A Strong Answer to a Weak Prayer- Acts 12

Original picture by deviantart user navalatanjjnn and used under a Creative Commons License

Have you ever prayed for something only to be disappointed that you did not get the answer you prayed for? If you've prayed very much at all, then I doubt very seriously that you would answer "no" to that question. So let me ask another. When a prayer is not answered the way you had hoped, have you found yourself asking if you possibly "prayed the wrong way" or if you didn't "pray with enough faith?" I've admitted it before, and I'll admit it again, prayer is not something I feel I understand well. I will teach about it from what I can gain from the scriptures. And I try to apply that teaching to my life. But I have become convinced that if faith itself is actually one of the spiritual gifts of the Spirit (Romans 12:3), then that is not one of the gifts I have been blessed with. At times, I would say that in a complaining way. I wish that I had more faith. I wish I could emulate the faith I see in others and make courageous decisions and "pray dangerously" as some talk about. And at times, I do. But more often than not, my prayers are burdened with doubt.

And it is for that reason, that I draw such great encouragement from this story of the church praying for Peter.

In case you are unfamiliar with the context, you can read it here. The cliff's notes version is that Peter had been arrested following the death of James and his execution was imminent. So the church did the only thing it could do, which was also the most powerful thing it could do. They prayed earnestly. 

From the comfort of our homes and church buildings 2,000 years later, we can read that statement in verse 5 without batting an eye. We already know the end of the story because we have already read Peter's letters that he wrote much later in his life! We already know God answered their prayers to save him. The way in which he was saved is pretty amusing in itself as we see Peter being led out of the prison in a half stupor until he is finally free and realizes what has happened! But the part that encourages me and my lack of faith is the brutal honesty with which Luke records the church reacting when they are in the act of praying itself and are told by Rhoda that not only had their prayers been answered, but that Peter was standing outside!

A more self-righteous group of people might have been persuaded to have left the details out. They might have been tempted to boast about their confidence in the power of prayer. Luke might have recorded them as celebrating and talking about how they just knew God would grant their requests. But that is not what happened, and it is not what Luke recorded.

What Luke did record is that when Rhoda slammed the door in Peter's face and kept telling the others who were gathered in prayer that he was outside, they told her she was crazy! When she insisted, they decided maybe she's not crazy...so it must be his angel! In other words, Peter had been killed and his angel was now appearing to them! It's actually kind of humorous to me that Luke even records that Peter just keeps knocking until they finally come see for themselves! I have to wonder if Peter wasn't tempted to repeat with a joyful twinkle in his eye what Jesus had said to him so many times before, "Oh you of little faith! Why did you doubt?"

Now, if their assumption about what they were being told was that Peter was that Rhoda was crazy or that Peter was dead, I have to ask, what were they praying for!? Weren't they praying for Peter's deliverance? Or had they already given up praying for deliverance and begun praying merely for his courage and faith to remain intact? And if the latter was their prayer, were they praying that because they did not believe God had the ability to save him?

The only thing I feel confident in saying is that the church most certainly did believe in the power of God to do whatever the will of God wanted. And yet, they were astonished when their prayers were answered by a direct act of God's intervening power.

That gives me the courage to keep praying in spite of my doubt because I know that God's answers to prayer do not depend on my ability to pray well. They don't even depend on my ability to pray with no doubts. Yes, I know the verses about praying with faith and not praying with doubt. But I also know that Jesus Himself was told "no" in the garden! And I am sure that I will be too, no matter my level of faith! And I am also confident that God's power is in no way affected by my weak faith!

And so I will pray. At times I will doubt while I pray. I will not doubt that God has the power to work; but more so that God will choose to work through my prayers. But He has told me to pray. He has told me that He answers prayers and that His will is always for the good of those that love him. And when I can remember those things, I will also occasionally pray with great faith.

But whether in weakness of doubt, or in greatness of faith, I will pray. And I will trust that God knows how and when to save His people in the best way physically and spiritually and emotionally possible.

The Choice to Forgive- Acts 7:59-60

Compare that prayer for forgiveness to some of the Psalms...take Psalm 109 for instance where David is praying about some of his enemies:

⁶ Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
    let an accuser stand at his right hand.
⁷ When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
    and may his prayers condemn him.
⁸ May his days be few;
    may another take his place of leadership.
⁹ May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow.
¹⁰ May his children be wandering beggars;
    may they be driven from their ruined homes.
¹¹ May a creditor seize all he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
¹² May no one extend kindness to him
    or take pity on his fatherless children.
¹³ May his descendants be cut off,
    their names blotted out from the next generation.
¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord;
    may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
¹⁵ May their sins always remain before the Lord,
    that he may blot out their name from the earth.

I couldn't help but think of the contrast between these two prayers when I read Acts 7:59-60. David and Stephen were both doing the will of God. David had people who were out to get him for the job he was trying to do as king of God's people. Stephen had people who got him for the job he was trying to do as God's ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). David prayed for vengeance. Stephen prayed for forgiveness.

What was the difference between the two men and between their prayers?

I'm not sure I understand that question completely. I know that David was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). His prayer for vengeance is included in the sacred scriptures that God's people have used to draw closer to God and to worship God. Someone pointed to the difference in their roles. David was instructed by God to fight battles against wicked people. He was a man of war. Perhaps that lead to a different type of prayer against someone who was opposing the kingdom of God.

What I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt about Stephen, was that he was a follower of Christ. And that didn't just mean he claimed his name. It meant that, to the best of his ability and with the help of the Spirit of Christ who lived in him, he also claimed Christ's life and attitudes as his own. I wonder if Stephen actually thought about Jesus' prayer on the cross "Father, forgive them for the know not what they do." I wonder if he was simply so connected to Christ that it flowed out of him without thought and without effort.

I think without a shadow of a doubt that the peace that controlled his life and his mouth and his emotions to the point that he was able to pray for God not to hold the sin of his murder against his murderers was that he knew exactly where he was going after the stones had finished their work. He had just been given a vision of heaven and of Jesus at the right hand of God. And before he prayed for God to forgive his murderers, he prayed for God to receive his spirit when the murdering was completed.

