Will God answer your prayer for your friend’s salvation? Will He honor your witness to them about Christ? God’s answer is forged in the fiery furnace of Daniel 3. The book of Daniel presents us with faithful witness in a foreign land. That witness takes the form of kingdom alignment and allegiance through Daniel’s fellow servants of the Most High God, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When pressed to worship a god that was no god at the jeopardy of their own lives, they affirmed, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O king.” Then in allegiance to the ultimate Sovereign whose kingdom is an enduring kingdom and who gives earthly reign to whom He wills, they take their stand: “But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
How does this help us to know if God will answer our prayer or honor our witness? This account displays not only a determination of faith, but also lays out a division of responsibility. God is able to answer and will do as He pleases. That’s the impetus for praying in faith. Praying in faith is praying with the conviction of God’s hearing, the expectation of God’s answering and the confidence that no matter how great is the thing we ask for, God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or could even think. Such prayer knows, trusts, relies on, serves and submits to the will of God.
Alongside of God’s responsibility lies ours, showcased with tenacity in the stand taken by Daniel’s trio of friends. In essence we say, “God is able to save the one to whom we witness and for whom we are praying and His saving purposes will be accomplished. But if He does not, I will not shrink from my convictions or shirk my responsibility to bear witness to my Lord Jesus whose kingdom I serve.”
Keep Christ in Christian
Jesus is not only the reason for the season. He is the reason for our being. May it be our daily goal not just to keep Christ in Christmas but to keep Christ in Christian. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.
Reason for the Season
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (Is. 1:18b). As I look at my window in southeastern Pennsylvania, snow covers the ground and its blanket grows thicker by the hour. The landscape bears its white trim. That's the coloration our God wants us to have when it comes to His transforming work of grace through Christ in respect to our sin. He colors sin scarlet. Have you ever gotten red magic marker on your hands and tried to wash it off? It is no easy task. Eventually, it does disappear. God, however, describes us as caught red-handed in our sin. Neither our scrubbing of self-reformation nor the whitewash of cover up nor the exfoliation of time will help. God Himself cleanses us from that sin, both of hand and heart, through the crimson flow of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. By grace, through faith in Him, God looks upon us and sees His handiwork of grace in making us whiter than snow. That's what He bids us to ponder in our heart as the reason for the season: "Come, now, let us reason together, says the LORD..." (Isaiah 1:18a). Such reason will take us to Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners.
When God Does Not Listen
What would it be like not to have access to God in prayer? We take the privilege of prayer for granted, forgetting the cost of that access through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, neglecting the open invitation of our God to approach Him, the scepter of His grace continually extended to us, losing sight of the power of prayer as God's ordained means for the accomplishment of His purposes.
Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. Many of those tears were shed on behalf of the people of God as he cried out to God on their behalf. Tracing the winding river of prayer through Jeremiah's prophetic word renews us in the privilege of prayer and appreciation for the access we have to the ear of God for His mercy and grace in time of need.
"Do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and not not intercede with me, for I will not hear you" (7:16) Here in Jeremiah and elsewhere (e.g., 11:14; 14:11), God highlights for us the privilege of access to Him. We could bring several aspects of commentary to bear here, but at the very least we want to wake up sweaty and shaking from the nightmare of what it would be for us not to have audience with our God for our own petitions and intercession for others. We would shrink in the fear of abandonment, powerlessness and hopelessness.
Our spirits are revived when God speaks to Jeremiah, "then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you" (29:7). What is the "then" that restores God's favor and invites access and promise of God's ear? It is the promise of God's plans of the new covenant, plans bound up in Jesus Christ, plan of God's saving purpose, "plans for welfare and not for evil, to give a future and a hope" (29:11), plans where God assures us that if we seek Him, we will find Him and He will be responsive to our pleas (29:12-14). God hears our prayer because of Jesus.
Treasure prayer.
Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. Many of those tears were shed on behalf of the people of God as he cried out to God on their behalf. Tracing the winding river of prayer through Jeremiah's prophetic word renews us in the privilege of prayer and appreciation for the access we have to the ear of God for His mercy and grace in time of need.
"Do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and not not intercede with me, for I will not hear you" (7:16) Here in Jeremiah and elsewhere (e.g., 11:14; 14:11), God highlights for us the privilege of access to Him. We could bring several aspects of commentary to bear here, but at the very least we want to wake up sweaty and shaking from the nightmare of what it would be for us not to have audience with our God for our own petitions and intercession for others. We would shrink in the fear of abandonment, powerlessness and hopelessness.
Our spirits are revived when God speaks to Jeremiah, "then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you" (29:7). What is the "then" that restores God's favor and invites access and promise of God's ear? It is the promise of God's plans of the new covenant, plans bound up in Jesus Christ, plan of God's saving purpose, "plans for welfare and not for evil, to give a future and a hope" (29:11), plans where God assures us that if we seek Him, we will find Him and He will be responsive to our pleas (29:12-14). God hears our prayer because of Jesus.
Treasure prayer.
Crouching Sin, Hidden Desire
We bear witness in what the Apostle Paul calls a “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4) and calls us to caution because “the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15). Our witness takes place in the face of spiritual opposition. God alerts us to this in Gene. 4:6 where He says, "sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." To help orient us to the age in which we live, I’ve copied from my sermon blog on Genesis 4:1-16.
Our first foray from Genesis 1-3 into a post-fall world presents us with a pretty disturbing picture. We witness mangled worship, rebellion against God and unchecked emotion leading to murder, all a taste of what a world now riddled with sin will be like. We see how horrible sin is and what man in rebellion against God is capable of, especially if we allow sin to rule us to the neglect of the counsel of God. Yet in the midst of the darkness we see the sparkle of God's promise and grace that anticipates the coming of the seed of the woman that we celebrate this Christmas season. Those who look at a sin-infected world with all its horrors and conclude there is no God or an inadequate God, fail to take seriously the reality of the fall and neglect the great redeeming work of God to bring remedy and hope through Jesus Christ.
(comment from Ray) God tells Cain that sin's "desire is for [him] and [he] must rule over it," reminding us of the curse upon Eve that her "desire shall be for [her] husband and he shall rule over [her]." The language seems to point to a connection, but it is less than transparent (to me, at least).
(comment from Stan) The words "desire" and "rule" in Gen. 4:7 are identical those of Gen. 3:16, and both are expressed in the aftermath of sin's entrance. The connection for us to make could well be the active elements of contending with sin. Sin finds a friend in the desires of our hearts that are drawn to it, embrace it and cultivate it in our lives. The result of sin entering through the door of desire is that it climbs to the throne of our hearts to rule over us, and we become ensnared in it. Paul employs the same imagery in Rom. 6, where he says in vs. 12: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions." James 1:14-15 is also instructive for us in the ascendancy of sin.
Giving Thanks
With the oxygen of appreciation of the life God gives us every time we inhale, every exhale should carry elements of thanks for the mercies, goodness and grace of God that sustain us and bless us on our way. A life of prayer without thanks is akin to a speech impediment in communion with God. Thanks is the reflex of humility that recognizes with the apostle: "What do we have that we have not received?" (1 Cor. 4:7) May the Lord bless this day to give thanks to Him in the hearing of family and friends and train us each and every day to give thanks in all things with the perfect diction of His sanctifying grace.
Psalter Prayer
One of my favorite moments in The Wizard of Oz was when Dorothy opened the door of her house, freshly deposited by a tornado in the land of Oz. What greeted her was a world brilliant in color, a display of beauty, wonder and richness.
