Gratitude

A Puritan prayer for Thanksgiving (from The Valley of Vision):

O My God,

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow.

When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.

I bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, for sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou hast given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing senses to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.

I love thee above the powers of language to express, for what thou art to thy creatures.

Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.

HT: MM

It Shows That You Don't Believe If You Don't Pray

If you don't subscribe to Kevin DeYoung's blog, you should. His post today on prayer is great. He opens:

Prayer is essential for the Christian, as much for what it says about us as for what it can do through God. The simple act of getting on our knees (or faces or feet or whatever) for 5 or 50 minutes every day is the surest sign of our humility and dependence on Father in heaven. There may be many reasons for our prayerlessness—time management, busyness, lack of concentration—but most fundamentally, we ask not because we think we need not or we think God can give not. Deep down we feel secure when we have money in the bank, a healthy report from the doctor, and powerful people on our side. We do not trust in God alone. Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help.

Whole thing.

Does it Matter How Many People Pray?

Tim Keller on Idolatry | Update: Excerpt

Keller was recently interviewed by CT on his new book Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters. The most interesting section of the interview (emphasis mine):

How do we get rid of idols?

I confess that I don't say much about that. Practicing spiritual disciplines is another book. I do say that analyzing and recognizing an idol is a step away from its power over you. You also have to have a heck of a prayer life. That prayer life can't just be petitioning. There has to be encounter, experience, and genuine joy. You have to have Jesus Christ increasingly capture your affections.

Is it necessary to suffer disappointment before seeing that idols don't satisfy?

I fear you may be right. I don't want that to be true. Very often it's much stronger than disappointment. It's hard for me to look at a young person and know what their idols are, because usually something has to happen in their life to frustrate them for them to see that something has inordinate power over them. No one learned about their idols by being told about them.

What's your next project?

A book on suffering, which I'm hoping will be out next November. I'm planning to draw more on being a pastor than being an apologist. I'm trying to write a book every year during this last part of my career.

Whole thang.

UPDATE:

Read an excerpt of Counterfeit Gods.

Prayer: One of the Surest Marks of a True Christian

J.C. Ryle:

A habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian. All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray. Just as the first sign of the life of an infant when born into the world is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are born again is praying.

Practicing the Presence of God

I don't do this well. Because I releagate God to my quiet times in the morning, I am much more prone to sin. If I were mindful of God always, would I not be more apt to live in holiness? John White writes well on this subject in The Fight: A Practical Handbook to Christian Living, p. 35-36:

It is good to have a set time to meet with God daily. But it becomes a bad thing if you feel that communion is confined to that brief period. Meister Eckhart, an old mystic, urged Christians to carry from their secret meeting with God "the same frame of mind" into the world around them. You see, you do not leave God when you go from the quiet place any more than he leaves you. A "quiet time" is a "tuning in" time. You should not switch off the radio once you have tuned in to God's wavelength. Thomas Kelly in his book Testament of Devotion talks about living on two planes at once. Impossible as it may seem, it is the unusual privilege of the Christian to be aware of God at all times. Brother Lawrence in the little book The Practice of the Presence of God speaks simply and straight-forwardly of the same thing.

You need not constantly be formulating verbal petitions, but like the psalmist you may enjoy the Lord "always before your face." It may be that such a practice is what Paul refers to when he urges us to "Pray constantly" (1 Thess. 5:17). You may leave the room where you pray, but you do not have to leave the inner sanctuary deep inside your being.

Still, old habits of mind may be hard to overcome. Most of the time, whether we are aware of it or not, our minds are occupied at the same time with the intellectual tasks on hand or the impression we think we are making on those around us or how much time we have or a hundred other things. "Pure concentration" on one task is almost impossible. Our minds function simultaneously on various levels even when we are concentrating hard on a mathematical problem. The capacity to carry out our tasks efficiently while we continue to praise God presents no difficulty as far as our brain function is concerned. Our difficulty is simply that old habits of thought want to reassert themselves and crowd out what is most needed.

The Holy Spirit wishes to make us more aware of God at all times. Just as we wander in thought when having devotions, we will constantly wander in thought all day long. And each time we become aware of doing so, it is because God is getting through to us again. Don't waste time kicking yourself when you wake up to the fact that your thoughts have been anywhere but where they should be. Immediately say, "Thank you, Lord. Thank you because you never cease to speak to me. Thank you that you are always near."

