Abide More Deeply in Christ

Saints,

May you be encouraged by this devotional.

Let’s start with Jesus' teaching on living a fruitful life.

John 15:5 (ESV) 
⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

“Whoever abides in me…”

Recently, my wife, Lisa reminded me of the story about Hezekiah and how he prayed. Please notice how God responds to Hezekiah’s prayer.

2 Kings 19:14-20 (NASB) 
¹⁴ Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.
¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
¹⁶ "Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
¹⁷ "Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands
¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
¹⁹ "Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God."
²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.'

When the enemy threatened Hezekiah, he took the issue to God—he opened the enemy’s letter before the Lord on the altar. He prayed. (Oh, how I long for the necessity of prayer to be solidified in our minds and hearts.) Hezekiah demonstrated true faith. He believed. He trusted God. He surrendered. Let’s be clear here. Hezekiah had other choices. He could have reached out to another nation like Egypt—pursued a treaty. No, his instinct was to turn to God—to pray. I believe our Father is holding out his arms to us saying, “Child, why do you choose to live with so little of my power, joy, provision, and love. I have so much more for you. Just ask. Come to me.” Why do we live with so little of God and His supernatural doings? I believe we live with so little of God because deep down we are okay with that. We trust our own abilities.  We say, “After all, God gave me my mind, so I will trust in the mind God gave me and hope for the best.” But, Jesus says, “…he who abides in me…” Brothers and sisters, it is time for Christ-followers to get the truth of our utter dependence on God settled into our lives.

The church today needs to seek after God. This reminds me of Hosea. Hosea called the people to return to God (Hosea 6:3).

“So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as the dawn; and he will come to us like rain, like the spring watering the earth.”

Yes, for you, Christ-follower, it is time to press on to abide in Jesus. This is the only way. Why is it that we think we can do so much on our own? If this need to depend on God sounds strange to you, think of Paul. What was Paul when he was known as Saul up to before God intervened in his life?  The answer is that Paul was destroying the church. What was Peter’s best effort before the Holy Spirit changed him? The answer is that Peter in his own power, denied Christ. So, saints, what will we accomplish that has eternal significance on our own? The answer is, apart from Christ, we accomplish absolutely nothing.

Maybe your thinking, “Well, this is not very encouraging.” If so, then consider this:  We must remember that it is only Jesus that has the power to change a person’s heart—to make us righteous before a holy God. Let us determine right now that we will depend and rely completely on God. When the church stands on complete dependence on God, we will see the power of God work. I know that you (like me) must be tired of seeing “human-sized” results or fruit. The results of human effort may suffice in business enterprises, but it is worthless in God’s kingdom.

You may wonder what Hezekiah’s prayer has to do with Jesus’ teaching on abiding and fruit bearing. I submit to you that prayer is one of the most significant ways we abide in Christ. Think of it. You connect with the heart of the Father as you pray for His kingdom, His purposes, and His glory. We lose ourselves in Him. Is that not abiding?

So, brothers and sisters, we must decide. Will we depend on God like Hezekiah or will we depend on ourselves? How do we depend on God? One very effective way to depend on God is to pray. Remember, the early church prayed and Peter was released from prison. In fact, I witnessed God doing this same miracle of releasing Christian prisoners from jail in the past two weeks. Prayer is God’s plan for us to engage Him to impact His kingdom—embrace this truth!  

Please read about abiding as Watchman Nee describes it in his book, “The Normal Christian Life,”

“I have illustrated this from the electric light. You are in a room and it is growing dark. You would like to have the light on in order to read. There is a reading-lamp on the table beside you. What do you do? Do you watch it intently to see if the light will come on? Do you take a cloth and polish the bulb? No, you get up and cross over to the other side of the room where the switch is on the wall, and you turn the current on. You turn your attention to the source of power and when you have taken the necessary action there the light comes on here.

So in our walk with the Lord our attention must be fixed on Christ. “Abide in me, and I in you” is the divine order. Faith in the objective facts makes those facts true subjectively. As the apostle Paul puts it, “We all…beholding…the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 mg.). The same principle holds good in the matter of fruitfulness of life: “He that abideth in me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit.” (John 15:5). We do not try to produce fruit or concentrate upon fruit produced. Our business is to look away to him. As we do so he undertakes to fulfill his word in us.

