Wednesday in the Word

what the Bible means and how we know

prayer

02 Philippians 1:9-11 Paul’s prayer

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02 Philippians 1:9-11 Paul’s prayer - Bible Study | WednesdayintheWord.com

Paul’s opening prayer in Philippians reflect what he hopes and confidently expects God to do in the lives of his readers and it introduces the main theme of his letter. From this short prayer,  we can learn what we ought to most want for ourselves and for each other.

Review

When Paul founded the church at Philippi, he was beaten and thrown in jail.  The jailer and a merchant named Lydia became believers during Paul’s visit and formed the core of the new church there.

Philippi was a Roman colony, its citizens were largely roman and proud of it.  There was little Jewish influence.  The Philippian church embraced Paul’s ministry and his gospel and almost immediately begin to support him financially of their own free will.

Around 60-62 AD, Paul is once again in prison, this time in Rome. The Philippians have sent him a financial donation and news through Epaphroditus.  Paul is sending Epaphroditus back to them with this letter.

Paul started his letter by expressing his joy and gratitude for the what he sees God doing in the lives of the Philippians. Philippians 1:3-8 focused on his gratitude.  Philippians 1:9-11 – focuses on what he’s praying for them.

Passage

9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. – Philippians 1:9-11 ESV

In many ways, this short prayer is the theme of the letter. Paul’s main point is choose life by loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him.

  •  In this context, love is not primarily a warm fuzzy feeling that we have toward each other more often.
  • Love is a choice that we make based on how we understand the world.
  • The knowledge and discernment in has in mind involves coming to know who God is, who Jesus Christ is and what Jesus has done for us.
  • One of the results of this knowledge is that we see each other differently.
  • Approving is a choice based on what we believe to be true.
  • Wisdom is learning to separate the essential  from the nonessential, the valuable from the futile, and the worthwhile from the worthless.
  • As we increasingly learn to approve was is excellent, it reveals our faith is sincere and without stumbling and our lives are marked by being filled with the “fruit” that comes from living wisely and choosing well.
  • Everything Paul is praying for here — knowledge, love, sincere faith, fruit of righteousness — is a gift of God.

Content of the Knowledge

The “knowledge” Paul wants them to have is a genuine understanding of the gospel.  What is the gospel?

  • When we rebelled, we cut ourselves off from the source of life (God) and we are stuck with death.
  • Death is not just the end of biological life; it is all the tragedy, futility, and brokenness we experience now.  Life is the opposite of death; atendency toward good in all of human existence.
  • Life automatically and inevitably flows from holiness.  Death automatically and inevitably flows from sin.
  • God is the sole source of life, because He alone can give holiness.
  • When we rebelled, we cut ourselves off from the source of Life (God) and we became prisoners of sin and death.
  • The rebellion itself is wrong and deserves punishment.  Until God’s justice is satisfied, He will not grant Life.
  • Justification is the forgiveness of our debt to justice which qualifies us to receive Life.  To be justified is to be in a position where God’s justice is satisfied.
  • Justification is a gift from God, is made possible by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and is granted to those who have faith.

Saving Faith

Saving faith involves 4 beliefs:

  • A genuine desire for holiness in and of itself.
  • A genuine understanding that left to myself I am totally incapable of obtaining holiness.
  • A genuine understanding that God owes me nothing and I am totally unworthy of any gift from God.
  • A firm trust that because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God both intends to and will in fact forgive me and make me holy in the age to come.

Paul’s other prayers:

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, – Ephesians 1:16-18

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. – Colossians 1:9-10

 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,- Colossians 2:2

Paraphrase:

Philippians, your support of my ministry shows me that God has done a great work in your hearts. You have a genuine love for God and for his people. My prayer to God is that this love would continue to increase and overflow. I want your love to be rooted in a knowledge of God, understanding his promises, his character and his mercy toward you and his will.  I want this knowledge to make you discerning about your lives, willing to embrace and value what is indeed true and valuable.  When God does this for you, then the sincerity of your faith will become apparent and you will persevere in that faith without stumbling until the end.  Then your life will indeed be marked by a godly love and everything else that characterizes the righteous life of a genuine believer. All of this comes about through the work of Jesus Christ and it reflects great glory on the God who sent him.

Summary

  1. Paul wants them to have a real faith and to embrace the gospel, to know and believe it.
  2. He wants the reality of this faith to show itself in the way they live.
  3. He wants them to persevere in this faith so that they receive their inheritance when Christ returns.

This is what I ought to want for myself and what I ought to want for you.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 03 Philippians 1:12-26 To Live is Christ

Previous: 01 Philippians 1:1-8 Introduction

Series: Philippians: Choose Life

Study: Philippians Resources

Scripture references are from the English Standard version.

