Taking the time to pray

Posted on August 9, 2016 by | Comments Off on Taking the time to pray

time to prayHow long ago was it when you set aside a part of your day, some of your time to pray? I’m not referring to prayers we say at mealtime or bed time, but time spent with our Lord when we intentionally share the things that we are concerned about. Time spent praising Him for His wonderful grace given to us or even just sharing time with Him with the things on your heart. I remember from an undergraduate psychology class that it takes nearly eighty hours of personal contact between two people to develop a close and meaningful friendship. Since then, I’ve come to believe that this also applies to our relationship with the Lord also.

Going to church can’t replace personal prayer time

As important as regular church attendance is for Christians, it cannot replace our personal time in prayer to the Lord. Jesus taught on this very subject: And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly (Matthew 6:5-6). Jesus was teaching that our prayers, where we are getting personal and completely honest, are not to be done in the synagogue – or the church. They belong between us and the Lord.

We all have experienced the occasional person who has been called on by the pastor to pray at church. What should be a prayer of thanksgiving or an invocation prayer can become a sermon within itself. These were the prayers Jesus is referring to as the Bible recorded His words, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men… There’s a verse within Proverbs that fits well into how many of us view those who pray with a lack of sincerity in public: Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain (Proverbs 25:14). 

Time in prayer is spending personal time with the Lord.

In some of the churches I’ve attended, there’s been a special time set aside during the mid-week service where the members gather to lift their voices in prayer. As great as that was, and as much as the presence of the Lord could be felt there that evening, it still did not replace the personal time in prayer we are to have with the Lord alone. There’s a big difference between praying with others versus being alone with the Lord in prayer. Jesus taught during his earthly ministry, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret… a call for us to spend personal time in prayer – alone with our Lord only!

When we pray with others, even with our family or best friend, we tend to pray only what we want them to know. It’s a part of the natural man to gloss over the things we don’t want others to know about us. It is natural to leave sin unconfessed, to leave needs unspoken. When we are alone and pray to the Lord, we are more open and honest. We have a tendency to pray and seek forgiveness for sins more freely. When it is just us and the Lord, we share our needs more openly and honestly. In my own life, there is a big difference when I pray alone with my Saviour than when I am praying with others from church or even with my own family.  I have to make the time to pray to my Lord  each day.

Prayer is like any other meaningful event in life

When it comes to the things that have special meaning in our lives we spend time practicing. I know people who spend time preparing their bodies for the next marathon. Each day, I try to schedule time to practice my cornet. There are some in our church that spend time practicing their crochet and knitting so they do not lose those skills. Athletes practice the skills necessary to play their sports. The thing is if we want to get better at something, then we continually practice. We can do the same thing with prayer. Paul tells us to Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) – and pray for everything! 

Comments Off on Taking the time to pray

Posted in Christian Living, My Walk, Our relationship with God

Tagged , ,

Not perfect but still learning

Posted on July 25, 2016 by | Comments Off on Not perfect but still learning

not perfectNot perfect but still learning is a statement that defines my walk with the Lord. I’m under no false belief that since I became a Christian in 2006 that somehow I am perfect. Certainly, I am not the same person I was before I received Jesus’ free gift of salvation. I am also not the person I will be when I am in Heaven with my Lord and Savior, Jesus. What I am is a sinner saved by grace who is learning about my relationship with God. I am still learning my place within the family, and my place within the local church.

Following the leading of the Holy Spirit

I’m not one who lives for the spotlight and am quite content to be behind the scenes. A couple of months back, I was asked to lead the Sunday School introduction. Within the Salvation Army, this is commonly called prelims or preliminaries. As I began to pray about what the Lord would have me do, the idea hit me.  I would create a character that really doesn’t care what others think of him. He would be goofy, strong-minded, but in love with his Lord and Savior. So, with a name suggestion from my father-in-law, Professor Bib Lical was born. Since then, he has become a much-loved character by both adults and children. He uses science and the scientific method to show the nature of our faith, the wonders of creation, and the grace of God.

For some reason, this character, in spite of his funny appearance, clumsy manners, and really bad accent, has a way of getting to the heart of what the Holy Spirit leads him to say. As I’m delivering the preliminary thought, I often watch the faces of old and young as the message the Holy Spirit is leading me to share is heard by all. Then there are times, as it was this past Sunday, where I feel that the Holy Spirit is speaking through him directly to me as if I am the only person in the room.

A teaching moment by the Holy Spirit to me

This past week the Lord laid on my heart to illustrate how many of us approach prayer. I began with the familiar verse, Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6). After having this verse read by a member of the congregation, I put some flower seeds in the hand of my assistant. I asked them to plant the seeds, then ask the seeds to grow. When that didn’t work, I asked the young man to yell at the seeds. Much to the laughs and giggles of everyone in the room, the seeds never sprouted and we didn’t see blooms.

We then shared the next verse, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking (Matthew 6:7). I asked the assistant then to beg the seeds – five times – using the same words each time. Yes, it was funny. Some of the young people laughed. But it was at this point the Holy Spirit began working directly within my heart.

At the point of life I am at, I still have issues with worry. Last October, as I have previously shared, I surrendered to the Lord’s call on my life and am working towards entering the full-time ministry within the Salvation Army. It is a long process and while I do pray each day that the Lord will bring me to the point where I am actively serving His will, I still worry. I worry that I won’t be good enough. I worry that I won’t make it through the application process. I worry that my past will hold me back. I worry that I won’t be able to serve. I also worry that I will be rejected by those who makes the decisions as to whom is allowed to attend the required training.

