...are powerful and effective.
End quote.
I always joke that my mother's prayers are always heard, and that she prays we'll get caught in our sins. As a result, I have always maintained that this itself has proved a significant deterrence in the lives of her two daughters.
But in my mother's case it's true.
Take care what you pray for, I think. Our great Father has a bizarre sense of humor sometimes. For example, at my new job I'm always complaining that I basically get paid to clean up a giant closet and pace the department.
Well, the other day I happened to be having one of those "Ugh, there's no one in the store but the employee moments," and prayed that I would have enough to do to occupy myself until the end of my shift.
Sidenote: My shift that day was from eleven to eight. Not bad.
Well, about seven thirty my manager comes to me and a coworker and says she needs help. She's tried to pack up and ship all of the uniform clothing back to the vendor, who promptly told her she couldn't send that much back.
So at seven thirty we start tearing through boxes and belaboring over clothing tags and numbers. This continued until nine fifteen, and then we came back at eight the next morning to finish. During that time we'd forgotten to insert the paperwork, and had to reopen the boxes -- a third time. The coworker and I were done about ten, but then we realized we'd doubled up on a few items. Luckily, those boxes were still open, and we rummaged through to finish.
My point is: Be careful what you pray for. There's an invisible realm that operates on a supernatural level, and our most gracious King has granted us the ability to affect said realm. I'm not one of those people who thinks God is a vending machine. Rather, his desire to pleasantly surprise us -- granting "mundane" desires such as my own request --- is merely a tribute to his gracious nature. Here is the great high king, sitting enthroned and ruling from heaven, setting things into motion we will never fully comprehend...
And suddenly he decides to give a child a gift.
Thoughts?
30 September 2007
10 September 2007
Cultivating prayer, part two
In the interest of space, I divided this in two. Continuing on...
I say these things because when God says he'll give us the deepest desires of our hearts if we but ask, I've a strange feeling he'll have difficulty filling desires of equal strength an intensity, such as the two I mentioned.
Kaci the risk-taker or Kaci the coward, who shall God please?
I submit that is not what God meant at all. Or rather, how can God answer the prayer of opposing forces in battle for victory? I might also submit that this "ask whatever pleases you" was not the generic invitation of a vending machine.
Rather, this is the Most Sovereign granting his subjects permission to ask whatever they will of him. Yet this implies several things.
1. These subjects know the mind of their sovereign and will not ask anything of him that contradicts his own nature.
2. These subjects are beloved by the sovereign, and in turn love him. This means that they are always found in his presence, and that they will obey him regardless of their personal opinion on the matter. They will support their king, even if they believe he is wrong.
3. They have the favor of the sovereign. And the sovereign has their favor.
4. There is an intimate level of trust between sovereign and subject. The entire invitation, therefore, depends on love.
I keep thinking of a series I recently read, where the main character's best friend and chief bard stays with him and backs him up regardless of the situation, regardless of the apparent idiocy of the main character's decision. That kind of ruthless friendship is rare indeed.
But I also submit that there's more to this idea of prayer than simply getting what we want, getting answers. Sometimes I think it's really about asking the questions. Sometimes it's about sitting in the company of the Most High. Sometimes it's to rant. Sometimes it's to tell him we think he's gone insane.
How do we cultivate prayer?
I think it works like any relationship. The greater the level of trust, the greater the willingness to submit to the admonition of a friend. Time to rephrase the question. How do I reach the point where I can say, without flinching, without hesitation, "Though he slay me, yet I will trust in him?" I think we use the world as an excuse. At least, I do. Shamelessly more often than I care to admit to. Recently, too. Even as I compose this, which is why I write such. This is as much or more to me than to anyone else.
The world carries only the worth you grant it. That which is flesh is flesh; that which is spirit is spirit. And I think I'm done with the excuses. To reap a harvest you begin by considering the cost, buying the supplies, plowing up the ground, and planting. Then you must spend a season tending the wheat. "The harvest is plenty; but the workers are few."
I don't think that prayer is found in what I do or don't do anymore. I'm not even sure it's cultivated by any one means. I do know that things either make the plant grow or kill it. Rain is good, but too much will drown the plant. Therefore dry ground is good, but too much will starve it.
In the end, if I study the Scriptures and stretch my mind, it will eventually break from being stretched too thin.