That serves as a picture for our prayer lives. We are often satisfied (or resigned) to black and white prayer, prayer that’s important but lacking. Our God and Father, however, bids us to prayer rich in fellowship with Him, broad as the range of life itself, with depth that looks beyond fixing the circumstance to the purpose of God in it.
God provides for that prayer in the psalms. The psalms allow us to pray: 1) pleasing to God, 2) comprehensively, 3) honestly, 4) reflectively, 5) redemptively, 6) beyond the limits of our own imagination and resources, 6) enlarging our vision of God, 7) addressing subjects we might otherwise neglect, 8) with sustained and deep satisfaction. Praying the psalms will fill our eyes with the variegated glory of our God and the sufficiency of His grace in whatever we face, changing us, changing our world.
Dorothy did not really live in a black and white world, any more than did our great-great grandparents (despite photographic evidence to the contrary). That’s just the way the movie watcher would see it. So with us in our prayer lives, God has something more for us He wants us to see. He beckons us from our stunted monochromatic prayer to full-spectrum prayer in relationship with Him. To lead us in that sort of prayer, our God has given us the psalms, not only as songs for all seasons but prayers for all reasons, stretching our communion and communication with God to fit the irregular contours of real life.
Look for a new feature on the CHOP website coming in 2010 called “Psalter DPG.” Right now the CHOP Ministry Manual leads participants through 72 days of prayer as part of the Daily Prayer Guide (DPG). The plan is to build two 72-day DPGs based on the psalms, eventually employing all 150 psalms as templates to direct CHOP participants in prayer toward growing in the knowledge of God, reaching those around them for Christ, praying in light of spiritual opposition, and interceding for those laboring with them in prayer.
That serves as a picture for our prayer lives. We are often satisfied (or resigned) to black and white prayer, prayer that’s important but lacking. Our God and Father, however, bids us to prayer rich in fellowship with Him, broad as the range of life itself, with depth that looks beyond fixing the circumstance to the purpose of God in it.
God provides for that prayer in the psalms. The psalms allow us to pray: 1) pleasing to God, 2) comprehensively, 3) honestly, 4) reflectively, 5) redemptively, 6) beyond the limits of our own imagination and resources, 6) enlarging our vision of God, 7) addressing subjects we might otherwise neglect, 8) with sustained and deep satisfaction. Praying the psalms will fill our eyes with the variegated glory of our God and the sufficiency of His grace in whatever we face, changing us, changing our world.
Dorothy did not really live in a black and white world, any more than did our great-great grandparents (despite photographic evidence to the contrary). That’s just the way the movie watcher would see it. So with us in our prayer lives, God has something more for us He wants us to see. He beckons us from our stunted monochromatic prayer to full-spectrum prayer in relationship with Him. To lead us in that sort of prayer, our God has given us the psalms, not only as songs for all seasons but prayers for all reasons, stretching our communion and communication with God to fit the irregular contours of real life.
Look for a new feature on the CHOP website coming in 2010 called “Psalter DPG.” Right now the CHOP Ministry Manual leads participants through 72 days of prayer as part of the Daily Prayer Guide (DPG). The plan is to build two 72-day DPGs based on the psalms, eventually employing all 150 psalms as templates to direct CHOP participants in prayer toward growing in the knowledge of God, reaching those around them for Christ, praying in light of spiritual opposition, and interceding for those laboring with them in prayer.
Witnessing Wisdom
What's the difference between truth and wisdom? Truth is timeless. Wisdom is contemporary. Wisdom is timeless truth applied temporally in the context of our struggles with life lived before the face of God. When we ask God for wisdom, as James urges us to do, we don't ask for new revelation. Rather, we ask for guidance and illumination of His Spirit in bringing the truth given us by God in His Word to intersect with our lives in order to interpret the times and instruct our efforts to honor God in them.
As we walk in our life-spheres as witnesses for Christ, we need both to exegete the Scriptures and exegete the people and circumstance in which we engage those people. This sort of witness requires great wisdom and implores God for that wisdom to stay real and relevant for Christ. What do I say? Lord, grant me wisdom. How do I say it? Lord, grant me wisdom. Where do I begin? Lord, grant me wisdom. How much do I say? Lord, grant me wisdom. Whatever question we face, whatever challenge meets us, our reflex in the face of our weakness and pride and ignorance must be to ask our God for wisdom. That plea can take place on the front line where a response is needed, or formed in the prayer closet through studied reflection.
I'm not a golfer myself, but I enjoy watching it sometimes. I am amazed at how creative professional golfers can be. They analyze the lie of the ball, the need of moment, the stance and stroke required, and factor in all the variables appropriate for the shot to be made. I'm particularly intrigued when they do unorthodox things, like strike the ball with the toe of the club rather than the face, all to achieve a desired result dictated by seasoned judgment. That seems to be a good picture of wisdom. Wisdom is not ordinarily gained on the fly (although I have seen God do some pretty amazing things in the moment), but proceeds from developed discernment, instructed insight and practiced experience. That impromptu golf shot on the TV screen has likely been practiced and practiced and practiced again away from the camera's eye.
Wisdom is timeless truth applied temporally in the context of our struggles with life lived before the face of God. The wisdom God gives us is not simply academic but is realized in the trenches of life in prayerful dependence upon Him. There we find our route to wisdom in witness.
As we walk in our life-spheres as witnesses for Christ, we need both to exegete the Scriptures and exegete the people and circumstance in which we engage those people. This sort of witness requires great wisdom and implores God for that wisdom to stay real and relevant for Christ. What do I say? Lord, grant me wisdom. How do I say it? Lord, grant me wisdom. Where do I begin? Lord, grant me wisdom. How much do I say? Lord, grant me wisdom. Whatever question we face, whatever challenge meets us, our reflex in the face of our weakness and pride and ignorance must be to ask our God for wisdom. That plea can take place on the front line where a response is needed, or formed in the prayer closet through studied reflection.
I'm not a golfer myself, but I enjoy watching it sometimes. I am amazed at how creative professional golfers can be. They analyze the lie of the ball, the need of moment, the stance and stroke required, and factor in all the variables appropriate for the shot to be made. I'm particularly intrigued when they do unorthodox things, like strike the ball with the toe of the club rather than the face, all to achieve a desired result dictated by seasoned judgment. That seems to be a good picture of wisdom. Wisdom is not ordinarily gained on the fly (although I have seen God do some pretty amazing things in the moment), but proceeds from developed discernment, instructed insight and practiced experience. That impromptu golf shot on the TV screen has likely been practiced and practiced and practiced again away from the camera's eye.
Wisdom is timeless truth applied temporally in the context of our struggles with life lived before the face of God. The wisdom God gives us is not simply academic but is realized in the trenches of life in prayerful dependence upon Him. There we find our route to wisdom in witness.
