Sunday 31 March 2013

Greater works than Jesus'?

Jesus makes an incredible statement to his followers in John 14:12: They will do even greater works than his because he is going to the Father.

Greater works than Jesus'?  How is that possible?

There has been much discussion about this - a variety of explanations.  I like one offered by Ronald Dunn in his delightfully-written book Don't Just Stand There: Pray Something.

He places that statement in context - Jesus' answer to Philip's request to show them the Father in John 14:9-14.

Jesus tells his disciples that "anyone who has seen me has seen the Father".  He tells them that the words he speaks are the Father's and the works he does are the Father's work.  He is in the Father and the Father is in him.

He goes on to say that anyone who believes in Jesus will do the same works and even greater ones because he is going to the Father.  That "anyone" includes me as a believer - and everyone else who follows Christ.

He ties it all together with the power of prayer in verse 13: "You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father."

What a promise!  But does he really mean "anything"?

Dunn says that prayer is the means by which God works.  It was through Jesus' life of prayer that he was able to know where the Father wanted him to be and what he wanted him to say and do.  The Father was in him and Jesus was completely surrendered to his will.

The "greater works" that Jesus is talking about are not our works - they are Jesus working through us when we are completely surrendered to him just as he yielded himself to the Father.

Dunn notes that Jesus says he will do anything we ask in his name.

"To pray in the name of Jesus, then, is to pray according to his will, with his approval, and consistent with his nature, character and purpose," Dunn says.  "Therefore, it is as if Jesus Himself were making the request.  That is our authority."

When we pray like that, our prayers can't fail.  And then we will see the "greater works" that Jesus talked about.

Sunday 24 March 2013

The pleasures of praying together

Praying together should be a joy.

But, for many people, it is trial to be avoided or something to be feared.

I have found it a pleasure ever since my wife and I grasped the concept of "conversational prayer" at a previous church decades ago.

I described this idea in a previous post last July which you can find at http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3617534320094379788#editor/target=post;postID=337178175674168398.

In essence, conversational prayer involves a few people talking with God and with each other as if they were chatting at home in their family room.  Group members pray brief sentence prayers around a single topic - Joe Blow's job problems or Sally Swift's breast cancer diagnosis - pausing before moving on to another prayer concern.  This allows the Holy Spirit to guide the prayer time, dropping thoughts into the minds of prayer group members.

I have found such prayer gatherings move quickly and deeply.  People leave feeling that the Holy Spirit has had his hand on their shoulders as they prayed. They feel his presence.

Yesterday, we put on a brief conversational prayer course in our church and several people turned out.  Personally, I left uplifted.  And several people said they enjoyed their time praying.

Why make such a big deal out of praying together?  Because there is something special in people praying together in agreement as Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20.  Jesus is there and responds directly when we pray this way.

In his book And The Place was Shaken, author John Franklin made this bold statement: "The greatest works of God come by corporate prayer, and we will not see the power of God in sufficient measure to transform the world around us until we pray together."

Most great revivals have blossomed as a result of concentrated, persevering prayer by groups of people praying together.

Praying together allows the Spirit to bring things to our minds that would be lost if we were simply praying on our own.  Praying together regularly helps the Spirit change us over time as God speaks to us through others.

Praying together should be a delight - not a burden.  It should be as easy as talking with a friend.  Only the friend is God.







Sunday 17 March 2013

Abandoned to God

Prayer is an admission that there is someone greater than myself - someone who may be able to help.

But much depends on how I approach God.  Do I approach him cautiously, holding myself back?  Do I trust that he has my good at heart?  Am I willing to accept his answer, no matter what?  Do I want what he wants?  Do I really believe he is in control of all things?

The answers to those questions are important.  If I feel that God is not in control, my prayers are likely to be desperate and worried.  Perhaps there will be unspoken criticism of God for not giving me what I think I deserve.  Perhaps the winds of doubt will sweep through my heart.

If I believe that God is in control and that he is working for my good, my prayers are likely to change.  I may not get the answers I want when I want them; but, I will be at peace that God knows best and will show me in eternity why he answered the way he did.

I confess that I still wrestle with these thoughts from time to time.  But I am deeply convinced that God is in control and that he is working things out for my good.

Jeanne Guyon, a great French pray-er and writer from the late 1600s, has been one of my most delightful guides in my prayer journey.  She has helped me see that I need to "abandon" myself to God.

She wrote a book called A Method of Prayer which led to her being thrown into jail for many years.  It was later translated into several languages influencing great Christians through the centuries.

