I watch a lot of college football.  I've seen all the bowl games, even the ones that no one has heard of.  In one of those games, I saw a commercial that really intrigued me.  It pictured a "first date" meet-up between Satan and 2020 (personified as a woman), and then the development of a relationship between them. 

It's unlikely that the producers of the commercial have any idea about spiritual warfare, but the reference brought to my mind the fact that 2020 was indeed a year of real spiritual warfare.  Any time we see evil at work - and we saw plenty of it last year - we can be sure that spiritual battles are being fought.  And we can also be certain that God will bring good out of it, just as he did in Joseph's life.  So here are a few thought questions to help us analyze our spiritual growth and health in 2020.

The year brought with it "lockdowns" like we've never seen, and with that a level of isolation we've never experienced.  So…..

• How have we used the time to deepen our personal relationships with God?
• With the increase in time spent at home, how intentional have we been about developing family relationships and even leading our families spiritually?
• Given the lack of commuting and travel, have we taken advantage of opportunities to know and serve our neighbors?
• Given both the challenges and opportunities financially, how has our stewardship reflected our walk with God?  (Matthew 6:21)

We've seen increasing levels of division along racial, political, and religious lines.  So…..

• How have we taken advantage of opportunities to be peacemakers? (Matthew 5:9; Romans 12:18)
• How have we carried out the ministry of reconciliation? (2 Corinthians 5:18)
• How have we been an answer to Jesus' prayer that his people would live in unity?

The increase in political division has gotten to the point where even civil conversation is now the exception, and differing ideas are banned in our key social media outlets.  So…..

• How faithfully have we been in prayer for our leaders - of both parties - and for the direction of our country? (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
• To what extent have our own beliefs and priorities been shaped by politics vs. setting our minds and hearts on things above? (Col. 3:1-2)

Around the world, Christians are suffering disproportionately.  From attacks by Islamic extremist groups in North Africa to discrimination in food distribution in countries like India, the church is under attack in many places. At the same time, God is opening doors of opportunities for believers to serve their neighbors and communities that were not open previously.  So….

• How faithful have we been in praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world? (Hebrews 13:3)
• How have we prayed for God to open new doors for the Gospel? (Colossians 4:3)

All of these things (and more) are important because, frankly, we may have flipped a page on the calendar but we have not yet turned the page on all these spiritual battles.  None of these key situations has changed significantly with the dawn of 2021.  As a result, we should expect the same challenges - and opportunities - this year as we saw last year. 

God will be faithful to his people because that's his nature; but how faithful will we be to Him in the spiritual battles of this coming year?

Yesterday we concluded our group study of Paul Miller's "A Praying Life".  We've been meeting online for the last 6 sessions, and we did lose quite a few people along the way.  We've been following the outline of the book loosely and bringing in other materials and topics for the class.

We ended our study by looking at community prayer, that is, praying effectively in a group setting.  This was one of the items identified at the beginning as an item that the group wanted to discuss, and we had it in our "parking lot". 

We recognized that community prayer is more complex than private prayer because it adds a horizontal dimension.  Community prayer is all about praying to God, with people.  It can be tough to maintain that balance - so many groups I've prayed with have suffered from people praying more for others in the group to hear than for God to hear.  Not so much from pride like the Pharisee, but just from a lack of understanding of the dynamics of group prayer.  Prayers end up horizontally-focused, long and winding and full of information that God didn't need - not to mention focused on surface issues rather than the deeper works God wants to do.

We discussed the "ABCs" - Agreement, Brevity, and Christ-centeredness, and how these support each other in an effective group prayer setting.  

The whole series was well-received, despite the interruption from the coronavirus.  I'm sure we'll do this again, possibly with some additional tweaks.  We had to cancel our planned prayer service at the end of March due to the lockdown, but hopefully we'll be able to proceed on schedule at the end of June.  And we continue to pray about where God is leading us next to develop a culture of prayer.

Yesterday we held our third session in our prayer class themed around Paul Miller's book, "A Praying Life".  We continue to have very consistent attendance - evidence that God has placed a hunger for deeper prayer lives in our congregation.  It's exciting to think about what he might do with that hunger!

This week we covered chapters 6-8 of the book, and I divided the session into three main topics based on those chapters:

• Letting helplessness drive us to prayer
• Letting circumstances drive us to prayer
• Letting anxiety drive us to prayer

The topics seemed to connect well, and there was good engagement in the class.

At the beginning of the first week, Richard, who is co-teaching the class with me, asked people what they wanted to get out of the class or any specific struggles they had in prayer, and we created a "parking lot" out of those items.  Yesterday's session really hit on the "praying continuously" item on that parking lot, as we discussed the different ways that God draws us to prayer through things like helplessness, circumstances, and anxiety.

A couple of highlights:

• Prayer doesn't automatically relieve anxiety - it is prayer with thanksgiving that brings God's peace (Ph. 4:6-7)
• The way Paul worded this means that we are to give thanks even before we see the answers.
• This type of thanksgiving is rooted in the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1 - being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  (We discussed the faith of the centurion whose servant Jesus healed from a distance in this context).