God's Prayer Book
There is little more invigorating to prayer than using the words of God Himself to fuel it. One of my most serendipitous (if a firm belief in the sovereignty of God will allow such terminology) discoveries is the volume by Kenneth Boa, entitled Face to Face: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship. The book guides prayer in all its moods using the word of God. I have yet to use it without being profoundly affected by the life it breathes. Another resource for prayer that I use regularly is The Psalms for Prayer by T. M. Moore. The psalms give us voice in all situations of the human condition in communion with God, leaving no God-appointed target for prayer unattended. However, allowing Scripture to direct our prayer lives means more than reciting prayers, even with fruitful minds and resonating hearts, or interacting with God along the lines of His inscripturated revelation. Scripture itself is a school of prayer in that we hear the voice of our personal God as the speaker, as He pastorally ministers to His people in relationship with them. A primary value I see in my book, The Prayer of Jehoshaphat: Seeing Beyond Life's Storms, is the tutorial it provides for engaging God expectantly in the trenches of life, not just parroting a prayer but learning from the context that produced it to interact with God to give us a bigger view of Him, a better view of ourselves, and a broader view of His grace sufficient for us in whatever we face. God's prayer book doesn't just give us prayers. It makes us pray-ers.
Threadbare Prayer
Recently I was pulled aside by a man who wanted to talk. We sat down together. He hemmed and hawed a bit and, finally, he made this admission to me: "I don't know how to pray." He cited his Roman Catholic background where most of his prayers had been rote and mechanical. He had been reading about prayer recently as part of a group study and realized there was something about prayer he did not have. This man was 91-years-old.
That was part of his embarrassment. He had walked with the Lord for many years and realized how immature his prayer life was. I assured him his request was not unusual and reminded him of Jesus' disciples' request to Him. They had no doubt prayed for years, but upon seeing Jesus' prayer, realized their own was lacking. Hence their request: "Lord, teach us to pray."
Jesus did not chide them. Instead, He gave them a framework for prayer that lifted their eyes beyond their own parochial concerns and threadbare prayer to point them to a tapestry of prayer dense with the thread count of a rich and variegated fellowship with God--prayer filled with praise and thanks and lament and confession and reflection and struggle and intercession and thirst and pain and hope and faith and urgency and weakness and frustration and all those other things that make up real life under the weight of fallen world but with the reality of new life in Christ. Part of my counsel to this dear saint was to show him some examples of prayer given us by God in His Word.
My guess is that God has plans for him to lead him into a life of prayer and deepened fellowship with Him. Why is that my guess?--because of the evidence of humility and Spirit-induced desire that prompted him to shake off the bonds of embarrassment and search for fuller communion with the God who had taken him as His child. Of course, the baby step in that direction is itself the plea, "Lord, teach me to pray."
That was part of his embarrassment. He had walked with the Lord for many years and realized how immature his prayer life was. I assured him his request was not unusual and reminded him of Jesus' disciples' request to Him. They had no doubt prayed for years, but upon seeing Jesus' prayer, realized their own was lacking. Hence their request: "Lord, teach us to pray."
Jesus did not chide them. Instead, He gave them a framework for prayer that lifted their eyes beyond their own parochial concerns and threadbare prayer to point them to a tapestry of prayer dense with the thread count of a rich and variegated fellowship with God--prayer filled with praise and thanks and lament and confession and reflection and struggle and intercession and thirst and pain and hope and faith and urgency and weakness and frustration and all those other things that make up real life under the weight of fallen world but with the reality of new life in Christ. Part of my counsel to this dear saint was to show him some examples of prayer given us by God in His Word.
My guess is that God has plans for him to lead him into a life of prayer and deepened fellowship with Him. Why is that my guess?--because of the evidence of humility and Spirit-induced desire that prompted him to shake off the bonds of embarrassment and search for fuller communion with the God who had taken him as His child. Of course, the baby step in that direction is itself the plea, "Lord, teach me to pray."
Reader's Digest
How many times have you been like me in swinging by a fast food place to pick up a couple of burgers to eat on the go from one place to another, absentmindedly wolfing down the food to get a little nourishment in the system? That approach is not unlike our daily feeding from the Word of God. We do it because we're supposed to, knowing it's good for us. But how much nourishment do we receive from that spiritual food when we eat it on the go, barely tasting it, or with our engine impatiently idling?
In 2 Timothy 2:1 Paul says this to his young charge, "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Typically, our eyes skim that sentence, take it in to some degree, resonate with it a bit and move on. However, just what does it mean to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ? How do we go about being strengthened by it? Is there a distinction to be made between the grace of Christ and the grace that is in Christ?
Then, almost as if reading our minds, Paul says a few verses later, "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" (2:7). If the questions raised by verse 1 made us tap the brakes, this call to think on makes us put it in park and turn off the engine. There is a command here not to just skim but to ruminate, with the enticement of the benefit of understanding from our Lord Himself.
What our God seems to be telling us here is that in order to receive greater benefit from our reading His Word, we need to be ready to ponder it. In expectation of our Lord Jesus granting understanding (including application), that pondering necessarily involves prayer in seeking and wrestling with Him over the truth He has set before us. In fact, we can say with conviction that prayer is the digestive juices by which we assimilate the milk and meat of God's Word for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.
In 2 Timothy 2:1 Paul says this to his young charge, "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Typically, our eyes skim that sentence, take it in to some degree, resonate with it a bit and move on. However, just what does it mean to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ? How do we go about being strengthened by it? Is there a distinction to be made between the grace of Christ and the grace that is in Christ?
Then, almost as if reading our minds, Paul says a few verses later, "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" (2:7). If the questions raised by verse 1 made us tap the brakes, this call to think on makes us put it in park and turn off the engine. There is a command here not to just skim but to ruminate, with the enticement of the benefit of understanding from our Lord Himself.
What our God seems to be telling us here is that in order to receive greater benefit from our reading His Word, we need to be ready to ponder it. In expectation of our Lord Jesus granting understanding (including application), that pondering necessarily involves prayer in seeking and wrestling with Him over the truth He has set before us. In fact, we can say with conviction that prayer is the digestive juices by which we assimilate the milk and meat of God's Word for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.
Fanning the Flame
What do you do when men don't pray? That question is not prompted with any chauvinistic overtones, but arises on the heels of a men's retreat I was involved in organizing for the men of my church. The topic this year was prayer. The retreat itself was extraordinary, made so by the working of God's Spirit through our speaker, T. M. Moore, who exposed us to prayer as participation in the unseen things of Hebrews 11:1, inviting us to a deeper, richer relationship with Jesus Christ, fuller participation in the heavenly realities that are ours in Him and involvement in His kingdom. I am convinced this was just what we needed to hear. My prayer is that the direction and momentum established at the retreat would flow out in changed lives, changed homes, a changed church and changed community. But that's not the way it usually works with retreats, is it? We get fired up but the demands of real life smother the budding flame, depriving it of oxygen. But where does the oxygen come from? It comes from the Holy Spirit. So as men lisp prayers of help from God, He gives His Spirit to fan the flame. We need to cry out to our God in frustration and dissatisfaction with our prayer lives pleading with Him to do as He promised in Zechariah 12:10, to pour out upon us a spirit of grace and supplication. May He incite us to pray and inflame our hearts for the passionate pursuit of knowing Him.
Unchained Prayer
It's always remarkable to me how God showcases prayer as a means for His ends. Hezekiah serves as an example. Confronted by a severe threat from the Assyrian army, we're told Hezekiah prayed to the Lord (Is. 37:15). It's worth checking out what he prays. A few verses later we find the words coming from the mouth of the Lord, "because you have prayed..." In the next chapter in an entirely different matter, our attention is again drawn to Hezekiah praying (Is. 38:2). Likewise, a few verses later the Lord declares: "I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears." What I find so remarkable is not just God emphasizing prayer for the accomplishment of His purposes, but how it is so startling to me each time. The only answer has to be the forgetfulness of my unbelief. Instead of being tethered to the theology and experiential example inscripturated in God's Word, I fear my prayer is chained to unbelief. As I result, I don't pray with urgency. I don't pray with expectation. I don't pray.
