3 Ways to Pray to a Passionless God

One common objection to the doctrine of impassibility which states that God does not suffer or feel the actions of creatures upon himself is that it implies that God’s love for us is inferior in someway. We can be tempted to think that God lacks of passion means he doesn’t care about our circumstance (particularly our suffering), and so it appears that God’s love is cold and distant. This cannot be further from the truth. God being revealed as a God who does not have passion actually means that he cannot love you more than he already does. His care and intention toward you is superior to human care and intention because it does not require a first cause or stimuli. As we heard proclaimed during our time in the book of Mark, God loves you because he loves you and all of his acts toward you are filled with his khesed.

I’ve been encouraged by the response I’ve received since I preached on this topic. The questions, challenges, and conversations have led to deeper study of the doctrine and confirmed my belief that these doctrines matter. I want to continue the dialogue by applying God’s impassibility to our prayer life. How does understanding Yahweh as a passionless God impact our prayer life? If God is impassible why should we pray? And, what is the impact of my prayer on God? So here are 3 ways to pray to a passionless God.

When we follow Gods command to pray we are more able to see him as the infinitely loving God in all of life’s circumstances.

Pray with the knowledge that Christ is your Lord

When we focus on a particular attribute of God whether it is his impassibility or omniscience, we can lose sight of the other things that God has revealed himself to be. God has revealed himself fully in the life of Christ who prayed often to the same Father we have. Christ is not only our model but our Lord who commands that we pray (Matthew 26:41), so we pray to follow the lead of our master who forever lives to intercede for us. We do well to humble ourselves under a God who seeks to serve and build us up through our prayers.

Pray as a means of Gods grace and glory

Imbedded in the question “If God is impassible why should I pray?” is the implication that our prayers are not a result of God’s attributes. This may be easier to see if we replace impassibility with sovereignty. God has revealed himself to be sovereign over all things and this can lead us to ask the same question, “Why pray?” The answer is the same for both questions, our prayers are means of God’s sovereignty and an act of God’s unchanging love toward us. God’s unchanging emotional state is not a reason to pray less but more. We pray for forgiveness knowing that our sins do not change God’s redemption love toward us in Christ, and he is zealous to redeem us as we have seen in the book of Ruth. We pray that God shows his glory through our words and deeds to those arounds us, which he is committed to do. He uses our prayers as a conduit to accomplish his good and perfect will for us. This is an act of his unchanging love for us. Our prayers are the means of grace that he uses because he is impassible not in spite of it.

The Psalmist is praying not to change God but to be changed by God because he knows God loves him despite his circumstance (42:8)

Pray in times of suffering knowing that God loves you

Psalm 42 is great example of how we should pray in light of Gods passionless love for us. The psalmist is in despair and he feels that God has forgotten him. His enemies take note of his condition as well and taunt him. At first glance, knowing that God’s love for him has not changed and cannot increase may not seem to be the best encouragement. We are tempted to think “if this is how God shows his love then no thanks.” This is not the psalmist’s response to his circumstance. Instead he prays for his soul to put its hope in God (Psalm 42:5,11). The psalmist is praying not to change God but to be changed by God because he knows God loves him despite his circumstance (42:8). This is a great example for us because our petitions to God should be informed by who he has revealed himself to be and not simply how we would like him to act on our behalf. This is not to say we should not pray that our suffering be removed—this is a good and worthy petition to God. However, what we ultimately need is to see God for who he is even when we suffer so that our faith In him increases even in our times of suffering. Nothing will separate us from his love, even life’s trials (Romans 8:31-39).

So our prayer life should not be hindered but enhanced by who God has revealed himself to be. He wants us to cast our cares onto him because of his unchanging love for us (1 Peter 5:6-7). When we follow God’s command to pray we are more able to see him as the infinitely loving God in all of life’s circumstances.

 

The Efficacy of Prayer in Ruth

Have you ever noticed the prayers that the different characters pray in the book of Ruth? In their book, Unceasing Kindness: A Biblical Theology of Ruth, Peter H.W. Lau and Gregory Goswell point us to John Berquist, who highlights “the efficacy of the many prayers in the book of Ruth.”[1] Specifically, they identify the prayers in Ruth 2:11–12, 2:20; 3:10, 4:11–12, and 4:14–15. They helpfully point out that these prayers help us see that God is providentially working in the background of Ruth’s narrative to bring about his desired end.[2]

Let’s draw from Lau and Goswell while looking at these prayers to see how God answers them.

 

The Prayers in Ruth

Naomi prays in Ruth 1:8–9 that God would show kindness and grant rest to her daughters-in-law:

But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

 

In Ruth 2:12, we see Boaz pray that God would reward Ruth for sticking by Naomi and seeking refuge in the Lord:

“The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

 

Naomi prays a blessing over Boaz for having regard for Ruth and for being a means of the Lord’s kindness in Ruth 2:19–20:

And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”

 

Boaz prays another blessing over Ruth, once again, for seeking redemption through him, a kinsman redeemer in Ruth 3:10

And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.”

 

The elders and people at the gates of Bethlehem pray in Ruth 4:11–12 that the Lord would bless Ruth in marriage to Boaz with offspring, offspring that would lead to building up the house of Israel, and that Boaz would be renowned.

Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem,  and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

 

And finally, the town’s women bless the Lord for what he has done for Naomi, praying that her grandson, Obed, would lead to her complete restoration and redemption in Ruth 4:14–15.

Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

 

Prayers Answered

So here we have six prayers. And by the time the book of Ruth comes to a close, we see either explicitly or implicitly that God sovereignly answered each and every one of them. What is noteworthy is how God answers them.

First, after having prayed for the Lord to show kindness and grant rest for Ruth (1:8–9), we see Naomi initiate and orchestrate this very thing. Naomi first recognizes that in Boaz, a kinsman redeemer, God has provided a means of his kindness (Ruth 2:20). Therefore, she seeks rest for Ruth in that kindness by having her go to Boaz and request that he redeem her (Ruth 3:1–5). And, Boaz does. He marries Ruth, and Ruth experiences the kindness and rest of the Lord.

Second, after having prayed that the Lord would bless Ruth for seeking refuge under the wings of the Lord (Ruth 2:12), Boaz as a kinsman redeemer becomes the manifest wings of the Lord under whom Ruth takes refuge (Ruth 3:9).

Third, after praying that the Lord would bless Boaz who took notice of Ruth (Ruth 2:19–20), Naomi formulates a plan by which Ruth works a great kindness to not only her but the elder Boaz as well, who gets to marry the young, worthy Ruth and have children (Ruth 3:10; 4:13).

Fourth, after having prayed that Ruth would be blessed for her selfless kindness (Ruth 3:10), Boaz, once again as a redeemer, becomes a blessing for Ruth by redeeming her in marriage and providing children for her (Ruth 4:13).

Fifth, after all the people at the gates of the town pray for Ruth’s fertility and offspring to build up the house of Israel and the renown of Boaz (4:11–12), we see that through their marriage, Boaz and Ruth do produce offspring. And their offspring leads to the eventual birth of King David. And, the Lord ultimately covenants with David to build a house through him and to establish an everlasting kingdom over which David’s son will reign (Ruth 4:17–22; 2 Samuel 7:11–16). And, David, of course, give rise to Jesus the Messiah. Through Boaz’s offspring, then, an eternal house is built, and Boaz is ever remembered and renowned as not only the ancestor of King David but of the Messiah.

Sixth, after the women pray that Obed would become renown and that he would be a restorer of life for Naomi (Ruth 4:14–15), Obed goes on to become the grandfather of King David from whom the Messiah, Jesus, the one who restores all life, would come.

 

Lesson Learned

What’s the payoff here? Well, what we see is that in the story of Ruth, God delighted to use his people as a means to answer prayers and carry out his sovereign plans. And in Ruth, God often delighted to use the active faith of his people as a means to grant even their own prayer requests. We should be joyfully aware, then, that when we pray for God to advance his kingdom and his gospel, or when we pray for a co-worker, friend, or family member to come to know Christ, or when we pray that a suffering person would feel the comfort of God, the way God often delights to answer these prayers is through his Holy Spirit empowered people. He might even tap you to be the conduit of his grace, kindness, and blessing that answers the very prayer you were praying. Thus, we should pray with an expectation that God will not only work through our prayers, but that he will work through us to perhaps bring about some of the very things we pray. God delights to use the prayers of his people and their faithful actions as a means to carry out his sovereign plans.

 

Conclusion

We should recognize that our faithful praying and our faithful actions are not divorced from the sovereignty of God. Rather, the reality of God’s sovereignty and his delight to use his people as a means to advance his kingdom should bolster our prayer life and bolster our works of faith. Indeed, God has given us the Holy Spirit for this very reason, to carry on the work of Jesus through us. So let’s take our cues from the book of Ruth. Our prayers are effective, and this is by divine design. We should be a people of great faith who recognize that God delights to use us and our prayers for the advance of his glory.

 

[1] Peter H.W. Lau and Gregory Goswell, Unceasing Kindness: A Biblical Theology of Ruth, NSBT, ed. D. A. Carson (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016), 15. FN Cf. Berquist 2008: 55.

[2] Lau and Goswell, Unceasing Kindness, 104. Here, Lau and Goswell point us to Gow (2000:176)—M.D. Gow, ‘Ruth’ in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, eds T.D. Alexander and B.S. Rosner (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), 176–78.

DGCC’s Vision Part I: We Glorify God

Why We Exist: Gospel Purpose

Our mission statement at DGCC says the following:

We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

This is why we exist. This is our gospel purpose. This has been DGCC’s identity from the time it was planted 20 years ago. And, by God’s grace, this will be DGCC’s gospel purpose for the next 20 years and beyond. The question is, what exactly do we aim to do to live out this gospel purpose.

 

What We Do: Gospel Pursuit

For the past several months the Vision Team here at DGCC has met regularly to pray and discern DGCC’s vision for the foreseeable future. Essentially, the Vision Team aimed to articulate what we do, our gospel pursuit. And, by God’s grace, in our most recent members meeting, the Vision Team shared with our fellow members the vision we believe God has led us to. This statement below captures that vision.

We glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture birthed this statement. Specifically, Ephesians 3:14–21 became the foundational text that informed and shaped this vision statement. I aim to unpack this vision statement in a series of blog posts here. And I aim to do that by unpacking Ephesians 3:14–21 in order to reveal the wonderful truths within this glorious prayer of Paul and to hold those truths forth as a glorious vision for the saints.[1] Here in this initial post, we will consider the core of this vision: We glorify God.

