Friends,
Last week was national day of prayer (week), and I spent some time not only pondering about prayer, but actually doing more of it. I believe that this is an area of our lives that can always bear some improving. It is with this thought in mind that I offer the following thoughts.
A faithful, healthy prayer life is the challenge of
James (5:13-18), the brother of Jesus. He tells his readers at the end
of his letter that there are a number of times and places when we need
to pray. He says that when we are suffering, we need to pray (v. 13). He
is writing to some people who are facing significant persecution for
their faith…and that they have the ability to endure hardship patiently
if they call upon the Lord. The Psalmist, Asaph recognizes this as he
says concerning the Lord – “call upon me in the day of trouble; I shall
rescue you, and you will honor me” (Psalms 50:12).
When people
are ill, they need to pray, as restoration can come through a prayer of
faith (vv. 14-15). James says that those who are sick should call upon the
elders and have them come pray. In this context, they pour oil upon the
one who is ill, associating it with the healing. Many scholars believe
that this was medicinal…and so, there may be some defined purpose in using
it. As to whether this was the only purpose and time for it being
used, it is hard to say. What we can come to understand is an
important recognition -- the Lord is the Great Healer, and not man. There are some who might call attention to the act of healing, when in
actuality, it is the fact of healing that matters. If it does or does
not take place is in the hands of the Lord. The prayer offered in faith
can affect this, which is amazing in and of itself. The Lord can raise up
the one who is ill as the result of such a prayer. Also, sinners can be forgiven through the prayer of
faith. The assumption is that man may become sick as the result of sin.
This can be the case, as guilt and other negative emotions can wear
people down physically, mentally, emotionally in such a way that they
are more susceptible to becoming ill. Everyone can and does sin…and yet,
our sins can be and are forgiven if we pray and ask for forgiveness.
The Apostle John tells us this in his letter (1 John 1:9).
James provides an
example of someone who was faithful in prayer. Elijah is an example of
perseverance in prayer. He was no superman, but was like us in every
way. He was very serious about his relationship with Lord, as James says -- he, literally, “prayed with prayer.” He was intent., as he prayed
and it did not rain for three and a half years, as a lesson to the
Israelites, but he prayed again at the end of this time and the Lord
provided rain (1 Kings 17,18). Even Jesus references this event in Luke
4:25. Elijah had a great faith in an even greater God.
James
climaxes his message by explaining the loving-kind and prayerful
relationship that Christians should have with one another and with God.
Christians should confess their sins…to one another...so they can be in
prayer for one another. This involves trust. We should not have to be
concerned about revealing ourselves, but need to pray concerning building
relationships that are based upon love and trust. Who is it that is
able to accomplish this? It is “the righteous person.” And who is this?
The person whose sins are confessed and forgiven, the one seeks to the will
of God with all of their heart. What we understand is that prayer is
supposed to get results. God is not just sitting back in some cosmic
rocking chair watching matters unfold in our world. He is
near…and He can and does respond to our pleas to Him. Prayer’s ultimate
result is to reveal a right relationship with God through the Son.
A
minister tells the story of another minister who believed he received
protection as a result of prayer. This man had developed the discipline
of beginning every day with an hour of prayer. One particular day,
however, he felt a strong leading to pray longer, so he continued for a
second hour. After two hours he still felt the need to keep on praying,
so he persevered for a third hour asking for God's protection and
blessing on his day; as well as for other things. He then felt released
from the need to pray longer so he stopped. That evening as he was
mowing his lawn, he felt something repeatedly brush up against his leg.
He looked down and saw a coiled rattlesnake trying to strike him, but it
just couldn't hit him. Instead, it kept brushing either side of his
leg. Why had the man felt the need to pray longer that morning? What was
he doing? Some would say, God doesn't need three hours of prayer to
protect one from a rattlesnake. I would agree. He didn't "need" seven
days of marching around Jericho to tear it down either, but He chose to
do it that way. He didn't "need" to spit in a person's eye to heal them,
but He did once. Why He requires things to be done certain ways, we
don't always know, but we do know that for us, obedience is the key.
Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets, pp.80,81.
