Disciples - deny yourself

I have really been struggling. I have been struggling to give my family and my families future to God lately. Things like, "If I give them to God then there is no longer a guarantee that I will be able to get them a house with 3 rooms and a yard to play in....because I can't be sure that is what God really wants for my family." That, and the honest struggle to want to just feel in control and not feel vulnerable by being out of control where my family is concerned.

You are probably already thinking it, but one response is, "Really Nate? How selfish can you be? You are going to ask your family to accept less than God's best simply so that you can feel in control even though you won't actually be in control???" I know. I can't explain it, but it's been a real struggle and I'll leave it at that.

Sunday night's speaker, however, really brought a few things into perspective for me.

Matthew 16:24 (also Mark 8:34 and Luke 9:23) "Then Jesus told His disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"

The Greek word that is translated Deny in all three of these passages means  "to forget one's self" and to "lose sight of one's self and one's own interests."

What I love, as I keep looking at this, is the intentional action that is required. This is not passive and it is not subconscious. To forget one's self and to lose sight of one's self and one's own interests. Man. Imagine the family problems we have that wouldn't exist if we did this a little more. Because we wouldn't be so self-focused that we would be able to hear those around us and respond in a loving way more often than we do now.

The Luke passage (9:23) says "take up his cross daily..." - to take up one's cross is to die to oneself. We think of the cross today and we can have this idea of hope and salvation because we are 2000 years removed from the cross as capital punishment. The cross was an image of not just suffering and anguish (though it certainly was) it was also a brutal way of death. And "daily" also emphasizes the point that this is intentional.

So, forgetting one's self and dying to self so that we can follow Jesus. That is good stuff. However, the clincher was this next verse:

Luke 14:27 - "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."

Key term: disciple - all Apostles (there were 12 originally) are disciples, but not all disciples were apostles. I point this out because we are disciples, although we are not apostles. (Maybe you've never been confused by that, but it used to confuse me a lot.)

That puts a stop to Nate's selfish attitude with his family. It has to. I don't have a choice. For me to be a disciple of Jesus (read: Christian) I have to be willing to take up my cross and follow Jesus. That is to die to self. It is forgetting me and forgetting what I want and choosing to allow God to reign in my life and in my family and to accept His loving best no matter what that looks like.

I'll close with this quote, "Is Christ the master of your life? Have you put to death your own plans and committed yourself to His will for your life? Don't be satisfied with anything less, for there is no greater joy in life than following Christ every day." ...and there is no other way to be His disciple.


To God be the glory.

Prayer - making room for praise and glory

The Bible commands that we pray. There are so many passages that tell us to pray, but it isn't just about the requests. It is also about the worship.

A. W. Tozer, in his book Knowledge of the Holy points out that God is not constrained by time, space, or matter. Yet, even knowing that, I find myself praying to inform God of what is going on...or to try to get someone I love higher on God's healing list so that they can be healed sooner. But God doesn't work that way. The day I was born, God was there. BUT, at the same time, He was here....in this moment that I'm typing. AND He was here in the individual moments when each of you reads this. Time plays no role for constraining God because He created it too.

Now, before I am misunderstood, we are to bring requests to God. Read Luke 18:1-8 sometime. It's a beautiful story, but mostly because it is written to encourage us to keep praying and never to stop. If God lays something on our hearts, we ought to be praying about it.

Again, my point is that we aren't making sure God knows about it though. He knows. He is, even as you struggle through it, already in the moment of the end of it. Whether that is the end of a life, or the end of a problem, or whatever it looks like. God is not just aware of it, He is already there!!!

What this should do, is free us up for more time to praise Him and give glory to God. Because, if God already knows about XYZ, then it is still good for us to bring it to Him again, but we don't have to necessarily pour over it every time. We can, in fact, remind God and then go back to praising Him. In fairness, some things are going to be more on our minds. They will take more of our prayer time because they occupy more of our minds and that is perfectly fine.

At the end of the day though, we should be slotting more and more time to praise and glorify God because that is the true end goal of our lives as Christians. To do whatever will most effectively honor, praise, and glorify God.

Our speaker last night spoke from Psalm 115. The first verse says, "Not to us, Oh God, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love (or mercy) and faithfulness."


To God be the glory!!

Prayer - pray without ceasing

We are wrapping up 40 days of blogging about prayer. I thought it was today, but I re-counted and it is actually tomorrow. I think it'd be good to touch on the verse in I Thessalonians 5 that says. "pray without ceasing."

Now, we've been talking about prayer and all kinds of topics about prayer. Part of the challenge was to help establish a consistent habit of daily, along, meaningful prayer with God.

