Stop praying...... NOW!

Have you, as a Christian, ever prayed and asked God to give you the power to stop doing this or that, stop saying this or that ?
This week I got a clear word about why those prayers are just plain wrong.

A pastor friend of mine was once asked by a member of his congregation, who was struggling to get to morning prayer meetings, if he would pray for him to be able to get up and get there.
The reply from the pastor was an emphatic 'no' , followed by "use an alarm clock" The ball was back in the members court, the choice was his!
This may well be a more trivial matter but when it comes to sin it becomes more serious.
God has given to Christians the Spirit of holiness and of power....... and of self control. If we really believe that, and if we believe that we have one in heaven who intercedes for us, then it becomes much more about what we choose than what we pray.

If we continually pray about something when the means to achieve what we are praying about has already been given to us it will inevitably be a fruitless exercise. We are praying a prayer, the answer to which is already within our means because of what God has already done for us and given to us, in other words we are wasting time when we could be living the answer.
In many of these instances God's answer is already there - "don't pray, CHOOSE to use the resources I have already given you"
CHOOSE not to do that
CHOOSE not to say that
CHOOSE TO DO right
CHOOSE TO SAY the right

Some people won't like this message because it means we actually have to act as responsible agents under God, taking responsibility for actually doing what He has equipped and empowered us to do!
There are plenty of things to pray about that are well outside of any ability God has given us to answer them - pray about these things. We really must learn when to pray and when to CHOOSE AND ACT using the resources already available to us.
Many Christians and many churches will be a lot more aligned with God's will, therefore more effective, when this lesson is learned and put into practice - and that most certainly includes me!


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Characteristics of a leader?

I am not a great fan of leadership books. You know the type I'm sure.They present a menu of stuff that, if followed, can apparently make you a leader ( in an hour if it is one of those from a motorway service area)If, however,it's one of the more 'subtle' books then it will present pretty much the same list but rather than tell you to 'do these things in order to become a leader' it will say that leaders are born not made - but if you correspond to this list then you are a naturalleader ( see what they did there?).....

However, reading Psalm 78 (and dipping into 2 Sam 6) I read how and why God commended David as a 'leader' of His people.

Firstly He uses the word 'shepherd' (Ps 78:72) - a one who is concerned first and foremost for those under his care - more than for his own advancement or well being. So, firstly, a leader has a shepherd heart after the heart of God Himself - modelled perfectly by Jesus.

Next there is a really central principle that is so lacking in much of today's 'practice of leadership' - integrity of heart. It's sometimes very difficult today, until after the event, to know the difference between the appearance of integrity, the product of highly paid,spin inducing PR gurus, and the real thing. In fact there are often only 2 people who know the difference - you and God!

Then the Psalmist mentions actually having skills for the task - another word we would use today would be 'competency'. In 2 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV) we read that "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant..." The skills and gifts to lead are so important but often forgotten, with very little being invested to develop this area in the lives of many who would be leaders. I am not referring just to 'external' investment such as an organisation may offer in terms of training and development but, because ultimately this competence is 'given from God' the most important investment is the internal. The commitment of time and effort to focus on, and spend time with, Jesus.

Finally, when we look into 2 Samuel we glimpse another crucial characteristic of a leader - enthusiasm. To be enthused and to enthuse others. When we consider the etymology of the word, quite literally 'possessed by God' we need to recover the understanding and rediscover the reality.
So, leaders: shepherd heart, integrity, skilful and possessed by God.
Me? Very much a work in progress, although sometimes feels like regress! But He is able.

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A larger place?

Firstly, if you are an agrophobic this is probably not going to be a great help - sorry....


A number of years ago there was a song by Wiley Beveridge called 'a larger place' and it struck many chords with me. I always love driving on mountain roads or walking in the mountains and coming to an unexpected ridge or viewing point to be faced with an immense and awesome vista....

I can stand for hours just looking and thinking - for me the scene is full of potential, full of possibilities, you can be taken time and again to the edge of adventure, to the borders of new discoveries...and all you need to do is set off, put one foot in front of the other and the adventure begins.....

Recently, in my reading, God has been calling me to revisit this fascination with the possibilities of being on the verge of that larger place and how it can be such a springboard for a journey of discovery.

Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[ rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Ps 18:19
He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.