One of the parking lot items was the question of if there is a "wrong prayer".  We touched on two examples of wrong prayer:

1. The Israelites asking for a king
2. The Pharisee in Jesus' example of the two men praying in the temple.

In the first case, a wrong prayer is prayer for anything that puts something other than God on the throne of our lives.

In the second case, a wrong prayer is prayer that is all about exalting ourselves rather than God (the same type of prayer that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 6).

Next week:  Chapters 9-11!

Previously, I've summarized our first prayer service, which we held at the end of December last year.  I mentioned that we were beginning plans for what we call an "Equipping Class" on prayer.  Last Sunday, we held our first session of the 10-week class.

We had 20 people attend, which we were all thrilled with.  Our Senior Pastor has mentioned the class a couple of times (including last Sunday) from the pulpit, and has provided a ton of support for us.  We are studying Paul Miller's book, "A Praying Life."

We divided the class into about 45 minutes of teaching and then 45 minutes of group discussion.  There was a lot of engagement, and people afterward expressed excitement about the upcoming installments.  The class leaders will be meeting on Thursday to debrief, but I think the overall summary would be "God showed up!"

Interestingly, the class was divided roughly evenly between men and women, which has not been my experience in other churches relative to prayer.  I think all but one of the participants was over 40 and most of us by a good number of years.  Part of that may be that we're also running a parenting class at the same time, so younger adults with children were likely attending that.  

I'll continue to post updates on the prayer class over the next few weeks.  Other items we're currently working on are the creation of a prayer wall in the sanctuary, where people can post prayer requests (I've seen this in several churches), a training class for our small group leaders, and making prayer available after services.  All of this is hopefully on the way toward becoming a house of prayer.  God seems to be blessing our efforts so far!

If anyone prayed for our first prayer service on Sunday, Thank You!  God met us and gave us a great time of community prayer.

About 15 people participated, including several leaders.  We provided some instructions at the beginning and then we went into our prayer time.  We had selected 6 topics beforehand, and had identified a facilitator for each topic.  We took each topic in turn, with the facilitator sharing for 3-5 minutes on a couple of things they were thankful for in their area and then a couple of key prayer requests as we enter 2020.  We broke up into three small groups to pray for the topic, then went on to the next topic.  Sticking to one topic at a time (rather than having all the prayer requests presented at the beginning) helped the group to agree together in prayer.  And alternating between prayer times and sharing times kept the group focused and engaged (where a prolonged time of sharing followed by a prolonged, skipping-around prayer time tends to be disengaging).

Several people commented afterward that they were blessed by the prayer time, and each group had a lot of participation.  Breaking into groups ensured that everyone got a chance to pray.  We did find that a group size of about 4 was the most effective; we had one group of 6 people, and feedback from that group indicated that people didn't have as much of a chance to pray.  When people think they're only going to get one turn at a given topic, they're tempted to pray longer, which exacerbates the problem, causing people to disengage a bit and making harder to agree in prayer (how do you follow the person who just prayed for everything?!).

The three of us who planned the meeting debriefed this morning and agreed that we want to continue to keep this simple and focused on prayer.  We didn't have time to put together childcare for this meeting, but we agreed that that was a need going forward.

We'll be holding our next prayer service on March 29, sticking to our pattern of meeting quarterly on the 5th Sunday of the month that has 5 Sundays.  (This is also the pattern for our "outside the box" serving; every month that has 5 Sundays, we use the 5th Sunday as a time of community service rather than our normal worship meeting).  We're planning to meet quarterly for the first half of the year, and then to consider increasing the frequency to monthly.

Meantime, we're beginning plans for an "equipping class" to train congregation members in prayer.  More to come on that.

Last summer, a couple of the Elders of our church felt a nudge from God that we needed to move in the direction of being more of a praying church.  A group of about a dozen people began to gather every other week (it was the off-season for our small groups) to pray for the church, for our community, and for the development of the prayer ministry.

A core group of three of us continued to meet after the summer to make plans for launching a prayer ministry.  In this blog, which I expect will run over several months, I plan to document our journey, as well as to seek input from those who have traveled down this road in their churches.

First, I have to say that I am so grateful to be a part of a church where the leadership is actually pushing more of an emphasis on prayer.  This starts with our senior pastor.  

Our first initiative was to be a 10-week "equipping class" on prayer, open to the congregation.  More on that later.  We had planned to have a congregation-wide prayer service in the middle of that class, on the last Sunday of March.  But our senior pastor pushed us to put together our first prayer service for this coming Sunday (December 29), even realizing that many folks will be out of town and that we don't have a lot of time to publicize the service.  That's how much he wants to push forward in prayer.

So we met yesterday and planned out the service.  We're looking at 60-90 minutes, with an introduction from one of our Elders, then a worship song or two and some quick instructions.  We've chosen 6 topics for our prayer time, each one focused around a key aspect of our life as a church or on a local outreach program or a mission program.  We identified a facilitator for each topic (and a backup); these facilitators will be responsible for speaking for 3-5 minutes on what they're thankful for in this past year of ministry and key ways they see God moving in 2020.  Then we'll break into groups for prayer.  We'll alternate between sharing and prayer, to keep ourselves focused on one topic at a time and to help people stay engaged.  At the end, we'll offer a personal prayer time where a few of our elders will be available to participants in the service to pray with them personally.

