How would I know if I have veered off course in my praying?  Is it possible that I may have taken up some poor directions and I’m now traveling off course in the direction, intent and content of my praying?  Did I stop in at some local gas station only to get directions from someone who just moved into the area a few weeks before and has no real bearing of the compass.

[Pray for Us]
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 ESV)

This morning one dear saint prayed for a need in our body and purposed that prayer in the Word of God through Paul in verse 5 of 2 Thess. 3… “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”

As I read that prayer posting, these words jumped off the screen as a very tangible, biblical, wonderful way to pray for others.  Paul is asking for prayer!  He not only asks for prayer, he tells us how/what to pray for!  The instruction he brings to the church then and now is crucial to our staying “on course” in our prayers and our walk of faith.  From 2 Thessalonians 2:13 right on through to 3:5, this is a sweet portion of scripture for us; especially if we’ve gotten ‘off course’ in our thinking, believing, living and praying.

What traditions have we taken up that are NOT taught through the Word?   “So then brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”(2Thes2:15)

If we are to stay “on course” we have to stay with Jesus.  If we ‘leave and follow’ Jesus Christ, we will.  “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (v16) If we start taking our directions from other sources, we may find ourselves pursuing the traditions of men and we will be lost.

Finally…  Paul begins to close this letter by instructing the church to pray.  “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored…”  Not to carelessly offend or rebuke, but does this Word bear the fragrant sense of my praying… your praying… the mid-week prayer meeting praying… our corporate prayer?

Consider Paul’s instruction….

PRAY… that the Word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored.
PRAY… that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men.
PRAY… that the faithful Lord will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
PRAY… that your confidence remain in the Lord.
PRAY… that you persevere in His sanctifying work in faithful obedience to the Word.
PRAY… that the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Lord, help us.  Do not let us be idle in following You.  Do not let us veer ‘off course’, but rather be faithful to the traditions taught us in Your word.  Do not let us grow weary in doing good.  Help us to love, trust and obey You.  Help us to love one another in Jesus Christ,  Amen.

Some traditions have taken us far from where we should be as the church.  Our ‘evangelical marketing’ programs for example.  They were sown in poor soil and sustained by poor theology (sadly, many still embrace and pursue such methods).  What do we say to the ‘traditions’ that turned the church from the preaching of the Cross to the pleading for acceptance of a lacklustre Jesus or for the praying of ’the prayer’?  Such dependence on ritual prayers, raised hands and walks down aisles to secure a salvation, often motivated on the creativity and atmosphere created by the preacher or evangelist or whomever, has become an ‘acceptable tradition’ has it not?  Isn’t this approach to ‘getting people saved’ the most familiar evangelical tradition you’ve grown up with?

But is it true, is it right, is it biblical?  No.  “…it’s not the gospel we see being preached (in the Bible).  Its modern evangelism built on sinking sand and it runs the risk of disallusioning millions…” says David Platt in this brief segment from a message he brings to the Church.
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPhEEzjU8xQ ]

So what about prayer?       Has our ‘tradition of prayer’ been waylaid too?  What about our private prayer… our corporate prayer; have we lost our compass in this spiritual discipline?

I recognize in my own life and practice of prayer that much of what I think (i.e. really consider and believe as demonstrated by my response) about prayer and the priority of prayer and the focus of my prayers is somehow askew from that which the Bible teaches.  Am I praying amiss?  Are we being led in our praying by the Spirit of God according to the Word of God… or are we praying according to the traditions of man passed along to us?

Are we praying as we ought?  Do we pray at all, really?  What motivates our prayer?  Are we making our humble requests known to the Creator God to be responded to according to His will for His glory… or is there an underlying sense that we’re going to the ‘genie of the lamp’ to see if he’ll grant our wishes?

It isn’t that I don’t know what the Bible says about asking God to supply my needs or how I should approach the throne of grace.  I think most of us are familiar with the right answers, it just might be that our sinful desires press in and we pray with a mixture of motives and thus are easily led astray.  Yes, we may want God’s will… but the mixture is that we also see and overvalue the temporal and so we pray amiss, asking/seeking what we’ve determined is needed for our happiness and success here in this dying world rather than for our peace and contentment in Christ now and in Eternity and for His will be to done on earth as it is in heaven… not mine, not ours.