Before diving in though, let’s first orient ourselves to the context of Ephesians 3:14–21.

 

Context

Paul has just heralded God’s glory in the gospel of Jesus in one of the densest and richest treasure troves Scripture has to offer in Ephesians 1 and 2. He penned astounding realities such as

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3–6)

And

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4–7)

Paul goes on to exhort the Ephesians to walk in this new life, to grow in their gospel-forged unity as a local church,  and specifically to grow “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:9).

Ephesians 3:14–21 fits right in between Paul’s heralding of these wonderful gospel realities—the gospel indicatives—and his powerful gospel exhortations—the gospel imperatives—to the Ephesians. Moreover, Ephesians 3:14–21 is a prayer. And this prayer makes clear to us what Paul understands the necessary ingredients for Christian growth—growth in both love for God and Christlikeness—to be. Consider Paul’s prayer.

 

Ephesians 3:14–21: A Prayer for God’s Glory

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14–21)

First, notice the obvious that I have already pointed out. This is a prayer. Paul says, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (Ephesians 3:14).

“For this reason” refers to all of the gospel realities that Paul has just touched on in Ephesians 1:1–3:13. Paul essentially says, “God in his sovereignty planned to save you through the gospel of his Son, so ‘for this reason’ I pray as a minister of this grace for you, Ephesians.” The fact that this is a prayer informs us immediately that Paul assumes the Ephesians have need for God to act in order to bring about whatever Paul is about to pray for. Thus, we have need for God to act in order to bring about for us the things Paul instructively petitions for here. The Christian life is completely dependent upon God to act. So prayer colors everything we aim to do as Christians, and of course what Paul is about to request here.

Second, notice the ultimate aim of Paul’s prayer. The ultimate aim of Paul’s prayer reveals itself in verse 21: “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever.” At the bottom (or top, depending on how you look at it) of all of Paul’s requests here is this—God’ glory. This is what his prayer for the Ephesians ultimately aims at, as it should. Carson notes regarding this, “It is possible to ask for good things for bad reasons.”[2] He goes on to note that we “can distort…good requests by envisaging their fulfillment within a framework in which the entire universe revolves around our improvement.”[3] But Scripture makes clear that God’s work of creation is for glory:

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)

And, Scripture makes clear that God’s work of redemption is for his glory:

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4–6)

Indeed, God’s glory is what the entire Christian life aims at, no matter if we’re enjoying breakfast or taking the gospel to an unreached people group in a foreign land—”So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Thus, since all things work for God’s glory in creation and salvation, we too join with Paul in saying, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).

Therefore, our vision as DGCC is to first and foremost fall in line with the purpose of all of creation and redemption history. And that purpose is to bring glory to God. This is why we exist: we exist for God’s glory, we exist to enjoy God’s glory, and we exist to spread that enjoyment of God’s glory. This is why our mission statement at DGCC reads

We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

Thus, our vision at DGCC begins with this—We glorify God.

 

 

[1] Exegesis of this passage was aided by and leans heavily on Carson, who unpacks this passage in his book D. A. Carson, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation, Second. (Baker Academic, 2015), 159–81.

[2] Carson, Praying with Paul, 280.

[3] Carson, Praying with Paul, 180.

An Extraordinary Request and Ordinary Things in Ordinary Ways

Extraordinary Request

When you think of great prayer requests in Scripture, what comes to mind? Joshua’s request to God for the sun to stand still at Gibeon so Israel could rout their enemies? Jabez’s prayer for God to bless him and increase his borders? Hezekiah’s prayer for deliverance in the face of the Assyrians? The options are endless. And at least a couple of these have been coopted as formulaic means for unlocking blessing in your life, which is probably not the wisest approach to them. But what other great requests? What about this request in Matthew 6:9–10:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Is this not the most earth-shaking request that could possibly be made?! Father, may your name be made holy in all the earth, and may your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven. What an colossal request—that all the earth would recognize the holiness of God and that God’s kingdom would break out from eternity and break into creation, invading all of earth with God’s will!? This must be the greatest request in all of Scripture. Could this possibly happen? Will this actually happen? (Spoiler Alert) Yes. If you skip ahead to the end of your Bible, you will find this in Revelation 21:1–4:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Simply stunning. What, then, are we to do in the meantime? What do we do in anticipation of such an earth-shaking request? How do we participate in this coming reality now? What do we do? We do ordinary things in ordinary ways.

 

Ordinary Things in Ordinary Ways

Given this awesome reality, given that we sit on this freight train called creation and time that is charging toward this extraordinary end, does it surprise you that I say we should busy ourselves with doing some very ordinary things? Well, just consider what follows this extraordinary prayer request in Matthew 6:11–13.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

This prayer, then, could sound something like this.

