#36 THE DOING OF PRAYING: GOD’S WILL

“Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”              Jesus Christ in Matthew 6:9-10

 

     As Christ began his public ministry and great crowds began to follow him, he went up on the mountain and began his first extensive instruction on the kingdom of God (Matthew 5-7). In the midst of his lecture, Christ challenged his disciples to not be like the hypocrites who prayed meaningless repetitions, and he gave them a “template” of what an effective prayer looked like. The first change that he brought to the disciples’ understanding of prayer was found in the salutation of “Our Father…” Under the Mosiac covenant, believers looked at God as the Lord God Almighty and as the Holy Judge of all people while the person most Hebrews claimed as father was Abraham.  One of Christ’s greatest challenges during his earthly ministry was instilling the concept of God as Father into the Hebrew mindset. So, in his model prayer, Christ made clear that the God that believers were to pray to was indeed their Father.

     Now, the first request of the Lord’s Prayer–”Your kingdom come”–casts its focus not on what is personally wanted by those praying, but on what God wants. And, what God wants goes way beyond our physical needs. Listen to what Romans 14:17 says, “…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” So, the first thing we should be praying for is that righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit flood the earth. When this happens, then the second request that Lord’s Prayer will be soon to follow–that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. But, here is where we hit a snag because many believers struggle in knowing what God’s will is.

     How many times have you heard someone make a request of God and then couch that  request with the words, “if it is Your will?” And, then if the prayer is not answered, this same person might say, “Well, God is sovereign–He has a reason for not answering (or saying no to) my prayer.” I’d like to propose that, when our prayers are unanswered, it is not because of God’s sovereignty, but because of  our lack of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Furthermore, I’d like to propose that we can clearly know God’s will. Let’s look at these possibilities in the context of several passages from the Bible and see if we can make some reasonable inferences.

     In II Corinthians 1:20, Paul wrote, “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him (Christ) they are yes…” In other words, because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, every promise God has ever made is ready to be fulfilled. Now, let’s look at James 4:2-3 where the apostle said, “…You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Here’s part of the problem of unanswered prayers–sometimes we don’t know what to ask for and sometimes we ask with the wrong motives. Even Paul must have understood how difficult it is at times to decide what to pray for because he wrote the following in Ephesians 1:17-19:

   …that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart (of your understanding KJV) may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe…

Let me put this in other terms–we need to pray for the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to know what to pray for and how to pray for it. I think we tend to look at the circumstances we’re presented with and just pray off the top of our heads without really asking God what’s going on and how to pray. Because we don’t take the time to seek God, we stand on shaky ground in a lot of what we pray.

     As far as motive goes, let’s remember a couple of scriptures that we’ve discussed before–Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and John 10:10. Both of these passages draw clear lines between good and evil and between life and death. As we pray, we need to check our motives. If we pray for things that will bring destruction, loss, or death into our lives, God will not say yes. He has nothing to do with evil. Now, I know sometimes people receive apparent “answers” to prayers that do bring destruction into their lives. I Peter 5:8 tells us that Satan is prowling about and seeking whom he may devour–if he can lead us astray and/or destroy us through our lustful prayers, he will do so. Asking God for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom in how to pray will guard us against the ploys of our enemy.

     Now, let’s look at God’s will. Before we consider the next two scriptures, let me make a comment on foreknowledge and predestination. I think all that those words mean is that God knew before He created our world that when any human being would turn to Him through Christ and would seek Him with everything he/she has, that individual would be predestinated to become like Christ. Predestination is simply God’s plan grounded in His absolute love and is available to anyone who chooses to believe. So, as Romans 8:29 indicates, God’s will is that all who believe will become like Christ. Likewise, I Timothy 2:4 clearly says that God’s will is that all human beings be saved and come to knowledge of the truth. These two prayers are the strength of God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

     I John 5:14-15 explains the power of praying for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven: “This is the confidence which we have before 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 which we have asked from Him.” When we ask God for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom as we frame our prayers, when we pray to be conformed to the image of Christ, and when we pray that all people be saved, we can be confident that He hears us. We can be confident that He will answer our prayers!

     Christ told us to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Let’s get that done and look with joy for the manifestation of His absolute love in our world!