We have no idea if God will bring 6 people or 60 to this first prayer service, but we're anticipating eagerly what He will begin on Sunday.

I would really value prayer that God will prepare the way for this service, making key facilitators available and placing it on people's hearts to come and pray.  I'd also be interested in hearing the experiences of others who have started a prayer service in their churches - what worked, what didn't, etc.

I'll report back next week!

Holding to the truth

Today is a day of confusion regarding truth, and that confusion has invaded the church.  Confusion reigns where the church fails to hold firmly on to the Word of God.

The letter to the church at Pergamum starts this way:  "These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword." (Revelation 2:12)  This double-edged sword is the word of God, which comes out of Jesus' mouth (Revelation 1:16; see Hebrews 4:12).  Both the church at Pergamum and the church at Thyatira were guilty of turning away from this word and embracing false teaching (Revelation 2:14-15, 20, 24).  In both cases, as we saw previously, straying from God's word led to idolatry and sexual immorality.

Doctrine matters.  When we stray, for example, from the simple truths in Genesis about creation and God's creation of human beings as male and female, we lose our grip on understanding of gender.  Does this sound familiar?  When we blindly accept the "proven" science of evolution and long geologic ages, rejecting the Biblical stories of Creation and the Flood, we lose our grip on God's righteous judgment (and possibly even on his right to judge).  When we stray away from an insistence on God's Word as objective truth, we fall prey to relativism and lose the basis for evangelism.

Later, Jesus would write to the church at Philadelphia, "I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name."  (Revelation 3:7)  Strength is great - but holding to the word of truth and not denying the name of Jesus is more important in our Savior's eyes.

How do we pray for our churches and for our pastors in light of the importance of holding to the truth of God's Word?  Here are a few thought starters - I'm sure you can think of more.

• Pray for our Pastors.  For God to bring conviction of the truth of His Word and to sweep away any uncertainty, confusion, or syncretism (compromise with non-Biblical teachings) that our pastors may have bought into.
• Pray for sound teaching.  Multiple times, Paul instructed Timothy and Titus to hold to sound teaching and to pass that teaching on to others.  Pray for soundly Scriptural teaching that emphasizes God's power and grace over self-help and human-centric answers.
• Pray for our churches' practice of God's word.  Holding to the truth of the Word is more than just belief - it's transformation of life.  Pray that God will cause his Word to bear fruit in the lives of our congregations, transforming us in ways that the world can see and that will draw non-believers to Him.
• Pray for intellectual engagement.  Ask God to keep us from "checking our brains at the door" when we come into church.  Pray that he will challenge believers to know what they believe and why, so that they will hold to the truths of His Word with conviction.
• Pray for cleansing.  Ask God to shine light on places of darkness in our churches - places where we have compromised with the teachings and practices of the world.  Pray for a spirit of repentance for these areas and that God will bring cleansing and revival.  Ask for God's power to fully put off the old and put on the new.

We'll look in more depth at Paul's prayers for the churches a little later.  Those prayers are all grounded in the truth of God's Word.  In a society where confusion and outright falsehood often hold sway, firmly holding to the truth will distinguish the church as little else can.

Perhaps no area of our walk with God is more challenged by our culture today than the area of sexuality.  Having strayed from the truth of God's word, as a society we no longer even know how to define gender.  More and more, our culture reflects Paul's warning to the Romans:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:21-27)

It's interesting that Paul ties sexual immorality so closely to idolatry in this passage.  The letters to the churches at Pergamum and at Thyatira also make this association:

I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. (Revelation 2:14-15)

I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. (Revelation 2:20)

Sexual purity, under so much attack in our culture today, is important not only on an individual level but also on a church level.  Jesus warned the churches at Pergamum and at Thyatira that their tolerance of sexual immorality was going to result in judgment.  These are words that our churches and church leaders today need to take seriously.  Perhaps one of the greatest testimonies to the transformation that God brings into a life is the difference that obedience to Scripture makes in our sexual lives.

So, how do we pray for our churches in light of this?  Here are a few suggestions:

• Pray for pastors and church leaders.  They face temptations and situations that the average church member may not face. Pray for wisdom to flee from temptation and to avoid compromising situations; for accountability with a close group of friends; for God to deliver them from evil.
• Pray for youth.  Pre-marital sex is nearly assumed in today's culture, contrary to the wisdom of God's word.  Pray for students and youth - for commitment to sexual purity, for an end to any relationships that are not pure, for solid mentoring/discipling relationships, for God to protect them from temptation.
• Pray for clarity.  Gender confusion reigns in our society, a result of straying from the truth of God's word.  Ask God to bring clarity and truth to any who are confused over gender and to restore the church to the truth of the creation of man and woman.
• Pray for repentance and restoration. The evil one will use guilt to keep people in bondage to any kind of sin, and sexual sin seems to be particularly vulnerable in this area.  Pray for hearts of repentance for those who have committed sexual sin of any sort and for a strong sense of God's forgiveness.
• Pray for marriages. Ask God to strengthen marriages and keep Satan from gaining a foothold there. Pray for husbands and wives to be faithful to each other, for the ending of any extra-marital relationships, for marriage relationships that are satisfying; for Biblical counseling for any marriages that are strained.
• Pray for unborn children.  The real number one reason for abortions is that people don't want to take responsibility for their actions in the area of sexuality. Ask God to turn the hearts of expectant mothers and fathers to their unborn children.
• Pray for clear, Scriptural teaching. Different churches will approach this differently, but Scripture doesn't really provide the option of ignoring this key area. Ask God to grant wisdom to pastors, church leaders, teachers and youth leaders with regard to how to communicate the truths of Scripture with regard to sexual purity.