“Father, in light of this extraordinary, amazing request that your name will be hallowed in all the earth, that your kingdom and your will would come crashing into and cover the earth just like in heaven, will you

  • Provide my food for me today on my lunch break, and please give me something to eat for dinner too.
  • Also, help me to see, believe in, and depend on the life you offer in Jesus, the bread of life, when I go to the Word today.
  • And please forgive my sins. Especially for lashing out in anger earlier, and for caring too much about money, and for my self-absorption and pride that causes me to criticize and manipulate my wife (or husband), children, that guy I work with, and for my laziness, and for my obsession with everything but you.
  • Also, help me to forgive my wife (or husband), my coworker, my friend, that one guy who doesn’t like me very much, when they wrong me, and help me not hold a grudge like I am prone to do.
  • Also, God, please keep me from those things that tempt me so much—anger, lust, pride, coveting, spending too much time on social media. These things end up turning my heart toward evil.
  • So please, I’m asking that you would keep me from evil and the evil one who prowls around seeking to destroy me.”

What do we do in the midst of these extraordinary realities of the inevitable kingdom of God? (1) Depend on God for our ordinary, everyday physical and spiritual provisions, (2) confess and repent of sin, (3) forgive others’ sin, and (4) turn away from sin and evil in dependance on God. You could categorize these broadly as (1) depending on God to provide and (2) fighting sin.

These are some of the most basic, ordinary things we are called to do as Christians. Yet, this is God’s will in the midst of his coming kingdom.

 

God’s Will

(1) Depending on God to Provide

Depending on God for our daily physical and spiritual provisions is his will, because it indicates our belief and trust in his sovereignty, care, and sureness of his coming kingdom. Perhaps that’s why only a few verses later we read this in Matthew 6:31–33:

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

This is normal, ordinary dependence on God for daily physical food. But this is also, normal, ordinary dependence on God for spiritual food. John 6:29, 35:

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent… Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

We depend on God to provide our physical and spiritual needs. And then we actively go to the pantry and grab some cereal, and we actively come to Jesus in the Word and prayer in dependence that he will give us grace and mercy to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

 

(2) Fighting Sin

Depending on God in this way leads to God’s name being made holy in all the earth because his name is made holy in individual lives—your life. Depending on God in this way leads to his will being done on earth just as it is in heaven. And this dependence on God characterizes our fight against sin. First Thessalonians 4:3 begins this way:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification:

God’s will for your life is your sanctification. Now in this context, the specific sin in view is sexual sin, but this is a concept that applies to all sins. We depend on God’s grace and mercy for when we do sin. And so we actively confess and repent. And we depend on God to keep us from being tempted beyond our ability and to always provide of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). And so we use wisdom and actively seek to avoid and put up safeguards against the things that might tempt us. And we depend on God to keep us from evil and our adversary, the devil. So we actively renounce his ways and pray for God’s authority over him to come to bear on our lives. This is seemingly basic, ordinary Christianity. We depend on God and so we actively fight sin.

 

Conclusion

As Christians, we are aware of and participate in the most extraordinary realities. God’s eternal name, his kingdom, and his will shall all come to bear on this earth. Heaven will flood the earth, and God will dwell with us. And, God wills ordinary rhythmic disciplines of grace—active dependence on God for physical and spiritual provision, confessing of and repenting of sin, forgiving others’ sins, and turning away from evil—as one of the primary means to bring this about. I confess I was partly inspired to write this specific post because I have recently been listening to a new album called Ordinary Ways by John Guerra. In that album, Guerra hits on this very reality. One lyric in his song titled, “Thank You, Lord” is especially fitting:

Daily bread

Daily breath

Ordinary

Faithfulness

Christ in me

More and more

Let it be

Thank You, Lord

Through seemingly ordinary things in seemingly ordinary ways, God makes us look more and more like his Son, Jesus. In doing so, God grants this extraordinary request that his name would be hallowed, that his kingdom would come, and that his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. And, what we’ll discover in the end, is that none of this is very ordinary at all.

Let Us Pray: Help in Prayer from D.A. Carson’s “Praying with Paul”

Praying can often be challenging in many ways. Simply finding time to pray once throughout the day can be elusive, let alone trying to find and establish a rhythm of prayer. We find our time in prayer comes in fits and starts and often looks random as opposed to regular and rhythmic. Then once we do start praying, we find that our mind tends to wonder to-and-fro to the point that we often can’t even remember what it is we’ve already prayed for or haven’t prayed for yet. What is the remedy? One very helpful and encouraging resource for building a regular rhythm of prayer in one’s life is D.A. Carson’s Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation.

The Introduction and first two chapters alone are a treasure trove of practical and biblical wisdom. First, Carson identifies the immense value of prayer. Then he offers some practical steps to help us start praying and to help us drown out the noise of everyday. And then he offers insight into building a biblical framework that helps guide our prayers. This practical wisdom helps eliminate distractions and the biblical wisdom informs and streamlines our prayers so that we pray in the Spirit, in accord with the heart of God as revealed by Scripture.

 

The Need for Prayer

We will not ever prioritize prayer or ever establish a rhythm of prayer in our lives if we do not recognize the immeasurable value of prayer. Carson notes, “The most urgent need of the church in the Western world is the need to pray.”[1] Carson acknowledges the swath of other areas the church needs to address and be prepared to respond to (Issues like overwhelming biblical illiteracy, cultural moral decay, the sexual revolution, the rise of cultural intolerance for those disagreeing with majority cultural virtues, unreached and unchurched people groups, etc.). However, he maintains “the one thing we most urgently need is a deeper knowledge of God. We need to know God better.”[2] And what is one of the primary ways in which we grow in our intimate knowledge of God? How do we know God better? We pray.

