Jesus and the fig tree

I've long been fascinated with the story of Jesus and the fig tree.

It tells me that followers of Christ can also issue commands of faith if their commands align with God's will and they trust the Lord to act.

You may recall the story of the fig tree in Mark 11 and Matthew 21. 

Initially, the story seems trifling - maybe even strange.  Jesus and his disciples pass a fig tree and Jesus walks up to pick figs to eat.  But there are no figs on the tree so he says: "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." (Mark 11:12-14)

The next morning, they pass the fig tree and Peter says to Jesus: "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

Then, Jesus follows up with a profound lesson from this seemingly trivial incident.

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered.  "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes what they say will happen, it will be done for them.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

I admit that my heart reaction to this story is: "Jesus, you can't really mean this!  That's impossible!"

But Jesus did say in John 14:12: "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father."

Jesus issued commands of faith on other occasions.  In Mark 4, Jesus and the disciples were in a boat when the winds whipped up the sea while Christ slept.  The disciples were terrified but Jesus woke up and simply told the blustery wind, "Silence! Be still!", and the wind stopped and the waters became calm.

Christ also rebuked demons and ordered them to leave afflicted people.

In the Old Testament, Joshua told the sun to stand still to enable the Israelites to win a battle - and the sun stood still. (Joshua 10:12)

Indeed, believers today have had remarkably similar experiences.

Derek Prince, author of Secrets of a Prayer Warrior, tells of a teenaged Zambian girl bicycling to one of his meetings in Africa, suddenly being confronted by a huge cobra, emerging from a 20-to-30-foot high anthill. 

She stopped before the snake, trembling.  Then, says Prince, the "Spirit of God came upon her, and she said, 'In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, go back into your hole.'"

The cobra stopped and turned its head towards its hole but remained motionless.  The girl repeated her command and it turned around and went back into the hole.

"When she got to our meeting place, she was still trembling," Prince writes. "In that command, God's strength was made perfect in weakness."

The passage about the fig tree indicates that these commands succeed when we have faith and we are right with God.  We do not depend on our own power, but on the power of God.

As well, we know our requests will be heard and answered if we ask according to what God wants.  (1 John 5:14-15)

There is much for me to ponder in this great story of the fig tree.  May the Lord increase my faith.

Pausing before praying

Do you consult God before you pray?

I admit that much of the time, I just plunge in and pray without asking the Lord to direct my prayers.

But seeking God's leading in prayer is important.

Why?  Because God's will always prevails.  And we find out God's will by asking him.

I am not saying that asking God what we want is wrong.  God listens to our prayers and responds to our heart cries.

But there is a chance we will miss what God wishes if we don't listen to him first.

What prompted this post was something a friend told me about a prayer experience he had at a conference on church renewal recently.

The conference leader asked those attending to break into groups of two and pray for each other's needs.

My friend and a young man presented their prayer requests to each other.  Then, my friend immediately prayed for the young man's requests - just as I would have done.

But the young man spent several minutes in silence before he prayed.  He was asking God for leading.

Did the young man pray what God wants?  I don't know, but I believe he had a good chance of so doing.

Inviting the Holy Spirit into our prayers is widespread these days - especially, in healing prayer groups.  But it is easy to forget the importance of the Spirit's guidance.

The apostle Paul urges us in Ephesians 6:18 to "pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion".

There are debates about whether this means speaking in tongues or not.  But what it surely means is that we should should seek the aid of the Holy Spirit in our prayers.

The great Norwegian Christian, O. Hallesby, writes in his book Prayer that we should "pray for the Spirit of prayer".

He notes that we often feel that our prayers are inadequate or that we are praying wrongly.  If so, we should ask God for the Spirit of prayer.

"He will not only show you the meaning and purpose of prayer; he will also lift you up in all your helplessness to the very heart of God where you will be warmed by his love, so that you can again begin to pray according to his will, asking for nothing except those things which are in harmony with his plans and purposes."

King David sought God's leading often during his life, even in battles.

The Philistines decided to attack Israel shortly after they heard David had become king (1 Samuel 5).

David asked God: "Shall I go and attack the Philistines?  Will you hand them over to me?"

God told David he would give him the victory.  David won an initial battle, but the Philistines marched against the Israelites again.

So David "inquired of the Lord" and God responded by giving him specific directions on how to defeat the Philistines including circling around them and attacking from behind.  The sign to attack was to be the "sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees".  David obeyed and won decisively.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to hearing what God wants is our own self-will.  Once we have elected to follow God's will, we are assured he will follow through (1 John 5:14-15).

So, the first step for me is to say to the Lord: "I will pray what you want, not what I want."

Then, I must pause and listen before I pray.

Praying in the moment

My wife and I were chatting about various people we know yesterday and found ourselves praying for them on the spot.

I mention it because more often we think of friends and their needs and resolve to pray for them later.  And we forget.

I realize I need to make a practice of praying in the moment.

