Pray Network Forum

How do we look at radical Muslims? Shortly after 9/11 a child in our church said, "We need to pray for the terrorists!"

Without thinking, I answered, "Pray that they will be caught and killed." Because of that 4 or 5 year-old boy, I had to examine my heart and my thinking in this matter. I have come to some thoughts that I would like to share with you.

Is it wrong to pray for judgment to come on our enemies? God is a God of judgment. He could not be good, holy or even loving, if He did not judge the wickedness of men.

Many skeptics point at the command of God for the people to destroy the city of Jericho killing men, women, children and livestock, saying the Bible endorses genocide. However, this incident did not take place in a vacuum. First, God had told Abraham in Genesis 15 that He was going to bring judgment on the Amorites. But he said they had not filled up their iniquity. Who knows how long God had already shown His patience toward this wicked people, calling them again and again to repent. And yet, another four hundred years passed before the Children of Israel came through the wilderness to encircle the city of Jericho. Many have argued that the Atomic Bomb that killed all living creatures in the Japanese cities, ended World War II and prevented many more deaths for many years. So the destruction of Jericho caused many of the Amorites to flee rather than being killed in the ensuing war.

But you may ask why the Lord employed Israel in this judgment. I certainly don't know all of God’s reasons. I do know the people of Israel knew not to do such a thing without God's direct command. This is a crucial point that I want get back to.

Interestingly enough, this is not the only time God put His judgment into the hands of men. King Saul wickedly brought the judgment that had been foretold upon the house of Eli. God used the ungodly Assyrians to carry His people into captivity for rejecting Him. And most strikingly, God used the imperfect judgment of a Roman tribunal to sentence and crucify Jesus. That judgment of God was upon my sins and yours. God took my sin upon Himself as Jesus died for us. Nothing shows the measure of God's love for us as powerfully as Jesus taking our judgment on Himself at the cross.

I have prayed for God to bring judgment on wickedness in our world. But the Bible, Old and New Testament, clearly teaches that God prefers repentance and forgiveness to judgment and destruction. One of the most apropos stories of this is the book of Jonah. Jonah was sent to preach to Nineveh. Nineveh was the enemy of Israel. Jonah tried to flee from God's call. But he only proved you can't run from God. When he finally went to preach to the city he made no reference to repentance as he proclaimed judgment would come in forty days. However, the people did repent in sackcloth and ashes. The point of that book is God's compassion for people and our New Testament mission to love even our enemies with the gospel. The final day of judgment is coming. But until God tells us it is time to pray for judgment temporary or ultimate, we need to pray for it not to be too late for His grace even for our enemies.

I am praying and rejoicing to see Muslim people turning to Christ by the thousands all across the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere. Some of them had indeed been radical Muslims. I pray for their sin and threat against us to be condemned and come under the terrible wrath of God as Jesus died in their place and mine.

 http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

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Last week I started a new blog, Thinking in The Spirit, http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/. I began writing about the relief and refuge of repentance. Next week I will continue that theme. But this week, and every other week in the future, I want to return to Watching in Prayer.

This being an election year in America, I want to talk to you about praying your politics. What does this mean? How do you apply this dictum?

If you get serious about doing this, you will of course pray your thinking. Nearly all of us feel like what we believe our country needs is being threatened. And I believe you need to do that even if I do not agree with your politics.

But let me ask you if you are praying for your morals. How important are your morals to you? Are you tempted to focus more on the economy or your comfort, your own benefit above what God declares to be right or wrong?

Do your morals include compassion? Compassion is the most critical thing Jesus spoke of concerning judgment of the nations.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

Matthew 25:31-46

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

Many are saying America and possibly most of the world is under the imminent judgment of God in these days. I am reminded of God's judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah. God said the outcry against Sodom was great. People were crying out to him in oppression and suffering. God could not be a God of compassion and not judge the selfishness, wickedness, prejudice and violence we have turned to today. And yet as He was preparing to rain fire down upon Sodom the Lord invited Abraham to intercede for the city. If God is making you aware of imminent judgment, He is inviting you to intercede in prayer. Do you sense the urgency to intercede in prayer even if you are not sure how to do that? Interestingly enough Abraham came to some principles that will help us pray in these days.

