Pray for Love

Sometimes people just drive me crazy.  It seems like the ones closest to me have the greatest ability to just push my buttons and send me into a tailspin.  I don't share this because I'm proud of it.  I share it because it's true.  My love for some people does not come easily.  It is a purposeful choice.  And it is worth the prayer.

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. (Jude 1:17-20 NIV)

Prayer not only aligns us with God's will.  It also encourages us when people fight against God's will for our lives.  I get torn down by people all the time because of choices God calls me to live out.  I won't go out drinking with friends.  I won't bash my wife behind her back when other men want someone to "wife bash" with them.  I fight hard to create a safe environment for people to draw near to God and regularly have my choices in that area called into question.  (Some think I should let more people in.  Others think I should kick certain people out.)  I'm especially attacked when I teach the truth from God's Word, even though I work hard to teach it in love.  When people don't like what God says in Scripture, I am the face and voice that gets attacked.

Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. (Jude 1:21-23 NIV)

None of this changes God's Mission, though.  So, I pray.  I pray to remind myself to love God with everything.  I pray to remind myself that God wants me to love people, whether Christian brothers and sisters, other neighbors, or enemies.  I am called to love and pray for them.  So I pray.  When I do, I stay in God's love.  When I do, God gives me the fruit of God's Spirit.  When I do, I live out my part of God's plan.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25 NIV)

How about you?  Do you pray for love?

The Big Reveal

I'm a "figure it out" kind of guy.  I like a good puzzle, mystery, problem to solve.  I've always been that way.  People probably think I'm morbid because of how often I have watched or read murder mysteries throughout my life, but I really just like trying to solve the case myself.  I always feel good when the story reaches the point of the "big reveal," when the back story of all the characters tell us what really happened, and I had already figured it out.  I feel a sense of satisfaction for picking up on the clues along the way and putting it together.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. (Romans 8:18-19 NIV)

The timing is at the final judgement.  The audience is all of creation.  The big reveal will show who really is on God's team.  All of creation is eagerly waiting for the day.  So are we.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21 NIV)

Creation isn't just waiting for the final judgement and the big reveal.  It is hoping that it will be set free like the children of God were set free.  You see, sin brings about decay and death.  Through Jesus, though, we are given life.  We know that our current bodies will decay and die, but that our spirits will be given new eternity-lasting bodies.  We are set free from decay and death.  The Holy Spirit is our "down payment" and reminder of this fact.  But the rest of creation can only watch and wait.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:22-25 NIV)

Since we are in this time of decay and death, with the hope of life everlasting, we need reminders.  We need reasons to hold on to the hope that we have.  We need to pray in the Spirit, so that we ask for things that are helpful during this time of God's plan.  God doesn't want us to be hidden characters in His story.  God doesn't want us to only be seen at the "big reveal."  God has a job for us to do here and now.  Knowing our part of God's plan, though, can be difficult and confusing.  So, we pray.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:26-29 NIV)

When we turn to God in prayer and don't know what to say, God fills in the gaps.  When our weakness and situation drives us to despair, God gives us the words.  We only need to turn our hearts to God and God will do the rest.  The Spirit will intercede.  God will lead us to God's will.  Distractions, temptations, and attacks will have no power over us.  We are God's children.  That will be revealed.

How about you?  Do you allow God to reveal that you are God's child?  Will people be surprised at the final judgement that you were on God's team?  Will it be obvious to them?  Is it obvious to them now?

Pray for Maturity

Often times when we pray, we ask God for "comfort" kinds of things. We ask God for enough money to pay for the things we want. We ask God to heal the physical disease, take away the pain, and even keep us safe and healthy when things are going well. We would never think to ask God to give us trials to go through so we will grow in maturity. Those times of trial and tribulation, though, are the very times God uses to help us become mature.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4 NIV)

I've prayed over prayer requests for almost twelve years now. People ask me to lift up all kinds of concerns before God. Some of them even offer Praise for God's answer to a previous request. Thousands of requests have been lifted up before God in this way. I can count on one hand, though, the number of people who have asked me to pray for their maturity. Maturity is just one of those things we don't seem to ask God to give us. Yet God clearly wants to give it to us. God's whole design for God's church is centered around this purpose.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV)

"The whole measure of the fullness of Christ" is the definition of "mature." When we are mature, we are living a life that is Christ-like. We are walking together with God. This is God's desire for our lives and God want's us to pray this prayer. When we ask God to make us mature, God will say "yes."

