Praying the Scriptures

Colossians 1
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.  He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 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, 10 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. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.


Thank you, Father, for the love you are growing in us for our brothers and sisters in Christ that exists because we live in hope--that you are who you say you are, that you have paid the price of the sin that used to separate us from you so that now, in faith, we get to enjoy relationship with you now!  And we have hope that you are changing us daily, transforming us into your image so that one day we can fully enjoy relationship with you and with your people--unhindered by sin!!  Thank you that this hope produces love in us.  Thank you that the truth of your Word came to us--that we heard it and understood your grace in truth!!  Thank you that it is bearing fruit in each of us and in this world.  Father, I pray for us.  May we be filled with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding!!  Teach us to seek this out in your Word and through prayer and through fellowship with one another!  Help us to walk in a manner worthy of You, fully pleasing to You, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in our knowledge of you!!  Show us how and equip us!!  Strengthen us with all power, according to your glorious might--for all endurance and patience with joy.  There is so much in this life that requires our patience and endurance--we are in the difficult middle...help us to live joyfully with the glorious end in sight.  We thank you and help us to always thank you because you have qualified us, you have given us an inheritance, you have delivered us from darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of our beloved Jesus, in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins!!!  Thank you!!  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Hope and Faith in What or Whom?

There are so many things for which I have prayed that have never come to pass. I have prayed for the lost to be found. I have prayed for a child. I have prayed for relationships to be restored. I have prayed for physical healing. I have seen God answer my prayers in mighty and big ways before, but I have also prayed for many good things and have seemingly received no answer from God. Sometimes it has later made sense to me why God did not bring about what I pleaded with Him to do. Other times, I simply could make no sense of it.


And yet, the more I get to know God in the Bible, the more I trust Him. The more I see Him at work in my life, the more I see that His goodness is so far beyond my understanding of what is good. The more I cry out to Him and experience His presence in millions of ways, the more I see that His love is like nothing else I have given or experienced.

Prayer draws me deeper into His presence—into the presence of my Loving Father. Prayer reminds me of just how much I need Him. Prayer fills me with genuine thanksgiving and praise, as I reflect on all the prayers that have been answered and as I reflect on God’s overall faithfulness to me. Prayer allows me to be honest before the God who has already accepted me in Christ and who continually forgives me and daily conforms me to the image of Jesus. Prayer whets my appetite for the Word. Prayer fills me with worship towards God and love for others. Prayer changes my heart.

He has not promised to fulfill every desire of my heart—and this is a good thing since many of the desires of my heart are not good or are simply not His best. He has not promised me a life of no pain—to the contrary He has promised suffering and asks me to deny myself and take up my cross (Phil 1; Matthew 16).

He has promised He will not leave me or forsake me (John 14; Deut 3, 1 Chronicles 28; Hebrews 13). He has promised that He is working all things for my good and for the good of His people (Romans 8). He has promised to give rest to all who come to Him (Matt 11). He has promised eternal life for all who believe in Him (John 3). He has promised that He will wipe away every tear one day (Rev 21). He has promised that His grace is sufficient for me (2 Cor 12).

I will not stop praying for people and situations in my life. I will not stop praying for things I have long prayed for and have yet to see come to pass. I know that it honors God for me to persist in prayer for these things. I know that the heart of God is the heart of the Ultimate Loving Father who delights to listen to the requests of His children and who delights to bless them. Yet I want to learn to pray more and more with faith and hope in God—not in the things I want or in the gifts that He gives—but faith and hope in God Himself, who is my treasure above every other thing. And I want to trust in His goodness, no matter what.

I see Jesus’ heart of trusting His Father when He prays on the Mount of Olives:

Luke 22:41-44 “And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

The Father does not take away the cup of suffering from Jesus. And since Jesus is God, He even knows this when He is praying. Jesus’ heart is 100% committed to the will of His Good Father. And Scripture tells us Jesus willingly died for our sins. And yet Jesus brings His sorrows to His Father. And while Jesus' circumstances do not change, through prayer He receives strength to walk through them. 

I have been blessed to have a godly earthy father. He is one of the people I most respect in this world. My dad has always let me know that I am loved. He has always been there for me. My dad has sacrificed for me. I know that my dad delights in me, and he enjoys it when I talk to him and ask him for help—this has always been true. I know that, despite the fact that he is human and accordingly imperfect, his heart’s desire is to point me to God and to do me good. I know that my heartaches have caused my dad sorrow and my joys have caused him joy. Over the course of my life, I have asked me dad for lots of things. To some of these things, he has said “yes”, and to some of these things he has said “no”, but I know his heart’s desire has always been for my good.