It's all part of what the apostle Paul calls "praying continually" (1Thessalonians 5:17).

On the surface, it seems an impossible task - praying all the time.

I don't think Paul meant that we were to stop doing anything but praying.  But I do believe he meant we should pray often during the day - as we work, eat, and relax.

Brother Lawrence, a French monk who lived in the 17th century, said in his little classic The Practice of the Presence of God that he conversed silently with God as he washed dishes in the monastery kitchen.  He kept God in his mind and adored him as he worked - and he listened to his promptings.

Many people use prayer prompts to ignite prayers as they go through the day.

Janet Benlien Reeves says in her book Parachute Prayer: The Practice of Praying Continually that she uses everyday things around the house to remind her to pray.

"As we work with various items around our homes, let's pray for their owners," she writes. "As we fold laundry, let's thank God for the ones who wear the clothes."

If she sees her husband's keys on a table, Reeves prays for him at work.

When people come to the door, she prays silently for them - sales people or friends.

She prays for political leaders whose names come up in the news.

When someone from the past edges into her mind, she prays for him or her.

She thanks God for his provision as she pays the household bills.

There are all kinds of daily reminders that can spark prayer.

Decades ago, I attended a prayer seminar where the speaker asked us to choose something we were wearing or carrying and use that as a springboard to prayer.

I was wearing a watch and thought of God as creator of time.  I thought of him as eternal - beyond time.  Thoughts like these can lead to worship of our great God.

As I have said before, I find walking outdoors a great way to offer prayer to God.

For example, rocks can prompt us to think of God as the "rock of our salvation", the eternal one who never changes and can always be counted on.

And shoots of green grass poking up through dead lawns in the springtime can remind us that God wants to renew us spiritually.

There is no end to prayer possibilities if we keep our eyes and our minds open.

Hallow?

What does it mean to "hallow" God in prayer?

It means to worship him because of who he is - holy, set apart from us, great and awesome, and even terrifying.

In Christ's model prayer, it comes immediately after the very intimate term he uses for God - "Father" (Matthew 6:9-13).

As Elmer Towns writes, Jesus introduces the concept of God as "Abba" or "Daddy" to his followers - very different from the Old Testament terms for God.  A picture of a loving father cuddling his child springs to mind.

So, what does that tell me?

It tells me that I am to rejoice in the fact that God is my Daddy.  And, at the same time, I must realize I am in the presence of the creator of the universe, the Almighty God who has me and the whole world in the palm of his hand.

Intimacy and awe together.

Sometimes we fall into the trap of ignoring one of these very important aspects of God as we pray.

We may be feeling depressed and imagine that God must be displeased with us.  That may lead us to view the Lord as a terrifying judge.

On the other hand, we may approach him as a kind of Easter bunny, handing out whatever chocolate eggs we ask him for.

In what is known as "The Lord's Prayer", Jesus says "hallowed be your name", a prayer that God's holiness be celebrated. 

I believe he is asking us to praise God for his unique qualities.  I think it also means we are requesting that God be worshiped throughout the world.

The Lord has said that, at some point, "every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God" (Romans 14:11).

We haven't yet reached that stage, but we should be praying for that even now.  It will be an amazing day when people all over the world bow before God.

Elmer Towns tells the story of watching a dramatic lightning storm over darkened Mount Rushmore in South Dakota with round after round of lightning blazing above.

He says it drove him that evening to "hallow" God's names in scripture.  He was reminded of God as creator, his kindness, his role as master of men, and his almighty power.

In his book Praying the Lord's Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough, Towns writes:

"When you pray 'Hallowed be thy name,' you climb to a new level of respect for God and reverence for his person.  You are ascending into the very heart of God to recognize who he is, and what he has done for us."

When you pray "hallowed be your name", you are "placing God on the throne of your heart", says Towns.  As you enter God's presence, you know he is concerned for your needs and loves you deeply.  At the same time, "you also enter reverently and fearfully into the throne room of a God-King who demands obedience and reverence".

May the Holy Spirit help me understand ever more deeply how great is God - and how loving, too.

Dynamic, united prayer

United, Spirit-led prayer is a dynamic force.

We see it in the Bible and Christian history as people turned to God to transform their world.

I sense that we are moving in that direction in North America.

Houses of prayer are popping up in North America and Europe as people pray for themselves but also for the society around them.  The International House of Prayer in Kansas City is one of the best known and Pete Greig's 24-7 Prayer International has had a particularly great impact on young people in many countries around the world.

In our city of Ottawa, Canada, the National House of Prayer was established some years ago to pray for our government.  And in recent years, Pray Ottawa has organized a week of prayer annually for our city.

When people come together to pray for what God wants, great things happen.

A good example is the young Christian church just after Jesus' resurrection and ascension to heaven.

In Acts 4, we read how the believers reacted after Peter and John were arrested and told by the religious authorities not to preach the gospel.  They heard from the apostles and then prayed together as one.

