Category Archives: Faith

Pray and Don’t Give Up

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If I were to ask, “What is the least attended meeting in the church?”, I’m sure that most of us would immediately identify the prayer meeting. If we were to ask again why that is so, there would be many reasons and excuses. However, I believe David Wells, in his article Prayer: Rebelling Against the Status Quo, states it best when he says that we don’t pray because “…we don’t believe prayer will make any difference.”

He adds that because we feel we are powerless to change anything, even through our prayers, we resign ourselves to the “status quo.” We accept the situation as it is, and we must learn to live with it. According to Wells, “This resignation to what is abnormal contains a hidden, unrecognized assumption that God’s power to change the world, to overcome Evil with Good, will not be actualized.” In other words, not only do we feel that our prayers are ineffective, but we even subconsciously believe that God isn’t going to do anything about it anyway.

How do we change this? I believe we need to develop a better understanding of what prayer is and our role in God’s plan. First, we need to understand that God is not an unwilling tyrant with whom we must plead and beg to take care of our needs. To illustrate this, Jesus spoke a parable about a widow who sought justice from a godless judge as recorded in Luke 18.

At first, the judge would not listen to her, but through her persistence, the judge finally relented and gave her the justice she desired. At the end of the parable, Jesus said, “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily” (7-8 ESV). In this parable, Jesus says God is the total opposite of this godless and stingy judge. God wants to minister to those who cry out to Him and He will do so “speedily”—without hesitation. If that’s true, then why don’t we see our prayers answered? I think it is because we are not doing what the widow did. We are not praying with persistence.

One problem in the Western world today is that we have become used to instant gratification. Since the microwave, the internet, and a host of other inventions that provide quick service, we have a hard time waiting. Therefore, when we don’t see immediate results with our prayers, it is easy for us to give up and stop praying. You may have even been taught that we should only pray once for a need, then just praise God for the answer and confess that you have received it. And, if we pray repeatedly for the same need, we are showing a lack of faith.

I believe, however, that the Bible teaches just the opposite—that we are to pray persistently until we receive an answer. Luke notes that the reason Jesus used the parable of the widow was to teach them to “always pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). Jesus even concluded the parable by asking “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” He connected her persistence to faith.

There are other examples of persistence in the Bible: Jacob wrestled with the angel and would not give up until he received a blessing (Gen. 32:24-29), Elijah prayed seven times until the rain came (1 Kings 18:41-46), Daniel prayed and fasted for three weeks to understand a vision before he received an answer (Dan. 10:1-14), the blind beggar continued to cry out to Jesus until He turned to answer his prayers (Luke 18:35-43), Paul prayed three times for God to remove the thorn in his flesh—he only stopped when God said “no” (2 Cor. 12:7-9), and even Jesus prayed three times in the garden of Gethsemane as He surrendered His will to the Father’s (Matt. 26:37-46).

The point is that we should continually pray until we receive the answer because we don’t know what God is doing behind the scenes. One reason we don’t receive an immediate answer is that God may need to prepare the soil (Matt. 13:18-23) beforehand. He may need to work on the hearts of the other people involved, work out all the necessary details, or wait until the time is right for the miracle to happen. He may even need to work in your heart before you are ready to receive the answer.

This is where faith comes in with our persistent prayers. As we fervently and persistently pray, we are doing so with the confidence that God is working. We may not see what He is doing, but we know, by faith, that He is working and setting the stage to do a miracle, and we will continue to pray until everything is ready for the answer to come.

This brings us to another thing we need to understand about prayer: prayer is the tool with which we can work with God to fulfill His purpose on earth. Even though God is sovereign, all-powerful, and can do whatever He wants whenever He wants, He has chosen to work with man to accomplish His will (see Ezek. 22:30-31).

This is perfectly illustrated by Elijah in 1 Kings 18. In verse one, we read that God told Elijah that, after a three-year drought, He was going to make it rain. Following his encounter with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, Elijah then began to pray for rain (41-46). Elijah bent down on the ground and put his head between his knees to pray. Some commentators say that this is the position women took when they were giving birth. In other words, Elijah was fervently (passionately) praying (James 5:17) until God birthed the miracle through him. God could have just sent the rain on his own, but He chose to work through Elijah’s prayers to bring the miracle to pass.

