"Choose Your Own Sermon" Week

This week, I gave the congregation a choice, much like the old “Choose your Own Adventure” books for kids, where there are multiple storylines depending on which decision you chose for the main character.

I was prepared to bring the next installment of the “Praying According to…” series, but when given the choice, those in attendance chose for me to walk through the previous week’s assigned reading in Psalm 34, considering further the concepts in “Praying According to the News.” 

The text of Psalm 34, and the simple lessons we drew from it, can be found at Psalm 34: An Antidote for Media-Induced Angst. We hope this is healthy food for your soul in a tumultuous time. 

Praying According to the News

(According to the Word, Pt. 3)

Review:

In recent weeks we have talked about “Praying According to the Scripture: What does the Bible tell us to pray about?” We have also considered the practice of “Praying the Scripture itself” in Pray-reading. Pray-reading is when we leave our list behind, and use the text of the Scriptures themselves as a prompt for our prayer—our dialoguing with the Word. The following week we considered a heart-centered prayer in Praying Affectively— Scriptural Attitudes of Effective Prayer. When we consider what makes prayer effective, the questions that really stand out as crucial are not, "Where should we pray?", "When should we pray?", or "What pattern should we follow in our times of prayer?" The crucial question in determining the effectiveness of our prayer is, "What is the attitude of our hearts in prayer?" While not exhaustive we suggested seven attitudes. Do you remember what they were?

A couple of our concluding points will be a good segue into this week’s prayer focus. Let’s take a moment to admit that…

• There are seasons of disappointment (when the answer is not what we wanted) Take heart in Jesus’ prayer, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matt. 26:42).
• There are seasons of discouragement (when there appears to be no progress and people are in pain) But all is not as it appears since our perception is limited. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Gal. 6:9)

This Week:

OK, confession time! How many of you had something disappointing happen this week? How many saw, or heard about, something that made you mad? Sad? Grieved? Are any of you frustrated at your circumstances, or at the circumstances of others? As you were reacting to these situations, actions, and events, did you stop to think about how God might have felt about them? Did you pray about it? If not, why not? How we pray is what we really believe. There is an ancient Latin phrase, Lex Orandi, Lex Credenda, which means that the law of prayer is the law of our belief/life. It means that the way we pray reveals what we really believe. So, what is our law of prayer? If we don’t pray, perhaps it means that we don’t think prayer works, or we don’t think God hears us (or cares about us), or maybe we trust our own efforts more and save prayers for the last resort.

This season may be both a time of disappointment and discouragement for Christians in America, no matter what side of the political spectrum they occupy. Since the beginning of the election cycle, through the election and inauguration and now in the daily barrage of media, there seems to be a growing sense of anger and tension. Yet at the same time, it is hard to turn off the news since it seems that every day there is something important happening. A David Sipress cartoon in The New Yorker, captures it well, “My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.” 

As we struggle to balance being well-informed through our daily consumption of media, as we struggle to stay sane amid political strife, racial injustice, economic disparity, terrorist atrocities abroad, and natural disasters around the world, how can we pray? In dealing with the news, is there an antidote to the angst? (I think that “Angst” is perhaps the best way to describe it—an underlying sense of anguish, torment, anxiety, trouble, sorrow, a general sense of fear and concern—and is our word for the day.)

I suggest that as we pray according to the Word, and pray with the right attitudes, we also need to be engaged with what is going on around us and pray according to the news!

If we are not only to avoid insanity and general crabbiness or the other extreme of becoming calloused and cynical we need to keep praying about the news—what we see on TV and the internet, what we hear on the radio and podcasts, and what we experience first-hand. Here are seven simple suggestions for praying according to the news!

1. Be Intentional About Celebrating the Good News

“If one member suffers, all suffer together;

if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Cor. 12:26)

We need to be compassionate with those who suffer but to do that we also need to rejoice with those who are honored. Most media are great at putting a negative spin on things but not very adept at reporting wholesome and positive news. It is in times like this that Proverbs 25:25 “Good news from afar is like cold water to a thirsty soul” comes to mind. However, as refreshing as good news is we tend to forget it far more quickly than bad news.

Why is it easier for us to forget the good and remember the bad? Scientific research confirms this is the case. The emotions of fear, grief, and anger, tend to etch the event into our memory. Hence the need to be more intentional about celebrating and remembering the good things.  Remembering bad things that happen to us is easy, like holding a stone in our hand (until we can throw it at someone), but remembering good things is more like holding onto a handful of oil, which quickly slips through our fingers. Do we write down or memorialize the good things that God has done?