“One of the foundational steps in knowing God, and one of the basic demonstrations that we do know God is prayer—spiritual, persistent, biblically minded prayer.”[3]

So once we recognize its value, then the next natural step is to engage in the practice of prayer itself.

 

Practical Steps for Prayer

I once had a track coach who offered powerful wisdom for improving one’s running ability and speed. He could often be heard saying to us unfit, ailing, frustrated wannabe track stars, “Do you want to know how you become a better, faster runner? You run.” In chapter one, Carson makes much the same point with prayer. If we want to see improvement in our prayer lives, the first step is to pray. Or, to say it another way, we often struggle in prayer because we don’t pray regularly. Carson addresses this point specifically in this way, “Much praying is not done because we do not plan to pray.”[4] He then offers perhaps one of the simplest yet most profound pieces of wisdom with regard to prayer: “It is better to pray often with brevity than rarely but at length.”[5] The first step to improving our prayer life is to pray.

Carson then offers some simply practical steps to help eliminate distractions. Among these are: vocalizing prayers, praying through Scripture, making prayer lists to follow, journaling prayers, having a prayer partner, etc.[6] The takeaway from these suggestions is that there are practical steps we can plan to take along with good and wise practices that help focus our prayer efforts. Some will find different practices to be more beneficial than others. The key is finding what works for you.

 

Developing a Framework for Prayer

In chapter two, Carson urges us to develop a robust framework for our prayers. And as the title of his book suggests, he models this framework off of Paul’s prayers. Specifically, he models it off of Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 1:3–12. There, Carson points out that two elements make up Paul’s framework for his prayer:

  1. Thankfulness for signs of grace in the Thessalonians
  2. Confidence and hope in God’s coming reign at Christ’s return, and the justice it will bring

So, when we pray, we too should recognize the varying signs of grace that God has granted in us and our church family. And we make it a point to thank God for such gifts of grace. Such gifts could be increased faith, increased love, increased knowledge of God, growing maturity, perseverance in trials and suffering, people using their gifts to build up the body, confession and repentance, etc. When we recognize such graces, our instinct should be to thank God for them. As we develop this framework, we will likely find that we become more proficient at recognizing them. We will begin to identify God’s gifts of grace where before we might of looked right past them. So when we pray, we infuse our prayers with thankfulness for signs of divine grace.

And, when we pray, we pray with a view to and longing for the fullness of God’s kingdom that comes with the return of Jesus. We anticipate not just the joy that comes with his presence but also the justice that comes with the consummation of his kingdom. All wrongs will be made right. God will vindicate all his people, and God will exact retribution on all the enemies of him and his people. Saints have always fit their prayers into the reality that God will deliver vindication and justice for his people, whom he knows intimately. Think of David’s prayers to God in the Psalms (cf. Psalm 139, which we have recently memorized as a congregation). Therefore, when we pray, our prayers take on a tincture of hopefulness because Jesus will return. And so in our prayers we raise up this plea to heaven, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

 

Let Us Pray

We must recognize the value and need for prayer. With Carson’s help, we can find ways to plan for prayer and develop practices to eliminate distraction. And with Carson and Paul’s helps, we too can begin to develop and build a framework for our prayers that infuses them with thanksgiving and hope. When we pray, we commune with God, grow in our knowledge of him, thank him for his varied gifts of grace in our lives, and joyfully anticipate Christ’s return when he will right all wrongs. So the only thing left for us to do is to pray. So let us pray.

[1] D. A. Carson, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation, Second. (Baker Academic, 2015), xi.

[2] Carson, Praying with Paul, xiii.

[3] Carson, Praying with Paul, xiii.

[4] Carson, Praying with Paul, 1.

[5] Carson, Praying with Paul, 2.

[6] Carson, Praying with Paul, 2–20.

Why Cry Out to God?

[On August 14 I plan to preach from Psalm 119:73-96 under the title, “Deep Cries and Solid Hope.” This devotion on a similar topic is edited and shortened considerably from a sermon preached March 27, 2011. You can listen to that sermon via this link. This was the first of eight sermons in the series, Cry Out to God!]

When you are in severe pain – how do you pray?

Imagine you’ve just learned of an unexpected sorrow:

  • The death of loved one
  • A cancer diagnosis of a friend
  • Someone you looked up to walking away from the faith
  • Or you’ve just walked away from an angry argument with your spouse.

Do you pray in such circumstances? How?

Sometimes in such cases we are tempted to think, “I can’t possibly pray to God right now! I’m so angry, so hurt, so distracted.” Perhaps you’ve been taught that prayer should begin with praise, and think, “I’m angry with God for letting this happen – so there’s no way I can praise Him!”

Or perhaps you convince yourself you really should pray, so you spit out, “You God are holy, righteous, good, loving, merciful, and gracious, so help this situation, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Many psalms include raw, painful cries to God. Psalm 13:1-2 is an example:

“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”

Would you dare to speak to God like that? Should you speak to God like that?

God gives us the psalms – and other prayers from the heart throughout Scripture – in part to teach us to pray. In prayer, we cry out to our heavenly Father as His beloved children. And the God who knows the number of hairs on our head, the God who knows and controls when a sparrow falls to the ground, cares about the pains and hurts and sorrows of His little children. He wants us to come in dependence on Him, to look to Him as our hope, to cry out to Him honestly, truly, from the heart.