How do we abide? “Of God are ye in Christ Jesus.” It was the work of God to put you there and he has done it. Now stay there! Do not be moved back onto your own ground. Never look at yourself as if you were not in Christ. Look at Christ, and see yourself in him. Abide in him. Rest in the fact that God has put you in his Son, and live in the expectation that he will complete his work in you. It is for him to make good the glorious promise that “sin shall not have dominion over you” (Romans 6:14).”

Saints, it is time. Deeply abide in Christ. Rely on God—pray. Pray like Hezekiah. Pray like the early church. Pray like Jesus—In Jesus name, to impact the Father’s kingdom, to glorify the Father’s name, based on God’s Word, as led by the Holy Spirit, to bring eternal impact.

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve 

A Vision of Christ-Followers Calling Out to God

Saints,

Before we get started in our devotion on prayer, I must share a prayer request. Please pray earnestly for our brother “Jose” (name changed for security purposes) from outside the US. He was recently beaten and then jailed for his faith. There is a real possibility that he will be killed.  Please pray with passion that God will intervene and rescue our brother so that he will be able to continue to make disciples. This reminds me of the early church as they prayed for the imprisoned Peter in Acts 12.

It is time to come together to pray, yes, for our brother ”Jose,” but also for God’s name to be glorified, for God’s will to be done here on earth, and for God’s kingdom to move forward. Our God is worthy to be worshipped by every human being on the planet—even that would not be enough to adequately praise our God. 

Can you imagine many Christ-followers coming together for earnest prayer for the church and revival?

Back to the early church, as they gathered and prayed earnestly for the imprisoned Peter in Acts 12:5. 

Acts 12:5 (ESV) ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. 

Those prayer-warriors loved Peter. They loved God. They wanted others to hear Peter teach about the power of the gospel and Jesus Christ. They desired more for God’s kingdom. It is easy to see what “drove” the early church to cry out to God for Peter. But, what caused Daniel to pray for 21 days as described in Daniel chapter nine. Whatever caused Daniel to cry out to God like that is exactly what we need today in the church. We must be driven to pray.

Imagine with me a room filled with hundreds of Christ-followers engaged in prayer. Each one calls out to God at the same time. You hear wailing, moaning, crying, talking, whispering, and even singing. The room is filled with the Holy Spirit. Tears are shed. Some are praying so hard their heads hurt. Some are aching with a desire to see their prayers answered. Some are so consumed with zeal that they cannot even speak. They pray with intensity and fervor as only those who know that prayer is God’s method for engaging and changing lives.  What are they praying for? I envision they hurt, pray, and cry-out to God for His church. They ask God that His name will be glorified in His church—that God will use Her to transform this dark, deceived world one heart at a time. In short, they pray for Holy Spirit-driven revival. I am convinced we need the Holy Spirit more than we realize.

To our minds, this kind of prayer may seem far-fetched. Even so, please agree with me in asking God to see Christ-followers, surrendered, and resolute, engaging in Bible-based, faith-filled, Holy Spirit-driven, kingdom centered, selfless prayer in Jesus name.

If this kind of prayer seems strange to you, ask the Father to grant you a fresh fire and zeal for His kingdom—this God-given fire will drive you to pray. If history proves true, we will see revival as Christ-followers become dissatisfied with the status quo and cry out to God for His power to change His church, to change our communities, and cities. Remember this is in no way for our reputations—this is only for God and His glory. All eternity is about God and His glory. 

Please God! Deepen our walks with you. Awaken your people. Revive your church!  

Desperate for more of God, Steve

Depending On and Desperate for the Holy Spirit

When you look at the church, do you see the glory of Christ?

(Depending on and desperate for the Holy Spirit)

Saints,

I recently was reminded that the church is the bride of Christ—Christ’s glory (Eph 5:27). I found myself wondering how the church seemed to reflect so little of Christ’s glory. Recently, a few inches of snow fell on our city. The white snow reflected the sunlight making the daylight seem even brighter. This reminded me of how the church should reflect the love and power of Jesus. Folks who don’t know God should be squinting because of the glorious bright-white church radiating her savior’s glory. In reality, it seems the church is dusty and doesn’t reflect Christ as well as she should. Why is this so? 