In ancient Israel, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread were memorials to what God had done for them (Ex. 12:14; 13:9); as were the written record of Gods actions on their behalf (Ex. 17:14); and the two piles of 12 stones—one at Gilgal, one in the Jordan (Joshua 4:2-9). Earlier in Genesis, whenever God met with someone, they built an altar to remember that moment—Noah (8:20), Abram (12:7-8; 13:18; 22:9), Isaac (26:25), Jacob (35:7), Moses (Ex 17:15; 24:4). How do we chose to memorialize the miracles and mercies we experience?

Good news is beautiful and it is what Jesus brings to us [See also Isaiah 52:6-7; 61:1-3]. However, there is still bad news that must be faced. What should we do?

2. Mourn the bad news compassionately, tempered by hope.

In one Old Testament story, an old priest named Eli got the triple bad news of his sons’ death, the defeat of the army of Israel, and the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:13-19). He immediately fell off the bench, broke his neck, and died for there was no hope mixed with his grief.

King David also received a lot of bad news that prompted grief. He mourned even the death of his enemy Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. 1:11-13). In he received fake news of the death of all of his sons (2 Sam. 13:30). Fact-checking revealed that only one son (Amnon) had been killed by Absalom in retaliation for defiling his sister. Later, David mourned the news of Absalom’s death (2 Sam. 18:31). Yet, he repeatedly turned his downcast soul towards the Lord and put his trust in God (Psa. 42-43). We too should grieve at what grieves the heart of God. It is a human thing to do, but human grief will not solve it or heal it. Grief should turn our hearts back to Jesus in relational repentance, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” (2 Cor. 7:10)

3. Turn our natural fear at the news of great danger into a prayer of faith!

“God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and self-control.” (2 Tim 1:7)

When we hear scary news how should we respond? Not like Damascus, whose inhabitants melted in fear at the bad news (Jer. 49:23). It would be better to respond like the good king Jehoshaphat, who in 2 Chron. 20 was also afraid, but let it move him to prayer confessing his own helplessness, “For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (v.12)

The Psalmist captured this confidence in Psalm 112:6-8,

For the righteous will never be moved;
    he will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news;
    his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
    until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.

We can have the same confidence in the face of bad news, not because we are perfect and righteous in our own efforts, but because Jesus Christ was perfect on our behalf!

4. Some news should prompt us to righteous action (1 Sam. 11:1-15; Neh. 1)

In some cases, the Spirit moves his people to be the answer to the prayers of others. Let me share just two examples.

A) Saul was moved to raise an army and deliver Jabesh-Gilead.

In 1 Samuel 11, Nahash, an Ammonite ruler was maiming Israelites by putting out their right eye and was threatening the town of Jabesh-Gilead with such treatment unless they could find a champion to stand up for them in a week’s time.

When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.

Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled… Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. (v. 4-7)

The Spirit of God came upon Saul in this case like he had upon the Judges before him, with the power to lead the people to victory. Years later when Saul was killed and all of Israel fled before the Philistines, it was the men of this town, Jabesh-Gilead, that risked their lives to recover the bodies of Saul and his sons (1 Sam. 31:12).

B) Nehemiah’s compassion led him to pray and act to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 1:1-11)

And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

      As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said,

“O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you… O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (1:2-6, 11)

Jeremiah mourned over the disgrace and the danger faced by the repatriated residents of Jerusalem. He prayed a prayer of confession and asked for mercy to approach the Persian king with an audacious request…that he might go and rebuild the wall. The king gave him his blessing. The Book of Nehemiah tells the story at length. As we pray, let's listen for our marching orders on behalf of others.

5) Don’t be shocked, however, we should be grieved! (2 Tim. 3:1-5; Neh. 1:4)

When people are interviewed after some serious crime occurs in their neighborhood they almost always say the same thing on camera, “It’s shocking!” However, as believers, we should not be surprised at sinful people doing sinful things…however we can be grieved! 2 Timothy 3:1-9 describes the kind of people we will encounter,

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

We should take a lesson from Nehemiah, and grieve, and pray to confess the sins of our people and our own responsibility as part of the society and system that produces such brokenness, and then put ourselves at the service of the Holy Spirit to be used to change what needs to change.

Even with these suggestions, how can we avoid getting crazy at the barrage of news? The sheer volume of it is overwhelming. We need to limit our media consumption.

