Upon What Do You Rely?      

Some of the struggles of church planters are obvious. Where should I plant a church? How do I go about this? Will people respond to the message of the Gospel? On the other hand, some of the struggles are not so obvious. Issues such as physical health, exercise, and diet are included in this list. Interestingly, Jesus addresses the issue of diet from a point of view that is a bit surprising. Look what He says.       

Luke 21:34 "But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."      

The word "dissipation" in the Greek can mean headache from drinking or it can mean gluttony. The book of Proverbs speaks of gluttony in 28:7 where it says, "but a companion of gluttons shames his father." Titus mentions it in connection with the work on Crete, saying in Titus 1:12, "One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.'" (For an historic view of gluttony and the seven deadly sins click here.)     

Jesus connects dissipation and drunkenness with the "cares of life." In other words, the question is, "In what do you trust?" Better yet, "What is the source of your comfort?"      

God has blessed us in this country to such an extent that our grocery stores have about anything we would ever want. Restaurants seem to be on every corner, offering cuisine of all sorts and varieties. There is such an abundance of calories available for us to consume. It is hard to say, "no." The danger is that there is a subtle shift from the blessing of plenty to the burden of plenty. There is a tension between rejoicing simply in the life we have in Christ and addressing the difficulties of life with food and drink (and I would add anything that keeps one from "staying awake at all times.")      

As a pastor, I made many home visits. The wife of one family that I visited had not been in church for years. When I arrived, I saw the reason. She was very large. She had a difficult time moving around her own home, much less making her way to church. And as we visited and communed over the course of a year, her faith grew. During one visit, she and her husband showed me the room where they stored rows and rows, boxes and boxes of boxed and canned food. Food had become her security. But now, her trust was sifting away from the contents of that room to the contents of the gospel.       

One morning I received a phone call. John's wife had died of a heart attack. She knew Jesus and trusted that He had died for her.

Death is inevitable. It has no power over us. Yet, as we grow spiritually, remember that we are on mission. When the mission is difficult, He is the source of our comfort. As Jesus said in Luke 21:33, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

Authentic Humility

This muse could well be called “Spiritual Formation on the Basis of the Word, Part One.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that it is only the Word that transforms and shapes our lives.

There are many phases and layers to our spiritual shaping and formation. Without question we are declared complete in Christ simply by grace through faith. But at the same time, the church member, the missionary, the pastor, and the commissioned minister are continually being formed and shaped in Christ. There are many issues in play concerning this development.

With this, it may be helpful to see a skeletal structure for spiritual formation upon which you may freely hang your God-given personality and calling in life. The content of this structure contains issues for which you may pray when it comes to your own spiritual formation. You may also apply this structural content in your prayers for the individual workers in the harvest field.

The first piece of structure is suggested by Andrew Murray in his book, With Christ in the School of Prayer. It is the call for authentic humility.

False humility is something that cannot stand for long. False humility will reveal itself in the unwillingness to learn and to follow. When the ministry becomes unbearable and difficult, false humility will run away.

Authentic humility, on the other hand, embraces the reality that someone, other than yourself, is to be submitted to. In the case of one’s spiritual formation, that someone else is the Living God in all His holiness. Jesus, in his Redemptive work, humbled Himself. He could have run from the task of receiving the undeserved payment for our sin, but He didn’t. He humbled (submitted) Himself to death on a cross. So says Paul in Philippians chapter two.

As you pray for the evangelism of the world, you can only begin at the foot of the cross, submitting to the One who humbled Himself on our behalf. There we see the servant’s Servant. Authentic humility to our Savior is the beginning of proper spiritual formation.

Freedom from Fear      

I recall seasons in my ministry when both personal and professional order was so close to being removed. I can say this today: “What a blessing that was!”–not that I would want to repeat the specific activities. But the marvelous blessing that surfaced from these times was learning about time alone with God. During these times God reshaped my entire view of prayer.      

In addition, a favorite passage developed for me. Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing but in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the God of peace, which passes all understanding, will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.” Wow!      This is a lesson learned not in theory, thought, or the hypothetical.  You don’t know the strength of this by writing a paper on the subject.  This is a lesson that is taken to heart only in “battle.”  What is the battle?       

The battle surfaces when: 

        • Creative ministry is under assault. 

        • Time is short and the lists are long. 

        • Productivity turns into family discontent. 

        • Scripture is compromised with our own good ideas.

        • Temptations suggest there is a better way than righteousness. 

        • The Gospel and its mission is emasculated for the sake of comfort and acceptance. 

(You can add to this list, I am sure.)       

Such prayer that embraces Paul’s words (inspired by the Holy Spirit) finds rest for the individual. It is not so much in the prayer list that you pray but rather in the quiet of reflection where that rest is found. In this reflection the anxiety evaporates and is replaced by God’s peace. Anxiety does not guard us. It destroys us one bit at a time. But resting in the Lord brings peace. Resting in the Lord stills our fear and quiets our anger. After all, He will guard us in His Son.      

When you pray for the Mission in the Texas District and when you lift up Church Planters, Pastors, Lay Leaders, new efforts, and ongoing mission, pray that the workers are guarded the only way that workers can be, in prayer, where there is rest and where anxiety has no hold.

Knowing God's Heart      

If you want to know God’s heart, you will have to know Him the only way that He can be known with certainty— through Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus says in the Gospel of John. It is, of course, through the Word that Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are revealed. So we read the Word, we study the Word, and we contemplate God on the basis of the thing we trust, namely the Scripture.      