Just today I read a note a pastor friend passed along to me. I've pasted it below with the names deleted. It serves as a vivid reminder of the difference between prayer tethered to God's Word and prayer chained to unbelief. May God help me and all "believers" in our unbelief.
Just today I read a note a pastor friend passed along to me. I've pasted it below with the names deleted. It serves as a vivid reminder of the difference between prayer tethered to God's Word and prayer chained to unbelief. May God help me and all "believers" in our unbelief.
God is working in _______'s family. Fear and discouragement are a normal and accepted part of peoples' lives in our area and the spiritual oppression is quite shocking. Recently, we have been receiving requests for prayer among _______'s extended family along these lines. The requests are coming as a result of God answering our prayers openly and releasing people from some extreme symptoms. The first time we prayed for a cousin of his, the guy was healed that day! He had been acting like a lunatic with extremely erratic behavior and since our prayer for him, he has had complete relief! _______'s family (aunt's & uncles) have since been calling him for prayer! Instead of the persecution that I feared was imminent, the opposite is actually happening. The oppression that these people have been living under is too much to bear and the (other religions') options have provided no deliverance or relief. Christ has come that they might be released from this bondage and live in abundance and overflowing joy & peace. Recently, ___________and I prayed for another cousin of his who is also having extreme emotional and spiritual difficulties, and the next morning they contacted __________to tell him about the amazing improvement overnight. Prayer is the tool that God is using to reveal His goodness. People are seeing the clear difference between ritualistic religion that offers no hope, and the power of God through Jesus to deliver them. __________is teaching his household (3 nieces, a nephew, 2 daughters, a wife and his mom) all the lessons and stories he is daily learning from the Bible - that's awesome! Keep praying that God would exponentially increase the knowledge of Christ in this community and that ____________would grow daily. It is important to keep in mind that we have been working for over 4 years and are beginning to see God work in this way. We are vessels for His blessing, but He chooses the time and manner in which He will carry out His will.
Sow What?
It's remarkable how the Spirit of God impresses a timely message through those passages we've read over and over again. This morning I was finishing up a devotional reading of Galatians, coming across the familiar principle of what we sow, we will reap. What struck me this time, though, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, discerning the thoughts and intentions of my heart was the harvest of the sowing. "For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." (Gal. 6:8)
What jumped out at me was the word "corruption." I looked it up in the Greek and the range of the word has to do with anywhere from destruction to deterioration. What I sowed had direct relationship to the integrity, the wholeness, the holiness of my being. The mirror the Spirit was holding up to me in His Word showed some distressing things for a child of God, both in what was growing and what was not growing. And it was my fault, the consequence of the principle of the Christian life to which the Spirit was calling my attention.
Of course, the next question naturally followed and it was this the Spirit impressed upon my heart with great conviction. Just what am I sowing? As I see my inclination to indulge in sin and my cavalier attitude about my actions, what have I sown that those weeds have sprung up and even thrive? How am I denying myself eternal like, not in the sense of salvation but in the sense of abiding in Christ for good fruit and living out the life of the gospel on a daily basis?
What jumped out at me was the word "corruption." I looked it up in the Greek and the range of the word has to do with anywhere from destruction to deterioration. What I sowed had direct relationship to the integrity, the wholeness, the holiness of my being. The mirror the Spirit was holding up to me in His Word showed some distressing things for a child of God, both in what was growing and what was not growing. And it was my fault, the consequence of the principle of the Christian life to which the Spirit was calling my attention.
Of course, the next question naturally followed and it was this the Spirit impressed upon my heart with great conviction. Just what am I sowing? As I see my inclination to indulge in sin and my cavalier attitude about my actions, what have I sown that those weeds have sprung up and even thrive? How am I denying myself eternal like, not in the sense of salvation but in the sense of abiding in Christ for good fruit and living out the life of the gospel on a daily basis?
Ministry Momentum
The past week has seen a number of reports from those currently conducting the Community Houses of Prayer ministry and from others who are poised to launch the CHOP ministry in their church contexts. I find it both thrilling and humbling to see that God is pleased to use this tool for the equipping of His saints and mobilization of His church for the sake of the gospel. I love it when people share stories with me about how God is working in the lives of those for whom they are praying through CHOP. You can see the reflection of the glory of God in their faces as they become animated in their descriptions of God's answers to prayer and shaping of them as His instruments. Pastors and lay leaders have shared with me their vision to use CHOP to engage their churches in the work of the kingdom and to cultivate a mentality of personal mission for the cause of Christ. I can only think that as God stirs His people to prayer through CHOP and other means that we are going to see remarkable things happen on a variety of fronts. I recently read a comment from a preacher who was asked by a young minister what was a matter of first importance for him as he undertook his new charge. The preacher's answer took the young man directly to the heart of operations, "Pray for a praying people." I see this as a prayer for revival and a prayer for a people engaged in the work of the kingdom. My prayer is that God would be pleased to use CHOP to equip and engage His people for the effecting of the gospel in their own lives and the lives of others that Jesus Christ may be praised. I hope you'll join me in this prayer.
Conduits of Comfort
Paul opens his second letter to the Corinthians by calling us to be conduits of comfort. God comforts us so that we can comfort others with the comfort we received from God. It's akin to why God gives us money--not only for our own needs but to be a blessing to others with the money we recognize as coming to us from the hand of our God. Later in 2 Corinthians Paul says, "You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God." (2 Cor. 9:11)
As we experience suffering and the grace of God to sustain us in it, so God equips us and enlists us for ministry to others. We act as conduits of comfort not by telling people, "I made it through; so can you." But by saying, "I couldn't do it, but God gave me strength." In 2 Cor. 1:9 Paul speaks of God's lesson through the severity of his affliction: "But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." Paul will reiterate this point toward the close of his letter when he says, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." That strength is found in the power of Christ and the sufficiency of His grace . (2 Cor. 12:9-10) That means for us to be conduits of comfort, we need to point people to Christ.
To borrow Paul's words regarding money, we are called to be generous in every way with the comfort with which we have been enriched by the grace of God. The upshot of the principle, whether it be comfort or money, will be thanksgiving to God through Jesus Christ.
As we experience suffering and the grace of God to sustain us in it, so God equips us and enlists us for ministry to others. We act as conduits of comfort not by telling people, "I made it through; so can you." But by saying, "I couldn't do it, but God gave me strength." In 2 Cor. 1:9 Paul speaks of God's lesson through the severity of his affliction: "But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." Paul will reiterate this point toward the close of his letter when he says, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." That strength is found in the power of Christ and the sufficiency of His grace . (2 Cor. 12:9-10) That means for us to be conduits of comfort, we need to point people to Christ.
To borrow Paul's words regarding money, we are called to be generous in every way with the comfort with which we have been enriched by the grace of God. The upshot of the principle, whether it be comfort or money, will be thanksgiving to God through Jesus Christ.
Warfare Witness Study Guide
Warfare Witness: Contending With Spiritual Opposition in Everyday Evangelism provides the basic tenets upon which CHOP is built, exposing us to the spiritual opposition inherent in the work of evangelism, God's work through His Son to deliver and redeem, Christ's provision for His church in its outreach, and practical counsel for exercising our commission for the sake of the gospel.