However, this verse is taking things to a whole new level.

Think about it. Would we be worrying about habits and times and things like that if we were trying to actively practice this verse? Nope.

Pray without ceasing. I will admit that I don't fully understand the concept of this. I'm not pretending to either. I simply know that if I consciously work to strive for this then the rest will fall into place. If I am trying to remember God in every moment of my day and to actively communicate with him then I am bound to be more filled with Spirit. Then I am bound to be more patient, kind, and gracious to people around me. I won't have to remember to praise God for who He is because I'll be thinking about it regularly throughout my days. Then I will feel genuine guilt (not self-assessed shame) for my sin and for relationship issues I have with loved ones. Then I will think about who to pray for in my life and keep them in prayer more consistently. Then I would more consistently get into the Bible because I'd want to know more about God to know better how to pray to Him and praise Him.

So, for all our talk about habits and consistency, if I (we) could just get one thing down...it would be "Pray without ceasing." If I could have one thing I was working daily to improve, it would be to pray without ceasing.


To God be the glory.

Prayer - get into politics

I know that I already posted about praying for our country so that is NOT what this is about. I promise.

No, it has been on my heart to do something for the next 3 months. This is going to be a brutal, personal, emotional, divisive election season. At least on the presidential level and possibly in other areas depending on where you live.

However, what I don't want is for us to get self-righteous attitudes and start praying for God to fix this person or that person so that they will agree with us politically...or even morally and ethically. That's cheap and petty to me.

Also, I have often noticed that many Christians I rub shoulders with have a huge tendency to remember that we should pray for our president when the current president is someone they disagree with. But they aren't as outspoken when the president seems to agree with them...

So, the last time I checked both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have a soul. ...and I do NOT want any jokes about this because I'm feeling serious so it isn't funny! They do and that's enough.

So, let's consider the reality of the position that these people are running to attain. It is the head of a great nation. A powerful nation. A nation with influence and responsibility. They will be the head of a nation that makes decisions that has ripple effects around the world. So, we should be praying for them no matter what their political affiliation or moral standing is. Whether we agree with them or not should be irrelevant to our prayer life. They will have a great weight of responsibility on their shoulders.

My challenge is that for the next three months we spend time (every week, every day, etc.) praying for each of the candidates. That God will work in their lives and hearts and that God will use them to better His plans. (I didn't say America's plans because I don't assume to know the mind or plans of God.)


To God be the glory.

Prayer - the example of Moses

Yesterday we talked about Jonah. Today I want to talk about Moses. This struck me some time ago and talking about Jonah yesterday and talking about questioning God several days ago also brought it to mind.

Moses at the burning bush. We read about this in Exodus 3-4. Chapter 3 has Moses seeing the bush, approaching it, and God talking to Moses. God reveals His plans for Moses and for the Israelites all the way through plundering Egypt on their way out.

Chapter 4, however, begins a dialog between Moses and God with Moses making comments and God responding.

1. Moses doubted if the Israelites would believe that he had seen God (Vs. 1-9). God now gives Moses three signs that Moses can provide to the Israelites so that they will believe that Moses has truly seen God. Turning his staff into a serpent and then turning it back into a staff; turning his hand leprous and turning it back; and taking water from the Nile, pouring it on dry ground, and having it turn to blood. Wow, what an amazing response. It must have been for Moses too because he doesn't make this argument again.

2. Moses questions his own ability to communicate (Vs. 10-12). Here we see God's response to Moses, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." This too was a compelling answer and we don't see Moses bringing up this argument again either.

3. Moses simply asks God to change His plans (Vs.13-17). Moses has given two doubts and God has answered them without question, fail, or frustration. Here, however, we don't have a doubt. We simply have an attempt to get out of doing what God is asking him to do. Moses says, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else." That's it. He just asked God to send someone else. Yet we then read that, "Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses..."

I don't know about you but I never want the sentence "then the anger of the Lord was kindled against _____" to be about me! But what amazes me is that it wasn't Moses questioning God. I've told you that Scripture supports honest, legitimate (not rebellious) questioning of God. No, it was when God had answered all of Moses' doubts and Moses still didn't want to obey. Then God was angry with him. That's the lesson. Question and wonder all you want. Pray to God and ask Him "why?" However, when you know that God has placed something on your heart to do, then you need to do it.

My challenge is two-fold. First, let's pray that God will make it clear to use what He would have for us. That is both long-term and short-term. In the moment, in the day, in the week, and in the lifetime: that God will make clear what He wants us to do. Second, let's pray that we will learn from Moses and have the courage and humility to obey and do what He has asked us to do.


