Prayer

"Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters f the knowledge of Christ."

Charles Spurgeon

Pastor Trey preached another excellent sermon Sunday night at The Church of Pecan Creek. One of the things I appreciate most about Pastor Trey is his exegesis and expository preaching. Currently, he is teaching us through the book of Ephesians.

He did not break to have a sermon regarding the latest cultural change but covered Ephesians 3:14-21 just as he would have if last week had just been another, uneventful week. Yet, the passage still spoke to our current situation. When a person teaches or preaches the full counsel of God, it will address whatever we are in at the moment.

Verse-by-verse, expository preaching is by far the most affective, efficient, and Biblical form of preaching, in my opinion. As a person preaches, verse-by-verse, you get the entire message, in context. With other forms, such as topical, it is common to have verses ripped out of context and twisted to fit into the topic the preacher has chosen to speak on that week. Also, with verse-by-verse preaching, you may address many topics in one passage rather than just one topic. Now, there is a time and place for topical preaching and, yes, there can be abuses in verse-by-verse preaching, but, on a whole, it is the safest and most beneficial for addressing the whole counsel of God. In addition, I doubt you will ever hear of a verse-by-verse expositor saying they have "run out of things to preach about."

This past weeks sermon touched on many topics but one topic especially resonated with me this week and it may be partly due to having thought about the subject a lot over the last few month. That topic was prayer. Not just that actual act or that we never do it enough, but what we really should be praying.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Paul stresses many times in his epistles praying for his and other brothers and sisters in the Faith spiritual health. Many times, in churches today, the prayer list reads like a list of diseases a physician my address. Not that we shouldn't pray for the health of each other, we absolutely should, we are to bare one another's burdens (James 4:14). However, what is so much more important is the persons spiritual health, his sanctification. While we should not neglect the praying for our friends and families health, it is vitally more important to pray that their faith is strengthened. 

The best place to learn how to pray, is the Bible. I have found it most helpful to look at the opening and closing paragraphs of just about any epistle. Here are a few I have found especially instructive recently:

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who was qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." (Colossians 1:9-12)

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23) 

"Finally brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5) 

"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all." (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

"I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ." (Philemon 1:4-6) 

"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." (Hebrews 13:20-21)

"Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul." (3 John 1:2)

We are also instructed to pray for the leaders of our country, state, county, city, church, etc... This may not always be the easiest of tasks but no one ever said the Christian life was the easy life. 

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quite life, godly and dignified in every way." (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

Here are some quotes by some wonderful men of God. 

"Pray, and let God worry."

Martin Luther

"You are close to people who are far from God -- will you beg God for their soul? Will you give them the gospel?"

Josh Buice

"Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you."

JC Ryle

"Let us resolve by God's grace that however poor and feeble our prayers may seem to be, we will pray on."

JC Ryle

"Grant, Almighty God...[that we may] learn to elevate our minds higher, and so make continual advances in your spiritual service."

John Calvin

If you have the desire to read some of the most beautiful prayers written outside of the Bible, I would highly recommend purchasing"The Valley of Vision." It is a collection of Puritan prayers that will humble you and teach you how to separate yourself from our physical desires and seek God's will for our spiritual sanctification. Anthony and I try to read one prayer before bed each night. We fail more than we succeed but it is always a humbling and encouraging experience when we do. Here is one prayer, the prayer in which the book received it's name:

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, 

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, 

     where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights; 

     hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold they glory. 

Let me learn by paradox 

     that the way down is the way up, 

     that to be low is to be high, 

     that the broken heart is the healed heart, 

     that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, 

     that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, 

     that to have nothing is to possess all, 

     that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, 

     that to give is to receive, 

     that the valley is the place of vision. 

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, 

     and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; 

Let me find Thy light in my darkness, 

     Thy life in my death, 

     Thy joy in my sorrow, 

     Thy grace in my sin, 

     Thy riches in my poverty, 

     Thy glory in my valley."

Slow Leak

A few weeks ago, I had printed off some recipes and had separated them into categories on the carpet in our living room. The next day, I picked them up and noticed they felt like they had been in a damp environment. Not wet, just kind of soft feeling. I felt the carpet where they had been sitting & it felt damp. I moved a book case and the carpet under it was soaked and mold had starting growing. I knew instantly we had a big problem. 