And in the reading, studying, and contemplating, what do we come to know? We come to know God’s heart. And what is God’s heart? What is God’s desire? His desire is that all would be saved. That truth is clear from the beginning of Scripture to the ending of Scripture. God pursues Adam with the promise. It is clear in the Gospels. It is the energy behind the mission of Paul and Barnabas and Luke and Timothy and others that we know and others that we will know in eternity.      

There is a different kind of revelation of the heart of God in Isaiah chapter 6. Read Isaiah 6:1-8 and think about the following questions.       

What does Isaiah see in his vision? Isaiah sees the unveiled holiness of God. He is in God’s presence totally and completely.      

How does Isaiah respond to this situation? His involuntary response is despair. He calls out in prayer and in confession. (This is not unlike Thomas seeing Jesus the week after the Resurrection and bowing down and saying of Jesus, “My Lord, and My God.”) But notice that all of this is precipitated without one demand from God. God does not lay out the law. He does not declare a mandate from Isaiah. God simply is revealed in reality before Isaiah, and Isaiah is upended.      

Thankfully, that is not the end of it. God shows Isaiah what mercy is all about. He extends to Isaiah His unmerited grace and favor. There is no “this for that” arrangement, but rather, only the declaration that your sins are forgiven. And God’s heart is seen once again.      

But then there is a question. And in that question God reveals again His heart. The question is, “Who will go for us?” God would have others know of the same grace and mercy that He had just extended to Isaiah.       

The response of Isaiah is delightful. It is as though he looks around, having heard the question, and says, “Let me go!” I will go. Notice this: there is no command from God “to go” here. There is only the desire of the one who has been saved to go and to bring the Gospel to the world, all to pursue the heart of God.       

Don’t be mistaken. We have been commanded (if you really need a command) to go to the ends of the world with the Gospel. But I would suggest that there is a better way than to submit to a command. Simply embrace God’s heart.

First Things First      

In Exodus 3, Moses, talking with God asks, “Who shall I say sent me to you?” The answer? “I Am who I Am.” God says, “The One who makes things happen has sent you.”      

In my experience there are many blessings in the call to prayer. These blessings are the kind that cannot be fully imagined or realized apart from a life of prayer.

Being a product of this Western/American culture that is almost addicted to seeing things happen, goals met, and progress measured as an end in itself, I know that prayer can easily become an obligation and ingredient for the pursuit of success. This, I have learned, by itself, is a perversion of the call to pray. The purpose of prayer is not first for our “institutional success.”      

Don’t misunderstand. For the church to move ahead in mission, prayer is essential. When one investigates mission and ministry that is moving ahead and gaining ground in the Kingdom, what is discovered will include men and women of prayer, somewhere, who are intimately involved in praying for the success of the mission.      

The blessing, however, is not first the success of the mission. The blessing is first for the one who prays in knowing God. In prayer, a kind of love develops that one cannot know otherwise. Prayer that is based on the Word and that is grounded in the heart of Jesus leads one to know the Living God intimately.      

There is an interesting passage in Daniel (11:32) that connects knowing God and action. It says, “…but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” Hosea pushes this even further. He makes the knowledge and love of God our priority. “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;” (Hosea 6:3). “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).      

So we pray. And with that, “things” will happen that can only be considered additional blessings. The first blessing is to know the One who makes things happen (Exodus 3) through Jesus Christ.

Breaking Hard Hearts      

Mark 16 reveals some of the frustration that Jesus had with His followers. The ASV is translated this way. Verse 14, And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; (That means they were at dinner) and he upbraided (That means that Jesus found fault and was frustrated with them) them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen.      

The step Jesus took from there was not small. He didn’t say, “I know this is hard. Let’s go back to the beginning and start all over at Lesson one.” Patience was not the leading characteristic. He said, “There is only one way to shake you out of your hardness of heart. You need to realize the enormity of the task about to land in your lap. Go into all the world and bring My message of grace.” 

In light of this, there is the end of Matthew chapter nine, where Jesus goes into communities, meets with people, and recognizes that the harvest is ready to be harvested but that it must begin with prayer for the workers. Those same workers would bring the gospel to the world. Bringing Jesus to the world starts with prayer for the workers. That is what Jesus said. And bringing Jesus to the world is the best way to break the hardness hearts, even of workers.

Humility and Truth      

What is this task? Read Matthew 28:19-20, Ephesians 4:12-13, Luke 19:10, John 17:18, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8. What is the task?: To reach the lost and make disciples.      

The prayer of God’s people involves two distinct and yet related truths. The first is humility. That would be our humility before God and before each other. Whether we like this or not, we are called to humility. I was reminded of this the other day in Ephesians 4:1,2. There, in light of the immeasurable grace of God, His adoption of us as Sons, and the unlimited resources that He provides (chapters 1,2,3), Paul begs the Ephesians to then walk in a manner worthy of your call, namely to be humble and patient, and the list goes on. Humility is first of the list.      

The second reality is most remarkable in light of our call. We are enjoined to talk with God, the creator of the universe, the lover of our eternal souls. He wants to listen to what we have to say. He has even designated a translator for us (Romans 8:26) because we really don’t know how to pray.      

Let me ask you a question: To whom do you talk? You talk with your spouse, your children, family, friends, employer and so many others that you meet throughout a day or week. There is business to be done, but mostly you talk because of your relationships. You talk because you love. Those to whom you do not talk will develop assumptions about you. Arrogance is one of those assumptions. Arrogance has no place in a loving relationship.      

If we will not pray, what does that say about our relationship with God? In addition to this, what does this say about our understanding of not only who God is but also who we are?      

In the upcoming blogs of the m2cprayer, I am going to offer some Biblical reasons to respond to the call of prayer, investigate some of the Old Testament saint’s prayer experiences, and list some of the benefits of knowing Jesus and His call to pray.       

In the meantime, keep talking.