What is at the
heart of this message? It is concerning the heart -- it is about your heart! As Matthew West shares in his popular song, we
cannot simply go through the motions and expect to cultivate a close
relationship with God. If our heart is not focused in a heavenly direction concerning any number of aspects of spiritual life and living, not to mention worship assembly time, then the Lord is not going to be able to effectively work in our lives. Our prayers have the ability to
accomplish much, if we are seeking His will for our lives. Care enough to spend some time
every day with the Lord in prayer…and care enough to share in prayer
together for others. I conclude with a billboard message that I have seen – “the family
that prays together stays together.”
Blessings, Don
Showing posts with label confession. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confession. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Friday, August 23, 2013
The Path of Greatest Resistance Yields the Greatest Reward
Friends,
A man named Fred inherited a huge land grant, but the will provided that he could choose land in either Chile or Brazil. He chose Brazil. This turned out to be an unhappy decision, because if he had chosen Chile, he would have received his inheritance in land on which they had recently discovered uranium, gold and silver. When he arrived in Brazil he had to choose between receiving his inheritance in a coffee plantation or land with Brazil nut trees. He chose the nut trees, and immediately the bottom fell out of the nut market, but coffee futures went up two dollars a pound. The government took control of the nut farm for back taxes, and Fred was left destitute. Fred pawned his Rolex watch for the money he needed to fly either to New York or Boston. He chose Boston. When the plane for New York taxied up, he noticed it was a brand new jet with red carpets. After several hours delay, the plane for Boston arrived. It was a twin engine plane that seemed to be held together with bailing wire…and on top of this, it was filled with annoying people and crying babies. Over the mountains one of the engines quit working, and Fred, frightened by his earlier bad choices and fearing for his life, asked for two parachutes. He jumped. As he fell through the air, he tried to make up his mind which ripcord to pull. He pulled the cord on the left, but nothing happened. He pulled the cord on his right, but it broke. In desperation the poor fellow cried out, "St. Francis, save me!" A great hand from heaven reached down, seized him by the wrist, and left him dangling in mid-air. Then a gentle but inquisitive voice asked, "St. Francis, Xavier or St. Francis of Assisi?" (From Dick Meyer, An Anchor in a Sea of Change)
This is funny, but we get the point. Life is risky, because it’s full of choices where we don’t always know the outcome. Faith provides us with choices. We can choose the easy route and receive its reward, or the challenging route that yields the most to us. When we choose to follow Christ, there is risk involved, but in most cases the results are going to be significantly better than poor Fred’s. At least we know that the Lord can and will ultimately work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28)
Matthew 16:1ff, is a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He begins speaking openly about the cross and the church in an effort to grow the faith of his disciples…and for Jesus this is risky. The Pharisees and Sadducees may have been opposing Jewish religious groups, in many respects, but they now join together to try to silence Jesus. They challenge Jesus by asking for a sign…some miracle that would confirm who He is. This is the fourth time they have done this, (see also Matthew 12:38ff, John 2:12, 6:30). Jesus tells them that “Jews are always looking for a sign.” Yet, signs are only to confirm the faith of believers. They are not going to help those who engage in willful unbelief. These guys had no faith…this was their choice. True to form, Jesus responds to their testing by…talking about the weather. Why? (By the way, I love the way that Jesus communicates – He always makes His point). He seeks to reveal the Jewish leaders’ own dishonesty and stubborn blindness. They have plenty of evidence concerning Jesus in order to be able to accept him, but no humility in order to be able to do so. Their demands reveal their sad heart conditions – evil and spiritually adulterous, worshipping their own religiosity…which is a false god. Had they been worshipping the true God, they would have recognized His Son when He came. Still, there is a sign…the sign of Jonah that had been given (also seen in Matthew 12:38-41); it is a sign of the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, which was actually a sign to Israel that Jesus was their Messiah!
Many other disciples are following Jesus at this time -- thousands of folks. Jesus uses the feeding of the 4000 and the feeding of the 5000 to teach some spiritual lessons. Among these lessons is -- the people need to beware of the Pharisees and Scribes’ false teaching, which Jesus describes as “leaven”. Jesus has already used the word “leaven” as a symbol for evil (Matthew 13). But, His close disciples…the twelve…misunderstand, thinking that he is using the word, physically, as in Wonder bread. They believe that Jesus is cautioning them not to buy unclean bread. Jesus calls them, literally, “little faith ones,” or as it translates in English, “you of little faith.” This “little faith” keeps them from understanding His teaching and depending upon His power to meet needs. Jesus truly wants them to see the subtle, evil effects of the Pharisees and Scribes.