If I possess an eloquent tongue but care nothing for carrying out the laws of God, then I am utterly wretched in his sight, deplorable. And merely a tare.
If I possess great passion and race zealously ahead to attain the prize of Christ, but flail for lack of wisdom and remain incomprehensible, I am but a wild animal.
So then, how do we...cultivate prayer?
I say these things because when God says he'll give us the deepest desires of our hearts if we but ask, I've a strange feeling he'll have difficulty filling desires of equal strength an intensity, such as the two I mentioned.
Kaci the risk-taker or Kaci the coward, who shall God please?
I submit that is not what God meant at all. Or rather, how can God answer the prayer of opposing forces in battle for victory? I might also submit that this "ask whatever pleases you" was not the generic invitation of a vending machine.
Rather, this is the Most Sovereign granting his subjects permission to ask whatever they will of him. Yet this implies several things.
1. These subjects know the mind of their sovereign and will not ask anything of him that contradicts his own nature.
2. These subjects are beloved by the sovereign, and in turn love him. This means that they are always found in his presence, and that they will obey him regardless of their personal opinion on the matter. They will support their king, even if they believe he is wrong.
3. They have the favor of the sovereign. And the sovereign has their favor.
4. There is an intimate level of trust between sovereign and subject. The entire invitation, therefore, depends on love.
I keep thinking of a series I recently read, where the main character's best friend and chief bard stays with him and backs him up regardless of the situation, regardless of the apparent idiocy of the main character's decision. That kind of ruthless friendship is rare indeed.
But I also submit that there's more to this idea of prayer than simply getting what we want, getting answers. Sometimes I think it's really about asking the questions. Sometimes it's about sitting in the company of the Most High. Sometimes it's to rant. Sometimes it's to tell him we think he's gone insane.
How do we cultivate prayer?
I think it works like any relationship. The greater the level of trust, the greater the willingness to submit to the admonition of a friend. Time to rephrase the question. How do I reach the point where I can say, without flinching, without hesitation, "Though he slay me, yet I will trust in him?" I think we use the world as an excuse. At least, I do. Shamelessly more often than I care to admit to. Recently, too. Even as I compose this, which is why I write such. This is as much or more to me than to anyone else.
The world carries only the worth you grant it. That which is flesh is flesh; that which is spirit is spirit. And I think I'm done with the excuses. To reap a harvest you begin by considering the cost, buying the supplies, plowing up the ground, and planting. Then you must spend a season tending the wheat. "The harvest is plenty; but the workers are few."
I don't think that prayer is found in what I do or don't do anymore. I'm not even sure it's cultivated by any one means. I do know that things either make the plant grow or kill it. Rain is good, but too much will drown the plant. Therefore dry ground is good, but too much will starve it.
In the end, if I study the Scriptures and stretch my mind, it will eventually break from being stretched too thin.
If I possess an eloquent tongue but care nothing for carrying out the laws of God, then I am utterly wretched in his sight, deplorable. And merely a tare.
If I possess great passion and race zealously ahead to attain the prize of Christ, but flail for lack of wisdom and remain incomprehensible, I am but a wild animal.
So then, how do we...cultivate prayer?
09 September 2007
Cultivating prayer, part one
"Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me." ~Jeremiah 2.19.
This is one I have considered for months and not nearly enough.
"If I have the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol..." ~I Corinthians 13
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength." ~Deuteronomy 6.4
"Love your neighbor as yourself." ~Leviticus 19.18
"What does it profit to gain the whole world and forfeit your soul?" ~Matthew
"This night your soul shall be required of you." ~Matthew
"Though he slay me; yet I will trust in him." ~Job
"The eternal God is a dwelling place; and underneath are the everlasting arms." ~Deuteronomy
"Better to fall into the hand of God than men." ~ II Samuel; I Kings
"It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." ~Hebrews 10
The preface is lengthy, but I approach this subject with much fear and trepidation, because in the things I am going to write I shall make myself a hypocrite of the crudest lot. "There is a way that seems right to men; but the end result is destruction." So be it.
Someone pointed out to me the other night that busyness does not equal productivity, nor does discipline alone a good follower of Christ make.
Lest I make a fool of myself, I am the chief of sinners in this regard. Therefore my fingers move slowly over the keys, my heart forms words with trembling.