First, Abraham appealed to God's love for righteousness. "Will not the judge of all the earth do what is right?" We need to pray for churches and believers and people who seek righteousness in high places in our society. They may be our only hope against immediate judgment. This week one of the most prominent pastors in America stepped down from his pulpit because of moral failure. I saw several Face Book posts on it. I made a comment on one of them. "If you were our enemy, who would you attack?" But while I had respected this man, I had never prayed for him. God forgive me.

Another principal that Abraham discovered was the intercession of the gospel. Some of you are skeptical of Abraham's understanding of the gospel. But he grasped a core principle in his interaction with the LORD over Sodom. The Lord loves righteousness so much that He was willing to spare the wicked because of the righteousness of the righteous. How does that relate to the gospel? That is its very heart. The only reason any of us are spared from immediate and final judgment is that God has imputed to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He alone is truly righteous. He is our only righteousness. He is our only hope. Interceding in the face of judgment must be based upon the spread of the gospel. Many of us in these days sense an urgency to pray for unreached and unengaged people groups in the world. That is intercession for the gospel. Are you praying and giving and going and sending so the gospel will be available to all who Jesus died to save?

Today, I believe there is another facet of interceding in the face of judgment. That is crying out to God for His supernatural hand in our ministry to hurting people. The first major judgment of God was a mercy on the world because of what we had become. God saw that the thoughts and intents of the heart of man were only evil continually. (Gen. 6:5) I do not know what kind of judgment God is preparing to send. We may well be preparing to taste the 7 bowls of God’s wrath upon the earth. But the Bible speaks of another kind of judgment that is in many ways worse. This is the judgment of what we become. In Romans 1 Paul says that God gives men over to the perversions and corruption of our hearts. 2 Timothy 3 says that in the last days people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud arrogant, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. These are days in which we need to pray for God to use us to heal in the face of incredible wickedness all around and within us.

Father, we cry out for Your mighty hand upon us as we seek to be righteous, as we spread the gospel and as we show compassion to a hurting world.

Corinth – An Introduction to the City and Culture

he Corinthian church was in a critically important location. At the time of Paul's missionary journeys, Corinth was the leading city of Achaia. Achaia was the Roman province which covered the southern part of the modern nation of Greece. Athens was still the educational centre of Achaia, but Corinth was the capital of the Roman Province and the major commercial centre. A healthy church there could have an impact on the region and far beyond.

Corinth lay on a narrow isthmus, only six kilometers across, which connected the southern part of the Greek peninsula to the mainland, with sea to the southeast and northwest. This strategic position made Corinth one of the richest cities and greatest trading centers of the ancient world. All traffic from Athens and the North of Greece to Sparta and the Peloponnese had to pass through Corinth because of its position on this narrow neck of land. The parade of foreign travel moving through the city made missionary work possible without leaving town.

The rapid growth in its population soon made it the third largest city of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria. It was populated with freedmen from Rome, who became the most numerous inhabitants of the city. There were also many Greeks, Jews and other peoples, making it a cosmopolitan port city. The population is difficult to estimate, but was probably around 200,000, plus 500,000 slaves, all squashed into a small area. It was a rough, tough city with a bad reputation. To “Corinthianize” was a term common throughout the Roman Empire. It meant to corrupt. Whenever a stage play called for an inebriated soul who gave a bit of character to the production – he was commonly cast as a Corinthian.

Sadly, the church, rather than challenge the immoral character of Corinth, had itself assimilated the deadly values of the deviate city. As Paul closes his second letter to the Corinthian church, he must sigh to himself. He has invested so much time, so much energy. But they are wrought with more challenges than any other church he has founded. He urges:

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? II Corinthians 13:5

“Examine yourself!” Paul pleads. The question is one that must be asked again today – to the modern American church that now resembles the church at Corinth.

Let me ask, “Do you perform regular internal audits on your personal relationship with God?” Many Christians don’t. They don’t consider such a matter even remotely important. In fact, the American church has repressed discernment – even self-discrimination. The Word discriminates! (II Tim. 2:15-16; Heb. 4:12) That is, it divides between even the joints and the marrow of our soul. Between the thoughts and the intents of our heart.