He and His disciples go on to Caesarea Philippi, a place where there are many different religions. Once He gets there, Jesus asks, “Who do others say that I am?” Now, if anyone else asks this question, he would come across as arrogant or crazy! The irony is that, concerning Jesus, a right confession is the beginning of salvation’s road. One thing is clear – no one can ever make a true decision about Jesus Christ by taking a poll of the people…though some might try. Peter steps out in and speaks from the heart -- “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” His response is truly a response to the revelation the Father has given him. It is not some emotional response, but the studied, sincere statement of a man who has been taught by God. Jesus accepts this confession and builds upon it to teach His listeners a new truth…Jesus will build His church, and He Himself will be the foundation. It can be a bit confusing, but the Rock, Petra, here, is not Peter, although this is his name, but it is Peter’s bold confession that is the true foundation for faith. Peter and his fellow disciples soon be given the keys, that is, have they will have authority and charge to build upon this foundation…and nothing will overcome it ‘til Jesus comes again. This is Good News! We see Peter and the other disciples being stretched and grow, because Jesus wants them not to settle for a faith in Him that is not really going to make a difference. They are going to meet some resistance, but this, in turn, should help their faith to grow.
Ian was telling me about how they do some of their weight training over the summer (which I remember from my own football days). But, I was just a lowly option quarterback. I did not do the things that these linemen do, and this involves moving large tires, pushing against sleds and other things that provide a significant amount of resistance. Why is this? It is in order that they will build muscles and gain strength. It is the same with the Christian walk. We need to some resistance in order to gains some great spiritual strength. Some people are content to exercise just enough faith to idle by, but not enough to make any real difference. The reward for little faith may be little place in heaven -- I don’t know. But, I do know that there are some who are willing to exercise great faith, like that experienced by the Gentile centurion and Syro-Phoenician woman. Such people are not afraid to grow and develop their faith as the Lord desires. The challenge and goal to all of us in the Christian walk is to continue on the better path…on the way to exercising great faith in your life. This requires putting aside the weights and distractions that so easily entangle us, as the Hebrews writer shares, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in paths of grace and service. Jesus tells his disciples in John 10:10 that they have the ability “to live life abundantly.” Remember, the decisions that you and I make from day to day determine and reveal where we are in our faith.” I close with this thought from Oswald Chambers in Run Today's Race – “Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.”
Blessings, Don
A man named Fred inherited a huge land grant, but the will provided that he could choose land in either Chile or Brazil. He chose Brazil. This turned out to be an unhappy decision, because if he had chosen Chile, he would have received his inheritance in land on which they had recently discovered uranium, gold and silver. When he arrived in Brazil he had to choose between receiving his inheritance in a coffee plantation or land with Brazil nut trees. He chose the nut trees, and immediately the bottom fell out of the nut market, but coffee futures went up two dollars a pound. The government took control of the nut farm for back taxes, and Fred was left destitute. Fred pawned his Rolex watch for the money he needed to fly either to New York or Boston. He chose Boston. When the plane for New York taxied up, he noticed it was a brand new jet with red carpets. After several hours delay, the plane for Boston arrived. It was a twin engine plane that seemed to be held together with bailing wire…and on top of this, it was filled with annoying people and crying babies. Over the mountains one of the engines quit working, and Fred, frightened by his earlier bad choices and fearing for his life, asked for two parachutes. He jumped. As he fell through the air, he tried to make up his mind which ripcord to pull. He pulled the cord on the left, but nothing happened. He pulled the cord on his right, but it broke. In desperation the poor fellow cried out, "St. Francis, save me!" A great hand from heaven reached down, seized him by the wrist, and left him dangling in mid-air. Then a gentle but inquisitive voice asked, "St. Francis, Xavier or St. Francis of Assisi?" (From Dick Meyer, An Anchor in a Sea of Change)
This is funny, but we get the point. Life is risky, because it’s full of choices where we don’t always know the outcome. Faith provides us with choices. We can choose the easy route and receive its reward, or the challenging route that yields the most to us. When we choose to follow Christ, there is risk involved, but in most cases the results are going to be significantly better than poor Fred’s. At least we know that the Lord can and will ultimately work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28)
Matthew 16:1ff, is a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He begins speaking openly about the cross and the church in an effort to grow the faith of his disciples…and for Jesus this is risky. The Pharisees and Sadducees may have been opposing Jewish religious groups, in many respects, but they now join together to try to silence Jesus. They challenge Jesus by asking for a sign…some miracle that would confirm who He is. This is the fourth time they have done this, (see also Matthew 12:38ff, John 2:12, 6:30). Jesus tells them that “Jews are always looking for a sign.” Yet, signs are only to confirm the faith of believers. They are not going to help those who engage in willful unbelief. These guys had no faith…this was their choice. True to form, Jesus responds to their testing by…talking about the weather. Why? (By the way, I love the way that Jesus communicates – He always makes His point). He seeks to reveal the Jewish leaders’ own dishonesty and stubborn blindness. They have plenty of evidence concerning Jesus in order to be able to accept him, but no humility in order to be able to do so. Their demands reveal their sad heart conditions – evil and spiritually adulterous, worshipping their own religiosity…which is a false god. Had they been worshipping the true God, they would have recognized His Son when He came. Still, there is a sign…the sign of Jonah that had been given (also seen in Matthew 12:38-41); it is a sign of the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, which was actually a sign to Israel that Jesus was their Messiah!