Whatever You Read, Read That First

J.C. Ryle:

Do not let newspapers, novels, and romances be read, while the prophets and Apostles be despised. Do not let the exciting and sensual swallow up your attention, while the edifying and the sanctifying can find no place in your mind.

Young men, give the Bible the honor due to it every day you live. Whatever you read, read that first.

On Bible Study and Prayer

Robert Murray M'Cheyne:

You read your Bible regularly, of course, but do try and understand it, and still more to feel it. Read more parts than one at a time. For example, if you are reading Genesis, read a Psalm also; or if you are reading Matthew, read a small bit of an Epistle also. Turn the Bible into prayer. Thus, if you were reading the First Psalm, spread the Bible on the chair before you, and kneel and pray, '0 Lord, give me the blessedness of the man'; 'let me not stand in the counsel of the ungodly.' This is the best way of knowing the meaning of the Bible, and of learning to pray.

JP on How to Love Prayer

Strenuous Spiritual Rest Found Only in the Church

Carl Trueman (replace 'theological students' with 'Christians'):

Too many theological students come unstuck not because they do not master the sophisticated intricacies of their chosen fields of specialization but rather because they failed their apprenticeships in the basics, the corporate disciplines of church attendance, submission to elders, hard work for the local body, and the individual disciplines which flow from these: private prayer and Bible reading, a crying out to God for his mercy, and a burning desire to be mastered by the Word of God. Successful theological students are never the subjects in theological study; rather they are always the objects of God’s grace. And the church is the place where they will be held accountable for these things. The church, not the seminar room, provides their only true home, their best classroom, and their best form of strenuous spiritual rest.

Prayer of Confession: Chase Out Evil Desires

Jamie Barnes:

Lord God, our rock and our refuge,
Help us in our weakness.
Chase out those evil desires than drain us and strengthen our feet to walk in

the way of your commandments.

May your grace and mercy triumph when our selfish efforts fail.
Give us power to live as your children in all our actions,

and to exercise sonship by conquering self.

Renew our faith by showing us your Glorious face. Amen.

The Prayer of the Husband and Father: May I Fear God

Psalm 128, made into a prayer:

O God, I know that blessed is everyone who fears you, who walks in your ways!
When I remember this, when I live this,
I will eat of the labor of my hands,
I will be blessed, and it will be well with me.
If I fear you, my wife will be like the fruitful vine within my house;
my children will be like the olive shoots around my table.
Behold, I will be blessed if I fear you.
May I therefore fear and honor you oh great King as you stand before me,
and may I sink into lowly estate.

Teach Your Children How to Pray

From Ministry-to-Children.com:

1. Teach children to pray as Jesus taught His disciples (Matthew 6:9-15).

The Lord’s Prayer, or the Model Prayer as it is sometimes called, asks God to accomplish eternal things that He intends to do; therefore, we enter into an exciting “partnership” with Him as we pray according to His will. Help your kids memorize the Lord’s Prayer and explain to them what each request means (a good resource for this is the book Jesus Teaches Us How to Pray by Sinclair Ferguson).

2. Teach children to pray for the sick (James 5:16).

Use your church’s prayer email or bulletin to make a prayer list. Does your church have a list of widows, sick people, and shut-ins? Have your children pray for specific members on a regular basis, and if you can find a way to involve the children in physically serving members on the list, so much the better.

3. Teach children to pray for the persecuted church (Hebrews 13:3).

Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) has information on persecuted believers and countries hostile to the Gospel that need our prayers. Kids of Courage is an off-shoot of VOM that spotlights children who have made brave stands for Christ in dangerous places. The suffering church is our family; children feel honored by the privilege of praying for her.

4. Teach children to pray for missionaries, your pastors and other leaders in the church (1 Thessalonians 5:25).

The New Testament epistles contain specific requests for prayer from the apostle Paul (Ephesians 6:19 and 2 Thessalonians 3:1, for example) that enlighten us to the prayer needs of missionaries and pastors alike. Find out what missionaries or missions endeavors your church is supporting; ask your pastor how the children’s ministry can be praying for him. Let your children know they can be a vital part of God’s work in the world by praying for missionaries, their pastor and other spiritual leaders!

