The Believer in His Father’s World

Morning on the screened porch….August insects chirping to a crescendo, then dying back….cool breezes from a fan…early light glittering diamonds on the lake. There is peace.

I am reminded that this is my Father’s world, regardless of all the confusion that’s seemingly all-present. He created this earth, He sustains it, He is in control of it, He is in the process of redeeming it. No interlopers will wrest it from Him.

Evil and all its cohorts can not and will not create and maintain. They only consume and destroy.

Christians are Blessed by the Details

Reading today: Gen. 11:1-13:4;  Matt. 5:1-26;  Ps. 5:1-12;  Prov. 1:24-28

As you step off the elevator on a certain floor at the IUPUI library in downtown Indianapolis, you see stacks of books as far as your eye can see in most directions. It’s a shock to realize you are on the reference floor! All those books are only repositories of thousands and thousands of bits of information contained in multiple other books. Multiply that by the libraries all over the world. Man’s knowledge occupies an enormous amount of volumes.

Yet God condenses what He has to say to man in one manageable volume. Every detail, therefore, is essential for life and godliness.

The diamonds are in the details.

 

 

Christians Have Light in a Dark World

Today’s reading: Gen. 8:1 – 10:32;  Matt. 4:12-25;  Ps. 4:1-9;  Prov. 1:2-23

On the first page of his book, In the Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson quotes Dante’s Divine Comedy.

In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself in a dark wood where the straight way was lost.

In the Garden of Beasts is about Hitler’s rise to power and the inability of nearly the entire world to see what was happening in spite of beatings, imprisonment and murder of anyone who opposed Nazi thinking. Millions of people died in that darkness.

Matt. 4 speaks of the beginning ministry of Jesus the Christ and quotes a prophecy from Isaiah:

…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

Jesus is indeed the LIGHT. Believers can discern truth from lies. They can perceive direction and purpose for their lives. They can recognize evil. They can understand who and what they are. They have a level and unchanging course to follow. 

They need never find themselves in a dark wood where the straight way is lost.

 They need only follow the LIGHT. 

Believers Realize that Time is not their Enemy.

Today’s reading: Genesis 8:1-10:32;  Matt. 4:12-25;  Ps. 4:1-8; Prov. 1:20-23

At the beginning of the creation men lived to incredible ages. Adam reached the age of 930. But by the time nearing the flood, God seriously cut down life expectency — to 120 years. He cuts it again in the writings of Moses to “three score and ten”, and that’s about where we are at the present time.

And those 70 years fly by!

For the majority of mankind that is a terrifying thought. But the believer can think differently. A. W. Tozer wrote:

The days of the years of our lives are few, and swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. Life is a short and fevered rehearsal for a concert we cannot stay to give. Just when we appear to have attained some proficiency we are forced to lay our instruments down. There is simply not enough time to think, to become, to perform what the constitution of our nature indicates we are capable of….

How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God Who has none. Eternal years lie in His heart. For Him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years.  

What a thought. The believer has “limitless time and endless years.”

Believers Have a Solid Starting Point for Real Wisdom

Today’s reading:  Gen. 3:1 to 4:26;  Matt. 2:13-3:6;  Ps. 2:1-12 and Prov. 1:7-9

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

In spite of living in a world that seems to be hurtling to insanity at warp speed, the believer is given very practical advice on acquiring wisdom. It seems so simple in the beginning chapters of Proverbs:

• Fear the Lord     
• Abstain from moral sin
• learn skills — that is, learn to work

What would happen to any of our social institutions if we could teach and implement these three simple concepts? What would happen with our children if they adhered to these things?

We would certainly slow down the plunge into insane choices.

 

 

Believers Have Satisfying Answers Regarding Origins

Thoughts from Gen. 1:1 to 2:25; Matt. 1:1 to 2:12; and Psalms 1:1-6

We close the book on 2011 and consign it to the records of eternity. Now we open 2012 with thoughts from the beginning of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the book of Psalms.

There is a fundemental,  universal lesson to be learned here in the very first 10 words of Scripture. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

We look at the complexity and the beauty and the wonder of the creation — at the immensity of the cosmos and the mind-boggling capacity of the DNA chain —  and we are slapped in the face with evidence of the Divine claim that cannot be denied.

The evolutionist must slather his viewpoint with circular arguments and impossible statistics, straining common sense to the breaking point. But the believer can sink back into the omnisience and omnipotence of the Almighty God, like blissfully nestling into a down pillow, and be satisfied.

There is a creation. God spoke it into being. There is ultimate truth. There is purpose in life.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

                                                                                   Psalms 1:1-2 NIV

Believers Possess a Gold Mine: what are the parameters of prayer?

If we took all the Scripture from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21, found every portion that was even remotely connected to prayer, sorted the portions into categories, condensed them into manageable sound bites, and stated the result with poetic beauty….what might we expect to come up with?

We would most likely not do any better than John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, who wrote:

Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out

       of the heart or soul to God,

Through Christ, in the strength and assistance of

            the Holy Spirit, for such things

as God has promised, or according to his

Word, for the good of the church, with

submission in faith to the will of God.