Most people in America assume that they are Christians. According to the most reliable data, 76.5% of the population identifies themselves as Christian.[1]  If indeed, three-of-four people in the nation were genuine Christians, whose behavior resembled that of Christ, and whose values were rooted in the Holy Scripture – this nation would not be experiencing a moral implosion. The population is either lying about their faith commitment, or more likely, completely confused about what being a Christian really means.

At the close of the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul calls twice, in one verse, using two distinct terms, for the readers in Corinth to take an inventory to see if they are genuinely Christian. He does not call for an inquisition. He does not urge the examination of one another. He is not fostering a judgmental attitude between believers. He knows the futility of the Pharisee life (Phil. 3:4-6; Gal. 1:13-15) – that is not his goal. He had spent 18 months in Corinth, preaching and leading them to Christ, establishing them in the faith. Now, he raises doubts about whether or not all of them are genuine disciples of Christ. And he is calling for quiet, personal, probing moments between each individual and God to verify the legitimacy of their relationship with Christ. “For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” The church at Corinth is already under the judgment of God – some are prematurely dying! And no one has discerned the reason. “When we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world!” (I Cor. 11:31). We are to examine ourselves – to avoid judgment, to avoid being condemned in the end with the world. Sobering, isn’t it?

On the Wednesday morning of Isaac’s landfall into Louisiana, I prayed. Not for judgment and destruction. Not for God’s wrath against New Orleans to be displayed. I prayed that God would be merciful and that the distraught people, whose lives were in one way or another affected by the hurricane would turn to Him with all their hearts and find strength through faith in Christ. Desiring calamity and retribution upon others for their sin, regardless of the nature and enormity, is not the heart of God and exposes a wrong spirit. In the Old Testament, the prophet Jonah displayed unrighteous anger towards God and the people of Ninevah when he was commanded the second time to preach judgment to Israel’s fierce enemies. He knew that if they repented of their evil, God would forgive them. Jonah wanted them annihilated. That was not the heart of God. In the New Testament, Jesus rebuked James and John, His own faithful disciples when they requested to call down fire upon the Samaritans to which Jesus replied, “You don’t know what spirit you are of”.  In other words, that was not His Spirit working in them, but the devil’s. We need to be careful not to play God’s advocate, in the sense that we know how He should act towards those we detest. In Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, both the priest and the Levite passed by the wounded traveller as he lay dying on the Jericho road, assaulted by thieves. It was a despised Samaritan who showed compassion and came to the helpless man’s aid. Perhaps their religious minds convinced them that “He must have got what he deserved, sinner that he is!”

Years ago, when I would read the account of David and Nathan the prophet, who finally confronted the King of his covered up sin with Bathsheba, I read it imagining that fire and brimstone were pouring out of Nathan’s nostrils as he pronounced God’s judgment against David’s wickedness with lightning bolts shooting out from his smoking mouth. I saw him absolutely hostile, red in the face and full of rage in his fierce indictment, “Thou art the man!” Thank God, I don’t believe that anymore. Psalm 145:8 reveals God’s true heart and nature towards sinful man. “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”. And so once again, with Isaac, mercy triumphed over judgment. I believe the prayers of God’s people had much to do with the reprieve of judgment upon New Orleans. But what will they do with that mercy? Will they acknowledge their sin and turn to God in repentance? Let’s go further-- Will we, as God’s people, acknowledge our sin and turn to God in repentance? Remember that judgment begins in the house of God. The only safe place is to be living clean in daily repentance under the shadow of His wing. Hurricanes, earthquakes, famines, wars and diseases will continue to increase upon the earth in the remaining four months of 2012 with more intensity and frequency all in an effort to turn wicked hearts back to God’s grace, mercy, love and forgiveness.

And so we pray with the prophets of old, “In Thy wrath, O God, remember mercy!” That is His constant heart. Yes, we reap what we sow and there will be present and eternal consequences to our unrepentant sin—but pray that mercy will still triumph over judgment according to God’s heart while the door of grace remains opened. In the end, the Judge of all the earth will do right according to His justice and His unchanging Word for which at that point, we will be without excuse.