     Unless otherwise noted, all scripture passages are taken from the NASB.

     Please feel free to comment–just keep it respectful!

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, March 28th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE "DOINGS" OF A SON OF GOD

#35 THE DOING OF BELIEVING: TRUTH

     If you had to estimate how much truth is in your life, what would you come up with? As my husband recently said, truth is elusive. How right he is! We know it’s out there somewhere, but everyone seems to have a different idea of where truth is and what truth is.  Christ did say he is the truth (John 14:6), but what did he mean by that? One prevailing thought is that he was indicating that he was the only way to be saved in order to go to heaven when we die. And along with that line of thinking comes another line that states every word in the Bible is true. Both of these concepts sound good, but what is their practicality in our lives? Is truth only important for the moment we accept Christ and assure our entry into heaven? And, if every word of the Bible is true, wouldn’t we have the responsibility to know every single word in the Bible? After all, Christ seemed to place a high value on truth when he claimed to be the truth.

     I think finding truth is a big part of the work of believing. Let’s go back to the story in Mark 9:14-29 when Christ dealt with an impossible situation, and let’s find out how truth worked in that circumstance. Previously, we discussed how a father came to the disciples to have them cast a spirit out of his son (which they failed to do) and how the father realized the battle he was having in believing for the impossible. This time let’s look at the situation from the stand point of truth. When Christ came upon his disciples, they were in a crowd arguing, so we can safely say there was confusion present. The one who explained to Christ what was going on was the father. The first truth Christ spoke was that the whole group was unbelieving–they were arguing with each other rather than asking God for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Then Christ questioned the father about the problem, and the man asked him to help his son if he could. Christ spoke another truth to the father, “All things are possible to him who believes.” The father understood what Christ was saying and this time asked for help to believe. Christ then spoke the truth about the destruction that evil was bringing to this family, and he cast a deaf and dumb spirit out of the youngster. Finally, after the disciples asked Christ why they couldn’t cast the spirit out, Christ spoke another truth that dealing with that kind of spirit takes praying (NASB) which is what the disciples should have been doing instead of arguing.

     Did you catch the words “Christ spoke” in the above explanation? As Christ sorted through what was happening, the truth came through words. Let’s take a look at something Christ said John 16:12-15 and see if it shed any light about words and truth:

   I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for he will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

If we think about these verses, doesn’t the Holy Spirit do exactly what Christ did in the situation found in Mark 9? Christ had truth from God (John 8:40) and that truth set a boy free from the evil that was attacking him (remember when Christ said, “…you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”–John 8:12) Likewise, the Holy Spirit will bring us the truth that He hears from Christ who is seated on the right hand of God. In other words, the Holy Spirit will do in our lives what Christ did for the father and his son. So, on the basis of this passage, we can infer that truth is not a one-time happening nor does it come from just reading the Bible.

     Now, before I get branded as a heretic, let’s talk about how the Bible and the Spirit of truth work together. As we have talked about before, not everything that is written in the Bible is true. For example, when Job and his three “friends” were arguing in Job 3-31, all four of them did not know what they were talking about (Job 32:3-4, 7). Therefore, nothing that they said in those chapters was truth; however, we can infer that the conversation that took place was a real one. So, I’d like to propose that we might be wise to look at the Bible in the terms of reality rather than in the terms of truth. Once each of us establishes the reality of the scriptures in our hearts, then we can look to the Holy Spirit to use what is written to bring truth to us.

     Let me share an example from many years ago when I was struggling with persistent bad thoughts. I reached a point where I begged God to do something because I felt like I was losing the battle. The Holy Spirit used a scripture passage to show me that I was self-centered. He ministered to me that because I was self-centered, I could not love and because I could not love, I hated. That hate was where the destructive thoughts got their power. I immediately repented and my husband prayed for me. Now, the thoughts did not magically disappear, but they lost their power because I knew the truth and that truth set me free. I overcame self-centeredness and hate, and in the years since, God has been teaching me how to manifest His absolute love.

     Finding truth is hard work, but it is possible. Like Christ said, the solutions to our problems can only come to us through prayer. In my next few posts, we are going to talk about the doing of praying. As sons of God, we have every right to go to our Father and to communicate with Him. When we take full advantage of prayer, we will see remarkable changes in our world.

