This is the fourth article in a series on prayer.  I am attempting to explore the vast  insights the scripture gives us if we would only open the scriptures to find them.  The topic of prayer, based on my experience, has few believers practicing because of misguided teaching in the greater body of Christ. Believers say they understand prayer and yet practice it either infrequently or poorly. The subject of prayer deserves a lot more attention. Jesus said his house was to be called a house of prayer, not of preaching or worship, even though those are important items and functions in a healthy church. Real healthy prayer is the gateway into the presence and provision of God. If you have not read the first three articles please do so now so you can see the foundation points on my understanding on the importance and practice of prayer for each believer. Look at what the disciples ask Jesus one day about prayer and how to pray according to the will of God.

Let’s be honest and not just biblically correct, although I want to also be biblically correct. I find I’m frustrated with so much that is going on in the world that I have to wrestle a lot with my emotions. After all, there is so much to get anyone mad who is awake. From politics, to the economy, to people loosing their business and people loosing their jobs– there is plenty to get me fired up about. The thing that bugs me a lot is feeling like I can’t do anything about it. Do you find yourself in the same boat? Read on.

In this study I have proposed a few key attitudes and behaviors that gain favor with God. In the first article we learned that having favor with God is developed and acquired through choice and discipline. Proverbs 12:2 states that “A good man obtains favor from God.”  In other words, our choices and conduct affect our standing, either good or bad, with God.

We have been looking into what the “Favor” of God means as well as the importance of how you grow in Favor with God. From my experience, this subject is rarely talked about because so many pastors and teachers are afraid of being labeled a “Works” person. The subject of God’s grace is so hammered into most Christians that people are often blind to the obvious truth that what we do matters. If you haven’t read the first two article in this series, please read those first before continuing with this one.

The incorrect belief about grace and works clouds the ability of many to reason out the scripture with common sense. In Romans, Paul challenged young believers to be renewed in their thinking because their pagan upbringing clouded their reasoning and judgement. By challenging believers to get “renewed” or “rewired” they could think more clearly and reason out the scripture as they were intended to be understood. The Jews in days of Jesus thought much like the religious people of our day who learn scripture but never really apply them.

Words matter a lot! But what if the culture we find ourselves living in changes the meaning of a word?  Today, words are thrown around with a disregard to their true meaning. If the new, incorrect definitions are spoken by enough people then the actual words develop a new emotional meaning.  If we lose sight of what words and concepts in scripture actually mean, then we are bound to stumble.

As Christians, we want God to move in our lives on a daily basis, not just when we respond to Jesus’ offer of being born again.  The problem: who is suppose to initiate? Is God suppose to tell us when he plans to move or are we suppose to ask him to move? Truthfully, I think it is both!

I read two articles recently about two very different Christian leaders. Both are high-profile men who speak to thousands of people daily yet they are so different in both their personal lives and their weaknesses. They both have learned to live with these weakness, one by covering it up and the other by confessing and leveraging it. They both are respected throughout the body of Christ and you would recognize their names. They are responsible for thousands of people in ministries as well as millions of dollars worth of assets. Now, I’m not so impressed with people who have such influence until I discover what’s going on behind the scenes and whether their ministry and personal lives are honest reflections of themselves as genuine followers of Christ.

Recently, I started to teach a six-week class at church on the book of Colossians and was reminded of the disconnect many Christians have regarding who they are meant to be a believers. I have often heard pastors and teachers say we are “Sinners” saved by grace in one sentence and then move on without giving an explanation of what they meant by that statement. For the average Christian believer, they get a “Mind Set” that that’s who they are and will always be until either Jesus returns or they die and go to be with the Lord. This, however, is far from the truth and often cripples the believer to always live in either a guilt ridden state or a weakened resolve to live as Jesus intended, which is free from a sinful lifestyle.

As more and more of us are living in cities and suburbia, we move farther and farther from an understanding of the basic principle of “Sowing & Reaping” that people in farming communities understand. When we see so much of what man can do, from the cars we drive to the grocery stores we shop in, it becomes harder and harder to believe in a God who created the world we live in.  We even have a way of getting around the effects of the seasons and thus feel we are in control.  We may control some natural things but not the deep things of the soul. If it’s hot, we turn the air conditioning on. If it’s cold, we turn the heat on. For the children who grow up with such controlled environments, is it any wonder that coming to faith in a God who created all things is very difficult?  To believe God has the ability to lead us is not only difficult but often feels like salmon swimming up stream against raging waters. If we make it to the faith we often feel beat up and battered by all the arguments of our inner soul and the secular world.