In a recent English translation called Experiencing God through Prayer, she writes:

"You must give up both the external and the internal things - all of your concerns must be placed into the hands of God.  Forget yourself.  Think only of him.  In doing so, your heart will remain free and at peace."

She goes on to say:  "It is essential to continually submit your will to God's will and renounce every private inclination as soon as it arises - no matter how good it appears.  You must want all that God has willed from all eternity.  Forget the past.  Devote the present to God.  Be satisfied with the present moment which brings God's eternal order to you."

The Psalmist Asaph pours out his heart to God in Psalm 73, clearly feeling that God has let him down.  Bad people are prospering.  But then he goes before God and his outlook changes.  He takes the long view.

"You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny," writes Asaph.  "Whom have in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth."

That's the way God wants me to look at things.  That's the way he wants me to pray.





Saturday 9 March 2013

Praying like Paul

If you're like me, your prayers for others usually focus on health, jobs, and family.

You pray that God will heal John who has cancer, or provide a job for Chelsea, or bring reconciliation between Bob and Harriet.

The apostle Paul probably prayed for specific things like that, too.  His letters certainly show he was aware of the everyday needs of his friends - like Timothy's stomach problems.

But Paul's prayers went far beyond that.  He prayed for the eternal welfare of those he cherished - and he did so constantly.

And when he asked for prayer, it was for boldness in preaching the gospel.  He never forgot why he was here - he was an ambassador for Christ who sought to reconcile men with God.

Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 is an excellent example.

He begins by talking about the faith of the Ephesians and says he never stops thanking God for them.  He declares that he prays constantly for them, asking God to give them spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they will get to know God better.

He doesn't stop there.

He continues with the theme of understanding, asking God to help them grasp the hope they have in Jesus Christ.  He wants them to be confident believers, trusting God means what he says when he offers them eternal life.

Then, he asks the Lord to reveal to them how great is the power that raised Jesus from the dead, a power that is available to every believer.

In effect, he is asking God to transform the readers of the letter to the Ephesians into bold - and powerful - representatives of Christ.

Those are prayers God would love to answer.  In fact, he did in Acts 4 when the believers prayed for boldness in preaching the gospel in the midst of persecution.  In response to their prayer, God shook their place of prayer and the Spirit descended in power - and they preached boldly.

Sometimes, I lose sight of what is most important in my life.  What comes first is God's mission in the world around me.

I need to pray like Paul.





Sunday 3 March 2013

Follow the Leader

Slowly, I am learning to follow my Leader - the Lord.

I am learning that only the Holy Spirit can point me in the direction God wants me to go.  And gradually it is changing my prayer life.

I still try to force my own will through my prayers.  Often, I pick my goals and am disappointed when God doesn't give me what I want.

But, more and more, I am opening myself to seeking and hearing the Lord BEFORE I pray for specifics.

Much has been written about the importance of the Holy Spirit.  In fact, several authors I have read make the same point: Without the Spirit, prayer is useless.

Fred Hartley III, author of Prayer on Fire, writes: "We have come to a critical breaking point when we admit that we can't pray effectively on our own and that we need to rely on the leadership of the Holy Spirit."

How does the Holy Spirit speak?  In 1 Samuel 3, he speaks to young Samuel in an audible voice.  Samuel doesn't realize it is God speaking and it isn't until his master Eli tells him that it is the Lord that he enters into a conversation with God.

I remember many years ago a Canadian United Church minister heard God speaking to him in an audible voice and calling him into the ministry.  It still happens today.

Sometimes it is a vision.  In Acts 16, the apostle Paul saw a vision of a man from Macedonia in mainland Greece beckoning to him to come.  Paul obeyed and brought the good news of Jesus Christ to Europe for the first time.

More often it is a prompting - a word or a thought - that springs up in our minds.  That is the way it usually happens with me.  Something I have been puzzling about for a while suddenly is resolved by a thought driving me in a new direction.

And, of course, the Spirit works through our reading and meditating on scripture.  A Bible passage sometimes gains new meaning when I read it.

I am a writer and I find that writing to the Lord in my journal opens up answers - answers that always conform to the scriptures.

Jesus is a great example of praying in the Spirit.  His ministry on earth was confirmed by the Holy Spirit descending on him at his baptism.  Thereafter, he prayed constantly to the Father through the Spirit and was guided in everything he did.

Christ said in John 6:19: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself.  He does only what he sees the Father doing.  Whatever the Father does, the Son also does."

Jesus was a man just like us - with the same limits as we have.  He "saw" what the Father was doing through praying in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus' ministry was world-shaking.  Ours can be effective, too, if we follow our Leader.