What To Pray For And Against (December 19, 2004)
Pray against sin.
I'm aware that people need help in knowing how to pray and what to pray for. Just a couple weeks ago a neighbor asked me for some written prayers that he could say with his son. He knew he was supposed to pray with him, but he didn’t know how. I bought him a couple books (you can get them at any Christian bookstore) filled with modern, simple prayers to be read aloud. I was happy to see him trying to find an answer to the question, "How should I pray?"
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he gave them a prayer that was almost entirely spiritual in nature. There is only one physical request in the whole prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread." As for the rest:
"Hallowed be thy name." Hallowed is a verb form of the adjective "holy" expressed as a wish. We are not exactly saying "You are holy" or "I wish you were holy" but "I wish you to be regarded as holy." We are praying that sinners (including ourselves) would recognize the true nature of God.
"Thy kingdom come." The devil reigns now. See 2 Corinthians 4:4 where he is "the god of this age," and 1 John 5:19, which says that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” But we want God to reign. Ultimately of course, God reigns already, but so many people live their lives in defiance of his rule that it is clear that the devil still has too much power. Holiness defeats him and welcomes the reign of God. See 2 Peter 3:11-12: "You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."
"Thy will be done." Though we rightly pray this prayer when submitting to God's sovereign will in areas that are painful to us (as Jesus did before he was crucified), it should be mentioned that the following words "on earth as it is in heaven" give this request a different flavor. The idea is that God's will (in the sense of his commandments) is perfectly obeyed in heaven by saints and angels - but here on earth he is disobeyed and his will is held in contempt. We must pray for ourselves and others to do his will - that is, to obey his commands.
"Lead us not into temptation." God's Spirit led Jesus into temptation (Matthew 4:1), but he was stronger than we and could not fail. We admit that we are failure-prone, and must pray as Jesus instructed his disciples: "Pray that you will not fall into temptation" (Luke 22:40).
"Deliver us from (the) evil (one)." God keep the devil away from all of us.
As you read through the New Testament, notice how nearly all the prayers and prayer requests are spiritual in nature. Paul, for example, prays that people's love would deepen (Philippians 1:9), and asks for prayer that he would not be a coward (Ephesians 6:19-20). I suppose he also prayed about things like Timothy's bad stomach, but when he brings up that matter he chooses to talk about medicine rather than prayer (1 Timothy 5:23).
So pray against sin, and pray for holiness. I'm sorry to say that you will never lack material for these prayers. Your newspaper will furnish you with endless accounts of crime and evil and depravity. The selfish, worldly behavior of your coworkers and relatives alone can probably keep you busy praying quite a while. But most of all, unless sin has so blinded you as to make self-perception impossible, you will find that your own heart manages to keep refilling its store of wickedness that, like the stubborn demon in Mark 9:29, can only come out by prayer. When you pray against sin, pray most fervently against your own.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Sunday, December 12, 2004
When Other People Really Are Holier Than You (December 12, 2004)
We ought to be humble. As an aid to humility, compare yourself unfavorably to someone you know in an area where that person's virtue exceeds your own. This should be pretty easy. Unless you are either very holy or very undiscerning, you will constantly run into people who are much better than you are at doing something that pleases God.
I am a bit hacked off these days about my neighbor doing such a better job of neighboring than I. (We're as close geographically as neighbors can be: we share a wall in a duplex.) Let's see: he fixed the hood of my car by bending it back into shape after an accident. He brings over a couple dozen Rumanian cabbage rolls whenever he cooks a batch. He strings Christmas tree lights across the entire front of our shared property. He gets the paint for our wood trim and sealer coat for our common driveway. He won't take my money for anything - he doesn't cash my checks and he returns whatever cash I give him for his help and maintenance. And I think, "Rats. I'm the Christian evangelical pastor and the way this is supposed to work is that he's supposed to wonder why I'm such a great guy."
But rather than compounding my sin of neighborly indolence with neighborly envy, I suppose the right thing to do is be humbled and give thanks to both God and to my neighbor, and try to be like him.
I have always liked the self-aware humility shown by Judah in what he said about his daughter-in-law Tamar and in what Saul said to David: "She is/You are more righteous than I." (Genesis 38:26; 1 Samuel 24:17). Judah and Saul were deeply flawed men, but at least they had the decency to recognize that and acknowledge the righteousness of those who were somewhat less flawed. Elijah too, in 1 Kings 19:4, said, "I am no better than my fathers." He was discouraged when he said that, but that does not make his observation any less accurate. He probably really wasn't any better than his fathers. James goes as far as to say that "Elijah was a man just like us" (James 5:17).
Well, may not like all of us. Somehow I have a feeling he was still more righteous than I.
We ought to be humble. As an aid to humility, compare yourself unfavorably to someone you know in an area where that person's virtue exceeds your own. This should be pretty easy. Unless you are either very holy or very undiscerning, you will constantly run into people who are much better than you are at doing something that pleases God.
I am a bit hacked off these days about my neighbor doing such a better job of neighboring than I. (We're as close geographically as neighbors can be: we share a wall in a duplex.) Let's see: he fixed the hood of my car by bending it back into shape after an accident. He brings over a couple dozen Rumanian cabbage rolls whenever he cooks a batch. He strings Christmas tree lights across the entire front of our shared property. He gets the paint for our wood trim and sealer coat for our common driveway. He won't take my money for anything - he doesn't cash my checks and he returns whatever cash I give him for his help and maintenance. And I think, "Rats. I'm the Christian evangelical pastor and the way this is supposed to work is that he's supposed to wonder why I'm such a great guy."
