Tag Archives: Micah

Being honest in our prayers to God

Posted on April 1, 2014 by | Comments Off on Being honest in our prayers to God

man-praying

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit outside on one of the concrete tables near the building where I teach my history classes.  It was a nice, cool, and sunny day and the feel of the sun was something that I have really missed over the winter months.  I pulled out my pocket-sized Bible and began reading through Psalms when I had a student approach me to ask me some questions about a recent assignment.  When she saw that I was reading the Bible, she began to ask me questions about my faith, how I “fit it in” my life, and some other questions.  I explained to her that I do not define my faith; my faith defines me, she immediately began to ask questions about my understanding about prayer.

Since 2006, I have become more serious about my faith in God.  I also began to take literally the things that I read in the Bible so that I will not have to stand ashamed of my life in front of an Holy God. When she asked me that question, the first verse that came into my mind was: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:15). Although the apostle Peter was referring to the times when Christians will be brought before kings and judges to explain their holding to the faith in Jesus Christ, I believe that this verse has an application that we are always, as Christians, to be ready to explain any aspect of our faith to those that genuinely ask for understanding.  In this case, this student was asking about my understanding of prayer; as a Christian, I owed her the explanation of my understanding.

I began (as I will begin here) to explain that God does not hear every prayer but only hears the prayers of those who have, through faith, been redeemed. While the world holds on to the erroneous belief that God hears all prayers, this is not the case, as taught by Solomon as he was led by the Spirit of God to write: The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous (Proverbs 15:29).  Even the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah understood that God will not hear the prayers of the wicked and unredeemed: Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them (Jeremiah 11:11) The first prayer that God hears from anyone (except the Lord Jesus Christ when he was on Earth) is the prayer of repentance.  The apostle Paul understood this: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13) and That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9).

God does hear our prayers, but that we have to first understand the condition of our heart.  David, a man after God’s own heart, understood this as he was led by the Spirit of God to write, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalms 66:18).  Another Old Testament prophet, Micah, explained why God would not hear the Jewish people, although they were his own chosen people: Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings (Micah 3:4). This is not just an Old Testament principle that has no relevance to today’s New Testament believer; the apostle James explained to the Christians of his day why their prayers were appearing not to be answered: Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (James 4:3). During Jesus’ earthly ministry, he also taught there was another reason why prayers to God seemingly go unanswered: And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matthew 21:22).

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Posted in Discipleship, Our relationship with God

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No shortage of worldly advice

Posted on February 18, 2014 by | Comments Off on No shortage of worldly advice

dear-abbyIt never fails. If you ask advice from your family and friends on how to handle a problem, a crisis, or just a difficult situation, most of the advice you will get is based on a worldly understanding of the problem and not focused on giving thoughtful, spirit led and soul-stirring advice. In fact, there are several places in the Bible where the extent and commonality of worldly advice is truly demonstrated.

Within the story of Job, his wife offers him the worldly advice of Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die (Job 2:9b). Even Job, in his day, acknowledged the worldview of seeking godly counsel when he told his friends, What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me (Job 15:21). While he was in the middle of a trial by the hands of Satan, he had enough wisdom to realize that neither his wife or his friends were providing Godly advise, but were offering what he correctly called “the counsel of the wicked.”

Now do not misunderstand, not everyone that provides us advice is wicked; however, their advice must be weighed against what the Bible tells us. I would not count Job’s wife as a wicked woman, however, her advice was wicked—it called for Job to curse God and wait for judgment. To curse God would be a sin, and the wages of sin is death; after this, the judgment of God (reference Job 2:9, Romans 6:23, and Hebrews 9:27). What terrible advice to tell someone to willfully sin and await the judgment of God!

Just as Job’s wife probably loved him deeply and wanted to see him out of pain and suffering, many of our family and friends, some saved, some not, also take no pleasure in seeing us endure pain, hardships, trials, and confusion. Often they are quick to offer up solutions to our problems. I think of the story of Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and her understanding of God’s promise and the customs of ancient Mesopotamian society. She knew she was past the age of bearing children, but rather than to wait upon God and to see what He had planned, she told Abraham, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai (Genesis 16:2). There can be no doubt that Sarah loved Abraham and she wanted to bear him an heir, the son of promise, but based on her own understanding of their situation, she offered advice that can be considered as the “counsel of the wicked.” God warns us to Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Even the prophet Jeremiah added that The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). If those who are truly walking in the faith can offer us bad advice, what makes us think that the world’s advice will be any better?

