The Problem… People!

Missio Dei—The Mission of God Part #1

The first step in our understanding of the mission of God is coming to grips with the problem.

Why is the world the way it is? Why is it so messed up? We all can see that there is something wrong. Tragedies and trauma, disasters and disease, war and waste, arrogance and abuse are commonplace. Some use the condition of the world as an argument against the existence of God. However, the very fact that we know something is wrong is perhaps a better argument for God than against him. The Bible teaches that God didn’t make the world the way it is now. When God made the world, he said it was “good” six times, and then after making humans declared that it was “very good”—all in the first chapter of the Bible (Gen. 1). So, what happened to bring about such a drastic change?

The first people decided to trust their own senses more than the Creator’s loving command. As a result, they brought sin and death into the world, and their failure has echoed down through history like a bad rhyme or an alliterative sermon outline (e.g., Sin shames, Man blames, God flames and reclaims).

1) Sin shames us and enters through:

Wrong Teaching (v.1-5) Eve listened to the tempter's false teaching. She initially disagreed with it but it began to ease her towards the place of deception, through the nurturing of an inappropriate desire. The lie was couched in an indictment of the character of God’s love for them “God is holding out on you.” The tempter’s appeal sought to activate in Eve a sense of pride and self-esteem, implying the ancient yet frighteningly contemporary, "You deserve better!" What can we do to avoid such wrong teaching in our lives?

• Know what God has said—spend enough time in the Scriptures to get the big picture of what God is like and what he has done—the enemy always wants to twist it.
• Don’t make stuff up (Pro. 30:6). Eve added the part about not touching the tree, probably as a human effort to contain desire. There is a big difference between what God said and what we say he said.
• Seek the answers you need through a relationship with the Lord himself, not through the addition of outside “technology.”

Wrong Trusting (v.5-6a) As Eve listened to the wrong teaching she began to wrongly trust her increasingly deceived senses, rather than God's Word. So, we too become deceived when we begin to listen to the voice of temptation and begin to decide for ourselves what is "good for food", etc. Eve made the mistake of dwelling upon what God had expressly forbidden, rather than on the abundance and beauty of that which God had freely supplied. How often do we also miss "the way of escape" we have in our relationship with the Lord (1 Cor. 10:13)? James in his epistle describes the process of temptation, desire, sin, and death. As it is written, "each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full‑grown, gives birth to death."  (James 1:12-15) 

While we don’t know how long the process took, Eve came to trust in her own wisdom and discernment, of what was best for her life, rather than the loving command of her Creator and Adam followed suit. Note the three steps in v. 6,

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,

                                  and that it was a delight to the eyes,

                                  and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, 

she took of its fruit and ate, and

she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Wrong Taking (v. 6b) The woman’s misplaced trust led her to transgress the clear command of God, taking and eating the fruit in an effort to be like God. She quickly gave some to her husband so that he might share her "knowledge". How typical that is of human behavior; how quickly we seek others to share in our sin as if it would somehow make us feel less guilty. Adam was not blameless here, for he transgressed the command as well. What was the result?

Wrong (Fallen) Thinking (v. 7-10) While the wrong trust was also a type of wrong thinking, here we learn how sin immediately shamed them and tainted their reasoning. They now felt naked and ashamed of who they were. What God had made in his own image and had declared “very good” they now saw apart from that relationship and were ashamed. Secondly, they attempted to hide their nakedness with fig leaves, a poor substitute for the garment of innocence. They also became afraid of God and tried in vain to hide from his presence. Sin always affects how we think about God. How quickly they forgot that God created everything and that he was everywhere that his creation was, maintaining and caring for it. Psalm 139 poetically explores the truth that nothing is hidden from God, yet in their new “knowledge” they forget that and tried to hide from Him.

One time when I was a teenager, my brother and I had friends over to spend the night. We were playing Risk. A heating duct connected the basement with my parents’ room and our noise was keeping my dad awake. We had been told to turn the lights out and go to sleep several times. However, we thought we could hide the fact that we were still up (after all, we only had one small table lamp on) until the door burst open and there stood my dad and he looked mad! He began, "What are you..." but in mid-sentence, one of my friends turned out the table lamp in hopes that the dark would hide us. There was a pause, then my dad, calmly turned on the overhead light and finished his sentence, "What are you still doing up? Get to bed NOW!" While our situation was humorous, the situation in the Garden of Eden was not. That first sin and all sins since bring at least four unwanted things into our lives:

• Sin brings shame to our nakedness (v.7 contrasts 2:25 "unashamed"). It damages our horizontal relationships with others and ourselves and leads us to hide behind social masks, defense mechanisms, and accusations of the other.
• Sin brings a belated fear of God (not the right kind) (v.10). It damages our vertical relationship with God and produces a flight response—a shrinking back from the Lord instead of desiring to please the One who loves us.
• Sin brings a distorted perspective (v.10). That we think we can hide from God. Our understanding of the goodness, power, and scope of God’s presence is vastly diminished. We—in Adam and Eve—bought the serpent's proposition of enlightenment without relationship and found out that in a far more pervasive way we became blind. We still deceive ourselves on this point. The more we think that we can see, and have no need for a relationship with God to make sense of it, the more we prove we are blind (See Rev. 3:17-20).
• Sin brings guilt and death (Gen. 2:17; Romans 6:23) “for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die” ...wages of sin is death.