A civil worker in Kentucky loses her job for refusal to issue a license for a gay marriage due to her religious convictions.  A baker on Colorado is sued for refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding, again due to religious convictions.  Celebrities who are believers get criticized for positions taken by their pastors on controversial topics.  Long-standing mottos like "In God We Trust" get challenged.

All around us, the church is challenged and squeezed by a culture that practices the very intolerance it claims to stand against.  She responds in various ways - sometimes bowing to the culture and becoming nearly indistinguishable; other times lamenting the direction of society, other times militantly (and sometimes abrasively) speaking out against that direction.  And, while the church in America has not experienced the level of persecution experienced by believers in many other countries around the world, we see it coming and we can be tempted to fear.

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. -- Rev. 2:10

The church around the world has much to teach us in terms of enduring persecution with faith rather than fear.  They have seen Jesus' faithfulness to the words spoken to the church in Smyrna; they have experienced his presence in the midst of persecution, his provision, peace, and mercy.  And, sometimes, they have experienced death at the hands of their persecutors.  But they have faced that death with courage, faith, and hope.

As the church adjusts from becoming a majority culture in America to being a minority sub-culture, how do we pray in light of the increasing pressure we're seeing in this country?

Pray for courage.  Jesus' words to the church in Smyrna are his words to us today: "Do not be afraid".  Our prayers should be based on faith, not fear.  This particular moment in history looks increasingly difficult for the church - but this should not surprise us.  Jesus himself told us, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  As we pray, then, we need not fear.  Jesus has overcome the world, even when it looks like the world is winning.  And he is with us when we suffer for his name. 

Pray with hope.  While this moment in history is a difficult one, this moment is not all of history.  More moments are yet to come, and we know the end of the story.  There will come a time when “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15)  We need to pray with hope, not despair.  Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church - it's not just that the church will endure; she will actually win the battle.

Pray for God's intervention.  While there are times when God calls us to speak with a prophetic voice against the evil of our culture and times when he calls us to take specific action, real change - lasting, widespread, transformative change - will come about only as a result of his actions.  We might lobby against laws, demonstrate in front of clinics, and sue for protection of our rights - and there are times when these are all actions we must take.  But none of these will change the hearts of men and women.  Only God can do that.  Only God can change the church's greatest persecutor into her greatest missionary.  Only God can save jailers and their entire households. 

Commit ourselves into God's hands.  Scripture tells us that Jesus, rather than retaliating or lecturing when people insulted him, entrusted himself into God's hands (1 Peter 2:23).  We can do no better than to follow our Master!  In fact, as he was dying on the cross, with his very last breath he entrusted his spirit to God.  As we pray, then, we can certainly pray for protection from harm and for our freedom.  But above all, we must entrust ourselves into God's hands, counting on him to bring the results that will ultimately bring honor to Himself.

Forgive our enemies.  It's hard, when we see injustice in the form of persecution, to pray for the persecutors.  We naturally want revenge (which we call "justice" to make it sound better). And indeed, sometimes God's judgment and justice can lead people to repentance.  Our prayers for justice, then, should be prayers not of vengeance or punishment, but rather a justice that leads to repentance.  This is a hard one for us, because we often see persecutors of the church in the same way as Jonah saw the Ninevites.  But God also sees them in the same way He saw the Ninevites and says to us, "Should I not be concerned?" 

Perhaps this last one is the one that most distinguishes the Christian in the midst of persecution from people of other faiths.  We don't respond in anger and we don't fatalistically accept our "fate".  Instead, we actively pray for those who persecute us, as Jesus taught (Matthew 5:43-48).  Jesus pointed out that anyone can love those who love them.  But it takes a believer relying on the grace of God to love someone trying to hurt them.  Just as Paul prayed for the salvation of King Agrippa even as he was on trial for his faith (Acts 26:29), so we are called to pray for those who persecute us - whatever form that persecution may take.

According to Christianity Today, the United Methodist Church's General Session this weekend will be determining the church's stance on LGBT/gender issues.  At stake are questions like whether to ordain LGBT ministers, whether to perform gay marriages, etc. (1)

The stakes are high in all of this, and there are believers on many sides in this issue.  Words like "love" and "grace" get tossed around a lot, with definitions being assumed and never really spelled out (if you don't spell it out, no one can challenge it).

What does God think of all this?  How would he have us pray in the midst of a divisive situation with very clear implications for how Scripture is interpreted and applied, and high stakes when it comes to conformity with the culture?

Most believers - on either side of the issue - will pray for particular outcomes.  They'll pray for this decision or that decision, convinced that their prayer is aligned with God's will (or perhaps not having thought about it from that viewpoint).  I personally feel very strongly on this one, so it's hard for me not to pray for an outcome.  But can we learn anything from Scripture about how to pray in ways that please God in situations like this, and others where the church must decide between accepting and conforming to culture on the one hand and sticking to tradition on the other?