In another form, we could state the parameters of prayer from the “carte blanche” portions of Scripture that refer to asking God for whatever we will.

The “sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of  the heart or soul to God:”

• must be motivated by desire for God’s glory [John 14:13]
• must proceed from an unobstructed, living reltionship with the Lord [John 15:7]
• must be the product of a fruit-bearing believer [John 15:16]
• must be presented in faith [Matt. 21:22 and Heb. 11:6]
• must be offered in the name (under the authority & merit) of Jesus [John 16:23,24
• must be presented with no conviction of sin left stubbornly undealt with [I John 3:21]
• must be offered in submission to the will of God [I John 5:14]

This is not to say that we must pray with perfection — we never will. But we are to pray with our hearts willingly teachable in these areas.

When we pray like this, we will “see some pins go down.”

Believers Have Access to the Parameters of Prayer

If prayer is such a Gold Mine, why aren’t Christians more involved in it? Why is it such a weak, neglected part of our lives? Maybe it’s because we don’t understand its parameters.

Here’s a story that illustrates this thought:

Several years ago a middle aged woman went bowling with a group of friends. Not having bowled in several years, she picked up a ball and confidently lopped it down the lane, only to watch it curve to the right and drop into the gutter. She tried again, overcompensated, and watched the ball curve to the left and drop again, only in the opposite gutter.

She sat down, determined to work out the kinks and do better the next time.

When her turn came, she held the ball out in front of herself, concentrating very hard on staying in the middle of the lane. She started her wind up, focused entirely on the pins, and let fly. Unfortunately, as she swung forward she grazed her own leg with the ball, succeeding only in knocking herself off-balance and sending the ball once again in the gutter.

It was a long afternoon. Once in a while she managed to take down a couple of pins, but by and large, her bowling game was a dismal failure.

As she sat out a game to give herself a breather, she happned to look far down the rows of lanes to where a group of very small children were playing. She couldn’t see them very well, but she noticed something rather disconcerting. Every time a child bowled, some of the pins were knocked down. One even got a strike a couple of times. This was pretty humiliating. Any one of them would have a higher score than she did. So she decided to walk down to where they were bowling and see what they were doing that she wasn’t.

As she approached the group, a tiny girl, barely able to carry the ball, walked to the line. She stood with her legs apart, then squatted and rolled the ball across the starting point. The ball barely crept down the lane. It wobbled  sluggishly, seemed to veer to the right, then to the left, then to the right like a drunken sailer. There was hardly enough momentum to reach the end. But sure enough, after what seemed like hours, it gently nudged an outside pin which tottered slightly, then almost in slow motion, it fell crossways, taking three other pins with it.

As the middle aged woman walked up to the chairs in front of the children’s alley, she understood why they were so successful. There were long metal bumper guards sitting atop both gutters. No ball, no matter how weakly or inexpertly launched, escaped the guards. For a certainty, everytime a child rolled a ball, some of the pins were going to go down.

Prayer is like that. In the Scriptures, God gives us parameters — bumper guards — for prayer. If we stay within those parameters, God hears us.

 The logical question, of course, is what are these parameters?

Believers Possess the Gold Mine of Prayer

What three conclusions can we draw from just the sheer volume of Scriptural information on prayer that we have?

First, the subject of prayer is of enormous importance to God. It is a subject we should give most careful attention to.

God wants us to understand prayer, to learn the Divine art of practicing it, and to revel in its privilege. He wants us to grasp its power, utilize its opportunities and make it the priority it should be in our lives.

Andrew Murray says:

Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the feeblest child can pray, it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise….The powers of the eternal world have been placed at prayer’s disposal. It is the very essence of true religion and the channel of all blessings….It is to prayer that God has given the right to take hold of Him and His strength. It is on prayer that the promises wait for their fulfillment, the Kingdom waits for its coming, and the glory of God waits for its full revelation.

Murray makes quite a claim here. Does prayer really affect the actual coming of the Kingdom? Is it something upon which the fulfillment of God’s promises actually depends? Is it indeed the highest and holiest calling to which man can aspire? Does it truly initiate angelic activity and does the will of God honestly depend on it?

We may not be theologians enough to split hairs over Murray’s claims, but we can know this: if even half of what he says about prayer is Biblically supportable, then prayer should have tremendous impact on our lives. The pursuit of its principles and practice should dominate our activities like nothing else.

The second conclusion we can draw from so much Biblical emphasis on prayer is this: God’s people through the ages have been people of prayer. They have praised, wondered, complained to, wrestled with and dared to confront Him. They have sought Him, cried out to Him, argued their cause with Him, and poured out to Him their sorrows, grief and desires. They have prayed on mountain tops, in muddy cisterns, in the heat of battle, and during the humdrum joys and despairs of ordinary life.

The third conclusion is: there is much instructon to be applied to the practice of prayer.  It is not a simplistic topic mastered in a short time by casual, careless application. It is a life-long course, a spiritual art, a vast ocean of possibilities never completely fathomed this side eternity. Prayer may be the natural outcry of all believers, but not all believers practice it to the same degree of skill. There is much to be learned and great depths to plumb.

