Prayer According to God's Will

Many people pray, usually only for their own needs and only when they feel they suddenly need God, yet are quick to abandon Him when things go well again. Biblical prayer has a different emphasis - a much better and more consistent results! God is actually seeking a relationship of intimacy and daily fellowship; He is not only one to get us out of trouble, but seeks to be our daily companion in every-day situations. Prayer is more than asking God, or saying a few words in a church meeting once in a while. Prayer is a lifestyle of communication and communion with God. We shall look at a very important issue when it comes to prayer, one that will guarantee answers to prayer no matter how difficult our circumstances may be.

Prayer (Part 2): Prayer According to God's Will (Mt 6:5-13; 1Jn 5:14-15)

Jesus not only lived a life of prayer, He also taught His disciples how to pray. While many people know - and perhaps weekly repeat - the Lord's Prayer, we shall take a closer look that the preceding words of Jesus, for they give us the basis for the prayer.

The first thing Jesus establishes when it comes to prayer is that our attitude must be totally devoid of hypocrisy and our motive must be pure. We should not make a show, bragging about in our prayer, nor shall we pray in order to impress others (see Mt 6:5). Rather, we shall pray alone before God (v 6). God always sees the secrets of our hearts, so He knows our motives. Praying in secret is praying for God alone. We can't make a big show if we're all alone, unless we seek to fool ourselves in making a big show for ourselves in prayer! It is a relationship of intimate communion and something very personal. Jesus does, of course, not speak against public prayer, only against public prayer with hypocritical motives, that is, such as seeking to impress others rather than having intimacy with God.

The next issue is that prayer is not a matter of babbling many words, or have some kind of magic formula which guarantees answers (see v 7). Rather, and these words are the very basis of all prayer, 'your Father [i.e., God] knows what you need before you ask Him' (v 8). These words immediately precede the 'Lord's Prayer' and form the very foundation for it - God knows what we need, hence, we don't need to approach Him as if He didn't know or didn't care. So, whenever we come before God, we approach Him on this basis: He knows what we need before we pray! There is such relief in knowing that God knows and that God cares. No need to worry then, He's in control of our lives and circumstances!

The words that follow are some of the most well-known words from the Bible, but let's look at them again (we shall never presume that we know all things about a biblical texts just because we know its words!):

V 9: 'Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your Name'

Many Hebrew prayers open with these words; synagogue prayers read, 'Magnified and sanctified be his great name throughout the world...' (David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1992, pg 32). Hence, we see the Jewishness of Jesus' model prayer. The first priority is God as Father and that His name be exalted, glorified, and magnified. While many church prayers only centre around selfish desires and our needs, Jesus teaches us to prayer with God as our centre of prayer. In a society where the word 'father' means little to many abandoned kids, or, even worse, recalls a negative image, it is often hard for people to correctly grasp the right pricture Jesus is communicating. In His understanding, God is a loving, caring Father who is there for His children (unlike many fathers today). hence, the Father-image is often the exact opposite of what children experience a father to be. If you had a bad dad, think of God as exactly the opposite!

V 10: 'Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven'

These words reinforce the above statement: it is not primarily about us, but about God. For the true disciple God's kingdom and will come first, knowing that as we seek first God's kingdom, all things we need will be provided for by God (Mt 6:33); hence, nothing to worry when our priorities are right! Whenever God's will is done, His Kingdom (His rule as King) comes upon us. In heaven, God rules sovereignly, yet on earth human free will often causes havoc and misery. God, on the other hand, seeks to bless us, care for us, and help us make right decisions, that is, decisions according to His will. As Creator he knows what is best for us, just as the maker of a car or tool knows best how we are to use it. If we use some item in a wrong way, it will be damaged (e.g., if you want to crush stones in a kitchen mixer... you can imagine the result, right?) God is full of love and compassion, as well as powerful to provide good things for us. He is a perfect and as a gentle Father He seeks to instruct us in our daily lives in order for us to have a good life, a life of meaning, purpose, and fulfilment!

V 11: 'Give us this day our daily bread'

God cares for us on a daily basis. In our Western society such a prayer line seems superfluous, yet in many parts of the world, this is ever so relevant. With the present credit cruntch, many low-income families feel the effects strongly, yet this prayer line will assure us that God will take care of us no matter what the financial markets say.