Son of the Devil
The Bible is clear that we face spiritual opposition in our enemy the devil. He opposes us because we belong to Christ. But exactly what do Satan's efforts look like? Although the Bible speaks of his efforts in terms of accusation, temptation and deception, how do those efforts show up in ways we can recognize them?
One way Satan opposes us is through agents of his kingdom, those whom Jesus cites as being of their father the devil (John 8:39-47). Of the Pharisees, who rejected the Christ and taught contrary to what God had revealed in His Word, Jesus says, "You are of your father the devil." He puts that family lineage in practical terms of action, "and your will is to do your father's desires." Jesus speaks of the Pharisees inability to understand. This all comports with teaching elsewhere that those of the kingdom of God, endued with the Holy Spirit can comprehend the things of the Spirit because they now belong to the realm of light and life (cf. 1 Cor. 2:12-16) and obey the will of God (Rom. 13:12-14). Paul draws a line between "us" and "them," brothers and not, those with hope and those without hope in passages like 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, where those belonging to light and those belonging to darkness manifest different orientations and produce divergent fruit.
Here we find one way that Satan carries out his efforts to oppose us and Christ's church. He works through people, those who are subjects of his fallen kingdom. Paul speaks of being delivered from wicked and evil men in the context of the Lord in His faithfulness guarding us against the evil one (1 Thess. 3:2-3). We might think of Satan using instruments like Judas Iscariot to carry out his desires.
In Acts 13 a man called Elymas the magician opposes Paul and Barnabas, seeking to uproot the seed of faith taken root in through the ministry of the word. Listen to Paul's recriminating words in rebuke of Elymas: "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy" (Acts 13:10). Elymas bore family resemblance to his father the devil and served as a tool for his use against the kingdom of God and His Christ.
The book of Revelation is filled with scenarios in which those who are "earth dwellers" carry out the will of their demonic father, seeking another kingdom, serving a different lord. (e.g., Rev. 3:10; 11:10; 13:8; 14:6). These ones operate as ones dead in sin and are described by Paul in Ephesians 2:1-3, where they walking according to the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, in the spirit of the sons of disobedience.
It is of these from Ephesians 2:1-3 that God called us, made us alive in Christ and enfolded us into an enduring kingdom of righteousness and life. Yet, we too, alive in Christ as we are, can be tools of Satan. We see that with Peter, who one minute is lauded by Christ as the rock upon which Jesus will build His church, and the next is called "Satan" (Matt. 16:16-22). Why the turnaround? It's because in the first instance Peter aligned himself with God and His will. In the the other, he opposed God and His will. Jesus summarizes it for us: "For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
As believers, we can walk according to the ways of Satan and be used of him to further his agenda. That's why the New Testament is filled with counsel for us to be alert, discerning, obedient, walking consistent with our new identity in Christ, displaying characteristics of grace through our abiding in Christ. Evidently, with the body of sin that remains in us we feel the tug of temptation all too strongly.
Much of Paul's letter to the Ephesians sorts these things out for us. We are not to allow our anger to be a foothold for Satan into our lives, giving him sway and using us for his kingdom's agenda (Eph. 4:26f.). That puts our grievances and grudges in a whole different light (or lack thereof). We are to be light because we are light. (Eph. 5:8). What does that light look like? Paul tells us: "for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true." Our agenda in this spiritual conflict is "to try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." In other words, our actions reflect whom we belong to and whom we serve.
One way Satan opposes us is through agents of his kingdom, those whom Jesus cites as being of their father the devil (John 8:39-47). Of the Pharisees, who rejected the Christ and taught contrary to what God had revealed in His Word, Jesus says, "You are of your father the devil." He puts that family lineage in practical terms of action, "and your will is to do your father's desires." Jesus speaks of the Pharisees inability to understand. This all comports with teaching elsewhere that those of the kingdom of God, endued with the Holy Spirit can comprehend the things of the Spirit because they now belong to the realm of light and life (cf. 1 Cor. 2:12-16) and obey the will of God (Rom. 13:12-14). Paul draws a line between "us" and "them," brothers and not, those with hope and those without hope in passages like 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, where those belonging to light and those belonging to darkness manifest different orientations and produce divergent fruit.
Here we find one way that Satan carries out his efforts to oppose us and Christ's church. He works through people, those who are subjects of his fallen kingdom. Paul speaks of being delivered from wicked and evil men in the context of the Lord in His faithfulness guarding us against the evil one (1 Thess. 3:2-3). We might think of Satan using instruments like Judas Iscariot to carry out his desires.
In Acts 13 a man called Elymas the magician opposes Paul and Barnabas, seeking to uproot the seed of faith taken root in through the ministry of the word. Listen to Paul's recriminating words in rebuke of Elymas: "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy" (Acts 13:10). Elymas bore family resemblance to his father the devil and served as a tool for his use against the kingdom of God and His Christ.
The book of Revelation is filled with scenarios in which those who are "earth dwellers" carry out the will of their demonic father, seeking another kingdom, serving a different lord. (e.g., Rev. 3:10; 11:10; 13:8; 14:6). These ones operate as ones dead in sin and are described by Paul in Ephesians 2:1-3, where they walking according to the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, in the spirit of the sons of disobedience.
It is of these from Ephesians 2:1-3 that God called us, made us alive in Christ and enfolded us into an enduring kingdom of righteousness and life. Yet, we too, alive in Christ as we are, can be tools of Satan. We see that with Peter, who one minute is lauded by Christ as the rock upon which Jesus will build His church, and the next is called "Satan" (Matt. 16:16-22). Why the turnaround? It's because in the first instance Peter aligned himself with God and His will. In the the other, he opposed God and His will. Jesus summarizes it for us: "For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
As believers, we can walk according to the ways of Satan and be used of him to further his agenda. That's why the New Testament is filled with counsel for us to be alert, discerning, obedient, walking consistent with our new identity in Christ, displaying characteristics of grace through our abiding in Christ. Evidently, with the body of sin that remains in us we feel the tug of temptation all too strongly.
Much of Paul's letter to the Ephesians sorts these things out for us. We are not to allow our anger to be a foothold for Satan into our lives, giving him sway and using us for his kingdom's agenda (Eph. 4:26f.). That puts our grievances and grudges in a whole different light (or lack thereof). We are to be light because we are light. (Eph. 5:8). What does that light look like? Paul tells us: "for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true." Our agenda in this spiritual conflict is "to try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." In other words, our actions reflect whom we belong to and whom we serve.
Designer Footwear
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace." Eph. 6:13-15
The spiritual armor laid out for us by our God to don as we face each day in this present, evil age has to do with putting on Christ that we may find stability in him and strength in his redemptive might that has overcome the devil. Given the admonition multiple times that we "stand" as the sum of our spiritual warfare, that with which our feet are shod draws particular interest. Standing has to do with the reality and exercise of our union with Christ. Paul's "stand" in Ephesians 6 equates with John's "abide" in John 15. Christ is our salvation, our stability, our surety, our strength.
If we tease out the image of the readiness given by the gospel of peace as constituting our footwear, what do we find? Feet support us and give us stability and leverage for our task. Our stand is on Christ, Christ crucified, raised and reigning. We stand with him who has put all things under his feet for his church (Eph. 2:22f.). By canceling the record of our debt that stood against us, setting it aside, nailing it to the cross, Christ has disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in himself (Col. 2:13ff.). Because of Christ, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet (Rom. 16:20). Every aspect of the peace accomplished by Christ fills the gospel and there we position ourselves.
