Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: prayer

  • Growing into Christ

    Growing into Christ

    The Christian community is built with fellowship, the Christian heart with prayer.

    Let’s consider the community of believers we call ‘church’ for a moment. Paul addresses some of the ‘issues’ of worship style in his letter to the Corinthians [ch.14] and his first direction of guidance instructs: “Pursue love… agapē.” 

    1 Corinthians 14:20  Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

    John writes to the churches in Asia a similar caution:

    1 John 1: 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

    Peter in his first letter addresses Christians of churches in an even larger area:

    1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

    The King James Version states: Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

    • be of one mind
    • have compassion one of another – sympathēs 
    • love as brothers – philadelphos

    Do these words of the Apostles instruct any to be a lone chrisitian? Certainly not. The instruction to Christians is for fellowship.

    The Apostles teach the nurturing of a loving community, believers who spend time with one another, who worship together, and believers who truly love each other as Christ Jesus loves us.

    The Christian community is built with fellowship…

    How is it that most of our busy 21st century churches don’t get this?

    Does it take just a little more than an hour on a Sunday to build a relationship? to build a community? to establish a church in the love and fellowship of our Lord, Christ Jesus?

    “christians” we call ourselves. Is your relationship and community with your fellow brothers in the Lord (your fellow sisters in the Lord) a loving commitment such as this?

    The Christian community is built with fellowship, the Christian heart with prayer.

    So let us repent of the busyness of our public lives and sacrifice a little more Christ-like love to embrace His love through the relationships of our church.

    Which brings us now to our private lives:

    How is your prayer life?

    I must confess that I have never been one to think of prayer sufficiently. It was not until recently (by measure of years) that I finally engaged God in conversation through prayer every morning and throughout my day.

    Do you suppose the mention of “prayer” 114 times plus “pray” 96 times in the ESV suggests its importance? Of course.

    IF Jesus is our Lord and Master, we being His servants: certainly we must be obedient to His command:

    Mathew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

    Jesus said: “when you pray,” not ‘IF you pray.”

    Jesus said: “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” – Luke 6:28  I have a hard time with that one.

    I remind myself: Pray without ceasing.

    Jesus encourages us in Luke 18:  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

    Do you “loose heart” in your daily life? I do.  Consider that in losing heart you have likely neglected prayer.

    Our failing flesh is one thing, but our heart is quite another. Jesus points out that the flesh is weak, but for the heart He directs us to prayer. Our heart (Hebrew) is: the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding and much more – kardia in the Greek.

    How will our spirit dwell with the Holy Spirit if not through prayer?

    … the Christian heart is built with prayer.

    And oh, so tender, our torn-up hearts.

    How broken our Christian lives.  How broken our Christian families.  How broken our Christian homes.

    How broken our Christian husbands and how broken our Christian wives. How broken our Christian children and how broken our Christian youth.

    What, then, must Christians do? (For in fact, our brokenness looks no different than the brokenness of so many who do not even know the love of Christ Jesus.)

    The unturned pages of our Bibles tell an answer we claim as our ‘Good News.’ (Gospel.)

    Have you been too busy to get the answers from God through prayer?

    Have you been too busy to share your love with other Christians?

     The Christian community is built with fellowship,

    the Christian heart with prayer.

  • Hear my prayer

    Hear my prayer

    Psalm 39

    12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    and give ear to my cry;
    hold not your peace at my tears!
    For I am a sojourner with you,
    a guest, like all my fathers.

    13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
    before I depart and am no more!”

    HEAR my prayer… my cry… see my tears. Is this sentiment at all familiar?

    I am a sojourner with you. I have no place here. The welcome of this guest is worn thin and all my ancestors have passed this way, yet not remained.

    Look to me, Lord.

    I’m NOT smiling here. 🙁

    WHY?

    Surely my journey through this life has some purpose. Show me, before my journey is finished and I am no more.

    Yes, we are sojourners – travelers though time in a timeless creation of Almighty God.

    Why should the Lord look away from one who just lives for a blink of an eye in His eternal timelessness?