Unlike my earthly father, my Heavenly Father is perfectly good, perfectly wise, perfectly loving, and perfectly in control. As much as my earthly father wants my good, my Heavenly Father perfectly wants my good, has the perfect power to bring about my best good, and has promised that He is doing so. As much as my earthly father loves me, my Heavenly Father loves me perfectly. As much as my earthly father has sacrificed so much in his life for me, my Heavenly Father has made the ultimate sacrifice for me by sending His Beloved Perfect Son to the cross so that I could be free. As much as my earthly father delights in me and enjoys it when I talk with him and ask him for help, so much more does my Heavenly Father! And so much more is my Heavenly Father equipped to guide and direct me and provide for me! As much as my earthly father rejoices and grieves with me, how much more does my Heavenly Father rejoice and grieve with me! And as much as my earthly father has tried to answer my requests of him with “yes” and “no” according to what he discerned would be best for me, how much more does my Heavenly Father know what would be best for me!

More and more, I want to study, meditate on, know and trust God’s character as displayed in the Scriptures. He is good! More and more, I want to go to Him with EVERYTHING—with all the circumstances of my life and with all the cares and joys of my heart. More and more, I want to ask Him to move in my life and in the lives of those around me. More and more, I want to trust Him whether I understand what He is doing or not. More and more, I want Him to conform my heart to His!

Paul Miller Interview on Desiring God

In case you couldn't tell, I am a huge fan of the book, "A Praying Life" by Paul Miller.  I can't tell you how helpful it has been in my walk with God and in my prayer life.  http://www.desiringgod.org/ has been posting an interview series with Paul Miller, and I was blown away by the truth in today's post.  Love it!

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/paul-miller-on-becoming-the-gospel?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DGBlog+%28DG+Blog%29

Can you give us a summary of Sonship, the discipleship course you helped put together?


I designed the Sonship course over a period of ten years from ’83-’93, but the core of it was formed in the mid-80s. Half of the sixteen lectures was dad’s and the other half was split between my mom and myself. World Harvest continued to refine the course after I left in ’97.

The heart of the Sonship course is the gospel applied to my life. We begin to mature as Christians by realizing that we don’t have it all together. So the very thing that we avoid like the plague—our weakness and our sin—is the door to grace in our lives. The church has tended to drift into legalism because it tends to isolate the gospel to salvation and not see it as the foundation to the whole life.

The only thing I would add to the Sonship course is a simple slogan: we believe and become the gospel. Not that we literally become the gospel, but we tend to miss the grand Pauline theme of entering into Jesus. The gospel isn’t something simply abstract that you believe, it is something that you enter. (I mention this theme in chapter 25 of A Praying Life. That chapter is really the heart of the book.)

For instance, in Colossians 1:24 Paul writes, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” What does Paul mean?

It isn’t that complicated. Jesus’ death for my wife Jill is finished. It is a once-for-all death. Now for Jill to understand and experience the gospel in her life, I need to live a dying life in relationship to her. Jesus can’t die again for her, but I can—in hundreds of big and small ways that range from a tender compassion that understands her world to a thoughtful honesty that risks her disapproval. The result is that my life is characterized by dying and resurrection (Philippians 2:1-11). The result? An obedient life that reflects the image of Jesus.

Great Post on Prayer from DesiringGod.org

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2585_praying_the_6_ds/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DGBlog+%28DG+Blog%29

Praying the 6 "D's"


August 5, 2010
By: Jon Bloom
Category: Commentary

A few years back I wrote about the 5 "D's" I pray for daily. Recently, I added a sixth: desperation. I need to feel continually my desperate need for God.

Whatever it takes, Lord, give me...

Delight in you as the greatest treasure of my heart.
Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Desire to know you, be with you, and seek your kingdom above all else. Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Discernment that comes from a renewed mind that I might know your will.
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Desperation because when I stop feeling my need for you I tend to wander.
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (Psalm 119:67)

Discipline to plan for what I discern as your will.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Diligence to do your will with all my heart.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Great Article on Prayer by Tim Challies

http://www.challies.com/christian-living/how-to-pray-badly?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+challies%2FXhEt+%28Challies+Dot+Com%29

How to Pray Badly

Tim Challies


05/05/10

It is the Lord's delight to grant us what we ask of him in prayer. Like David, we all ought to pray, "O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth" (Psalm 54:2). If Christians did not believe in the effectiveness of prayer, there would be no reason for us to ask anything of God. He is the one who tells us that we can have confidence that our prayers ascend to him. "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 John 5:14,15). While as Christians we pay lip-service to the superlatives in that sentence ("whatever" and "anything"), how often do we really believe it?

The fact is that our prayers are often hindered. There are times when it feels like our prayers are reaching the ceiling and going no further; times when we are lying face-down on the floor and feel that our prayers are rising no higher than the fibers of the carpet. While we can be sure that God does hear our prayers, there are times when he chooses not to heed or answer them. The Bible gives us at least six reasons God may not heed our prayers.