When I grew up I lived in a mixed rural/city environment. The city had about 30,000 residents yet we lived more closely connected to the earth. My grandfather was a man who grew the most delicious food.  I often would pick string beans from the garden and go sit in the school yard eating the sweet fruit of his labor. Today, I don’t like string beans because they are picked early to accommodate the long trip to market. Because they are picked early they aren’t sweet like when I was a kid.

Furniture is another example. When I was a kid there was no particleboard furniture, only solid wood. The difference in the quality of furniture is truly amazing. For kids growing up today, they probably will never know solid wood furniture unless their parents have good paying jobs.  It is sad that we live in a disposable generation that struggles to find fulfillment and struggles believing God even exists, let alone cares for them.

If people are fortunate enough to have been exposed to people of faith, who have experienced what it truly means to trust God for everything, they are blessed. But all too often we experience believers that believe in a creator but rarely put their trust in Him for their purpose of life and their daily needs.  Many people who claim to know Christ and His redeeming grace live a natural life with just enough scripture in their soul to motivate themselves to go to church some Sundays.  However, they live like God is no where to be found the others six days of the week. Jesus spoke to people who were steeped in religious form without a true living relationship with God. When Jesus pointed out this inconsistency to people who called themselves children of God, the Jews, they became so hate filled that they crucified Jesus.

John 15:1-2                                                                                                                                                                                          

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branchthat bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

I traveled to Denver, Colorado to celebrate a life of a true believer who not only got saved from his selfish life but embarked on a journey of faith that many would be jealous to have. He has lived such a life that this week I had the privilege of participating in a celebration of his life and the passing of his ministry authority to a younger man. He is extraordinary because he carved out a ministry to the nations out of nothing in order to become a world changer. He then, at the peek of growth and success, handed this ministry over to a younger man but intends to work alongside him to continue the ministries effectiveness.  He is truly godly character that doesn’t seek applause but rather encourages others to love God and people passionately.

In order to end up living a life of fruitfulness like this man you have to first trust God more than yourself and then apply that ideology of trust into practical living. You have to be a person that sees beyond the man made and sees what God has done and is doing in the earth.

In the book of Genesis there were two brothers. Both worked their talents and produced from their labors. The difference was who they did their labors for.

Genesis 4:1-3                                                                                                                                                                             

Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help ofthe LORD.” ²Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.

God provided so many illustrations of people and their good and bad choices. Our lives produce good or bad based on what our motives are, no matter what they may look like on the surface. You would think we would be smarter and wiser after reading scripture yet we often make the same mistake as Cain did.

Genesis 4:4-8                                                                                                                                                                            

Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; ⁵but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. ⁶Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷“If you do well, will not your countenancebe lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” ⁸Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

Here is the point in all this. The motive of our hearts makes all the difference in the world. Trusting God may look genuine on the surface but God is never satisfied with surface relationship or obedience. He is looking for the individuals that trust from the depths of their souls and thus live out of the will of God and not the will of our own soul.  Self-centeredness can look very religious at times but later in life the truth will become manifest.

Show me someone that loves to build others up and is not interested in taking credit for their fruitfulness and I will show you a person that God will honor both in this life and the life to come.

Questions:

1) Do you see God in your life or only what can be done naturally? If the latter, ask God to take the blinders off you.

2) Is your life reflecting the heart of Abel or Cain? The difference comes from motive and relationship – your choice.

May God open our eyes to what a truly fruitful life should look like and give us the power to live it accordingly.

Pastor Dale

Ever notice how we automatically blame someone or something when things go wrong? My personality leans toward looking for what’s missing and identifying the missing element. I have always been a trouble-shooter at heart and it has gotten me into some tight spots with people. Sometimes my analysis comes off as judgmental and, even though what I see or don’t see is true, my method of revealing those facts hasn’t always been with tack or wisdom.