Defiantly, they prayed: "And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.  Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

God confirmed their prayers by shaking the house in which they were praying and giving them the boldness they requested.  Many people were healed and many became followers of Christ.

In Matthew 18:19-20, Jesus says that he will give whatever people request if they pray in unity and according to "my name" or will. 

Unfortunately, Christians are less likely to put aside their differences and seek God's will when times are peaceful and pleasant.  But as social tensions rise, the economy worsens, and persecution begins, Christians increasingly turn to God.

Some of those symptoms are already evident in our society.

The other elements in spiritual transformation are repentance and a vision of what the world can be.

Great revivals begin when Christians acknowledge that they have wandered from God.

And vision played a major role in the remarkable 100-year, round-the-clock prayer vigil of the Moravians which launched a great missionary movement around the world.

May we, as Christians, become conscious of the need to draw together and pray as one for God to change our world.

God's prayer request

What a request!

Through Jeremiah the prophet, God asked the captive Jews to pray for the welfare of the state of Babylon (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

To many exiled Jews, it must have sounded incredible.  "Pray for the evil people who enslaved us?"

But that's exactly what God wanted.

And Erwin Lutzer, author of The Church in Babylon, says that we should heed the same call in our own world where Christ and the church are either under attack or simply thrown aside.

Lutzer points out that Jeremiah's letter to the Jews in Babylon explicitly says that God "sent" them to Babylon for his own purposes.  They were certainly being punished for their rejection of God - but God had plans for their good in the long term.

In the meantime, they were to settle down in Babylon, build homes, have families, work for the welfare and peace of the city - and pray for the Babylonians.

Lutzer says God is "sending" us into our society to work for the peace and prosperity of our cities and nations - and to pray for them. 

I rejoice that many in North America are doing exactly that - praying for our cities and nations.  I sense that this prayer movement is growing.

In my own city, a group of Christians has founded a lay organization called "Love Ottawa" which has for several years worked to serve the needs of the city in various ways - including through regular annual prayer weeks.

Canada's National House of Prayer is based on our city.  It's purpose is to mobilize prayer for our government.

Lutzer, long-time senior pastor of Moody Bible Church in Chicago, cites similar prayer efforts in his own city of Chicago.

But he pleads for more prayer. 

"Despite our great needs here in America, few evangelical churches have a regularly scheduled prayer meeting," he writes.  "When I asked a megachurch pastor if they had a regular prayer meeting and he replied, no, I asked a follow-up question: 'How bad would it have to get before you scheduled a regular prayer meeting?' He did not give me a clear answer."

Prayer matters to God.  He works with us as we pray.

Several Bible passages make that clear, such as 2 Timothy l:1-2, 2 Chronicles 7:14, and Ezekiel 22:30.

So, how can we pray?

Some obvious topics spring to my mind: godly values in our schools; honesty and integrity among our civic and national leaders; sacredness of life rather than abortion; caring for the needy and oppressed; revival in our churches; and open hearts for the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout society.

A friend of ours recently sent us a note about advisors to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spending one minute a day at a prescribed hour during World War II to pray for the safety of Britain and its people and for peace.  She suggested we all do the same.

My wife and I are heeding this call and making a regular practice of praying for our country.

Waiting

Waiting is important in prayer.

I say it's important because the psalmist says it is - frequently.

But how and why are we to wait?

I am naturally an impatient man.  I want to see results right away from whatever I do.

But I have learned that rushing things doesn't always yield dividends.

Like many others, I have often gone to God with specific demands without asking him what he wants.  Sometimes he gives me what I request - other times, not.

But, looking at scripture, I see that the great people of prayer spent a lot of time with God, getting to know him and what he wanted in their lives.

For example, take Moses.

I turn often to Exodus 33 and its description of Moses going out to the Tent of Meeting to commune with the Lord, accompanied by his young disciple Joshua.  The people knew that this was Moses' special time with God where he would hear from the Lord.

Moses would sometimes question God, but he knew he had been commissioned by the Lord to lead the people God's way - not his.

So, he learned to listen and wait when others would have plunged ahead with their own agendas.

That teaches me an important lesson: If I want to see God work in my life, I need to wait, listen and obey.

My record in this area is uneven.  I have a lot to learn.

Dick Eastman urges me in his book The Hour That Changes The World to simply spend time in silence daily, just focusing my mind on God and his love - enjoying him.  In other words, I am to seek God for himself - not for his gifts.

I believe that was Moses' approach.  And David's, too.

I love David's words in Psalm 27:4:

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple."

Moses and David were leaders and men of action.  But they ardently sought God's presence - and waited upon him.

I can see difficulties in waiting.  It's hard not to decide what is right in certain circumstances and ask God to do my bidding.

And I believe we are to bring our needs before the Lord.  He wants to hear from us and help us.

But, ultimately, I know that there is blessing in putting everything aside and coming to God for himself alone.

All fears subside as I get to know the Lord better.