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01 Philippians 1:1-8 Introduction

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01 Philippians 1:1-8 Introduction - Bible Study | WednesdayintheWord.com

Paul’s message in Philippians is essentially the same as Moses in Deuteronomy 30:19-20: Choose life by loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him.

Background

The author of this letter, the Apostle Paul, first visited Philippi during his second missionary journey.  His visit is recorded in Acts 16:1-40.

More: Who was Paul?

Paul and Silas were traveling through Asia Minor.  They met Timothy in Lystra and he joined them on the rest of the trip.  Luke (the author of Acts) joined Paul & Silas in Troas and accompanied them to Macedonia.

As a Roman colony, Philippians had Roman citizenship.  Latin was their official language.  They adopted Roman customs and culture, and modeled their city government after Rome.

Typically, when Paul entered a new city, Paul proclaimed the gospel in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Paul went to a “prayer meeting” by the river instead, so presumably there was no synagogue.

Lydia, a wealthy merchant, and her household are among his first converts.

Paul & Silas were arrested and beaten for proclaiming non-Roman customs.

When Paul left Philippi, he left behind a small church, comprised of Lydia’s household, and the jailer’s household plus some others.  Apparently, Luke also stays behind.

Paul returned to Philippi on his third missionary journey (see Acts 20).

For a discussion of why Paul baptized an entire household as recorded in Acts 16, see this podcast.

Around 60-62 AD, Paul was under house arrest in Rome.  The Philippians sent him a financial donation through Epaphroditus.  Paul sent Epaphroditus back to Philippi with this letter of thanks.

Passage

1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 1:1-8 ESV

Paul is grateful that the gospel was so important to the Philippians that they wanted to support him financially.

Paraphrase

I thank my God because of all the ways you have remembered me, including this financial gift.  My prayers for you are filled with joy because of the way you have partnered with me in spreading the gospel from the day we met until now. My joy is rooted in this: God began work in you, he gave you a faith that led you to value and support the ministry of the gospel, and I am confident that he will continue to mature and perfect your faith such that you will persevere until the day Christ returns.  It is only right that I have these joyful feelings for you because you have been my partners in this ministry of grace while I have been imprisoned and struggling to defend and confirm the good news.

Application

  1. Paul claims his prayers reveal what is most important to him.  For Paul, prayer is not a ritual or routine; prayer is an expression to God of what we care about most.
  2. Similarly, the way we spend our money reveals what we value and consider important. Thus Paul is grateful for what their financial gift reveals about the Philippians.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 02 Philippians 1:9-11 Paul’s prayer

Series: Philippians: Choose Life

Study: Philippians Resources

Scripture references are from the English Standard version.

Photo by Austin Schmid on Unsplash

Nehemiah: Restoration & Redemption

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Nehemiah: Restoration & Redemption | WednesdayintheWord.com

The message of Nehemiah is restoration.  The book records how God moved Nehemiah to lead the people to rebuild the walls of  Jerusalem in approximately 446 BC.  As the story unfolds, we see God restore godly leadership to Israel, restore the walls of Jerusalem, restore the broken faith of the people, restore a sense of community and heritage as God’s people, and restore the people’s knowledge of the God’s word and their desire to love and obey Him.

Resources: Nehemiah

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01 Nehemiah 1:1-3 Introduction

The book of Nehemiah teaches much biblical leadership, community and serving the body of Christ. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on September 13, 2006.

02 Nehemiah 1:4-11 Between two worlds

Nehemiah is caught in the tension of two worlds: cup-bearer to the king and brother to the exiles. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on September 20, 2006.

03 Nehemiah 2:1-20 How to speak boldly

Nehemiah faces three moments where he must rely on the word of God and speak out boldly. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on September 27, 2006.

04 Nehemiah 3:1-4:23 Repair your broken wall

In chapter 3, the community is diverse and inclusive and begins serving God by working where God has already put them. In chapter 4 the community faces opposition, including their own internal voices of ridicule and shattered faith. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 4, 2006.

05 Nehemiah 5:1-6:19 Enemies within and without

In chapter 5 Nehemiah rebukes the wealthy for taking advantage of the poor and calls them back to fearing God. In chapter 6 Nehemiah’s enemies seek to kill him and he resists because he knows that God is fighting for him. The wall is finished. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 11, 2006.

06 Nehemiah 7:1-8:18 Restore the joy of the Lord

In chapter 7 the wall is finished. The city is safe, but not yet “alive” again. In chapter 8 the people long to know God so they ask Ezra the priest to teach them the Law. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 18, 2006.

