Sunday 25 May 2014

God can

In prayer, one of the biggest mountains to cross is unbelief.

Like many others, I often get caught up with how impossible a situation looks.  Surely, God can't fix that, I think.

But God can.

Bill Hybels, author of Too Busy Not to Pray and pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area, confronted this problem in his prayer life many years ago.

He says that he was sitting in a small room overlooking Lake Michigan one summer when he realized what was wrong with his prayer life - lack of faith in God's ability to answer our prayers. 

"I decided I didn't want to stay where I was, for all practical purposes disbelieving God's omnipotence," he says in his book.  "So I launched an assault on my own lack of conviction."

He began with God's power over nature, looking at Bible passages such as God parting the waters for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea and the Jordan River, feeding the Israelites with manna and birds in the wilderness, producing water out of a rock, and Jesus stilling the great waves of the Sea of Galilee when they threatened to swamp the boat he and the disciples were in.

He read and reread these passages and others before turning to God's power to deal with impossible circumstances.  He considered Peter's miraculous delivery in prison by an angel when he was on the point of being executed (Acts 12).  Even the believers who welcomed him back were astonished at this answer to their prayers.

Finally, he looked at God's power to change lives.  He read about shy Moses becoming a powerful leader, Pharaoh relenting and letting the Israelites leave Egypt, the conversion of the persecutor Saul, and Peter's transformation into a courageous, outspoken leader after Jesus' ascension into heaven.

He recalled the words in Hebrews 13:8 that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever".  He reasoned that if God is unchanging, he can do today what he did in Bible times.

I think we all need to look back at what God has already done - in our lives as well as in the Bible.  This can give us new energy and conviction as we pray.


Sunday 18 May 2014

Waiting in silence

Great prayer warriors have found great spiritual benefits from silently waiting before the Lord.

Why?  Because they focus their minds entirely on loving God.  And the Lord builds them up and equips them for the day ahead.

In The Hour That Changes The World, author Dick Eastman says:

"To be complete, prayer needs an early, significant dose of spiritual silence.  Such silence is necessary if the believer hopes to minister effectively for Jesus."

Eastman says that we can easily get worn out by the busyness of life and the spiritual demands on our time.  We need to turn our minds to God, opening ourselves completely to him without requests.

Sometimes, I stop for a few moments and simply imagine Jesus with me.  He is saying nothing and I say nothing.  We are simply loving companions.  The thought of Jesus being present helps me put life in perspective.  I am his and nothing else really matters in the long run.

However, Eastman urges me to do more than that.  He suggests I make this waiting silence a regular part of my prayer time.

In fact, he recommends I begin my prayer time with praising God and then move into a time of silent waiting before the Lord.  Praise helps point me to God and prepares me to simply adore him in silence.

"Waiting on God is especially essential to prayer because it strengthens our knowledge and concept of God," writes Eastman. "To focus attention entirely on God places God on the throne of our praying."

Eastman suggests these steps in silent waiting before God:
  • After praising God, bring your mind and spirit to complete silence;
  • Think only of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
  • If you must speak, whisper words such as "I love you, Lord" or "I long for your presence, O God";  and
  • Concentrate fully on God's love in these minutes of silence.
This is silence that refreshes.



Sunday 11 May 2014

The desires of your heart

God-given desire is the fuel of powerful prayer, says author and missionary Wesley Duewel.

In his book Mighty Prevailing Prayer, Duewel says: "Holy desire is a holy power that energizes prayer.  It is a dynamic of the Spirit."

What does this desire look like?  Duewel points to the apostle Paul's prayer in Romans 9:1-4 where he says that "I could wish I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel".

Paul preached to the Jews and suffered persecution for doing it - but many became believers because of the apostle's deep desire to see them enter God's kingdom.  He prayed fervently and saw God answer amazingly.

Duewel says: "From one viewpoint, real desire is a gift of God.  From another viewpoint, you must deepen your own desire with the help of God."

So, what desire has God planted in your heart?  Are you nurturing that desire through consistent, regular, fervent prayer?

That's a good question for me.  I have a personal vision of everyone in our church coming together "seeking God's face" as author Daniel Henderson says - wanting more of God in prayer.  But I haven't been feeding that desire in persistent prayer.

"Do not let other things divert you or distract you," Duewel says.  "Let the Holy Spirit deepen your prayer more and more as you cherish these holy longings and hunger for them ever more deeply."

As well, we must surrender our own desires, he says.

"The Holy Spirit will faithfully teach you God's perspective, God's priorities, and God's process if you remain filled with the Spirit and selflessly committed to God's will."

Finally, he says, "trust God for what you desire and praise him".  Our faith grows as we praise and thank God for what he is doing and will do.

God drops the seeds of holy desire in our hearts and we fertilize them with our prayers.  God moves in response to these prayers and the world changes.

Monday 5 May 2014

Prayer and prophecy

Mark Batterson, a pastor and author, says we can have a major influence on the lives of others through prayer and prophecy.

In his book Draw the Circle, Batterson says that as we draw closer to God, he gives us prophetic insight into other people.  "Prophecy", in this sense, means seeing someone's potential in God's eyes.

In 1 Corinthians 14:3, the apostle Paul says: "One who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them."

"Like Paul, who saw gifts in Timothy that Timothy couldn't see in himself, we, through prayer, are enabled to see with prophetic eyes," Batterson writes.

"We are given supernatural insight.  Then we are prepared to speak with prophetic boldness into the lives God has positioned in our path."

This prophetic insight grows as we become closer to God.  And prayer is vital to loving God and becoming more like Jesus.

"Prayer is the way we write the future," Batterson says.  "It's the difference between letting things happen and making things happen.

"And when we speak prophetic words into someone's life, it gives them a new lease on life."

He tells the story of a boy who grew up in an abusive home.  The boy would stop by a dry cleaner's on the way home because he had candy on his counter.

As they got to know each other, the dry cleaner told the boy that he was very smart and would run a very big business some day.  The boy grew up and became chief executive of a multimillion-dollar health care organization.

Batterson writes: "Your words have the potential to change lives by helping people discover their identity and destiny in Jesus Christ."

He advises parents to lovingly remind a child who has done something wrong that "that's not who you are" and to celebrate when they do something right.

Some years ago, a praying friend prophesied that I would play a role in building a ministry of prayer.  Those words have influenced me ever since.