     As always, please feel free to comment–just be respectful!

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, March 21st 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE "DOINGS" OF A SON OF GOD

#33 THE DOING OF BELIEVING: FAITH (1)

   “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you…”                                                     Jesus Christ in Mark 11:22-24 (NASB)

 

     Raise your hand if you have prayed “believing” and your prayer was or remains unanswered. On the surface of this passage, getting prayers answered seems so simple–just ask, believe, and voila, our prayers are answered. But, in reality, answered prayers seem much harder to come by than by speaking the mantra “I believe, I believe…in the name of Jesus Christ.” Was Christ whitewashing the process of getting God to do what we want Him to do? Or, was Christ setting us up for failure? If we’re honest with ourselves, most of us have multiple unanswered prayers. What’s up with this disconnect?

     As we read this passage in Mark 11, we may tend to glide by the first words Christ spoke, “Have faith in God.” After all, we have come to Christ through faith–of course, we have faith in God–we believe God–we believe Christ died for our sins, don’t we? Yet, due to the fact of our unanswered prayers, maybe we should think through what Christ was saying. Maybe we should unwrap the concept of having faith in God. Perhaps then, we can tackle the disconnect between Christ’s words and our experience with unanswered prayers.

     Let’s start with Hebrews 11:1 where the author lays out a definition of faith. This time, let’s use the NKJV and add the  alternative wording  found in the notes for this verse:

Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (confidence) of things not seen. 

By looking at the definitions of the four highlighted words and melding those defintions together, we could say faith is the substantive reliance on what we can’t see, but what we hope for–which, at its basic level, describes God. Or, to put it  in other words, faith means having a real dependence on God. Thus, when Christ said to have faith in God, he was telling us to have a real dependence on God. Then and only then will we be able to ask, believe, and attain what we pray for.

     How do we have a dependence on God that is real and not pretended? This dependence has to be from within us–where no one else sees–and has to be based on something. After all, faith cannot appear out of thin air, can it? Maybe not, but Romans 12:3 tells us that God has given each of us a measure of faith. Again, taking the definition of the word “measure” into account, we can infer that God has given each of us the capacity to have a real dependence on Him. In other words, when He created the human race, He put within us the initial ability to have faith in Him. Therefore, when we understand what Christ has done for us on the cross and are born again, that ability to have a real dependence on God is released within us–it’s ready to go.

      Throughout the ages of Christianity, a great debate has raged: saved by grace vs. saved by works (or, once saved, always saved vs. a believer can lose his/her salvation). These controversies have missed the whole point of Christ’s life, cross, and resurrection. Christ came so each of us can press into a real dependence on God. Rather than argue over things we really have no say in–we cannot control what other people think and do–let’s focus on doing what it takes to have a real dependence on God. Within the pages of the Bible, we can find help in the process of becoming dependent on God. So, let’s see what we can put together.

     First,  a real dependence on God demands that we have knowledge–it is not based on “blind faith.” Hebrews 8:7-13 talks about the new covenant that God had promised to the Israelites (remember Christ widened this second covenant to include everyone). One of the basic tenets of this new covenant is found in verse 11 (NASB): “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them.” Of course, just like worldly knowledge, this knowledge of God is not attained by osmosis. God does not open the lid to our minds and pour in knowledge of Him; rather, like Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:7-8, knowledge of God comes through asking, seeking, and knocking. As the power of the second covenant continues to manifest, more and more people will make the effort to know God until all will know Him from the least to the greatest. And, through that knowledge, we all will be on the way to a real dependence on God.

     Next, this real dependence on God demands that we quiet down (and I am being serious here). So much confusion and hurt are rampaging through our world that oftentimes when we go to God, we are upset and complaining. When my children came to me when they were hurt or angry, the first thing I did was ask them to settle down so they could hear what I was saying. God wants us to do the same thing–be still and listen (Psalm 46:10). He is more than willing to help us in the time of trouble, but He knows that we won’t hear Him until we quiet down. So, if we are going to have faith–to really depend on God–then we need to quiet ourselves so we can hear what He is saying.