07 Nehemiah 9:1-38 The Lord is faithful when we are not

The people acknowledge they are sinful like every generation before them. God is faithful, while they are faithless. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 25, 2006.

08 Nehemiah 10:1-11:36 Promises made

The people vow to keep God at the center of their lives as they move back into Jerusalem both by choice and by draft. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on November 1, 2006.

09 Nehemiah 12:1-47 Celebration

The people joyously dedicate the wall of Jerusalem with a parade of song and thanksgiving. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on November 8, 2006.

10 Nehemiah 13:1-31 Promises broken

Years later Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem to find the people have broken their vows. Teacher: Krisan Marotta on November 15, 2006.

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I offer my bible studies, podcasts and resources free of charge under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License.  I do not seek or accept advertising, affiliations or donations. But it does encourage me to hear from you about how you used these studies and/or what you learned.

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Where to next?

New Testament Studies

Old Testament Studies

Topical Studies

Bible Study 101

Photo used here under Flickr Creative Commons.

Podcast Season 10, Episodes 1-10

10 Colossians 4:2-18 Continue in Prayer

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10 Colossians 4:2-18 Continue in Prayer | WednesdayintheWord.com

It’s easy to approach a verse like Colossians 4:2 with a particular theology of how prayer works and leave with that theology reinforced.  Since Paul is not specific about what he’s asking them to do, Bible students fill in the gaps with their own theology.  The challenge is let the overall context and theme of this letter inform our understanding of 4:2.

Review

Paul is writing to a church on the verge of believing a legalistic gospel.  This legalistic gospel claims we must practice certain practices to maintain our favor with God.

In Colossians 1, Paul encouraged the Colossians to flee from these “teachings of men” and to remain true to the apostolic gospel: namely that we are saved by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.  He began his main point in Colossians 2:

I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. – Colossians 2:4

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, – Colossians 2:6

In Colossians 3, through a series of exhortations he gave examples of  how belief makes a difference in our lives.  Colossians 4 is Paul’s conclusion.

Primer on prayer

The Parable of the widow and the unjust judge asks the question will we pray?  Or will we give up?

1And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  2He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.  3And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’  4For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man,  5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”  6And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  7And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?  8I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  – Luke 18:1-8

This parable is often misunderstood as saying: if I really want something from God, I need to keep going back until I wear him out.  Rather the point is:  If it made sense for the widow to keep turning to an unjust judge, how much more sense does it make for God’s people to keep seeking Him knowing that He is just and good and loving? Of course the Lord won’t turn away from the cries of His chosen ones.  Thus we ought to keep praying and not lose heart.

In a similar close in 1 Thessalonians, the emphasis is rejoice, pray and give thanks in every kind of circumstance, knowing that God has a plan and a purpose for them.

15See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.  16Rejoice always,  17pray without ceasing,  18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1Thessalonians 5:15-18

The admonition then is not go through the motions of prayer as much as you can and as often as you can. The admonition is to rejoice, pray and be grateful in all kinds of situations: the highs and lows; the tragedies and the triumphs.

Passage

Paul is writing to people on the verge of turning to a false gospel.  Throughout the letter he has been encouraging them to remain faithful and cling to the truth.  We would expect his summary to reflect that theme.

2Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  3At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—  4that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.  5Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  6Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.  – Colossians 4:2-6

  • The admonition in 4:2 is to continue to trust and turn to God in the sense of persevere (not in the sense of spend 10 hours instead of 1 hour).
  • “Being watchful” in the sense of stay awake because you know the thief is coming in the night (Luke 12:35-40).  Don’t get distracted by the cares of this world.
  • Prayer is not something we do to entice or manipulate God into acting.  That kind of thinking is appealing to us because we want to be in control.
  • We ought to pour out our hearts to God in prayer with an attitude of humble acceptance of His answer whatever it is.
  • Walk in wisdom (4:5) as opposed to folly. Likewise, speak with an understanding of grace (4:6)  Live your life with a clear understanding of the hope of the gospel and resist the temptation to fit in.

For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.

Previous:  09 Colossians 3:18-4:1 Do All in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

Series: Colossians: Getting the Gospel Right

Study: Colossians Resources

Start Another Series

Scripture quotes are from the English Standard Version of the Bible.

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The Lord’s Prayer: we say it but what does it mean?

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What does the Lord's prayer mean? | WednesdayintheWord.com

The more I study the Lord’s Prayer, the more I conclude the prayer makes one and only one request: that God would make us completely righteous once and for all.  Why?

Context

In his gospel, Luke presents the Lord’s prayer in the context of the parable of the friend at midnight.  The moral of this parable is not that God will give you what you want, but that God will give you what you need: righteousness.  Additionally, the preceding context is a request for a “rabbi’s prayer.”