To understand prayer and thus, practice it as God intended, we need the whole of His instruction on the subject throughout Scripture. To do otherwise is a mistake that results in wrong expectations and bad prayer habits. We begin to think of prayer as a “genie in a bottle” resource where we tell God what we want and He is expected to pop out and grant it.

How many times, for instance, have we heard of those who say,  “My father was ill and I prayed to God to heal him, but my father died. Prayer doesn’t work.”

Ignorance of what Scripture teaches on prayer swiftly becomes shoddy theology. Shoddy theology swiftly metamorphoses into empty phraseology, and empty phraseology brings forth discouragement, disilluionment, and most pathetic of all, boredom. Instead of the fiery power and magnificent treasure it is meant to be, prayer becomes a burdensome ritual, something believers barely mange to yawn their way through. When we get to that point we share a terrible trait with Esau. We despise our birthright.

To pray well demands we know Scripture well. There are no shortcuts.

Believers have access to unlimited resources and omnipotent strength.

PRAYER — The Gold Mine of the Believer

The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.

                                           Samuel Chadwick

 Some years ago there was a blurb in a small church bulletin announcing the start of a new financial ministry. In encouraging its members to take part in the classes, it made an off-hand statement that suggested Scripture more often addresses the subject of money than it does the subject of prayer.

Perish the thought!

Scripture does address our use of money, but it doesn’t come close to what it records about prayer. Scripture says a lot about prayer.

It says a LOT about prayer.

In Genesis Isaac prays for Rebecca because she is barren. In Exodus Moses prays regarding his dealings with Pharaoh. In Leviticus, a priesthood and the sacrificial system are established — two prerequisite concepts necessary for prayer.

In Numbers Moses intercedes during the plague of snakes. In Deuteronomy he again intercedes during the fiasco of the golden calf.

In Joshua the Gibeonites prevail because Israel does NOT pray. In Judges Samson prays for strength to pull down the temple of the Philistines.

In Samuel Hannah prays and God gives Israel one of  its greatest leaders ever. (In fact, if we think the Church needs more Samuels, maybe what we really need is more Hannahs.) In Kings God essentially tells Solomon, “Ask Me for anything…” then Hezekiah prays and 185,000 soldiers of the attacking Assyrian army literally drop dead overnight.

In Chronicles David prays at the inception of a “house” for his name. In Ezra, Ezra records the prayer for the exiles returning to Jerusalem.

In Nehemiah, the people praised, worshiped and prayed regarding their return. In Esther, Esther goes before God and fasts regarding Haman’s plot.

And at the end of his book, a treatise on the mysteries of human suffering, Job prays and sacrifices for his friends.

In Psalms – what can be said, except that the entire book expresses the praise, meditation, worship and prayer of the redeemed heart.

In Isaiah, the prophet cries to God for Israel. In Jeremiah, Jeremiah approaches God over the unfairness of Pashur’s persecution. In Lamentations there is agonized grief expressed to God over the devastation of Jerusalem. And in Ezekiel, Ezekiel complains to God of the people’s scorn toward his ministry.

In the Minor Prophets, Hosea through Malachi, there is a continual theme of coming judgment and Israel’s absolute refusal to cry out to God in repentance. The book of Jonah might be the exception, but in it, Jonah is probably the only man in history to pray from the bottom of the sea in the belly of a fish.

Matthew contains the disciples’ model prayer. Mark records Christ praying in Gethsemane. Luke tells us John the Baptist was born in answer to Zecharias’ prayer, and Anna is a woman who fasted and prayed, then held the Messiah in her arms.

John gives us Christ’s great High Priestly prayer. Acts shows the prayer of the 1st c. Church. Romans contains the magnificent doxology of chapter 11 which answers the great philosophical questions of life, that is, Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? It answers those quesitons with, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.”

Corinthians tells believers they help ministry with their prayers. Galatians gives us the concept of “Abba, Father,” the initial prayer cry of the infant saint. Ephesians says the armor of God dresses us for prayer and spiritual warfare. Philippians reminds us to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer…”

We see Christ, our Great High Priest, Who lives and makes intercession (at this very moment) for the saints in the book of Hebrews.

If we lack wisdom, James tells us — ASK for it. Peter tells us to be “clear-minded and self-controlled.” Why? So we can pray.

I John instructs us on praying according to God’s will. Jude instructs us to pray “in the Holy Spirit.”

And the final benediction in Revelation is a prayer — “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” Appropriately, the very last word of Divine Writ is the word “Amen.”

The only three books that do not directly address prayer are Ruth, Song of Solomon and the New Testament book of Titus. But Ruth presents to us the kinsman redeemer, picturing the One who makes prayer possible in His relationship with us; Song of Solomon speaks of two besotted lovers, which pictures the relationship between Christ and His Church; and Titus exhorts us to walk “soberly, righteously and godly” in this present world. All three suggest a communing and personal interaction between the believer and the Lord.

These few references are only scratching the surface. It could be estimated that fully 30% of the entire totality of what God sees fit to communicate to man is some form or instruction or insight into the unbelieveably majestic honor of prayer.