    3     My heart became hot within me.

    As I mused, the fire burned;
    then I spoke with my tongue:

    4 “O Lord, make me know my end
    and what is the measure of my days;
    let me know how fleeting I am!
    5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
    and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
    Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

    “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
    My hope is in you.
    8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
    Do not make me the scorn of the fool!

    Transgressions? (Now there’s a word you don’t hear on the news.) What’s a transgression?

     pesha` – transgression, rebellion

    rebellion even against God; guilt of transgression; punishment for transgression

    Am I a rebel against the Cross of Christ Jesus?

    Oh, Lord!

    10 Remove your stroke from me;
    I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
    11 When you discipline a man
    with rebukes for sin,
    you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
    surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

    Surely all mankind is a mere breath!

    Consider again, the Lord’s rebuke,

    The refining fire of His righteousness.

    It is the Lord who rebukes. The Lord our Father disciplines His children. (Do not look upon us in Your wrath, O Lord.)

    It is the Lord who corrects the sins of His loved ones. The Lord corrects mankind for our sinful nature. It is the fire of the Lord’s love which burns away our unrighteousness. It is the Lord who consumes our iniquity like a moth caught in the flame. A man or a woman is perverse and depraved; our iniquity and guilt deserve the punishment of our iniquity before a God and Father who IS Holy.

    How will a child of the Lord endure the wrath and punishment of Almighty God?  Selah. 

    “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    and give ear to my cry…

    Psalm 39

    Matthew 26

    “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death…

    “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

    “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

    46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

     

  • How Should Christians Respond to Grief? – 2

    How Should Christians Respond to Grief? – 2

    In my previous post on grief, I ended with a series of questions about how Christians generally respond. I did not get many responses so I would like to briefly answer my own questions in hopes that it provides some insight for those who may not have much experience dealing with grief.

    1. Let’s look for a moment at the case of Job and how his friends reacted to his tragedy:

      When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him…Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief.  Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words. (Job 2:11-13 excerpts)

      We often give Job’s friends a hard time for their words in later chapters but before they “spoke inaccurately” about God, they sat with Job for 7 days without a word and mourned with him. One of the biggest lessons I learned in school and in my internship was the power of presence. It is often more powerful than any words could ever be.

    2. This will probably go against the instinct of most people but your first comment should NOT attempt to be one of comfort, it should be one of support. When you are dealing with someone who has just recently lost a loved one or gotten a divorce or gone through any kind of struggle, they do not want to hear “it’s ok” because to them, it’s not ok. They often need to hear FIRST that their situation is difficult and they have a right to be sad.
    3. The next thing they need to know is that they’re not alone. They need to HEAR it but it is even better if there is a tangible way to SHOW it. At the church I attended when I was in college, there was an entire committee just for providing food for people who had a sickness or death in the family and another committee for sending cards to members of the church for all occasions, happy and sad. In that small town Baptist church, people always know they are cared for and are not alone but, in a lot of churches, that kind of awareness of individual situations is not there. When you know someone is having a rough time, can you offer to get them groceries or make a meal for them? Maybe you can offer to babysit their kids so they can have alone time. Even something as simple as giving them a non-judgmental listening ear has incredible value. There are many ways, verbal and practical, to help show people that they do not have to go through a difficult situation without support from other believers.
    4. Now, we can remind them of the HOPE we have in Jesus. BUT, be careful how you word that. Don’t discount the fact that what they are going through is difficult but you can tell them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even when they can’t see it. Remind them that God blesses those who mourn and that He does promise eternal life for whoever believes in Him but just remember as you tell them that this life is still painful and it’s ok for them to mourn that.
    5. Finally, don’t just pray FOR them, pray WITH them. I am convinced that when tragedy strikes, people either draw closer to God or they push Him away but they never stay in the same place. You could be that influence that pushes them towards God instead of away from Him. I am much less likely to pray when I am in my “Life isn’t fair” mindset so having someone else pray with me is a good way to re-focus on God’s character and his presence in that moment.