Luke 11:1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

In Jesus’ day, rabbis taught their disciples a prayer that encapsulated their main teaching. “As John taught his disciples” is likely a more specific request: Give us a prayer to help us remember your teaching as John gave his disciples such a prayer.  If the disciples are asking for a rabbi’s prayer that embodies Jesus’ main teaching, then we should expect the Lord’s prayer to have one main point.

Our Father who is in heaven

Most likely Jesus spoke this prayer in Aramaic, so the first word is “Abba”, which is the word used to by children to address their earthly fathers.  It was also used to address a respected person of rank.  For example, a student could use it to address a respected teacher.   It affirms both the respect of addressing a superior and a profound personal relationship between the speaker and the one addressed.

The use of Aramaic in a prayer is significant because in Jesus day all public reading of the Scripture was only in Hebrew.  Prayers, especially in public worship, were offered in Hebrew. An Aramaic-speaking Jew in the first century would be accustomed to reciting prayers in Hebrew, not Aramaic.

To give them the prayer in Aramaic implies there is no sacred language by which we must speak to God. In endorsing Aramaic as a language for prayer Jesus opened the door for the New Testament to be written in Greek (not Hebrew) and translated into other languages.  And if there is no sacred-language, then there is no sacred culture and the long term result is we have a global church most of whom have the Bible in their own language.

Let it be hallowed—your name

In the Old Testament, when the verb “to make holy” is used in the passive, God is always the actor. We have a similar passive construction here: “may your name be made holy,” requesting that God to make His name holy. God’s name is holy but we fallen creatures have defiled it through disobedience. This is a request for God to demonstrate His holiness to all the earth, to fill the earth with His glory and vindicate His name, His people and His character.

Let it come—thy kingdom
Let it by done—thy will on earth as it is done in heaven

Essentially this is a request that God would establish His holy and righteous kingdom in our hearts and in our world.  It calls for God’s holiness to come in the form of His kingdom and His will so that His righteous rule would be established on the earth just as it is in heaven. Sin on earth has disrupted His rule and broken His people and this is a petition for God to restore His holiness and remove sin and death.

Give us this day our daily bread.

The word translated “daily” presents a problem because this particular word appears nowhere else in the Greek language.  We discover the meaning of a word by examining how it is used. But if the word appears only once in the entire history of the language, we don’t have any way of knowing its meaning with certainty. Absent other evidence from Greek, we have to look at how early translators translated this word into other languages.

We can generalize the options broadly speaking into two solutions, each with two variations.

OptionBasic MeaningVariationExplanation
1atimetodaygive us today the bread of today; our daily bread, physical bread which sustains our bodies; this is the option that has survived to present day
1btimetomorrowgive us today the bread of tomorrow; the bread that we will eat with the Messiah in a the promised great banquet of all believers at the end of history
2aamountsubsistencethe bread of subsistence, just enough physical bread to stay alive
2bamountthe amount we needenough physical bread to feed us as we need to sustain our bodies

Now what?? We take our best guess. My personal opinion (which is worth nothing) is bread of tomorrow (1b). Here’s what tips the scales for me.

In the 19thcentury, two copies of an ancient Syriac version of the gospels were discovered. This Old Syriac translation is probably one of the oldest and earliest translations from the Greek into any language.  Old Syriac and Aramaic are very closely related languages. Many of the words in one language are identical in the other language. This Syriac in this translation is the closest we’ve got to Aramaic — the language Jesus actually spoke.

A literal translation of the Syriac is “Give us today the bread that doesn’t run out.”  I think “give us today the bread that doesn’t run out” is a probably the metaphorical bread of life; the true bread from heaven that sustains our very soul—God’s holiness and righteousness — not the bread that sustains our bodies.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

Forgiveness is an integral part of saving faith. Part of saving faith is that God owes me nothing and I have done nothing that requires Him to forgive me. I am only forgiven because of His grace. It follows from that that I realize everyone else is in the same boat and there is no standard by which I can judge someone else that does not also condemn me. Hence seek forgiveness and I forgive others, longing for the day when God put all wrongs right.

And do not bring us to the time of trial
But rescue us from the evil one.

This last petition is fraught with difficulty as well. Do we have trials or temptations? What does it mean for God to “not lead us into trial?” There are two main ideas: one is causative and the other is permissive.

The causative would be “do not cause us to go into temptation/trials”.    The permissive would be “do not permit us to go into temptation/trials” — as in hold us back, keep our feet from running to the wrong path.

