James the Just - Part 12 - Praying for People

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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.  My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.  James 5:17-20

Intercession and reconciliation – that’s the ministry of the body of Christ.  Abraham was the beginning of the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people.  They were to intercede, bring God’s message to the world.  The church is the “new Israel,” and our calling is the same; we are to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.  That’s not easy!  Intercession is standing in the gap – for the lost, the sick, the needy.  When you stand in a gap between God and the people God has told you to help, you’re doing what William Carey^[2] the father of modern missions said:

Attempt great things for God; 

expect great things from God

It is like a small child turning over his security blankey to Dad, trusting that Dad won’t hurt him. 

That Charlotte, NC farmer in 1934 had spent a good deal of time battling a stubborn farm during the Great Depression.  Raising a family was tough work then…as it is now – only in a different way.  Still tough!  The Depression had spread spiritual apathy in the city.  But, when asked, the farmer lent out one of his pasture fields to some business leaders for a day of prayer.  A man named Vernon Patterson lead the prayer this way:  O Lord, raise up from Charlotte someone to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.   Those businessmen erected a tabernacle of pine beams in the city.  For the next eleven weeks an evangelist by the name of Mordecai Ham shattered the complacency of church-going Charlotte.  

The farmer who lent his pasture for the original prayer meeting was named Franklin Graham.  During the revival, Franklin’s young son, Billy, responded to Christ, and committed his life.  These days we call him Dr. Graham.  Only eternity will reveal how many souls were touched for Christ beginning with one farmer willing to let go of a field for a while, and one businessman willing to trust God for the sake of the gospel.

How can I trust God like that?

Do you remember what happened when Mrs. Job looked her man in the eyes and said, You’ve lost it all, children, possessions, reputation and even your health – why don’t you just curse God and die?  He said, Though he slay me I’ll worship him.  That was Job, choosing to trust God.

Do you remember Naaman the Leper?  God’s prophet said, Go dip in the Jordan river seven times to be healed.  Naaman grumbled, but he went.  Each time he bobbed up in the water, it was Naaman choosing to trust God:  Here, God of Elisha, take my choices; I trust You!

The big fisherman, Peter, knew something about faith that had fizzled.  Outside Pilate’s house the night Jesus was arrested Peter was confronted by a little girl who thought he was one of Jesus’ disciples.  Peter cursed:  I don’t know Jesus!  It was Peter’s unbelief, no trust at all.  After the crucifixion, he back went home to do some fishing.  What happened?  He had a meeting with Jesus, the resurrected Lord of the universe.  And Peter found out he was forgiven.  All that cowardice and backpedaling…forgiven.  Peter chose to trust, and God taught him for the rest of his life HOW to trust.

For You Today

Preacher, I want to trust God that way; how do I do that? 

Answer:  You just do it; you choose to do it. 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of  Wikimedia Commons     Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] 1761-1834

Grounding Prayer

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Thursday, May 10, 2018

Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you.  I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.  I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.  This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.  Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.  God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.  And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.  Ephesians 1:15-23^(NLT)

Paul constantly prayed for the believers at Ephesus that their minds would embrace wisdom from God’s Holy Spirit, and that it would continually expand their strength to mature them as individual believers and as a church.

My take on an old saying:  Give a man a fish, you have fed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you have equipped him to eat for a lifetime. 

Of course it all depends on whether or not a man likes fish!  In Paul’s case, he had heard the Ephesian believers loved Christ with a strong faith, and that drove Paul to his knees constantly on behalf of this church, that their wisdom and service would grow stronger.

This is the kind of grounding prayer that is needed in the life of any believer.  It is one thing to go forward at a crusade while the choir is singing Just As I Am; it is an entirely different (and needful) thing to grow up into Christ as a disciple who serves Him well. 

To be well-grounded means your root goes deep into the vine.  Jesus told his disciples this plainly:

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.  You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.  John 15:1-4^(NLT)

This importance of understanding this analogy cannot be stressed too far – we NEED to be grounded in Christ as much as we need our next breath of air.

The older I get, the more my prayer life turns to grounding for you.  I pray constantly that those believers I know, both mature, serving Christians, as well as those newborn in the faith, will daily connect-with, and remain-in the vine.  I pray that you will become healthier in your connection to Jesus, stronger and wiser, following the leading of His Spirit, producing much fruit for the Kingdom.

