Psalm 31 (#3) – I Am in His Strength

Tags

Bible Study, David, encouragement, Prayer, Psalm 31, Psalms of David

“Pull me out of the net that they have laid for me, because you are my strength.”

David knew he could rest in God’s strength. This is important. I’m glad God hears when I pray, but if that were all, it would be of little consolation.

Imagine this situation. You are driving up in the mountains. The view is beautiful and the scenery at its peak. You stop at an overlook to enjoy it more fully, and as you get out of the car, you warn your children, “Stay away from the railing. The mountain is steep.”

You turn to comment to your spouse on the beauty of the scene in front of you, but are interrupted by a scream. Whirling, you are just in time to see your young son sliding over the edge.

In his youthful curiosity he has climbed up on the rail and fallen over. Terror-stricken, you rush to the edge to look down. There you see your child lying on a narrow ledge jutting out in the middle of a shale slide. As you stand there, you hear his cries for help, and your first thought is to get to him as quickly as you can.

But there’s nothing you can do. If you try to climb to him, you run the risk of falling yourself, or even worse, causing a slide that would knock him off the ledge. With nothing to lower down to him, there is no hope of rescue.

It doesn’t matter that you can hear his cry for help. It doesn’t even matter that you desire with all your being to help him. Without the means to help him, you might as well not be there. Your only hope is someone who has the ability to rescue your child.

photo via USASOC @ flickr

A God who can hear our prayers, but not answer them is not God at all. So what if He hears us? Who cares if He wants to help? If He can’t answer, He might as well not be there. David knew that when he called to God, not only would He hear, He was able to help.

Psalm 31 (#2) – I Am in His Hearing

Tags

Bible Study, David, encouragement, Prayer, Psalm 31

“Bow down your ear to me” (Psalm 31.2a)

David knew that wherever he was and whatever his circumstances, he was in God’s hearing. “Bow down.” “Turn in this direction,” he is asking. Put your ear up to my mouth. He is asking for God’s close attention because His ear is attentive to the cry of His children.

This request seems to reveal how feeble David was at this time. We generally put our ears near the mouth of the sick and dying to hear what they are saying. Here is a strong, vibrant leader – a dominant individual admitting that without God’s aid he is weak and feeble.

It doesn’t matter how strong, capable or independent you think you are, life has a way of coming along and knocking you off your feet. I remember a dear friend who lost her husband to cancer. When someone said, “I’m praying for you,” her response was, “I’ll be ok. I’m strong. I can handle this.”

That is the natural response of many people. They are fiercely individualistic and view any need of help as a sign of weakness. Within weeks this lady’s sister had also unexpectedly passed away, and she found herself at the bottom. It was then she realized she DID need the Lord’s strength.

Do we have any assurance that God will hear us even when our cry is feeble and weak? Yes. Paul writes that God’s Holy Spirit helps our infirmities because we don’t know how to pray like we ought. When we are so weak that we cannot pray or don’t know what to pray for, God’s Spirit translates the feelings of our hearts to the heart of God.

Isaiah assures us that God’s “hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” God promises us, “Call on me, and I will answer you.” And Jesus said, “If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father give good things to those that ask him?”

How about you? Ever been in a situation where you called and He answered? God does hear our cry and call. Just like David, when the problems get too big for us, we can know we are in His hearing.

Nephos 9

Tags

boycott, Daniel Wallace, footnotes, Martha Stewart, Russell Moore, Snoop Dogg, Starbucks, Timothy Paul Jones

For your weekend reading enjoyment . . .

1. In honor of April 1st, here’s the story of the greatest April 1 prank, ever.

2. Last week I commented on Kathy Keller’s article on raising children in the city. Jonathan McBride presents a different perspective in Why Do Cities Just Make Sense.

3. One word comes to mind here: Ouch!

4. Running + Life Lessons = Winning Combination. I really connected with Running Lessons from Trails from the Heart.

5. A national Christian organization called for a boycott of an international coffee chain.

6. Russell Moore responded with an explanation of “Why Christians shouldn’t boycott Starbucks.”

7. Being of the “Don’t boycott OR buy” mentality, MereOrthodoxy’s Starbucks, Boycotts, and (Not) Buying Coffee resonated more with me.

*Whatever your view and/or approach to this matter, it’s not going away. The number of corporations who are pro-actively working against our positions on social issues is going to increase. We need to be prepared to have a well-thought out ethical and Scriptural response.

8. Two prominent professors have recently begun blogs – both have been added to my regular reading list:
Timothy Paul Jones and Daniel B. Wallace.

9. Perceptively accurate!

Weekends are for Worship: Worship and the Capability of God

Tags

Ephesians 3:20, power of God, Prayer, weekends are for worship, worship

“Now to Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
Ephesians 3.20

Have you ever contemplated the magnitude of that promise? If it only said, “Him that is able to do all we ask,” it would be amazing.