V 12: 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors'

This is a very powerful statement, one which many seek to twist and avoid. As all previous lines, we must take these words literal, too. God forgives us our sins, but we must forgive others in the same way. Modern research could establish that unforgivenss is often a cause for cancer or other sicknesses. Forgivess releases not only our debtor, but also our own soul from any feeling of resentment or bitterness. We just forgive and forget, and with it let any injustice go - this will be of tremendous blessing for ourselves, for bitterness and even hatred against others will be avoided. It is cometimes very tough, for something inside of us wants justice! Well, so does God, but He wants us to trust Him, for He is not primarily into judging and punishing people, but rather to bless them and change them. Martin Luther King is a prime example that this kind of approach works in real life and that it has tremendous effect on others. If people realise what they are forgiven of, it usually has a good effect on them. Some will, of course, use your goodness, yet this is not our concern - we need to forgive and make sure we're right with God. He will take care of the situation. If you doubt this, try it first and see for yourself!

V 13: 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us rom the evil one'

We shall pray that God will keep us from temptation. james instructs us that it is our selfish and fleshly desires that lead us into temptation, never God (Jms 1:13-16). God is for us and seeks to prevent damage that we inflict on ourselves through chosing to sin. Sin always has negative and destructive consequences, and it is thus thatr God seeks to protect us from its destructive forces and terrible consequences.

Hence, we have seen what prayer is according to Jesus, that is, prayer according to God's will. Jesus' closest disciple, John, has very plain and clear words when it comes to prayer according to God's will. Let's take a look at them:

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. nd if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him (1Jn 5:14-15)

These words are plain and simple to understand: prayer must be according to God's will, and if they are, God will hear and answer. Simple! Jesus, in John's Gospel (note the source of the above words), made it clear that if (condition) His words abide in us, our prayer will be effective, since it will be according to His will, as His words reveal God's will. The 'binding and loosing' and the prayer of agreement Jesus spoke about in Matthew 18:18-19, is really about people making decisions based on God's word. In the synangogue practice of the time, the leaders sought God's will in His Word in order to make a decision on a certain matter the Bible didn't directly state (a modern example would be smoking: the Bible doesn't forbid smoking, yet, of course, smoking was invented much later; we know from other passages of Scripture that we should not allow ourselves to be addicted to anything, hence smoking isn't right, let alone bad for our health!) So, if people on earth, find agreement according to God's will and pray accordingly, the answer is certain!

May God helps us to understand His will in His word, and may we learn more and more to pray according to His will - and if we do so, He will hear us and answer our prayer positively!


Shalom,
Gordon

The Prayer of Desperation and Dedication

Prayer can change things! Many people pray in many different ways - but the results also vary. The question is who we pray to and how we do it. That is, not so much the external form, but rather the content and our personal attitude and faith are crucial. Christians and Jews pray to the God of the Bible whom they believe is a God who answers the prayers of His people because He loves them, knows their needs, and is able to act on their behalf.

We shall look at different prayers in the Bible in order to learn how to pray in order to get our prayers answered. This series may not follow through non-stop, but will, most likely, be 'interrupted' with other sermons on different issues. So, keep visiting our blog in order to read our teachings and news.

God is the Lord of the Harvest - not the Lord of the Rings - and we need to pray for Him to send out workers into His Harvest (Mt 9:35-39). The 'harvest' here does, of course, not refer to crops and fruit, but to people who are in desperate need of God, healing, health, and shalom (well-being, wholeness). Jesus had a deep compassion for all the suffering - and still has - and wants this divine compassion to be established in those workers He can send out. The importance of prayer cannot be overemphasised - so let's get right into it...

Prayer (Part 1): The Prayer of Desperation and Dedication

There are three prayers we want to look at, and all three have at least two elements in common: desperation and dedication. When hard times come to people, there are usually two different responses: some curse God, accuse Him for their trouble, and start to hate Him, while others humble themselves in child-like trust, cry to Him in desperation, and as they dedicate their lives and the answer to their prayer to God, He acts on their behalf in an amazing way - a way impossible for humans to act.