Most scholars make the distinction that God tests us, but He does not tempt us. God tests His people in that He puts them in situations where they must choose to obey Him or not, and their willingness to trust and follow Him is displayed. God tested Abraham when He asked him to sacrifice Isaac. God tested David by giving him the opportunity to kill Saul and seize the throne.  Those are external situations which God puts in a believers’ lives that stretches, tests and reveals the genuineness of their faith.

But the inner desire, the inner pull we feel toward sin in the midst of temptation is the pull of our own sinful natures. We are not innocents entrapped by sins we would not otherwise commit. We are sinful people who left to ourselves would naturally rush into sin. Fleeing from and resisting the temptation is a gift from God.

So the request here is: “God guide us away from evil. We have placed our total trust in your leadership. We would run head long into the path of evil unless you intervene, Guide us because you are our holy hope of avoiding evil.”

Summary

Each petition involves an act of God.   The first three focus on God bringing His holiness to the whole world.

Let it be Holy — Thy name (God makes His own name Holy)
Let it come — Thy Kingdom (God brings in His kingdom)
Let it be done — Thy will, on earth as it is in heaven (God fulfills His will)

The second three focus on God giving His holiness to believers.

Give us this day the bread of tomorrow (God gives the gift of the righteousness)
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (God forgives our sins)
And led us not into temptation but deliver us from evil (God guides away from evil)

All of which adds up to one thing: asking God to make us and our world completely righteous once and for all.

Source: For the best discussion and presentation of this information on the Lord’s Prayer, see Jesus Through Middle Easter Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey.

See: Wikipedia Epiousios

Series: Parables of Jesus (12 lessons)

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Prayer and Spiritual Formation: How does it work?

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Prayer & Spiritual Formation: how does it work? | WednesdayintheWord.com
The theology of Spiritual Formation assumes there is a level a spirituality that I can have if I regularly do certain spiritual practices. Prayer is typically is one of those practices.

Advocates of Spiritual Formation view prayer as a means to an end:   They see prayer as a preparatory discipline to strengthen me for later success, like an athlete lifts weights to be strong enough to run the race.  The goal is not to lift weights; the goal is to finish the race.  Weight-lifting makes me strong enough to finish.  Similarly, prayer –in their view — is not something I do for its own sake.  It is something I practice to prepare for later victory.

Prayer is not a means to an end

Yet, the biblical picture of prayer is not a spiritual discipline that I use to reach a higher spiritual level. Rather prayer is an unavoidable mandatory battlefield in the war of faith.

Prayer forces me to wrestle with the fundamental questions of life. What I pray about reveals how I answer the “big questions” like:

  • What do I think about God?  God has made promises and given warnings. Do I in fact believe Him? Do I want what the gospel promises or am I seeking something else?
  • What do I think about myself? How do I present myself when I come to God in prayer? Do I say, “God have mercy on me, the sinner” or do I say, “thank you I’m not like that other guy”? Do I really grasp the extent of my rebellion to God?
  • What do I think about my neighbor? When my neighbor is causing me grief, how will I pray for her? Will I ask God to throw the book at that brat? Or will I ask for the same forgiveness I have received?
  • What do I ultimately want? In addition to the gospel, I have a whole menu of temptations and empty philosophies in front of me. Which will I ask for in prayer? Do I want what God offers in Jesus Christ or do I want all that other stuff?

Prayer is the battlefield of faith

Prayer is one main areas where I work out my answers those questions. I turn to God in prayer for all things because I feel the pressures of life and I believe God is one I should turn to. I continually turn to Him in prayer because I have recognized He is the only source of Life and blessing and there is no place else to go.

The admonition to “pray without ceasing” is not encouragement to keep asking until I reach a higher level. The admonition to “pray at all times” is to continue choosing to follow Jesus.

Prayer is not a means to an experience. It is the place where I make a decision about who I trust and what I believe. It is the place where I acknowledge who I am, who God is and therefore what I think is true about life and this world.

Biblical prayer is not the means to spiritual awakening; by the time I pray, spiritual awakening has already happened.  By the time I pray, the wrestling over what I believe and who I trust has finished. The resolution is I have turned to the God of my salvation in prayer.

That can’t be scheduled as a discipline, an exercise or a routine.

The Bible does not say: “Pray this way and you’ll make better progress.”  The Bible says: “The fundamental question before you is, do you trust God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ no matter what?”  If you trust Him, then you’ll pray. You won’t be able to help it. Because if you trust Him, you will know He is your only hope.

Previous: Does Spiritual Formation seek the right kind of change?

