Tozer and Listening

I get this in my email once a year and am convicted about it once a year.

Prayer: Take Time to Listen

The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for Your commandments.
-Psalm 119:130-131

The Quakers had many fine ideas about life, and there is a story from them that illustrates the point I am trying to make. It concerns a conversation between Samuel Taylor Coleridge and a Quaker woman he had met. Maybe Coleridge was boasting a bit, but he told the woman how he had arranged the use of time so he would have no wasted hours.He said he memorized Greek while dressing and during breakfast. He went on with his list of other mental activities--making notes,reading, writing, formulating thoughts and ideas--until bedtime.

The Quaker listened unimpressed. When Coleridge was finished with his explanation, she asked him a simple, searching question: "My friend, when dost thee think?"

God is having a difficult time getting through to us because we are a fast-paced generation. We seem to have no time for contemplation. We have no time to answer God when He calls.
 Jesus, Author of our Faith, p. 46

"Thank You, Lord, that You convicted me some time ago about this need for time to think, of the need for solitude and silence. Make this increasingly possible for me, but also for many of my brothers and sisters who have not discovered the value of this slowing down. Amen."

Answered Prayer

John 4:53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." And he himself believed, and all his household.

53 ἔγνω οὖν ὁ πατὴρ ὅτι [ἐν] ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐν ᾗ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ὁ υἱός σου ζῇ, καὶ ἐπίστευσεν αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ οἰκία αὐτοῦ ὅλη.

A man came to Jesus asking for healing for his son.  Jesus told him that he simply had to go home in faith and the man's son would be well.  As he was going home he was met by his servants with good news -- his son was well!  He asked when the fever left him and then put 2 and 2 together.  He realized that Jesus did indeed heal his son.

As someone who aspires to be more of a praying man this convicts me.  I tend not to have a long litany of prayers because I don't think that God works that way.  I don't think that healing or revival are contingent on gathering enough signatures on a petition to take to God.  Based on passages like Ephesians 1:10, I don't think that God changes His mind.  He has a plan for the fullness of time and we're not going to change that.  I also know that God uses means to do His will and the prayers of the saints are one of those means.

The conviction comes because I often do not put 2 and 2 together.  I don't reconcile the answer with the prayer. This is a shame because I lose an opportunity to give God thanks and praise.  The work He does in our lives is for the glory of His name.  Let's be sure to pay attention to how He works.

Plus, this can be a boon to our own faith.  Let us remember what He has done as that will increase our faith and trust in Him.  I know I could use more of both.

Keep on Knocking

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

(8) πᾶς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει καὶ ὁ ζητῶν εὑρίσκει καὶ τῷ κρούοντι ἀνοιγήσεται.

This is another case where participles can give us a little more meaning than what we would get from just our English text.  These are present active participles.  There is a sense here of "the one who is in a continual state of asking receives and the one who is in a continual state of seeking finds and to the one who is in a continual state of knocking it will be opened."  The last participle is in the dative, so that is where we get "to the one" instead of just "the one."  I don't think that there is anything particularly significant there.

While this may be interesting, I'm sure it also leads to the inevitable "so what?"  What difference does this make?  I think that this dovetails nicely with Paul's exhortation to pray without ceasing.  Jesus is telling us that a relationship with Him is not just about using Him as some sort of cosmic craigslist.  We don't just put out "wanted" classifieds and hope that He will respond.

As this passage continues we see that the Father wants to give good gifts to His children.  I am vehemently opposed to the Prosperity Gospel and I do not think that is what this passage is about.  Instead, I think that this says that as we continually seek the Lord's face we will get great gifts from Him.  We may not get the worldly success that we crave, but ultimately we will get what will bring us true and lasting joy.

How much knocking are you doing?

Prayer Request

Please take a look at this post about Matt Chandler. He, his family, and his church could really use all of our prayers.

Honor the Triune God

I get a daily devotional with Scripture arranged as prayer. This is a really good one. If you are interested in subscribing you can click here.

I must give honor to the three persons in the Godhead distinctly, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that great and sacred Name into which I was baptized and in which I assemble for religious worship, in communion with the universal church.

I adore you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, Matthew 11:25(ESV) and the eternal Word, who was in the beginning with God and was God, through him all things were made, and without him was not any thing made that was made; John 1:1-3(ESV) and who in the fullness of time Galatians 4:4(ESV) became flesh and dwelt among us and showed his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14(ESV)

And since it is the will of God that all men should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father, John 5:23(ESV) I adore him as the radiance of his Father’s glory and the exact imprint of his nature; Hebrews 1:3(ESV) herein joining with the angels of God, who were all bidden to worship him. Hebrews 1:6(ESV)

I pay homage to the exalted Redeemer, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, Revelation 1:5(ESV) confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:11(ESV)

I also worship the Holy Spirit, the Helper, whom the Son has sent from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, John 15:26(ESV) and who is sent to teach me all things and to bring all things to my remembrance; John 14:26(ESV) who indited the Scriptures, holy men of God writing them as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21(ESV)

A View of Prayer

Daniel 9:18-19
(18) O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
(19) O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name."