Yet, in the middle of all this worry and fear, I was in front of people teaching what the Lord laid on my heart – “be careful for nothing…” in other words, God tells all of us not to be anxious – and as I was sharing this with those who were there, He was reminding me as well. I, too, needed to hear His message not to worry, to have faith, and to put my trust in Him.

God’s message is always common sense

I ended this particular lesson this last Sunday with the verse, I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry (Psalms 40:1). Since yesterday, I’ve really thought about the lessons the Lord taught me about my own prayer life. Oh, it is so easy to pray about something and then worry about it. Yet the Bible tells us that God wants us to pray about whatever is on our heart. We are then to adopt an attitude of thanksgiving, believing that God will answer our prayer: Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2). There are countless verses where Jesus tells us that God knows our needs, we are more valuable than sparrows, and we need to have faith. Yet, for many of us, we come to the Lord filled with worry and doubts.

We come to our prayer time filled with expectations of unfulfilled prayers and doubts. We lift our voices to the Lord without an attitude of thanks or faith that He will answer. We let our doubts and fears get the better of us. We effectively shut down our prayer life and wonder why we don’t hear from God. We wonder why He doesn’t answer our prayers. But when we pray, we do everything the opposite of the way the Bible instructs us to do. So, as I begin this week, I’m asking the Lord to help me develop a new attitude of prayer; one that is more according to the will of God than filled with worry and doubt. 

 

Comments Off on Not perfect but still learning

Posted in My Walk, Our relationship with God

Tagged , , ,

Is your life cluttered with boxes?

Posted on July 13, 2016 by | Comments Off on Is your life cluttered with boxes?

boxes

Boxes are a common sight in our modern world. They come in cardboard, plastic, wood, and metal. We’re surrounded by boxes in our workplace, in stores, and in our homes. Right now, in various closets in my home, there are boxes that have remained unpacked since the family’s last move in 2011. The truth is that boxes are a part of our world and are around us everywhere. This morning, as I watched my cat play inside a box, I was reminded of a conversation I had with one of my college students yesterday.

Who are you at your core?

William Shakespeare, the great English playwright and bard, wrote a line in his play, Hamlet, that is actually very sound advice: “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man” (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3, 78-80). We are living in a time where society demands the opposite.

As a college-level instructor, I am often asked how, in modern American society, should a person’s faith be apparent. In fact, I was asked a variation of this very question yesterday and was able to explain to her why her interpretation was not dangerous. She approached me with the idea that somehow she must leave her faith at home when she is at work, performing some civic duty (such as jury duty or voting), and while at the college. She then explained that society demanded she do just this very thing. Her actions and this view, which is held by many, is far from the advice offered by Shakespeare’s character, Polonius, or the Bible, for that matter.

I believe that one of the mistakes made by many Christians is the idea that our faith is just a religion. After all, how can we hold any other view of Christianity if this is all that has been taught for generations? As a part of my responsibilities at the college where I work, I also teach world civilization. This includes a fairly lengthy discussion on religions and philosophies of the ancient world to about 1500. One of the things that has always intrigued me is that Christianity, in its purest form, is not supposed to be just a religion. Biblical Christianity is supposed to be a way of life, a philosophy and a religion. And this is where we fail to adhere to the teachings of Jesus. When we do anything but allow our faith in Jesus affect all that we do, we are living a double life and have two sets of standards – the “secular” and the “religious.” It is when this happens that we transform the power of the gospel from something that is truly life-changing into something that has very little impact in our life.

The apostle James wrote, A double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). This double-mindedness is what happens when we begin to place parts of our lives in boxes. One box has everything about our faith, one box has how we are to behave at work, and another box for school, and another box for social organizations, and yet another box for family… Pretty soon, our lives can begin to look like a warehouse of boxes stacked to the ceiling. Instead of being one complete person which is the way God created us to be, we divide ourselves into parts to fit every situation and demand.

When we divide who we are and how we behave among any number of boxes, we are actually dividing our loyalties. We are no longer Christ-centered. Our faith becomes a small part of our lives instead of being what God intended it to be – the core of our existence. There is so much that Jesus tried to warn us about during His earthly ministry. In fact, he told all who would listen, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).

Vaya con Dios: Go with God…

I am a fan of older movies, especially Westerns. In many of those movies, the phrase, vaya con Dios became a popular part of the western movie genre vocabulary. It is a simple phrase meaning, go with God. In the context used, it was a blessing that one bestowed on a friend, compatriot, or family member as they departed on some quest or journey. It is actually a great reminder in whatever we do, wherever we go, we should go with God. Our belief in Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior should be a part of everything we do and everything we are: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men (Colossians 3:23).

We have to come to the understanding that as Christians, we are still living in this world. Just because we live in the world does not me we have to live as the world. In 2006, I made a promise to the Lord that I completely gave Him and him alone lordship in my life. I noticed that as my excitement and love of the Lord began to grow, so did the impact He had on my life. It changed the way I studied history. It changed the way I performed at work and in my graduate classes. It changed the way I studied politics and foreign policy. It even began to change how I saw myself and my relationship with others. This is God’s intent with the free gift of salvation He offers to all – it is to be a life transforming moment! From that moment, it is meant to be a continual process of spiritual growth and development. It is meant to be an active faith that takes us from this life and beyond.

Emptying the boxes of our cluttered lives

Once we fully accept obedience to Jesus is to be the central focus of our life, everything else falls into its proper perspective. For me, the most challenging part of it was unpacking all the mental boxes I had created over nearly a lifetime. I was not a Christian until 2006 but I still had those mental boxes. It is actually a liberating experience when we come to the realization we do not need the boxes and we can be the same person and behave the same way regardless of where we are.

Comments Off on Is your life cluttered with boxes?

Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Living, Our relationship with others

Tagged , ,