To God be the glory.

Prayer - pray like Jonah

I have often been very judgmental of Jonah. He's the prophet that ran away. The one that whined when God fulfilled His promise and didn't destroy people. The one who got mad when a plant died.

Yet, for all that, he still knew how to pray.

1. Jonah prayed in response to correction.

Chapter 2 is devoted to Jonah's prayer in the belly of the fish. Yet, it starts in chapter 1. When the men on the boat ask him what he has done, he takes responsibility for his actions. In 1:12 we read, "He said to them, 'Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.'"

So, we see that he takes responsibility for his sin and then, chapter, we see that he directs that toward God. Read chapter 2 when you can. it's a really cool prayer.

2. Jonah prayed with frank honesty.

Chapter 3 was all about Jonah going, preaching, and the Ninevites repenting. The prayer we are talking about now is verses 1-4 of chapter 4. Jonah is angry, he blames God, tells God a kind of "I told you so" (even though he hadn't told him), and God asks if he has a right to be angry. In fact, Jonah throws God's attributes back at him. "For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster." Yet, he obviously doesn't like that those aspects of God carry from Jew to non-Jew. From those he loves to those he hates.

My point with this prayer isn't the attitude. It (obviously) isn't the seeming disrespect or the drama either. It is that Jonah was angry with God's decision and he let God know. He didn't try to deny it, he didn't walk away again, he told God. I mean, he had done his job - tell the people of Nineveh that destruction was at hand - so he could have just left, but he chose to talk/rant to God anyway.

3. Jonah prayed in his depression.

Again, I am so impressed with Jonah here. How many times do we get depressed and we just stop praying. Or we just to pretty up our prayers instead of being honest. This man is honest. He asks God to kill him. When God makes a plant grow (which makes Jonah happy) and then kills it, God asks Jonah if he should be angry over the plant. Instead of grudgingly saying "no, I shouldn't. God, I get your point" we see an attitude of frustration and honesty. He said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die."

OK. Now, Jonah is super dramatic and he does come across as whining. So, I'm not trying to praise those things. What I'm trying to point out is that he was honest and he was real with God. He told God when his depression left him wanting to die. He told God when he was angry that God was gracious to people he hated. He told God he was wrong when he knew he was being punished for his sin. These are examples we can follow in our own prayer life. You may not struggle with depression, you may be 100% content with life at all times. However, even if that is true, I bet you at least know someone who either struggles with depression or struggles with being content with God's plans. So, now you can help them to see and know that it's OK to be honest with God. Respectful, but honest.


To God be the glory. 

Prayer - fear, respect, or rude?

We all remember the story of Esther, right? Do to some drunken madness, the king has his wife banished. Then he is advised to find the most beautiful woman in his kingdom to be his new, better wife. Many interviews and reference calls later, Esther is chosen as the best for the job.

Another guy, Haman, was really important and full of himself. So he had an edict made that forced people to bow when they saw him, but a guy name Mordecai wouldn't do it. Mordecai was Esther's cousin, but secretly. Secretly because they were Jews in a foreign land and Esther was no revealing her heritage at this time. So, it is known that Mordecai is a Jew, but not that Esther is as well.

Long story short - Haman hates Jews because of the frustration of a single man and he contrives to have all Jews killed.

When his plot is made public, Mordecai goes to Esther to ask her to plead with the king for the life of her people. Esther agrees to fast (her and all of her servants) for a time and then to go to the king. She agrees knowing that this could be her life. See, when you went before the king, but he hadn't asked you to come, you put your life at risk. He had a golden scepter and if, as you approached, he extended it, then you got to live because you had the king's favor. If he didn't, then guards took you and killed you. That simple. Is the king in a good mood today or does he feel offended that you came uncalled.

Those who know the story, know that Esther was safe and the story turns out really well. If you don't remember, read it here.

Now, what if Esther had been told by the king "Esther, you are amazing and I love you. I will always hold out the scepter to you. You never need to worry about your life when you come to me. Please come anytime you want." What would her attitude be? Would she continue to go in fear and trepidation? Why? She has assurances from the king, right? The only way she would go in fear was if she didn't trust him. How about rudely? Would she go rudely knowing that he has told her he won't kill her for coming? Of course not. She would know that his position still demands respect because of the authority he still holds. So, the only logical answer would be respect. She would go, whenever she wanted to, without fear, but with respect for the king!

