Tag: Prayer-op

Margin notes: A Prayer from a Praise – Psalm 26:8

July 30th, 2019

Psalm 26:8 (ESV) — 8 O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.

Pray with me today won’t you:

Heavenly Father, may I love the habitation of your house – the place where your glory dwells – the people that are your Church.

Now.

May I love them Father.

May I see them as the place where your glory dwells.

May I see in them always the riches of your grace poured out on their brokenness.

May I not disdain a single one of them, but see them always as the objects of your love, and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

May I know of a certainty that you indwell them and that you manifest your glory there.

May I never forsake them – but seek them out to be with them wherever they may be found.

May I find ever more ways to bless them.

May I rejoice with them, weep with them, and praise your name together with them.

May my I encourage them when they are distressed,

Uphold their hands when they are weary,

Strengthen their feeble knees when prayer escapes them,

And point them ever and always to the grace of Christ, the power of your indwelling Spirit, the counsel of your Word and the sure promises of the resurrection.

Oh Lord, I love the temple where you live, the place where your splendor is revealed.

Help me to love it even more.
As I was reading today: Matthew 7

June 5th, 2019

Matthew 7:7–8 (ESV) — 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

We are all familiar with this passage. But unfortunately, it seems most often to be applied with the idea that if I want something from God, I must simply dun Him for it in prayer until I receive it. But I do not believe that is what Jesus is really after here. The context is the key.

I cannot help but think this admonition refers especially to coming to know our Father so as to have Him hallowed in our own hearts and minds…etc.. In other words – its main application is in encouraging us to trust that the petitions taught to us in the prayer of 6:9-13 – will indeed be ours if we set ourselves unswervingly upon them.

But why ask (and keep on asking), seek (and keep on seeking), knock (and keep on knocking)? Why the perpetuation of these three? Because we tend to think that God’s graces come to us as a once-for-all bestowment, rather than a continual supply which must be continually looked for in ongoing dependence upon Him.

So for instance, one cannot just ask and seek and knock for deliverance from some sin – thinking all the while that someday (in this life), we’ll just have absolute freedom from that temptation and not have to face it any longer. This is not the reality of the Christian life. I must ask continually, because I will face the same challenge continually. I must seek Him continually because each day brings distractions from Him. I must knock continually because sin closes up my heart and mind and spiritual eyes and ears continually. I must rely on His grace continually that I might experience the ongoing supply of that grace.

We want once-for-all solutions. But the once-for-all, is realizing that He is the once-for-all source and fountain – which must nevertheless be appealed to and relied upon constantly.

This dynamic remains the reality regarding every grace from God we desire. Victory over sin, and the receipt and manifestation of every fruit of the Spirit. No one has a “gift” of longsuffering. We can only be sustained in it.

Keep seeking Him Christian. Ask for His name to be hallowed, His kingdom to come and His will to be done in this earth as it is in Heaven. Keep looking to Him and Him alone for your daily bread, the forgiveness of sins, a forgiving heart and deliverance from the Devil’s schemes. For it all and always rest in Him and Him alone. What a great and glorious God we serve.
In the School of Prayer with Jesus

August 28th, 2016
In The School of Prayer with Jesus

Matthew 6:1-13

Matthew 26:36-44

7 Lessons

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

When a baby is born, it’s as fully human as it will ever be.

However, it is not yet all that a human is fully meant to be.

Its nature is to grow.

If it remains as a baby, something is dreadfully wrong.

But growth and maturity require a number of essential elements.

Sustenance.

Rest.

Continual cleaning to prevent infection and disease.

Physical exercise and the development of those capacities – hand to eye coordination, walking, etc.

Communication beyond merely crying – language.

Mental and intellectual development – learning.

Relationships. Babies cannot survive alone. Someone must sustain them.

And each of these essentials has its spiritual corollary.

When Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3 that he “must be born again” or he would not be able see the Kingdom of God – He draws us into the use of this parallel between physical and spiritual growth which the other NT writers employ and develop further.

A parallel intended by God in how He established creation.

GROWTH: Ephesians 4:11–16 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

1 Peter 2:2 “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation”

2 Peter 3:17–18 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

What does that look like then?

Sustenance.                   Word of God

Rest.                                Faith, trust in God’s character

Cleansing.                      Daily forgiveness (Matt. 6)

Physicality.                      Walking in holiness

Communication.           Worship & Edification – PRAYER!