I believe one reason the church seems to lack the glory of her Savior is that those that make up the church aren’t dependent on God to accomplish the church’s God-given mission. Remember Jesus says apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). This is God’s church, God’s kingdom; we cannot do God’s work with man’s strength, plans, or tenacity. If we try to, we end up with man’s results—a dead, or at best, a sleepy church. This short devotional is a plea to pray—a plea to call on the name of the Lord. God is worthy of all our lives—every minute, dollar, and bit of energy. He is worthy to be sought after in prayer. This is not a plea to pray for our nation, although that is a good thing. This is a plea for the bride of Christ to arise and pray for God’s kingdom, for revival, for salvation, for pastors, for a holy church, and for God’s name to be glorified as His church radiates with His power and love.

We have looked at Andrew Murray’s (a Dutch Reform missionary to Africa) writings before. Please read this excerpt from his book, The State of the Church, written over 100 years ago. 

“In the church the question is always coming up: what is the reason that Christianity has so little power and so little fulfills all the wonderful promises that it makes? You will find everywhere that the thoughts and plans of how the church can carry on its work center in what man’s wisdom can devise and his zeal and energy can accomplish. Common thinking is that if men will only keep up their courage and do their work faithfully, everything must come out all right. How seldom this great truth is insisted on: that the Holy Spirit is our only power! An entire and absolute surrender to Him is our only hope. How seldom one hears from the leaders, to whom the church looks for its guidance, the clear and unceasing summons: Brethren, pray.

We must pray more; we must pray without ceasing. Prayer will bring blessing. The measure of our prayer is the measure of our power. Every deeper insight into what Christianity is, and into what our daily life ought to be—and into what ministry is and needs—will all lead us to the one deep conviction: Christianity is nothing unless it is supernatural. Our Christian life and work must fail unless we live deeply rooted in the power of God’s inspired Word, in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit and in the importunate prayer to which the promise of the Father will most surely be given.

All this brings us to the last lesson this statement is going to teach us: there is no hope for the restoration of the church, no hope of its being lifted into the abundant life of Christ, unless we return to God. In no other way can we be fitted in holiness and strength for the work that is so urgently calling—the work of making Christ known to every living person.”

Let me interject. If we think the church exists merely to allow our kids to have a nice, positive place to spend Wednesday nights, or, if we think the church exists merely to be our support group—we probably don’t need much of the Holy Spirit. But, brothers and sisters, if the church is called and created to reach the world for Christ, then we are dead in the water without the Holy Spirit.

How much is the church reflecting the glory of Christ? Not nearly enough! We desperately need revival. We need the power and love and conviction of God to pour out into His churches. We must embrace the Christ-given purpose of the church—to be His witness and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). This mission will be done through God’s power.

Let me share one more perspective on the need for prayer and the need for God to accomplish His mission through us as Jim Cymbala describes it in his book, Fresh Wind Fresh Fire (p 49).

“Prayer cannot be truly taught by principles and seminars and symposiums. It has to be born out of a whole environment of felt need. If I say, “I ought to pray,” I will soon run out of motivation and quit; the flesh is too strong. I have to be driven to pray.”

Brothers and sisters, let us remember that God’s mission for His church will only be accomplished as we call out and depend on God’s Spirit.

God, please bring revival that your name will be glorified, your will be done, your kingdom come!

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve 

Do You Know How Much You are Loved?

Saints,

We are loved with an unconditional, life-transforming—world changing love. We cannot earn this love. God pours out His love on us.

As I spoke with my Christ-following friend from Iran recently, he commented on how his country needs God’s love. He said his fellow countrymen want to know real love—God’s love. I thought about Iran and her people hearing the gospel and coming to God as God’s life-changing love draws them. This reminded me that God’s life-changing love draws Christ-followers in America and all over the world as well. God’s love even continues to draw “seasoned saints” and continues to draw Christ-followers who have forgotten how much Jesus loves them.

What we are talking about here is relationship with God. The kind of relationship with God that Adam had in the garden. Picture this, God comes to Adam in the morning and says, “Adam come with me. Let’s walk.” Can you imagine God coming to you and saying, “Steve, let’s walk. I want to spend time with you?” How does that statement affect you? Are you surprised to think that the most high creator, sustainer God would want to spend time with you? This should not be a surprise to us because as Jesus spoke of eternal life, He described it as “knowing” God and knowing Jesus whom He sent.