Hebrews 4:14-16 (specifically vs 16) says, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The King James Version saw "come boldly." That's Esther. That's us. We can go to God whenever we want, without fear of the creator of the universe, yet we go with respect for His position and authority.

Hopefully that helps you have a different view on prayer and what it is and means. Let's go to the King today so we may receive mercy and find to help in our times of need.


To God be the glory.

Prayer - because it just works

"Although I depend on technology every day to get my job done, I don't understand much about how it works. I turn my computer on, bring up a Word document, and get to work on my writing. Yet my inability to comprehend how microchips, hard drives, Wi-Fi connections, and full-color displays actually function doesn't get in the way of my benefiting from technology.

In a sense, this mirrors our relationship with God. Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us that God is far beyond us: 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'

Even though we don't understand everything about God, that doesn't prevent us from trusting Him. He has proven His love for us. The apostle Paul wrote, 'God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8). Trusting that love, we can walk with Him even when life doesn't make sense." -- Bill Crowder


Many of us know this to be true, any yet the reminders are so good. God is good, He loves us, and we can pray to Him. Like a computer or a car (for most of us) we don't always know how prayer works, but we know that it does because we have experienced the power of prayer. If we haven't, then we know people who have and their experiences can bolster our own faith until we have!


To God be the glory!

Prayer - a Father to the fatherless (and everyone else too)

I know that I have at times struggled with some of this and I know many people who I love and respect who do not have good earthly father-figure examples. The beauty of prayer is that we have a heavenly Father who knows what is best, loves us perfectly, and will always provide for our needs. Sometimes He will cause us to stretch and grow through hard times. Sometimes He will let us make our own mistakes so that we can learn from that...even if we don't want to learn the hard way. Sometimes He will allow things to happen to us, so that we can become who He wants us to be...so that someone else can be affected by us and God can be glorified later on in life. We don't really know.

The beauty is that our heavenly Father is perfect and all-knowing. We earthly fathers fall short all the time because we run on imperfect knowledge, we love imperfectly, and we live with a self-focus at times (or more often). All of these things cause us to fail. We can have the greatest of intentions, but without perfect knowledge, I'm going to screw up. I've told my oldest many times that I am always going to do what I think is best for her. However, that is colored by my perceptions, my own selfish thoughts, and my lack of perfect knowledge. God doesn't have those limits.

So, to those who had a great earthly father, just remember that God is a perfect father.

To those who had an "OK" dad who did his best but didn't really stand out either way. Just remember that God is a perfect father.

To those who didn't have a father, just remember that God is a perfect father.

To those who had a father, but if anyone knew the truth about your childhood, they would agree that you may have (or would have) been better off without an earthly father - just remember. God is a perfect heavenly father.

So, even if the image of "father" that you have (or don't have) from earthly men, God is in heaven, is perfect, and is always available to talk. We can eagerly go to Him, with respect for who He is, but boldness that He will never turn us away, and just talk to Him. We can thank Him for being so amazing and for loving us in spite of us. We can ask him to help heal the hurts that broken people have caused and allow Him to fill those empty spaces in our souls.

God is love. He represents everything perfect about Love. So, do you want to know what a perfect Father looks like? (Note: Dad's that are reading this? You have an obligation to your kids to step up and be the best model of this Heavenly Father that you can be! They deserve more than we often give them. Having said that, you also have an obligation to point them to a perfect, heavenly Father who will NEVER fail them!!)

God is patient and kind.
God does not envy or boast.
God is not arrogant or rude.
God does not insist on his own way. (Think about it. How many times has God let you be stupid and live with the consequences so that you could learn and grow?)
God is no irritable or resentful.
God does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
The love of God never ends!!


To God be the glory!!

Prayer - practical application

I'm taking this from someone who was quoting something they had seen, but this was really good to me and I wanted to share. Too often I see the Lord's prayer used literally (Catholic) or disregarded (Baptist/Evangelical) instead of being used as it is given (a model of prayer).

Re: Jesus' Model Prayer recorded in Matt 6:9-13:

 - Praise: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
 - Priorities: Your kingdom come, Your will be done.
 - Provision: Give us this day our daily bread.
 - Personal Relationships: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
 - Protection: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from (the) evil (one).
 - Praise: For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

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


I especially love the pointed reminder that this model really both starts and ends with praise. How often are we forgetting to praise God in our prayer time? Much less both starting and ending with it!!

What a great challenge on this Sunday. Start your prayer time (and your day) praising God and end your prayer time (and day) praising God!!


To God be the glory!!