I've always been impressed with Stephen's faith and his compassion for his enemies, but I had never caught one of the answers to his prayer. William Barclay quotes the early church father Augustine as saying, "The Church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen."

Wow.

Look again at the picture above. Find Saul in the bottom right-hand corner with the coats underneath him. And thank God that He forgave Saul and changed his name to Paul. Think about the passages that Paul wrote that have comforted and strengthened you. Think about the Christians that were converted by Paul that passed their faith down through the ages until it reached you. And thank him for the courage and the compassion of a Christian named Stephen who believed in God's grace through Christ so much that he offered it even to his murderers...one of whom was Paul.

Look around at the people in your own life. Think about the enemies that you would rather pray for vengeance to come upon them. I'm not sure what the theological implications of Psalm 109 are for a Christian today. Can we pray that same prayer as David did? Would it be right? Would it be wrong? Would it be dishonest not to and to "force" a prayer of forgiveness for my enemy when I would rather pray for revenge? I won't try to answer those questions. I'll just say that I praise and thank God that Stephen chose to pray Christ's prayer for Paul instead of David's prayer for his enemies.

Which will you choose?

What do we pray for? Acts 4:29-30

I spent a couple of hours between yesterday and today talking to a lady at the hospital who asked for a preacher. I had never met her before but she identified herself as a member of one of the other congregations in town and said that she was having trouble getting in touch with someone from there. It became very apparent as soon as we started talking that the reason she wanted to talk to a preacher was because she was very frustrated about a neighbor who was causing her trouble. I couldn't follow everything she said, but by the end of it, I was reading Jesus' instruction in the Sermon on the Mount about praying for your enemies and loving them even when they spitefully use you.

I'm still not sure if the message sank in. She insisted that she was praying that her neighbor would leave her alone and that she would be able to have peace. I tried to encourage her to pray a different way. To pray that God would actually bless her neighbor instead of just praying for peace through the situation and for her neighbor to mind her own business.

Praying for that kind of stuff when someone is doing us wrong just simply isn't easy. It cuts against our grain. And yet Jesus commanded it. I don't fault this lady for struggling with the idea. I do too. When I got back to the office and looked at the verse for today, this idea of what exactly it is that we are praying for hit me again.

The context of the passage above is that Peter and John had just been arrested twice and beaten once because they were speaking out in the name of Jesus. In fact, they had healed a man in the name of Jesus and refused to not give Jesus credit and preach in his name in the shadow of the healing. And after they were released, they went back to the other disciples and the disciples prayed this prayer. They knew persecution was coming, but they didn't pray for safety. They knew beatings were on the way and they didn't pray for protection. They knew it was going to be difficult and they didn't pray for an easier road.

They prayed that God would give them the strength to continue speaking in spite of the threats!

They prayed that God's power would be displayed through signs and wonders in the midst of the persecution!

I'm afraid that it is far too often that my prayers center completely on me and on my wants and desires. I try not to be selfish or self-centered, but I pray about the stuff that is worrying me and I ask God to take it away. Not so with the people who were this close to the death and resurrection of Christ. They understood in a very visible way the reality of the resurrection and the power of God. And therefore, they prayed that God's will would be done and that they would be enabled to do it. I want to have that heart! I want to have that abandon of personal protection and comfort and I want to be strengthened and emboldened to do and to say the things that God has called me to do and to say. And even though my personal wants usually bubble to the surface first, my deeper self...who I am at the core wants what God wants. Sometimes I just have to remind myself of that.

What do you pray for?

Do you pray that God would remove your obstacles or that He would give you the strength to overcome them?

Do you pray that God would give you the strength to overcome the obstacles that stand in your way or the obstacles that stand in the way of the advancement of the kingdom of God?

What do you pray for?

Perhaps when we evaluate our prayers we will see that we have not truly been obeying Jesus' instruction about prayer when he began his prayer with "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Maybe, if we start praying unselfishly as the early church did, we will start seeing more direct answers to prayers because we will truly be praying the will of the Father. Perhaps if we regain the passion for God's will to be done no matter the comfort or advancement of our own wills, we will get more passionate about saving souls than casting votes. More excited about winning lost sheep to Christ than winning ballgames. More serious about knowing the Savior of the World and making Him known to others than knowing the answers to the final exam.

What do we pray for?

 

Before the Spirit came...they prayed- Acts 1:14

I think I have acknowledged this before...I have never felt extremely confident in my prayer life.

Even as I type that, I recognize a glaring error...it doesn't matter whether I feel confident in my prayer life or not...it matters whether I feel confident in the God I am praying to.

Having said that, let's look at this passage.

The context is that the disciples of Christ (about 120 of them) were following Jesus instructions about waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised them. They didn't know what to do. They didn't know when He would show up. They just knew that Jesus had told them to go to Jerusalem and to wait.

And they obeyed.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I read at least one commentator who referred to the book of Acts as the Gospel of the Holy Spirit. It is very telling to me as we look forward to how the Holy Spirit was going to fall on this group of disciples so powerfully in chapter 2, that they were "with one mind continually devoting themselves to prayer."

What are things we are unsure about? What are things we can't quite see what the next step is? What decisions are facing you personally, or facing your family, or facing your church body as a whole? When the disciples knew absolutely nothing about what God's plans for them were and how they were supposed to proceed, they simply prayed together. I think about the disagreements that would arise later in the church about the entrance of the gentiles. I think about Paul and Barnabas's disagreement about John Mark. I think about all of the other "discussions" that have been had in churches down through the centuries. I am convinced that the seeds of those differences of opinions were at least already there on those days when the 120 were gathered to pray. And yet they were of "one mind"...and in that "one mind" they were praying.

And what was their "one mind"? I am convinced it was that they were all devoted to the Christ they had put absolute faith in. They were all absolutely devoted to following Him and His Spirit that would come soon no matter what the costs. And they were devoted to depending utterly and completely on the God who had the power to raise Jesus from the dead. So they prayed.