Intellect.                         Knowledge of Christ (2 Peter)

Relationships.                 The Church

Today, I want to focus on the aspect of communication – PRAYER.

One of the interesting features of Jesus’ own incarnation, was that in His incarnate state – He too had to grow.

So we read in Luke 2:40 “And the child [Jesus] grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.”

If Jesus would demonstrate such growth, as our supreme example – how much more ought we to pursue the same?

Coupled with that then, is also the record in the Gospels both of Jesus’ teaching on the subject of prayer, and His own practice of prayer.

In Matt. 6, we have Jesus’ key teaching on prayer, and in Matt. 26 we have the key example He sets in His own prayer life.

Between these two, I want to make a number of observations central as to how we ought to think about and approach prayer in the Christian life.

When the Writer to the Hebrews is in the midst of opening up some of the immense privileges that belong to the Believer as a result of Christ’s work on our behalf, he writes: Hebrews 10:19–22 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

And what is this entering “the holy places” and “drawing near” to God in full assurance and faith, other than prayer?

In teasing these out, I will confine myself almost exclusively to the 2 passages we had read – though you can see those ideas scattered throughout the Word.

1. Prayer is both assumed and commanded in Scripture. Matthew 6:1–4 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.

1 5 “And when you pray”

16 “And when you fast”

As I’ve mentioned any number of times previously – these 3, Prayer, Alms and Fasting form 3 assumptions in the mind of Jesus regarding the normal Christian life.

In each case it is not: IF you pray, fast or give, but WHEN.

When this is coupled with a great number of other passages, we cannot escape the reality that prayer is an assumed central reality of the Christ life as given to us by God Himself. Not as a mere religious construct.

2. Prayer brings us into private, personal communion with God.

Matthew 6:5–6 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

This is the private aspect of prayer which is so essential.

“No public ordinances can make amends for the neglect of secret prayer; nor will the most diligent attendance upon them justify us in the neglect of those duties, which, by the command and appointment of God, we owe to society.” Newton, John, Richard Cecil. 1824. The works of the John Newton. . Vol. 1. London: Hamilton, Adams & Co.

Christian lives never grow dynamically beyond the level of time we spend alone with God.

That’s where we draw our life. That’s where we draw our vitality. If you want to constantly live in discouragement, and constantly live in panic, and constantly live going from crisis to crisis without stability in your life, continue to believe you can live without being alone with Him on a daily basis. And enjoy your crisis.

The only way you’ll come to the stability is to spend time with Him.

Just as exposure to the Sun leaves you with a tan, exposure to the presence of God in prayer leaves its mark on the soul and in the mind. It changes our spiritual complexion.

NOTE: The core of what true prayer is all about, is not to be found in protracted dialog, but in the pleasure of being in the presence of God, without fear of any kind because of Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

3. Prayer is the submission of our will to His; not the imposition of our will upon His.

I take this both from Matthew 6:9–10 “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

And Jesus’ living this out in Matthew 26 where 3 times on the night of His passion He prays: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Let me read you something by Thomas Aquinas: “It is clear that he does not pray who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer, not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills.”

If you’re spending all your time in prayer convincing God, He’s doing the wrong thing, something’s amiss.

Because that isn’t what Jesus did. He said, “I will tell you what my natural will is, but the reality is, I’m willing to submit that to you. You do what You know is best.”

I’m convinced that the source of much, if not all, of the frustration in our prayer lives, is that we think that God just isn’t coming around to our way of thinking.

That’s precisely what prayer is designed to combat in us.

Prayer is designed to get our hands off the driver’s wheel, and to commit the course to His keeping.

It’s the humbling and surrendering of our wills, not trying to yank His around. That’s hard.

I’ll tell you, you’ll be able to find out very quickly for yourself where you are in your prayer life: just mark out what it is you’re petitioning for.

How much time are you spending saying, “God, do this,” more than saying, “God, do this in me, because I’m the one who needs to change.

Show me how to meet this situation for your glory.

Show me how to bear up under this temptation so that you might be exalted.

Teach me how to grow in wisdom during this thing so that I might magnify your name, so that I might be equipped to minister to others.”

Instead, we’re constantly saying, “God, make it stop. God, make them stop. God, change them.”

Isn’t that a big one? We’re always praying, “God, change them.” Very little of our prayer is, “God, change us.” And yet that’s the key, because it’s the submission of our will, not the twisting of His. But we miss this in prayer! And because we do, we walk around frustrated.

