Living Water.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. – John 7:37-39 ESV

Every year, in the fall, the Jews would celebrate the Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths), a commemoration of the 40 years their ancestors had spent living in the wilderness on their way to the promised land. On the seventh day of the feast, the people would carry lit torches in a procession around the temple. The priests would draw water from the well of Siloam and pour it into a silver basin beside the altar, calling on the Lord to provide heavenly water in the form of rain for their crops. During the drawing of the water, the people would recite Isaiah 55:1 and 12:3. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” 

The eighth and final day of Sukkot, called Shmeni Atzeret, was a day when a prayer for rain was recited. It was during this feast and on the last day that Jesus uttered the words found in the verses above. He offered all those within His hearing access to a different kind of water – living water. He offered them water from the wells of salvation. But John makes it clear that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit who would be given to all those who believed in Him as the Messiah, the Savior of the world. This invitation from Jesus fell on deaf ears. While there were those who were hoping that Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah, they were looking for a different kind of Savior and a salvation that was physical in nature, not spiritual. They wanted release from the oppression of Roman rule. They longed for a return to the glory days of King David and Solomon, when the Jewish people were powerful, well-respected and independent.

But Jesus was offering them something far more significant. He was inviting them to experience a form of spiritual refreshment that was unlike anything they had ever known. He was inviting them to believe in Him as their Savior or Messiah, and to enjoy the indwelling presence of God's Spirit within their lives. Rather than having to seek for external sources of refreshment, they would have the Spirit of God within them producing a quenching of their spiritual thirst as well as fruitfulness. When Jesus had His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, He told her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10 ESV). The woman was confused by Jesus statement and asked Him how He intended to draw water from the well without any means to do so. And Jesus responded, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14 ESV). She remained stuck on a physical plane, finding it difficult to understand the spiritual nature of Jesus’ offer. She asked for some of this “living water,” but failed to recognize that what Jesus was offering was not available from any well or spring. It was of divine origin.

Sometimes we fail to recognize the significance of what we have received from God as a result of our faith in Jesus. Not only have we been extended forgiveness for all our sins – past, present and future – we have been given the righteousness of Christ. We have also received an unwavering assurance of our future glorification. On top of that, we have been given the gift of God's Spirit, to live in us, guide us and empower us. Paul described the Spirit as a kind of down-payment or security deposit, assuring us that what God has promised regarding the future is true.  “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22 ESV).

The Holy Spirit is a source of refreshment, nourishment, and spiritual empowerment. He lives with us, but should also flow out of us. It is the Spirit who produces fruit in us. In Galatians 5, Paul lists the “fruit” of the Spirit. They include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are not self-manufactured, but Spirit-produced. It is the Spirit within us that allows fruit to flow from us. And it begins with a change in our heart. He renews us from within. And it is from this divinely renewed heart that our fruitfulness flows. The Spirit within us flows from us, impacting the lives of those around us.

But too often we fail to experience the soul-satisfying, thirst-quenching power of the Spirit who lives within us. We continue to try and produce fruit in our own power. We keep trying to satisfy our spiritual thirst through other sources. But our satisfaction and fruitfulness must flow from the Spirit, who Jesus sent to live in us and remain with us to the end. Out of our hearts should flow rivers of living water. Our lives should be living proof of the Spirit's presence within us. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would be “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” He will guide us and empower us all the days of our life on this earth and see to it that we make it to our final destination.

Prayerful Leadership.

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. – Acts 6:4 ESV

As the early church continued to grow in size, there were inevitable problems that came up. Acts chapter four describes a situation that arose between two different groups within the rapidly expanding church in Jerusalem. As a result of the events surrounding the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jews who had come from all over the known world to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost had come to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Savior. There were native Hebrews who spoke primarily Aramaic and were from the region of Palestine. But there were also Hellenistic Jews who were primarily Greek-speaking and from outside the land of Palestine. One group used the Hebrew Scriptures, while the other used the Greek translation, called the Septuagint. It seems that their main issue was a linguistic one that translated into a cultural conflict and ended up making its way into the early church. Even in those early days Satan was attempting to use division and dissension as a means to create disunity within the body of Christ.

While Hellenistic Jews and Hebraic Jews had their own synagogues in Jerusalem, when they became believers in Christ, they ended up worshiping side by side. This inevitably led to some tension. Luke records that a dispute arose over the distribution of food to the widows within the church. The Hellenistic Jews were claiming that their widows were being neglected. This dispute led the twelve apostles, who made up the leadership of the local church, to appoint men to oversee the distribution of the food to ensure it was done fairly and equitably. Their reasoning for this decision was simple. “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables” (Acts 6:2 ESV). They were not diminishing the importance of the issue or demeaning the role of service, but were simply establishing priorities. In their minds, it was essential that they continue to spread the good news regarding Jesus Christ. That was the mandate given to them by Jesus Himself before He ascended back into heaven. So they chose “ seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3 ESV) to handle the issue of the distribution of food to the widows. This decision left them free to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.

It is interesting to note that the apostles saw their responsibility as two-fold. Jesus had made His instructions clear: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV). But Jesus had also taught them how to pray. He had modeled for them in His earthly life the importance of prayer. His ministry had been marked by a careful balance between preaching and prayer. The apostles knew from watching His life, that Jesus lived a life of dependence upon the Father. As impressive as His miracles had been, the disciples didn’t ask Jesus to teach them to heal, they asked Him to teach them how to pray. They had been amazed at the intimacy of His prayer life with the Father. They were taken by His need for time alone with God and the power and guidance He seemed to receive from those moments alone in prayer. They had lived with Jesus for more than three years. They knew how hard He worked, how tired He became at the end of a long day. And they had seen Him spend entire nights in prayer, skipping the evening meal and missing out on much-needed sleep. Yet He met the new day with a renewed sense of commitment and a supernatural energy that they couldn't explain. When Jesus had his encounter with the woman at the well, the disciples had returned with food and offered some to Him. But He said, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about” (John 4:32 ESV). They were confused by His statement, wondering where He had gotten food to eat. But Jesus replied, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34 ESV). That statement of Jesus probably came to the minds of the disciples as they considered their responsibilities within the growing church. They had a job to do. They had been given a task to accomplish by Jesus and in order to do it, they were going to need to rely on prayer just as Jesus had done. Their accomplishments for God would be directly tied to the time they spent alone with Him. It is interesting to note that when the disciples went to Jerusalem after the ascension of Jesus, “they went up to the upper room, where they were staying” (Acts 1:13 ESV). And Luke tells us, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14 ESV). It was in that context that the Holy Spirit came.

Prayer must be an essential part of the ministry. Activity alone is not enough. Prayer is an act of reliance upon God. It conveys our need for Him. It communicates our dependence upon His power and our need for His direction. God doesn’t need us to do things for Him. He wants to do things for us and through us. He wants to unleash His power in our lives. But sometimes we get too busy to pray. Our self-confidence can turn into self-reliance, which can end up being self-destructive. Prayer reminds us that we need God to accomplish our God-given responsibilities. Jesus needed God. Jesus depended upon the Father. So why don't we? The apostles devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. They knew that one was not more important than the other. But they also knew that one was impossible without the other.

True Fellowship.

They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. – Acts 2:42 NET

Who are the “they” Luke is referring to? All you have to do is look at the preceding verse to find out. “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added” (Acts 2:41 NET). These were new converts to Christianity. Just after the miracle of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the followers of Jesus, Peter had spoken to the crowd that had gathered. He presented them with the reality of their own sin and their need for a Savior. Then he shared the good news regarding Jesus Christ. “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 NET). And that one sermon resulted in 3,000 people accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior.

And these new believers were characterized by an excitement and fervor for their new-found faith. Luke describes them as having an ongoing devotion to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship with one another. As a result of the teaching they received and the fellowship they enjoyed, they regularly ate together and prayed for one another. It's important to remember that this crowd of new converts would have been made up of all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds. They had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost and, as Luke indicates, “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5 ESV). The text describes them as “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians” (Acts 2:9-11 ESV). This was a hodge-podge of people with different ethnic backgrounds who spoke different languages, and who suddenly found themselves sharing a new-found faith in Christ. Many of them would have been visitors to Jerusalem who had only intended to stay in town for the duration of the festival, but who now found themselves compelled to stay longer due to their unexpected encounter with Christ. They needed places to stay and food to eat. And Luke says, “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:44-46 ESV).