I feel like I would give anything to have been a part of that room. I wish I could learn from those who asked Jesus directly "Lord, teach us to pray." I wish I could see the group and individual dynamics of prayer that existed in this body of believers. But maybe, it's all the same that I cannot. Maybe God intended it that way so we would have to depend on Him for how to pray now just as I'm sure they did then.

As we seek to follow the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ almost 2,000 years later, may we recognize that the Spirit they were waiting on is still here with us today. May we be united, not in all of the details of the "hows" and the methods and the opinions- because we can never be united in all of those things this side of eternity. But may we be united in our commitment to follow the guidance of the Spirit through the Word and through prayer. May we re-learn how to pray together in ways that bring the power of the Spirit forcefully into our congregations and into our cities.

May we once again be a people of power...only because we are a humble people of prayer. What will you pray today? How will you encourage someone else who is a fellow believer to pray? Who will lead our churches once again to "with one mind, continually devote ourselves to prayer?"

Quit praying like God is a dead-beat dad.- Matthew 7:9-11

Original photo by Flickr user bterrycompton

Ask any kid in the U.S. over the age of 5 what they want for Christmas this year or for their birthday and I guarantee that 95% of the answers will begin with the letter "i"- as in i-pad, i-phone, etc. I may be exaggerating the age a little...it very well might be 4! By the way, did you know that 78% of all statistics are made up on the spot :)

I suppose with the traffic to Opry Mills backed up for a mile and half 23.5 hours of the day from last week till Christmas, it is appropriate that we come now to this verse about giving gifts. What's on your kids' list? was I right? Did it involved the letter "i"? If it didn't, I would be willing to wager that it at least involved some electronic gadget...even if they already have one!

I think it's possible that our extreme affluence (even those of us who don't consider ourselves to be rich are actually filthy rich compared to the rest of the world and compared to previous generations) has tainted our understanding of Jesus' command to ask, seek, and knock and His comparison to a Father that gives good gifts to his child.

Last week we committed to asking, seeking, and knocking trusting that God would answer, open, and be found based on Jesus' promise. But we addressed that it is difficult to believe those promises in light of what seem to us to be unanswered prayers. The problem is quite so much in figuring out a theology that is suitable to explain it in a way that makes sense. The problem is figuring out how that theology fits when I am the one who has lost a loved one. When it's a personal unanswered prayer, it becomes much more real.

In our passage for this week, Jesus compares God' willingness to give us good things to the dads that we see every day.

I have to tell you...I feel like I'm a pretty strong dad. I don't give in all of the time to my daughters when they are whining or are begging for something. Why? Because some of the stuff that they ask for, I know they really don't need and often I know that it will actually hurt them! But when they really ask in a sweet way and give me that look...let me tell you, I've caved a time or two! (Thankfully, they haven't quite figured out how to manipulate me completely, but I'm sure my time is limited!)

But what if they asked for something that I know they actually do need? I'm here to tell you, if my daughters were really hungry and in need of food, I'm pretty sure I would do just about whatever it took to provide it for them when they asked. I'm just thankful that God has provided for us so well, that I have not been put in a situation that I felt like I needed to steal. I'm not saying it's right...I'm just saying, if they were really in need, and I couldn't figure out any other way to put food in their bellies...I'm not sure what I would do. Please don't blow up the comments about the rightness or wrongness of stealing...I know its wrong. That's not the point. The point that Jesus points to is the desire of earthly fathers, who are very, very imperfect- in fact Jesus says "evil"!- to provide for and take care of their children.

Take the most doting, spoiling his little princess, wrapped around little fingers dad in the world. His emotional connection and love for his child is nothing compared to the emotional connection and love that God feels toward His children.

I tell my daughters every day how much I love them. I try to tell them every day that I don't love them nearly as much as their Daddy in heaven. I want them to trust Him more than they trust me. I want them to petition Him even more than they petition me. I get frustrated with their requests sometimes because of their 3-yr old selfishness and whinyness. But God the Father begs us to bring all of our complaints and worries and fears and needs to Him.

What a beautiful picture.

Unfortunately, there are some who did not, or do not, have a good relationship with their dad. I assume this verse must be hard for them because they have not experienced a dad who desired what was best for them. All I can say to them is this...the promise of the Heavenly Father...Abba..."Daddy" is for you and maybe in an even deeper way. All through scripture God's love for the orphaned and fatherless is shouted from the law and the prophets.

May we all work to focus and to help our children to focus more on the gifts of answered prayer and the providences of God every day that we take for granted. How many meals did you eat today? Did you drive to work? Do you have a job? Did you pick which clothes to wear today? Did you forget how cold it was outside until you opened the door of your centrally heated house? Boy do we have a lot that we haven't even thought to ask for and yet it's been given us!

When we struggle with why some prayers are not answered the way we want, may we take comfort and gain strength from the infinite numbers of prayers that He has already answered...before we even asked for them. May we quit being ashamed to pronounce our faith in answered prayers because some of them have not been answered the way we hoped. May we quit praying hesitantly and timidly as if Abba were a dead-beat Dad that we had to beg for the things we need. And may our thanks for the countless blessings He's already given us turn into strengthened faith for future prayers.

I've asked. I've seeked. I've knocked. Why have I still not recieved the open door I've been seeking for?- Matthew 7:7-8

For everyone who asks, receives; the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  - Mt. 7:8

One quick question...

If all I have to do is ask then how come I haven't gotten everything I've ever asked for?

Do you struggle with that as much as I do? I have often come to the "prayer promises" passages in the Bible and either rushed through them so I didn't have to deal with them, or else I've just settled to not fully understand them.