In truthfulness, we cannot expect the lost world—whether it be family or close friends—to be able to offer godly and spirit led advice either. David, the psalmist and King of Israel, penned the words, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful (Psalms 1:1) as both a warning and promise to us as we seek to find meaning in the trials and obstacles we face. When we take advice that is founded on the common worldview and not centered on a God-ward worldview, we are inviting even more difficulty into our lives.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Discipleship

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The lesson of waiting and faith

Posted on October 1, 2012 by | Comments Off on The lesson of waiting and faith

Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me (Micah 7:7).

During our pastor’s sermon last night, my wife and I shared a laugh as Pastor Ramsey talked about his own impatience.  What we found funny was not that my pastor was talking about his impatience, but he actually described my impatience perfectly!  As he began his sermon, he mentioned waiting at busy intersections, waiting in line at Walmart, and other common situations where we are forced to abandon our own self-imposed time lines and just wait.  One of the most difficult things to do is just to wait; it can be made even more difficult when we are faced with a situation where we see no visible way out!

Yesterday’s services, from Sunday school to the evening service, were filled with references and reminders that at times, it is important for us to wait and to do so in a spirit of thankfulness and  continued prayer.  Through the prophet Isaiah, God reminds both Jew and Christian alike that they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). When we wait and accept what God has planned for us we will be rewarded by an overjoyed heart and will not be filled with dread or fear, but instead will excel in what God has put before us.  Have you   ever have a job or project that you enjoyed doing so much that it didn’t seem like work?  Did you ever get excited the more you became involved in it?  Did you notice that even when things didn’t go exactly as planned that they were never as bad as they could have been?  Then you totally understand what Isaiah is speaking about in this verse.

Our adult Sunday school class teacher, Eddy Owens, shared with our class how in his life that there are times he has felt that God has shut all the doors and windows and left him in a hallway to just wait.  What an accurate description of what God will do to get our attention; the prophet Isaiah must have also felt the same way when he wrote And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him (Isaiah 30:18). David, whom God called a man after his own heart, wrote He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (Psalms 23:2-3).  There’s an important lesson we can apply here – there will come times in our lives where God puts us in a situation where all we can do is to wait upon him and we are to rest ourselves – spiritually, physically, and mentally – while we wait.

There are times in our lives that we simply do need the opportunity for rest.  The psalmist and king, David, understood this quite well when he wrote Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass(Psalms 37:7). Right now, my wife and I am in the middle of one of these “rest, wait, and fret not…” times in our lives.  There are times where it’s easy, at least for me, to take my eyes off the Lord and begin to worry about everything else that’s going on around me.  Bills, finances, car repairs, and a whole host of things begin to preoccupy my mind.  Instead, what God wants for us is not to worry but to use the time waiting to rest.  There are times when we look back at things that have happened in our lives and we have what I refer to as a “Job moment,” For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest (Job 3:13).  Too many times when we should have rested, we worry instead.  We find ourselves spiritually tired to the point that it can delay or keep us from enjoying God’s rich blessings that he has planned for us.

Additionally, while we are waiting on God’s direction we should not be ashamed.  David, a man that found himself waiting a lot for God’s timing, wrote O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause (Psalms 25:2-3). We are not to be ashamed for our faith in God nor are we to be ashamed when we are placed in a position when all we can do is wait upon God’s timing. It is amazing how when Christians find themselves in situations where waiting is the only thing we can do Satan begins to taunt us with the ever so effective  “so where is your God now?”  It is important that we remember what God gently reminds us through the writing of the psalmist, David: Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth (Psalms 46:10).  I have learned that there are blessings for obedience.  When God tells us to wait on him, and we do, not only do we demonstrate our faith in him, but we also exercise and strengthen our faith in him.

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Posted in Increasing Faith, Our relationship with God

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