Prayer - break the mold

"I like J. B. Phillips's paraphrase of Paul's message to the Christians in Rom: 'Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity' (Rom. 12:2). How relevant this is today as we find our thoughts and the way our minds process material affected by the world around us.

We cannot stem the tide of information that bombards us, but we can ask God each day to help us focus on Him and to shape our thinking through His presence in our lives. - David McCasland"


Do you find this to be true too? I sure do. This is an area that we could pray about day in and day out every day and not have prayed about it enough. The world wants to fit us into a mold. Maybe it's a mold of the world's ethical or moral standards. Or the worlds way of viewing "religion." The world tells us that things are OK that the Bible says are not and the world tells us not to do things that the Bible tells us to do.

Two required things. First, we have to know the Word of God so that we know the view of life that should be affecting us. Second, we have to pray for God to help that view of life to just consume and overflow our entire being so that we live it out on reflex to the best of our ability.

May God grant us the strength to break the world's mold and live as the believers that He calls us to be.


To God be the glory.

Prayer - answers and obedience

I John 3:22 was pointed out to me the other day and I really love this verse. This verse is in the middle of a larger thought process so please take the time to read the chapter/book to get the context.

However, this verse specifically says, "whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him." I'm going to add verse 23 which says, "And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us."

First, I'll add my usual caveat that we know from the greater context of Scripture that there is more to answered prayer than just asking and receiving. There is faith, there is not having unconfessed sin, there is reconciling yourself with your brothers and sisters in Christ, there is forgiveness, etc. So, with that in mind, let's keep going with this verse.

I love that "we receive" is attached with a "because" and it is keeping his commandments and doing what pleases him...that is Him! See, it isn't just about getting what we want because we ask the right way, or the right amount of times, or just because we want it. There must be obedience to God's Word in our lives before we should expect answer to prayer as well. Now, is this saying that we won't get "yes" answers if we are not obeying or simply that we won't get as many "yes" answers as we would if we were obeying? I don't know. I could read this either way. However, I would argue that if we are asking that question then we have a problem anyway as we should always be striving to obey God's Word and to do things that please our Heavenly Father.

Last, I liked verse 23 because it adds belief and loving each other to the list of things that we are commanded to do. So, if we struggle in our belief or if we aren't loving each other, then we aren't following the commands of God.


To God be the glory.

Prayer - prayer for another generation

I had family here tonight so I don't have many thoughts about prayer and need to get to bed. The one thing that God did bring to mind today was praying for other generations. This can look different for all of us:

Within your family or outside your family.

An older generation, a younger generation, or both.

Parents, children, nieces and nephews, or grandchildren.

Neighbors.

Neighbor children.

Families at church.

Co-workers.

People walking outside where you work.

The checker at the grocery store.

The anchor on the news.

The announcer of the Olympics.

So many people with so many needs. So, why my thoughts on praying for a generation other than your own? I think we tend to get stuck in the mindsets of our own generation. Right? These are our peers. Many think the way we think and/or think about things similarly to the way we do. But older generations and younger generations have a new (or old) way of looking at things that can be really helpful. So, by praying for them, it steps your mind outside of your age demographic and can allow you to remember the rest of the world and its people...and its ways of thinking!

We live in a culture of self-focus and self-love. This is meant to be a way to step us out of that and get into the minds and needs of other people around us!


To God be the glory.

Prayer - the Bible says it best

It's always true that the Bible is the greatest authority that we have. Sometimes, however, I find that it can be hard to grasp or understand. Less often the more time I spend in it, but it still can be for many.

However, the Bible still says it best when it comes to all the issues of life if we are willing to listen and work at ensuring we understand what it is saying.

Today's example of the bible saying it best on prayer is James 5. Verses 13-18 is the section we are going to look at. I am just going to hit the highlights below but you can read the whole section through the link above.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for hte elders of the church, and let them pray over him...

Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another...

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Then, the passage shows the example of Elijah and talks about his prayers causing a 3.5 year drought and then his prayers opening the heavens back up for rain again.

Prayer is not only powerful, it is diverse and covers all the aspects of our lives. The power of the God empowering the prayers is the reason for the greatness of the prayers. It wasn't how awesome Elijah was. It was the God he was praying to. And what an amazing thought: we pray to the same God!!


To God be the glory.

Prayer - God doesn't want prayer

Ha! Gotcha.

Today's thought comes from Psalm 51. This is the Psalm that David wrote after Nathan the prophet confronted him about Bathsheba. The Psalm is full of David's asking God to cleanse David and to bring them back together. It's a great Psalm for those who have sinned and need to come back to an unbroken communication with God.