I remember very plainly standing in a hospital room of a young man who had either just died or was dying. I am actually fairly confident that he was already dead, but the doctors, for some reason, had not pronounced him dead yet. With his wife wailing in the room, I began praying...earnestly. I reminded God that he had raised people from the dead before. In fact, He had raised people who were much more dead than this man if he was in fact dead. (Lazarus was already in the tomb long enough to start smelling when Jesus told him to come out!) I knew then, and I still do, that God has more than enough power to raise someone who has already been pronounced dead. With that knowledge, I pleaded with God to put life back into this young man who still had not been pronounced dead.

I reasoned with God. I pointed out the praise that He would get when the doctors had to pronounce a miracle instead of a time of death. I begged for the wife of the man that I didn't know how she would make it if he died. How as it fair to let him die when he had raised others!?

I kept praying after even the wife had even given up hope that there was a real reason why the doctors had not pronounced him dead yet. And I left the hospital- and his funeral a few days later- frustrated that this verse about the surety of asking, seeking, and knocking is so difficult to understand in practice.

I also remember the feeling when I walked out to the Vanderbilt parking garage with my brother the night I thought my daughters were going to be born at 27 weeks. They wound up coming at 29.5 weeks and are doing great now! But that night, we got the visit from the doctor who was in charge of telling us all of the statistics of mortality and morbidity for babies that are born that early. Jon David walked me to the car and I shared what had been screaming silently in my mind for hours. "I prayed several weeks ago that if they weren't going to be faithful to God and Christ as adults, that God would take them before they got to that point and were still innocent."

Timidly, I still pray that prayer. I would rather lose my daughters who I love with all my heart for the next several decades and have them for all of eternity than have them till I die and lose them for eternity. That is still my prayer...but that night, anyway, I was scared to death that God had answered my prayer...and I wanted Him to take it back.

Why do we see such strong promises in the scriptures and from the mouth of Jesus and yet know that sometimes prayers are answered with "no?" Jesus, himself, was answered "no" in the Garden of Gethsemane when he begged the Father to take his cup from him. How do we reconcile that?

I have to say humbly that I still have no idea. I know intellectually the arguments about Jesus praying, "nevertheless not my will by yours be done." Those are good and true arguments. But how are we supposed to pray at all believing these commands of ask, seek, and knock when we can't see the specific and detailed plans and will of God from his eternal perspective instead of our temporary one?

Here is what I choose to believe.

Jesus was telling the truth. God makes big promises about our prayers and petitions. Jesus- and others (think Elijah in James 5:17-17)- put that truth into practice and saw incredible results in their prayers. And still at times they were told "no." I wonder if they struggled with these questions like we do. But they chose to believe. And while at times they may have been frustrated and confused about not seeing what God sees when the "no's" came, they chose to keep praying, seeking, and knocking. And their prayers closed and opened the heavens, raised the dead, and healed the sick.

I wonder if I see more "no's" than "yes's" simply because I have not chosen to translate my belief into actions and adventurous faith-led and faith-filled risk-taking like they did. I wonder.

I don't know that I will ever come to a good answer. I have some theories that I am comfortable with. But I don't think they would do you any good, because they didn't do me any good until I came to them myself. But I will choose to believe...and I will pray the prayer of a father who believed as much as he could.

I will choose to ask, seek, and knock expecting the results Jesus promised and when God questions my lack of faith I will reply like that father, "I do believe! Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)

Finally, reinforcement for procrastination! - Matthew 6:24

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 Have you ever heard someone speak or been on the phone with someone who seemed to have multiple conclusions to the sermon or the conversation? You keep thinking, "Oh, this is it. He's done," but then something else is added and concluded again? I feel like that is what verse 34 is. Last week we looked at what would have been a perfect conclusion to the section on worry, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you," but then Jesus adds verse 34 and concludes the section again with a call that on the surface seems to contradict much of the prior teaching. Here the conclusion seems to have gone from "do not worry...period" to "do not worry...about tomorrow, there's enough to worry about today."

And I have to be honest. I am incredibly glad and thankful that Jesus added another conclusion. It's almost as if Jesus knows our hearts and knows how difficult the instruction "do not worry" is. Kind of like "he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14). But I don't think that Jesus is simply letting us off the hook and softening the teaching to something that we can actually handle. That doesn't sound at all like the rest of the sermon on the mount in which he keeps saying, "you have heard that it was said...but I say to you." What I do think Jesus is doing is calling us back to the same reality that he has been calling us to throughout the entire section...worry can't do a single thing about whatever the problem is!

And when we realize that truth, then we can finally enter into a position of trusting God. And trusting God is what faith is all about. I think a couple of passages from the Old Testament will help shed some light on the discussion.

 Isa 33:2- "O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress."

What if we trained ourselves to pray only for what is needed for the day? Sounds kind of like another familiar prayer, doesn't it? "Give us this day or daily bread." How much worry and stress could be eliminated from our lives if we simply learned to start each morning assessing what must be done for the day and asking God to stay with us and empower us with the Spirit that He has already given us just for the things that we have to get done today!? How much freer and less overwhelmed would we feel if we recognized that we are not responsible for our tomorrows...we are only responsible for our todays!?

How about this passage from Lamentations which was written after Jerusalem had been destroyed and its people were in the process of being carted off. Talk about a situation in which worry and stress would be a normal part of every day!

But Jeremiah writes:
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, the LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."   - Lam. 3:22-26

I'm not exactly sure what my life will look like in a couple of weeks. I'm trying to juggle several different roles and dropping any of them is just not an option. I'm worried about not being able to function well in any or all of the roles due to lack of sleep and time. I think about new roles that will be added soon (like a new baby boy that I'm ecstatic about!) and how that will decrease sleep and time even more. And if I'm not careful, I begin to worry.

But this is what I know. God is great. This great God lives in me. And I am COMPLETELY confident that He will see me and my family through today. I know that for a fact, no matter what happens today. And tomorrow when I wake up- if I can remind myself that He saw me through today, then He will also see me through tomorrow- then I will be able to live in the moment in trust and peace because, "I know who holds tomorrow."

May we all see God's providence for today and lean on all of the days of providence in the past so we can live with courage and peace and joy each  day as it comes instead of seeing the problems of tomorrow as so big that we cannot see the providences of today.