Despite their differences, these people had a sense of community. Their faith in Christ bound them together. They had a shared hunger to learn more about Christ and so they listened intently as the disciples taught them the words of Jesus. They couldn't get enough. Luke uses the Greek word, proskartereō to describe them. It means “steadfastly attentive to.” They gathered together to enjoy fellowship with one another and instruction from Peter and the disciples. And they prayed. Luke doesn't tell us what they prayed for, but we have to assume that the content of their prayers ran the gamut. They most likely prayed for one another and for their lost friends and family members. They probably prayed for more converts, for God's provision of their needs, and for wisdom to know what to do next. Their worlds had been turned upside down and they would have been confused about what all this meant. But regardless of the content of their prayers, the fact is, they prayed – together. It was part of their fellowship together. It was a key element of their spiritual growth. Prayer is not just a private exercise, reserved for those moments when you can get alone with God. Prayer is to be a corporate and community experience. 

When we gather together as believers in Jesus Christ, we are to devote ourselves to prayer. We are to make prayer a part of our fellowship with one another. When we have fellow believers in our home, do we take time to pray? Do we share prayer requests with one another? Or do we simply spend our time talking about family, work, current events and other topics of interest? Our times together should be marked by prayer. Prayer invites God into our midst and reveals that we desire not only His power, but His presence. Prayer conveys our mutual dependence upon God. It is amazing to think how little we pray when we gather together with our believing friends. When we have people in our homes, we eat, drink, laugh, talk, and yet rarely take the time to pray for and with one another. We may pray over the meal, but we don't include God in our conversation. We don't invite Him into our circle of fellowship, acknowledging our need for Him and expressing our desire for Him.

It's interesting to note that the closing statement in chapter two of Acts is “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Could it be that this was in answer to their prayers? Because they gathered together, devoted themselves to learning more about Christ, shared all they had with one another and made prayer a regular part of their fellowship, God was growing their number. True Christian fellowship should always include prayer. Conversation about God will never replace conversation with God.

Watch and Pray.

I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don’t be silent! – Isaiah 62:6 NET

This verse conjures up an interesting and somewhat contradictory image. In it, you have God appointing watchmen to man the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Their job, as their name suggests, was to watch. They were to stay alert and keep an eye out for possible danger. They were also to act as an early warning system, alerting the inhabitants of the city and calling the army to assemble. But in these verses, God is appointing watchmen to pray. The English Standard Version translates this verse as follows: “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent.” But The Net Bible translates the same verse as “they should keep praying all day and all night.” It would seem that the context is that of prayer. It is an intended juxtaposition that replaced the watchman's primary role of lookout to that of intercessor. He was to pray all day and all night and never be silent. Verse seven elaborates on his newly appointed responsibility. “Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth” (Isaiah 62:7 NET). The watchman was to pray incessantly and persistently until God answered by reestablishing Jerusalem. It's interesting to note that a watchman was primarily responsible to look for danger, but in this case his job was to relentlessly remind God of His promise of restoration. He was not to look for pending danger, but promised blessing. God had promised, “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you” (Isaiah 62:3-4 ESV). The watchmen God had appointed were to eagerly look for that promise to be fulfilled and to not stop praying for its fulfillment until it happened.

God was going to punish Israel for her persistent sins and allow them to suffer the humiliation of defeat at the hands of the Babylonians. They would spend 70 years in Babylon, forcibly removed from their land and carried off as captives. But God had promised vindication. He had promised restoration. Some of what He promised was fulfilled when He returned them to the land after the 70 years was completed. But there is a future fulfillment of God's promise that has yet to happen. Isaiah records, “Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: ^‘Say to Daughter Zion, “Look, your deliverer comes! Look, his reward is with him and his reward goes before him!” They will be called, ‘The Holy People, the Ones Protected by the Lord.’ You will be called, ‘Sought After, City Not Abandoned’” (Isaiah 62:11-12 NET). The day is coming when God will restore Jerusalem to its former glory and His Son, Jesus Christ, will reign and rule from the throne of David, in fulfillment of the promise He made to David. The watchmen were to wait, watch and pray for that day.

There is a sense in which each of us is a watchman appointed by God to look for and long for the fulfillment of the promises of God. We are to pray for God to bring about all that He has promised in His Word. It is so easy for us to look for disaster and keep an eye out for coming destruction. The world seems to be falling apart as we watch. But we know how the story ends. We know that Christ coming back and our side wins. God is not done with Israel yet. He has great plans in store for them. Jesus Christ will return to earth one day as a conquering King and mighty warrior. He will put an end to sin, death, and Satan once and for all. He will establish His kingdom on earth and bring about peace and justice. It is for that day we should look and persistently pray.

Sometimes we lose sight of all that God has promised to do. We forget that this story has a happy ending. We are victors, not victims. We are winners, not losers. But while we watch for and long for that day to come when Christ returns, we must remember that none of us know the day. Not even Christ Himself. So while we are more than welcome to watch for it, we would be better off praying for it. It is God who must bring it about. It is He who has decided the date and time. So let us give Him no rest until that day comes. May we learn to pray for the final fulfillment of God's plan for Israel and for the whole earth. Watch and pray. Deliverance is coming. Victory is assured. Christ is returning. Righteousness wins out.

No Permission To Stop Praying.

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. – 1 Samuel 12:23 ESV

Samuel was near the end of his prophetic ministry. He had faithfully executed his duties as a prophet of God and had actually served as the last judge over the nation of Israel. So when the people came to him clamoring for and demanding that God give them a king just like all the other nations, Samuel was less than happy. He felt rejected by the people. Of course, on the surface, he blasted them for rejecting God as their King. But God saw through his anger and said, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7 ESV). Over the years, Samuel had had plenty of opportunities to witness the stubbornness and rebellion of the people of Israel first hand. Their arrogant demand for a king was just one more example of their unwillingness to recognize God as their sovereign ruler and Lord.

Chapter 12 starts off with a very defensive-laden monologue by Samuel. “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day” (1 Samuel 12:1-2 ESV). He is still upset. He demands that the people voice their complaints or accusations against him. He wants to know why they have rejected him. Did he steal something? If he did, he would make restitution. Had he defrauded anyone? Was his leadership oppressive? Had he ruled unfaithfully by taking bribes? The people swore before God that Samuel had done none of those things and was undeserving of their treatment of him. You can tell from the passage that Samuel was still upset about their demand for a king. He had taken it personally.

Then he recounted all the ways in which the people of Israel had sinned against God over the years. Time and time again, the people had cried out to God and He had delivered them. All the way back to their captivity in Egypt, God had heard their cries and provided them with victory over their enemies. “But they forgot the Lord their God…” (1 Samuel 12:9 ESV). And now they were doing it again. “And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you” (1 Samuel 12:12-13 ESV). The people may have been rebellious, but they weren't stupid. They got Samuel's point and confessed their sin and begged Samuel to pray for them. They feared the rejection of God. So Samuel assured them, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself” (1 Samuel 12:20-22 ESV).

Then Samuel said something to them that was probably difficult for him to say. “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way” (1 Samuel 12:23 ESV). As much as Samuel may have desired to see divine judgment meted out on the people for their rejection of him and their sin against God, he knew he wasn’t free from his responsibility to pray for and instruct them. God had not released him from his duties as a prophet. To fail to pray for them and teach them would have been a sin for Samuel. In spite of their stubbornness and rebellion, Samuel was obligated by God to minister to and pray for them. The rejection of our leadership by others is a difficult thing to stomach. Our pride suffers. Our feelings get hurt. And we find it easy to justify a decision to abandon our God-given responsibility to pray for them. Parents face this situation every day. Our children refuse to listen to us, rejecting our authority over their lives and demanding to make their own decisions. At those times it could be easy to give up and stop lifting them up in prayer. But their rejection of our authority doesn't release us from our God-given responsibility to care for them. Samuel may have been rejected by the people, but he was still obligated by his commitment to God. There will be those in our lives who refuse to listen to us. There will be times when others will reject our input and fail to recognize our legitimate care for their lives. But rather than abandon them in anger and resentment, we must pray for them. Like Samuel, we must learn to say, “far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.” We must keep on loving by continuing to pray for them. We must keep on trusting God by continuing to teach them, leaving the results up to Him. It's easy to pray for those who listen to and honor us. But prayers for the rebellious and sinful come hard. When we lose our influence over others, rather than give up, we must lift them up to God. We must love them enough to trust them into His care. 

Prayer With A Purpose.