Ps 139:5
You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

I love the paradoxes and non rational lines of thought that scripture so often points us to. There is no place as large as the grace of God - the universe pales compared to that wonderful place - or as Michael Gungor refers to it 'prodigal grace'. The thought, in Psalm 18, of being on a journey with God during which He constantly takes us to the verge , to the crest, onto the ridge and shows us ever more awesome scenes of greatness and vastness and then the paradox of Ps 139 - that to be 'hemmed in' by God is actually to be in the largest, safest place that is full of promise and opportunity, challenge and fulfillment, peace and security.

Is this the journey you are on with God.....letting Him take you to a larger place.

A place of blessing.....

Sitting outside on a glorious morning in the Pyrenees looking at blue skies, dew on the ground and luscious plants and greenery, reading the 'song of Moses':

Deuteronomy 32:1-4 (NIV)
Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

What God has created, and continues to create, in the realm of nature, majestic mountains, the vastness of the sky, the beauty of the plants and forest all speaks of His glory, but also of His care and provision. The song from Deut 32 recalls and reminds me of this beauty and fruitfulness and points to the same creative and glorious work in our lives as well as in nature. As we focus on and are shaped by His word and as we honour His name so the effect on our lives is like that of the dew and the rain on plants. He brings out beauty and He produces fruit. He provides in abundance and He does it to perfection.

So, His word and His name are central to fruitfulness and blessing but there is another scripture that adds one further element to this fulness.
The image of dew producing abundance and blessing brings to mind Psalm 133, where the dew that brings blessing is directly linked to the quality of lifestyle of God's people. The particular hallmark of that quality being unity.

The centrality of Gods word, the lifting of His name and the people living in unity. This is where we discover blessing and fruitfulness.

However, perhaps most importantly we are reminded of God's greatness and His utter faithfulness.


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It's always the fruit that gets me

Some things in life are so fundamental, so basic to the way things work that they ought to be 'hard wired' into us, genetic 'no brainers'.
Nobody, they say, has a good enough memory to keep telling lies, fabricating the 'truth'. Lies beget more lies and they will catch you up and catch you out. We know this so why on earth would anyone lie?
But we do!
Living with a high barrier in a relationship is an uncomfortable and often unnecessary situation to be in. They are so often begun by a 'sortable' or even a minor issue - but propelled by pride and poor communication into the 'too hard to deal with' category where they fester and become cancerous. We can even reach a point where we are not even sure what caused the barrier or why we keep it there, but by this time it has become part of life and we feed it. We know this is not healthy and we often know very early on in this spiral of despair how we can avert the inevitable 'emotional crash & burn' that will follow. We know that God commands a blessing where there is unity, but, even knowing all of this, we let it happen. Why?

In Matt 3:8 Jesus says 'produce fruit in keeping with repentance' this is so obvious, such a basic principle that it surely must be part of the spiritual genetic make up of all Christians? Well, I must be the single exception as well as being particularly stupid. In Corinthians Paul talks about two types of sorrow, Godly, which is real repentance, and worldly, which is not and which leads to dark places. Basically the latter mouths the words - which may be genuinely meant at the time- but there is no follow through with life change and outward actions, whilst the former results in the 'u turn' of repentance and noticeable changes in life, action and attitude. It's obvious that so often the words are not enough, but how often does worldly sorrow prevail? How often do our repentant words fall short of repentant actions? Our words intend the 180 degree u turn but our pride, selfishness or immaturity keep the momentum going and make it a full 360 degrees! - the right words but the wrong result. A life rather more full of words than righteous works.
Well, in God's strength and by His grace, no more! Let's away with worldly sorrow and reap the benefits of abundant fruit. That is my prayer.




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Late have I loved you, you were within me, but I was outside....

I am often surprised to find (although I don't know why I should be) that many of todays great worhip leaders reflect a deep knowledge of earlier Christian hymns, hymn writers and teachers. The relevance and impact of these hymns and teachings can be so powerfully demonstrated as the ancient truths are communicated in ways relevant to our culture. However, it is sad how many 'modern Christians' I meet who gain vicarious benefit from these ancient truths via modern songs but have no idea of their roots with some even decrying anything old simply because it's old! When a culture, movement or organisation belittles or ignores its history or fails to appreciate and understand its significance it is probably heading into some sort of self satisfied cultural culdesac. I was reminded of this powerfully and by way of a blessing this week as I got into my newly discovered group 'Gungor' and read some of St. Augustine's confessions (I know, it's not everyday etc etc)....