This vine connection embraces that same power that raised Jesus from the dead.  And, being that close to the throne of God produces true joy!

For You Today

At the start of this day, and every day, it is vitally-important to check your power connection.  Are you going to abide in THE VINE today?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy Pixabay.com

A Better View

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Thursday, February 12, 2015

So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.  When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere.  “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha.  “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him.  “For there are more on our side than on theirs!”  Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!”   The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.                             2 Kings 6:14-17 (NLT)

I drove into the K-Mart parking lot in Jacksonville, Florida and parked at the wrong end of the store.  I was halfway in the wrong entrance by the time I realized that what I wanted was on the other side of the building (which covered about three square miles!)

I turned away from the door and walked the sidewalk towards the right entry way and noticed a pale blue Ford parked along the walkway, facing away from me. 

It looked familiar!

As I approached the car from the back I noticed the back of the driver’s rather shiny head also looked quite familiar; I’d seen the back of that head during many a worship service.  It was Kyle, our music minster obviously waiting for his wife, Nancy, to come back out of the store. 

Hatching my plan quickly, I crept up to the passenger side and leaned on the trunk – several times – up and down, up and down.  The car was rocking that bald-headed man like a bobble-head you see in car windows.  When I figured I’d made Kyle as seasick as possible, I stopped and peeked in the passenger window with a grin like a Cheshire cat. 

At that moment I came face to face with a man I’d never seen before.

He looked at me and growled, Whatever yer sellin’, I don’t want none!

Sometimes it pays to take a good long look before you act; it always pays to have your spiritual eyes opened.

That’s what Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, found out.  He could see the physical army in front of him and figured he and his master, Elisha were toast; he had no clue God’s angel troops far outnumbered the enemy.  Chariots of holy fire outweigh earthly tanks, cruise missiles and drones.

And that is always the point when it comes to faith in God.  To truly understand and appreciate God’s care means walking by faith-sight, not eyesight.

For You Today

You may miss much of what God does in looking out for you today. 

But think how much better your service to the Lord will be if your spiritual eyesight is 20/20.

Pray for God to open the eyes of your heart!

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[1] By Japalac, via Wikimedia Commons

Conversations with Peter - Part THREE - Spiritual Understanding

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others.  With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.  Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.   2 Peter 1:5 - 9 (TMSG)

We are talking with the Apostle Peter – fisherman, follower of Jesus, fisher of men, Bible chapter author, martyred disciple of Christ, and a very good friend of mine!

The big fisherman is helping us understand the kinds of qualities that undergird the life of a disciple.  If it’s anyone who would know how to overcome the frailties of human nature, it’s certainly Peter.  He was the one who constantly spoke before his brain was engaged in spiritual understanding; the one who was ready to grab a sword when he should have been praying, and He was the one who ultimately denied the Christ he pledged to follow to the death! 

Peter knew firsthand what it was like to fail at every spiritual discipline.  Yet he eventually found himself at the very head of the movement to spread the Gospel.  That should tell us that no matter how badly we’ve messed up, Christ can use us in His Kingdom’s work.

And isn’t THAT good news!!!

So What is spiritual understanding, and How do I get it?

Spiritual understanding is a personal, intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ.  It’s not just general knowledge.  Anyone who has a computer and can type in “Google” can gain a world of general knowledge. 

But spiritual understanding is more than that.  Spiritual understanding is a matter of sensing how God moves and what His will is prodding you to do/say/be.  This is the kind of understanding which is coupled with good character, the moral integrity which makes power powerfully good.

If I have a stick of dynamite in my hand I can use it to blow up a train track and be the cause of lives lost and mass hysteria.  Or I can use it to blast a tunnel through solid rock so water can be via-ducted to a whole village in a third world setting.  Spiritual understanding holds well the power of God.

How does one come by this “add-on” to basic faith and good character?  The source of all spiritual understanding for humans is God’s Holy Spirit.

For You, Today…

Peter tells us no day will pass without reward when we exercise spiritual understanding. 

Take some time today to pray for God’s Spirit to have all of you; that way, in whatever way God wants to use you today – He will have no trouble imparting spiritual understanding and wisdom into your heart and mind.

That’s a conversation worth having!