If our feet are fitted with the gospel of peace, it is there we must stand, preaching the gospel to ourselves that Christ might be our all in all. He is our righteousness. He is our deliverance. He is our sustenance. He is our strength and shield.
Feet, however, are not only for standing; they are for ambulation. By our feet we march against the gates of hell, which cannot prevail against us because Christ reigns and his kingdom advances. Even in chains, captive in prison, Paul enjoins prayer for the the advance of the gospel (Eph. 6:18ff.). To the Philippians Paul gives assurance that his imprisonment has served to advance the gospel (Phil. 1:12ff.). Though Paul may be shackled, the gospel is not. The shoes of the gospel of peace we share as spiritual armor with Paul enable us and engage us wherever we tread. Some wear athletic sneakers for casual dress. However, the footwear of the soldier of Christ is not for lounging but for action. That it is deemed a "readiness given by the gospel of peace" implies preparedness and expectation.
If our feet are fitted with the gospel of peace, it is for the cause of the gospel, with the calling as its heralds, we must go. We enter our life-spheres as recipients of gospel grace and we must proclaim that good news of deliverance to those the Spirit of Christ gives us opportunity, that they too, by God's grace, may know peace with God and the peace of God.
Standing and marching--the shoes we put on for the comings and goings of daily life are intended for both as we stand firm in Christ and step out for him whom we serve.
The spiritual armor laid out for us by our God to don as we face each day in this present, evil age has to do with putting on Christ that we may find stability in him and strength in his redemptive might that has overcome the devil. Given the admonition multiple times that we "stand" as the sum of our spiritual warfare, that with which our feet are shod draws particular interest. Standing has to do with the reality and exercise of our union with Christ. Paul's "stand" in Ephesians 6 equates with John's "abide" in John 15. Christ is our salvation, our stability, our surety, our strength.
If we tease out the image of the readiness given by the gospel of peace as constituting our footwear, what do we find? Feet support us and give us stability and leverage for our task. Our stand is on Christ, Christ crucified, raised and reigning. We stand with him who has put all things under his feet for his church (Eph. 2:22f.). By canceling the record of our debt that stood against us, setting it aside, nailing it to the cross, Christ has disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in himself (Col. 2:13ff.). Because of Christ, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet (Rom. 16:20). Every aspect of the peace accomplished by Christ fills the gospel and there we position ourselves.
If our feet are fitted with the gospel of peace, it is there we must stand, preaching the gospel to ourselves that Christ might be our all in all. He is our righteousness. He is our deliverance. He is our sustenance. He is our strength and shield.
Feet, however, are not only for standing; they are for ambulation. By our feet we march against the gates of hell, which cannot prevail against us because Christ reigns and his kingdom advances. Even in chains, captive in prison, Paul enjoins prayer for the the advance of the gospel (Eph. 6:18ff.). To the Philippians Paul gives assurance that his imprisonment has served to advance the gospel (Phil. 1:12ff.). Though Paul may be shackled, the gospel is not. The shoes of the gospel of peace we share as spiritual armor with Paul enable us and engage us wherever we tread. Some wear athletic sneakers for casual dress. However, the footwear of the soldier of Christ is not for lounging but for action. That it is deemed a "readiness given by the gospel of peace" implies preparedness and expectation.
If our feet are fitted with the gospel of peace, it is for the cause of the gospel, with the calling as its heralds, we must go. We enter our life-spheres as recipients of gospel grace and we must proclaim that good news of deliverance to those the Spirit of Christ gives us opportunity, that they too, by God's grace, may know peace with God and the peace of God.
Standing and marching--the shoes we put on for the comings and goings of daily life are intended for both as we stand firm in Christ and step out for him whom we serve.
Spiritual Warprayer
For a lark, my son entered a bodybuilding competition as a novice. As a strapping 27-year-old, he was in good shape, but nothing compared to that required for competition. I admired his resolve and discipline as for four months he carefully monitored what he ate and subjected himself to the rigors necessary for specific muscle development. Surprising even himself, he earned second place in the competition.
While we might make parallels between bodily discipline and the discipline of ourselves for godliness of which Paul speaks in 1 Timothy 4:7-8, that's not where we're headed. My wife was torn in how to pray for my son in regard to the whole thing. Should she pray that he would win or at least make a good showing? Should she pray for... That's just it. She drew a blank.
Recognition of the dimension of spiritual warfare provided the answer to her prayer efforts. Spiritual warfare takes into account that we have an enemy, who opposes God, who courts the lusts of the flesh, often through the wares of the world. How would that recognition inform my wife's prayers? She could pray against Satan's efforts to make an idol of our son's physical appearance and the workout regimen his religion. She could pray against pride and other gravitational pulls of the flesh to lift up self over God. She could pray that the Spirit would work in him a profound gratitude and recognition of the goodness of God who formed him in her womb. Of course, she could also pray for similar resolve in his discipline of himself for godliness.
You see how it works. Bringing the dimension of spiritual warfare to our prayer lives opens the vista of the dangers posed by even the good things of life. It fleshes out specifics to the petition, "lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil," as we would seek first the kingdom of God, His glory, His goals, His grace. The next time you pray for something ask yourself what you need to pray against, knowing our enemy the devil crouches at the door of the heart seeking spiritual detriment.
While we might make parallels between bodily discipline and the discipline of ourselves for godliness of which Paul speaks in 1 Timothy 4:7-8, that's not where we're headed. My wife was torn in how to pray for my son in regard to the whole thing. Should she pray that he would win or at least make a good showing? Should she pray for... That's just it. She drew a blank.
Recognition of the dimension of spiritual warfare provided the answer to her prayer efforts. Spiritual warfare takes into account that we have an enemy, who opposes God, who courts the lusts of the flesh, often through the wares of the world. How would that recognition inform my wife's prayers? She could pray against Satan's efforts to make an idol of our son's physical appearance and the workout regimen his religion. She could pray against pride and other gravitational pulls of the flesh to lift up self over God. She could pray that the Spirit would work in him a profound gratitude and recognition of the goodness of God who formed him in her womb. Of course, she could also pray for similar resolve in his discipline of himself for godliness.
You see how it works. Bringing the dimension of spiritual warfare to our prayer lives opens the vista of the dangers posed by even the good things of life. It fleshes out specifics to the petition, "lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil," as we would seek first the kingdom of God, His glory, His goals, His grace. The next time you pray for something ask yourself what you need to pray against, knowing our enemy the devil crouches at the door of the heart seeking spiritual detriment.
No Remedy
Hearing the words, 'You have a life-threatening illness,' is one thing. Hearing the words, 'There is no cure,' is quite another. No way out. No hope. No remedy. Those haunting words cut to the quick. Imagine another scenario, one where the illness is just as severe but there is hope. But the warning is ignored, the hope is spurned, even trampled upon.
In His compassion, the God of mercy and grace has dispatched messengers, His servants the prophets. He has caused His words to be written down, telling of His way of salvation, pointing to Him who is the way of escape from the coming wrath. The Son, the Prophet, the Message urges, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (John 5:24) With those words of hope come words of warning: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." (Jn. 3:36)
"No remedy." But the good news is that God has provided remedy and He has entrusted us as its dispensers. May we never grow weary in pursuing those who by God's grace come to see their dire circumstance and the provision of His remedy in the Righteous One, as long as the light of the day of salvation remains.