6) Only watch as much as we are willing to pray about

I tend to pray silently as I watch but others pause the TV and have a prayer meeting…which further limits the amount of news one can watch! Perhaps you could pray for these specifics as you watch/listen:

• Pray for peace (Shalom) in all its fullness—physical, relational, emotional, spiritual (Psalm 122:6-7; Matt. 5:9; 2 Cor. 13:11-12) 
• Pray for God’s grace upon the situation--the goodness of God, good gifts of health, forgiveness, restoration, hope, and purpose (Rom. 15:13)
• Pray for justice to be done—that the oppressed might be set free, treated fairly, law would be followed and if the law is wrong then it might be changed (Prov. 21:13)
• Pray for wisdom, skill, and courage for first responders and relief workers (to do the right things, the right way, at the right time) and for us to know how to help. (2 Chron. 1:10; 2 Tim. 1:6-7)
• Pray for truth and grace for media outlets in the telling of the story—not curated in a way to twist the meaning or interpretation, for wisdom and discernment on our part as to where to get our media input. (Prov. 18:13; 15:28; James 1:19)
• Pray for God’s people to manifest the love of God to their neighbors in this situation (Luke 10:25-37)
• Pray that people would be softened to respond to God’s love in faith and obedience. (2 Tim. 2:23-26; 2 Peter 3:9)

7) In light of all this, what should our law of prayer (lex orandi) be? (Phil. 4:4-9)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

May watching the news never be the same again. It cannot be something we do passively or petulantly but let it be a time of Spirit-led intercession for those who cannot or won't pray for themselves. 

Praying Affectively Effectively (According to Your Word Pt. 2)

or, Scriptural Attitudes of Effective Prayer

This tongue-twister of a title is intentional. Last week we studied a number of areas about which the Bible tells us to pray. We want our prayer to be "according to the word" as the psalmist wrote often in Psalm 119. However, while we are often concerned about the effectiveness of our prayers, we may be looking at it the wrong way.

When we consider what makes prayer effective, the questions that really stand out as crucial are not,

"Where should we pray?",

"When should we pray?", or even,

"What pattern should we follow in our times of prayer?" 

The crucial question in determining the effectiveness of our prayer is,

"What is the attitude of our hearts in prayer?"

Prayer is not primarily a tool to get stuff done that is to be measured in effectiveness (although as the KJV says, it “availeth much” James 5:16b), but a relational heart response to the Lord God, who is “merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” If we love God then we will want to share our life with him. As we approach praying “according to the Word,” we need to not just list the things the Bible says that we should pray for, but we need to consider the attitudes with which we pray.

1. An Attitude of Confession…

This means being honest with God about your thoughts, actions, and words. It means that we do not come to God by minimizing our needs or spinning our guilt into someone else’s responsibility. An important element of effective prayer is not just the act of confession, but the attitude of confession—constantly wanting to be more honest with God than before. While effectiveness should not be the motive behind confession, we cannot hope for our prayer to be effective if we are functioning in either open sinfulness or subtle self-righteousness.  We need to recognize that we are sinners and need a Savior. We need to agree with God that He's right and we're wrong (Psalm 51:1-4; 1 John 1:8-10). 

2. An Attitude of Relational Repentance…

Repentance is turning away from sin, and turning (back) toward God! If our prayer is going to be effective then we need to be quick to repent, turning away in word, thought, and deed from those things and attitudes which God says are sins and (re)turning towards him. When we repent, we can see God move with great blessing in our lives. How is this repentance an attitude and not an action? It, like confession, is an action sourced in the heart. Our repentance needs to be more than just an improved “Do/Don’t” list, or saying we are sorry. It is a change of heart that produces a change of mind that results in a change of lifestyle.  An attitude of prayerful repentance doesn’t seek something from God so much as it seeks out God himself. We begin to evaluate all that we think, say, and do (watch, read, listen, eat, etc.) based on whether it helps us, or hinders us, in loving God more and sharing that love with the world. As such, true repentance becomes preemptive to sin, in that when we are tempted we repent before we come to the place where temptation gives birth to sin, so we don't sin in the first place (2 Chronicles 7:14; Matthew 3:8; 2 Corinthians 7:9-10).

One of the most well-known passages on repentant prayer is 2 Chronicles 7:13-14, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus’ coming by urging people to repent. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.…Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matt. 3:2, 8). I have frequently used a bungee cord to illustrate repentance. It involves an unhooking from that which is not God and returning relationally to the one who is our very life—the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We do well to remember that repentance is relational and is a turning away from anything that hinders me from turning toward Jesus, from loving him more.

3. An Attitude of Humility…

I believe that one of the great hindrances to effective prayer is a lack of humility. Scripture says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6,10; 1 Peter 5:5). Yet some believe that when they pray they can come claiming their rights, demanding their due—if they say the right words the right way God must give them what they want. That is not the perspective of biblical faith but of magic. This attitude of entitlement is not the right attitude, since the only thing we can demand is what we deserve… and we really don't want that (Rom. 3:23a)! Let's approach prayer differently and come in humility, both dependent and submitted to God and his will! It is then that our prayer will be effective “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16c). Jesus himself models an attitude of humility in every aspect of the incarnation, especially in his death in our behalf (Phil. 2:3-11). Humble prayer is others-centered, kingdom-flavored, and Christ-directed. "Thy will be done."