 I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

words by Ira Stanfill

I don't know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what lies ahead.
Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

* Lest moms of teenagers everywhere start attacking me because of the title...No you shouldn't put off till tomorrow what you can do today...you just shouldn't worry about tomorrow because when you do, you are forgetting about the blessings of the day. :)

When you fast... Matthew 6:16-18

Original Photo by Wikimedia user Jean Fortunet

 

Jesus fasted (Matthew 4:2)

He taught about fasting assuming its role in the life of a disciple (Matthew 6:16-18)

He stated that his followers would fast after his departure (Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:20; Luke 5:35)

He stated that some demons could only come out by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29)

Anna fasted often (Luke 2:37)

Fasting and prayer as a church was practiced by the early church (Acts 13:2-3)

Paul and Barnabus prayed and fasted as they appointed and installed elders (Acts 14:23)

Those are just a few of the examples of fasting being mentioned in passing and being explicitly taught about in the New Testament. Fasting is all the way through the Old Testament. My question is this...

If Jesus talked about and taught how to fast...
And if He made statements assuming his followers would fast...
And if we have several examples of the early church fasting both together and individually...

Then why have I never heard a single sermon or sat in a single class on fasting?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly complaining. After all, I have been a full-time minister for over 8 years. I have been teaching at least 2 Bible classes a week almost every week for that period of time. I have had ample time to both study, and begin teaching about fasting. I am a grown man and have been a Christian for long enough that I ought to have at least somewhat of a level of Christian maturity and discipline by now. And yet, in  8 years of ministry, I have only mentioned fasting a handful of times and have not dwelt on it much when I did. What's worse, is that my personal fasting has been at about the same track record.

Why?

Is it possible that over the years, when the church has fallen into error with Jesus' teaching about practicing righteousness before God instead of men, it fell a different direction with fasting than it did with prayer and with almsgiving?

Think about it...most of our giving is typically done through the church and we refer "benevolence cases" to the church office instead of helping people privately. It seems that all too often, we fall into patterns of rote prayers in public because we are not comfortable with prayer in private. Yet when it comes to fasting, we have soaked in Jesus teaching about it being a private manner so much that we NEVER talk about it in the assembly of saints and we most certainly never practice it together as a body. Why is public prayer any more acceptable when Jesus said to go into your room  and pray in secret? Why can we preach and teach on the importance of giving? The structure of the teachings about giving, prayer, and fasting are very close to identical in Matthew 6 and yet we have treated the first two subjects very differently than the last.

Because of that, I fear that we now have generations of Christians who are completely unaware of the mechanics, the necessities, and the blessings of fasting...and I am including myself in that.

But how are we supposed to talk about it when Jesus stressed privacy so much?

Well...I'd say we are at least free to talk about it the same way Jesus and the early church did, wouldn't you!? We can teach how it's done in a God-honoring and soul-benefiting way. We can let others know that not only are we praying for them, but we are fasting for them as well. We can fast together just as we pray together, knowing that both praying and fasting are sometimes strengthened with the power of unity and strength in numbers. The early church did all those things...can we?

I think what it boils down to is the same thing everything else in the Sermon on the Mount boils down to...the heart. It doesn't matter how many people know or don't know that you are praying, giving alms, or fasting...what matters is that you are doing it to please God and not to impress people!

Here is my plea to those of you who are like Anna, and Paul, and Barnabus, and Peter, and the early church and are spending time in prayer and fasting and are reaping benefits from it...teach me. And teach the rest of my generation. Share it with your own generation that has not found the blessings that you have found in it possibly for years. Call the rest of us on the carpet and encourage us to join you so we can share in the blessings and then teach future generations.

There is a chance our children will learn how to pray and study the Bible on their own even if we never teach them how to use the tools for study, and we never kneel at their beds with them. But we all know that it is a much slimmer chance than if we share the practical tips we have learned and we model it for them, and we go through it with them until they figure out how to do it on their own and then share it with someone else. And then we find incredible joy by being peers in study and in prayer with them instead of teachers! May we view fasting the same way we view prayer and Bible study.

I'd like to open the comments below to start the conversation. What have you learned about fasting? How has it benefited you? How have you found to overcome the struggles associated with it? How did you begin the practice? What do you do when you are fasting? You can feel free to post the comment anonymously in order to ensure that you are not sharing for the wrong reasons...but I beg you...for myself...to share it.

How can I forgive what they did to me!? Matthew 6:14-15

"But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 6:15

 I have twin 3-yr old daughters. If you squint your eyes a little and use your imagination just a tad, you could almost believe that the two girls in the picture above, are actually them. My girls are absolutely precious to me. Over the past 3 and 1/2 years they have gotten me and most other men they come into contact with wrapped around their fingers. Some of my greatest joys are watching them play together, hearing them laugh, and receiving their hugs and kisses.

Their mom is just as precious to me and more so, because I have learned to love her for almost 11 years now. I started falling in love because she is beautiful. I kept falling in love with her because of her sense of  humor that has always picked me up when I am down. I love her hugs and kisses and her unconditional love for me. More than anything I love her dedication and unwavering commitment to do what is right and her awareness of other other people's feelings.

In short, my greatest blessing on this earth are my wife and two daughters.

Now let's go to a twisted imaginary scenario.

Let's say that for some crazy reason- through negligence, malice, or whatever-...you kill my wife. Assuming a court system with no appeals in place and a very strict sense of justice that says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is absolute law, you must die to make pardon for your sin of killing my wife.

But let's also say that I love you dearly. You are one of my friends and as much as your actions have cost me pain, I can't stand the thought of losing my relationship with you. Let's say that because of my love for you, I quietly go to the judge and explain my dilemma. The judge, who has a very keen sense of justice, demands that a law has been broken and justice must be served. If he does not carry out capitol punishment, then he will no longer be a just judge. Let's say, I explain that I already know all of that and that is why I brought my one of my daughters along with me. And then I offer my daughters to be executed in your place so that a death will have occurred and justice will have been served. And then, because other are still looking at you funny and unwilling to forgive you for what you've done to me...I bring you into my house to live with me.