Biblical prayer will always be honest. And the biblical pray-er eventually must surrender his will to that of the sovereign, loving God. During our deepest sorrows, that surrender may take considerable time – and we may surrender in the moment, but then need to do so repeatedly in the future.

Psalm 86 is a clear example of both painful crying out and glad surrender to God. Let’s learn from this psalm how to pray in the midst of deep sorrow. We’ll see seven answers to the question: Why cry out? The first three answers are about you, the last four answers are about God.

This psalm has three sections: In Psalm 86:1-7, David cries out in pain and states why God should answer him. Psalm 86:8-13 describe who God is, and detail how David responds to God. In Psalm 86:14-17, David finally describes his specific problem and asks God to answer.

1) Why Cry Out? You are Needy

In Psalm 86:1-4, David calls upon God with six requests: “Incline Your ear,” “answer me,” “preserve my life,” “save Your servant,” “be gracious to me,” “gladden Your servant’s soul.”

Note the reason David says God should answer him: “I am poor and needy,” “I trust in You,” “to You do I cry all the day,” “to You do I lift up my soul.”

The idea behind this last phrase is: “Bring joy to my whole being, for my whole being depends on and desires You!”

Do you acknowledge that you are needy? That you have no assets to depend on? Are you humbled before God? Or do you approach Him thinking, if God doesn’t come through, you’ll still be ok – you have savings, you have friends, you have skills, experience, and education.

We need to cry out like David: From a position of need.

2) Why Cry Out? You Deserve Nothing

Does David ever say, “Answer me, be good to me, because I deserve it”? No. The statements, “I need You” and “I trust in You” are expressions of dependence, not of desert.

But what about verse 2: “Preserve my life, for I am godly”? Is David saying, “Because I’m a good guy, save me”?

The NIV reads: “Guard my life, for I am devoted to You.” That sounds quite different from “I am godly” – and thus is a clue that it might be worthwhile to learn about the Hebrew word. As it turns out, this word – related to the word translated “steadfast love” in verses 5, 13, and 15 – is difficult to translate with a single English word. The Hebrew word refers to a person who receives and loyally returns steadfast, covenant love. So we might paraphrase verse 2, “Guard me, for I am in covenant relation with You, loved by You and returning loyal love to You.”

So David is not at all saying he deserves God’s answer to his cries.

Just so with us. We are in Christ through absolutely no merit of ours. He died for us while we were sinners. We deserve His punishment, not His love and favor. We can only approach God as those who deserve nothing – as those who are recipients of His gracious, steadfast, covenant love.

3) Why Cry Out? You are in Danger

After speaking generally about his danger, David finally states his specific problem in Psalm 86:14: “Insolent (or ‘arrogant’) men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless (or ‘terrifying’) men seeks my life.”

Realize: David was God’s chosen servant – indeed, His chosen king. David was loved by Him. And yet: David was in mortal danger. His enemies were powerful and terrifying.

What does David do?

He doesn’t say blithely, “Oh, it will all work out ok; God is in control!”

Nor does he close his eyes and hope that his enemies will go away.

He cries out! He expresses His dependence! He vocalizes His need!

God does not promise us easy lives; He instead promises us Himself. He promises that He will hear us when we call upon Him. Therefore David, in danger, cries out. So must we.

4) Why Cry Out? He is Gracious

That is, God extends undeserved favor to the needy.

Psalm 86:5: “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love.“ To whom? What is the requirement? “To all who call upon You.” Thus, there is no requirement, except to cry out in need. He is gracious to the undeserving.

Then Psalm 86:6: “Listen to my plea for grace.” Again, David asks for undeserved favor.

Then in Psalm 86:15, David quotes from Exodus 34:6, God’s revelation of His character to Moses on Mt Sinai, as He showed him His glory: “You are a god merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” He then calls upon God to show that grace to him.

Our hope is the same as David’s. Because He is gracious, we, the undeserving, can cry out to Him. We honor Him when we approach Him as supplicants. He loves to show His bounty to the undeserving, to display what He is like. And He displays this most clearly at the cross of Jesus.

5) Why Cry Out? He is God of All

If God were gracious but not mighty, there would be little reason for David to call upon Him. Perhaps He could provide some emotional support, but He couldn’t counter the power of those attacking him.

But as David says in Psalm 86:8, no other power can even approach the Lord God; no creature has ever done anything like Him. Indeed, as verse 9 reminds us, He made all the nations, every people group. Thus, He is the Creator even of those who are attacking David. Indeed, these attackers were created to glorify God’s Name.

Furthermore, as Psalm 86:10 says, He does “wondrous things” – amazing works, miracles for His covenant people.

So David’s logic is this: “You alone are almighty God. There is no power equal to Yours. You created and control and can easily overpower all the forces arrayed against me. You exert your mighty power on behalf of your covenant people. So act now in accord with Your character!”

Then note what David says in Psalm 86:12: “I will give thanks to You with my whole heart, I will glorify You Name forever.” Since God created all nations to glorify His Name, David says he himself is fulfilling the purpose of his creation by calling out to God and thus glorifying His Name.

The question for us: Do we believe what David believed about God?

