Monthly Archives: February 2023

PRAYER – NOT WORDS OR NEEDS

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PRAYER – NOT WORDS OR NEEDS

“And when you pray, do not keep babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:7, 8 NIV).

Prayer is a part of most people’s lives. What is true prayer and what makes Christian prayer different from all other prayer?

In His preamble to what we know as “The Lord’s Prayer”, Jesus explained that prayer is not about performance, or about words or needs. If we take those three things out of our prayers, most of us will have nothing left! What did He mean? For the believer in Jesus, prayer arises from the invitation and the need to have fellowship with a loving heavenly Father. Prayer is not about trying to get God to do what we want or to meet our needs; it is about getting to know Him, worshipping Him and growing in our confidence in Him, that He is a holy, loving and good Father and that He keeps His promises. Prayer is, first, about changing our focus.

Jesus warned, “Don’t be like the hypocrites. Their prayers go no further than the street corners where they like to perform. That’s all the reward they will get.” Prayer is not a showcase to impress either God or our fellow pray-ers.

His next comment comes closer to home; “Don’t babble like the pagans.” Most of us are guilty of thinking that we must explain our needs to God or instruct Him in detail about what He must do. Does that make us any different from the pagans?

This brings us to what Jesus gave us as the heart of prayer; “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” If prayer is not about words or needs, what is it? Words and needs arise out of our all-controlling self-absorption. Our world is centred on us and our needs and wants. If all we do in prayer is make God aware of those needs and wants so that He will do something about them, we are no different from the rest of the world.

Jesus taught us that prayer is not about us but about God and our awareness of Him. He honours us with the invitation to be part of His big story and to take our place in the bigger picture. We can only become fully ourselves when we lose ourselves in His story. To pray, therefore is, first of all, to become more aware of God and who He is than of ourselves. Jesus put it this way, “Pray like this: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Self-awareness shrinks our vision of God and places our focus on our needs. God-awareness opens us up to all He is and increases our confidence in who He is and what He can do.

So, when we pray, let’s start there. Let’s grow a big vision of God, our Father by gazing at Him. (LAC)

ONLY THE JONAH-SIGN

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ONLY THE JONAH-SIGN

“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus to test Him by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’, and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.” (Matthew 16:1-4 NIV)

Jesus had yet another exchange with the Pharisees. For the umpteenth time they were on His case about signs, not because they wanted to believe in Him but because they were looking for reasons not to believe in Him.

His response was abrupt, as though He had had enough of their nonsense. “You guys know how to read the weather,” He said, “but you have no clue how to read the signs of the times. The only sign you’ll get is the Jonah-sign.” with that He turned on His heel and walked away.” (Matthew 16:4 The Message)

What is the Jonah-sign?

I used to think that the Jonah-sign was the resurrection of Jesus. Just as Jonah was in the fish’s belly for three days and three nights, so Jesus came back from the dead after three days. But then I asked myself, “What was the point of that?”

I have since come to believe that the Jonah-sign was the mercy of God. God caused Jonah to be flung into the sea and swallowed by the fish because He really wanted him to go to Nineveh to deliver His message. He could have wiped Jonah out for his disobedience but in His mercy He spared him and gave him a second chance to warn the Ninevites in case they repented.

Why did God give the people of Nineveh forty days before He rained down judgment on the city? Was it not because He was giving them time to change their minds and turn away from their wickedness? The fact that He forgave them when they repented is proof of His mercy. Jonah knew that God was merciful. That’s the reason he fled in the opposite direction because he hated Nineveh for the evil it had done to his people and wanted God to destroy them.

In the same way, God reveals His mercy to us because He sent Jesus to die and to rise again so that we can be forgiven and freed from our sins to live a new life. We do not deserve God’s rescue plan. We deserve the same justice that Nineveh did, but God, in mercy, reached out and rescued us because mercy is who He is.

But, like Nineveh, we must respond or perish, believe Him, or take the consequences.

How great is our God! How great is His mercy! (LAC)

NEED DRIVEN OR SPIRIT LED?

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NEED DRIVEN OR SPIRIT LED?

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Romans 8:14

Today I have a word for Christian leaders.

One of the buzzwords among pastors today is the word “burnout” because many of them seem to be teetering on the brink. There may be many reasons for burnout but perhaps one of them is simply the difficulty of differentiating between the urgent and the important. In other words, how do we move from being need driven to being Spirit led?

Have you ever taken time to walk with Jesus through the Gospels? They may not provide a biography, but they are a treasure store of glimpses into an amazing man!

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for Him and, when they found Him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So, He travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.” (Mark 1:35-39, NIV).