I'm guessing that your first feeling on reading that, was a sense of repugnance, and rightly so. The thought of me killing one of my daughters is a horrifying and disgusting thought. And let's get this straight...I am not capable of that much love for you because I have too much love for my daughters. It wouldn't happen in real life. But let's pretend like it did. How much of a sense of debt and gratitude would you feel toward me as the dad who sacrificed his daughter so you could live? Is there anything that I could ask you to do that you would not be willing to do?

Now let's fast forward 10, 20, or 30 years, when my other daughter who lived is all grown up. Let's say that for whatever reason, she has turned out to be a real nightmare. She is selfish, hateful, and mean-spirited. And, for whatever reason, you have been the target of her hatred and ugliness.

If I ask you to forgive her even if she is unwilling to repent and change her behavior toward you...could you? Could you find it in your heart to release her from the hatred and spite that she deserves for her bad behavior for the sake of my daughter that died in your place and for the sake of my love that saved you so many years ago? Could you treat her with respect even when she treats you with disdain simply because you remember how much I gave up for you and I am her father? Could you refrain from telling others about her shortcomings and the way she has abused you, not because of the way you feel toward her, but because I asked you to as her father? Could you love her with your actions and pray for her forgiveness even when your emotions are still raw from her actions?

Because that predetermined decision to forgive based on what has been forgiven you is exactly what God has asked us to do for his children who have wronged us. The only difference is that instead of only knowing his Son for 3 years or for 11 years, God the Father has loved His one and only unique son for all of eternity, and yet He still offered Him in your place. You know I wouldn't kill one of my daughters for you in real life...but God did kill His Son for you.

Can you forgive God's other children who are still in rebellion against their loving Father and are taking it out on you, not based on your feelings toward them, but based on your feeling toward their heavenly Father?

R.T. France speaks about Matthew 6:14-15 in the Tyndale Commentary Series and says, "The point is not so much that forgiveness is a prior condition of being forgiven, but that forgiveness cannot be a one-way process. Like all God's gifts it brings responsibility; it must be passed on. To ask for forgiveness on any other basis is hypocrisy."

Jesus illustrates this principle further in Matthew 18:23-35 with the parable of the unmerciful servant. In the story, the servant was forgiven to tune of an unfathomable amount of money and then he goes out to call a fellow servant to account for a much, much smaller some of money owed to him. I've always heard it told as if the fellow servant only owed him pennies and yet the man wouldn't forgive him, but that's not the case. The amount owed was 100 denarii, or 100 days wages. If you figure a minimum wage of $7/hr and figure a wage worker is working 8-12 hours/day that comes out to be a sum of $5,600-$8,400 in today's language. I don't know about you, but if someone owed me almost a third of a year of wages, I would not feel like it was just pennies! But compare that to the amount the servant had been forgiven by the king, 10,000 talents!! Most scholars say a talent was worth about 6,000 denarii. Using the same math as before, that's somewhere between $33.6 million and $50.4 million! And when you are talking about that kind of money, all of the sudden $8,400 actually does sound like pennies!

So what...

does that mean that I am supposed to forget about what someone has done to me even if they have not asked for repentance? Are we supposed to allow someone to continue to abuse us and others without calling them on the carpet? I recommend you read an excellent article by Jerrie Barber about when it would be a sin to forgive for some practical help on dealing with specifics. But that's about as far as I'll go toward answering those questions. Instead, I'll simply say...how has God forgiven you? Once you grasp that, let it lead you into how you should behave toward others who have wronged you understanding that God who has forgiven you already at the expense of the death of His Son has asked you to forgive His other children who are erring.

I can't imagine anything worse than getting to judgment day thinking I have lived my life for God and am secure in His grace and then hearing Him ask me why I refused to forgive my brother who owed me $8,400...or my parents who abused me...or my spouse who neglected/cheated on me...or my friend who betrayed me...or my church member who gossiped about me...or my coach who was a jerk to me...or my...you fill in the blanks.

How often do we pray for forgiveness? How often do we pray for forgiveness the way Jesus instructed us to..."as we forgive others." May we bring that part of the Lord's prayer back into our hearts and into our actions, and may God forgive us all for the times we have ignored it in the past...even as we forgive others who have ignored us.

The Lord's Prayer: Getting Past a Ritual- Matthew 6:9-13

"This, then, is how you should pray:

'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,  your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'"

- Matthew 6:9-13

I wanted to get a different perspective on the Lord's prayer this week, so I called someone whose prayer life I have always admired and respected and asked her to write an article on prayer. Betty Bennett has asked me several different times how something was going in my life that I had asked for prayers for months before. Her quiet smile when she walked away after finding out that things in that particular area had improved led me to believe that she had been praying for it specifically and was pleased to hear that her prayers had been answered in the affirmative.

When I think of Mrs. Betty, I think of the early years of the prophetess Anna....

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.^[a] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. - Luke 2:36-38

I am personally incredibly grateful for Mrs. Betty's prayers, and I am incredibly thankful for her words and honesty about her prayer life that she shares with you below. I hope they bless you as they have blessed me, and I hope and pray that we will all learn to lean on God the way she does so we can be used by God the way she is.

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Growing up as a child, in a Christian home, in the 1950's, prayer was certainly a part of my life, but not a large part. I was taught to pray before meals, "God is Great, God is Good" etc. At bedtime, it was "Now I lay me down to sleep." At school, believe it or not, we were even allowed to say "The Lord's Prayer" before starting our classes for the day.

Even though I attended the services of the church three times a week with my parents, I don't remember there being many lessons on prayer. To me it seemed that the deal was, "if all else fails, then pray but don't expect too much." I don't know what happened to the scripture in 1 Thess. 5:17, "pray without ceasing" or Rom. 12:12, where we are told to continue steadfastly in prayer.