But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. – 2 Corinthians 13:7-9 ESV The apostle Paul was always having to defend his apostleship. There was no shortage of individuals who would question his authority and criticize his claim to be speaking on behalf of Christ. But while Paul was not shy in defending himself, his greater concern was for the spiritual well-being of those who had come to faith in Christ through his preaching and teaching. Since his own salvation experience on the road to Damascus, Paul had dedicated his life to spreading the good news about Jesus Christ to both Jews and Gentiles. He traveled near and far to make known the gospel message and to see lives transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ. And if he had to suffer in the meantime, he was more than ready. But he was not willing for anyone to question his authority or discount his message, because he had received his commission from Jesus Christ Himself.

In this, his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul finds himself defending his apostleship once again. He writes, “you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me” (2 Corinthians 13:3 ESV). But the greatest proof of Paul's claim to being a spokesman for Jesus Christ was the very power evident in their midst that had made possible their transformation. “He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you” (2 Corinthians 13:3 ESV). Lives were being changed. Hearts had been transformed. The message of new life in Christ had taken root and born fruit. But while Paul was away and absent from their midst, he prayed. He prayed with a purpose. He was asking God to produce fruit in the lives of the believers in Corinth. In other words, he was asking to see the byproduct of practical sanctification in their lives – as a form of proof of their salvation. Their faith in Christ should have been producing fruit. And it was for this that he prayed. “But we pray to God that you may not do wrong…” The presence and power of Christ within them, in the form of the Holy Spirit, should have been producing in them a growing desire to do what was right and to turn away from doing what was wrong. Living in the power of the Holy Spirit should have been producing holiness, obedience, and acts of righteousness. Paul told them that “your restoration is what we pray for.” The Greek word Paul used was katartisis and it means “a strengthening, perfecting of the soul.” It comes from root word that has to do with restoration or repair. It means to “make one what he ought to be.” Paul was praying that the believers in Corinth would be experiencing the transforming, restorative power of Jesus Christ in their lives. That power would be ample proof of Paul's status as a messenger of Jesus.

Paul wanted to see lives changed. He wanted to see the power of God released in the lives of those who had come to faith in Jesus Christ, His Son. He desired to see those who had accepted Jesus as their Savior radically restored to a right relationship with God with lives that reflected their newly restored natures. Salvation is a wonderful thing, but it is just the beginning. Sanctification is an essential byproduct of a new relationship with Christ. Growth in Christ-likeness should accompany the presence of His Spirit within us. Paul prayed for proof of that presence. He wanted to see lives transformed. He wanted to see evidence of the saving power of Jesus Christ. Jesus had died, not just to make it possible for us to one day spend eternity with Him in heaven, but to radically reform our lives here on earth. And it was to that end that Paul prayed.

But do we pray for transformed lives? Do we long to see believers living radically different lives right here, right now? Or do we pray more for physical healing than holiness? Do we pray for freedom from trials more than we pray for a display of Christ's righteousness in the midst of them? Are we so busy asking God to make our lives easier that we fail to recognize that Christ died to make our lives more righteous? Paul prayed for life change, not circumstantial change. He prayed for holiness and righteousness. He wanted to see the power of the presence of God lived out in the everyday lives of the people of God. In his first letter to the believers in Corinth, he had reminded them of just how far they had come since accepting Christ. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV). God had  transformed them from what they once were to something new and radically different. But His work was not done yet. He was still in the process of changing them from the inside out. And it was to that end that Paul prayed. So should we.

God Has A Purpose.

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. – Psalm 57:2 ESV

David is hiding in a cave. He is running from a madman who also happens to be the king of Israel. Saul has an unhealthy dislike for David, fueled by jealousy and fear. As a result, he has placed a bounty on David's head, sending 3,000 mercenaries to hunt him down and bring him back dead or alive.

That's the scenario in which we find David as he writes this Psalm and expresses his desire for God to show him mercy. This had to have been a confusing time for David. He had been anointed by the prophet Nathan and told he would be the next king of Israel. But instead of sitting on a throne in Jerusalem, he was hiding in a cave in the wilderness of Judea, running for his life from the very man he was supposed to be replacing. Yet David knew that God had a plan for his life and while his circumstances were less than ideal and didn't exactly make sense, he was going to trust God. So he cried out, “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High…” (1 Samuel 57:1-2 ESV). And why did he cry out to God? Because he knew that, ultimately, God would fulfill His purpose for him. He would be king one day – according to God's plan and in keeping with God's divine schedule. In the meantime, he was going to have to trust God to keep him alive. If God had promised to make him king, then he was going to take God at His word and wait for Him to fulfill His promise according to His schedule.

David was confident in God, which is why he could say, “He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!” (1 Samuel 57:3 ESV). While waiting on God's fulfillment of His promise, David was content to enjoy God's love and faithfulness. Becoming king was the ultimate outcome of God's word to David, but any delay in that happening was NOT to be viewed as an indication of a lack of love on God's part. The fact that David was having to run for his life, suffer the anxiety of knowing he was a wanted man, and never knowing when God would fulfill His promise, was NOT to be seen as a lack of God's faithfulness. But isn't that where we go when things don't go our way? Don't we naturally assume God has fallen out of love with us when times get tough? Aren't we prone to doubt God's faithfulness when our circumstances take a turn for the worse? Yet David was willing to wait and trust. He was content to rest in the love and faithfulness of God and see any delays as just a part of God's divine plan for fulfilling the purpose for his life.

Twice in this psalm David praises God by saying, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” (Psalm 57:5 ESV). While his situation was anything but ideal, he knew that God was still in control. He was in heaven. He was in charge. He knew what He was doing. And God could be trusted no matter what David might see going around him. Which is why he could say, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast!” (Psalm 57:7 ESV). It was the exalted nature of God that gave David confidence and steadfastness in the midst of difficulty. His God was bigger than his problems. His God was more powerful than his enemies. His God was able to fulfill His promise regardless of the dire nature of David's circumstances.

God has a purpose for my life. He has a purpose for your life. We can't judge what God is doing based on what we see happening around us. Difficulty in our lives is not necessarily an indication of God's disfavor or it should never be viewed as a sign of God's unfaithfulness. He knows how the story ends. We don't. He has a purpose that He is fulfilling according to His will and perfect keeping with His agenda. We can trust Him. Our greatest desire should be that He be exalted in and through our lives. We should want to see Him lifted up as He reaches down and fulfills His purpose for us right on schedule and according to plan. And in the meantime, we should put our trust in Him. We can look up, cry out to and wait on Him, because He will fulfill His purpose for us.

Seek and Find.

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord… – Jeremiah 29:12-14 ESV These verses contain a promise of God made to the people of Judah who were living as exiles in the land of Babylon. It was part of a message sent by God in the form of a letter written by Jeremiah the prophet. God had given the nation of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, just as He had said He would. Now He was giving them instructions on how to conduct their lives while there. God told them, “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease” (Jeremiah 29:5-6 ESV). In other words, they were to prepare for a lengthy stay and make the most of it by living their lives as normally as possible. He also instructed them to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7 ESV). Rather than pouting and moaning, whining or complaining, they were to build, plant, marry, multiply, and pray for the welfare of their new community. This was going to be their new home for the next 70 years. And they needed to see their circumstances as divinely ordained by God. He had put them there and He wanted them to accept their situation as having come from His hand. They weren't to listen to anyone who might show up claiming to be speaking for God and giving them false hope or alternative instructions. Their stay was going to last 70 years because that is exactly what God had said. “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place” (Jeremiah 29:10 ESV).

So often, we let our circumstances determine our view of God. We look around us and decide that whatever it is we are going through could not be God's will for our lives, so we begin to doubt and despair. We start to look for alternative solutions to our situation and novel ways to escape whatever predicament in which we find ourselves. We stop looking for God in the midst of the problem, and start seeking Him outside of it – on the other side of it. We fail to realize that He is there. We lose sight of the fact that He has us right where He wants us. God told the people of Judah living in exile, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV). God always has a plan. Our problem, in our limitations as human beings, is that we can't see God's plans for our lives. We don't always know what He is doing or why. So we panic. We despair. We get antsy and start trying to figure out a escape plan, never realizing that the problem we are trying to get away from is actually part of His plan.

It is interesting to note that our verses for today follow God's promise of restoration at the end of 70 years of captivity. It says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me…” After seven decades of living as exiles in Babylon; building homes, having babies, raising their families, planting crops, settling down and wondering if God was ever going to hear their prayers, suddenly He would answer. All throughout their time in captivity, the people of Judah would have been praying for restoration. They would have been asking God to forgive them, to hear their cries for help and to restore them to the land. But for 70 years, it wold appear that God was not listening. It would seem as if God had abandoned them. But He tells them then – at just the right time – He will do what He has promised to do. Not sooner or later, but then. God's timing is perfect. He plan is perfect. He knows what He is doing whether we understand it or even like it. We can trust Him. We are to seek Him continually and consistently. And He promises that we will find Him. God told the people of Judah that when the 70 years was up, “I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:14 ESV).