4. An Attitude of Praise…

Another attitude of effective prayer is praise. Praise is speaking the truth about the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Some might argue that praise is an action, not an attitude and that is partly right. However, the action of giving praise rises out of affection for Jesus which changes the way we face the day. When we face the day with a prayerful attitude of praise we come looking for an opportunity to see the shared goodness of God that surrounds us and to speak out in praise rather than complain, grumble, and grouse. Praise is also a wonderful antidote for the "shopping list" mentality in prayer.  Perhaps we are conditioned to come to the Lord only when we have a list, not necessarily praying selfishly, but certainly with a task-oriented and business-like approach. An attitude of praise changes that. It helps us to shift our attitude in prayer to become more centered in the person of God revealed in Jesus Christ.  If you need a praise primer, a starting point for praising God, I recommend the truth he most often uses to describe himself in the Old Testament—He is merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 86:15; 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; 116:5; 145:8; Luke 6:36). Let's worship the Lord in our prayer times, just for whom he is and what he is like. If our prayer is effective, we are probably like the psalmist who sought the Lord in prayer, not so much for what God could do for him, but for a relationship with his God (Psalm 150).

5. An Attitude of Petition…

For our prayer to be effective, we need to present our requests to God, as it is written, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). Yet the way in which we petition the Lord not only affects the impact of our prayer, it affects our very desire to pray and intercede for others. There are at least two ineffective extremes in petitioning God. 

• First, our request may be so general that there is no way that we could ever know if God had answered our prayer (e.g., "God bless the people in Africa") which tends to bring us to the place where we pray less. 
• Second, we might make our requests so specific that we end up praying selfishly and/or against the will of God. 

We need to find a place of balance, somewhere between presumptuous specificity and half-hearted generalities. This may involve using our compassionate imagination to prayerfully put ourselves in the other person's place, trying to get a sense of what their needs might be, and then praying that God would meet those needs according to his Word. Yet leaving the Lord some latitude as to how he might fulfill his Word (Psalm 20; 1 John 5:14-15).

6. An Attitude of Gratitude/Thanksgiving…

Prayer that is affectively effective is a prayer that is thankful—to God from the heart that knows the love of Christ. Thankful,

• for what we have,
• for what we don't have, and
• for all those situations and souls that we have the sacred privilege to lift to Christ in prayer. 

We probably would see more answers to prayer if we were more thankful for the amazing grace that God continually shows us. Thanksgiving is a more affective and effective expression of faith, contentment, and love (Psalm 100:4-5; Philippians 4:6-7; Colossians 4:2) than forwarding our fine-print demands.

7. An Attitude of Faith and Endurance…

When we ask, “according to” God’s word, the Bible, we need to pray with faith, trusting God to hear and respond in steadfast love… now, and over the long term.  How can we do this?

Ask in faith without doubting (James 1:6-7). We are not to be doubleminded and use prayer as an effort to “cover all our bases,” just in case it might work.

If we know we have mixed faith, let's confess it, and ask for help (Mark 9:21-24)

And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” 

And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire   

                                                                                  and into water,

                                                                  to destroy him. 

                                 But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 

And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! 

         All things are possible for one who believes.”

      Immediately the father of the child cried out and said,

                                                             “I believe; help my unbelief!”

There are seasons of disappointment (when the answer is not what we wanted). In times like this, we should take heart in Jesus’ own prayer, as which he prayed with blood, sweat, and tears, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matt. 26:42).

There are seasons of discouragement (when there appears to be no progress and people are in pain) But all is not as it appears…our perception of the process of growth and influence is limited. There are different roles to play in God’s plan which are assigned by his sovereign wisdom.

For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:37-38)

The people of God had been longing to see the Messiah finally come, but none did until the right moment came.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matt 13:16-17)

Sometimes, we have no rest, just “fighting without and fear within” as Paul experienced long ago. In those times, we must look to God to comfort us, and sometimes he uses the faithfulness of others to do it. So, keep your eyes open and your heart tender!

For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you… [by your repentance] (2 Cor. 7:5-7)

There is no season to give up. We are not able to perceive the length of the spiritual season while we are in it, but once the harvest comes, and it will come, we will recognize it and rejoice even in the process.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Gal. 6:9)

 Effective prayer is, first of all, an affective prayer!