Sunday 25 November 2012

Delighting in God

A lover will so enjoy the woman he loves that he will want to please her.

It is a metaphor for prayer.  The more we enjoy God, the more we will want what he wants.  And our prayers will have power.

King David said it best in one of my favourite Bible verses - Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

This calls for action on my part - I am to delight myself in God.  How does that happen?

Obviously, I can't find delight in God unless I spend time with him.  I need to get to know him.

It is a worn-out cliche that you can't get to know God unless you study what he has given us - the Bible.  But it is still true.

Yet studying isn't enough.  I know a lot of things about the Bible, but I am not as strong at obeying what God asks of me in his word.

I need to do the uncomfortable things as well as the easy things he asks of me.  I need to forgive others; I need to show love in practical ways; and I need to act on what he is prompting me to do.

The Bible says that David was a man after God's own heart.  A remarkable statement.  It's particularly remarkable in that David sinned and did things that many of us would think would turn God away from him - adultery and murder, for example.

But a careful reading of David's life and his psalms shows us that he put God first in his life.  He was constantly in God's presence in praise and prayer.  He consulted God before taking major steps in his life - and then he did what God told him to do.  And when he was wrong, he admitted it.

I am learning, too, about sitting at Jesus' feet the way Mary did in Luke 10:38-42.  Contemplating Jesus in quietness, listening to the Holy Spirit speak into my heart and mind - these are important steps to knowing God.

I find I am blessed, as well, when I praise God for who he is and what he has done - in the Bible, in my life and in the lives of the people I love.  My faith soars and I rejoice in God.

So I am learning to delight in God in all these ways - finding out more about him, obeying him, listening to him, praising him.

If we truly delight in the Lord, as David says in Psalm 37:4, we can expect to receive the desires of our hearts because his desires are now our desires.

Monday 19 November 2012

Be specific

Most parents know what their children want for Christmas - their kids tell them exactly what they want.

It stands to reason that God delights in hearing exactly what we want, too.

I am taking this to heart because my prayers have too often been general.

Will Davis Junior, author of Pray Big: The Power of Pinpoint Prayers, says:

"God wants us to be strategic and focused about what we're asking him to do.  We need to pray for things - very specific things, gritty things, personal things, important things, kingdom things - with the pinpoint precision that Jesus modeled in the Lord's Prayer."

In his book, he mentions praying about a specific plot of land which he believed God wanted for his church in the Austin, Texas area.  God answered - with a better piece of land close by.

I am praying now with specific ministry goals in the area of group prayer in our church.  I believe that God will glorify his name as he answers those prayers - and I will know that he is answering.  It will strengthen my faith and give me boldness to pray for even bigger things.

I often turn to Acts 4 which tells of the small group of believers praying in the face of persecution.  Instead of fearfully asking for protection, they prayed for boldness in preaching the gospel and for God to perform signs and wonders.  God was pleased and the church exploded in growth.

That prayer was both specific and God-honouring.

When we pray like that, we can expect great things.




Sunday 11 November 2012

Pray big!

Will Davis Jr. says we should "pray big", praying for things that are bigger than we can accomplish on our own.  I think he's right.

The Austin, Texas pastor says in his book Pray Big:

"Prayer should be as big as God's promises and as full as God's resources.  Your requests should require the full power and provision of God."

He makes a convincing case that God is asking us to "pray big".  He refers to Jesus' many promises of answered prayer, including John 15:7: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."

That's a huge commitment by God.  If we remain on God's wavelength, we can count on him giving us whatever we ask, no matter how big.

I have been thinking about that in my own prayer life, realizing my prayers have been pretty small.  So I have started praying more boldly.

Davis refers to the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah in Luke 1.  An angel comes to elderly Zechariah and tells him that a child will be born to them even though they are both very old.  The interesting thing is that he says God is answering their prayers.  Evidently, they had been praying for a long time for this.

John the Baptist's birth to Zechariah and Elizabeth was a miracle.  Zechariah was dumbfounded by the news and because of his surprise and unbelief he was struck dumb until the child's birth.

But Davis uses this example to illustrate his point about praying for something even when it seemed impossible.

Our prayers matter.  God chose Zechariah and Elizabeth to receive this great gift because they had asked him for it.

I take some comfort from this story because Zechariah initially doubted the angel Gabriel when informed that his prayers had been answered.  It does take some faith to pray big - but God is patient with us if our faith is still weak.  I am always encouraged by the story of Gideon in Judges 6-8 where he began as a timid man and wound up as a great warrior of God as the Lord helped his faith to grow.

Our job is to keep praying according to God's promises.

What are big prayers?  They're prayers for people or things that seem impossible to you right now.  Perhaps you are concerned about a friend who resists any talk about Jesus.  Or, another friend has just been diagnosed with cancer.  Or, your church is struggling financially and looks as if it might have to close its doors.

Such prayers teach you to depend on God, says Davis.  They drive you to the Bible to see whether you are on solid biblical ground.  And they increase your faith as God answers.

As I said earlier, I am starting to pray big.  I am learning to ask for things that I considered impossible a while ago.

I'm looking forward to what he is going to do.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

The joyful intercessor

As believers, we are called to be joyful - filled with the joy of God.

The author and prayer pastor Beni Johnson says that's how we are to pray, too.  She makes that point in her book The Happy Intercessor.

"While Jesus lived on this earth," she writes, "I believe that he knew how to live out of joy, even in the midst of suffering."

The author points to Jesus' miracles, especially the story of the dying daughter of Jairus, a synagogue leader, in Mark 5.  While they were talking, Jairus' servants came to tell him not to bother Jesus because his daughter had just died.  But Jesus brought her back to life and the family was overwhelmed with joy.

She notes that in Hebrews 12:2, the writer says that Jesus endured the cross "for the joy set before him" - or awaiting him - in heaven.  He knew he was going to win the victory over Satan and that he would bring many into the kingdom of God.

Knowing that Jesus defeated Satan on the cross is the foundation of confident, joyful prayer.  As Nehemiah told the Israelites in Nehemiah 8: "The joy of the Lord is your strength."

Johnson says that we are to get on the same wavelength with God when we pray for others.  We are to ask the Spirit what he wants us to pray for and then pray as he leads.  We develop that understanding as we meditate on God's word and spend time with him in listening prayer.

I know that I tend to rush in with prayers for friends and family without asking God how he wants me to pray. The same is true of any plans I may have for my church activities.

Believing that Jesus is victorious whatever the circumstances should fill me with confidence and joy.  He will bring good out of even the most horrible circumstances as the apostle Paul said in Romans 8:28.

Of course, joy is not the same as happiness.  People may grieve the loss of a father or daughter but be joyful that this parent or child is now with God.

I come back frequently to the apostle Paul's injunction: "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Here he links joy and thanksgiving with continual prayer.

Clearly, Paul is saying: "Don't pray with a gloomy face.  Pray with a heart filled with godly joy and thanksgiving, knowing that you are approaching the God who loves you enough that he sent his son to rescue you from the hands of Satan."

That's enough to make us joyful intercessors.