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Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts

Prayer: The Believer's Ministry

Posted on April 07, 2010 comments (3)
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I met with my mentor last year to discuss a grievous spiritual matter. Sitting on the couch where she has often gently counseled me, I shared with her a struggle I was having to break free of paralyzing doubts to enjoy prayer (not just petitions but really enjoying the Lord) as I once did.

It was all so random. Doubt just sashayed into my soul, took the podium front and center, and began to conduct an elaborate sabotage of my prayer life. From there, I continued to describe how I was suddenly restless to know the "context" through which I would serve God. For everyone around me seemed to be in their position and focused. They seemed clear on their calling in life. But me, I've felt and looked so random, unstable, unfocused, and nomad-like. I feel I’m a jack of all trades but a master of none. My interests are so vast and I believe I can learn anything if I have an encouraging and patient teacher.



Well, in her calm and consoling way, my mentor looked at me and said something profound and epiphany-like, "prayer is your ministry." In other words, prayer is a ministry task always available. It is my first ministry unto God. Aha! Then I thought of Anna, the widow, from the book of Luke. I thought how it is recorded that she ministered day and night, with delight and contentment, in the Temple to the Lord through prayers, fasting, and praise. The thought warmed and endeared me.

So, why give all that personal detail? Well, I hope to stir us up to pray. For I am convinced that prayer is every believer's ministry. Any believer experiencing God, (i.e. seeing and feeling Scripture become palatable, or God's movements in circumstances, or experiencing unusual blessings to the soul or the physical) is NOT experiencing something esoteric and unavailable to any other believer.

Prayer is a gate open to all believers willing to enter it, stay the course to triumph over its challenges, and mine the depths of its treasures. The believer is as Esther and Christ is our King--the golden scepter is forever extended toward us in favor. Why wouldn't we take FULL advantage of this benefit in our inheritance package? Do we understand what it is to have the favor of the King?



There is a saying, if you want to hide something valuable from a person (especially in the 21 century)--put it in a book. For, we seldom take time to read. I think this idea is transferable to some of us in the Christian community. If you want to hide something valuable from believers tell them to persevere in prayer to gain it.

....We are so afraid of the false that we quench what is true. We are people of extremes... There are some that are so orthodox but are absolutely dead, because they are so afraid of false excitement and the excesses of certain spiritual movements that they quench and hinder the Spirit and deny the truth...." --Martin Lloyd Jones



If some of us were brutally honest and courageous enough to reveal our thought-life, prayer is really quite ridiculous to us. We've seen it (we think) make a fool of too many people--believing something abstract and unlikely, by faith, that God "supposedly" spoke or lead, not to mention the damage the charismatic movement has done. There are all kinds of self-serving scams and personal deceptions going on in Christendom as it relates to prayer. So we play it safe. We clutch our prized reputations and vow to never be so risky or look so stupid or God forbid emotionally out of control. And consequently, our prayers remain powerless, perfunctory, and stoic—but, of course, doctrinally correct.

But prayer is indeed so much more than unverifiable abstractions and asking for earthly things we desire and need.

Rewarding prayer is when one comes to mount themselves upon an Altar (Romans 12:1-2) to be broken so as to bond with Christ. That is connect in such a way that we find ourselves praying in concert with the intercessions He is making at the right hand of the Father. That is connect in such a way that we pray in concert with the groaning(s) of the Spirit. That is allowing the Spirit to transfer His affections for the subject of our prayers to us--to the point He weeps or wages war through us. In this connection, we begin to pray His will into the earth for ourselves, the saints, even the world. Absolutely, exhilarating—intoxicating.

Prayer is also an occasion for uninhibited self-examination that produces a fresh brokenness over sin which leads to a spirit of thankfulness, surrender, forgiveness, and renewed joy and peace. It provides a fresh purity of heart and motive that was not present before you prayed. You know, it doesn’t always take some catastrophic event to humble or break us. No one has to know. The scripture says God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud. There is a reason God tells us to humble ourselves as we don’t want Him to do it for us. Prayer alone can humble us.

This is the best part of our salvation!

I encourage us to consider that prayer is a believer's first ministry. It is the launch pad to all other ministry in which we would engage. And one should be terrified to embark upon any place of official ministry in a Church without prayer being a pillar of their lives. If one struggles in prayer, praying with others is a great way to jump start affections that lead to prayer. Let us not quench His Spirit with our fear, pride, and unbelief. Let us go take advantage of this means of Grace. So what are your thoughts on prayer? What are your current obstacles? What step will you take today to triumph over the obstacle(s)?

Copyright © 2010

The Holiness of God

Posted on March 29, 2009 comments (2)
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God's sovereignty is undoubtedly intertwined with His holiness. What better time to focus on these subjects than at the 2009 Ligonier National Conference held last week in Orlando, FL. This year, the topic of the conference was "The Holiness of God." I attended most of the sessions, and I thought everything that was said was appropriately framed by R.C. Sproul's opening and closing messages. Here are some of the highlights from those two messages - notice how the line between God's holiness and His sovereignty are nearly indistinguishable:

Opening Message on The Holiness of God (Session 6)

God is Holy. The word "holy" has two meanings. In one sense, "holiness" refers to God's "otherness." He is different than anything created. In another sense, it refers to God's purity, as in, "Be holy as I am Holy." This can only be accomplished in the second sense. We cannot in this life or the next achieve holiness in the first sense of the word.

We are finite. There are limits/boundaries by which we are contained. God is boundless. "God is not bound by the borders of creaturely-ness . . . No matter how far we go, we can't reach the end of God, because there is no end."