5. Teach children to pray for their own growth in Christ-likeness (Psalm 119:36-38).

Praying in this way honors God, for we know that in our own strength we are powerless to live holy lives. Children can learn this dependence and trust in God’s sanctifying work right from the start.

Watering Your Lawn and Reading Your Bible

Matthew 12:33: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

I have to water the side and front lawns of our house by hand.  Usually, I do it when I get back from running in the morning, but I have slacked a bit lately.  Not enough time, or gumption, or discipline.  You know.  Well, I was watering this morning and noticed that our lawn is getting a bit crispy.  The brown is creeping up into the green in a way that means things are getting uneven.  Too much sun, not enough water.  Now I am sure it will survive.  Rain comes often enough that I don't actually need to do anything for it to survive.  But is that what I want?  Not at all.  Eventually, my lawn will get wholly unhealthy.  And as I watered this morning I thought,What do I need to keep it healthy?  Water it every day, of course.  But think about what I had been doing.  I had watered once in a while.  One day of watering won't be helpful at all.  Even a few weeks of intensive treatments will be for naught if I don't keep it up.  The lawn will survive, but it won't be healthy.  And that, if you couldn't see it coming, is exactly what it is like when you fail to feed your soul.

This is an inevitability.  Though we desire get-quick-rich schemes, nothing comes quickly, nothing comes without hard work.  Our souls, our lawns, need daily watering.  Yes, God will bring the rain.  You will often be able to sit passively by as God feeds your soul through outside means.  But that, of course, is not enough.  It will only keep you alive.  If you want true health, true fruit, you must water the lawn of your soul often.  

See this post for more on this subject.   

Wait on Jesus

I was listening to Tim Keller today in my car. He gave a quick sermon to some preaching students on Mark 5:21-43. This is a typical "sandwich" section of scripture, where one account begins, another is started and finished, and the first one is then concluded. I'll try to relay Keller's main points (which, by the way, nearly killed me).

1. The issue with this story is that Jesus, as he makes his way to heal a dying girl, stops to speak with a woman who had touched his garment (which had healed her). Does he not know that this woman's ailment is not life threatening but that the little girl, if not attended to immediately, will die?

2. Keller, at this point, brings up cultural idiosyncrasies. He says that each culture has an idea about when someone is actually late to an appointment. Western Anglo-Saxoners are offended when you are minutes late. Contrastingly, those in the Latino culture won't get offended until you are 30-45 minutes late. And in some societies, people will give you hours before they consider you late. Accordingly, we can't put our artificial time constraints on Jesus, on God. We have preconceived notions about when God should act. And, so, when he doesn't act immediately, we, out of pride, get angry. You'll feel like Jairus. When you get into a relationship with God, you will constantly wait for an apology. You must realize that his schedule is not your schedule. His time line is not your time line. Jesus says to Jairus, essentially, "I will keep my promises, but hardly ever will they fit within your time line." Now is this satisfying? Is it helpful to us who will experience this over and over? "Just have faith." Partially.

3. We must see the wisdom of Jesus. Jesus is entirely capable of dealing with the woman with bleeding and healing the little girl. Because we have the information that the characters in the account don't have, we don't have to worry about what he'll do. We know his wisdom in this account will prevail. But what about when we are the characters in the account? What about when we can't see the end to the story?

4. Jesus takes the time to comfort and teach the unclean woman with a chronic problem causing a male church leader in urgent need to wait. This is a picture of the gospel. The gospel reverses the values of the world. The cross of Christ says that the way up is down, to be strong you must be weak, to have power you must serve, the last shall be first. Jesus puts the outsider first. This is how God always does salvation.

5. When he finally goes to the little girl who has died, he says to her "Talitha." This was a diminutive for "little girl." Or, this was a pet name. Translated today, it would read "honey." Notice what Jesus doesn't do. He doesn't say "Stand back! I will defeat the power of sin and death!" No, he sits down next her and pulls her up from death. There is no greater enemy in the world and he defeats it handily. That is power. But it is also tenderness. He is saying, "If I have you by my hand, death is nothing but a good night's sleep."

6. Why was he able to do this? Because when he went to the cross, he lost his father's hand for us. When he went to the garden he asked God to spare him and he was turned down. God did not reach down to save him from his misery. The reason Jesus Christ can be this gracious, the reason he can go to the weak and marginalized, the reason he is able to lift her out of death, is because he lost his father's hand. We now have his. He is now the true parent we all need.