• Jacob (Genesis 28; 32)
  

Jacob is a very interesting character, but space does, unfortunately, not allow us to cover his whole story. What is perhaps the most interesting in his life's development is that God changed him in an instructive process. He became a man of humility and one who would endure suffering a wrong innocently. It was as he was 'tricked' himself that he realised that what he had done to his brother was rather tricky. The story is complex and we can't explain all matters, but what is evident in his prayer-encounter with the Angel of God is that he was desperate. His own brother sought to kill him (although it was primarily Esau's, not Jacob's (!), fault that the older had lost his birth right (because he sold it, not valuing it for what it was). The situation is tense: Esau is seeking to kill Jacob. This was for real, and Jacob knew it. What did he do? Well, he prayed in desperation and God saved his life through a miraculous change of heart in Esau. What is also important to observe is that Jacob had dedicated his life and 10% of all his wealth and income unto God (28:20-22). Hence, it was a prayer of desperation and dedication. He had fully given himself to God and His purposes for his life, and once he prayed in a desperate situation, God did miracles for him! That is the power of such a prayer.

• Hannah (1 Samuel 1)

A similar pattern is seen in Hannah's prayer. He was barren, which was, of course, a big shame in the culture of the day (as it is in many cultures today). The other wife of her husband would provoke her in no soft manners; Hannah's heart was broken and her soul crushed. Her husband's material gifts would not make up for the child she so desperately wanted. What did she do? Accuse God? No way; that would be outrageous! It would also be foolish, because only God can make a barren woman have a child! There are seven barren women in Scripture; six of them prayed to God (or were prayed for) and God have them children. Prayer does work! My wife and I ourselves had prayed for four barren women in Bulgaria, and all of them have a child now (or perhaps more...!?) We prayed to the God of the Bible, the God of gods and Lord of life, who can do miracles beyond human powers or imagination.

Hannah was desperate, but what is equally important, she dedicated her son - if God was to give her one - unto the Lord. It was a prayer of dedication, and that is key in this passage: her prayer was one according to the will of God, one of humility, one of selflessness. She did not ask great things for herself, but wanted God's purposes to flourish. If we remember Solomon's initial prayer, we find similar elements: he didn't want the riches, but rather the wisdom to fulfill his leadership role on behalf of the people. It is this kind of heart that God responds to and rewards. Hannah's son became such an important figure, notably because he anointed Israel's greatest king - David.

• Jesus (Mt 26:36-46)

We cannot omitt Jesus' prayer of dedication in his greatest hour of prayer-struggle: He knew He would be executed in the most brutal manner, yet still He didn't ask God to take Him out of suffering and trouble, but empower Him to go through it, and come out victorious. In fact, all that mattered for Jesus was the will of God. Previously He had stated that it was even His food (nourishment) to do the will of God (Jn 4:34). This is amazing - He lived only to do God's will! At the cross, in His hours of greatest suffering, He even prayed for the forgiveness of those who mistreated Him - only a humble, all-loving being can do that. Martin Luther King Jr. followed in Jesus' footseps and achieved amazing things. Jesus achieved the greates thing ever: an eternal salvation for human beings who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ and what He had accomplished at the cross.

This is the good news: Jesus Christ died in order to save sinners. There is no person too sinful for God not to accept him, forgive him, and restore him to a life of health, holiness, and purpose. God is a good God who loves people and seeks to answer their prayers. As we come to Him in humility and faith, as we pray in desperation (if that is our situation) and dedication (which we should always do), God will respond and act.

This Sunday we shall continue with this theme and look at prayer according to the will of God - such prayers are never denied!

God bless you as you seek Him and prayer to Him!


Shalom,
Gordon

Discipleship (Part 4): Abiding in Christ and His Word

Finally we had our last sermon in our series on discipleship. Why is this series important? Well, as a church we seek biblical faith and conduct, and discipleship is the essence of being a believer in and follower of Christ. The label 'Christian' means so many thing to so many people, so much so that many don't know what it actually is supposed to mean. We have here sought to define genuine discipleship (though the study is, of course, not all-comprehensive) which defines that part of a genuine Christian life. We shall dive into the teachings of Jesus more thoroughly in the future for right doctrine and faith are very important as they determine how we live. Church history is full of doctrinal disputes, something Paul warned would cause damage. This we seek to avoid, yet nevertheless, correct biblical doctrine must be upheld - even in our post-modern and relativistic world! More about that later... Please do enjoy the following notes and seriously consider your own life if you claim to be a Christian: is Jesus your Lord and Saviour? Did you set right priorities? Are you seeking God's will? Have you given yourself to Jesus? These are the crucial questions for those who profess to be Christian. It is one thing to know something about God, yet blessing only comes if we put into action what we know and believe (see Jn 13:17)!