As I grew older, married, and had my sons, prayer became an important part of my life. I prayed for wisdom, strength, patience and guidance. I tried to teach my boys that prayer was important to me by praying with them and encouraging them to pray. Of course, countless prayers were said on their behalf.

Over the years, as I have recited "The Lord's Prayer" found in Matt. 6:9-13, I think that is exactly what I did, RECITED, not thinking about the words that it contained. The words, "thy will be done" have played a very big part in my life these past three years.

On October 1, 2010, we were given Monte's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. We both knew the seriousness of this diagnosis but we also knew we had God and lots of "prayer warriors" on our side. We immediately began to pray, asking God for direction and for healing if it was God's will. We also prayed that somehow God would be glorified through this journey. As our journey progressed, there were many bumps in the road. The doctors and nuses were so impressed by our peacefulness and clamness. We told them that we had faith in God and we tried to live out our faith.

Monte's surgery was successful and the tumor was removed. The doctor's initial report was glowing and we praised God for that. He seemed to gain strength for a while. After undergoing chemo for several weeks, the CAT scan showed further spread of the disease. We were devastated!

Monte's health began to deteriorate more and more each week. Prayer was such an imporant part of our lives. I would kneel by his bed with tears streaming down my face, praying that God would heal him, yet also praying that somehow God would be glorified. In the latter stages of his illness, we would come to the table for our meal and he no longer had any strength. He would ask me to pray and pray I DID. We could not have faced what we did without prayer.

On Saturday, July 2, 2011, 12:45 PM, Monte was HEALED!! Not on this earth, as we both wanted so badly but for God's purpose or will.

These past two years have not been easy. Yes, there was even a time when I wondered about my own faith. Was it not strong enough? Did I doubt? Why did God say no? When I pause and take a step back and look at my life these past two years, I see things that I have done and accomplished that had Monte lived, I probably wouldn't have done, such as the widow's ministry and the City of Children mission trips. God has been glorified through Monte's death. Prayers were answered. Praise God!!

The ability to talk to my God each morning is such a blessing? I start each day with a cup of coffee in my hand, my Bible and my prayer list. I know our daily lives can be hectic, especially when raising families, but setting aside time to meet with the Lord is so worth it. I encourage it for you and your family.

When you read the prayer in Matt. 6:9-13, don't just read or recite it, but think deeply about the words He is saying. It is a good pattern for our lives. God knows what is best for us, He will provide for our needs and He will protect us. After all, it is the Lord's prayer.

- Submitted by Betty Bennett

Conversations with God...blah, blah, blah- Matthew 6:7-8

Photo by Flickr user evan courtney

 

"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."

- Matthew 6:7-8

"Guide, guard, and direct us"

"Be with the speaker of the hour"

"Bless the hands that prepared this food"

"Bless this food to our bodies and our bodies to your service"
"Ready recollection"

"We pray that everything has been done in accordance with your will."

"Let us take this cup/bread in a manner worthy of you."
"Let us give as we have been prospered"

You could probably add several to this list. In fact, I don't even have to tell you what the list is of...you already know what it is.

I won't pretend to know nearly enough about prayer to feel confident writing about it. However, Jesus addressed it often, and so must we. I guess it actually shouldn't be a surprise that the followers of Jesus are still asking "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1).

Last week we looked at verses 5 and 6 in which Jesus addressed the habit of the hypocritical Pharisees to pray with the motivation of being seen by men instead of being heard by God. But in our passage today, Jesus addresses the actual words used in the prayers themselves. And his instruction this time is not a critique of the Pharisees, but of the gentiles.

Where the Pharisees error was praying to be seen by men, the gentiles error was thinking that if they said things the right way and enough times, then they would be heard. It had turned prayer almost into an "incantation" in order to accomplish some "magic" instead of a conversation between two beings. I love how Jesus simply says, "Your Father already knows what you need." What a beautiful thought and encouragement when I keep running into the persistent doubts and worries that I am not "very good" at prayer or that I am doing it the wrong way!

So what about the phrases I've listed above? Since they are repeated so often that they have become cliches, are they the modern equivalent to what Jesus calls "meaningless repetition"?

Based on my understanding of this passage...I'd have to say...it depends.

What does it depend on?

It depends solely on the heart of the person praying. As we discussed before, Jesus is the only human who had the ability to see into people's hearts and that is why he was able to say what he did about the prayers of the Pharisees and the gentiles. Would he say it today about some of us? I have to say that I think he would. But I also have to say that I think he would say it just as quickly about my perfunctory prayer of thanks before a meal that uses none of the above phrases but is still more of a habit and ritual than an actual thanks for the gifts He has given me unless I am very careful and deliberate to slow down.

I think the point is this...God isn't worried about how I say something. He isn't even worried about me repeating something. Just read the Psalms! David was a man of prayer that we can all learn from and yet how many times did he repeat things in flowery language!? I believe the point is that I am to simply be honest with God and open with Him. That I am actually thinking about the words I am saying whether they are words I read in the Bible or words I heard my dad say before meals for 15 years. That I am actually centering my thoughts and my heart on the idea that I am approaching the throne of God to engage in conversation with Him....AND THAT HE DELIGHTS IN THAT CONVERSATION! When that thought is in my head above all others, then I will be able to break out of the mold of rote prayers that have lost meaning to me...and I will also be able to break out of the habit of judging others who use phrases that I could repeat in my sleep if the first part were started.

Its a matter of the heart...not the words. May we all seek to worship God in spirit and in truth instead of just going through the motions. And may we all choose to assume that others who are praying privately or publicly are doing the same.

An Audience of One- Matthew 6:5-6

photo by flickr user KAZVorpal

"Tebowmania"

It's been at least a few months since we have heard that word, right? Tim Tebow is a man who is either loved or hated and if you read and listen very long at all, you will realize that the bulk of the incredibly strong feelings toward or against him is his very public faith. His prayers on the football field have even led to a new word: "Tebowing" which of course refers to being on one knee in a prayer stance.