7. Now why would you want to hurry someone like this? He is utterly kind, gracious and lost his father's hand. Why would you want to disbelieve someone who loves us like that?

Just Read Your Bible

Piper, in answering the question about how to defeat an addiction to entertainment, said one thing that is either striking, or defeating:

Immerse yourself in the Bible, even when you don't feel like it, pleading with God to open your eyes to see what's really there.

Now, five years ago I would have scoffed at this. It is one of those "Just do it" phrases that doesn't seem at all helpful. "Ok, I get that I need to do it, but how do I do it?" I was looking for a magic bullet, a get rich quick answer. Not, "You just need to do it." I have since changed my tune. Only one thing has made me a consistent Bible reader: Being consistent. It is as simple as that.

Mark Dever was once asked, "What’s one thing you’ve learned after years of reading the Bible about how to read the Bible well?" His answer, I hope, will be of great help to you:

That’s it’s more important that I keep doing it than what I get out of it at any particular time.

A lot of young Christians will have an exciting quiet time on Monday and a really exciting one on Tuesday and an awesome one on Wednesday but then something happens on Thursday and they actually don’t even do it and Friday they do it and they feel guilty and it isn’t that good and Saturday they do it but it’s late and they were discouraged...and then they just get discouraged because they’re not always having a super experience. That’s where I would look at them and say, "Just keep going. Aim at obedience in a long direction set in a pattern for decades. If you just keep going you’ll gain so much by consistency and faithfulness that there’s no way you can gain just by sudden experience."

Teach Your Children to Pray Even if They Aren't Believers

Says JP:

Ephesians 1:3-12 as Prayer

Pray this today:

Blessed be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as you chose us in Jesus before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before you. In love you predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of your will, to the praise of your glorious grace, with which you have blessed us in the Beloved. In Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of your grace, which you lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of your will, according to your purpose, which you set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to your purpose who works all things according to the counsel of your will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of your glory.

A Prayer for Our Leaders

My small group discussed 1 Peter 2:13-17 last night. He is that passage in the form of a prayer:

Lord, God, may we be subject for your sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by you to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is your will, that by doing good we should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. May we live as people who are free, not using our freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Oh Lord, may we honor everyone. May we love the brotherhood. May we fear you. And may we honor the President. Amen.

Pray Widely

Randy Alcorn posted an email over at his blog from his friend, Barry Arnold, on praying not just for the healing of physical infirmities:

I think our prayers are unbalanced—in the direction of just physical needs. We can and should pray for people with infirmities—but it might be wise to change the emphasis of our prayers from physical healing alone to God accomplishing His purposes in and through afflictions.

Here’s a partial list of things the New Testament tells us to pray for:

Pray for people who give you a hard time (Matthew 5:43-44; Luke 6:28)

Pray for children (Matthew 19:13)

Pray for strength to endure difficult times (Luke 21:36)

Pray you will not fall into temptation (Luke 22:40)

Pray for all Christians (1 Thessalonians 5:25; Hebrews 13:18)

Pray that God's Kingdom will come and His will be done (Matthew 6:10)

Pray God will provide your daily needs (Matthew 6:11)

Pray for God's forgiveness as we forgive others (Matthew 6:12)

Pray we will not be led into temptation, but delivered from evil (Matthew 6:13)

Pray for boldness in proclaiming the gospel and for God to do miracles in people's lives (Acts 4:29-31)

Pray all the time, be alert, pray for fellow believers (Ephesians 6:18)

Pray for fearless teaching of the Word (Ephesians 6:20)

Pray to be filled with the knowledge of His will (Colossians 1:9)

Pray for open doors for the gospel (Colossians 4:3)

Pray that the Word of God may be glorified (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

Pray for deliverance from evil men (2 Thessalonians 3:2)

Pray for everyone, government leaders, peace, quiet, godliness, holiness (1 Timothy 2:1,2)

Pray for sinners to find life in Christ (1 John 5:16)

Ask God for wisdom (James 1:5)

It’s hard to break habits, and we’re very much in the habit of just asking God to cure people. Here’s a suggestion: When you pray for a physical need, also include at least one of the “spiritual needs” listed above.

In doing so we may begin to see physical infirmities the way God does, realizing that sometimes He heals, and many other times, for wise and holy reasons, He doesn’t.