Discipleship (Part 4): Abiding in Christ and His Word

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:7-8 NASB)

This text sets the tone for our sermon. The disciple is to bear 'much fruit,' a figurative speech to indicate that there must be results that show genuine faith and dedication to Christ. A tree that does not bear fruit is a waste of space, as we all know. No one can sell leaves on the market; only fruit counts! Abiding in Christ and His Word is the very key presented by Jesus for those who want to be effective for God and 'bear much fruit' for His glory. The disciple does not live to glorify himself or herself - totally contrary to today's philosophies of life - but rather seeks to glorify God through a genuinely godly life.

In the preceding words, Jesus used a powerful illustration to make His message understood. Please keep in mind that the culture of the day was very familiar with agriculture, hence the vine and vinedresser language made perfect sense. John 15:1-6 reads as follows (NASB):

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

There is a lot to be taken from these words. For one, Jesus is pointing to Israel as the vine planted by God, yet in times of rebellion and sin, she did not bear fruit in accordance with God's labour on behalf of His beloved people (see Isa 5). Jesus is genuinely Jewish and genuinely committed to God and His will - He expresses genunine godliness, and had borne fruit that glorified the Father; now He was to demand it from His followers for whom He had laboured (in discipleship, teaching, and care). The illustration is simple: a fruitless branch takes up unnecessary space and enegry from other branches in a tree, hence it is to be removed. It is a sobering passage, especially for 'Christians' living in compromise and sin. Abiding in Christ, on the other hand, gives us the necessary strength to live godly lives, be effective for God, and thus glorify the Father. A branch draws its life from from the tree; the stem upholds the branch (cf. Ro 11).

It is a fact that is sometimes hard to grasp, but truely without and apart from Christ humans cannot do anything that is worth eternity. It is only through Christ that we can serve God in an acceptable way. It is a glorious life, abiding in Christ, for it takes pressure of the disciple for fruit grows naturally on a healthy and connected branch! It is a life of grace where we do not have to strive to please God or live this life in our own strength. So many people are overtired and overburdened, but if they would only 'let go and let God' things would be much easier. Yes, I know, it is a process and a struggle to learn being dependant on God - I've been there! It is not easy to accept this overwhelming love and acceptance of God - it is almost too good to be true - I know, I've been there. In a cruel world in which people are ever to selfish, the unconditional and selfless love of God is just amazing! We we get to know God, we will be able to more and more 'let go and let God'; He wants to be our everything because in this way all of His goodness and abundant life can come to us. It is a peace so out of this world, or, as Paul says, and peace that is beyond our understanding or explication... Peace that the world cannot give, peace that is nowhere else to be found, peace that is deep, lasting, and eternal.

If we take a look at Jesus' own life, we will discover that He Himself had lived in this intimacy with the Father, and it was that deep relationship of trust that enabled Him to do what He did. Let me put it under three headings:

1. Jesus lived in total surrender, dependence, and obedience to God (e.g., Jn 5:19, 30; 6:38). It is amazing how Jesus Himself lived by abiding in the Father, even to such an extent that He could claim that He and the Father were one (Jn 10:30, 38; cf. 14:6-14).
2. Jesus lived in a prayerful relationship with God (Lk 5:16; Mt 14:23). Though He was fully God, Jesus, in His humanity, lived a lifestyle of prayer. This is yet another sign of Him relying on God for guidance and strength.
3. Jesus loived by God's Word and Spirit (Lk 4:1, 4, 8, 12, 14ff). Jesus was a Man of the Spirit, and that is what 'Christ' means: the Anointed One, the Messiah (Hebrew: Mashiach). In spiritual warfare, Jesus was victorious by sticking to God's Word - He was a Man of the Word.

These characteristics form a basis for a godly and effective life of a disciple who seeks to bear much fruit for God make his or her life count! May we more and more seek such a life the Master Himself lived and learn to bear much fruit in a dedicated life to Jesus, our 'Vine,' as we abiding Him as 'branches.'

Shalom,
Gordon