Series: Spiritual Formation: A Critical Look

Usual Disclaimer:  I am heavily indebted to other thinkers and teachers.  These posts are my attempt to clarify my own thinking, reading and research.  I hope to either learn why I’m wrong or articulate why the theology of spiritual formation is flawed.  I am NOT questioning the sincerity, faith or motivations of advocates of spiritual formation. As with any controversial topic, my goal is: 1)  to know what I believe and why and 2) to understand the other side well enough to know why it fails to persuade.

Photo used here under Flickr Creative Commons.

Nehemiah: Between two worlds

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Nehemiah: Between 2 Worlds | WednesdayintheWord.com

Nehemiah was caught between two worlds. How do you resolve that tension?

Nehemiah lived a secure, safe, comfortable, powerful life when we meet him in chapter 1 of the Old Testament book that bears his name.  As cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, the most powerful man of his day, Nehemiah tasted the king’s food and drink before the king. The cupbearer was an influential political position due to his daily access to the King. For 445 BC, life doesn’t get much better.

Then Nehemiah’s kinsman brought him news of the Jews living in Jerusalem after the exile.

“The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”  – Nehemiah 1:1-3

Those who went back to Jerusalem forfeited safety, security and comfort to live in the promised land. They lived in a city without walls, surrounded by extensive rubble from war and vulnerable to attack.

What’s Nehemiah to do? He is both cupbearer to the king and brother to the exiles.  He is safe, rich and comfortable while his kinsmen suffer in distress and danger.

Many of us are familiar with this tension.  American believers live in comfort and luxury compared to our christian kinsman in the foreign countries who often face extreme persecution and danger.  Most of us enjoy some level of security, freedom and comfort. And yet we know people working in the broken cities, evangelizing in areas where they are threatened, and putting their lives on the line for the sake of the gospel.

What are we to do when we are rich and our fellow believers are suffering?

When faced with this tension, there are two common misguided responses.  First, is the “strap on my six-shooter and blaze out of town“ approach where we rush into action.  Thus we start a committee, do a study and issue a report. We generate a lot of paper and activity, but not much change.

The other natural inclination is to give up.  The task is too great to solve or change. It is too complex and too many questions need to be answered. It’s beyond me to figure out how to make a difference.  God must be calling somebody else.

But Nehemiah didn’t choose either of those natural options. Instead he sought the presence of God in a profound way.

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. -Nehemiah 1:4

Nehemiah’s response was four months of prayer.

At first, Nehemiah didn’t know which path to take. God had put him in the Persian court. He was raised in exile and he succeeded. He was cupbearer to the king for good reasons. Now Nehemiah learns his kinsmen are suffering.

Should he stay or go? Perhaps like Esther he was put in the palace for “such a time as this (Esther 4:14).”  Or maybe like Zerubbabel (Ezra 1) and Ezra (Ezra 7), he should take a group back to Jerusalem to tackle the problem.  While the dilemma is common, the answer is not obvious. God calls His people to live different lives. Some are called to “go” and some are called to “stay.”

Whatever the answer, it is found by seeking God through prayer —  but not by a pray-once-and-forget-it prayer; not by opening his bible pointing blindly to a random verse; and not by going through the motions of a dry routine.  Nehemiah spent “some days” (4 months in his case) in focused thoughtful prayer (a summary of which he gives us in chapter 1).  After that time, Nehemiah knows God is calling him to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls.

When faced with difficult choices and when circumstances pull us opposite directions, Nehemiah shows us the way to discover answers: spend focused, honest, lengthy, serious time with God in His word.

If you have difficult choices to make, are you willing to follow Nehemiah’s example? Are you willing to spend this kind of focused time with God with this level of passion, humility and expectancy? Are you willing to study the scriptures and the promises and the character of God, to find the wisdom necessary to discern the answer God gives?

If you want answers, you have to go where Nehemiah went. Ask yourself, not what is the answer to my situation, but do I understand what Nehemiah did? Am I willing to begin the same process? Am I willing to invest myself in God to find out?

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Photo “Choices” taken by Daniel Oines and used here under Flickr Creative Commons.

Psalm 143: Dealing with depression

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Shortly after I became a Christian, my grandfather died. It was the first time I lost someone close to me. Since I was raised in an atheist home, I had very little knowledge of the Bible, Christianity or religion in general.

Losing my grandfather presented me with several new challenges. I didn’t know how to view death or grieve as a believer. I didn’t know how to express the loss without self-pity. I didn’t even know how to talk about my confusion over suffering as a believer.

I was away in college at the time and lacked input of older wiser adults. None of the church volunteers who helped with the college group had gray hair, so in many ways we kids were pooling our ignorance.

In struggling with how do I face this situation, I remember thinking I had to be positive no matter what.  As a Christian I thought I had permission to be courageous, brave and steadfast, but not to be afraid or to grieve.