2) Man blames others (v.11-13)

A brother in the church where I used to serve is a police chief and he told me a bit about the interrogation process of a suspect. There are three stages a person goes through:

• Denial: hiding from the truth (and God), or running, taking no responsibility for their actions. Martin Luther's "Table Talk," told the story of an officer in the Turkish War who told his men that if they died in battle, they would sup with Christ in Paradise. During the battle, the officer fled. When asked later why he did not wish to “sup with Christ”, he said that he was fasting that day. This is an illustration of denial.
• Minimization: in this stage, the suspect admits some guilt but not all; they tend to blame others or to compare themselves favorably with any others involved. Both men and women are given to such minimization, however, there are differences. Men seem to minimize how much they did, giving only the barest details while women often minimize their responsibility for the act in the sense of “cause and effect.” The great poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is credited with writing, "It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong."
• Point of Surrender: In this stage, the suspect finally gives a full confession and admission of guilt.

Mankind, since that first sin, always tries to rationalize or minimize his sin. When faced with the act that had been committed, God asked a couple of simple follow-up questions: “Who told you?” And, “Have you eaten?” How do Adam and Eve respond? Let’s follow the blame train…

• The man blames the woman (v.12) “The woman…” Can you imagine Adam pointing to Eve as he blames her? However, he didn’t stop there but blamed God.
• The man indicts God (v.12) "the woman whom YOU gave to be with me...". Can you see Adam now pointing his finger at God and then perhaps realizing that such a strategy would not work and redirecting his blame toward the woman?
• The man again blames the woman "...SHE gave me fruit of the tree and I ate." Note that the man minimized his involvement by relating the minimum amount of detail. As I picture it, God then moved on to face the woman and Adam perhaps breathed easier.
• The woman blamed the serpent (v.13) "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." She doesn’t deny her involvement but minimized her responsibility by emphasizing the serpent’s deception. God then moved on to face the serpent and the woman perhaps breathed easier.
• The serpent, in utter rebellion to God, said nothing.

The first man tried to hide his sin with fig leaves, excuses, and blaming others. In many ways, we still try to do the same thing today. We are quick to place the blame for our sin—and our situation—on others, on our parents, or on our own "low self-esteem," but these excuses have no power with God. The Scripture says that,

"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."  (Proverbs 28:13) 

3) God flames excuses & reclaims His people (v.14-24)

God, for all his mercy and love, doesn’t like excuses—because they keep us from being set free from our sin and having our relationship with God restored. He doesn’t want our self-deception to come between us. So, when I say “God flames” I am speaking not only of his righteous wrath at sin but how, in persistent love, he shoots all our feeble excuses down in "flames". He burns up minimization so that, as a gift of his mercy, we might come to confess our guilt and return to him in relational repentance. In this light, his judgment is not merely just, it is kind.

God cursed the serpent (v.14,15) God's punishment of the serpent was in a way that was certainly symbolic of the way in which he had spiritually affected man. The serpent had promised an exalted life but brought spiritual separation, humiliation, and death. God’s judgment upon him fit the crime— "an eye for an eye" so to speak.

God judged the woman (v.16) After he finished with the serpent, we can picture God turning to the woman and pronouncing judgment upon her, yet it is a gracious judgment for she did not die. Her punishment was also according to her crime. She was now subject to the rule of her husband, no more to lead into sin, and as her pride had led her into sin, so the bearing of children was to become painful (due perhaps to the large head of the child?). Yet there was the hope of a victorious redeemer in the future.

I imagine that at this moment, Adam started to sweat again as he sensed God's wrath would soon turn upon him and man hasn't stopped sweating since.

God judged the man (v.17-19) The man did not escape the wages of his own sin for his life was burdened with toil and frustration. Just as he had surrendered his sovereignty to be ruled by others, now creation itself was in rebellion to his rule. This constant struggle is a reminder to man of what he had lost and of his need for a Savior.

Yet God is merciful and he reclaimed his people. Even at that moment, at the fall of humanity, God graciously began the redemptive process rather than abandon us to the death that we deserved.

Sin can never be explained away, but guilt can be removed.

There is always a penalty for our going rogue. This takes the form of the judgment already described in v.14-19. It highlights that there is a need for a redeemer.  This redeemer is promised in Gen. 3:15 and is progressively revealed through the rest of the OT until seen fully in Jesus Christ.