There is the image of a child rushing in to dad asking for this or that… “fix this!”, “can I have…?”, “I want…” and then just as quickly rushing away to get back to what they really value… what their heart really desires.  But then there is another picture that we are familiar with too… the child who enters his Father’s presence with hope, peace, expectation, pleasure to be with Dad and spend time in that place basking in the Person who is their all in all.  Perhaps you may even be familiar with the image of a child permitted to reflect the grace and mercy of God in a somewhat different and appalling way… this child, much more than others is pressed in on.  Much like the psalmist praying from dark deep caves they have little light and little comfort – but it is more than enough.  God is more than enough.  Their distractions are not the pleasures of life but rather the pains, despair, and darkness of life.  We shrink back as though this is not somehow right or fair.  But how is the child carried away with happy distractions any less lost and hopeless than the child of despair?

I love giving good gifts to my kids when they come and ask; and I especially love when the thing they want is me… ‘D & M time’… Daddy & Michael time as one of my son’s used to call it.

Are we desparate for time in God’s presence pouring out our hearts before Him or is He a wishful pitstop to see if we can get a few things from His hand without much delay?  Is our Father God the destination and eternal hope of our prayers?

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
    for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
    my mighty rock,my refuge is God.

I find myself desparately wanting to see changes in my time with God in prayer.  I don’t want to ‘send’ my prayer requests along to God… I want to bring them myself; even if the only way I can express them is through silent utterances understood and carried along by the Holy Spirit living in me.  I don’t want to ‘send’ my requests along with someone else to a prayer meeting or a prayer-chain hoping upon someone else’s trust in God to move His heart/hand, I want to be the one casting all my cares on Him because I know He cares for me and that in Him I can and must find my refuge and my strength.  I want to join with the body of Christ in agreement, unified in prayer, because we are certain that our petitions are undergirded by the expressed will of God breathed out in His word.  Help me LORD.

Question for my heart to respond to:  If I pursued God in prayer, much like in His word, would my heart resonate more and more with God, His character, His likes, His plans, His love, His grace, His forgiveness?  Would drawing close to God in prayer help me to take up my cross and follow Him… would it help me bring His gospel to others… would it keep me from sin and would it complete my joy in this relationship He initiated and provides for?

sleepice

I think God’s word is often like this for a hungry young saint…  and maybe ought to be for us old tired saints.

Since when does the sweetness of the Gospel end?

What happens when hope gives way to despair?  When joy gives way to sorrow and sadness?

Is Jesus enough?

This question alone should bring us to an upward climb in our thinking… we have already set our sights on Jesus, haven’t we?

We are NOT without hope in this world! 

You were without hope in this world… But,   ‘remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.’ (Ephesians 2:12 ESV)

 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:13-14 ESV)

He, Jesus Christ, is our peace.

 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.   (Romans 5:1 ESV)

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 ESV)

“The heart of God which burns with righteousness and holiness also burns with love and mercy, grace and forgiveness.  He who is righteous, and desires righteousness for his children, makes them righteous by imputation and by impartation through his redeeming love.  To our amazement we discover that the rock of his law and truth, which is so hard on the surface, is molten underneath with his love.”  (William Still, Towards Spiritual Maturity, ch1, He is our Peace)

I’m grateful for the Cross, by which my peace(seed) with God was purchased and provided by Jesus Christ so that now I do not need to fear God’s wrath toward me… I am justified fully through His blood.  And now I press on to know Him, this God of Peace, and I receive and enjoy His peace(fruit).  Help me Lord.