One of my classmates made a great point about how we tend to view prayer. We are often quick to point out the errors of Open Theism, but we often pray like we really are Open Theists. We have this idea that God doesn't really have a set idea for how He is going to act, but if we just pray enough and get enough people praying then we will move His heart.

Certainly Scripture commands us to pray. Jesus makes it clear that prayer changes things. However, I would maintain that prayer is more about us getting our focus realigned with God's than it is convincing God that what we want is best. If He truly is sovereign then He has made up His mind in how things are going to be. Yet He does use means to accomplish His will and I believe that our prayers are part of that.

Daniel's prayers were radically God-centered. While he may have prayed for his aunt's sore hip at some point we don't have those prayers recorded. What we do have is this example of a prayer that is focused on God's glory with an appeal to God's name. Moses did the same thing when interceding for the disobedient people in the wilderness.

God is zealous for the glory of His name. Let's focus our prayers accordingly, amen?

Fanning the Flames

2 Timothy 1:6-7
(6) For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,
(7) for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

To me, this looks like an argument for maintaining spiritual disciplines. Paul is exhorting Timothy to take an active role in encouraging the gift he received when Paul laid hands on him. This tells me that we can either fan the flame or quench the Holy Spirit. The flame imagery appears throughout the New Testament, so this seems consistent.

What are you doing to fan the flames? Are you memorizing Scripture? Are you reading Scripture daily? Are you taking the time to pray? Are you praying kingdom prayers or are you focused more on yourself?

I write this as someone who generally practices these things, but who needs an increased zeal. I think of building a fire in the fireplace. Sometimes I have to blow on it to get it going. Now if I blow on it, but don't do it in the right place or with the right intensity then all my blowing will be for nothing. It must be purposeful and done with enough intensity.

Moving Hearts

Ezra 7:27-28
(27) Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem,
(28) and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

As American Christians we tend to get caught up in our notion of what "free will" means. We like to think that everything we do is completely independent of any supernatural stimulus. If we become Christians it is because we saw the reasonableness of the proposition and acted accordingly. If someone else does something that benefits us in some way we consider it to be fortunate.

I think the Bible tells a different story than that. This is one example of God working in the heart of a pagan king. I would say that the hardenings in Pharaoh's heart were the same thing, only in the opposite direction. God used the pagans to discipline Israel and He also used their wealth and influence to rebuild the temple.

Keep in mind that all the wealth David and Solomon acquired in the first place was only possible through the Lord's sovereign hand. In the same way, God just as easily restored wealth to the nation through moving in the heart of a pagan king.

The point is that we need to remember that prayer works. We don't change hearts, but God does. Personally, that praying starts with petitions for changes in my own heart.

Simple, Steady Faith

Mark 7:24-30
(24) And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.
(25) But immediately a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.
(26) Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
(27) And he said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
(28) But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
(29) And he said to her, "For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter."
(30) And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

As I read this today I was struck by this woman's faith. I think that's the point of including this in the story after all. She had a deep faith in Jesus that led to her daughter's healing. What really hit me today was that she had no reason to have this faith in Him except by His reputation. She knew about Him and knew that to heal her daughter would be something He could and possibly would do.

There was a huge problem though. She was a Gentile and Jesus made it clear that His first priority was His people the Jews. She was happy with just a "crumb" from Jesus as she knew that would bring healing to her daughter.

Unlike this woman we who call ourselves Christ-followers have been grafted in to the olive tree. Though we were like her and would have had to settle for mere crumbs, now we are children of God and we can enjoy the benefits of eating at the table. So, given that, how strong is our faith in Jesus? She had every reason to believe that He wouldn't heal her daughter, but she was bold and asked Him. We have every reason to believe that He will work in our lives, but are we even as confident as her to ask? I know that I'm not.

The Inaugural Prayer

Much has been written and said about the various prayers given around the inauguration. Some thing the Bishop of Sodom's prayer was great because it was so inclusive. After all, it was addressed to "the God of our many understandings." Meanwhile, some have been glad for Warren's prayer with his reference to accountability to the Creator someday and his recitation of the Apostles' Prayer. Others hate how small-minded and overly-Christian his prayer was. I didn't read or listen to the last prayer, but I understand that it was not something I would have agreed with.