Side note: I don't believe that our relationship, as Christians, is ever broken with God, but I do believe that communication can and is broken when sin is in our lives.

However, what caught my eye this time was verses 16, 17.

"For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, Oh God, you will not despise."

What are we talking about here? Well, remember. This is when the laws of Moses still governed the people of Israel and sacrifices were required of the people. And yet, we see David saying that the sacrifice is not what God wants. What God wants is a broken and contrite heart.

The same is true today. While my goal is to help us establish a habit of prayer, it is also important to remember that the goal is to establish the habit, but not just for habits sake. But rather, because we know this is necessary for a healthy Christian's life and as a response of love toward God. Yet this habit is something that is often hard to establish on our own.

If we are establishing the habit, while harboring sin, or doing it just so that you can tell others that you are, then the whole exercise is wasted.

So, today's challenge is for you to pray and just ask God to reveal your heart to you and allow you to honestly assess your motives. Not with a desire to stop praying but with a desire to correct any issues God brings to you so that you can get right back into praying regularly.


To God be the glory.

Prayer - who are we defending?

Jesus defended the children when the disciples wanted to get them out of the way.

Jesus defended women on multiple occasions (healing, woman at the well, etc.)

Jesus defended outcast minorities via the Samaritans (woman at the well, using a Samaritan in the Good Shepherd parable, etc.)

Jesus defended a woman caught in adultery who was about to be given the death penalty.

Jesus defended you and me, knowing how our lives would turn out and how we would curse His name (if not in word, then in action) at times in our lives.

Who would God have us to defend? Is it that person we talked about here? The co-worker no one likes? The customer/patient/neighbor everyone wants to pass off? The check out clerk who is having a bad day....all month! The person in line at the grocery store who is being a jerk to everyone. The screaming kids at the store/library/mall.

The ethnic minority that scares us? The ethnic majority that gets slighted in the name of equality? The black lives that matter? The cop lives that matter? The homosexual couple you know that gets hate because of their lifestyle? The heterosexual couple you know that gets hate because they take a personal stand against homosexuality? The family that has aborted their baby? The family that hatefully responds to abortionists? The person running for president that you don't agree with (....maybe that is ALL of them). Did Christ die for all of these people or not? Seriously!!! We get so caught up with not wanting our action to somehow justify sin that we forget to love the sinner. Then the world just sees people who hate people instead of people who have a moral and ethical stand against actions/behaviors, but not against people.

So, I would encourage you to start with prayer for them. Just like I encouraged you to when I wrote my blog about praying for people we don't like. However, I want you to pray that God works in you (again) and then that God working in your actions and life. Let this be about more than just prayer. Let it be about us acting out the love of Jesus. We took "What Would Jesus Do" and made it trivial and irrelevant. Which is disappointing. Because if you look at the example of Jesus in the New Testament and literally asked yourself "I wonder what Jesus would do in this situation to show love without justifying sin" I guarantee you most of us would respond and live differently than we do today!


To God be the glory.

prayer - when did we stop praying for each other?

I'd like to have a conversation with all of you who read this (details at the end).

So, first, we talked yesterday about the way in which we communicate that we are or have prayed for someone. the different between the future, past, or present language that we can use.

That conversation got me thinking and I realized...we don't talk about prayer with each other anymore. At least, I'm not hearing. I don't hear people say, "I'll pray for you," or "I have been praying for you," OR "May I pray with you now." I just don't hear those things being said anymore.

I am wondering two things. First, am I right and second, if I am, what happened. Since I can't explore the first question without some help, I've put a request at the bottom. However, I have some speculation on the second question for myself and I'm hoping maybe this helps.

I know why I don't say these things. To begin, what I talked about yesterday, I hadn't really thought about before....yesterday! :o) Which means that I have often only been viewing statements of prayer towards others in the future language. That is, "I will pray for you." Yet, I also knew how hollow that can and has often felt. I knew how hollow of a statement it has been. I have had every good intention of doing it, but life gets in the way and I have often forgotten. So, knowing how hollow it can be or can feel, I have often felt hypocritical saying it so I stopped.

Stopping wasn't the right answer, though I would argue that it was better than continuing to be hypocritical. Now, I could have dedicated myself to writing down every time I told someone I would pray for them and then make sure I did. However, having now thought of past and present language for encouraging others with prayer, I am consciously aware and hope to apply this language more.

(Side note: I still recommend saying you WILL pray for someone when it is the best you can do. We can't always stop and pray with someone and we haven't always been praying for them. However, you can ensure that it won't be a wasted sentence by ensuring that you will pray for them the soonest that you can.)