“I’ve been praying about this for six months, and God isn’t doing anything.” Oh yes He is! He’s teaching you how to submit. You’ve been walking around for six months saying, “God isn’t doing anything,” because you’re the one who hasn’t submitted yet. What He’s doing is breaking you.

That’s so hard to come to. And it’s so contrary to the way we approach prayer, because we want to just lift up hands on high and say the magic words, and have God change the situation to suit us. He says, “No, I’ve crafted the situation to change you. I don’t want to change the situation; I want to change you!”

4. We pray in order to obtain forgiveness. Matthew 6:11–12 “Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

We are to pray in order that we may obtain forgiveness. But what do I mean by that when I say “obtain forgiveness?”

We have a theological construct to deal with.

We understand that God, when He crucified Christ on our behalf, made an atonement for all of our sin, past, present, and future. Yet we don’t live in a state of the eternal past, present, and future. We live in space and time. We live in the midst of things that unfold sequentially. We live in the dynamic of a regular relationship.

In the dynamic of our ongoing relationship with Him, we can injure our intimacy with Him by virtue of our sins in the present. And those sins need to be dealt with.

5. We pray because in prayer is an act of worship.

We worship God when we look to Him for our needs in right relationship to Him.

This, I take from the overall circumstance in both passages, not a specific verse. Psalm 116:16–19 “O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!”

Seeking the Father in prayer gives worshipful honor as the One we go to with our needs and cast our cares upon.

He LOVES to be trusted!

Without faith it is impossible to please God. And nothing shows distrust of God more than prayerlessness.

Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”

The first reason why we grow dull in prayer is when we lack in bringing thanksgiving to Him for what He’s done. It never fails.

One of the reasons why prayer becomes such drudgery, such difficulty -why it’s only a laundry list- is because you’ve stopped giving thanks.

You’ve stopped being grateful for what He has done, and you’re only focusing on what you think He hasn’t done in response to some other prayer.

Nothing will kill a relationship quicker. It kills it on your side, not His. He’s standing there waiting. But you lose the joy of His presence. It’s in prayer that we express our thanksgiving – our gratitude for all that He’s done, for all that He’s doing, for all that He’s promised He’s going to do. Face to face!

But how often does our prayer, instead, revolve around a series of complaints dressed up as concerns? That’s really the attitude. “I’ve got a concern over this. I’ve got a concern over that.” And what you’re saying is, “God, you haven’t done this yet.”

I know nothing that’s more effective at guarding the soul against bitterness and hardness than cultivating a habit of thanksgiving in prayer. If that’s all you do when you go to prayer, you’ve prayed well. And I’ll tell you why, on the basis of His Word: so when you come and you pray, don’t pray like the heathen do with all these vain repetitions [Matthew 6:7]. Don’t pray with sweat coming off like God isn’t going to answer unless you sweat bullets. Pray with this confidence: that He knows your need better than you know it. And it’s in the “coming” that He delights. He’s already going to meet the need. Oh, that we knew that! If we just knew how tender His heart was toward our needs: that He’s never left a single thing undone for us! It’s only our dissatisfaction with His perfection. He brings us alive when our hearts are thankful. And how rare it is (I mean this is truly rare) to find someone who is truly contented in this life. But true contentment can only happen on our knees. And it can only happen in the posture of a thankful heart filled with gratitude. No other place. If prayer for you is like pulling teeth, I guarantee you’re not a very thankful individual. That’s always a problem.

6. We pray in order to deal with anxiety. Matthew 6:25 & 31-33 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?..31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Let me give you my own personal definition of anxiety: Anxiety is the powerless feeling we get when our pride is confronted with an impossibility.

We are anxious because we can’t change the impossible situation.

And it wounds our pride. We can’t handle that conflict.

The cure then, only comes in one place: humbling yourself before God. That’s what prayer does. It humbles us.

7. We pray that we might receive. In Matthew 7 [v.7], Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”

I don’t understand the dynamic, but this I do know by the teaching of the Scripture: God has ordained to meet our needs, and to answer even our daily things, by virtue of prayer.

How He weaves together our petitions with His sovereign will, I don’t know.