From St. Augustine:

Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance the innermost places of my being; but only because you had become my helper was I able to do so. I entered, then, and with the vision of my spirit, such as it was, I saw the incommutable light far above my spiritual ken and transcending my mind: not this common light which every carnal eye can see, nor any light of the same order; but greater, as though this common light were shining much more powerfully, far more brightly, and so extensively as to fill the universe. The light I saw was not the common light at all, but something different, utterly different, from all those things. Nor was it higher than my mind in the sense that oil floats on water or the sky is above the earth; it was exalted because this very light made me, and I was below it because by it I was made. Anyone who knows truth knows this light.

O eternal Truth, true Love, and beloved Eternity, you are my God, and for you I sigh day and night. As I first began to know you, you lifted me up and showed me that, while that which I might see exists indeed, I was not yet capable of seeing it. Your rays beamed intensely on me, beating back my feeble gaze, and I trembled with love and dread. I knew myself to be far away from you in a region of unlikeness, and I seemed to hear your voice from on high: “I am the food of the mature: grow, then, and you shall eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me”.

 

Accordingly I looked for a way to gain the strength I needed to enjoy you, but I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who is also God, supreme over all things and blessed for ever. He called out, proclaiming I am the Way and Truth and the Life, nor had I known him as the food which, though I was not yet strong enough to eat it, he had mingled with our flesh, for the Word became flesh so that your Wisdom, through whom you created all things, might become for us the milk adapted to our infancy.


Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

.......and then as I was listening to Gungor I came across their track 'Late have I loved you'.....



Late have I loved You
Beauty so ancient, so new
Late have I loved You
You were within me
But I was outside You
It was there that I searched for You

Late have I loved You
Beauty so ancient, so new
Late have I loved You

You were here with me
But I was not with You
And it was there that You found me
It was there that You found me

You called and You shouted
And You broke through my deafness
You flashed and You shone
Dispelled all my blindness

You breathed Your fragrance on me
You breathed Your fragrance on me
Late have I loved You
Late have I loved You

You called and You shouted
You broke through my deafness
You flashed and You shone
Dispelled all my blindness
You breathed Your fragrance on me
You breathed Your fragrance on me

I drew in Your breath
And I keep on breathing
I've tasted I've seen
And now I want more

'Cause You breathed Your fragrance on me
You breathed Your fragrance on me
Late have I loved You
Late have I loved You

Credits :
songwriters: michael gungor,


As devotional words these have great power - from us being outside of Him to us being the fragrance of Him - this is our journey. The reading of the words from St Augustine and the listening to them from Gungor lead me to Romans 2 and that great reminder that it is the kindness of God that leads us to that place of repentence -  the atmosphere within which our journey makes most headway........

Examine ourselves.....

Doctors strongly advise that men and women regularly perform certain easy 'self examinations' ( no need for too much detail here ) A few simple tests can give vital clues and early warning of serious problems that may lie ahead.
In Corinthians ( 1 Cor 13:5 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20cor%2013:5&version=NIV) Paul urges us to examine ourselves regularly, a sort of spiritual health check on where we are in the faith. In a twitter post today Matt Redman ( @matt_redman ) wrote the following questions, taken from the words of John Wesley,
1.Did the bible live in me today?
2.Am I enjoying prayer?
3.Is Christ real to me?

Three short but, if answered honestly, really helpful questions by which we can put Paul's words from 1 Corinthians into practical effect.
If you come up short in this 'examination' then 'there may be trouble ahead' - and no amount of singing, dancing, moonlight or romancing is going to sort it out (old song reference there!) but you can go a talk and pray with a trusted mature Christian friend or pastor asap - that is what I would prescribe.

If you would like to dig around a little more in the words of Wesley you can access his complete works here: http://www.godrules.net/library/wesley/wesley.htm
And a really good resource for finding your way around the bible is 'bible gateway' :
http://www.biblegateway.com/
"Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith....." is not so much about are you or are you not a Christian as it is about are you living, acting, speaking and developing as a Christian, becoming mature rather than remaining an infant - but that's another blog...


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