A big part of seeking God is not just to get what we think we need, but to discover His will regarding our life. It is to see His plan even in the midst of our problems. It is to learn to trust Him even when our problems appear greater than His presence. God is there. He has a plan. And if we persist in praying, seeking, waiting, and trusting, the day will come when He reveals Himself, His plan, His power, and His divine solution to our problem – at just the right time. Keep seeking and you will find.

Non-Prejudiced Praying.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. – 1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV Who do you pray for? Better yet, who do you NOT pray for? The answer to that second question will reveal a lot about our prayer life, but also about our faith in God. We know that Jesus told us to pray for our enemies. Most of us have a hard enough time with that one. Then Paul comes along and tells us that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. Then, just so we don't misunderstand him, he gives us a few examples: kings and all who are in high places. When Paul says “all people” he is not saying every single individual. But he is referring to all types of people – saved and unsaved, good and bad, rich and poor, undeserving and deserving, even politicians. Why did Paul bring up kings and those who are in places of authority over us? He provides the answer. “That we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” There is a direct benefit to praying for those who rule and reign over us. God has placed them there. Paul had a unique, but very godly, perspective about governmental authorities. “The authorities are God's servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God's servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong” (Romans 13:4 NLT). Peter shared his views. “For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right” (1 Peter 2:13-14 NLT). Our prayers for those in authority over us should be based on an understanding that God has instituted civil government. They are there to help maintain order and punish wrong-doers. But that does not mean that all governments are good and that all politicians do what is right. We know there are corrupt administrations all over the world. But that is why we should pray. They ultimately answer to God, so we should appeal to him that they would rule rightly and justly. So that we can live godly lives in peace and tranquility. For those of us living in the United States, we do enjoy a remarkable degree of civic peace and the ability to practice our faith without censor or persecution. That is not the case in many places around the world. So we should pray that God will keep our government and its leaders morally right and ethically pure. We should pray for their salvation, not just their replacement. We should ask God to use them to accomplish His will. 

But their is an interesting aspect to Paul's admonition that we might easily miss. We are to pray so that we might live peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way. In other words, our prayers for all men are not so that we can enjoy the kind of lives we want to live, but the kind of lives God has called us to live. The goal of our prayers is that we might have an atmosphere in which we can practice godliness in peace and tranquility, free from persecution and the danger of physical harm as a result of our faith. We all know that there are plenty of places around the world where Christians are being forced to live out their faith in the midst of great danger and the potential for severe persecution at the hands of the civil authorities. They do not enjoy peace and tranquility. For them, living godly and dignified lives can lead to physical harm, financial loss and even death.

So we are to pray. We are to pray for all men. That includes prayer for our neighbors, coworkers, bosses, governmental leaders, school board, police force, firemen, teachers – the list is endless. But we tend to be highly selective in our prayer lives. We pray for those we know best and like the most. We neglect the unlovely, undeserving, and unfamiliar. We practice a form of prayer prejudice, conveniently reserving our petitions for those whom we deem worthy of our time and attention. But Paul would have us realize that to pray for all men is something that is pleasing to God. Why? Because God desires that all men come to a saving knowledge of His Son. This would seem to indicate that our prayers for all men should include a desire that they come to faith in Christ. Which is only logical when you consider that the answer to every problem facing mankind is a right relationship with God made possible only through acceptance of Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. If we want righteous and just leadership in this country, we need to pray that those in authority come to faith in Christ. If we want to see our nation morally revived, it will only happen if men and women come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and experience the life-transforming power made possible through His indwelling Holy Spirit. The answer to the world's problems is not better government, but godly government, and that will only take place when we have godly people serving in places of authority.

So we need to pray. For all men. Not just some. We need to pray for their salvation. We need to ask God to sovereignly move in the lives of those who rule over us. So that we might enjoy an atmosphere of civic peace and tranquility, and so that we might be able to live godly lives without fear of persecution. Our goal is not to be our own personal ease and comfort, but the spread of the gospel. We should pray for an atmosphere in which the gospel can be preached unapologetically and unhindered. At this point, we still enjoy a certain amount of freedom here in the United States. But that could change in a heartbeat. We are already seeing increased animosity toward Christianity at the highest levels. And it could get worse. So we must pray. For all men. All the time. Without prejudice.

Prayer Pauses.

But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. – Luke 5:15-16 ESV

We live busy, non-stop, distraction-filled lives. We fill every second of every day with activity, much of it good, necessary and, to a certain degree, unavoidable. But the problem is that we tend to crowd out prayer. We leave little time for one of the greatest necessities of life – communication with God. Because of our busy schedules and crowded agendas, we end up giving God the dregs of our day. We attempt to pray as we fall asleep at night, exhausted and brain weary. Or we lift up a quick prayer in the morning between our third cup of coffee and checking our email. Busyness can end up being one of the greatest detriments to a healthy prayer life. So what are we to do? We can't just eliminate all our commitments. We can't quit our jobs, abandon our children, renege on our responsibilities or love to a monastery.

But we could follow Jesus’ example. He was busy. He knew what it was like to have a full agenda and the pull of a busy schedule. Yet He always found time to get alone with His Father. Luke says he “often withdrew to the wilderness to pray.” The Greek word Luke used means “to retire quietly, to go back.” Jesus would get away from the pressure, the noise, and the demands on his life. He would “go back” or return to what He needed: time alone with His heavenly Father. I like to think of it as Jesus stopping His activity in order to recharge His battery. He went back to the source of power and energy for His life. He stopped giving long enough to get what He so desperately needed: the comfort, guidance, love and soul-satisfying presence of God. Jesus spent virtually every waking moment of every day giving Himself away to people. He taught, healed, discipled, debated, and ministered to countless people. He walked great distances. He answered countless questions from His disciples. He fended off accusations from the Pharisees. He felt stress. He grew tired. He knew what it was like to reach the end of the day and to feel like He had nothing left to give. So He got away. He returned to the one place where He could what He so desperately needed. He went to His Father's side in prayer.

Prayer for Jesus was not a ritual to be performed or a spiritual discipline to be mastered. It was a non-negotiable necessity for living life as a human being on this planet. It was a joy and a welcome respite from the pressures of everyday life. He longed to get away in prayer. He looked forward to it. It was not something He squeezed into His crowded schedule reluctantly or begrudgingly. Prayer wasn’t a hassle to Jesus. It was the highlight of His day. Which is why He often spent all night in prayer. Like a visit with a long-lost friend, Jesus lost track of time when He talked with His Father. Their conversations would go well into the night and when the sun came up, it would find them still going strong. In his gospel account, John gives us a glimpse into what those conversations were like. In chapter 17 he records the prayer Jesus prayed just hours before His betrayal, arrest and trials. It reveals the intimacy and intensity that characterized Jesus’ prayer life. His prayers were passionate and personal. They were anything but ritualistic, repetitive, and rote. His prayers came from His heart and illustrate His deep love for and dependence upon His Father. Jesus got alone to pray because He knew that what He needed was unavailable anywhere else. He needed His Father to hear Him, guide Him, encourage Him, strengthen Him, love Him, and reassure Him of the unshakable nature of His divine plan. Prayer for Jesus was like the calm before the storm. He knew what was coming. He also knew He needed time alone with His Father if He was going to accomplish what was required of Him in the hours ahead. For Jesus, prayer was the pause that refreshes. It recharged, renewed, and reinvigorated His commitment to His Father’s will for His life. Prayer was a way of returning to the reality of who He was and the purpose for His presence on earth.

Sometimes we can lose sight of why we’re on this planet. We can begin to believe our busyness defines who we are and dictates our very purpose for living. But time alone with God will refocus our attention on the eternal instead of the temporal. It is in prayer that we are reminded that there is more to this life than meetings, car pools, appointments, accomplishments and energy-draining activities. We are eternal creatures created to have a relationship with God. We have souls that require sustenance that can't be found anywhere but in time spent with God. Sleep may restore our bodies, but our souls need the spiritual recharging available only from our heavenly Father. Like Jesus, we need to set aside time to get alone with God. We need to reconnect, recharge and reestablish our relationship with the one who made us and who alone can sustain us. So why not take time today for a prayer pause? You won’t regret it.

Praying Like Jesus.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. – Hebrews 5:7 ESV Sometimes I think we resent having to pray. We see it as some kind of a burden or task we have to perform in order to get God’s attention and have Him do for us the things He ought to do without us having to ask. If we were honest we would have to admit that we get a little tired of having to go to God and ask Him for things. We end up doing so begrudgingly and somewhat doubtfully. Our fervor ends up being a bit weak and our expectations are usually low.