I don’t think we can explain that, and I know I can’t. Let me jump over to somebody who’s far better than I’ll ever hope to be, that grand genius of another age, Robert Haldane. “This teaches us that God, by His providence, regulates all that takes place. There is nothing with which Christians should be more habitually impressed than that God is the disposer of all events. They should look to His will in the smallest concerns of life, as well as in affairs of the greatest moment. Even a prosperous journey is from the Lord. In this way they glorify God by acknowledging His providence in all things and have the greatest confidence and happiness in walking before Him. Here we also learn that while the will of God concerning any event is not ascertained, we have liberty to desire and pray for what we wish, provided our prayers and desires are conformed to His holiness. But will our prayers be agreeable to God if they be contrary to His decrees? Yes, provided they be offered in submission to Him and not opposed to any known command. For it is the revealed and not the secret will of God that must be the rule of our prayers. We also learn in this place that since all events depend upon the will of God, we ought to acquiesce in them however contrary they may be to our wishes. And likewise, that in those things in which the will of God is not apparent, we should always accompany our prayers and our desires with this condition: ‘if it be pleasing to God,’ and be ready to renounce our desires as soon as they appear not to be conformed to His will. Oh how sweet a thing, as one has well observed, were it for us to learn to make our burdens light by framing our hearts to the burden, and making our Lord’s will a law.”

What a mystery that is! But He designs to answer and to meet our needs, and to fill our requests, by prayer.

1. Prayer is both assumed and commanded in Scripture.
1. Prayer brings us into private, personal communion with God.
2. Prayer is the submission of our will to His; not the imposition of our will upon His.
3. We pray in order to obtain forgiveness.
4. We pray because in prayer is an act of worship.
5. We pray in order to deal with anxiety.
6. We pray that we might receive.
Prayer is the supreme privilege given to the Believer at the cost of Jesus’ death on the cross, and as a direct result of the power of His resurrection.
Praying for the Holy Spirit

July 10th, 2016

As we were singing in worship this morning, that old hymn by Edwin Hatch “Breathe on me Breath of God” – I could not help but think back to the words of the Puritan John Owen regarding our need to pray for the Holy Spirit. This hymn fills just such a role – but I hope none of us stop at that, but pray continually for the Spirit’s work in our hearts and lives. On that subject, Owen wrote this:

“We are taught in an especial manner to pray that God would give his Holy Spirit unto us, that through his aid and assistance we may live unto God in that holy obedience which he requires at our hands, Luke 11:9–13. Our Saviour, enjoining an importunity in our supplications, verses 9, 10, and giving us encouragement that we shall succeed in our requests, verses 11, 12, makes the subject-matter of them to be the Holy Spirit: “Your heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him,” verse 13; which in the other evangelist is “good things,” Matt. 7:11, because he is the author of them all in us and to us, nor doth God bestow any good thing on us but by his Spirit. Hence, the promise of bestowing the Spirit is accompanied with a prescription of duty unto us, that we should ask him or pray for him; which is included in every promise where his sending, giving, or bestowing is mentioned. He, therefore, is the great subject-matter of all our prayers. And that signal promise of our blessed Saviour, to send him as a comforter, to abide with us for ever, is a directory for the prayers of the church in all generations. Nor is there any church in the world fallen under such a total degeneracy but that, in their public offices, there are testimonies of their ancient faith and practice, in praying for the coming of the Spirit unto them, according to this promise of Christ. And therefore our apostle, in all his most solemn prayers for the churches in his days, makes this the chief petition of them, that God would give unto them, and increase in them, the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, with the Spirit himself, for sundry especial effects and operations whereof they stood in need, Eph. 1:17, 3:16; Col. 2:2. And this is a full conviction of what importance the consideration of the Spirit of God and his work is unto us. We must deal in this matter with that confidence which the truth instructs us unto, and therefore say, that he who prayeth not constantly and diligently for the Spirit of God, that he may be made partaker of him for the ends for which he is promised, is a stranger from Christ and his gospel. This we are to attend unto, as that whereon our eternal happiness doth depend. God knows our state and condition, and we may better learn our wants from his prescription of what we ought to pray for than from our sense and experience; for we are in the dark unto our own spiritual concerns, through the power of our corruptions and temptations, and “know not what we should pray for as we ought,” Rom. 8:26. But our heavenly Father knows perfectly what we stand in need of; and, therefore, whatever be our present apprehensions concerning ourselves, which are to be examined by the word, our prayers are to be regulated by what God hath enjoined us to ask and what he hath promised to bestow.”