We see right at the beginning that redemption (reclamation) comes through sacrifice (v.21). Where did the “clothes of skins” come from? God sacrificed animals to clothe them, but animal sacrifice just covered sin, and that only temporarily. Jesus Christ is the one who removes the stain of sin completely and brings a robe of righteousness. The whole sacrificial system of the Old Testament looked forward to Christ’s death for us.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  (Romans 5:8)

Another lesson that we can learn from this passage is that discipline involves consequences: (v. 22-24).

           Then the LORD God said,

“Behold, the man has become like one of us

                                             in knowing good and evil.

Now, lest he reach out his hand

                                     and take also of the tree of life and eat,

                                                                          and live forever—”

     therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden

to work the ground from which he was taken.

      He drove out the man,   and at the east of the garden of Eden

      he placed the cherubim and

                             a flaming sword that turned every way

                                 to guard the way to the tree of life.

Perhaps we don't often think about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden as an act of mercy, but it was.  It would have been a terrible curse for them to eat of the tree of life and live forever in their fallen, sinful separated state. Our loving God desires that we live forever in righteousness—which we receive only through Jesus Christ.  When we humble ourselves and come to the Lord in confession and repentance we are forgiven (1 John 1:9). If we are forgiven, then we are not cursed to live forever in our fallen condition. There are loving (though usually unpleasant) consequences we experience when we sin.  God, in his love for us, often allows us to experience the consequences of our sins so that we might learn the truth of Proverbs 13:15, "Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard." (KJV)

Scripture says that God's discipline is never pleasant at the time but that in the end, our coming to repentance, is the result of God's love and kindness.  The grace that God showed to mankind in the Garden of Eden is still available today.  As it is written, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 6:23)

God desires that we might come to our senses and repent.  He is extremely patient and doesn't want anyone to perish, yet we are not to test the Lord God.  We cannot put off dealing with any sin that might be in our lives, even if our circumstances seem to be just fine—it could start to "rain" at any time.  We read in Isaiah 53:6, that,

"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Because our iniquity has been laid upon Jesus Christ, I pray that none of us fail to receive the forgiveness that has been offered.  Let what Peter wrote be true of us,

"For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2:25)

Jesus Christ is our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Shepherd.  He comes to seek and save those who are lost. Do you see him?

Missio Dei—The Mission of God

As we enter the 2017 Lenten season, the traditional time of reflection and prayer in preparation for Good Friday and Easter Sunday we are taking the coming weeks to look back in the Scriptures at the historic plan of God (the Missio Dei) to redeem his people from their bondage to sin and death. We will see not only our own desperate need for God to deliver us from our bondage to sin but God’s committed love and mercy to accomplish it! 

Join us Sunday mornings at 11 am and walk through this season with us as we consider again the awesome love of God working on our behalf!

[This post will be updated regularly as the next lesson is posted.]

March 12 The Problem... People (Genesis 3)

How did the world get so messed up? Sin shames, mankind blames, but the Lord God mercifully reclaims his people, setting his plan for their redemption in motion.

March 19 The Plan Revealed (Genesis 4, 11-12)

Since we lost something in the fall we have sought to either take things into our own hands to replace it or self-medicate our pain so that we forget it is missing. We want the greatness that we once had when we walked in relationship with God and often try to grasp it but without walking with God. It is the difference that we see between the people of Babel (Gen. 11) and Abram/Abraham (Gen. 12). Who is it who makes our name great? Who is it who determines our identity?

March 26 The People Whom God Rescued (Exodus-Numbers)

God hears the cry of his people and rescued them in many miraculous ways but though they were delivered from Egyptian slavery they failed to enter into the full blessing of the Promised Land. Why?

April 2 The Prophecy (Psalm 24, Isaiah, etc.)

What did God say in advance about the coming Messiah (Christ)? How did the people miss the point when he came?

     “Lift up your heads, O gates!
     And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
          that the King of glory may come in.
    Who is this King of glory?
                     The LORD, strong and mighty,
                      the LORD, mighty in battle!” (Psalm 24:7-8)

Questions: How do we respond to the LORD when things don’t turn out the way we expected? What if his glory is a humble glory revealed through suffering and obedience? What if he rides a donkey? What if he walks to a cross? 

April 9 The Passion—From Palm Sunday to the Cross (Psalm 22, Gospels)

How do we see the heart of God for us in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ? When Jesus rocked the boat when he passionately brought a spiritual Spring Cleaning to the Temple. Does he want to do the same thing in our hearts today? 

April 16 The Proof of our Joy (Easter/Resurrection Day!)

The Resurrection Proves to be Good News for us. As far as history is concerned, there is no one event that has been so thoroughly documented as fact as the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is the great truth upon which all our faith rests. We could spend this message refuting the several skeptical theories intended to explain away the resurrection, but my main concern today is not to prove to you that the resurrection happened but to convey to you what the resurrection itself proves to us. 

(Ironically, the Jewish chief priests knew for sure that the resurrection had occurred [Matthew 28:11] but it didn’t convince them...instead, they sought to control the news cycle with a false narrative.) 

"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!