I know most of you don't comment (either here or on Facebook), but I'd really like to get some feedback on this. When you comment, give me your age decade (40's, 20's, etc.) if you are willing and tell me if you hear this often and, if you do, who it's coming from. Is it coming from your peers, younger Christians, or older Christians.

I hope this can start a really healthy conversation in our churches and with fellow Christians.



To God be the glory.

Prayer - as an encouragement

There are several prayer statement we make to people. The most common is "I will pray for you." The reality, though, is that this is not very encouraging or comforting...most of the time. You may have someone who has not heard that in a long time (or ever) and it may be very encouraging. You may be someone who always follows up on this and DOES pray for them and the person you are telling knows that...and that would be encouraging for them.

I want to contend that there are two better statements we could make to people that have a much higher chance of being encouraging.

1. I have prayed for you. Maybe it was just now or yesterday, but it guarantees the act. Instead of putting it into the future, it allows the hearer to confirm that it happened. Maybe they knew you were going to or maybe they didn't, but what an encouragement it is to hear that someone has prayed for you.

2. May I pray with you. This will usually require a deeper relationship than just anyone you know, but this usually means so much. Again, the context of your relationship and what is going on will drive this some, but I have usually found it encouraging (and been told the same from the other end) when a person is willing to stop what they are doing and pray with me in that moment. Not only is there no way I can wonder if they'll actually do it, but doing the act together also drives the "I am alone" feeling that often come with the struggles and trials of life.

So, I want to encourage you to check your language. Are you leaving the encouragement to an unknown time in the future or have you done it and/or are you willing to do it right now?


To God be the glory.

Prayer - You want me to pray for who??

Oh man. Does this hit home or what?

First, let's get this out of the way: I don't mean your enemies. The Bible says that we should love our enemies. Somehow, that idea sometimes actually seems easier than what I want to talk about. It's more removed to say "enemies" than to say:

The co-worker that you avoid because they drive you crazy.

The person that you know isn't doing their best with the resources they have and so they don't deserve your patience, prayer, or love.

The family member that offended you. Not really badly, but enough to give you negative thoughts when you think of them.

The person who said something, one time, and you can't seem to forget it.

These are the in-between people. You don't really hate them. You certainly don't love them. But you find them to be hard to handle sometimes. Well, guess what? If we are supposed to love our enemies, then we have no excuse for these folks.

So, here is how I would challenge you. Don't pray for them. That's right. Don't start there....because that's not where we need to start. Nope, you need to pray for yourself and that God will work on your heart. Maybe to be softer towards them, maybe to have wisdom to know how to handle (or not handle) them. Maybe to just pray that you'll have a desire to pray for them in a loving and selfless way. Let the prayer be aimed at you, but with their best interest at heart.


To God be the glory.

Prayer - use your imagination!!

Today I am going to share an article that I received that is just fantastic for what we are talking about. I hope this encourages you like it did me.

What are the five best toys of all time? Jonathan H Liu suggested the following: A stick, a box, string, a cardboard tube, and dirt (GeekDad column at wired.com). All are readily available, versatile, appropriate for all ages, fit every budget, and are powered by imagination. No batteries required.

Imagination plays a powerful role in our lives, so it's not unusual that the apostle Paul mentioned it in his prayer for the followers of Jesus in Ephesus (Eph. 3:14-21). After asking God to strengthen them with His power through His Spirit (v. 16), Paul prayed that they would be ableo to grasp and experience the full dimension of the love of Christ (vv. 17-19). In Closing, Paul gave glory to "him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (v. 20).

Often our experience limits our prayers - a situation we can't picture being different; destructive habits that remain unbroken; long-held attitudes that seem to defy change. As time passes, we may begin to feel that some things cannot be changed. But Paul says that is not true.

By God's mighty power working in us, He is able to do far more than we may dare to ask or even dream of. - David McCasland


So, use your imagination....and just remember that God, who knows what is best for us, can always top our best imaginings!!

To God be the glory.

Prayer - accountability

You know, I should have thought of this. But the truth is that I didn't. But, thanks be to God for friends and family who are thinking ahead.

So, yesterday we talked about habits and the value of working to build good habits rather than working to remove bad habits. Again, I should have thought of this and I didn't.

When we are working to form good habits, we often will use accountability. I want to spend less time on the computer, get to the gym more, eat less, eat more, spend less, spend....anyway, you get the point. We often turn to accountability for these things. We have a friend who joins the gym with us, or a friend we can text when we are wanting to eat or spend money who can remind us not to. There are many ways to do it, but many of us have (successfully or unsuccessfully) had an accountability partner while trying to build a habit.