We called a plumber who had to cut into our wall to find the leak. He originally thought it was a leak in the slab which would have been very expensive to fix. Luckily, the leak was higher up and he was able to fix it. It was still pretty expensive but better than he originally thought. He said we had a fairly decent amount of water damage and suggested we call a water restoration company. Thankfully, God was protecting us once again and the man from the company told us "I am not in the business of robbing people. My fees start at $800 and you don't have $800 worth of damage here." He then instructed us how to clean up the mess ourselves.

We ended up having to purchase a new book shelf, patch the wall, and we will have to replace a section of the carpet pad and shampoo the carpet when we are done with everything. All in all, a little hole in a small pipe that has been slowly dripping for at least a year is going to end up costing us quite a bit of money and effort that we would have preferred spending in other ways.

That concept had me thinking today. Here we have a house, with lots of pipes, wires, wood, brick, concrete, etc and our whole life was turned upside down for a tiny little hole in one small pipe. This small, drip over the span of at least a year, ended up causing so much damage. 

I've been relistening to the Strange Fire Conference hosted by Grace Community Church in California in 2013. This conference addressed some of the false teachings that have slipped into the church, have been tolerated, accepted, and finally practiced by much of the church today. It had me thinking about how a small leak of bad theology has grown into a full movement and has infiltrated most of what claims to be "Christianity."

Galatians 5:9 says, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." A little false teaching can bring down an entire church and even a whole denomination and eventually taint the reputation of the universal church to where what most "Christians" claim to be the Gospel is actually no gospel at all. 

Justin Peters says that many false teachers today do teach quite a bit of truth, but there is just enough false teaching that it becomes deadly. He compares it to putting a tiny drop of strychnine in a glass of water. The contents of the glass may be 99% healthy, beneficial water but that tiny fraction of poison will kill whoever drinks from it. 

We must address false teachings when we hear them. Even if they don't seem like a big deal or like something most Christians would fall for. We cannot let even one small drip, one small grain of yeast to exist in the church. We must root it all out. 

The best way to do this is to not neglect daily reading the Word of God.

This was part of Jesus' prayer to the Father for all those whom would become Children of God:

"I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." (John 17:14-19)

This leak also got me to thinking of the Christian life. How much "damage" can a small leak of good theology, of Truth, do to the enemy, to the false religions of the world. The small, constant, dripping of one voice can begin to eat away at a big conglomeration. A small leak is typically silent and can go on unnoticed for a long time, it usually isn't noticed until substantial damage has taken place.

Yes, the loud voices, "the burst main lines," are needed in the church today. Those who make dramatic differences in the world today. Missionaries, preachers, debaters, authors, speakers, etc. But it is the sheep within the church, the ordinary man, the layman, the "silent slow leak" that really causes a whole change in trajectory of a group, church, city, state, country, world. 

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says we should "aspire to live quietly" in order that we will "walk properly before outsiders." Teaching a correct view of God and worldview leads to people being saved and equipping them to go out and do the same. A group of a thousand protesters usually does little than just upset those who are on the other side of whatever movement the protesters are upset about. I'm not saying their isn't a place for protesting but much more is done by the changing of the worldview of the masses. 

We must pray for our leaders, political and spiritual. We must pray for each other as well. Not merely prayers of addressing felt needs (health, family, finances, etc) but prayers for wisdom, discernment, to be protected from falling into sin, to remain faithful to God, and, above all else, to bring glory to God's name. 

If you need help knowing what and how to pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ, check out the openings and closings of the epistles. These are letters from the Apostles to the churches. They often open with how they thank God for them in certain ways and then close telling the church how they will pray for them in specific ways and then tell the church how they can pray for writers in specific ways.

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." (Philippines 1:3-5)

"We always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you," (Colossians 1:3)

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

"We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing." (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

"Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one...May the Lord direct your heads to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3, 5)

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all." (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

We must also pray for a real revival in the church, not a manufactured, emotional high type revive, but a true drawing close to God.

"We cannot organize revival, but we can set ourselves to catch the wind of heaven." ~ G Campbell Morgan

"We must set our hearts to treasure the God who describes Himself in Scripture, never again be satisfied with His absence. It is His name which is at stake. It is also our everlasting joy to have Him near." ~ John Snyder (Behold Your God, p. 263)

"Regardless of the spiritual and moral decline, it is never so dark that God, the Eternal Light, cannot expel the darkness." ~ John Snyder (Behold Your God, p. 262)

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:7-10)