY when I was growing up, I was taught to always pray before meals and before I went to bed. Which is a great start, but far from where we need to be. Most Christians and non-Christians say a quick prayer after we sin(whether intentionally or unintentionally.) But do we really mean it? HOW LONG after we utter the words, "FORGIVE ME" do we wait before we commit the same sin again? What we really mean is, forgive me so I can do it again and again. That's not repentance, that's repetition! Frances Chan explains it this way, " If you merely pretend that you enjoy God or love Him, He knows. You can't fool Him; don't even try. Instead, tell Him how you feel. Tell Him that He is the most important thing in this life to you, that you're sorry for that. Tell Him that you've been lukewarm, that you chosen________ over Him time and again. Tell Him that you want Him to change you, tell Him that you genuinely enjoy Him. Tell Him how you want to experience true satisfaction and pleasure and joy in your relationship with Him. Tell Him you want to love Him more than anything on this earth. Tell Him you want to treasure the kingdom of heaven so much that you'd willingly sell everything in order to get it. Tell Him what you like about Him, what you appreciate, and what brings you joy."
The word joy comes from the same Latin root word we get the word rejoice from. Rejoice is synonymous with praise. True joy is an inner contentment despite our circumstances. Jesus' half-brother James begins his letter to the church, "Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet various trials, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and steadfastness, when it is complete, has its full effect and fulfills your life." 15 years ago, when I was in that tree drunk, I cried out to God "ARE YOU REAL" and I asked Him to help me get away from the lifestyle I was living. I never prayed for God to take thirty percent of my brain, my ability to play guitar, nor for the months I spent in rehab learning to walk. But because He did, I can WALK IT LIKE I'M CHANGED.
I learned both through my father when I was little and through men's ministry. Circumstances change, but commitments don't. Your commitment remains, regardless. Unfortunately that is not the general consensus in a fallen world and that is why divorce is so rampant in America, especially in the church. Soon as a spouse feels they are not happy or not getting what they want, they want out. Which is selfish. Let me go ahead and make myself clear, if a spouse/partner is physically or emotionally abusing you, get help or get out. I also learned from my father and men's ministry, God gave men strength and their hands to protect and provide for women, never to hit them. But that is another blog.
In the apostle Paul's first letter to the church in Thessalonia he wrote, "Never stop praying." Which reemphasized his charge to the church in Ephesus to, "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 saints." Perhaps he knew the early church would grow weary as it got DEEPER in spiritual warfare. This is why it is important for us to use intercessory prayer. Throughout his writings the apostle Paul is found not only praying for his fellow sojourners in the faith, but also thanking God for them. Let me go ahead and share that every since I hurt my friend almost one year ago, every night before I go to sleep I have prayed that God would help her grow closer to Him and for God love her. So sweetie TONIGHT, I say a little prayer for you and I'm CALLING DOWN AN ANGEL for you.
I share this because I felt in my heart that she was hurting and God was working on her. How often do we utter the phrase "I'm praying for you" and go on with our lives as if it really didn't matter? If I've learned anything in this last year, it is to pray LIKE I MEAN IT. Because I know God hears my prayers. But what He chooses to do with them is His will. God, IT'S YOURS. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Pray, and let God worry." Recently, my friend Natasha Dyer said, "Worry is a disease that eats away at your faith." Well put, my friend, Jubba has been blessed with a wise wife.
In the Gospel of Luke just after Jesus warned His disciples about riches saying, "But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? ’This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” There is a classic passage where Jesus taught about worrying, saying. "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" Is Jesus telling His followers, "Don't waste your life" pursuing things, pursue God?
Bishop T.D. Jakes once said, "it's not that God doesn't want you to have things. He doesn't want things to have you." For those of you who know me, you know, I enjoy listening to the birds, especially in the early morning. There's even a tree outside my bedroom window with birds in it singing as I wake in the morning. Often as I listen to the sound of their songs this passage in Luke comes to mind. Lately, here in the South where I LIVE, the song of the Cicadas has been challenging the birds. Max Lucado once wrote, "it is a strange bird that sings in the middle of the night." They both are EXPRESSIONS OF YOUR LOVE. So, WE MUST PRAISE HIM.