We all most likely would make the orthodox statement, “God is almighty, there is no power equal to His, He created all mankind.” But in the midst of trial, temptation, and difficulty: Do we really believe that God controls all the forces arrayed against us?

Listen:

  • He is the God of your parent who is overbearing and of your child who is rebellious
  • He is the God of your frustrating boss and the God of your noisy neighbor
  • He is the God of every president and every governor
  • He is the God of every dictator and every megalomaniac
  • He is the God who controls tsunamis and the God who controls nuclear reactions
  • He is the God of ALL.

There is no power that can stand against Him.

He is at work in the lives of all eight billion people on this planet. He is weaving together individual stories that will redound to His glory – lacing together sorrow and joy, stress and relief, failure and success, to teach us that Jesus is King, to teach us that He reigns, to teach us that He is worthy of all worship and honor and love – to teach us that He is our only hope, but what a hope!

Do you believe that?

  • Do you believe that God can take your unbelieving friend or relative and in an instant open his eyes, so that he falls down and worships Jesus?
  • Do you believe that with a flick of His little finger, God could stop a tsunami in its tracks?
  • Do you believe that God can give you the power to resist any temptation to sin, and thus do you believe you are without excuse for any decision you make to indulge in anger, or lust, or greed, or laziness, or selfishness?

This is our God: The God of all, the God in control.

6) Why Cry Out? He is Your Lord and God

David says, “You are my God” (Psalm 86:2, emphasis added).

Do you see why this is so important?

The Lord God has all this power, all this grace – and He is your God! He is your heavenly Father! He has made promises to you, which He is fully able to keep. He loves you with an everlasting love.

And so, since the almighty One is your Lord and God, our final point:

7) Why Cry Out? He Will Answer

Psalm 86:7: “In the day of my trouble I call upon You, for You answer me.”

We see this confidence in God’s answer also in verses 13 and 17:

  • “You will extend your great loyal love to me, and will deliver my life from the depths of Sheol” (Psalm 86:13 NET).
  • “You, O LORD, will help me and comfort me” (Psalm 86:17 NET).

David recalls God’s past answers, remembers God’s character, and knows that at all points in the future God will show the same love, whatever the dangers might be. God answers His people when they call.

Conclusion:

So where are you?

  • You too face dangers
  • You too face trials
  • You too face sorrows
  • You too need a God who is gracious and merciful
  • You too need a God who is almighty, all powerful
  • You too need a God who answers.

How does this Almighty One, the One who answers, become your God?

By your doing what David does in this psalm:

  • Admit your need for Him – that you are lost in sin apart from Him, that you cannot overcome sin on your own
  • Acknowledge that you deserve nothing from Him – on the contrary, you deserve His punishment for rejecting Him
  • Confessing that you were made for His glory, and you desire to fulfill that purpose
  • Accept the gift He offers by His grace – the gift of salvation through faith in the Son of David, Jesus Himself

For Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty deserved by all who trust in Him. And God commands all people everywhere to repent, to turn to Him, to believe in the Lord Jesus and so be saved.

So cry out to Him!

If you already have cried out for salvation: Keep crying out! You are still needy! You still deserve nothing from Him! You still are in danger – most of all from the sin that still fights within you.

So cry out as David cries out in Psalm 86:11: “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth. Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

David says, “I need you to guide me, Lord. Unless you lead me, I will make a wrong turn. Lead me on Your road, so I won’t deviate from Your truth. My heart is divided, still seeking after comfort, after status, after recognition. Unite my heart so that I fear only You, I desire only You. Make me wholeheartedly committed to You so that I might fulfill the purpose of my creation: To glorify Your name forever.”

So cry out in need, in sorrow, in tragedy. Cry out in surrender. And know: He offers you His power, His love – Himself. At no cost to you He says: Come to me: You will be my people. I will be your God.

 

Even the Wind and the Waves Obey Him

George Orjih, a pastor from the northeastern corner of Nigeria, in 2009 was studying for a Masters degree at a seminary in the city of Jos. In the break between terms, he traveled the 300 miles home, in cramped vehicles and on difficult roads, so that he could spend a few weeks with his family and home church. He is described as a loving pastor, “fearless, hardworking, and intellectually sound.” The day after he arrived home, a group of men calling themselves Boko Haram kidnapped him. This group wants Islamic sheria law to apply to everyone who lives in northern Nigeria. George was ordered to deny Jesus and accept Islam. He responded by preaching the Gospel. So he was beheaded on July 28, 2009.

Not 2000 years ago. This century.

Question: When such things happen: Is God really in control? Does He really never leave us nor forsake us? Can we trust Him when we know brothers and sisters in Christ lose their lives? (more…)

Living Out the Greatest Commandments after George Floyd’s Killing: Eleven Principles 

When asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus replied:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

How do we live out these two greatest commandments today, after the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent social upheaval?

Consider these eleven principles:

(more…)

Does Scripture Contradict Itself?

Does Scripture contradict itself?

The Apostle Peter tells us that

no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)

Or, as the Apostle Paul puts it, “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). If the Bible were simply the writings of dozens of men written over the course of hundreds of years, we would expect some writings to contradict others. But if, as Peter and Paul claim, God is behind everything in the Bible, there should be no genuine contradictions.