Many other disciples are following Jesus at this time -- thousands of folks. Jesus uses the feeding of the 4000 and the feeding of the 5000 to teach some spiritual lessons. Among these lessons is -- the people need to beware of the Pharisees and Scribes’ false teaching, which Jesus describes as “leaven”. Jesus has already used the word “leaven” as a symbol for evil (Matthew 13). But, His close disciples…the twelve…misunderstand, thinking that he is using the word, physically, as in Wonder bread. They believe that Jesus is cautioning them not to buy unclean bread. Jesus calls them, literally, “little faith ones,” or as it translates in English, “you of little faith.” This “little faith” keeps them from understanding His teaching and depending upon His power to meet needs. Jesus truly wants them to see the subtle, evil effects of the Pharisees and Scribes.
He and His disciples go on to Caesarea Philippi, a place where there are many different religions. Once He gets there, Jesus asks, “Who do others say that I am?” Now, if anyone else asks this question, he would come across as arrogant or crazy! The irony is that, concerning Jesus, a right confession is the beginning of salvation’s road. One thing is clear – no one can ever make a true decision about Jesus Christ by taking a poll of the people…though some might try. Peter steps out in and speaks from the heart -- “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” His response is truly a response to the revelation the Father has given him. It is not some emotional response, but the studied, sincere statement of a man who has been taught by God. Jesus accepts this confession and builds upon it to teach His listeners a new truth…Jesus will build His church, and He Himself will be the foundation. It can be a bit confusing, but the Rock, Petra, here, is not Peter, although this is his name, but it is Peter’s bold confession that is the true foundation for faith. Peter and his fellow disciples soon be given the keys, that is, have they will have authority and charge to build upon this foundation…and nothing will overcome it ‘til Jesus comes again. This is Good News! We see Peter and the other disciples being stretched and grow, because Jesus wants them not to settle for a faith in Him that is not really going to make a difference. They are going to meet some resistance, but this, in turn, should help their faith to grow.
Ian was telling me about how they do some of their weight training over the summer (which I remember from my own football days). But, I was just a lowly option quarterback. I did not do the things that these linemen do, and this involves moving large tires, pushing against sleds and other things that provide a significant amount of resistance. Why is this? It is in order that they will build muscles and gain strength. It is the same with the Christian walk. We need to some resistance in order to gains some great spiritual strength. Some people are content to exercise just enough faith to idle by, but not enough to make any real difference. The reward for little faith may be little place in heaven -- I don’t know. But, I do know that there are some who are willing to exercise great faith, like that experienced by the Gentile centurion and Syro-Phoenician woman. Such people are not afraid to grow and develop their faith as the Lord desires. The challenge and goal to all of us in the Christian walk is to continue on the better path…on the way to exercising great faith in your life. This requires putting aside the weights and distractions that so easily entangle us, as the Hebrews writer shares, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in paths of grace and service. Jesus tells his disciples in John 10:10 that they have the ability “to live life abundantly.” Remember, the decisions that you and I make from day to day determine and reveal where we are in our faith.” I close with this thought from Oswald Chambers in Run Today's Race – “Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.”
Blessings, Don
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