"I hold this against you - you have forsaken the love you had at first." (Rev. 2:4)

The church needs to love people well - both people inside and outside the church.  But, as the Bride of Christ, the church's first love needs to be none less than her Groom.  In her desire to love people well, she has at times forgotten her first love, paying more attention to the opinions and interests of men than to the Word of God.

Jesus is described in Revelation 1:16 as one who has a sharp, double-edged sword coming out of his mouth.  The obvious reference here is to the Word of God, which is described in exactly this way in Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

In fact, we know from John 1 that Jesus himself is the Word (John 1:1, 14).  So love for the Word of God is the same thing as love for Jesus.

The warning to the church at Ephesus was serious:  "Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Rev. 2:5)  The danger to the church today is that she may be removed from her place if she does not repent and regain that first love.  We don't know exactly what this means, but we do know that one of the main challenges of Islam, for example, to Christianity is the relative lawlessness of Christians - we do not obey the word we claim to believe.

As we pray for the church today, then, one of our first concerns ought to be to pray that the church will remain true to her First Love; and where that love has been forgotten, that it will be regained.  Let's pray that our churches' leaders will be so filled with love for God that their times of decision and debate will be characterized by much prayer, by earnest seeking of God's will, and pleading for God's wisdom (James 1:6).  Let's pray for repentance where that's needed (without our necessarily having to be the judges of where it is needed).  Let's pray that God's Word will be given its (and His) rightful place in our churches, and that our leaders will themselves be led by the Word that is also Truth.

And as we pray, let's grow in the area of lifting up the questions to God and letting him be in charge of the answers.  I'm very tempted to pray for certain decisions to be made, for a specific direction to be set, etc.  In other words, I'm tempted to give God the answers and just ask him to "make it so".  But I'm trying to learn to hold my own "wisdom" lightly and to seek first of all his wisdom.  Only he can see all sides of issues as complex as the ones facing the United Methodist leadership this weekend.  So only his wisdom could possibly be sufficient.

---- 

(1) https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/february/united-methodists-lgbt-vote-umc-general-conference-denomina.html?utm_source=ctweekly-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=23466744&utm_content=636798186&utm_campaign=email, accessed on 02/24/2019.

I watched a message from David Jeremiah today on the question of "Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers?"  He covered all the typical answers - cherished sin, praying with wrong motives, praying outside God's will, lack of faith, etc.  Nothing he said was scripturally wrong, but I confess that I have difficulty with the hidden premise behind this approach to prayer.

The premise seems to be that prayer is a means to get what we want from God.  And if we remove all the obstacles, God will answer.  One of those obstacles, of course, is praying outside God's will, so it's necessary to pray in line with his will in order to get our prayers answered.

When I look at the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, I do in fact see support for praying for our needs (give us this day our daily bread).  But I see the crux of this prayer being God's honor, his kingdom, and his will.  This leads me to believe that prayer is not so much about getting what we want from God as it is about asking God to act in ways that accomplish what He wants.  Part of that has to do with our own needs, of course, but even then there is more focus on our spiritual needs (guidance/wisdom and forgiveness) than there is on our physical needs.

Scripture gives us a number of ways to pray that we can know for certain line up with God's will.  For example, we're specifically told to pray for:

• The expansion of God's kingdom on earth (Matthew 6:10)
• God to raise up laborers for the harvest field (Matthew 9:38)
• Our persecuted brothers and sisters (Hebrews 13:3)
• Our leaders and those in authority over us (1 Timothy 2:1)
• Fruitfulness for the kingdom (John 15:7, in context)
• Wisdom, especially in times of trial (James 1:5)
• Missionaries (Colossians 4:2-4, extrapolating from the example of praying for Paul)

Additionally, all of the commands in Scripture regarding our spiritual growth serve as prayer topics, since "It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13).  Indeed, in the context of John 15:7 above, Jesus speaks at length about remaining in him - and one major way we do this is through prayer.

I have prayed for many specific things in my life - things like jobs, decisions on relocation, healing for family members, etc.  And I'll continue to do that.  Sometimes God answers my prayers with a "yes"; sometimes with a "no", and sometimes He puts me in a bit of a holding pattern until He brings about the right circumstances (either external or within me) for my prayer to be answered.  All of this is good and is a significant part of our walk with God.

But I'm also trying to focus more and more not on prayers for what I want but on prayers for what I know (from Scripture) that God wants.  Things like I've listed above, and others that don't come to mind just now.  I'm working through Scripture to discover "Prayers that God loves to answer."  I hope you'll join me on this journey and that God will use it to grow us together in prayer.

As we head to the polls today to vote in the mid-term elections, here are a few final thoughts for prayer:

Thank God for the process

• Thank God for the blessing of free elections and the democratic process.  Thank him for giving us the right and the means to vote and determine our leadership.