But look at Jesus. He prayed. He prayed a lot. And His prayers were anything but resentful, reluctant or filled with doubt. The writer of Hebrews tells us the prayers of Jesus were accompanied with loud cries and tears. He was passionate and emotional when He prayed. Jesus was anything but indifferent about His prayer life. He took it seriously and practiced it regularly – with intensity, expectancy, and a reverence for the one to whom He was praying. In fact, we're told that “God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God” (Hebrews 5:7 NLT). Jesus didn't come to God with a flippant, I-have-my-rights kind of an attitude. He was reverent and respectful, refusing to let His position as the Son of God diminish His humility and dependence upon God. Paul writes concerning Jesus, that “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7-8 ESV). Jesus wasn't presumptuous. While He was 100 percent God, He was also 100 percent human, and in “the days of his flesh” He lived with complete dependence upon His heavenly Father. He was submissive, reliant, and always willing to accept His Father's will for His life, because He trusted Him. The writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8 NLT). Even Jesus learned to be obedient, to do what His Father asked, even though His humanity desired to avoid the pain, suffering and humiliation.

“While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death” (Hebrews 5:7 NLT). One of the things we fail to recognize when considering Jesus’ earthly ministry is His humanity. We almost view Jesus with a Greek mentality, seeing Him as some kind of a God masquerading as a man – as if He was simply wearing some kind of a man suit, like a child wearing a costume for Halloween. But Jesus became flesh. He took on humanity. He didn't just pretend to be a man, He was one. He was born. He grew up. He ate, grew hungry, suffered pain, required sleep, had feelings, could bleed, and even die. And He prayed – regularly, passionately, expectantly, willingly, emotionally, and submissively. He didn't take anything for granted. He didn't act like a spoiled, privileged rich kid who demanded His own way or thought of Himself too good to pray. Prayer for Jesus was His lifeline to God. He was separated from His Father by His humanity. He had left His rightful place in heaven and taken on human flesh. He had taken on the limitations of humanity and was no longer able to sit in His Father's presence, enjoying His fellowship. Prayer was how Jesus reconnected with His Father. It was how He communicated His feelings and received much-needed encouragement and love. Like a husband separated from his wife by thousands of miles and months, prayer for Jesus was like a much-anticipated letter, filled with expressions of love and encouragement. Jesus needed to hear from His Father. He was facing unbelievable difficulty and He knew that, ultimately, He would be required to die an excruciating death. Which is why the author of Hebrews says Jesus offered His prayers “to him who was able to save him from death.” Jesus knew that His life was in God's hands. His future was completely dependent upon God. So when Jesus prayed, He was coming to the one who was asking Him to suffer and die, but also the one who was going to raise Him from the dead. Jesus brought His temporary needs to the one who had an eternal plan for His life.

Sometimes our expectations of God are so small. We come so reluctantly and doubtfully. We don't expect much from God. But Jesus saw His Father as the one who was going to save Him from death. Jesus knew that His life was going to be difficult. He realized that there were going to be days filled with rejection, ridicule, pain and suffering. But He had a long-term, future-oriented perspective. He knew that His job was to die a sacrificial, substitutionary death on behalf of mankind. It was God's job to raise Him back to life. And in the meantime, He would keep going back to His Father for strength, encouragement, love, and guidance. He would be passionate, persistent, and expectant in His prayer life. He would pray about anything and everything. He would pray for hours at a time. He would get alone with God and share His innermost thoughts. He would listen. He would hear. He would walk away encouraged. And He would trust that His life was in good hands and His future was secure because His Father loved Him.

Paul reminds us, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11 NLT). Our Father is going to raise us to newness of life one day as well. We can trust Him. We can rest in Him. And in the meantime, we can talk to Him. We can bring Him our troubles, trials, doubts, fears, hurts, heartaches, and need for encouragement. He is listening. And He longs to hear from us.

Struggling In Prayer.

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. – Colossians 4:12 ESV We all struggle with prayer at times. It comes with the territory. Prayer can be hard. But the kind of struggle we’re going to talk about in this blog is something a bit different than finding prayer hard to do. The word Paul uses in the Greek is agōnizomai and you can see that it is where we get our English words agony and agonize. In Paul’s day it was a word typically used when referring to someone entered into gymnastic games. It had to do with competition, contending, fighting, or laboring against an opponent of difficulty. It also carried the meaning “to endeavour with strenuous zeal.” So when Paul said Epaphras was “always struggling” in his prayers on behalf of the believers in Colosse, he wasn’t inferring that Epaphras had a hard time praying. He meant that this young man’s prayer life was marked by agonizing effort and energetic zeal. Paul had evidently seen and heard him pray. He had been an eye-witness to the determination and dedication behind the prayers of Epaphras. I have a feeling his prayers were much more than just “Lord, would you bless the people in Colosse.” He didn’t just ask God to be with them and watch over them. Paul says that the overriding theme of his prayers was that they would “stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.”

Epaphras was a Greek who had become a follower of Jesus Christ and had played a significant role in helping to establish the church in Colosse. “Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant” (Colossians 1:5-7 ESV). Epaphras had a vested interest in the health of the church in Colosse. He wanted it to thrive. So he prayed for “God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God” (NLT). His was not just a short, sweet prayer offered on a one-time basis, but an ongoing, persevering petition that was accompanied by an intense desire to see God answer. Epaphras wanted to see them mature in their faith and grow in their knowledge of God’s will for them. It is essentially the same prayer Paul prayed for them at the very beginning of his letter. “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9 NLT). And Paul gave the end result that would accompany God’s answer to his prayer: “Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better” (Colossians 1:10 NLT).

Paul and Epaphras both knew what the believers in Colosse needed. They needed more of God. They needed God to mature them by revealing His will to them. They desperately needed to know what God wanted them to know and do. With that knowledge and the Holy Spirit’s help, they would have what they needed to live lives that honored and pleased God.

Do we agonize and labor prayerfully for that to happen among the believers with whom we worship and serve? Do we go to the mat with God, pleading that He will reveal His will to our loved ones and friends, asking that He make them strong and perfect? Are we concerned enough for the spiritual maturity that we pray fervently and repeatedly that they know and follow the whole will of God? For Epaphras, praying for his friends in Colosse was a labor of love. He did it gladly. He did it tirelessly. Because he was not going to be content until he saw God’s answer in the form of lives that pleased and honored Him. We could stand to struggle a bit more in our prayer lives. Not with prayer itself, but in the content and focus of our prayers. We should so desire what God desires, that we are not content until we see His will done in the lives of those we love. God’s desire for each of His children is their growth in Christ-likeness. He wants to see them mature. He wants to see them living within His will. We should want the same thing. And we should not stop praying for it until we see God’s answer appear in transformed lives that bring glory and honor to Him.

That Hardest Prayer to Pray.

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. – Luke 6:27-28 ESV

These two verses are included in Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount. They are the words of Jesus Himself and with the rest of His sermon that day, contain His teachings concerning true righteousness. Jesus was presenting a higher standard of righteousness than was being practiced in His day. He was raising the bar, so to speak. He was letting the people know that the righteousness required for inclusion in God's Kingdom was much more demanding than they had ever suspected. Luke gives a shorter version of Jesus' sermon because he was writing primarily to a Gentile audience and so he removed much of the content having to do with the Mosaic law or legal matters. He was interested in those words of Jesus that had a universal appeal. The two verses above are preceded by four “woes” that are designed to contrast with the beatitudes or blessings given by Jesus. Jesus said, “woe to you who are rich…”, “Woe to you who are full now…”, “Woe to you who laugh now…”, and “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you…” (Luke 6:24-26 ESV). The Greek word that is translated “woe” means “alas” and carries the idea of pity or sorrow. It conveys a sense of sadness regarding those who are under God's judgment. Those who choose riches, physical pleasure, temporary happiness, or popularity over a relationship with Christ will suffer in the long run. They will enjoy temporary pleasure, but miss out on the eternal rewards made possible through Jesus.

These woes directly precede the verses above. Jesus said, “But I say to you who hear…” He then gives a series of seemingly impossible standards to live by. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt or abuse you. These words sounded as impossible then as they do now. But they represent the kind of righteousness that God requires. Something far more difficult than had ever been imagined. And only made possible through a relationship with Jesus Christ. In Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount, he records Jesus saying, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20 ESV). For the average Jew in the audience that day, this statement would have sounded implausible and impossible. The scribes and Pharisees were the spiritual elite. They were the religious rock stars of their day. But Jesus was looking for a different kind of righteousness. What He had in mind was not a works-based righteousness based on human effort, but a whole new kind of righteousness made possible by His sacrificial death on the cross.