In summary, prayer is not begging God or trying to convince Him to meet a need. Instead, it is joining our will to God’s will and persistently praying until God begins to “birth” the miracle in us. Then, through our fervent and continuous prayers, God works behind the scenes preparing everyone and every detail until the time is right for the miracle to take place. Don’t give up! Don’t stop praying because we know that “The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail” (James 5:16b). Pray until the job is completed!

Wells, David. 2014. “Prayer: Rebelling Against the Status Quo.” In Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 4th ed. edited by Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, 159-162. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.  

Live Out Your Love

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In Matthew 22:34-40, one of the Pharisees, an expert in the law, tested Jesus by asking Him what the greatest commandment was in all the Law. Jesus responded by quoting Deut. 6:5 which says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Jesus then added Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself” as the second greatest commandment stating that these two commandments form the foundation for all the Law and the Prophets.

Jesus did not randomly select these verses. The passage in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is one that every Jew would have memorized from early childhood. It is called the Shema and is an important prayer Jewish people would have prayed every morning and every evening: and still do. The prayer begins with “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deut. 6:4). The first word Hear is the Hebrew word Shema from which the prayer gets its name. However, Shema means more than taking in sound through our ears. It includes the idea of acting upon what is heard. Therefore, God was not just telling Israel to listen and pay attention. He was telling them to act upon what they hear and obey His words. He was telling them to be doers of His word and not hearers only (James 1:22).

This is also true of many Hebrew verbs: they are not merely mental activities but encompass action as well. For example, when the Bible tells us to believe or have faith in God, it means more than mentally acknowledging certain facts or information about God. It includes believing in God enough that we are willing to put our faith into action and obey what He tells us to do as when Noah built the ark at God’s command because he believed Him.

The word love is another example. We often think of love as an emotion: having good feelings towards someone. But, although love can involve our emotions, it is better to see it as an act of kindness. We love someone when we do loving things for them. Therefore, when God commands us to love our enemies, He is not telling us to develop an emotional attraction for them. Instead, He is telling us to do acts of love for them even if we don’t feel loving towards them. We’ll discuss this more later.

The next key word in the prayer is the word Echad which is often used to mean “one” in the sense of singular. Therefore, the common translation of the phrase is, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one” meaning that there is only one God as compared to the many gods of the other cultures. This would, then, be a statement of belief: that we believe in only one God and He is Jehovah. However, another way the word Echad can be translated is “alone” which would change the phrase to “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.” Lois Tverberg, in her book, Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, states that this translation is becoming widely used and that scholars believe that this is more likely the original sense of the word Echad. If this is true, then this would change the purpose of the Shema. Instead of being a command to adhere to a particular belief about monotheism, it is calling the person to pledge allegiance to God. It is a twice-daily recommitment to worship and serve God and God alone.

Following the command to hear God’s word and obey it, and to recommit ourselves to worship and serve God alone, we are commanded to love God. Remember, the word love in Hebrew involves more than emotion. After all, how can you command someone to love someone else? You can’t. Therefore, the command is not to develop loving feelings towards God but to demonstrate our love to God through the way we live. Let’s look at how this works.

First, God is commanding us to love Him with all our heart. We usually think of the heart as the seat of our emotions, which is why we view love as an emotional feeling. But in Hebrew, the word for heart (levav) also includes one’s mind and thoughts. This is why God says in verse six, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts”. This also fits with verse eight where God says, “Tie them (His commands) as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” In other words, all our thoughts and all our actions are centered on the Word of God. Therefore, we demonstrate our love for God by constantly meditating on His word and using it to guide our actions by “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. (2 Cor. 10:5)

Next, we are to love God with all our soul. The word for soul is Nephesh which means life or being, the part of us that exists while we have breath. Tverberg states that “the Jewish interpretation of this line is that you are to love the Lord with all of your life, meaning with every moment throughout your life” (2012, 48). Therefore, we demonstrate our love for God by giving Him every moment of our life as long as we have breath, and not just a few moments a week or when it is convenient.

 Finally, we are commanded to love God with all our strength. The word used here is Meod, and has nothing to do with power, might, or strength. The word means muchness, abundance, or very. According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, it expresses the idea of magnitude or degree. It is a common adverb used to intensify adjectives such as when someone says they are very well. It is the word used in Gen. 1:31 when God says that His creation is “very good”.