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Do you know God? Do you know Jesus? Do you know how much you are loved? Or, do you merely know something about God? Whether we are pre-Christians in Iran or 47 year old American believers who have known Christ for 36 years, we all need to deeply know God’s love for us. When we deeply know God’s love for us, our lives change. Knowing God’s love is a significant part of the abundant life Jesus speaks of in John.

John 10:10
¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Know Jesus—know God. Consider this quote by Thomas a Kempis from The Imitation of Christ,

“Prop yourself up with and for Christ if you wish to live with Christ. If just once you could perfectly enter the inner life of Jesus and experience a little of His passionate love, then you would not care at all about what you might gain or lose in life. You would even bear insults gladly, for the love of Jesus makes a person think of himself in a very humble way.”

How would you feel if Jesus asked you to go on a walk right now? Would you be too busy? Too tired? Would you be worried about what He might ask you or want to talk about with you? Would you feel shame to be in His presence?

Your answers can reveal how complete your understanding of God’s love for you really is. Do your answers point to a deep, transforming understanding and acceptance of the love of Jesus?

Let’s look at the disciple John as an example of someone who deeply knew God’s love. Remember chapter thirteen of John’s gospel where we find Jesus gathering his disciples for one last time of fellowship before his death and resurrection. To help us see this scene more clearly, read the following excerpt from Howard Baker’s book, Soul Keeping, pg 79.

“…Following His incredible act of love and humility in washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus predicted that one of them would betray Him. This prompted suspicious looks and quiet questions among all of the disciples except one—John. While the others were relying on their understanding to try to ascertain the identity of the betrayer, John was leaning on the breast of Jesus in devoted affection. “

I have often wondered, “How could it be that Jesus loved John more than the others?” Looking back on my question, I realize this assumption is not true. Jesus loved them all the same. The difference is that somehow John seemed to understand the depth of Jesus’ love for him more than the others, at least at this point in the story. His understanding of Jesus’ love for him affected John’s behavior. Note that following this scene in his gospel, John referred to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved" (see John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20.)

Baker continues,

“The affects of experiencing the love of Jesus are immediately evident in John’s life. He was the only disciple at the cross (John 19:26-30). He was the first to the tomb and the first to believe in the resurrection (John 20:1-9). He was the first to recognize the risen Jesus (John 21:1-14). And he was the first to follow the resurrected Lord (John 21:15-25).

If we are willing to be people “whom Jesus loves” we will see the same effects in our lives. Just as John did, we will gladly share in the sufferings of Christ. The experience of being loved will strengthen our faith, just as it did for John. It will give us spiritual insight to recognize Jesus in surprising places. And finally, when we are loved and know it, we will follow Jesus, just as John did.  In fact, when we know we are loved, we follow not as a disciple or as a servant, but as a beloved in passionate pursuit of the lover of our souls.”

To sum up, John loved. Everything he did was deeply connected to God’s love--not the love he conjured up on his own, but the transforming love Jesus had for him. This is the point. Are we like John? Do we love, serve, minister and pray because of Jesus’ deep life-changing love? Remember what John was like before He came to know Jesus love—a “son of thunder,” angry, trying to accomplish his will in his strength.

Let us ask the Father in the name of Jesus that we will know Jesus’ love for us—like John knew His love so that we are transformed completely. We will live differently. We will love unconditionally as we are filled with this kind of love. This love--truly known, will deeply impact those around us whether they are within our faith families or without.

1 John 4:18-19 (NASB)
¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us.

I am convinced that when the church will stand up and radiate the glory and holiness given her by Christ, when she stands up in the power she has in the Holy Spirit, when she stands up completely surrendered to her Savior, when she engages in Bible-based, Spirit-led, kingdom-focused prayer in Jesus name, then she will impact lives. The Spirit-driven church will impact cities. The surrendered church will impact states. The self-less, Holy Spirit empowered church will impact nations. The church is Christ’s glory. We must awaken from our culturally induced stupor. Church, arise! Know your Savior’s love like the Apostle John knew His love. Be transformed by it.