“Righteousness with God in not only a rule, but his life and passion.  He rejoices in it so much that he desires for his creatures, and that, not only for its own sake as a seed, but for its fruit which is peace.” (William Still)

 And the effect of righteousness will be peace,   and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. (Isaiah 32:17 ESV)

 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:11-14 ESV)

P.S.  I just started reading this little book… “Towards Spiritual Maturity – Overcoming all evil in the Christian life”, William Still.  Here’s a brief comment from Sinclair B. Ferguson (of whom William Still was a signficant mentor),

“…for some this little book may even prove to be a life-saver and a restoration of Christian stability and sanity.”

Just saw this again and had to post it…

You’ve heard of Ron Paul, right?!  Unless maybe you’re a network news sort…

From a friends blog… http://rookienews.blogspot.com/2012/05/ron-paul.html

How many times have you danced in worship to all the songs coming from Psalm 88? How many uplifting sermons do you have tucked away on this psalm? Pardon my cheekiness, but really, who wants to consider what seems weak and whiny among us; especially such self-sufficient successful people as we appear to be? If there is a place for exuberant hand-clapping, foot-stomping, arm-waving in our gathered worship is there also a place for worship that sees the worshipper prostrated, weeping, sorrowing, supplicating in dust and ashes?

Let’s face it, Heman the Ezrahite was a downer; he was no ‘party waiting to happen’. But this psalm, and God working in his life, reveals much that is important and much that is needed for reflection and consideration in our ministry of the Gospel today.

Charles H. Spurgeon writes, “…Assuredly, if ever there was a song of sorrow and a Psalm of sadness, this is one. The sons of Korah, who had often united in chanting jubilant odes, are now bidden to take charge of this mournful dirge like hymn. Servants and singers must not be choosers. To the chief Musician. He must superintend the singers and see that they do their duty well, for holy sorrow ought to be expressed with quite as much care as the most joyful praise; nothing should be slovenly in the Lord’s house. It is more difficult to express sorrow fitly than it is to pour forth notes of gladness.” http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps088.htm

There are brothers and sisters in our churches and community groups and families that relate to Psalm 88; they understand the depressed groaning and sadness of Heman the Ezrahite. Their circumstances may differ, but the wrestling with the daily fight to trust God and to be joyful even in sorrowing and to hope in God and to know His peace and His love is real.

Heman never quit praying. Heman never quit praying. Heman never quit praying. That is a very cool takeway from this psalm… among many.

Are your less troubling circumstances leading you to trust in God and to depend on Him daily? Are you coasting because life is easy? However God is working in our lives and for how long He chooses to do so, we need to keep praying and we need to recount His mercies because we are not among the dead but the living. His mercies deserve recounting and praise because they are His works, not our own.

“…who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” (2 Timothy 1:9-10 ESV)

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7 ESV)

Maybe we can love one another better in our worship, praise, and our recounting of mercies. Maybe we can weep with those who weep a little better, even as we rejoice with those who rejoice (Rom12:15).

The reality of Eternal JOY should not be diminished… ever! The work of God in saving lost souls and reviving the dead should set our feet to dancing. BUT the field of battle upon which His work is done is more often bloody, dirty, smelly, difficult and sorrowful, yes even sad and depressing. We should not expect of one another a shiny glossy superficial finish in our fellowship and worship if we really believe each day is a day of battle until Jesus Christ comes to take us home.

And even in our lamenting, our weeping with one another, we cannot lose sight of our Faithful God…

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24 ESV)

We can and should recount His mercies in private prayer and in public worship, so that none of us loses hope.

you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. Neh 9:19

Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. Neh 9:27

But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. Neh 9:28

Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. Neh 9:31

For more on Psalm 88, “Heman’s Sorrrowful Psalm”, http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols40-42/chs2433.pdf

This song is new to me, and I really appreciate how it reminds me of His mercy toward this sinner.

Chorus
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me
A broken and a contrite heart You won’t turn away
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me
Because of Your steadfast love

Father of mercy, You gave Your Son
To make atonement for wrongs I have done
What You required, Jesus fulfilled
I don’t deserve it—I never will

Music and words by Pat Sczebel and Dale Bischof © 2011 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

I’ve probably posted this song close to half a dozen times for various reasons and today I was reminded of this song again, its singular wonderful truth… All I have Is Christ!  Hallelujah indeed!