Maybe you are like me and most other people, I tend to wait until I'm in over my head and cry out to God, "MY SAVIOR MY GOD I NEED YOU, OH HOW I NEED YOU. PLEASE DON'T LET ME GO, NEVER LET ME GO." And hope He'll SAVE YOUR LIFE, He WON'T LET ME GO. As of January 30th, 2011 there were 1.4 million long-term unemployed( 99ers,) of which I am one, praying and looking for a job. We are LIVING ON A PRAYER. With 4 million more coming in the next year. It is comforting to know that God hears His children out of this SEA OF FACES. And because of this I can have peace and I am grateful, so I must give thanks. There are many Christians that enjoy bragging and boasting about how blessed they are. What they fail to realize is that their blessings aren't a sign of their salvation or righteousness, they are a sign of God's mercy and grace.
Every since Monday I've sat back and watched in horror and disgust as I've watched thousands of Americans rejoice over the death of Osama bin Laden. I can remember 10 years ago after 911 watching the footage on the news of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda celebrating the devastation in New York. What's the difference between how they celebrated and the CELEBRATION going on now? Justice, so YOU ARE GOD and have that right? Please don't think that I didn't think justice needed to be served. My little brother recently finished his second tour in Afghanistan looking for the man. But there is a fine line between being prideful and GRATEFUL. It is called humility and pride is the opposite, not to mention a sin. Equally wrong as murder in God's eyes. Yes, we are supposed be thankful for God's blessings and for justice. But, what have we become?
As Jerry Bridges explains in his book Trusting God(even when life hurts,) we are to be thankful in bad times and good times, for diversities as well as for blessings. All circumstances, whether favorable or unfavorable to our desires are to be occasions for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not a natural virtue; it is a fruit of the Spirit, given by Him. One of the most indicating statements in the Bible about natural man is Paul's charge that 'although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him(Romans 1:21.) Thanksgiving is an admission of dependence. Through it we recognize that in the physical realm God 'gives[us] life and breath and everything else(Acts17;25) and that in the spiritual realm, it is God who made us alive in Christ Jesus when we were dead in our transgressions and sins. Everything we are and have we owe to His bountiful grace." We should say, "I WILL PRAISE YOU," but do we? When life has left you BROKEN DOWN will you still want to PUT YOUR HANDS UP to praise Him and say "I'm NOT GONNA WORRY." Or will you shake your fists at Him or fall FACE DOWN on your knees and worship Him? Will you say, "I will praise you, praise you in the storm?"
WORSHIP 3.0?
Did you catch that? We are to thank God, in good times and bad times, not just when He is GOOD TO ME. Do you? After the recent EARTHQUAKE in Japan, and even more recently, the tornadoes in the Southeast. It seems like people ALL AROUND THE WORLD have been praying. And the world is asking questions like "why" and what is going on? I think I I know the answer. Now more than ever, the world needs our prayers, Father Thy kingdom come....
Bridges continues, "another response to the trustworthiness of God is to worship Him in times of adversity. When the initial disaster struck, Job, the Scripture says, 'he fell to the ground in worship and said: naked I came from mothers womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised(Job 1:20-21.) Instead of reacting against God in the time of his calamity, Job worshiped Him. Instead of raising his fist in the face of God, he fell down before Him. Instead of defiance, there was a humble recognition of God's sovereignty-- God in His sovereignty had a right to take away. Worship involves a two directional view. Looking upward, we see God in all his Majesty, power, glory, and sovereignty as well as His mercy, goodness, and grace. Looking at ourselves, we recognize our dependence upon God and our sinfulness before Him." John tells us that he saw in his revelation," with the prayers of all God's people, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up before God from the angel's hand."
While I was driving out to Colorado two years ago, I remember missing a turn and getting lost. I felt a mixture of excitement and fear as I looked back and saw most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen as I drove through some oil fields in Oklahoma. I couldn't help but praise God, even though I didn't know where I was, I knew He would LEAD ME. As the psalmist declared, "The LORD says, 'I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.' King Solomon instructed, "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." We know we have a FAITHFUL GOD who hears us. I know, He will never let me down. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, "what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" NOTHING. Because He hears our prayers, we are winning this spiritual warfare.