In my ignorance I concluded that proper Christians didn’t hurt and that real Christians had some kind of special faith that made them always cheerful and put together. Since I needed that shoulder to cry on, I must be a backsliding believer.

But the worst thing about my wrong conclusion was that I was afraid to turn to God.

I was convinced I couldn’t go to God because I was letting God down. I was not the kind of person a believer is suppose to be, so how could I possibly pray about it? How could I let God know that I was failing this Christianity thing? The first bump in the road and I fall apart. What kind of a Christian is that!

I’d like to say that I found Psalm 143 and all my wrong ideas were put to rights, but that would be apocryphal. I didn’t find this Psalm until years later. I’ve always been drawn to the lament psalms, especially the penitential psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 & 143), because they express a kind of prayer we Christians are too put together to pray in public.

By in large we don’t show the anguish expressed in Psalm 143 to each other, so it’s comforting to know that not only do genuine believers fall into the pits of depression but that they can go to God from that dark place and find light again.

My young conclusions about dealing with suffering were wrong. Christians do hurt. Christians do grieve and it is entirely appropriate — in fact necessary — to take that hurt to God.

That’s what Psalm 143 is about. It’s about being in the deepest blackest pit of despair and finding God anyway. It’s about depression, but the particular depression and anguish you feel when you’re confronted with the consequences of your sin.

Let me give you a disclaimer here. While this Psalm is largely applicable to dealing with depression, it is not a panacea such that once you understand it you will never be depressed again.

There are kinds of depression for which you ought to seek medical or professional help. This Psalm is about those times in our lives when we realize we are not the people we ought to be, when we realize anew the depths to which we can be selfish and unloving, when we realize that we are broken, defeated sinners and when we find despite our best intentions and strongest efforts we have sinned again and that sin had consequences and the consequences hurt. This Psalm is about that deep dark black pit of knowing I failed — again — and finding hope.

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Psalm 143

1A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O LORD, Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
2And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous.
3For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.
4Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me.
5I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands.
6I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.
7Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.
8Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.
9Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.
10Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
11For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
12And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am Your servant.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Part of the Series: Understanding Psalms

Resources: Understanding Hebrew Poetry

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What to pray when you don’t know what to pray for

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When my daughter was little she loved the Disney stories of Jasmine and Aladdin.  We were particularly enthralled by the idea of a genie who offers three wishes to some lucky victim of fate.  We had many conversations about what would we wish for, ranging from the politically correct to the entirely frivolous.

As Christians, in many ways we approach God in prayer as if He were a big blue genie.  Contrast the “prayer as wish-fulfillment” idea with the Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.– Ephesians 1:18-19

Even though believers in 1st Century Ephesus were facing very difficult circumstances, Paul does not pray for their struggles.  He does not say, “I’m praying for you because I know life is tough and you’re having trouble making a living. ”  Rather,  he reminds them of the overwhelming blessings God gave believers in Christ (1:1-14),  and then he prays that they would fully comprehend those blessings.

Think about what you’d wish for if you had a genie.  Think about what you pray for.  How similar are they?

Typically our prayers are “three wishes” for:

  • heal it (I sprained my ankle, I’m feeling sick, I have headaches, make me physically better, I’m tired, etc.)
  • ease it (don’t let my hard disk crash, keep my mother-in-law from visiting, give me a good boss, let me get an A on this paper, get me there on time, etc.)
  • fix it (I’m in a jam, I made a mess of things, I did something stupid, bail me out, etc.)

The Ephesian church could certainly have prayed this kind of request.  Their lives were rough, as they were persecuted for their faith and many jobs were closed to them.  But Paul doesn’t pray for those things for them.  Instead he prays for spiritual wisdom and knowledge.  He prays that they would fully comprehend their identity as followers of Jesus.

To our ears that sounds theological and impractical.   But the spiritual understanding Paul prays for is more practical and immediately important than anything else we could pray for.  (I’m not saying we should never pray for specifics or particulars we’re worried about.  I’m suggesting there are often more important issues at stake that the cares of this world.)

In this phrase “having the eyes of your heart enlightened,” Paul is praying for knowledge that is deeper than intellectual content. He prays that the Ephesians would embrace an understanding which would set their hearts on fire and change their lives from the inside out.

Look at the three things Paul prays they would fully comprehend:

  • the hope of His calling – the confident, eager, expectation that we will be made holy (Ephesians 1:4,7,18)
  • the riches of the glory of His inheritance – the incredible value and extraordinary worth of being made holy (Ephesians 1:18)
  • the surpassing greatness of His power –  the certainty of God being able to deliver this inheritance of holiness (Ephesians 1:19)

Not only does Paul want us to understand the hope we have before us (the beginnings of faith) and how incredibly valuable being made holy is (the end of faith), he also wants us to grasp how capable God is of delivering on His promises (the middle journey of faith).   His power is more than sufficient.  He has promised the call and the inheritance and He is capable of fulfilling that promise.