So, why not with prayer. If they live in your home or you communicate daily, then you can plan to pray alone...together! If not then you can e-mail each other reminders. Send a text or Face-message during the day.

Prayer is private and while praying together is great, what I'm trying to emphasize this month is praying that is done in secret. So, this isn't about finding someone to necessarily pray with you, but it is NOT a secret that we all have a human nature and good habits can be hard to form. Especially when they are replacing bad habits that are thoroughly formed. in those cases, someone to just remind you to pray, or even to just let you know when they've had their time and vice verse, can be a huge help in the process of setting that habit in stone.

So, find a friend and ask them if you can keep each other accountable about praying meaningfully each day!!


To God be the glory.

prayer - habits

Now, you might be thinking "prayer habits" ....but I've already talked about that a lot. I've talked about building habits of praying, why we should have those habits, etc.

Nope, This is a prayer topic and the topic is habits.

Do you have habits you wish you could break? Do you know of habits you wish you could form? Now, these can span the whole spectrum. From "I want to get to bed sooner" habits to addiction. These are all habits. Some are harmless, some are harmful, and some are simply destructive.

So, I think it is pretty obvious that we could talk about all the habits we want to get rid of. I want to stop going to bed so late. Maybe you want to stop binge eating ice cream. I want to stop acting out my anger in XYZ circumstance. I want to stop being inattentive to my wife when we talk in the evenings. And on and on it can go.

OK. That's all fine and dandy, but I promise you that this is the hardest way to do anything about habits. In fact, I would argue that habits CANNOT be broken or destroyed. Ever. Ever. Ever. It's how we are hard-wired and therefore it doesn't work. I have heard that no habit is ever removed, it is simply replaced. (In truth, I'm sure there is an exception to this, but I'm trying to make a point here!)

The point is simply that if you focus on removing a negative habit, you have a nearly (if not completely) impossible task ahead of you. Instead, focus of building a new habit that replaces the old one. So, I want to stop going to bed too late? I start the habit of going to bed sooner. You want to stop binge eating ice cream? Then you start a habit of _______ (I'm not sure. Maybe when you feel that binge you go get something healthy to eat....or you drink a couple big glasses of water so not as much ice cream will fit.....I don't know on this one. Sorry!). If I want to stop acting in anger, then I start acting more level headed. Maybe that means taking some deep breaths. Maybe I start closing my eyes and praying, in the middle of an argument, anytime I want to say anything in anger. If I want to stop being inattentive, then I start making sure that there are no other distraction around me when my wife and I are talking (close the computer Nate!!)

Little things, big things, addictions. Focusing on the bad thing usually drives your mind to the bad thing. It causes you to think about the bad habit even more. However, finding a way to focus on the good things will move your mind there.

Here's my challenge today. First, identify the positive habit you want to form to replace the negative one. Then, put it on your prayer list. Make THAT a matter of pray. Pray for God to encourage and remind you of the GOOD habits that you are working to build. If you aren't sure how to flip your bad habit and come up with a good, alternative habit to build then you can pray for wisdom concerning that and seek advise. The same is true if you know what good habit you want to build but you aren't sure how to implement it into your day-to-day in a habit-forming way. Give God control and let Him help you grow and mature even in the kinds of habits that make up your days and make up who you are!


To God be the glory, great things He has done. So loved He the world that He gave us His Son.

prayer - everyone is doing it

Buddhists pray. Those of the Hindu faith pray. Muslims pray. Catholics pray. Lutherans, Calvinists, Baptists, and most Evangelicals pray.

The Catholics pray to saints, confess to priests, and use prayers they have memorized.

Muslims pray five times a day. They base it on the positions of the sun (seems like complicated calculations to me).

According to Wikipedia (I know) the Eastern Orthodox use the term "worship" to refer to the activity of the church as a body offering up prayers to God and the term "prayer" refers to the "individual devotion traditions of the Orthodox."

This Hindus use mantras and pray to god as father, mother, and "everything."

So, pray isn't new and it isn't unique to those of an evangelical faith by any means. Admittedly, things are different between the religions. Who is being prayed to, sometimes how the prayers are done, etc. In fact, even with the broader Christian sphere, prayer is done differently. The differences between Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical are fairly profound in certain areas.

So, what about you? I know I don't pray 5 times a day. I know I don't regularly physically get on my knees. I know these things aren't required of me. However, I have open access to the god of the universe through the blood of His son. Do I take advantage of that or do I take it for granted? Do you?

To God be the glory!