This may surprise you, but I say that we throw the whole thing out. After all, what is the point now? If we can have three such diverse prayers around the same event then it is clear that the organizers of the event really don't have a dog in the fight other than inclusiveness. If Obama's theology matched the Bishop of Sodom's, then he should have had three like that. If he really was a Bible-believing evangelical then he could have had three like Rick Warren's. However, he chose to take a centrist route, which is supposed to be what he is all about. The problem is that you cannot simultaneously pray to "the God of our many understandings" as well as the actual Creator of the universe. The Creator of the Bible is funny about that kind of thing.

It seems to me that this tradition started because the Founding Fathers were either Christian or at least respectful of orthodox Christianity. George Washington recognized the need of divine assistance in getting our country going. Now we are so self-sufficient that we just need to find political ways to fill the traditional prayer times. I don't blame any of the men who gave their prayers. They have their beliefs and will be accountable to the Lord for them. I am more concerned with this mockery of the Creator. As the saying goes, if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything. How many things will President Obama fall for?

Are You Saying So?

Psalms 107:2-9 ESV
(2) Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble
(3) and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
(4) Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in;
(5) hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
(6) Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
(7) He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.
(8) Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men!
(9) For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

I'm not sure that I'm remembering this as often as I should. While walking and praying this morning I felt like I have spiritual gangrene in my heart. There is so much pride, bitterness, and envy in there that it takes spiritual surgery to clean it out. I do know that one cure is to reflect on the barrenness of my life apart from Christ and the fullness of my life with Him.

Let's see how this goes in 15 minutes when the kids get up...

Answered Prayer

I do not believe that God is ever beholden to us like a freed genie. However, I do know that He answers prayer. I don't really understand how this mystery works, but I do know that Scripture gives us some guidelines about prayer. Here is a pretty clear one:

Psalms 66:16-20 ESV
(16) Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
(17) I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.
(18) If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
(19) But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
(20) Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Note verse 18. I can remember when I lived in sin that my prayers seemed to hit the ceiling and just stop. Now I think mine go as far as the sky and stop, so I guess that's better. However, I also think that there are times when I feel like I'm really plugged in. Verse 18 seems to be one of those keys. How can God hear our prayers when we cherish iniquity in our hearts?

I think it's easy to overreact to this and think that we must be sinless if God is going to hear our prayers. That cannot be true or else no one could pray. Of course, we are sinless in one sense since we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. However, what I think this verse means is that we should not be in a state where we are actually cherishing sin. We may sin. We may be tempted with evil thoughts. And so on.

But what do we cherish? Is our deepest heart desire to pursue the Lord and be more like Jesus? Or is our deepest desire to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin?

Please Pray for the Gores

Jason and Diana Gore used to be in leadership at our church, but are now involved in a smaller church in Raleigh. They recently had a pair of very preemie twins. Things are OK, but could be better. Check out their story here. Please pray for the babies to be OK, for the medical folks to have wisdom, and for the Gore's to enjoy God's peace through the storm.

How Much Reverence?

Luke 5:8 ESV
(8) But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

This happened after the miraculous catch of fish. They had been fishing all night with no results. Jesus told them to cast the net on the other side and then they had so much that the boat started to sink. Peter realized he was in the presence of deity and this was his reaction.

This to me is the heart of our response to the gospel. Do we think that we are basically OK? Do we think that God is lucky to have us on His team? Or do we realize the depth of our own sinfulness and our complete inability to come to the Lord apart from His grace?

I know that I am often too familiar with God. Of course, He is now our Abba (daddy), so we do not need to fear Him like this. However, do we have the proper reverence?

Doing Our Part

Nehemiah 4:9 ESV
(9) And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

To give a little context, this verse is in the middle of Nehemiah's wall rebuilding project. He heard reports that there was opposition to the work and was afraid for their safety and that of the project. This verse really stood out to me this morning because I think it really speaks to the balance we need to have in our lives.

Prayer is vitally important. We can do nothing apart from the work of the Spirit in our lives. However, we also can't just sit back and wait for God to zap our lives into order. We have a part to play too. It's important that they prayed for protection, but it was also important for them to set up a guard.

Personally, I'm more likely to just set up a guard and forget to pray. Others may be more likely to pray and not do anything else. I think this passage shows the need to do both.

The Still, Small Voice

We're wrapping up a study of Ephesians with Setting Captives Free and the past few weeks have been on the Armor of God in Eph 6. We are finishing up with this verse:

Eph 6:18 ESV
(18) praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Mike discussed how we are also to listen to God and how prayer is not supposed to be a one-way conversation. Oh, how this convicts me! I know that I am to be more quiet before Him. I know that I am to take time to listen for His voice more. However, I don't. I still believe that God speaks primarily through Scripture. However, people I trust spiritually tell me that they have a sense of Him speaking to them. Not in the sense of God speaking to Moses, but just having a strong sense of His leading.

I wonder if I would experience more of that if I took the time to listen? That means getting up on time, which means going to bed on time.