It is important to know from the outset that I am the only one who can hinder my prayers. You are the only one who can hinder your prayers. I cannot hinder your prayers anymore than you can hinder mine. And while we may have done much to hinder our prayers, we are not necessarily even aware of this. So let's look at these as six warnings from Scripture.










Selfish Motives


All humans are selfish. It is part of our human nature that we naturally regard our own interests ahead of the interests of others. And sadly, we often regard our own interests ahead of God's. In the passage we read above, 1 John 5:14 and 15, the apostle tells us that our confidence comes from asking "according to his [God's] will." James similarly exhorts "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3).






So the first hindrance to our prayer is our motives. We must ask in accordance with God's will as revealed in the Bible. We must ask only for things that are consistent with the character and nature of God. We must ask for things that are for the spiritual benefit of ourselves or for the person on whose behalf we pray. God will not answer our self-centered, self-serving prayers.






Turning Away From Scripture


If we are not spending time immersing ourselves in Scripture and are not obeying what we have learned, we should not expect God to answer our prayers. Our defiance in ignoring the life-giving Words of the Bible may hinder us from having our prayers answered. Solomon goes so far as to suggest that prayers made from such a hardened heart are an abomination to God. "If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination" (Proverbs 28:9).






When we read the words of Scripture, we ask and encourage God to speak to us. He provides the understanding we need to live lives that bring glory to him--lives that are increasingly consistent with his standards of grace and holiness. If we thumb our nose at the importance of this discipline and if we disobey what he teaches, he will not answer our prayers. Without submitting ourselves to Scripture, we may not even know what and how to pray. We pray best and most effectively when we are saturated in the Word of God.






Unforgiving Hearts


The Christian has been forgiven for the greatest of offenses. He has been forgiven for knowingly, purposely and unrepentantly transgressing the Law of God. And yet we are often slow to forgive our fellow man for the smallest of transgressions. Even the biggest of the sins committed against us are as nothing compared to how we sinned against God. God does not honor this attitude. In Mark 11:25 Jesus says, "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."






Our ongoing assurance of pardon before the Father is in some way dependent on our willingness to forgive others. We must be attentive to our hearts, to ensure that we are not harboring hatred and resentment towards others. If we have this attitude we should expect our prayers to be hindered.






Family Discord


It is God's will that families live together in peace and harmony. It is, of course, impossible for us to live in perfect peace, but God demands that we maintain close relationships and that we seek harmony in our family relationships. It is foremost the responsibility of the father, as the head of the household, to ensure that there is not discord within the family. When this discord exists, especially in the relationship of a husband to his wife, his prayers may well be hindered. The apostle Peter, a married man himself, exhorted husbands to live with their wives in an understanding way, being sensitive to their needs, "showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered" (1 Peter 3:7).






The relationship between a husband and a wife is to reflect that of Christ to his church. It is to be a relationship of absolute love, adoration and sacrifice. If Christ gave his life for the church, how can a husband do any less for his wife? This is, of course, impossible when the relationship is strained or broken. Thus a man should examine his relationship with his wife to ensure this is not a hindrance to his prayers (and to hers).






Unconfessed Sin


Just as unforgiveness can hinder our prayers, so can sin that we have refused to confess before God. "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" (Psalm 66:18), says the Psalmist. Before we conclude that God has simply not heard or prayers or that it is not his will to give us what we ask, we need to examine our hearts to see if unconfessed sin stands as a barrier between ourselves and God.






While we need to continually examine our hearts, we need also to ask God to reveal our sin to us. We should ask those closest to us what they have observed in our lives. While God most often reveals sin through the reading of and meditating upon his Word, we should realize that if we do not learn our lesson from Scripture, he may have to resort to harsher tactics where our sin is revealed before others, even publicly. While this may be difficult and humiliating, he does so because he loves us and does not wish for this sin to continue to corrupt us and to stand as a barrier between himself and us.






Doubt


God wants us to have confidence in his ability and willingness to provide what is necessary for us to attain to godliness. He wants us to believe that he can and will do what he says. Thus when we doubt--when we ask expecting rejection and when we ask almost hoping for rejection--we will hinder our prayers. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:5-7).






Our prayers cannot be separated from our faith. If we are to ask God, we must ask with expectancy, believing in our heart of hearts that God can and will give what we desire, provided that what we desire is really what we need and what will bring glory to him! We are to ask with confidence and expectancy, praying out of the faith he has given us.






Conclusion


The eighteenth chapter of Luke is premised with the following words: "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." Jesus goes on to share the parable of the persistent widow. It is a parable designed to teach the importance of persisting in prayer. It is God's desire that we persist in our petitions before him. When we ask and do not receive, we need to examine ourselves and question why our prayers are being hindered. Are we asking selfishly? Have we turned away from God, harbored unforgiveness in our hearts or ignored sin in our lives? Or have we allowed discord to creep into our families? These questions can lead us back to the Word of God, guide us to an examination of our hearts, and lead us back to sweet communion with the Lord.