I found the picture above when looking for images for this post and the caption underneath it said "Pic of Tim Tebo going against this passage."

...apparently it was not posted by one of Tebow's fans.

I have absolutely no intention of saying what I think of the man in relation to this verse...because I don't know him. And to be honest...the verse isn't about him. It's not even about you. When I read it, it is only about me. 

The picture above omits verse 5 in which Jesus says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full."

Clearly, Jesus had a right to make this statement about others because he knew every man's heart (John 2:25). But guess who doesn't know anyone else's heart. Me...or you. Or anyone else walking around on the the earth these days.

The problem, though, is that if I am not allowed to look at anyone else's prayer life to understand what this verse means, then I have to look at my own...and sometimes that is painful. Maybe that is Jesus' entire purpose in the statement. There are times for public prayer. The early church spent much time in prayer together. We are definitely called to let our lights shine. I can't comprehend what that means unless, to a certain extent, my faith is on display as a witness to God's glory and His redemption and grace in my life. But when public prayer...even the prayers around the dinner table with just my family...are the bulk of my prayer life...it's a pretty good clue that something is amiss in my relationship with God.

Unfortunately, we always tend to think that we "should" pray more. And "shoulds" typically just lead to guilt when they are left undone. And guilt can only motivate for a very limited amount of time. But what if we viewed Jesus' comments here as an invitation into a private one-on-one conversation with the Lord of the Universe!? Would anyone ever have to convince me that I needed to make time to go to the White house because my favorite president really wanted to sit down with me!? Would I ever have to be guilted into rearranging my schedule in order to have back stage tickets to visit with my favorite artist or actor or a locker room pass to speak with my favorite athlete because that person heard about me and really wanted to spend some time with me!?

Let's all say it together... NO!!! We would be ecstatic at the opportunity and couldn't wait to get there!

May we each forget about how everyone else is praying and remember that the LORD of Lords and the King of Kings desires an audience with me. And He is willing to meet me wherever I want to meet Him. In fact, He seems to even prefer such ignoble places as the smallest room in my house when no one else is listening or watching, because prayer is about me and Him. Not me and you or me and anyone else. Because when I forget that and yet I continue to pray before meals, or before ballgames, or before the congregation, then I have become one of the hypocrites that Jesus is referring to and whatever praise someone may or may not give me for a beautifully worded prayer...is about all the results I will see from it.

Jesus didn't really mean this enemy, did he? Matthew 5:43-47

"The Christian principle, 'Love your enemies' is good....There is nothing to be said against it except that is is too difficult for most of us to practise [sic] sincerely."- Bertrand Russell

 As far as understanding goes...I very seriously doubt I need to write anything about this passage. It's not difficult to understand at all. The difficulty lies completely in the application of it. How can I possibly love someone who is hateful and spiteful toward me? Of course, the first obstacle that needs to be cleared is what it means to love. We should probably state first, that it absolutely does not mean warm fuzzy feelings toward someone. If it did, then loving enemies would simply be impossible. No, love is an action, not an emotion. I think deep down, most of us get that. But it is a truth that still needs to be pounded into our heads and our children's heads over and over again as we and they are bombarded with Hollywood versions of "true love."

And because love has everything to do with what you do and nothing to do with how you feel, Jesus tells us to do for our enemies the greatest act of love we could do for someone. He tells us to pray for them. Why? First of all, because doing good for those that are evil toward us, makes us more like our Father in heaven. Second, because doing so sets us apart from the rest of the world. Jesus said that our love for one another is what will prove to the rest of the world that we are his disciples (John 13:34-35). However, Jesus obviously meant more than just our friends and family when he said "one another" in that passage, because otherwise, the world would only see the same thing it could already see in the gentiles, tax collectors, mafia members, drug cartels, and immoral, yet close-knit families.

But let's not leave this command out in the generalities like we usually do in order to keep our conscience comfortable. Let's make it real.

Pull to the front of your mind the images of the Tsarnaev brothers. In case that name doesn't register, they are the ones responsible for the Boston Marathon bombers. Picture the face of Osama Bin Laden. Picture the family member or co-worker or friend that betrayed you or ripped you off. Picture that person who seriously damaged your children physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

Now you have the faces of some of your "enemies" in mind. Can you follow Jesus' teaching for that person? Have you ever said a prayer for a terrorist? Have you ever prayed for an enemy to be blessed?

Listen to Dallas Willard's response to Bertrand Russell's comment that I opened this article with:

He (Russell) was, of course, right as he understood it, for he was thinking of himself and others remaining what they were inwardly and nevertheless trying to love their enemies as occasion arose. Of course, they would fail, at least most of the time. As for Russell personally, some of long acquaintance with him and Russell himself knew he was filled with hatred. No wonder he found love difficult.

Russell's fallacy is the fallacy of the Pharisee. By now it should be recognizable. The Pharisee takes as his aim keeping the law rather than becoming the kind of person whose deeds naturally conform to the law. Jesus knew the human heart better than Bertrand Russell did. Thus he concludes his exposition of the kingdom kind of goodness by contrasting the ordinary way human beings love, loving those who love them, with God's agape love. This is a love that reaches everyone we deal with. It is not in their power to change that. It is the very core of what we are or can become in his fellowship, not something we do. Then the deeds of love, including loving our enemies, are what that agape love does in us and what we do as the new persons we have become.

I believe this is exactly what John meant when he said, "we love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

I remember hearing my brother-in-law passing on advice he had been given to one of my brothers who was very frustrated with a misbehaving brother in Christ. Barry said, "do you know what you need to do? You need to pray for him. Not that he will change, but just pray that God will bless him." And I can't remember the exact words after that, but Barry made it clear that the real reason to pray for God to bless the other person was because praying that prayer changes the pray-er.

How can we ever learn to love our enemies? We learn how God loves us. The heart that is truly touched by that agape love of God is stripped of pride, defensiveness, and selfishness and is freed to truly love others no matter what they have done. And so the child becomes more like the Father.