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve 

The Sleepy Church and One Answer

Saints,

Like you, I am overwhelmed with thanks today. As Christ-followers we all have so much to thank the Father for.

We have been awakened out of a sin induced stupor—death. We have been made alive to walk in intimacy with the most-high God of the universe—we can enter into His presence because He has clothed us with righteousness. We are saints, children of God, true worshipers, eternal worshipers of the one true God both here on earth temporarily and with Him eternally. He has filled us with His Spirit. We are completely transformed. He has made us capable of deep, intense connection with Him in prayer—thank you, God! God is so good.

Thank you, God for giving us every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Thank you for granting us love, forgiveness, peace, joy, and your presence.

Additionally, we each can list dear family members, friends, experiences, and more to be thankful for. Today, our family will share a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner complete with Bible readings, hymn singing, and then each in-turn sharing what we are thankful for with a young couple from India and a young lady from Nepal. International folks seem to really enjoy our Thanksgiving tradition. I hope that they will see Jesus more clearly through this day.

As we turn our attention to the church, I admit that this devotional is biased. I am writing this and so it comes from my bias, my perspective. You may have a different bias or perspective—that is okay. Even so, I have to communicate what I believe is a message to the church today. Maybe I am wrong. I don’t think so, but I might be.

Let us consider the problem. The problem we will look at today is that the church seems to be asleep. She has far too little impact on her communities, her children, her culture—even her members.

Not too long ago, a friend handed me a copy of Andrew Murray’s book, The State of the Church. This book was written 100 years ago. From my perspective, it could have been written today.

Murray speaks of a startling statistic, p33.

“Another statistic tells that out of seven million Sunday school students only about one-fifth ultimately connect themselves with the church. What a thought! That millions of Sunday school students should be entrusted to the church for three or four years of their life, and yet the church is powerless to influence them to become its members!”

Remember this was written 100 years ago. It seems we still have the same problem today, at least in the western church. I realize there can be a number of answers to help this problem. Frankly I believe what Murray suggests is right on target.

I believe the problem is that we do work in the church with far too much reliance on ourselves and far too little empowering of the Holy Spirit. You may reply, “That is very obvious. How do we change that?”

As we saw last week, read again Daniel Henderson’s definition of prayer one more time—read slowly.

 “Prayer is intimacy with God that leads to the fulfillment of His purposes, accomplished by His power, for His glory."

I believe that we do not know how to pray in a manner that results in deeper intimacy with God. This has to do with our desire to maintain control—our lack of willingness to completely surrender to God—our reluctance to turn away from our sin.

Saints, may we run after God in true repentance and in complete surrender. If you do not agree with me on this consider the state of the church as evidence.

Murray continues,

“The chief suggestion in regard to the whole difficulty is contained in one word: work. “There have been too many conferences and meetings to discuss work—it is better to do the work. The minister is to be pitied who does not yet know what he ought to do in his sphere of labor. He is most deeply to be pitied if he does not know the source of true strength.” And yet this last is just the crucial question. Judging by what is written and spoken; it is the lack of that intense prayer, that loving faith, which is the cause of all evil.  God’s promise is too sure; the lack of conversions, the decline in membership and the lack of Sunday school students all indicate that the power of God is little known. And nothing can be more dangerous than to tell men to work if their method of work is not what it should be!”

I know these are hard words. Please don’t misunderstand my intention. I am in no way blaming anyone—especially not pastors, not leaders, not teachers. I agree with Murray in that some how we have drifted away from a deep connection and reliance on God, on His power. More programs are not the answer. Better marketing is not the answer. The one thing you and me can do right now--even this Thanksgiving is to connect with the Father in deeper prayer which is Bible-based, Spirit-led, kingdom-focused, prayer in Jesus name which results in “intimacy with God that leads to the fulfillment of His purposes, accomplished by His power, for His glory."

Father, teach us to pray. Fill us—your church with Your Holy Spirit power. Use Your church to impact her neighbors, her communities, her culture for Your glory and that Your name would be honored. Amen.

Jesus prayed for this very thing in His prayer recorded in John chapter 17.

John 17:20-23 (ESV)
²⁰ “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve 

Prayer, Faith, and Your View of God

Saints,

In my opinion, our prayer tends to be too little, too infrequent, and based on a faith which is much too small.