Sometimes different authors seem to contradict one another. Most famously, Paul in Romans and James in his letter speak in sharp contrast about justification, faith, and works:

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:28)

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24)

But there are issues not only between different authors. Jesus Himself sometimes speaks in seeming contradictions. I well remember as a teen being disturbed when encountering these two statements by our Lord:

For the one who is not against us is for us. (Mark 9:40)

Whoever is not with me is against me (Matthew 12:30a)

Which is it, Jesus? Are those who are neutral for You? Or are the neutral ones against You?

Seeing such examples, we might think the Bible needed a good editor who would clean up such statements, modifying what was written in one place so that it is in accord with what was written in another place. Good publishers check book manuscripts for such issues all the time.

However, the seeming contradictions in Scripture are not limited to those written by different authors. Some are clearly intended by the author of a particular book – for they are placed right next to each other. For example, see Proverbs 26:4-5:

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Clearly the compiler of Proverbs is getting at something deeper than giving us a general rule about how we should respond to those who are foolish.

When we begin to look for apparent contradictions, we see them throughout Scripture. Many deal with issues of central importance to the Christian faith, such as our freedom in Christ:

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. (1 Peter 2:16 NIV)

Or our attitude towards “life:”

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:35)

Or especially the nature of God, the relationship between God the Father and Jesus:

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

Or the interplay between wrath and mercy, judgment and grace:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. … 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. (John 3:16, 36)

These and other examples of apparent contradictions right next to each other indicate that these paradoxes are not mistakes in need of a good editor, but intended by the authors of individual books to help communicate their message. And if that is the case, it is reasonable to ask if the Holy Spirit, as the claimed author of the entirety of Scripture, uses the same technique across books of the Bible to communicate His revelation – truths that are best communicated through this literary style.

Such apparent contradictions are hard to understand – but in a book that purports to be the words of the sovereign God of the universe, that is not surprising. Peter himself tells us that:

There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:16)

Let us not be among the ignorant and unstable, twisting Scripture and thus headed to destruction. Let us instead follow the exhortation Paul gives Timothy after making some of those hard to understand statements:

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (2 Timothy 2:7)

Over the next several months, beginning Sunday January 20, we will do just that: Think over seeming contradictions, all the while praying that the Lord would indeed give us understanding, so that we might know Him better, love Him more, and follow Him more closely. In this sermon series, entitled, “Contradictions? How Delving Into Challenging Topics Unlocks the Riches of God’s Revelation”, we’ll consider issues in salvation and judgment, in living the Christian life, and in understanding who God is. After introducing the series this Sunday, on January 27 we’ll consider the topic of prayer: If God does whatever He pleases, how can our prayers have any impact on what happens?

Join us as we think over what God says. May the promise of 2 Timothy 2:7 prove true, as His Spirit unlocks for us the riches of God’s revelation of Who He is, who we are, and how we can follow Him and grow in Him in this world.

[Biblical citations are from the ESV unless otherwise indicated.]

 

Watch and Pray

How important is prayer? How important is watchfulness – for ourselves and for one another?

Travel with me to Gethsemane, the night our Lord will be betrayed. He is sorrowful and troubled. He asks His closest friends, Peter, James, and John, to come to the garden with Him, and to sit while He prays. He is in deep need. He wants their presence, their prayers. Yet after a while, He returns and finds them sleeping. He asks:

“Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:37b-38)

The hour has come. The betrayer is at hand. Both Jesus and His disciples are about to undergo severe trials. And yet Peter, James, and John neglect to watch and pray.

Jesus knows they want to stay awake, to remain with Him, to intercede for Him: “The spirit is willing.”

Their flesh, however, is weak. They are exhausted. They lack focus. Rather than spur each other on to watchfulness, they become silent; their eyelids droop; and they sleep.

In noting that their flesh is weak, Jesus is not providing them with an excuse. Quite the opposite. Because their flesh is weak, they must call upon God to help them fight temptation. They must help one another to remain watchful.

What about us? Our flesh is weak, just like the disciples. And we have the same enemy assaulting us, tempting us, lying to us, deceiving us. Furthermore, just like the disciples, we must have more than a willing spirit; our statement, “Yes, Jesus, I will follow You!” is not sufficient for us to truly follow Him, to avoid temptation, and to live to God’s glory.

Given our weak flesh, given the power of our enemy, what must we do?

We must do what Peter, James, and John did not do that momentous night: We must keep alert; we must rouse one another; we must be aware of our weaknesses and Satan’s wiles.

And that means we must pray. The road set before is challenging and dangerous. We cannot travel it individually by our power. Indeed, we cannot travel it together by our human power. Yet just as Jesus instructs His disciples, all Scripture instructs us: Pray without ceasing. Depend on God. Call out to Him in the day of trouble – for yourself and for your brother and sisters. He is the God of all comfort; He is the God of all might; He is the Father of mercies. So pray for watchfulness and strength; pray for eyes to see reality as it is; pray for one another in this battle; pray for God’s Kingdom to come, His will to be done; pray against the schemes and power of the devil.

A Bible scholar of the last century wrote, “The essence of the road of the righteous is this: it is a road too difficult to walk without the companionship and friendship of God.” This God stands ready to strengthen and confort you, to enable you to build up and comfort others, to cause you to watch and pray effectively. Know that your flesh is weak. So don’t be content with a spirit which is merely willing. Cry out for the resources only God can give you to be able to watch and pray and encourage and persevere.