     Finally, a real dependence on God demands that we choose Him. I imagine many of us have had similar experiences where God has ministered to us and given us wisdom (that we have tested–more about this in a later post), but we didn’t want to do what He showed us. In those cases, we need to be honest with God, tell Him exactly what we feel, and ask Him for help. In other words, if we choose asking Him for help when we don’t want to choose His wisdom then we really are depending on Him. Time after time, I have experienced God easing me into acting wisely in spite of my resistance to what He was showing me.

     In my next post, we will continue to discuss what having faith in God–having a real dependence on Him–will produce in our lives. God has goals for our faith and understanding these goals will encourage us to know God, to be still and listen to Him, and to choose Him.

     As always, please feel free to comment, just be respectful.

    

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, March 7th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE "DOINGS" OF A SON OF GOD

#27 BECOMING A SON OF GOD: INTRODUCTION

     What does it mean to be a son of God (includes both men and women)? Throughout the Christian world, there are practically as many versions of believers in Christ as there are denominations. And that’s okay to a certain extent; after all (using an analogy), there are practically as many versions of cars as there are drivers. However, underneath the surface, all cars share the same basic underlying structures–they have  frames, engines, transmissions, braking systems, etc. Likewise, no matter who a believer is or where he or she comes from, all sons of God share the same basic underlying structure. Understanding this framework and understanding the process of becoming a son of God will go a long way in enabling us to work as our Father’s adult business partners (another analogy). So, over my next several posts, we are going to discuss becoming sons of God. However, before we begin that discussion, I want to talk a little bit about the Bible and more specifically, about the New Testament.

     As Christ’s death on the cross changed the world, a whole new understanding of God and His absolute love began to infiltrate the human race. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Bible where we see a definitive change of tone between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Let me use a couple of conspicuous examples to illustrate. One of the wisest  men ever to rule the Hebrew nation was Solomon, David and Bathsheba’s second son. This man served God with all of his heart, yet as he looked at life in general, his words were “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, NASB). In other words, after everything he had gained and after all the wisdom he had acquired, he ran into the dividing wall. Listen to what else he wrote in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun” (verse 9, NASB). There was nothing new–everything was the same-old same-old! And, the rest of Ecclesiastes was written in the same depressed tone with Solomon ending with this, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, NASB). After all the blessings he had received, the only understanding of God that he had was that people needed to fear God–Solomon had no concept of the absolute love of God, none whatsoever.

     Now, let’s take a look at a couple of New Testament writers. Paul, in II Corinthians 5:17 (NASB), goes way beyond what Solomon understood with these words, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Contrary to what Solomon believed, there is something new under the sun. And, then John changed the very conclusion that Solomon reached–fear God and keep His commandments–to this, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…We love because He first loved us…And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also” (I John 4:18, 19, 21, NASB). Yes, indeed, Christ obliterated the dividing wall!

    While the New Testament writers found new knowledge and new understandings from God, they and their fellow believers were facing new and more insidious threats from Satan and his cohorts. Intense persecution arose as Satan tried to destroy every visage of Christ’s victory over him. With the gospel producing new believers by the thousands and with threats and violence surrounding them, the New Testament authors tried to bring stability in the midst of chaos by writing letters to the people they had ministered to. As they wrote, they focused not only on explaining the new knowledge and understandings of God’s absolute love, but also on the specific circumstances their converts were facing at the time. 

     As we read through the New Testament, we need to keep a couple of things in mind. First, the writers were writing letters, not books of the Bible. They had no idea that what they were writing would be read 2000 years later. Along the same line of thought, each of these writers did not have access to what the other New Testament writers were writing. In other words, Paul didn’t have John’s letters who didn’t have Peter’s. Also, despite the notion that every word of the Bible is absolutely “true,” the New Testament writers did not get everything right. For example, Paul, Peter, and John all believed that Christ was going to return in their lifetime (Hebrews 1:2, I Peter 4:7, I John 2:18). When we look at the limited world they lived in, we can understand why they felt that way. The New Testament writers had no idea that the world was as big as it is–the scope of their world was bounded by the Mediterranean Sea. They had no way of knowing that when Christ said “God so loved the world..,” he also meant the people who lived thousands of miles away from Israel. Even more important, the tremendous pressure of the persecution they were under certainly made these writers feel like Christ was going to return quickly. But, he did not.