The LORD, the God of their father, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
2 Chron. 36:15-16
In His compassion, the God of mercy and grace has dispatched messengers, His servants the prophets. He has caused His words to be written down, telling of His way of salvation, pointing to Him who is the way of escape from the coming wrath. The Son, the Prophet, the Message urges, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (John 5:24) With those words of hope come words of warning: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." (Jn. 3:36)
"No remedy." But the good news is that God has provided remedy and He has entrusted us as its dispensers. May we never grow weary in pursuing those who by God's grace come to see their dire circumstance and the provision of His remedy in the Righteous One, as long as the light of the day of salvation remains.
CHOP Manual for Handheld Devices
The CHOP Ministry Manual for handheld devices, such as Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry, iPhone and iPod is available through Laridian.com. All scripture references, including those for the Basic Training Lessons and Daily Prayer Guide, are displayed with a click. Entries in the daily Prayer Journal can be made through through the "add a note" feature.
CHOP Ministry Development
Two developments on the CHOP ministry front...
I had the opportunity last week to conduct a seminar on CHOP at my annual denominational meeting. I was especially interested in hearing how God was working in churches to spur His people on to prayer. It seems CHOP might find a place in this movement of God's Spirit as leaders in the church are looking for practical ways to engage their flocks in kingdom prayer. I also heard a variety of ideas for how to approach establishing the CHOP ministry in local contexts. For example, one pastor intends to teach a Sunday School class on Warfare Witness, laying out the theological foundation for the CHOP ministry, and then launch into formation of CHOP groups. I informed him of the study guide for Warfare Witness on the CHOPministry.net website.
The other development is the release through Laridian of the CHOP Ministry Manual for handheld devices, such as Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry, iPhone and iPod. Laridian did a great job setting it up, allowing for navigation through the various sections of the Manual and even for making notes for the daily Prayer Journal. Especially nice is the split window feature that allows for display of all Bible verses from the Basic Training Lessons, Daily Prayer Guide, etc. just by a click on the reference. The Manual can be found at Laridian's website at
I continue to see God's hand in the development of the CHOP ministry for the mobilization of His church in the strengthening and expansion of His kingdom. May His name be praised!
I had the opportunity last week to conduct a seminar on CHOP at my annual denominational meeting. I was especially interested in hearing how God was working in churches to spur His people on to prayer. It seems CHOP might find a place in this movement of God's Spirit as leaders in the church are looking for practical ways to engage their flocks in kingdom prayer. I also heard a variety of ideas for how to approach establishing the CHOP ministry in local contexts. For example, one pastor intends to teach a Sunday School class on Warfare Witness, laying out the theological foundation for the CHOP ministry, and then launch into formation of CHOP groups. I informed him of the study guide for Warfare Witness on the CHOPministry.net website.
The other development is the release through Laridian of the CHOP Ministry Manual for handheld devices, such as Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry, iPhone and iPod. Laridian did a great job setting it up, allowing for navigation through the various sections of the Manual and even for making notes for the daily Prayer Journal. Especially nice is the split window feature that allows for display of all Bible verses from the Basic Training Lessons, Daily Prayer Guide, etc. just by a click on the reference. The Manual can be found at Laridian's website at
https://laridiansales.com/order/productpages/3BKCHOP02.asp.
I might also mention that Laridian just came out with the ESV Study Bible that includes notes, maps, charts and the rest.I continue to see God's hand in the development of the CHOP ministry for the mobilization of His church in the strengthening and expansion of His kingdom. May His name be praised!
How to Know You've Read Your Bible
How can you tell if you have truly read your Bible? The answer is straightforward. If your reading the Bible does not provoke you to prayer, then you have not truly read your Bible because you have not met with its Author in the reading of it or realized His purpose in causing it to be inscripturated. You may have had your eye to the page but you did not have your ear to the voice of your God.
For example, if you are reading of the remarkable reform through Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 30 and come to verse 9,
One of the goals of CHOP is to train us to recognize and respond to the God who reveals Himself, His wisdom, His remarkable dealings with men recorded in His Word for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. We need to learn to linger, to listen and to love the God who has brought us into relationship with Himself and who wants us to grow to know Him in splendor of His glory and grace as He speaks to us in His Word.
For example, if you are reading of the remarkable reform through Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 30 and come to verse 9,
"For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him."how can your heart not be stirred to hope at the assurance of your God and His tender offer of compassion? How can you keep silent at the reminder that your God is gracious and merciful? How can you avoid feeling the weight of your own sin and guilt in your turning from God, as you identify with the original audience of the text? How can you refrain from crying out to Him in confession and repentance? How can your parched heart not be driven to drink in the waters of life in Jesus Christ, in whom God's mercy and grace are poured out in your life? How can you not slough off the onerous and defiling burden of your sin at foot of the cross where the faithful love and uncompromising justice of God meet in your sacrificed Substitute, where your confession draws from the bottomless well of God's forgiveness through the cleansing blood of your Savior?
One of the goals of CHOP is to train us to recognize and respond to the God who reveals Himself, His wisdom, His remarkable dealings with men recorded in His Word for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. We need to learn to linger, to listen and to love the God who has brought us into relationship with Himself and who wants us to grow to know Him in splendor of His glory and grace as He speaks to us in His Word.
Tactical Praying
"We will undergo four weeks of basic training, followed by 12 weeks of front line tactical praying." That's how one person looking to organize a CHOP group sought to enlist recruits for the ministry of evangelistic prayer.
"Tactical" suggests specific strategy calculated for accomplishment of the goal. That describes well the ministry of CHOP--prayer with a purpose, kingdom prayer, prayer that engages participants in the advancement of Christ's church against the gates of hell, occupying territory of hearts for Jesus Christ.
The language used above for the invitation to the CHOP group carries with it military overtones. That is exactly as our Lord Jesus Christ would have us see the work of His church and see ourselves for that work. As many have pointed out, we need to recapture the concept of the church militant, the church engaged in spiritual war, facing spiritual opposition, employing spiritual tactics, wielding spiritual weapons. It is to our detriment and ineffectiveness and disobedience to maintain a peace-time mentality. There will come a day when the church will be at rest, triumphant in glory, but that day is not now. We need the mentality of sacrifice, of hardship, of danger, of mission given us by the Lord of hosts for the sake of His kingdom.
May the Lord richly bless this CHOP group being formed and multiply groups throughout the land in mobilizing His people in tactical prayer in service to His kingdom.
"Tactical" suggests specific strategy calculated for accomplishment of the goal. That describes well the ministry of CHOP--prayer with a purpose, kingdom prayer, prayer that engages participants in the advancement of Christ's church against the gates of hell, occupying territory of hearts for Jesus Christ.
The language used above for the invitation to the CHOP group carries with it military overtones. That is exactly as our Lord Jesus Christ would have us see the work of His church and see ourselves for that work. As many have pointed out, we need to recapture the concept of the church militant, the church engaged in spiritual war, facing spiritual opposition, employing spiritual tactics, wielding spiritual weapons. It is to our detriment and ineffectiveness and disobedience to maintain a peace-time mentality. There will come a day when the church will be at rest, triumphant in glory, but that day is not now. We need the mentality of sacrifice, of hardship, of danger, of mission given us by the Lord of hosts for the sake of His kingdom.
May the Lord richly bless this CHOP group being formed and multiply groups throughout the land in mobilizing His people in tactical prayer in service to His kingdom.