So, how does this apply to loving God? Randall Buth, a Hebrew scholar, reads this phrase as saying that we are to love God with all our oomph (Tverberg 2012, 51)! In other words, we demonstrate our love for God by loving Him heartily, earnestly, with much zeal, with every fiber of our being, and with everything we’ve got! Maybe as David did when he brought the ark into Jerusalem and he “danced with all his might before the LORD” (2 Sam. 6:14).

In summary, when God commands us to love Him, He is not commanding us to have warm, fuzzy feelings towards Him. He is commanding us to demonstrate our love to Him by hearing His words and obeying them, by committing our lives to Him and Him alone, by bringing all our thoughts and actions into submission to His word, by worshipping and serving Him as long as we have breath, and by serving Him heartily and zealously. In other words, if we love Him, we will obey His commandments (John 14:15).

Based on the Shema in Deut. 6:4-5, I’ve put together my version of the prayer. LORD, I hear Your words and I will obey them. I recognize that You are the LORD, and I commit myself to You alone. I will demonstrate my love to You by submitting my thoughts, my will, and my actions to Your will. I will love You by dedicating every part of my life to You as long as I have breath. And I will love you heartily: with all my “oomph!”

Tverberg, Lois. 2012. Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewish Words of Jesus Can Change Your Life. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Encamped at Gilgal?

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Our church is reading through the Bible together, and as we were reading through the book of Joshua, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. Joshua 4 and 5 relate the story of Israel crossing the Jordan and camping at Gilgal. Once they made camp three things happened. God instructed Joshua to circumcise all the males who had not been circumcised since they left Egypt (Joshua 5:2-9), they celebrated Passover for the first time since leaving Egypt (Joshua 5:10-12), and Joshua had the encounter with the man with the sword (Joshua 5:13-15).

I had read this passage many times before, but I noticed something this time. When the first generation of Israelites left Mt. Sinai and were about to enter Canaan, the Promised Land, God was leading them from the south from Kadesh Barnea (Num. 13:26) through the Desert of Zin (Num. 13:21) and entering on the west side of the Salt Sea. Now, after forty years and with a new generation, why was God leading them in from the east side where they had to cross the Jordan River?

The reason goes back to the experiences of the first generation. The first generation went through the Red Sea which was symbolic of their dying to their old life of bondage and resurrecting to a new life from God. It was their baptism. They had all been circumcised and entered a covenant relationship with God, and they had demonstrated their faith in God by coming under the blood of the Passover lamb when the death angel passed through the land (Ex. 12:1-13). This generation, however, failed to trust God to enter the Promised Land, and God, therefore, punished them by having them wander in the wilderness for forty years until this entire generation died (Num. 14:20-35).

The second generation, though, who were born during their forty years in the desert had not experienced any of these things mentioned above. Therefore, they could not receive the promise of God through their father’s experience, but they had to have their own encounter with God. They had to cross the Jordan River so they could have their own baptism of dying to the old life and being raised to a new life in God. They also had to be circumcised so they could enter their own personal covenant with God. And, celebrating the Passover reminded them of what God did to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt, but it also connected them by faith to the saving blood of the Passover lamb.

What was necessary for this generation of Israelites is true for us today. Each individual and each generation must have their own encounters with God. They cannot rely on the faith of their parents or grandparents to save them. Everyone must personally apply the blood of the Passover Lamb of God to their own heart to be saved (1 Peter 1:18-21), be baptized into a new life in Christ (Rom. 6:1-7), and put off the old nature by being circumcised in the heart (Col. 2:11). Only then can they experience the promised blessings of God’s salvation.

One other thing. Israel could not just camp at Gilgal and say, “We are in the promised land, so we’ll just stay here. This is enough”. No, Gilgal was only the beginning. God had much more for them, but they had to go further. They had to engage in many battles, drive out the inhabitants, and possess the land God had promised them with God’s help. The promise was theirs, but they had to work to receive it.

Likewise, today I have known many Christians who are content with just camping at Gilgal. They are saved (crossed the Jordan) and committed to the Lord (circumcised in the heart). But, for whatever reason, they have no desire to go any further in their walk with the Lord. We need to understand, though, that Gilgal (salvation) is not the end but only the beginning. God has much more for us than we can possibly imagine. There is a spiritual abundance that He has promised us (John 10:10), however, like Israel, we must fight for it.