Maybe, some of you would agree with these qualifying words concerning your own prayer. Today, we will consider that one reason for a lack and littleness of our own prayer is our little view of God and our view of how God designed prayer to be a part of His kingdom.

To start off, let’s review our life circumstance before God somehow affected our lives. Paul explains this in Ephesians, dear brothers and sisters, before God did something in our lives--we were dead in our sin.

Ephesians 2:1-2 (NIV)

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”

Sometimes we can forget that we did not save ourselves. We did not conjure up enough faith to somehow please God. We did not do enough works to make the most-high God smile on us. We did not educate ourselves enough about God until God approved of our wonderful godly knowledge. God saves us. He does it all. He provides the way to Himself. As I understand the scriptures, for those of you who have received Christ, we were dead in our sin. Then, God somehow reached into our deadness and caused the light of God’s truth in our lives that we received this truth. The truth is that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead to pay the penalty of our sins and to purchase a place in heaven for us.

So, God did it all. Please embrace the reality of whom we are and who God is. We are utterly dependent on God. Don’t let yourself think otherwise.

The second issue for us today centers around our view of God. Let me ask you, “How big is our God?” Is our God big enough to save your neighbor? Is our God big enough to revive a faltering church which seems bent toward splitting up? Is our God big enough to keep us from habitually sinning? Is our God big enough to save a demon-possessed man? Is our God big enough to cause churches which are very inward-focused to become more outward-focused? Is our God big enough to cause discipleship to happen in a tribal people on an island off Malaysia in which there are only brand new Christians? Is our God big enough to awaken a spiritually sleepy and seemingly unresponsive country to His gospel? Please know that the answer to these questions in reality is yes—regardless of what we may think!

So, how does this relate to prayer? I remember the first time I prayed for every pastor in the world. I stopped praying. The thought caused me to falter. Would God answer a prayer like that? How would I know if He answered a prayer like that? Was He big enough for that kind of prayer?

Saints, please remember our God has things in his mind far beyond what we may ask or think or imagine. Again Paul in his letter to the Ephesians,

Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,”

I was struggling with my small view of God in prayer. Of course God is big enough to answer prayer for every pastor in the world. The question is, “Is our faith based on a God who is big enough to hear us utter a prayer like that?” Is our understanding of God rooted in the truth of His Word or our own lack of understanding of His truth?

God is big. He is at work. He has designed prayer to be part of His kingdom work—incessant, persevering, faithful, Scripture-based, in Jesus name, heart-felt, sacrificial, not a merely as-you-drive or brush-your-teeth kind of prayer.

May God convict us of our weak understanding of Him. May God show us how to pray Bible-based, Holy-Spirit led, kingdom-centered, prayer in Jesus name for His glory.  

I know we have looked at this before, even so, please consider Daniel Henderson’s definition of prayer,

“Prayer is intimacy with God that leads to the fulfillment of His purposes, accomplished by His power, for His glory."

Father, we implore you as Jesus taught us to pray in Luke 10—cause your church to be a praying church. Cause her to embrace the truth of who you truly are—how powerful you really are. Father, convict us of our little and lacking prayers. Fill us with your Holy Spirit to empower effective prayer which impacts your kingdom!  We ask this for your glory and in Jesus name, Amen. 

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve 

Prayer and Faith

Saints,

As a reminder, please know the purpose of the Power House Prayer devotionals  is to encourage Christ-followers toward deeper intimacy with Jesus and spur them on to deeper, resolute Bible-based, Holy Spirit-led, kingdom-focused, prayer in Jesus name for His glory.

This message is as much for me as it might be for you. I have a heart-ache to see the church of Jesus Christ flourish and burn white-hot for her Savior in complete obedience, witnessing, prayer, and surrender. If you are a believer then you probably have this same desire.  I am convinced that we can not conjure up this kind of desire by ourselves. Even so, after three years of praying for revival and awakening, I am growing weary—even doubtful that God will do what I believe He has placed in my heart to ask Him to do. That is to ask Him for deepening and awakening and revival in the American church.

You may be wondering at why I might be so spiritually weak to falter after only three years. I wonder too. So today, to deepen our resolve, let’s look at what true faith looks like in true prayer.