What Jesus is asking us to do in these verses is impossible. Left to our own devices, we would never be able to love our enemies. We could never muster up enough inner strength to do good to those who hate us or bless those who curse us. And why in the world would we want to pray for those who hurt us? And believe me, Jesus is not suggesting we pray for their destruction. He is telling us to pray God's blessings on them. Our prayer should be that God does them good even while they are doing us harm. Impossible? You bet. Unless it is done in the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Only believers have the capacity to pray that way – and mean it. But in order to pray God's blessings on those who are in the process of hurting us, we need to be living in submission to the Spirit of God. We must be relying on His strength and not our own. We must recognize that God's desire is that we live like Christ, Peter writes regarding Jesus’ actions during His trials and crucifixion: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:23-24 ESV). The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:3 ESV).

Pray for those who hurt you. That is not our natural response. We want to hurt them back. We want vengeance, retribution, payback. But Jesus came to provide us with a new kind of righteousness, a new way of living in this world. His death provided us with a new capacity to love the unlovely, pray for the undeserving, and to do good to the ungodly. To pray God's blessings on those who hurt you is to put them in God's hands and let Him do what He deems best. It is to put your trust in His wisdom and your life in His care, knowing that He can protect you regardless of what others may choose to do to you. Prayer isn't about getting what you want from God. It is about doing what God wants. It is about living according to His standards and relying upon His power to accomplish His will.

Humble Dependence.

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. – Psalm 86:1-2 ESV God doesn't need me. As great as I may think I am and as many wonderful attributes I believe I may have, the reality is that God can get along quite well without me. He doesn't need my help. He can survive without my worship. His plan for the world will still take place even if I'm not in the picture. I am a non-essential when it comes to God's sovereign plan for the universe. Admittedly, that's a hard concept for some of us to grasp. We want to be important. We desire greatly to be significant in some way. But King David put it succinctly. “…what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:4 ESV). Our only significance comes from the fact that we are created in the image of God. We are His workmanship. It is He who gives us value. As believers, it is our relationship with Jesus Christ that provides us with our worth. As a result of His death on the cross, His righteousness became ours. He took on our sins and condemnation, and His righteousness was imputed to us. Therefore, we have value in God's eyes. But it is not due to anything we have done. It is “not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:9 ESV)

In his psalm, David comes before God as “poor and needy.” That's an interesting self-description for the King of Israel to use, since he was one of the wealthiest men alive and had great wealth and power at his disposal. Yet he knew that he was a man in great need – in need of God. He needed God to hear him and answer him. He needed God's protection and direction. His armies were nothing without God's leadership. His wealth was insignificant if he didn't have God's daily provision of joy, peace, and contentment. He was the warrior-king who had experienced great victories and accomplished amazing feats of bravery. Yet he knew he needed God to prolong and protect his life. He was nothing without God.

Which is why David called out to God. “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul” (Psalm 86:3-4 ESV). He needed God's grace. He depended upon God for joy. He was totally reliant upon God for inner strength and moral fortitude. David knew his weaknesses. He knew he was sin-prone and self-centered. He knew he was fully capable of not only disobeying God, but dishonoring Him as well. David asked God to save him; not just from his enemies, but from himself. Like all of us, he could be his own worst enemy. His sin nature could wreak havoc on his relationship with God. So he humbly came to God for help, for hope, and for His mercy and favor.

David goes on to ask something from God. “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11 ESV). He knew he needed God's help in order to live his life according to God's truth. He couldn't do it on his own. He was incapable of learning what he needed to know, so he asked God to teach him. He even asked God to work on his heart so that he might fear Him. The NET Bible translates that verses this way: “Make me wholeheartedly committed to you!” The New Living Translation gives it a slightly different twist. “Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.” He needed God to literally “bind” his heart so that he would live in a way that honors God. David was familiar with the words of Jeremiah. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV). So even his heart needed God's help in order to stay united, faithful, true and wholeheartedly committed to God's cause.

A healthy awareness of our neediness and spiritual poverty apart from God is missing from many of our lives. We have developed an arrogance and attitude of deservedness that somehow makes us believe God is somehow obligated to love us and bless us. David knew better. He recognized the fact that he was completely dependent upon God for all that he had and needed God's help in every area of his life. Humble dependence is a necessity for the child of God. It reveals our complete reliance upon God for everything. In the old hymn, Rock of Ages, there is a line that expresses the attitude we should hold. It says,…

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.

Humble dependence. We are needy and poor. We are naked and helpless. But when we bring our need to God, we find grace, mercy, help, hope, healing, power, forgiveness, acceptance, and the love of a holy Father who sees us as His own child.

Worthy of Praise.

Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me! – Psalm 66:20 ESV Have you ever stopped to consider the unbelievable reality that God hears your prayers? Not only does He hear them, He answers them. Maybe not in the way you would like or were expecting, and perhaps not on the schedule you were hoping for, but He always answers. But the even more amazing fact is that God hears our prayers to begin with. Think about that. Why should He? What have we done to deserve the attention of the holy, righteous, sinless God who created the entire universe. He is the one who made us and yet we have returned the gift of His creation with sin, rejection of His authority, indifference to His Word, and a constant love for creation instead of the Creator. So why does He listen? Because for those of us who are in Christ, He sees us as righteous because of the sacrificial blood of His Son. God no longer sees us as rebellious sinners, but as saints, sons and daughters. We are His children and, as a good Father, He listens to our calls for help, our pleas for direction, and our cries for mercy. The psalmist praised God because his prayers had not been rejected. He praised the fact that God was still in love with him in spite of him. He was able to say, “But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer” (Psalm 66:19 ESV). 

The sad fact is that we take that reality for granted. God listens to our prayers and the unbelievable nature of that thought doesn't even seem to register with us. God chooses to hear me when I call out to Him. Not because I deserve it, but because His Son has paid the price for my sins so that I can come into the very presence of God the Father with no fear of condemnation or rejection. He hears me and He listens to me as His child. He loves me and answers me like a loving Father would one of His children. And I take it for granted. So do you. We have given God plenty of good reasons to reject our prayers and ample cause for Him to fall out of love with us. But He continues to hear and listen to us. He continues to love us unconditionally and unwaveringly. So why don't we praise Him more? David did. He got it. He appreciated God's love and the fact that He heard his prayers. Read the following words of David and ask yourself when was the last time you felt the same way.

Let all that I am praise the Lord;     with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord;     may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins     and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death     and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. – Psalm 103:1-5 NLT

God hears you. He answers you. He loves you. So why doesn't that amaze you? Why doesn't that produce an attitude of gratitude and praise in you? If you're anything like me, it is probably because we don't pray and truly believe He hears us or answers us. Or it could be that we pray and then fail to recognize His answers when they come. David said, “He fills my life with good things.” We have lost the sense of God's goodness in our lives. We no longer see all the good things that He is doing in our lives every day. Instead, we have boiled down the proof of His activity in our lives to the list of things we ask of Him and expect Him to deliver. We are like a child who wants a new bike, but fails to appreciate the bed in which he sleeps, the food he eats, the clothes he wears, and the room full of toys he already enjoys. We want and demand more from God, while failing to appreciate and show gratitude for all He has already done. God is worthy of our praise – all the time. The very fact that He hears us when we pray and loves us even when we sin, should amaze and astound us. It should produce in us an overwhelming sense of thankfulness. Our attitude should be that of David. “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!’” (Psalm 66:1-3 NLT). Praise Him. Not because of what you are waiting for Him to do for you, but for the very fact that He loves you enough to hear you when you call. Praise Him for all He has already done. Praise Him because He provided His own son as a sacrifice for your sins and has made it possible for you to enjoy a relationship with Him, free from fear and condemnation. He is worthy of our praise. So let us praise Him. Shout for joy to the Lord. Sing His praises. Let Him know just how grateful you are that He hears you and loves you.

Parental Prayers.