But it says He is able to do all we ask or THINK! God can accomplish anything I can think up or ask.

Yet, it doesn’t stop there. Think what a great promise it would be if it said, “He is able to do ABOVE all we ask or think.” God can do things that are beyond my imagination or expectation.

And that still isn’t the limit: “He is able to do ABUNDANTLY above all we ask or think.” Not only can God exceed the limits of my mind, He goes way beyond.

What a great promise that would be. And it still doesn’t express the full capability of our Heavenly Father. There’s still one more adjective to add: “He is able to do EXCEEDING abundantly above all that we ask or think!”

Do you grasp the full capability of the power of our God? Exceeding. Abundantly. Above. All. Ask. Think.

God is not restricted to answering our requests. But, apart from His own will, there is nothing that restricts Him from fulfilling them.

9 Things Every Parent Should Pray

Tags

children, Family, Job, parents, Prayer, prayer requests, spiritual welfare

The Easter season is a busy time in church life, and I’ve had little time or energy to devote to blogging.  Here is a repost from several years ago titled, “It May Be.”

******************************************

One of the great intercessory ministries we can engage in is “praying for our children.” Not just our physical children, but the youth and children of our church. Many do not come from homes that seek to glorify God, and are in need of “surrogate” spiritual parents.

Job was so concerned about his children that he offered sacrifices on their behalf. He said, “It may be that my sons have sinned.” He understood the potential dangers that they faced. Our church youth and children face dangers as well.

1) The Danger of Religious Familiarity - Knowing the role so well that they are able to act it out perfectly while having nothing on the inside. A Biblical example of this is the sons of Eli. They were so well versed in the functions of the temple that they were serving as priests, yet God judged them, their father, their family, and their nation because of their wickedness.

2) The Danger of Social Corruption - A society that not only tolerates iniquity, but promotes it, is a dangerous environment for “church” kids. There is more access, understanding, and encouragement of sin today than at any time in recent history. Biblical Example: Lot’s daughters.

3) The Danger of Foolish Behavior - Let’s face it. We all do stupid things, and kids are no exception. I’m sure we all did plenty of foolish things when we were young! We should pray that God protect them from their own foolishness (wouldn’t be a bad idea to make the same request for ourselves!). Even the wisest man in the Bible had a fool for a son. Rehoboam was the recipient of the teaching of Proverbs, yet the first thing he did as king was the most foolish.

4) The Danger of Persuasive Friends - Whether it’s a boyfriend persuading a girl, or vice versa, this is an age old problem. Good kids do things they would never otherwise have done, if they had not been talked into it by their “friends”. From sex to drugs to crime, “bad company corrupts good manners.” David’s son provides a perfect scriptural example. “Amnon had a friend” who persuaded him to do what his conscience and teaching told him was wrong. The result was the loss of his life.

5) The Danger of Sinful Flesh - Beyond all the outward influences to do wrong, every person ever born has a sinful nature. Parents say, “But I trust my child.” You can trust them to be human. Put anyone in the right situation at the right time and they will act accordingly. Only one person ever withstood all temptation, and His name wasn’t yours or mine.

Besides praying against these dangers, what can we pray for?

1. Pray for them to have a genuine spiritual relationship.

2. Pray for them to have Godly wisdom in their actions, words, and relationships.

3. Pray for them to grow spiritually into true mature disciples of Jesus Christ.

4. Pray for God to reveal ways that you can be a spiritual parent to disciple the children and youth God has placed around you.

These should be the prayer burden of every adult believer, not just those who have children of their own. “It may be” that they will fall into these traps. Let’s make sure that if it happens, it was in spite of what we did, not because of it.

Five From February

Tags

February, sense of belonging, Theology, Top Five, worship

Thanks for making February a record month for visits! I appreciate all my friends who stop by – and especially those who share a thought or comment.

In case you missed any of them, here are the top five posts visited during the past 29 days. Enjoy, and Happy March!

1. Prostration and Worship

2. Who Do You Belong To?

3. Ring and Run: Missing an Eternal God in Prayer

4. Give God the Best

5. 9 Steps to a Utopian Work-Place

Weird Prayer Wednesday (2/29/12)

Tags

Prayer, Theology, weird prayer

We should be comfortable with prayer, but sometimes we get so comfortable we forget that God is God. We talk to or about Him as if He were human. We tell him what He should do, or add information about our requests. I’ve occasionally caught myself giving God detail in my prayers as if He was unaware!

One of the funniest comments I’ve heard recently illustrates this. A lady shared with me a particular prayer request she was burdened about:

“I didn’t know what to think about the situation. So I prayed about it, and God said He didn’t know what to think about it either!”

What about you? Ever stopped and thought, “I just told the all-knowing God where my Uncle Bob lives”? Ever prayed something and immediately thought, “That was a silly thing to say!”?