This incident happened at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and reveals His strategy from its inception. How did He know how to balance work and rest, busyness and timeout, the clamouring demands of the crowd and the times apart with His disciples? How could He walk away from the pressing needs of sick and tormented people and not feel guilty?

Jesus not only shows us but tells how He could maintain His serenity and sanity in the same kind of world in which we lose our way.

Firstly, what He did was always linked to His mission. His priority was not to meet every need but to announce the coming of God’s kingdom and to demonstrate how it worked by healing the sick, raising the dead and casting out demons. He always made sure that what occupied His time fitted into the bigger picture.

Secondly, He functioned in perfect tandem with the Father through the Holy Spirit. He spent so much time with the Father that He was aware of His presence and of what He was doing all the time. He could say with honesty and confidence, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son does also. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.” (John 5:19, 20, NIV)

Since every believer has received the same Spirit that indwelt Jesus, we have the same potential to live as He did. So says the Apostle Paul, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25, NIV).

Is our frantic busyness somehow connected with the idea that we must “work for God”? God has called us into His rest so He can work through us! We are too blessed to be stressed!

MIRRORS OR WINDOWS?

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MIRRORS OR WINDOWS?

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

What do you have in your soul? Mirrors or windows?

If your soul is full of mirrors, your focus will be on yourself. Everywhere you look, you will see your own reflection. Everything that happens in life will be about you. You will interpret your circumstances, good or bad, from your own viewpoint. You will be self-absorbed and self-focused. You will be the centre of your life and you will expect everything to revolve around you. You will end up becoming bitter because you will see yourself as the victim of your circumstances.

If your soul is full of windows, your perspective will be outward-looking. You will recognize God’s hand in all your circumstances. Other people will be important to you and you will see others’ needs before your own. Life will be an adventure because, as you look out of your windows, you will see opportunities to overcome and possibilities to grow instead of problems and difficulties to drag you down.

There are examples of these two different viewpoints in Scripture. King Saul had been rejected by God from being king because of his partial obedience. David had been anointed in his place and was living in God’s favor and blessing. King Saul’s jealousy of David drove him to desperate measures to get rid of him. On one occasion, David went to the priest, Ahimelech, at Nob to ask for help. When Saul found out that David had been to the priest, he gathered his officials together at Gibeah. Listen to his accusation as he lashed out at them:

“Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he has today.” (1 Samuel 22:7,8). Wow! Saul certainly lived in a house of mirrors.

Joseph had a completely different outlook on life. After unjustly suffering 13 years of hardship as a slave and a prisoner in Egypt because of his brothers’ hatred, instead of taking revenge after his father’s death, he acknowledged God’s hand on his life and freely forgave his brothers. This is what he said, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:19). He saw God in his circumstances and rejoiced in His favor.

The problem with a soul full of mirrors is that the walls tend to move inwards until one is imprisoned in one’s own cell of self-pity! “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:35).

The Apostle Paul counsels us where to look, not In the mirror that only reflects our own faces but in the mirror of God’s Word where we both see and reflect the glory of Jesus. Gazing at Him, not ourselves, will transform us, slowly but surely, into His image.  1818 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image

IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE

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IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (1 John 16:33, NIV)

Where did believers get the idea that we are somehow immune to the bad things that happen to “other” people? Why do we think that we can escape the troubles that afflict the rest of the world? When we experience sorrow or suffering, the first questions that often burst from our lips are, “Why me? What have I done to deserve this?”

Let’s examine the reasons for this unbiblical regard to trouble as an intrusion.

Firstly, Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble. If Jesus warned us about it, how can we think that He was mistaken? If we belong to a fallen race and an imperfect world, trouble will be part of our experience.

Secondly, trouble is God’s way of maturing us. “…We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:3-5, NIV). Peter recognised trouble as, “trials…that your faith, of greater worth than gold even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine…” (1 Peter 1:7, NIV).

James, like Paul, calls us to “consider it pure joy, my brother’s, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4, NIV).

Thirdly, if we view trouble as punishment from God, we have not understood the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Wrongdoing can only be punished once. Since Jesus took the judgment for all our sin on Himself, for God to punish us again would be unjust, and God is always perfectly just. Jesus paid for all sin for all time. There must be another reason for the troubles we endure.

Fourthly, our hardships are not punishment, but discipline. “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” (Hebrews 12:7, NIV). Discipline is intended to diagnose and treat everything that hurts our relationship with God as His sons. God wants us to obey Him and, when we disobey, we run into problems that expose our stubborn and rebellious attitudes.

Jesus offered His solution to trouble – His peace. He said, “Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4, NIV). Peace is part of the fruit of the Spirit and real peace in trouble comes from remaining in Jesus, trusting that He knows what He is doing. (LAC)