What is faith and how does it relate to prayer?

The writer of Hebrews says,

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)
¹ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Matthew Henry states,

It is a firm persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promised to us in Christ. This persuasion gives the soul to enjoy those things now; it gives them a subsistence or reality in the soul, by the first-fruits and foretastes of them. Faith proves to the mind, the reality of things that cannot be seen by the bodily eye.       (Matthew Henry Concise Bible Commentary)

E. M. Bounds shares in his book, The Essentials of Prayer, chapter two,

“Faith is not an abstract belief in the Word of God, nor a mere mental credence, nor a simple assent to the understanding and will; nor is it a passive acceptance of facts, however sacred or thorough. Faith is an operation of God. A divine illumination, a holy energy implanted by the Word of God and the Spirit in the human soul—a spiritual, divine principle which takes of the supernatural and makes it a thing apprehendable by the faculties of time and sense.”

As we have seen before, it is very easy for us to depend on training, marketing, technology, personal know-how and savvy to get things done. Unfortunately, we can approach doing ministry with this kind of self-reliance as well. It’s almost as if we have a spiritual amnesia--forgetting the Old Testament and how it clearly relays God’s people thriving when they utterly depend on God and getting into trouble when they do things on their own.

I think Jesus summed this principle up well when He said,

John 15:5 (ESV)
⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Maybe you are like me in that I sometimes focus on circumstances and then get discouraged. I’m talking about circumstances like pastors being murdered in Iran, churches which drift away from the God’s purpose of the church—disciple making and witnessing, churches struggling with disunity, and pastors falling. These circumstances can lead us to want to quit.

It can almost make us want to stop trying, to stop praying, to stop believing that God could revive. May we never falter--God is faithful!

Maybe you can relate? If so, be encouraged. Quitting is not of faith—you have been given faith by the most high creator God. Do you realize that your faith in God is not as a result of your own doing? I know we are to “work out our faith in fear and trembling.” Even so, this refers to the faith we have already been given by the Father. If you have received Christ, then thank the Father for He is the one who drew you to Christ! (John 6:44) God gives us faith…

Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)
⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Did you notice that not only does God give the faith, but He also gives the faith for a purpose—to work the works He prepared beforehand?

Let’s look at how faith and prayer come together. E.M. Bounds says this well,

“Faith gives birth to prayer, and grows stronger, strikes deep, rises higher, in the struggles and wrestling of mighty petitioning. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the assurance and realization of the inheritance of the saints. Faith, too, is humble and persevering. It can wait and pray; it can stay on its knees, or like in the dust. It is the one great condition of prayer; the lack of it lies at the root of all poor praying, feeble praying, little praying, unanswered praying.”

May our faith be strong and our praying reflect this.

E. M. Bounds continues,

“What an era of glorious achievements would dawn for the church and the world, if only there could be reproduced a race of saints of like mighty faith and of like mighty praying! It is not the intellectually great that the church needs; nor is it men of wealth that the times demand. It is not people of great social influence that this day requires. Above everybody and everything else, it is men of faith, men of mighty prayer, men and women after the fashion of the saints and heroes enumerated in Hebrews, who “obtain a good report through faith,” that the church and the whole wide world of humanity needs.”

To be clear, we know that it is only through God and His love, power, grace and blessing that we can be men and women of faithful prayer and effective obedience.

If you are at point of doubting or faltering, let me encourage you--let’s agree to do two things…

1) Like the sick boy’s father asked Jesus (Mark 9:24) to help him with his unbelief, we can ask God for more and stronger faith.

2) Decide to stand on God’s Word, not circumstances! Like Daniel (Dan. 1:8) who determined in his heart he would not eat the king’s food—let’s determine in our hearts that we will through strong faith, resolutely pray as God leads His kingdom-focused prayers without doubt.

Father, raise up your church to glorify your name. Make us your fully obedient, surrendered, and on-fire followers. Make our children like that too. Father, deepen up in You, Awaken us to You and revive us for You. Father, save those who do not know you—those the enemy has blinded eyes and deafened ears. We ask this in faith! We ask this in Jesus’ name. We ask this for Your purposes—for Your name to be glorified on the earth!  We ask this for Your glory and in Jesus name, Amen.