Paul says in Phil. 2:12-13 to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”.  He is not saying to work for our salvation, but to work out our salvation—to discipline ourselves to grow deeper in our walk with God so we can experience all that He has for us. We must fight the battles against laziness, complacency, distractions, and even attacks from our spiritual enemy that hinder us and entice us to remain in Gilgal. We need a passionate heart that cries out for more of God’s Presence as Moses cried, “Lord, show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18). But we can’t do any of this in our own ability. Paul goes on to say in verse 13 that it is God who works in us to have the desire and the ability to do His will. He has more for us, and He wants to help us possess it. One final question for you to consider. Where are you? Are you passionately seeking God and disciplining yourself to possess all He has for you? Or are you content to remain in Gilgal? Or maybe you haven’t even crossed the Jordan River and entered a salvation experience with the Lord. Regardless of where you are, just keep in mind that God has more for you. It is yours if you want it. All you have to do is ask Him to give you the desire and the ability to receive it.

Presence or Presents?

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When reading in the book of Exodus about God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt and bringing them to Mt. Sinai, have you ever wondered why He took them to Sinai? If His goal was to take Israel to the Promised Land, the most direct way was along the northern route which is actually a trade route. It would have been the route the caravan would have taken when they brought Joseph to Egypt to sell him. And, it would have been the route Jacob’s sons would have used when they went to Egypt to buy grain during the famine. So, if it was the easier route, then why did God bring Israel on a several-day journey out of the way to this remote mountain?

The answer can be found in Exodus 19:4 when God said to Moses “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself” (emphasis mine). This was the same mountain where Moses had the encounter with God at the burning bush, and where God revealed Himself to Moses. I believe it was God’s intention to bring the entire nation of Israel to this mountain so that they could have a similar encounter with God. He wanted them all to go up the mountain into the Presence of God as Moses did (Deut. 5:5) so He could put His Spirit and His laws in their heart (Jer. 31:31-34).

However, what happened when God did appear on the mountain and give them the Ten Commandments? Instead of drawing near to God, they ran back in fear (Ex. 20:18-21). Instead of hearing from God directly, they told Moses to speak to God, tell them what He says, and they will do it. Therefore, God had to engrave His laws on stone tablets because they would not allow Him to engrave them in their heart.

Now, as we read the rest of Israel’s story in the wilderness, we can see a difference between Moses and the people. Moses often went into the Presence of God and spoke with God face-to-face (Ex. 33:8-11). Israel remained at a distance from God and received His word second-hand from Moses. Moses reflected the glory of God (Ex. 34:29-35), while the people did not experience His glory. Moses longed for more of the Presence of God (Ex. 33:15-18), while the people longed to go back to Egypt (Num. 11:5). Moses was obedient, while Israel struggled with sin and idolatry. Moses trusted God, while Israel doubted God (Num. 14:1-12). And Moses was a friend of God (Ex. 33:5,11), while Israel was a stiff-necked people always complaining.

Moses and Israel traveled the same path, experienced the same problems, faced the same enemies, and received the same blessings from God but their responses were different. Why? What was the difference? The difference was the Presence of God.

Unfortunately, we see the same scenario in our churches today. There are many who, like Moses, desire to enter God’s Presence and have a personal, life-changing encounter with God. They desire to hear His voice first-hand and long to experience more of His glory. However, I believe most Christians are more like Israel. They are content to remain at a distance and hear God’s Word second-hand from their pastor or other ministers resulting in churches filled with people who struggle with sin, doubt, disobedience, selfishness, spiritual weakness, and complaining. This is also why most of our churches lack the power and anointing of God to touch lives and impact their communities—they are missing the Presence of God.

I believe part of the problem is that we have been taught to hear God’s Word from the “anointed professionals”, and we have not been encouraged to spend time in God’s Presence and allow Him to speak to us directly. We have also developed the mindset that so long as we have God’s blessing, His protection, His provision–His “presents”, we are doing alright spiritually and have need of nothing else.

But remember that this is what God offered to Moses. In Exodus 33, God told Moses that he was to lead Israel from Mt. Sinai and take them to the Promised Land. God would send His angel before them to lead them, protect them, and drive out their enemies, but His Presence would not go with them (Ex. 33:1-3). Moses, however, said that he would rather stay in the desert with God’s Presence than go to the Promised Land of blessing without His Presence (Ex. 33:15). He wanted God’s Presence, not His presents.