Give your love of justice to the king, O God, and righteousness to the king’s son. Help him judge your people in the right way; let the poor always be treated fairly. – Psalm 72:1-2 ESV

What should you pray for your kids? As a father of six, I have struggled with that question over the years. There were times when I prayed for their safety. Prior to their conversions, I prayed relentlessly that they would come to faith in Christ. There were plenty of times I begged God to help them just get along. I asked Him to give them good friends and to help them succeed in school. I prayed for their future mates and, in for the four who are still not married, I still do. I prayed for their healing when they were sick, for them to have joy when they were sad, that they would develop a love for God's Word and a desire to live for Him all the days of their lives – and I still do. But as my kids have grown up and I have grown older, I have seen my prayers change in both tone and content. I have learned from reading and studying the prayers of the Bible. I have discovered there is something far more important than my children's safety, happiness, success, future spouses, friendships, or health. It is their godliness. As i read this psalm written by David for his son, Solomon, I was reminded once again that what my children have really needed over the years is rarely what I have prayed for them. David was praying for his son as he began his reign as the king of Israel. And what he prayed for him is revealing. He asked, “Give your love of justice to the king, O God, and righteousness to the king’s son.” He didn't pray that Solomon would be a successful king or a powerful ruler. He didn't ask God to give him victories over all his enemies. He asked for something far more significant. The NET Bible translates David's request in a way that makes them even more impactful. David was asking God to give his son “the ability to make just decisions” and “the ability to make fair decisions.” David knew that Solomon's future success as a king was going to be based solely on his godliness. Solomon was going to need God's help in the form of God's wisdom in order to rule wisely, justly, and fairly.

It's interesting to note that, in the early days of his reign, Solomon had a dream in which God appeared to him and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” (1 Kings 3:5 ESV). Solomon's answer seems to reveal that David had spent some time drilling into his son the understanding that wisdom and godliness were the most important assets he could seek in his life. Because when Solomon responded to God's question, he said, “Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:9 NLT). The Scriptures tell us that God was pleased with Solomon's request and that God responded, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life” (1 Kings 3:11-14 NLT).

David knew that Solomon's greatest need was God. Whether he became a king or a commoner, Solomon was going to need God to guide him, direct him, and provide him with a sense of right and wrong, justice and mercy, righteousness and fairness. It is interesting to note that the apostle Paul prayed for his children in the faith in a similar way. He told the young believers in Colossae, “We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better” (Colossians 1:9-10 NLT). He knew that the key to them living lives that were God-honoring, God-pleasing, and spiritually fruitful, was that they be godly, being filled with a knowledge of God's will.

Our children's greatest need is God. Their future success is dependent upon their dependence upon God. Their future marriages will thrive only to the degree that they are filled with God's wisdom, justice, righteousness and understanding. It doesn't matter how much money they make or how many degrees they earn. It doesn't matter how far up the corporate ladder they climb or how big a home they eventually live in. Their greatest need will remain their need for God. Their greatest strength will remain their reliance upon God. What our children really need can't come from this world. It can only come from God. Their greatest need is spiritual, not physical, emotional, or financial. Godly children grow up to be godly teachers, parents, husbands, wives, nurses, doctors, accountants, and friends. Pray that they get more of God. Pray that they be filled with His wisdom and understanding. The more they have of Him, the more impact they will have on the world and the greater influence they will have on those around them.

When Things Look Down, Look Up.

Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. – 2 Chronicles 32:20 ESV The psalmist asked the somewhat rhetorical question: “From where does my help come?” (Psalm 121:1 ESV). Then he gives what should be the obvious answer: “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2 ESV). In times of trouble, the one who believes in God turns to Him for hope and help. When things are down, they look up. David, the great king of Israel, wrote, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:1-2 ESV). The psalmist, Korah, echoes this sentiment. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1 ESV). And it was with this thought in mind that King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah prayed to their God in heaven. They looked up and they cried out.

The situation was desperate. King Sennacherib of Assyria had invaded Judah with his armies and had Jerusalem surrounded and under siege. He had sent a message to the inhabitants of the city, saying: “Why are you so confident that you remain in Jerusalem while it is under siege? Hezekiah says, ‘The Lord our God will rescue us from the power of the king of Assyria.’ But he is misleading you and you will die of hunger and thirst!” (2 Chronicles 32:10-11 ESV). He went on to threaten the people of Judah with annihilation and warned them that Hezekiah was simply trying to deceive them. He ridiculed the God of Israel and bragged that no other god of any other nation had been able to stand against his armies. “Who among all the gods of these nations whom my predecessors annihilated was able to rescue his people from my power?” (2 Chronicles 32:14 ESV). King Sennacherib even had some of his troops who spoke Hebrew call out to the people of the wall, attempting to demoralize them with threats of destruction. They purposefully ridiculed God. “They talked about the God of Jerusalem as if he were one of the man-made gods of the nations of the earth” (2 Chronicles 32:19 ESV).

Things were definitely looking down. The odds were stacked against Hezekiah and Isaiah. The people were beginning to have second thoughts about Hezekiah's leadership. They were listening to the words of Sennacherib and wondering if their God was strong enough to stand up against such a great army. There's no doubt that Hezekiah and Isaiah were hearing a lot of complaining. They were probably getting a lot of advice to simply give up and cave in to the demands of the enemy. Self-preservation was the watchword of the day. Rather than expect victory and deliverance, the people were willing to settle for surrender and submission in exchange for their lives.

But Hezekiah and Isaiah didn't give up or give in. They looked up and they called out to God. In the darkest of moments they still saw a glimmer of hope, because they believed in the power of their God. They knew Him to be loving, faithful, and fully capable of delivering His people from the greatest of difficulties. Sennacherib and his armies were formidable, but they were no match for the God who had created heaven and earth, who had defeated the armies of Egypt, who had delivered the land of Canaan into the hands of His people by defeating the more powerful nations that lived there. The armies of Judah were nothing compared to those of the Assyrians, but that was inconsequential. It was David, the great warrior-king of Israel, who wrote, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright” (Psalm 20:7-8 ESV). Here was a man who built his reputation on warfare, bravery, battlefield heroics and victories against his enemies. But even he knew that, ultimately, the battle was the Lord's. Any success against the enemy was His doing.

So Hezekiah and Isaiah cried out to God. And He answered. We're not told what they prayed. We're not told how long they prayed. But we are told that God answered, and in a big way. “The Lord sent a messenger and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib returned home humiliated” (2 Chronicles 32:21 ESV). God didn't even have to show up Himself. He simply sent a messenger, much like Sennacherib had done. But God's messenger brought more than threats and insults. He brought destruction on the enemy and deliverance for His people. In fact, when Sennacherib arrived home, he went into the temple of his god and was murdered by his own sons. His own god wasn't powerful enough to protect him.

But God proved Himself faithful, powerful, and fully capable of delivering His people from the greatest of difficulties. Sennacherib had boasted, “no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my power or the power of my predecessors” (2 Chronicles 32:15 ESV). But he didn't know the God of Israel. He had yet to come up against the God of the universe, the one and only true God, the maker of heaven and earth. Like Hezekiah and Isaiah, may we learn to trust God even in the darkest of moments. May we learn to call out to Him even when all looks lost. Like David, may we be able to say, “Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand” (Psalm 20: 6 ESV).

At An Acceptable Time.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. – Psalm 69:13 ESV The primary purpose of prayer is not to get something from God. But for many of us, that is what we have made it. That is how we understand it and approach it. We pray primarily to receive something we need or want. And while we are encouraged to ask from and offer petitions to God, there is far more to the act of prayer than simply receiving our requests. Prayer is an act of humble submission to a holy, all-powerful God. It conveys our dependence upon Him and acknowledges our understanding that He is the giver of all good things. Jesus said of the Father, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11 ESV). The psalmist reminds us that “the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11 ESV). God loves to give to His children. But there is more to prayer than getting from God. It is an experience in getting to know God. Through prayer we discover the will of God. We experience the nature of God. We begin to understand the attributes of God. We learn the valuable lesson of trusting God. And over time, as we wait for His answer, we grow in our willingness to wait on God.

In this psalm, David makes it clear that his prayer was to God. He wasn't going to turn to anyone or anything else. His request was going to be made to the only one who could do anything to help him. David was up to his neck in trouble, and he had been for some time. His prayers had been constant and urgent. “ I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God” (Psalm 69:3 ESV). David longed to see God intervene and deliver him from all his difficulties. He wanted to be a living example of God's saving power. He cried out, “Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies,and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me” (Psalm 69:13-14 ESV).

But David was willing to wait. His prayer was based on his understanding of God's love and faithfulness. While he would have loved an immediate answer to his prayer and a quick deliverance from his trials, he was willing to wait on God, because he trusted God. He knew that God was there and that He cared. His petition was based on what he knew about God. “Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me” (Psalm 69:16 ESV). We sometimes pray and our focus is more on what we want than on the one to whom we are praying. We can become obsessed with our request and fail to give much thought to God and His love, mercy, grace and power. David went to God because he loved God. David made his request to God because he trusted God. David prayed to God because he was completely dependent upon God. And he knew that God would answer him “at an acceptable time.” The Hebrew literally means, “in a time of favor.” David was willing to wait on God to answer his request when He deemed the timing was right – based on His unfailing love, faithfulness, and mercy.