Some know I've been reading Andrew Murray's works on prayer for almost a year now. It's difficult, because it's difficult to read a book on prayer and not pray. Difficult, but not impossible.
God save me.
Murray's point is not to write a "Seven Steps to a Fulfilling Prayer Life." Rather, he seems to prefer to instruct the reader from the bottom of his heart on how to cultivate prayer. Namely, by clinging to Christ. He indicates that obedience and prayer work together in a kind of symbiotic relationship that cannot be severed.
To increase your faith, increase your obedience; to increase obedience, increase your faith. But above all, cling to the Most High, this Great High Priest who stands before the most holy of holies.
In other words, live your life in such a way that you are not ashamed to stand before the throne of grace. And, should you stumble, take confidence in our Mediator.
Money, clothes, computers, books, phones, work, TV and irritating distant relatives are not the enemy. Atheists are not the enemy. Tyrannical governments are not the enemy. The former-mentioned objects are but objects and have only the value on which we place them. The latter-mentioned people are merely deceived and enslaved by the enemy.
For the last two months this question has consumed me: How does one cultivate prayer?
There's some desperate part of me that wants the Seven Steps to a Fulfilling Prayer Life helpbook. The rest of me is repulsed by the mere thought, but I cannot deny the truth.
There is some part of me that thinks the ideal situation is to be nestled in the mountains in a cabin with a toasty fire, hot chocolate, my writing desk, and a big furry dog.
Another part of me thinks that the ideal situation is to race from country to country, learn all the major languages, and become an anthropology/history buff who can "go native" at will.
Which is practical, both, or neither?
This is one I have considered for months and not nearly enough.
"If I have the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol..." ~I Corinthians 13
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength." ~Deuteronomy 6.4
"Love your neighbor as yourself." ~Leviticus 19.18
"What does it profit to gain the whole world and forfeit your soul?" ~Matthew
"This night your soul shall be required of you." ~Matthew
"Though he slay me; yet I will trust in him." ~Job
"The eternal God is a dwelling place; and underneath are the everlasting arms." ~Deuteronomy
"Better to fall into the hand of God than men." ~ II Samuel; I Kings
"It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." ~Hebrews 10
The preface is lengthy, but I approach this subject with much fear and trepidation, because in the things I am going to write I shall make myself a hypocrite of the crudest lot. "There is a way that seems right to men; but the end result is destruction." So be it.
Someone pointed out to me the other night that busyness does not equal productivity, nor does discipline alone a good follower of Christ make.
Lest I make a fool of myself, I am the chief of sinners in this regard. Therefore my fingers move slowly over the keys, my heart forms words with trembling.
Some know I've been reading Andrew Murray's works on prayer for almost a year now. It's difficult, because it's difficult to read a book on prayer and not pray. Difficult, but not impossible.
God save me.
Murray's point is not to write a "Seven Steps to a Fulfilling Prayer Life." Rather, he seems to prefer to instruct the reader from the bottom of his heart on how to cultivate prayer. Namely, by clinging to Christ. He indicates that obedience and prayer work together in a kind of symbiotic relationship that cannot be severed.
To increase your faith, increase your obedience; to increase obedience, increase your faith. But above all, cling to the Most High, this Great High Priest who stands before the most holy of holies.
In other words, live your life in such a way that you are not ashamed to stand before the throne of grace. And, should you stumble, take confidence in our Mediator.
Money, clothes, computers, books, phones, work, TV and irritating distant relatives are not the enemy. Atheists are not the enemy. Tyrannical governments are not the enemy. The former-mentioned objects are but objects and have only the value on which we place them. The latter-mentioned people are merely deceived and enslaved by the enemy.
For the last two months this question has consumed me: How does one cultivate prayer?
There's some desperate part of me that wants the Seven Steps to a Fulfilling Prayer Life helpbook. The rest of me is repulsed by the mere thought, but I cannot deny the truth.
There is some part of me that thinks the ideal situation is to be nestled in the mountains in a cabin with a toasty fire, hot chocolate, my writing desk, and a big furry dog.
Another part of me thinks that the ideal situation is to race from country to country, learn all the major languages, and become an anthropology/history buff who can "go native" at will.
Which is practical, both, or neither?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