Imprecatory Prayer
Do you find yourself praying just for yourself (usually those things you want) and maybe for the health of others? How do you address God in your prayers? "Dear God..." "Heavenly Father...." What about all those other ways God introduces Himself and describes Himself in the Bible? Do you every pray, "Sovereign Lord of hosts...." or "Eternal God..." or "Everlasting Father..." or "Lord God Almighty for whom nothing is too hard..."?
Want to enrich your prayer life? Pray the psalms. The psalms teach us and lead us to pray pleasing to God (it's His Word), comprehensively, honestly (the psalmists keep it real), reflectively, with a bigger view of God, addressing subjects we might otherwise neglect, and whatever else makes for a full prayer life.
Think about praying, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." There's a name for God we don't often use--"Shepherd." As we chew on that and see ourselves as needy sheep and see the situations of our lives that prompt want, that takes our prayer in a whole new direction, to another level in response to God.
That works with psalms like Psalm 23. But what about psalms like Psalm 137:9 that declares, "Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock" or Psalm 10:15 that asks God to "break the arm of the wicked." How do we pray these prayers, especially when we they seem so unChristian?
These sentiments are called imprecations. They pronounce malediction instead of benediction. And the psalms are laced with them. Some psalms are so filled with them that they are called "imprecatory psalms." What do we make of them? What place can they find in our prayer lives? Take a look at the article, "Praying the Imprecatory Psalms" under "Resources" in the top bar of the CHOP website and learn what these psalms say about God and His direction to us in prayer.
Want to enrich your prayer life? Pray the psalms. The psalms teach us and lead us to pray pleasing to God (it's His Word), comprehensively, honestly (the psalmists keep it real), reflectively, with a bigger view of God, addressing subjects we might otherwise neglect, and whatever else makes for a full prayer life.
Think about praying, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." There's a name for God we don't often use--"Shepherd." As we chew on that and see ourselves as needy sheep and see the situations of our lives that prompt want, that takes our prayer in a whole new direction, to another level in response to God.
That works with psalms like Psalm 23. But what about psalms like Psalm 137:9 that declares, "Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock" or Psalm 10:15 that asks God to "break the arm of the wicked." How do we pray these prayers, especially when we they seem so unChristian?
These sentiments are called imprecations. They pronounce malediction instead of benediction. And the psalms are laced with them. Some psalms are so filled with them that they are called "imprecatory psalms." What do we make of them? What place can they find in our prayer lives? Take a look at the article, "Praying the Imprecatory Psalms" under "Resources" in the top bar of the CHOP website and learn what these psalms say about God and His direction to us in prayer.
Spreading the News
I missed my regular CHOP blogging time this past Wednesday because I was with a bunch of church planters sharing about prayer and the CHOP ministry. What a blessing! These are men and women in the trenches. It was a blessing to me to hear their stories, to see their passion and to feel the pain of the challenges of church planting--all for the sake of Christ. It thrills me to think that God would use CHOP to help these servants of Christ mobilize their folks to prayer for the sake of the gospel. It seems to me that CHOP finds a place in church planting in that it establishes and grows the fledgling group in the incubator of prayer, building the group by giving them an upward and outward focus from the start, cultivating a mentality of mission, as all eyes are expectant on the Lord Jesus who is the builder of His church.
Importunate Prayer
Jonathan Edwards calls it "importunate" prayer. In commenting on Isaiah 62:7 where the watchmen are told to "give God no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth," Edwards says:
The blame falls in the dereliction of the watchmen and their foremen in the priesthood of all believers and the officers God has raised up over them in His visible church. The church has not been faithful in putting God in remembrance, taking no rest, giving Him no rest until we see His church animated and active for the cause of His kingdom. We have been sinfully silent and negligent in our call to be importunate in prayer--insistent before God, bold, expectant, demanding, audacious until He revives His church and makes it a praise in the earth.
Jesus urged us to importunate prayer in the parables of the persistent friend (Luke 11:5-13) and the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8). He calls us to pursue God in prayer as One who invites us to hound Him in the outworking of His sovereign purposes.
Yet at the end of the the parable in Luke 18 Jesus closes with a startling, unexpected statement, seemingly a non sequitur: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (v. 8)
I used to think that a strange statement, almost contradicting His assertion that He will lose none of those sheep given Him by the Father and for whom He died. Yet as I see the church's growing lifelessness, prayerlessness and powerlessness it makes we wonder if faith is not flickering. The watchmen are silent. God is not being brought to remembrance by the importunate prayer of His people. The churches flounder. The plant withers. Darkness spreads.
We can only begin on the foot of repentance and plea to God to bring forth its fruit for being the faithful watchmen He calls us to be. As Daniel prayed on behalf of state of God's visible covenant people:
May God give us no rest in giving Him no rest until His church is renewed, her influence for His kingdom is restored and her faith burns brightly to the glory of God and the gain of the nations.
How loud is this call to the church of God, to be fervent and incessant in their cries to Him for this great mercy! How wonderful the words used, concerning the manner in which such worms of the dust should address the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity!When we review the picture Isaiah paints of God's vision for His church of a church bright with the light of truth and righteousness, shining the way through the darkness with the beacon of the gospel, a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord displaying His glory and kingdom rule, a people over whom God rejoices, we shake our heads to look at the state of the church of our day. Rather than seeing a church energized and exercised in the redemptive realities and responsibilities that are hers as the covenant people of God, we see a church distracted, lethargic, indifferent, ineffective, withered and stagnant.
The blame falls in the dereliction of the watchmen and their foremen in the priesthood of all believers and the officers God has raised up over them in His visible church. The church has not been faithful in putting God in remembrance, taking no rest, giving Him no rest until we see His church animated and active for the cause of His kingdom. We have been sinfully silent and negligent in our call to be importunate in prayer--insistent before God, bold, expectant, demanding, audacious until He revives His church and makes it a praise in the earth.
Jesus urged us to importunate prayer in the parables of the persistent friend (Luke 11:5-13) and the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8). He calls us to pursue God in prayer as One who invites us to hound Him in the outworking of His sovereign purposes.
Yet at the end of the the parable in Luke 18 Jesus closes with a startling, unexpected statement, seemingly a non sequitur: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (v. 8)
I used to think that a strange statement, almost contradicting His assertion that He will lose none of those sheep given Him by the Father and for whom He died. Yet as I see the church's growing lifelessness, prayerlessness and powerlessness it makes we wonder if faith is not flickering. The watchmen are silent. God is not being brought to remembrance by the importunate prayer of His people. The churches flounder. The plant withers. Darkness spreads.
We can only begin on the foot of repentance and plea to God to bring forth its fruit for being the faithful watchmen He calls us to be. As Daniel prayed on behalf of state of God's visible covenant people:
O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.
May God give us no rest in giving Him no rest until His church is renewed, her influence for His kingdom is restored and her faith burns brightly to the glory of God and the gain of the nations.
Front & Center
I've noticed that my involvement in witness for Jesus Christ correlates directly to the proportion of my prayer toward that end. If I begin the day thanking God for His amazing grace and consecrating it to the service of my Lord Jesus, then I am much more likey to have conversations for Christ and to look for them. It's almost as if I rise from the barracks and salute my Commander, reporting for duty. But duty is not drudgery because I believe in the cause, the gospel of life in Christ and the reality of His growing Kingdom. It seems nowadays that people are looking for a cause, something to commit themselves to, to pour themselves into, to lift up before the eyes of others. But what better cause can there be than the message of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in relationship with the living God through the living Christ?
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