God is immutable. Creatures change, God does not. He is not subject to change. God has the power of being in and of Himself, but nothing else can exist apart from Him. God didn't die on the cross -- Jesus did. If God had died at any point in time, creation would instantly vanish.

Conclusion: The God who is holy is the God who is sovereign.

Closing Message on the Holiness of God (Session 17)
Scripture Reference: 1 Chronicles 13
"The sin of Uzza was the sin of arrogance." - Jonathan Edwards

We tend to think that God was "unreasonable" in striking Uzza dead for touching the ark of the covenant. All Uzza was trying to do was save the ark from falling into the mud. Are we to believe that it would have been better to allow the ark to fall into the mud, when the mud is so dirty? Uzza assumed that contact with the mud was a greater desecration than contact with human hands. There is no sin in the dirt. There is sin in the human hand. This is why Uzza was killed. (C.R. Numbers 4, Leviticus 10).

We have become unimpressed with grace because we expect it. And when we expect it, we lose that sense of fear, awe, and reverence for God. (R.C. Sproul told a story about his days as a professor. When his students turned in an assignment late for the first time, they feared him and were thankful for his grace in the form of an extension. But they soon assumed grace was the norm and more students began turning in their term papers late. Eventually, the students demanded grace and believed they were entitled to it. They not only did not have their papers to turn in, but they no longer feared anything would happen to them if they didn't.) We cannot forget as people under God's grace that He is still holy.

Additional Quotes on the Holiness of God During the Conference

Robert Godfrey: "This is the essence of American religion: I like sinning. God likes forgiving. The world is well put together." (Isaiah chs. 6 & 53)

Thabiti Anyabwile: "Sin is contempt toward God. Don't say it was a mistake, or I messed up."

Alistair Begg: "On what authority do you do this? The money changers never objected to what He [Jesus] said, they just wanted to know by what authority was He saying it." (John 16:5-15)

Robert Godfrey (On predestination): "How is it that some believe and some don't? It's all according to God's sovereign purpose."

Ligon Duncan: Question: "What would make an Calvinistic evangelist even get up in the morning, knowing that nothing he does will affect the outcome of his work?"
Thabiti Anyabwile: Answer: "Guaranteed success!"

R.C. Sproul (on God's sovereignty in predestination): "Let me give you pastoral counsel if you don't like this concept: TOUGH!"

If you missed it or want to watch it again, the entire conference is available to watch (including the first five sessions of the pre-conference) by clicking here.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

Posted on November 04, 2008 comments (1)
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My first memories of religious education were in the first grade. I was raised Roman Catholic and every Monday I had to leave school early to attend CCD classes. At that age, the message is made very simple: God loves you, Jesus is your friend, pray to Him when you are afraid, etc. I happily attended those CCD classes. They were so comforting and fun.

By the time I was eight, these classes started getting complicated. I was bogged down with having to memorize prayers, learn the names of what seemed like a million saints, and obey all sorts of rules. One thing that always brought me comfort was whenever we talked about Jesus. There was just one thing that puzzled me, though. I kept hearing this phrase, "Jesus died to pay for your sins," but I didn't have a clue what that meant. Because we were often encouraged to be good little girls and boys, I had always assumed that a person enters heaven on the basis of their good works. If I was a good girl, God would then allow me into heaven when I died. So it left the Jesus question unanswered. Why did Jesus have to die?

That year my mother and I watched Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth on television during Easter Week. The evening the crucifixion scene aired, the question surfaced again, this time, from an actor in the film. An observer in the crowd muses, "He saved others, why can't He save Himself now?"

I turned to my mother after watching this and asked her, "Why did Jesus have to die?" She responded by rote, "To pay for our sins." Frustrated, I said, "But what does that mean? I don't understand! It's like that man said. He helped others, so why couldn't He help Himself? Why didn't He jump off the cross and show everyone How powerful He was? Why did He just stay there and say nothing?" My mother looked at me and simply said, "I don't know."

I was so disappointed. I was the type of child that needed a reason for everything, and at that moment I could find no reason for Jesus to have remained on the cross when He could have just escaped. Dissatisfied, I decided to come up with my own theory: the reason Jesus remained on the cross was because He wanted to "show off" just how powerful He was by raising Himself from the dead. Yes, that would certainly have much more of an impact than merely escaping the crucifixion! I was so pleased with myself, I went to school the next day and shared my theory with all my little friends. Thus, at the tender age of eight, I became the youngest false teacher I know.

Looking back on my childhood, I can see God was faithful to me. He did not leave me empty-handed. It may have taken ten years after I first asked this question of my mother, but I eventually got the answer I was looking for. The reason why Jesus remained on the cross is simple: He chose to stay there:
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. (John 10:17-18a)

Reader, no amount of good deeds will grant us entrance to heaven. If we claim we can get there based on our good works, we nullify God's grace and make the cross of Christ null and void (Galatians 2:21). Jesus had to die, because apart from His death, there is no other way for men to be saved. Think about it. If it were possible for you or me to get to heaven on our own simply by "being good," then Jesus died for nothing!

Imagine you were in a court of law, and you committed several heinous crimes, and you were found guilty, what would be your defense? If the judge posted bail at $50,000 dollars or sentenced you to life in prison, and you couldn't pay the fine, you'd go to jail for life. But let's say that at that moment, someone stood up in the courtroom and offered to post bail for you. Then, and only then, could you go free, because justice has been served.

This is what Jesus did on the cross. You see, all men are criminals in God's courtroom. All have sinned against God by breaking His law (the Ten Commandments). Only there is no sum of money will get us out of prison. Our bail has been posted at death. Jesus died to pay the fine, so we don't have to go to God's jail (hell). For further information, please click here.
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