Owen, John. The works of John Owen. (Ed.) William H. Goold. . Vol. 3. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

Indeed:

1. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.

2. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will,
to do and to endure.

3. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
till I am wholly thine,
till all this earthly part of me
glows with thy fire divine.

4. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
so shall I never die,
but live with thee the perfect life
of thine eternity.
A Bite of Newton with your coffee – on Public Prayer

June 17th, 2016

John Newton received a letter from a friend asking for some guidance on how someone should pray in a group setting – like a prayer meeting. His thoughts are so good, I couldn’t help but pass them on – though I’ve edited them down a touch for the sake of space and readability.

In writing his thoughts, Newton strikes on some key issues which make our prayer meetings less then enjoyable, and thus suggests how they might be both sweeter, and be of greater advantage to all who attend.

I think you’ll enjoy this greatly – and I for one – needed to hear some of his correctives for myself.

Thoughts on the Exercise of Social Prayer

I account it a great mercy…at this time, when iniquity so generally abounds, there is a number, I hope a growing number, whose eyes affect their hearts, and who are stirred up to unite in prayer for the spread of Gospel knowledge, and a blessing upon our sinful land…As the Lord has promised, that, when he prepares the heart to pray, he will graciously incline his ear to hear, who can tell but he may yet be entreated for us, and avert the heavy and justly-deserved judgments which seem to hang over us?

[I wish it were the case] that our hearts might be so affected with a sense of Divine things, and so closely engaged when [in prayer], that…little circumstances [had no power] to interrupt and perplex us, and to make us think the service wearisome, and…tedious. But as our infirmities are many and great, and the enemy of our souls is watchful to discompose us, if care is not taken by those who lead in social prayer, [it may actually] become a burden, and an occasion of sin. Complaints of this kind are frequent, and might, perhaps, be easily rectified.

The chief fault of some good prayers is, that they are too long: not that…we should pray by the clock, and limit ourselves…to a certain number of minutes; but it is better…that the hearers should wish the prayer had been longer, than spend half…of the time in wishing it was over. This is frequently owing to an unnecessary enlargement upon every circumstance…as well as to the repetition of the same things. If we have been copious in pleading for spiritual blessings, it may be best to be brief and summary in the article of intercession for others; or if the frame of our spirits, or the circumstances of affairs, lead us to be more large and particular in laying the cases of others before the Lord, respect should be had to this intention in the former part of the prayer. There are, doubtless, seasons when the Lord is pleased to favour those who pray with a peculiar liberty; they speak because they feel; they have a wrestling spirit, and hardly know how to leave off. When this is the case, they who join with them are seldom wearied, though the prayer should be protracted something beyond the usual limits. But I believe it sometimes happens, both in praying and in preaching, that we are apt to spin out our time to the greatest length, when we have in reality the least to say. Long prayers should in general be avoided, especially where several persons are to pray successively; or else even spiritual hearers will be unable to keep up their attention. And here I would just notice an impropriety we sometimes meet with, that, when a person gives expectation that he is just going to conclude his prayer, something not thought of in its proper place occurring that instant to his mind, leads him as it were to begin again. But, unless it is a matter of singular importance, it would be better omitted for that time.

The prayers of some good men are more like preaching than praying. They rather express the Lord’s mind to the people, than the desires of the people to the Lord. Indeed this can hardly be called prayer. It might in another place stand for part of a good sermon; but will afford little help to those who desire to pray with their hearts. Prayer should be sententious, [in the sense of short and pity, not wordy] and made up of breathings to the Lord, either of confession, petition, or praise…,—a simple and unstudied expression of the wants and feelings of the soul.