Pray for the elections

• Ask God to protect each voting place from all harm; to protect our elections from outside influences of all kinds; to give strength and stamina to the precinct workers, many of whom will have very long days.
• Pray that God will clear away any barriers that would stand in the way of those who have the right to vote exercising that right, and that He would lead believers especially to be faithful in carrying out our responsibilities of citizenship.
• Ask God to keep the elections fair and honest, to protect the elections from all fraud, and to prevent those who do not have the right to vote from casting ballots

Pray for the voters

• Ask God to grant wisdom to all those who are voting today - to give them insight to see past rhetoric and know how the candidates would lead.
• Pray that God will make character and integrity important to the voters.
• Pray especially for believers who are voting, that God will show them the candidates who would honor him in office

Pray for the results

• Ask God to raise up men and women at all levels - federal, state, and local - who will lead with integrity, wisdom, and courage.
• Pray that God will appoint leaders who know Him and who will lead this country in a direction that honors him.
• Ask God to create a Congress (Senate and House) of representatives who will be able to work together for the good of the country
• Pray for accurate tabulation of the results and for acceptance of those results.

Pray for the church

• Thank God for all those who have been praying for this election cycle.
• Ask God to continue this movement of prayer even after the election, and to expand it in such a way as to transform churches into houses of prayer all across the country.

Pray for the candidates

As the midterm campaigns enter their final couple of days, one way we can impact the races for God's glory is to pray specifically for the candidates and those who are campaigning on their behalf.  This may be the hardest part of prayer for the elections, because it can be difficult to separate our own preferences from God's leading.  But there are some Scriptural principles that we can use to pray God's will into the election.  Here are a few; please use these as God leads. 

• Safety and health.  Pray for safe travels and for God's protection from all harm.  Pray specifically for protection from violence on the part of voters who might disagree with a candidate's positions.
• Words of truth.  Pray for honesty in campaign speeches and that God will grant wisdom to voters to see through any deceit.  Ask God to guard the words of the candidates to keep them focused on the issues that are important to voters and to the future of the country.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to restrain speech that divides and to encourage candidates to speak in ways that will help bring unity.
• Hearts of servanthood. Pray for God to place in the candidates hearts of servanthood and a commitment to lead for the benefit of the people rather than for their own benefit.  Ask God to make clear to the voters those candidates that will truly serve them.
• Integrity and righteousness. Ask God to reveal shortfalls in truthfulness or other character issues that should disqualify candidates.  Pray that he will raise up leaders who will lead with integrity and whose values line up with God's Word.
• Wisdom.  Pray for God's wisdom for the candidates as they speak and especially for those whom he puts in positions of leadership.  Many (if not most) of the candidates probably do not know God, so pray for their salvation as well.  Pray for the humility needed for repentance where that's appropriate.
• Media.  Finally, ask God to reign over the messages given out by the media.  Pray for integrity, fair coverage, and unbiased reporting.

 We need to pray for candidates at state and local levels as well as those higher-profile national candidates.  Often, it's the local officials who will have the most impact on how school boards influence our children, etc.  While their responsibilities may not be as broad as the national leaders, their decisions often have more direct impact on our lives.

Contrary to what some may say or believe, the mid-term elections will not determine the future of the United States.  To be sure, the elected officials will have a significant impact.  But God is ultimately in control. 

 A large part of how God controls the affairs of men is through the prayers of his people.  In fact, God has repeatedly called his people to prayer for their country:

 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels. ”

For the sake of my family and friends,

I will say, “Peace be within you.”

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your prosperity.

-- Psalm 122:6-9

In response to Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple, God promised his mercy when his people humbled themselves, repented of sins, and prayed:

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." -- 2 Chron 7:13-14.

When the Jews were threatened with potential extermination under King Xerxes, Queen Esther called for a 3-day fast prior to her approaching the king to plead for the lives of her people (Esther 4:15-17).

In addition, we see multiple instances of God's people praying and repenting in times of trouble - see Nehemiah 1 (Nehemiah's prayer) and 9 (corporate confession and prayer), Ezra 9-10 (Ezra's prayer and corporate confession), and Daniel's prayer of confession of the nation's sins (Daniel 9).

All of these prayers were answered.  And God will continue to answer the prayers of his people on behalf of their country.  With division and even violence at its highest level in decades in the United States, our best hope for healing is to invite the intervention of our God.

With three days remaining until the mid-term elections, which are destined to be some of the most contentious elections in memory, now is the time for God's church to plead for his will to be done.  Now is the time for his people to demonstrate unity, grace, and peace.

At the recent National Day of Prayer Leaders' Summit, one of the leaders announced that she was feeling called to an "Esther fast" (not eating or drinking for three days in order to focus on prayer for her people), starting on Sunday and running through the elections on Tuesday night.  If God so leads you, how about joining in?

Why doesn't God answer prayer immediately?  Why does he seem at times to hold back, to keep us in difficult circumstances when he could bring healing, relief, finances, reconciliation, and more - all with just a word?