But rather than compounding my sin of neighborly indolence with neighborly envy, I suppose the right thing to do is be humbled and give thanks to both God and to my neighbor, and try to be like him.
I have always liked the self-aware humility shown by Judah in what he said about his daughter-in-law Tamar and in what Saul said to David: "She is/You are more righteous than I." (Genesis 38:26; 1 Samuel 24:17). Judah and Saul were deeply flawed men, but at least they had the decency to recognize that and acknowledge the righteousness of those who were somewhat less flawed. Elijah too, in 1 Kings 19:4, said, "I am no better than my fathers." He was discouraged when he said that, but that does not make his observation any less accurate. He probably really wasn't any better than his fathers. James goes as far as to say that "Elijah was a man just like us" (James 5:17).
Well, may not like all of us. Somehow I have a feeling he was still more righteous than I.
Sunday, December 5, 2004
The Cab Test Of Good Character (December 5, 2004)
My sons were late getting ready for school yesterday, so as punishment I tuned the car radio to a Christian station and made them listen to a preacher they can't stand.
I can't stand this man's preaching either. He's orthodox, but shallow
and vapid and syrupy - and every time I hear him I wonder, "How can
anybody listen to this guy?" Yesterday, as he concluded a message by
wrapping emotional phrases around an endlessly repeated tagline, my
boys shouted, "Turn him OFF! PLEASE!"
I did, but as I pulled up into their school's parking lot I said, "OK,
he's not a good preacher, but he is a good man."
"How do you know?" Ben asked.
I explained that a friend of mine in seminary knew of this man's quiet
and honorable work behind the scenes. Also, a pastor I know once got
in a taxicab and the driver, hearing his vocation, talked about what a
great guy this preacher was. Apparently the cabbie did not even know
that the preacher was a radio personality - he just knew him as a
really friendly pastor who sometimes rode in his cab.
There it is - the cab test! It is a test of character that the world's
Martha Stewarts and Barry Bondses could not pass to save their tiny
little souls. The bigness of a man's heart can be gauged by the
accumulation of small graces he extends to cab drivers and waitresses
and barbers and bag boys and checkout clerks. Do well by them, and,
for what it is worth, you have my regard. Snub them and I won’t like
you.
Etched in my memory are a couple scenes from the Bogota Group House where I stayed briefly as a missionary about 13 years ago. One day a Colombian boy, face flushed and sweaty, brought in heavy bags of groceries and was placing them on the kitchen counter when by accident a jar of jelly fell out and broke open on the floor. A snappish lady missionary glared at him and cranked out mean words about him needing to be more careful. You have no idea how delighted I was a few days later when the exact same thing happened to her as she brought in the groceries. Plop, crash, and a mess of broken glass and gooey food on the floor. The only thing missing to complete the poetic circle of justice was a nearby superior to chew her out for it.
Be pleasant. This should not be that hard. Though certain accomplishments remain out of our reach (I'll never be organized; that radio preacher will probably never craft a compelling insight), I think anybody can learn to be gracious - or at least more gracious - if he puts his mind to it. Work hard to acquire the simple virtues of grace and good cheer. Even the cab drivers will notice.
My sons were late getting ready for school yesterday, so as punishment I tuned the car radio to a Christian station and made them listen to a preacher they can't stand.
I can't stand this man's preaching either. He's orthodox, but shallow
and vapid and syrupy - and every time I hear him I wonder, "How can
anybody listen to this guy?" Yesterday, as he concluded a message by
wrapping emotional phrases around an endlessly repeated tagline, my
boys shouted, "Turn him OFF! PLEASE!"
I did, but as I pulled up into their school's parking lot I said, "OK,
he's not a good preacher, but he is a good man."
"How do you know?" Ben asked.
I explained that a friend of mine in seminary knew of this man's quiet
and honorable work behind the scenes. Also, a pastor I know once got
in a taxicab and the driver, hearing his vocation, talked about what a
great guy this preacher was. Apparently the cabbie did not even know
that the preacher was a radio personality - he just knew him as a
really friendly pastor who sometimes rode in his cab.
There it is - the cab test! It is a test of character that the world's
Martha Stewarts and Barry Bondses could not pass to save their tiny
little souls. The bigness of a man's heart can be gauged by the
accumulation of small graces he extends to cab drivers and waitresses
and barbers and bag boys and checkout clerks. Do well by them, and,
for what it is worth, you have my regard. Snub them and I won’t like
you.
Etched in my memory are a couple scenes from the Bogota Group House where I stayed briefly as a missionary about 13 years ago. One day a Colombian boy, face flushed and sweaty, brought in heavy bags of groceries and was placing them on the kitchen counter when by accident a jar of jelly fell out and broke open on the floor. A snappish lady missionary glared at him and cranked out mean words about him needing to be more careful. You have no idea how delighted I was a few days later when the exact same thing happened to her as she brought in the groceries. Plop, crash, and a mess of broken glass and gooey food on the floor. The only thing missing to complete the poetic circle of justice was a nearby superior to chew her out for it.
Be pleasant. This should not be that hard. Though certain accomplishments remain out of our reach (I'll never be organized; that radio preacher will probably never craft a compelling insight), I think anybody can learn to be gracious - or at least more gracious - if he puts his mind to it. Work hard to acquire the simple virtues of grace and good cheer. Even the cab drivers will notice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)