[T]oo close attention to the method and transitions…gives an air of study and formality, and offends against that simplicity which is so essentially necessary to a good prayer. It is possible to learn to pray mechanically, and by rule; but it is hardly possible to do so with acceptance, and benefit to others. When the several parts of invocation, adoration, confession, petition, &c. follow each other in a stated order, the hearer’s mind generally goes before the speaker’s voice, and we can form a tolerable conjecture what is to come next. On this account we often find, that unlettered people, who have had little or no help from books, or rather have not been fettered by them, can pray with an unction and savour in an unpremeditated way; while the prayers of persons of much superior abilities, perhaps even of ministers themselves, are, though accurate and regular, so dry and starched, that they afford little either of pleasure or profit to a spiritual mind. The spirit of prayer is the fruit and token of the Spirit of adoption. The studied addresses with which some approach the Throne of Grace, remind us of a stranger’s coming to a great man’s door; he knocks and waits, sends in his name, and goes through a course of ceremony, before he gains admittance; while a child of the family uses no ceremony at all, but enters freely when he pleases, because he knows he is at home. It is true, we ought always to draw near the Lord with great humiliation of spirit, and a sense of our unworthiness. But this spirit is not always best expressed or promoted by a pompous enumeration of the names and titles of the God with whom we have to do, or by fixing in our minds beforehand the exact order in which we propose to arrange the several parts of our prayer. Some attention to method may be proper, for the prevention of repetitions; and plain people may be a little defective in it sometimes; but this defect will not be half so tiresome and disagreeable as a studied and artificial exactness.

Many, perhaps most people who pray in public, have some favourite word or expression, which recurs too often in their prayers, and is frequently used as a mere expletive, having no necessary connection with the sense of what they are speaking. The most disagreeable of these is, when the name of the blessed God, with the addition of perhaps one or more epithets, as, Great, Glorious, Holy, Almighty, &c. is introduced so often, and without necessity, as seems neither to indicate a due reverence in the person who uses it, nor suited to excite reverence in those who hear. I will not say, that this is taking the name of God in vain…[but] should be guarded against. It would be well if they who use redundant expressions had a friend to give them a caution, as they might with a little care be retrenched; and hardly any person can be sensible of the little peculiarities he may inadvertently adopt, unless he is told of it.

There are several things likewise respecting the voice and manner of prayer, which a person may with due care correct in himself, and which, if generally corrected, would make meetings for prayer more pleasant than they sometimes are.

Very loud speaking is a fault, when the size of the place, and the number of hearers, do not render it necessary…I do not deny but allowance must be made for constitution…yet such will do well to restrain themselves as much as they can. It may seem indeed to indicate great earnestness, and that the heart is much affected; yet it is often but false tire. It may be thought speaking with power; but a person who is favoured with the Lord’s presence may pray with power in a moderate voice; and there may be very little power of the Spirit, though the voice should be heard in the street and neighbourhood.

The other extreme, of speaking too low, is not so frequent; but, if we are not heard, we might as well altogether hold our peace. It exhausts the spirits, and wearies the attention, to be listening for a length of time to a very low voice. Some words or sentences will be lost, which will render what is heard less intelligible and agreeable. If the speaker can be heard by the person furthest distant from him, the rest will hear of course.

The tone of the voice is likewise to be regarded. Some have a tone in prayer, so very different from their usual way of speaking, that their nearest friends, if not accustomed to them, could hardly know them by their voice…It is pity, that, when we approve what is spoken, we should be so easily disconcerted by an awkwardness of delivery; yet so it often is…It is more to be lamented than wondered at, that sincere Christians are sometimes forced to confess, “He is a good man, and his prayers, as to their substance, are spiritual and judicious; but there is something so displeasing in his manner, that I am always uneasy when I hear him.”

Contrary to this, and still more offensive, is a custom that some have of talking to the Lord in prayer. It is their natural voice, indeed; but it is that expression of it which they use upon the most familiar and trivial occasions…If a man was pleading for his life, or expressing his thanks to the king for a pardon, common sense and decency would teach him a suitableness of manner; and anyone who could not understand his language, might know by the sound of his words that he was not making a bargain, or telling a story. How much more, when we speak to the King of kings.

I shall be glad if these hints may be of any service to those who desire to worship God in spirit and in truth, and who wish that whatever has a tendency to damp the spirit of devotion, either in themselves or in others, might be avoided. It is a point of delicacy and difficulty to tell any one what we wish could be altered in his manner of prayer: but it can give no just offence to ask a friend, if he has read a letter on this subject, in A Collection of Twenty-six Letters, published in 1775.^{^[1]}

^{^[1]} Newton, John, Richard Cecil. 1824. The works of the John Newton. . Vol. 1. London: Hamilton, Adams & Co.
The Gift of Repentance

March 24th, 2016

The gift or grant of repentance.

2 Timothy 2:23–26 (ESV) Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Why is it we have so much trouble overcoming certain sins in our lives? I am convinced that often, it is because we have no sense that repentance is both a command in Scripture, but also a command which is accomplished by virtue of the gifting or grant of God. And that we fail to ask for it.