There is no "one-size-fits-all" answer to this question.  First and foremost, we must acknowledge and agree with God that His ways and His thoughts are higher than ours, and we're not going to understand them all the time (Isaiah 55:9).  With Paul, we cry out, "Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Romans 11:33)

But Scripture does provide us with some examples of waiting and what God accomplished through it:

• God allowed the Hebrews to suffer 400 years of slavery in Egypt while He built them into a strong nation, so numerous that the Egyptians came to fear them.  He did this while allowing the Amorites and other Canaanites time to repent before being destroyed.
• God seasoned Moses for 40 years in the desert, turning an impetuous man who took matters into his own hands into one with home He could speak faced to face as He led Israel out of Egypt.
• God allowed Hannah to suffer through years of barrenness in order to create within her a heart that would dedicate her son Samuel to his service, resulting in the dedication of Israel's greatest judge.
• God caused proud Nebuchadnezzar to graze with the cattle for seven years to humble him and turn him into a servant of the Most High.
• God allowed a woman to suffer with bleeding for 14 years, setting up an encounter with Jesus where she would find spiritual as well as physical healing.
• God caused a man to be born blind and to remain this way into adulthood in order to bring this man to Jesus and to challenge many with Jesus' identity.
• Jesus waited for two days after learning of Lazarus' sickness before going to him, in order to bring glory to himself by demonstrating power over death.

And what can happen when we don't wait for God to act?

• Abraham stepped outside God's plan and had a child by Hagar, Sarah's servant - resulting ultimately in enmity between God's people and the Canaanites, an enmity that in many places continues to this day.
• Saul grew impatient waiting for Samuel, and surrendered his kingship by offering sacrifices before Samuel's arrival.

Waiting is not always God's answer.  But when he does call us to wait, we can trust that he is working in us and in circumstances around us, preparing us for his answer.

Crisis situations often make us wonder if God sees our suffering or hears our cries.  God can seem distant and unconcerned with our troubles.  But Scripture shows us over and over that nothing could be further from the truth.

Joseph must have wondered if God cared about his ordeals as he was carried off into slavery and again as he languished in prison.  He must have questioned why God would allow his brothers to sell him into slavery, why the lies of Potiphar's wife could land him in prison, and how Pharaoh's cupbearer could forget him for two years.  But all along, God was weaving these events into a tapestry that only He could see.  In time, God revealed his design to Joseph, so that he could tell his now fearful brothers, "You intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." [Genesis 50:20]

The Israelites groaned in their slavery for 400 years, likely wondering if God had forgotten them.  They had no idea that God was building them into a nation within the relative safety (though difficult) of the borders of Egypt.  He made their women so fruitful in childbirth that the Egyptians came to fear them because of their numbers.  God had a master plan that included the punishment of the sin of the Amorites as well as the establishment of Israel (Genesis 15).  When the time was right, God raised up Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, telling Moses, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt, I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering." [Exodus 3:7]

We could go on about how God raised up Israel's greatest judge, Samuel, in response to the distraught pleas of a barren woman; how He heard David's entreaties for the baby born out of his adultery with Bathsheba and responded by providing another child who became Israel's wisest king; how He used the martyrdom of Stephen to launch a missionary movement that changed the world.

Our trials are unlikely to have such earth-shaking impact.  But God can use them to shape us and to impact those around us, if in our prayers we can move beyond ourselves to long for God's glory above all.  The one who prays, "God, heal me" can see only a yes or not to that prayer.  But the one who prays, "God, use this" opens the door to virtually unlimited answers.

Perhaps the most famous cry of "Why" in the Bible came from the mouth of our Savior as he was dying on the cross.  "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

Jesus was quoting the beginning to Psalm 22, which we looked at previously.  In Jesus' case, of course, he had known in advance the agony he would suffer; in fact, he had prayed earnestly that he could be spared that agony (Matthew 26:36-42) - not just the physical agony of torture and crucifixion, but I suspect that he also knew in some sense the separation from the Father that would be required in order to truly take on the sins of mankind.

Jesus likely was not looking for an answer to this prayer.  About to die, he would not benefit from knowing any additional information about why God had forsaken him.  His cry was more one of an expression of agony than a request for God to justify himself.

Our "why" can also be this way.  Often it's not so much that we need God to explain himself to us (although we do like to understand); it's more that we need him to reassure us that he in fact has not forsaken us, that he's still there, that he still cares.  Sometimes the suffering we endure is more than the crisis itself - it's a crisis of faith, wondering where God is when we suffer and why he's not intervening to save us.  In fact, this is the kind of crisis that David expressed in the beginning of Psalm 22.

David ultimately came to the realization in the Psalm that God had not actually abandoned him; that the God he knew continued to be faithful - both in general and to him specifically. 

We can have this same assurance when we approach God.  Hebrews tells us that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 10:19-23).  In fact, it's exactly because of Jesus' agony that we have this confidence.  We may feel at times that God has forsaken us; but, unlike Jesus, we will never experience actual abandonment by God.  Though it's possible for us to walk away from God, he will never walk away from us (2 Timothy 2:12-13).

So if our cry of "why" draws us into God's presence, then it has served its purpose.  If our suffering forces us to our knees to seek God's face, then God has used it for our good.  We shouldn't be afraid to cry "why?"  The God whom we know and serve has heard this question before.  And he will answer it for us like he did for David and like he ultimately did for Jesus - he will answer it with Himself.

The Presidential Prayer Team daily prayer page today mentions that it's 100 days to the mid-term elections.  With division in our country running so high and questions still surrounding alleged attempts to interfere with the 2016 elections, we need God's intervention both to protect our election process and to put in place leaders who will honor him.  How should we then pray?  This is the first of a series of posts with thoughts on how to pray for our upcoming elections.