How do we know? We’ve seen it done. We’ve seen that power demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.   The resurrection demonstrated that God has power to conquer death (Ephesians 1:20-23).  For us, the fulfillment is just a matter of time.

God has promised an inheritance beyond our wildest dreams and better than the desires of earthly existence and He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than all that we ask or think.  Much better than a genie could.

Next time life knocks you flat and it’s so hard that you don’t even know what to pray for,  pray “for the eyes of your heart to be enlightened.”

Ephesians 1:15-23

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. – Ephesians 1:15-23

Part of the series: Ephesians: Our New Life in Christ

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Cats and the End of the World

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Lady playing with ribbon

The day our cat died our daughter changed her Facebook status to “starting over from the end of the world.”

I turned to Psalm 143.

A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.  – Psalm 143:1-4

Admittedly missing a beloved pet is not a tragedy on the scale of losing a son in war, a daughter to a crazed gunman on a college campus, or a spouse to a sudden illness.  So my grief is tinged with a blush of shame of knowing she was only a cat after all.  But then all death results from the brokenness of our fallen world, and it hurts.

We sometimes think the successful Christian simply avoids life’s pitfalls. If we only walk carefully enough, sidestepping that mistake and swerving around that landmine, all would be fine.  But Psalm 143 does not view life as a carefully executed path of avoiding problem crevices. Rather the Psalmist describes a stampede roaring behind him, threatening to crush him, which no amount of thoughtful organization can hold at bay. The problem is too big and the enemy (sin and death) is too awful (Psalm 143:3-4)

So what’s a cat-lover to do?

David’s first step in Psalm 143 was to deliberately review God’s past concrete actions.

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. – Psalm 143:5

I consider my “days of old”, like how God used our cat’s two-week disappearance to bring our daughter to saving faith.  David’s recollection moved him from the hopelessness of the grave to the dryness of the desert, which at least promises the possibility of rain and restored life.

I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah – Psalm 143:6

However, for most of us, theology alone does not make us emotionally whole, relationally secure, or optimistically cheerful. Theology is only a first step.

The next step is refusing to pretend a broken life is fine.  In Psalm 143 David does this by pleading with God to act, and laying alongside each plea an honest statement about his doubts, faith and fears.

Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge!
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! – Psalm 143:7-10

The images move from the utter darkness of the tomb (verse 3), to the desert (verse 6), to the morning light (verse 8), to expecting the Lord to lead him on level ground (verse 10).  But faced with an empty cat bed, I wonder how David took that first step out of darkness.

As David acknowledges his failures and pleads for God’s intervention, he clings to his faith in God’s willingness and power to deliver him from sin and death.  And that exercise of faith pushes him from the pit to level ground.

This is a long process, much longer than it takes to read verses 7-10.  Applying God’s healing truth often take months or more.  I’m also not suggesting that if you meditate on Psalm 143 long enough you will never be depressed again.  It is not a magic panacea, and for some kinds of depression you ought to seek medical or professional advice.

But this Psalm can help in those times when we realize anew the depths of our selfishness or when tragedies knock us flat.  While this Psalm describes that dark black pit of living in a world ruled by sin and death, it also shines the light of who God is and what God has done for us.

Which demonstrates greater love: dying for your child or your enemy?  Obviously, it takes greater love to die for your enemy, especially if he scoffs and mocks, calling your sacrifice worthless.  Jesus already demonstrated that greater love.

We were enemies of God, under God’s wrath.  We deserved no more love from God than a Jew would give Hitler.  Yet, at that point — while we were his enemies, mocking his sacrifice – Jesus died for us.

He’s already demonstrated the greater, harder love.  So now that we’re adopted into his family, of course he won’t abandon us. David reaches this conclusion at the end of Psalm 143.

For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.- Psalm 143:11-12

David realized another healing truth through this process:  not only is he guilty and in need of the God’s grace, he can also say with equal certainty, “I am your servant.” He will win this war with sin and death because he belongs to God.  He can be just as confident of God’s love as he is of his sins.  True, we don’t deserve God’s grace, but we can be count on it. That’s our point of hope.

As certain as I am that I’m a wretch and as often as sin crushes me, I also cling to the fact that I belong to the Lord. “I am his servant.”  He has promised us the day will come when He will wipe away every tear, right every wrong, and make all things new.

We will in fact start over from the end of the world, and it will be glorious.