Current in American Christianity is the idea that repentance, is merely feeling sorry for sins. And at that, for some, merely feeling sorry that they have been caught or suffered ill consequences, and not sorrowful that it is a personal affront to their God. While sorrow over sin is part and parcel of true repentance, it in no wise encompasses it entirely. Paul in his 2^nd letter to the Corinthians teases out no less than 7 constituent elements of true repentance.

Godly grief or sorrow is only the tip of the spear. TRUE sorrow leads to these elements: Earnestness – ceasing to hide or play down the sin, no longer renaming it as something more acceptable; Eagerness to clear oneself – to be rid of it altogether, not just escape its bad effects; Self-indignation – recognizing how incompatible sin is with our identity in Christ and feeling the burn of having stooped so low; Fear at playing around with something that God must judge with perfect, vengeful wrath; Longing to be walking in uprightness and holiness; Zeal at taking whatever steps are necessary to be free; and Punishment – a willingness to receive whatever consequences may be due without complaint, and the willingness to accept whatever hardship is needed in overcoming.

These are the things that comprise a true portrait of genuine, Biblical, Christian repentance. Merely feeling sorry, is but the A in the alphabet, but is by no means the entire catalogue.

But what of the gift or grant aspect of repentance?

This my friend is where I think many of us fail to do well in prosecuting the battle against our sins. In neglecting the reality that God must grant repentance. We pray much for forgiveness, and maybe even freedom – but we fail to pray that God might in fact give us a repentant heart. That He would wound us deeply enough over our sin, to take us off from it. We want to be clear of the guilt and the shame, so we confess, but we fail to seek Him for a willing woundedness over sin that brings us to a new place of obedience. We don’t ask for repentance, only forgiveness. And thus we do not look for a repentant heart, but only for freedom. We do not want to feel the real depths of our sinfulness, that we might be horrified by it and learn to truly hate it.

If you are struggling with some repetitive and besetting sin, might I encourage you to take up the serious task of pleading for repentance? To pray for true, Holy Spirit conviction – which is never condemnation, but leads us to pursue Christ and not flee from Him. Pray to have the catalog of those elements reviewed above wrought afresh in your own soul. Pray to see your sin in such graphic reality that the horror of it sinks deeply into your heart and mind – causing you to flee from it, and to take whatever steps are needed to be clear of it.

Pray that God grant you, in His grace, a truly repentant heart.

Now hear me Christian – it is not a pleasant experience. Repentance isn’t a tip-of-the-hat to having done wrong and merrily going on your way. When God begins to answer such a prayer, sin’s blackness and wretchedness comes home to the soul as never before. And the nature of its true guilt in the personal affront to your God is painful. Sickening.

But gloriously freeing.

Pray for repentance. And do not stop until the Spirit brings it home to your conscience. You do not need to be afraid of His convicting power, while the Cross is still in view. But do not run or hide from the depths of your guilt or shame either. For that ultimately is nothing other than a species of self-justification. And we can only be justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ.

Pray for repentance. It is a gift. It is a grant. And one the Father delights to have His children ask for – for it displays the vibrant work of the Spirit in your soul.

Don’t ask just to stop sinning your problem sin. Pray for a repentant heart. He will meet you in that prayer in ways you never imagined. Oh what a great Redeemer our Christ is!
An Observation, and a Prayer – From Proverbs 28:1

February 28th, 2016

The Heavenly Father is patient, and does not chasten without warnings and reproofs. But when those warnings and reproofs are repeatedly rejected, He does finally move. In those times, His action is swift, and decisive. Better to hear these rebukes and learn, to confess and repent. To take whatever measures we need to. For when He is forced to act like this, we seldom emerge without permanent damage. Proverbs 28:14

How far is too far when testing the patience of God? No one knows. That is the point. Some take God’s patience as a sign He is simply pleased with them as is. Others think it simply impossible to provoke Him. The wise man knows “the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience…is meant to lead you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4).

So what has God been dealing with you about, that you continue to put off? Don’t wait until it is too late.