I want to challenge you with this. Carefully and honestly look at your life. Are you more like Moses or Israel? Who do you want to be like? If you want to move beyond just receiving God’s presents and experiencing more of His Presence, it will require commitment and determination on your part. You will need to follow Moses’ example and dedicate time alone with God (Ex. 33:7-11), ask Him to show you His glory (Ex. 33:18), then be quiet and allow Him to speak to you and reveal Himself to you (Ps. 46:10). God desires for us to have an intimate relationship with Him so if we will take the initiative to seek Him, He will respond (James 4:8).

I have often said that you can have as much of the Presence of God in your life as you want. And you already do. The choice is yours.

Why Are You a Christian?

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Our church has been reading through the Bible together this year, and as we read through the Book of Numbers, I couldn’t help but think how blessed the nation of Israel was. Numbers 10:33-34 says, “So they set out from the mountain of the Lord and traveled for three days. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them during those three days to find them a place to rest. The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.” Imagine having a visible Presence of God in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night leading you as you travel (Num. 9:15-23).

The Lord also provided manna every morning during their forty-year journey (Ex. 16:13-21). He miraculously brought water out of a rock (Ex. 17:1-7) when they were thirsty. Their shoes and clothes never wore out (Deut. 29:5), and God gave them victory over all their enemies (Ex. 17:8-16; Deut. 20:1-4). When one considers all that God did for Israel, one would think that they would be grateful and respond to Him with love, appreciation, and obedience.

However, as we read through the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy), we see that Israel was not grateful at all. Instead, they were constantly complaining. They complained about the manna God was miraculously providing every morning stating that they longed for the food they had in Egypt (Num. 11:4-6). They constantly complained about the lack of water (Num. 20:2-5). And, they complained about the leadership: Miriam and Aaron felt Moses was too prideful and that God could speak through them also (Num. 12:1-4). Korah desired Aaron’s position (Num. 16:1-3, 8-11). And Dathan and Abiram felt that Moses made promises that he wasn’t fulfilling. Their expectations were not being met (Num. 16:12-14).

What was the reason for all the complaining instead of being grateful for all God had done for them? I believe it was a lack of trust. Their relationship with God was second-hand with Moses as the mediator (Ex. 20:18-19; Deut. 5:5, 23-27). As a result, they did not know God intimately and they were not able to build a relationship of trust as Moses had. They only saw God as the One to rescue them from their problems, take care of them, meet their needs, and bring them into a better place. In other words, they followed God, not because they wanted to be with Him as Moses did (Ex. 33:1-3, 12-16), but only because they thought He could make their lives better. But, when those needs were not being met as they felt they should be, or their expectations were not being met, they questioned God and began to complain about the job He was doing. Many of them even gave up and wanted to return to their former life of slavery back in Egypt.

This brings up the question that I posted in the title of this article. Why are you a Christian? Are you, like Israel, following God only because you were told that He can save you from your problems, take care of you, and bring you to a better place? Or do you follow Him, as Moses did, because you want to be with Him whether you receive any blessings from Him or not? You see if we are only following God for what He can do for us, then it is easy to fall into the trap of grumbling and complaining when His performance does not match our expectations. We can even feel that following God is not worth it and decide to return to our old life. However, if our desire is to be in His Presence, then it doesn’t matter what happens to us so long as we are with Him.

In Exodus 33, God told Moses to take the people of Israel from the mountain and go to the land of promise. He would send an angel before them to drive out the inhabitants of the land, and they would experience God’s promised blessings. However, His Presence would not go with them (Ex. 33:1-3). Moses interceded for the people, though, and said, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Ex. 33:15). Right after this, Moses asked God to show him His glory (Ex. 33:18). You see, Moses’ desire was for God Himself and not just for what God could do for him. I would challenge you to sincerely ask yourself, why am I a Christian? Why am I following God? Do you follow Him because you want to be with Him, or only for what He can do for you? If you truly want to experience His Presence as Moses did, then do what Moses did—pray for God to reveal His glory/Presence to you. Ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit and to give you a passion for more of Him. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you (James 4:8) because that is what He wants also.