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way:

• bearing fruit in every good work, 
• growing in the knowledge of God, 
• being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 
• and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:9-12 NIV)

Wisdom leads to maturity and walking together with God.

So how about you? Do you see trials in life as an opportunity to grow in your trust of God through all circumstances? Do you ask God to do whatever it takes to make you Christ-like? Do you pray for maturity?

Pray for Wisdom

People pray in many different ways. One may go off to a quiet place to meditate on God's Word. Another may write in a journal as their time of prayer. Yet another may talk with God while driving the car on the long commute to work. There is no one "right" style of prayer. The topic of our prayer, however can make a big difference in God's response.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5 NIV)

Often times when people ask me to pray for something in their life, I gladly lift up their request before God. Sometimes, though, I know that God's answer will be, "no" because what they ask is against God's clear will as described in Scripture. Other times I find myself wondering what God's response will be. The prayer request is for something that could be God's will, but it could be just as easily not. Sometimes, though, the request is for something God clearly tells us we will receive. Wisdom is one of those prayers. When I pray for wisdom, God says it will be given to me.

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1:6-8 NIV)

The request, though, must be coupled with faith. I must trust God to give me the wisdom I ask to receive. This is why it doesn't automatically "work" when I pray for someone else to get wisdom. They may not believe in God. They may not trust God. They may not expect God to give them wisdom. They may not even want it! I can ask for wisdom for myself, though, and know that God will provide it for me. So can you. God gave His Word.

This doesn't stop me from praying for others. This kind of prayer is called "intercessory" prayer. We "intercede" spiritually so that, perhaps, distractions, temptations, and even spiritual attacks may be removed from the picture. Even if the relief is temporary, it can give the person I am praying for some relief from the struggle and a better opportunity to encounter God. (I always ask God to do it in such a way that they see Him.) Praying for others is good. It is worth every moment in prayer.

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)

How about you? Do you pray for wisdom? Do you trust God to provide it? Do you believe God will say "yes" to that kind of prayer every time? Do you pray for others as well?

Pray

We often think of the day of Pentecost as the kick-start of God's Church. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples in the form of fiery tongues. They spoke in tongues, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. Thousands of people became disciples. We like to think of the miraculous signs showing the power of the Holy Spirit. But do we pause to think about the communication people had with God. Do we think about prayer?

Before the Spirit was poured out on the disciples and then thousands of people, the disciples were already talking to God in prayer. Their conversations were around God's plan in general and about their specific part of that plan. Before the Spirit gave them the "go ahead," they gathered together in a room an prayed.

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:14 NIV)

After the Spirit was poured out on the disciples, they preached and thousands responded to the Gospel message. They were baptized and received the Holy Spirit as well. Then it tells us what they did next. It included, you guessed it, prayer.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42 NIV)

Prayer was so important to Jesus that hey would get up early in the morning and go off into the wilderness so he would be uninterrupted in his prayer. Prayer was so important to the apostles that it defined a part of their schedule in a normal day.

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer--at three in the afternoon. (Acts 3:1 NIV)

After being captured and told not to preach the Gospel anymore, Peter and John were released from custody. They went back to a place the believers were gathering and they prayed.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31 NIV)

They continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The church continued to grow. Money started to pour in at this point. Widows and orphans were being cared for and the church continued to grow. When problems in the church arose because food wasn't being distributed fairly to those in need, the apostles reminded themselves of the importance of prayer.

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:2-4 NIV)

Prayer connects us to God. Prayer gets us in sync with God's will. Prayer is the lifeblood of our life and ministry because through prayer God flows God's will into our lives. God's Spirit gives life and breath and everything else. This Spirit flows into and through us through prayer.

They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:6-7 NIV)

So how about you? Do you pray? Do you give God a list of things you want God to do, or do you allow God to speak to you as well. Does God's Spirit flow into and through you through prayer?