Heavenly Father, grant me a repentant heart. Grant US repentant hearts. Nothing is so wicked as confessing our sin and seeking forgiveness, but not turning from it. It is how every form of idolatry works – just go through the ritual, but no real change is expected or needed. Father, I want my heart to hate the sin that is in me as you do – and love your holiness as you do. I want to want other things – to have sinful things appear as wicked and heinous as they really are, and to see and be attracted to the beauty of holiness as you really are. I plead with you Father – do not leave me as I am. I am so easily fooled and deceived by my own sin. Let me truly walk in the love, light and wisdom that is ours in Christ. Grant me your gift of true repentance from my sins.
The Trump Prayer-Op: The good, the Bad and the Ugly

September 30th, 2015

Monday afternoon Sept. 28,, 2015, as I understand it, Presidential hopeful/GOP frontrunner/multimillionaire/business mogul Donald Trump, met with some 40 religious leaders for prayer at Trump Tower in NY.

Among those 40 or so gathered, were the likes of Kenneth Copeland, David Jeremiah, Paula White, Robert Jeffress and Jan Crouch. All there, ostensibly – at least in part, to pray for Donald Trump.
The good: That prayer is offered up on behalf of one of those who would aspire to lead this nation.
I would hope all those who support a candidate – irrespective of political party – if they are genuine
Christians would be praying for them. Praying for wisdom.
Praying for the light of salvation to enter their souls and transform them into children of the living God by repenting and believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Praying that they would be ethical, upright, serious leaders committed to searching out the best ways and means to provide for the flourishing of the people of this nation.
Praying that if they should in fact be elected to the highest office in this great country of ours, they would be world leaders impacting countless numbers through policies and actions that reflect hearts and minds determined to do what is best for people everywhere before the eyes of God.
Praying that whether their favored candidate wins election or not, the one who does would be truly led by our glorious Christ in serving in that office with honesty, integrity, dignity, conviction, humility, clarity and excellence.
To such prayers, I can only add my own amen.
The Bad: No one there, could have been so naive as to attend such a gathering, without it being construed by those who look to them as spiritual leaders, as a tacit endorsement of Donald Trump’s candidacy.
Knowing Trump’s past and public tactics, this HAD to become a photo-op of the highest order. And as “generic” as some of those prayers were, due to their publicized nature – they in fact are endorsements.

And will be read by many if not most, as implying that Trump should be the “evangelical” candidate.

Never mind his own personal ethics – which are questionable at best.

His multiple marriages.

His public adulterous affair with Marla Mapels, his 2nd wife.

His being given over to amassing monetary wealth and ostentation.

His building, owning and operating casinos – promoting some of the most grievous sins inflicted on the poorest and and most sin-addicted in our society.

His public acknowledgement that he never apologizes for anything – hardly an even remote species of repentance.

Foul mouthed, vilifying, denigrating of any and all who oppose or disagree with him, and a man possessed of a seemingly limitless ego.
So men and women who supposedly profess their highest allegiance to the Cross and cause of Christ, will lend their names and ministries in the promotion of this man in such a public way?
I am not shocked by much, but I am at this. Or rather – horrifibly sickened.
Don’t get me wrong – these individuals are more than free to vote for whomever they please without fear of reprisal of censure from the likes of me.
But to stand with him so publicly while in their roles of leading major Evangelical constituencies is tantamount to using Jesus to sell Trump.
That my friends beyond egregious.
The ugly: I can say without fear of any serious rebuttal, that Kenneth Copeland and Paula White are out and out heritics. Guilty of some of the worst crimes agains the Gospel and the Church of Christ as any in our age.
And here stand, arm in arm – seemingly joined by politics with those whom they would utterly reject theologically – in a unified Religio-Political platform – men like David Jeremiah and Robert Jeffress.
Have we lost our minds?
Is politics really the end game, so that the cause of Christ is to be used simply to further it?
Shame. Shame on us. Shame on Evangelicalism in America that such a spectacle is even thinkable let alone actually possible.
Hear me, please hear me clearly: Donald Trump cannot save America.
Neither can any other candidate for that fact.
Is he a Christian? I do not know. And in this respect it does not matter.
I do know he has tapped into the anger of many – and that as Christians, such anger is not a right heart and mind from which we ought to be making our political (or any other) choices. For if it anger above everything else which unifies us, we are no different from the World.
The only, the ONLY thing which can save America, is a wholesale rejection that politics can do anything of lasting and true value for this nation; And that the only thing which can is revival – a recalling of the Church to her first love and purpose in repentance, with a subsequent pouring out in prayer and preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for lost men and women.
And that, my friends, transcends this or any government.
Jesus Christ in His saving power is our, or any other people’s only, ultimate hope.