Pray for the campaigns

If you're like me, you quickly tire of the campaign commercials so prevalent right now.  Candidates telling half-truths, trying to make themselves look better than they really are and their opponents look worse than they really are.  Here are a couple of suggestions for prayer:

1. Pray for Christian candidates.  Ask God to give them integrity and truthfulness in their campaigning.  Pray for hearts willing to do and accept God's will, regardless of whether that means getting elected or not.  Pray for God's protection from temptation and deliverance from the evil one.  Ask God to guard their words, to lead them to speak the truth in love.
2. Pray for campaigns based on "light" rather than "heat" - that truthfulness in campaigning will prevail and that God will reign in the natural tendencies of candidates to focus on negative.  Ask God to lead candidates to honestly share their own views and priorities, so that voters will have good information to make informed choices.
3. Ask God to raise up prayer throughout the country for wise and faithful leaders.  Ask him to lead his church to pray not based on political agenda but rather earnestly seeking and desiring for his will to be accomplished through the elections.

I once participated in a small group whose focus was to pray for our country.  We met weekly to pray and we shared a passion to see God honored in our land.  But I was never fully comfortable with the way we prayed as a group.  While I agreed with the conservative bent of the group, it concerned me that we tended to pray as if our politics were "right".  We tended to give God the answers rather than simply seeking his glory. 

Such prayer can actually prove divisive in a group whose members have differing political, economic, and social outlooks.  So as we ask God to raise up concerted, intentional prayer for our nation and for the coming elections, let's ask him to cleanse our hearts of our own agendas so that we can honestly pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done" as it relates to the campaign and election process.

Next up:  Pray for the candidates

David suffered much in his life - some of it the result of the sinfulness of others (as in King Saul's pursuit of him) and some of it the result of his own sin (for example, in the episode with Bathsheba or the counting of the army).  Sometimes David understood why he suffered; at other times he cried out in desperation and confusion to God.  Psalm 22 is one of these latter occasions.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", he begins.  (We'll discuss Jesus' similar prayer in the future.)  David could not understand why God wasn't hearing and responding to his cries of anguish (verses 1-2).  Why did God not rescue him from his enemies, who mocked him and insulted him (verses 6-8). 

How often do we find ourselves in a similar position?  Our torment may not come directly from enemies, but our anguish is no less real just because its source may be less specific.  Illness, tragedy, financial misfortune, relational difficulties - these may not have a source we can name like David could, but the distress they cause is just as genuine.

David found an answer during the course of the Psalm, but it wasn't a direct answer to the question of "Why?"  Instead, David's answer was to realize God's power and majesty, his faithfulness to his people (verses 3-5).  He recognizes that he depends for his very life on God (verses 9-10).  God's faithfulness in the past, both to his people in general and to David specifically, caused David to continue to cry out to God (verses 19-21).

Knowing that God has been faithful and trusting that he will continue to be, David moves into praise and to calling forth praise from the people (verses 22-31).  Not only does David see God's hand in his own life - even though he may never have received a direct answer to his question of "Why?" - but he also sees God's activity in the nations and throughout history, leading him to declare:

All the ends of the earth

will remember and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

will bow down before him,

for dominion belongs to the Lord

and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—

those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him;

future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness,

declaring to a people yet unborn:

He has done it! (verses 27-31)

We've all experienced times when it felt like God abandoned us.  We didn't receive an answer to our prayer (or at least not the answer we wanted).  We longed for a certain outcome, but it didn't happen.  We suffered without an obvious reason why.

David's example to us demonstrates that it's OK to approach God with our "Why?" questions.  He understands when we feel abandoned (even though he knows he hasn't forsaken us!).  He can handle our cries of anguish and our times of despair.

At the same time, God longs for us to see him as David did - not always because of his visible work in our lives but sometimes in spite of the seeming lack of his intervention.  It's easy to praise God when his blessing is all around us (though we may often forget to do just that!); it requires much more faith to praise him when evidence of his goodness is less visible.  At times like these, it helps to remember as David did who God is.  His identity is not wrapped up in what we might be going through; rather, he is enthroned in heaven (verse 3) and he rules over the nations (verse 28).  A God like that is worthy of our worship and our faith, regardless of the temporary circumstances we may be facing.

So again, we begin with "Why" but we end up in a very different place.  We end up with our eyes on God rather than on our circumstances, and we're encouraged as we behold the One to whom all the ends of the earth will turn.

If you're in the habit of pasting information and prayer requests here at Pray.Network (as I am), here's a tip:  Use Google Chrome rather than Internet Explorer or Edge browsers.  I have found that with IE/Edge, pasted copy often gets cut off on the right-hand side, reformatted in ways I don't expect, and pictures often don't come out well.

I've noticed since switching over to Chrome that none of these problems are present in that browser.  Chrome does do a little reformatting, but not nearly so severe as IE/Edge, and it doesn't cut off text on the right-hand side.  I have found many of my prayer discussion posts to be much more readable and require much less formatting work on my part since switching.

Try it out if you paste information from other websites here!