     So, as we delve into the process of becoming a son of God, we’re going to look at what the New Testament authors wrote through the lens of the entire Bible (which we are blessed to have) and of what we have discovered about our world (overwhelming information) in the intervening years since the New Testament days. In a sense, we are going to transpose the knowledge and understanding of these writers into the new key of today’s world. By drawing on all of these resources, we will discover the power of becoming a son of God, and the power to overcome the kingdom of evil as His sons.

     As always, feel free to comment–just keep it respectful!

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, January 18th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in BECOMING A SON OF GOD

#14 The Book of Job–Act 5

     In this final act of Job (chapter 42), we have reached the major climax of this story–what was the beleagured man going to do? Thus far, we have seen his immeasurable loss and unbearable physical pain. We have seen him stand against his friends’ sadistic verbal attacks, and we have seen him listen to both Elihu’s and God’s speeches. At this point, the time had come for Job to respond to God and he did just that. Listen to what he said (Job 42:2-6 NASB):

  “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

   Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

   Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.

   I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.

   Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

Job understood and what he understood was the truth because he was set free (John 8:32). Job found his foothold in God’s character and finally comprehended that God was not the source of his intense trouble, but was the way out of it.

     We need to take these words of Job to heart. How many beliefs do we have that are based only on what other people have told us? One of greatest lessons to learn from this story is that our individual walks with God are not to be a game of spiritual telephone. God wants to talk to each and every one of us–this is where our victory over evil begins. While there is a place for talking and brainstorming with each other about the questions we have, the answers that will set us free are the ones that God Himself gives each of us. We need to ask Him and listen to His instruction.

     Before we look at how Job put what he had learned into action, let’s talk a little about repentance. Sometimes the way I’ve heard the concept of repentance explained, I would believe that it entails intense spiritual activity–something like the effort of dieting or quitting smoking. Thus, for some people, the thought of repentance is intimidating. Repentance is not intimidating. Repentance is simply turning to God–that’s it. When Job said he repented in dust and ashes, he didn’t remain in the ash pit. What he was saying was that everything that he had based his faith on–in other words, everything he had done as a believer–was worthless. He retracted everything he had believed and done. Starting at that moment, his faith was based on God’s character and on His character alone. He turned around, and that’s repentance!

     Going on, if we had any doubts that what Job’s three closest friends had said were anything but sadistic untruths, Job 42:7-9 dispels them. God instructed the three to make a significant burnt offering in Job’s presence so Job would have the opportunity to pray for them. This prayer represented Job’s forgiveness for his three friends and was his first “test” of his renewed faith. If Job hadn’t prayed for them or forgiven them, then he would be a hypocrite because his friends misunderstandings were no greater than his own.

     The next couple of verses really show the individual nature of the understanding of God that sets us free. Job 42:10-12 talks about Job’s brothers and sisters who had not been present during the give-and-take between Job, his three friends, Elihu, and God. They came with the purpose of comforting Job “for all the adversities  that the Lord had brought on him.” In their compassion for him, they each gave him money and a ring of gold. The lesson to be learned from this tibit of information–just because God gives each believer understanding that sets him/her free doesn’t mean that everyone else will have that same understanding. We need to keep our eyes on Him.

     Have you ever wondered why the Book of Job ends with a description of Job’s three daughters? Well, if we look back in the first verses of chapter one, we see that Job was concerned about his sons when he sacrificed after their “partying.” Even though he also had daughters, he did not recognize their importance during these offerings. Well, while God was working with Job to reorientate his faith, He must have ministered to Job about his attitude towards women. After disregarding his first set of daughters, Job made it a point to give his second set of daughters an inheritance along with their brothers. Personally, I find this fact interesting–perhaps as we ask God for understanding, He will bring us to the point of accepting everyone as equal before Him. We all have an inheritance that will come through each of us repenting and asking God for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

     In my next post, we will be looking at Abraham and what it meant to be a friend of God’s. Please feel free to comment, but remember any comment that is disrespectful to anyone will be deleted.

 

     ©2009 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, August 11th 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in JOB/SUFFERING
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