We are welcome and encouraged to make our requests known to God. Paul writes, “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” (Philippians 4:5-7 ESV). Notice that Paul says the result of our petition will be peace – the peace of God. In other words, the peace we will receive will be a God-based peace, not an answer-based peace. We will not experience peace because we got what we wanted, but because our God has heard our request and loves us deeply and cares about us greatly. The peace will be founded on the character of God. He is sovereign. He hears. He loves us. He is faithful. He is all-powerful. He will always do the right thing. And He will provide His answer at an acceptable time and in the appropriate manner.

Paul said, “The Lord is at hand.” He is near. He is not distant or disengaged from our experiences. He is as near as our next prayer. But rather than simply pray to get from Him, we should pray to get to know Him, to discover His character, to become more convinced of His love and faithfulness. David was so confident of God's deliverance that he was able to say, “I will praise the name of God with a song;I will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30 ESV). He knew His God. He trusted Him. He was willing to wait on Him. Because He knew His answer would come at just the right time and in just the right way.

Holy Help.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. – 2 Corinthians 1:11 ESV Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ and he took his responsibility to spread the good news quite seriously. He traveled far and wide taking the message of salvation made available through faith in Jesus to as many of the Gentile lands he could possibly reach. On those journeys he encountered those who embraced his message eagerly, but also those who offered intense opposition. He was regularly rejected, ridiculed, thrown out of the synagogue, falsely accused, chased out of town and even stoned and left for dead. Paul told the believers in Corinth, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9 ESV). There were few who could relate to Paul's experiences. The list of those who were putting their life on the line by sharing the gospel in hostile situations was short. Yes, there was persecution going on all over the world at that time, but there were not many who were performing the role of an official missionary for the gospel. Paul's calling was unique. His commission to take the gospel to the Gentiles was given to him personally by Christ himself and to him alone. 

Paul wasn't complaining about his lot in life. He was whining to the believers in Corinth about all that he had to suffer for the sake of Christ. In fact, he was sharing all that he had gained through his trials on behalf of Christ. “But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Corinthians 11:9-10 ESV). Through all his difficulties, Paul had learned to trust in God. He had seen God deliver him time and time again, so he knew that God would not fail to deliver him in the future. He was content to trust God's plan for his life. But his contentment with God's will did not stop him from asking for prayers on his behalf. He specifically asked those to whom he was writing for their help – in the form of their prayers. “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” While they could not travel with Paul or assist him by taking the gospel to foreign lands, they could come to his aid by going to their knees. They could pray for his ministry, his health, and his safety. They could ask God to continue to provide protection. They could pray for those to whom Paul would minister, that they would have receptive ears and soft hearts. There is power in prayer. Through prayer, we come humbly before God and ask Him to do what only He can do. We acknowledge our need for His assistance. We share our heart with Him that His will be done. We show Him that we care about what He cares about. Paul was asking for their prayers. He coveted their prayers on his behalf. He knew that the greatest assistance they could provide to him would be through their prayers for him. “In prayer, human impotence casts itself at the feet of divine omnipotence” (Philip E. Hughes, Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 23). 

Prayer allows us to do things we could not possibly do in the flesh. We can't be everywhere at once. We can't physically be with every person in our family at the same time. We have limits. We have physical constraints. But through prayer, we are able to span distances, expand our reach, multiply our efforts and provide our assistance to those we can't even see. Paul knew there was power in prayer. He had experienced it. He knew there were countless individuals, in cities all across Macedonia, Asia and Galatia who were praying for him as he traveled. They were praying for his work, his health, and his message. He could sense their love for him and their common concern for his work. Paul did not take their prayers lightly. He coveted them. He asked for them. He knew he needed them.

Through prayer we can accomplish far more than we can through our own efforts. Prayer engages God. Prayer unleashes a power we do not possess. Prayer reminds us that God is the one who must accomplish the impossible, not us. God has no limits. He is not hampered by time constraints. Distance creates no barrier for Him. By reaching out to Him, we are able to touch the lives of those we cannot see and the hearts of those we don't even know. We can pray for the lost around the world. We can lift up the work of missionaries we have never even met. We can offer up our concerns for the work of the gospel in places we will never get to go. Through prayer, we can help in ways that go far beyond our human capabilities and accomplish more than we could ever imagine. They say technology has made the world “smaller.” From the safety of our home we can see what's going on around the world. We can talk to someone on the other side of the planet. We can watch events taking place in distance lands as if we were there. I can Skype with a missionary working in Africa. I can send a text of encouragement to a friend on a different continent. I can receive images instantaneously from someone thousands of miles away. But prayer does far more. It unleashes the power of God. It allows me to not only stay in touch, but to connect in practical, powerful ways. Prayer shrinks the world, expands our reach, spreads the gospel, and exposes our dependence upon the power of God.

Praying Properly.

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. – 1 Peter 4:7 ESV There is a manner in which we are to pray that will make our prayers proper and appropriate. It has less to do with form, than with our attitude toward prayer. Some of us worry far too much about our words and not enough about our hearts or disposition while we are praying. Peter gives us a valuable lesson on perspective. He reminded his readers that “the end of all things is at hand”. Peter, like the rest of the apostles, lived with a eager anticipation and expectation that the return of Christ was eminent. This attitude produced in him a day-to-day diligence regarding his lifestyle, including his prayer life. It resulted in a desire to live self-controlled. The Greek word he uses is sōphroneō and it means “to put a moderate estimate upon one's self, think of one's self soberly”. It can also mean “to curb one's passions.” The idea is to live with a realistic understanding of who you are and what you are capable of. Don't get too cocky and sure of yourself. Don't get complacent about your sin nature and assume you are above giving in to temptation. Paul used the very same word when he wrote to the Romans and told a man was “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3 ESV). There is a sense in which we are to come to God in prayer with a sober-minded, realistic view of who we are. We are not to come before Him arrogantly, pridefully or with an attitude of self-righteousness. Pride can have a negative impact on our prayer life.

But Peter also uses the Greek word, nēphō, which means “to be sober, to be calm and collected in spirit”. It carries the idea of watchfulness or wakefulness, to be clear-headed and alert, capable of recognizing what is going on around you at all times. Paul used the same word when he wrote to the believers in Thessalonica. “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 ESV). Paul was also talking about the “day of the Lord”, the end times. He warned his readers that the day of the Lord would come like a thief in the night, suddenly and  unexpectedly. At that time there will be those who believe all is well. They will have a lazy attitude toward the Lord's return. They will be caught by surprise. But Paul told his readers, “you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 ESV). As believers we are to live with an expectation of the Lord's return. It could happen any day. And our awareness of that reality should change the way we live. It should impact the way we pray. Peter said that we should be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers. We should have a strong awareness of what we are capable of apart from the Spirit's indwelling presence within us. We have the capacity to sin at any time. We have a sin nature that is constantly battling with the Spirit within us. That realization should produce in us a dependence upon God. It should show up in the way we pray. Our prayers should contain requests for wisdom, strength, protection, direction, and the capacity to live in obedience to His will. We also need to stay alert and awake, fully aware of what is going on around us. Our ability to sense the dangers surrounding us will keep our prayers focused on our need for God. We must constantly remind ourselves that this world is not our home. We don't belong here any more. In fact, Jesus told us that the world would hate us. It hated Him and so it hates us. We must never lose sight of that reality. Satan would love to convince us that the world is our friend, that everything we need can be found right here. We can even buy into the lie that the things of this world can bring us satisfaction and contentment and allow our prayer lives to be filled with requests for more of what this world has to offer, rather than for requests of those things that God has promised – like peace, joy, contentment, and a hope for His Son's return.

Prayer is not easy. But it is far more painless and effective when done with a proper perspective. We must remain constantly aware of our sin nature and our predisposition to disobedience. We must never think too highly of ourselves or see ourselves as somehow above the need for prayer. We must also live with a sense of expectation and wide-awake awareness of the Lord's return. We can't afford to get lulled into complacency or contentment with life as it is in this world. When we lose sight of the end that God has in store, we can find ourselves living as if this world is all there is. Then our prayers can become filled with requests for temporal rewards and earthly treasures. But God has far more in store for us. He offers us strength for the journey, not stuff to enjoy along the way. He offers us peace and joy in the midst of trial, not a trouble-free life. We are to live with the end in mind. We are to pray with our focus on what God has promised, not on what the world offers. We are to be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers.