Moving the Heart of God With the Prayer of No Words

A strange thought occurred to me this morning. Are there examples of praying without words in the Bible? As it turns out, there are. I read the gospel of Luke this morning, and it's full of examples of women who moved the heart of Jesus without saying a word. 

The widow of Nain is one example. The story's found in Luke 7:11-17. Here's the Leanna paraphrase: 

A widow's only son had died. In her culture, there was no social security or widow benefits. No nursing homes existed. No medicare or medicaid. Her entire future provision depended upon anything her husband had saved and her son's care for her. 

When her son died, she was grief-stricken for more than one reason. Of course, first of all, she loved her son like any mother loves. There was also the question of her future. What would happen to her now?

You may not have experienced this depth of grief before, but sometimes, it's so enormous, there are no words to say. Only tears. 

That's where the widow of Nain found herself. Weeping was the only response she could make. 

Then Jesus arrived.

News about Jesus had traveled throughout the region, so it's likely this woman had heard of His fame, His miracles, His power. A few days earlier, when her son was sick, she might have knelt before Jesus and asked for a miracle, like everyone else did.

This day, however, all she could do was cry.

Jesus and His disciples walked through the gate just as her son's funeral procession was heading out. She saw Jesus and couldn't say a word, but her tears spoke volumes, and they moved the heart of God.

Jesus saw her tears, entered into her grief, and revived her son. He "gave him back to his mother."

In His presence, she communicated with Jesus through her tears, and it was enough. 

I've been in the place of such profound grief that my only response was tears. I've been the one on my face before God, praying without words. In His presence, my tears were a prayer without words, because I gave those tears to the One who is our Comforter, and He comforted. He responded. He moved.

Do all tears serve as a prayer? I don't know. What I do know is that the widow's tears, in the presence of Jesus, were enough to communicate her need to Him and move His heart.

Whatever our situation, we can take it to Him, and He will understand. Whether we have words to describe our situation or express our need or not. Today, let's give our concerns to the Lord, and let our hearts speak for us. Use words only if we need them. 

How do I know this is possible? Because God sees our hearts.

"...for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 nasb

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The picture above is of my little bedroom here in this beautiful place. In case you can't read the artwork, the lettering above the beds says "Be Still" and "and know that I am God." Exactly what I needed to hear.

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In case you missed the most recent post, here's the link: When Telling Our Story Reminds Us of the Miraculous

If you feel led to partner with this ministry, here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

You can also mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

What We Should Do if We Want Answered Prayers

I love the "ask and it shall be given you" verse. Lots of people love it, claim it, depend upon it. It's like a shiny gold coin on the sidewalk. We want to grab it and keep it safe, to pull it out when it's most needed.

"Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you " Matthew 7:7

As I read those words today, I realized they were spoken toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount. There's a good bit that comes before the asking and receiving. 

The "part that comes before" is not an accident. Jesus spoke as He did intentionally, so we'd do well to take a closer look, just in case we want to do any asking.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes, then "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matt. 5:16

There's also the call to right living with right motives, in "... unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:20

Jesus talked about our thought life and the sins we commit in our minds. He addressed how we respond to our enemies and those who are unkind to us, our relationship with our Heavenly Father, our prayer life, fasting, generosity, and worry. 

Just before He talked about asking and finding, He covered the issue of judgmental, critical spirits. "First take the log out of your own eye," He demanded. Matt. 7:5

After all the other issues were addressed, Jesus moved to the topic of answered prayer. It was "after" for a reason. If we want the kind of answered prayers Jesus promised, we have to take to care of those issues covered in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount.

I'm not saying that God refuses to answer the prayers of those with unconfessed sin. If He waited for sinless people to pray, He'd never get to answer any prayers. 

The truth is that our relationship with our Heavenly Father matters. Prayer is a two-way conversation. If we're estranged from our Lord, because of ongoing sin, we can't expect to have a compelling conversation with our Heavenly Father. 

If we want a vibrant intercessory prayer experience, we need to focus first on relationship. 

Seek His face, not just His hand.

Today, let's ask God to do a heart-check and show us anything that needs to  change, then allow Him to heal our "log-eye" disease, clean up our lamp so light can shine, and transform us into the image of Christ.

Let's seek His face, not His hand. When we do, many of those "problems" will fade into insignificance and we will be able to ask for those things He most desires to give.
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Sure-Fire, No-Fail Cure for Whining.
#prayer 

The Rolling Barrel and the Heavenly Help

It happened like this, no matter what Sam says. Well, mostly. 

A few weeks ago, Sam wanted me to buy some agricultural bread from the bread store to feed the fish. The $9 basket seemed a better value than the $6 basket, so I went for the big one. 

The back seat of my car was completely full of bread when I left the store. That wasn't a problem. Until I got home. There was nowhere to keep all the bread except an old olive barrel. I bought it for $10 years ago, and it's very handy for storage... for someone at least six inches taller than I am. 

Nevertheless, Sam, who is a full foot taller than me, thought it was an excellent storage barrel for our fish bread. I loaded it to the rim. 

Every afternoon since then, Sam and I head to the lake. His walking is not as steady as it used to be, nor as fast, so I usually get our bread out. That wasn't a problem as long as the barrel was full. Yesterday, however, there were only a few loaves of bread on the bottom of the barrel. 

I was determined to use all the bread before I bought more because the barrel was dirty inside. It needed a serious cleaning. To make matters worse, at some point, I had failed to screw the lid on tight enough, and rain had leaked in. The bottom was yucky. To put it nicely. The aroma was not lovely. 

So... I took the lid off as usual, and looked inside like I always do. It was a long way to the bread at the bottom. The only sensible thing I could think of at the moment was to stand on tiptoe and lean over into the barrel. 

Usually, I can reach the bread, but, yesterday, my reach was a few inches too short. I leaned over just a little bit more. And then, the unthinkable happened. 

The barrel tipped over and flipped me inside. 

Barrel and silver-haired woman started rolling, headed down the hill. My legs were kicking. I was yelling. Sam was laughing. The lake was getting closer. 

I considered what it might be like to drown inside an olive barrel with old bread and smelly goo. It didn't seem like a happy ending. 

I prayed for help. 

I don't want you to think I waited to pray until I was almost rolling into the lake. My first prayer in this little episode was when Sam and I headed to the lake, that we'd make it there and back without him falling down. (I didn't think to pray that I wouldn't get caught in the olive barrel, but I will today.) 

That prayer continued when my feet left the ground and headed in a wrong direction. When I yelled HELP, I was not talking to the 86-year-old man who is so unsteady on his feet that he's barely able to stay upright. I was addressing the King Of The Universe who is fully competent to handle keeping the stars in the sky and well-preserved, barely-senior-citizens out of the lake at the same time. 

I needed rescue, and fast, so I turned to the One who could help. (I might have also suggested from inside the barrel that I didn't want to get my cute pink top and khaki capris dirty. But we won't mention it.)

Divine assistance arrived a little later than I expected it. It did, however, arrive before I rolled into the lake. 

The barrel hit a stump and stopped. 

The sudden impact gave me a little whack. Sam was still laughing when I crawled backwards out of the barrel. After I got out, I was happy to find that I had been spared from drowning and, miraculously, my cute clothes were spared from stink and goo! 

Unfortunately, I forgot to get the bread on my way out of the olive barrel. I did not go back inside.

There are so many lessons to draw from this little scene in my calm and uneventful life that I hardly know where to start. I'm sure you can manage most of the lessons on your own. The most important point, however is not to get a shorter barrel or to screw the lid on tighter. 

The most important lesson is to understand Who's in charge and willing to help in time of need, and that's God Almighty. King of All Kings. God above all Gods. He's the beginning and the end. The Alpha and the Omega. He knows the number of hairs on my head. When my feet left the ground, He already knew about the barrel adventure I was about to have. 

He knows me, through and through. He loves me, despite how much trouble I am. He helps me, despite how many crazy scrapes I get in. 

My help comes from the Lord. Always by my side. Always ready in time of trouble. Sometimes He uses human hands to help, and sometimes He uses stumps, but my help always comes from Him.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea..." Psalm 46:1-2 nasb

"My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth." 

Psalm 121:2 nasb

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Happy Puppy and Loving Everyone

#disciple #answeredprayer #help #Jesus #linesfromleanna

Answered prayers in disguise

Yes. That's my greenhouse. I hated to share this photo, but it fits so well with our topic today (and in the interest of killing my pride), I'm sharing it.

I've had problems with the panels in my greenhouse ever since I bought it. It was a kit and assembling it did not go the way I expected. 

Having a greenhouse in general has not gone the way I expected, either. 

The wind-blown look is nice for hair. It's not so nice for greenhouses. 

At first, every time the wind blew (usually accompanied by rain), one of the panels would blow out. After the rain stopped, I would retrieve the panels from the surrounding pasture, climb on my ladder, and replace the panels.

Do you have any idea how many times the wind has blown in the last two years?

At last, I hit on a great idea. I would caulk the panels in place. I've bought so many tubes of caulk, I should get a volume discount. It seemed, at first, as if the caulk-plan was going to work. The greenhouse survived several bad wind storms without problem.

Not long ago, though, we had another storm and two panels blew out from the roof. I wasn't quite tall enough to caulk around them and secure them in place, so I did what I always do. I prayed. "Lord, I need some help with this greenhouse and these panels."

Yesterday, Sam and a couple of my friends came to help. They brought a special (taller) ladder and we began to reposition one of the panels. 

The wind was blowing like crazy. 

Somehow, the wind caught a third panel and blew it out into the pasture. I retrieved that panel and returned to the first one. It blew out. We retrieved the first panel and tried again. We managed to get the first panel in place and caulked around it. 

Another big whoosh of wind blew the caulked panel out. Again. 

I retrieved it from the pasture. Again.

My friend looked at the caulk-dripping panel and said, "Do you have a tarp?"

I did. It wasn't big enough. 

I made a quick trip to the farm supply store and came home with a new tarp. It was too big. We decided to use it anyway. It was an adventure, but at last we had the tarp in place.

When I prayed for help with my greenhouse panels, I had a very specific answer in mind. I expected to have those panels caulked and in place at the end of my answered prayer. Instead, I have a big blue tarp tied with baling string on my greenhouse. The answer to my prayer doesn't look at all like I expected.

I have written and spoken about prayer for more than a decade. I know all the verses about prayer and have memorized quite a few of them. One popular verse is Mark 11:24 nasb:
Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." 

I prayed and asked for help with my greenhouse. I believed and it was granted. It doesn't look like what I expected. 

I know another powerful verse on prayer, however, and that's one I also pray regularly. "Thy will be done." It's one of the prayers I've prayed about my greenhouse, too, because it is the prayer that never fails.

After the caulk-dripping panel blew out, my friend walked around the greenhouse for a careful look. "When the wind and the rain stop, I believe I can fix this problem." He described a solution that will end my wind-tossed-flying-panel problem. It's a long-term solution.

The blue tarp is simply one step on the road to the answer to my prayers. 

The problem I have sometimes is that my view is more short-sighted than God's. He works from an eternal perspective. His answers to my prayers sometimes unfold with a longer view, as well. 

I wanted a quick solution to my greenhouse problem. What God has sent is a temporary measure with a better and more permanent solution yet to come. 

I'm embracing the blue tarp. It's one more reminder that prayer is always answered, but sometimes the answer looks nothing like I expected and takes longer (and more steps) than I planned. 

If your prayers seem unanswered, don't give up hope. God always answers prayers, but sometimes it takes a closer look to recognize His hand. Sometimes, it takes a big blue tarp and a roll of baling string to move you one step closer to His ultimate solution. Don't despair. The tarp isn't the end. There is more on the way. God's answer is still unfolding. And I'm so glad it is.

Pray without ceasing and never give up hope. 

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In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: Grateful Heart: Veterans, Grateful Heart: Laughter and Grateful Heart: Worldwide Kindness,  Remembering Paris,  Persevering for Paris, Resisting Evil and Praying for Peace

The most viewed post of the last week was Remembering Paris

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#answeredprayer #praywithoutceasing #greenhouseadventure 

Teach us to pray, part 65: prophecy

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13 NASB)

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, 1 Corinthians 12:7- 10 NASB 

Before we begin this section, we need to clarify something. I've heard quite a few people say that we no longer have prophets, we no longer have prophecy, and that God has given all the prophecy He will ever give. If you read Scripture at all, you know that's not true. Our Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If He spoke through prophets in the past, (and He did) He still does today. The Word would not mention the manifestation of prophecy if it were not a manifestation. We do not serve a God who offers something then says, "Sorry, I was just kidding." He tells us the Spirit will manifest through prophecy because He will.

Surely the Lord G OD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel 

To His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7 NASB)

God does not send judgment without warning His people. He tells one of His prophets. It is the prophet's job to tell the people what God has told them, and God will give the prophet a platform by which to deliver the message. When a prophet has a message, they must deliver it, despite the consequences of the delivery. 

The word translated as "prophecy" is prophēteia. Vine's defines it as "a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden, especially by foretelling future events." 

The one who has the gift (or manifestation) of prophecy will, of necessity, be one who spends considerable time in prayer, listening more than talking, as well as time studying the Word of God. The one with the manifestation of prophecy will take note of the world around him (or her) and consider carefully how current events relate to Scripture. Not everyone who claims to be a prophet actually is, but that does not invalidate the prophetic truth of those who do speak for God. 

I spoke to a women's group at a church that emphasized prophecy several years ago. As a gift to me, the ladies had spent considerable time in prayer for me as I prepared to speak. They had also asked that God give them a "word" for me and, after I spoke, there was a time for them to share what God had put on their hearts. A couple of the ladies were so confident of what they had heard in prayer that they had written it down on a card to give to me. When I read what they had written, I was struck by the absolute truth of it. Their words spoke to a need in my heart that had not been shared with anyone but God. They didn't understand what they had written nor how it applied to my life, but I did.

Some months ago, I attended a conference. My roommates (previously strangers) and I prayed together in the evenings. The second night, they offered to pray for me instead of just with me, and to prophecy over me. I had no idea what to expect, because I didn't know the ladies well and they didn't know me. As the women prayed for me, they spoke whatever God placed in their hearts. One woman spoke about my gift for intercession with such precision that I knew it had come from God. Another woman spoke with such clarity about my life, my profession, and my future that it could only have come from God alone. What she said God was going to do was such confirmation for what I thought I was supposed to do, that it was incredible encouragement for me. Neither of these women knew enough about me to have made these things up. It could have only come from God.

Later, I had another experience of people I did not know praying for me. One woman, who had no idea whatsoever about my life and with whom I had never had a conversation, prayed for me. There had been a situation not long before in which I had done exactly what God had put in my heart. People I love and respect had criticized me for it and it had hurt. In obedience, I had carried on, but it was made harder by the disdain of others. When this particular woman rested her hand on my shoulder, a warmth spread through me. When she began to pray, I was utterly shocked. She spoke specifically about the very instance for which I was criticized. She said, "You obeyed and God was pleased. Do what you hear Him say." I cannot begin to tell you how comforting that was! 

James Dobson and David Wilkerson are people who have been considered modern-day prophets. They have looked at modern culture in light of Scripture and, over decades, predicted which direction our nation would go with accuracy, but they have not always been well-received. Prophets are not usually popular, because they often tell us what we do not want to hear.

Ministers often speak prophetically when they teach the word of God and explain how it relates to our lives. When they "cast a vision for the future", they may be sharing a kind of prophecy.

It is important that we are not blown about by every wind that blows, or led about by every person who claims to be a prophet. Scripture is clear about the possibility of false prophets and how important it is that we not be led astray. When someone speaks a "prophecy" to me, I always ask God for confirmation. I never want to be led exclusively by the words of someone else, nor do I make life-changing decisions on the basis of what someone who claims to be a prophet says. It is the Holy Spirit's job to guide me and speak to me. If He chooses to speak through a prophecy, He will confirm it in at least one other way.  

I had just begun to write full-time but was very uncertain about it. Over a period of two weeks, God confirmed that decision in no less than five different ways by people who, while praying for me or speaking with me, spoke about a "creative outpouring unlike anything you have previously experienced." In every instance, the person speaking had no knowledge of what the other person had said nor any intimate knowledge of me. The final instance was so dramatic and surprising that there was no denying it had come from God.

How does this happen? People who pray prophetically do not just pray their own words. They get still and quiet, then listen for the Still, Small Voice in their hearts. They pray whatever they hear, whether it makes sense to them or not. 

Can we experience the manifestation of the Spirit through prophecy? Yes. When we seek God's will in a particular situation and He gives direction about specific actions to take, that is "divine inspiration declaring the purposes of God". In a way, it is prophetic, but even more, it is a place to begin. If God never does anything without telling His prophets, (and His word says that is true) we can be sure He has told someone. If it concerns us, He will be sure that we get the message. After all, He is more concerned about our obedience and our understanding than we ourselves are. Do you want to know God's will? Just ask Him. 

Teach us to pray, part 63: The Manifestation of Healing

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13 NASB)

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:7- 9 NASB 

*** As a physician myself, I feel compelled to insert this caveat. I am not recommending that we should abandon all medical treatment. I am not recommended that we should only pray and not seek medical care. Please do not use this post as an opportunity to stop taking medication that has been prescribed for your medical problems. Please do not use this post as an excuse to avoid seeking medical care.***

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Today, we continue our study of the manifestations of the Spirit in the lives of believers by looking at the manifestation of healing. In our society, there is a tendency to think that all physicians have the "gift" of healing and that only physicians have the spiritual gift of healing, but this is not the case at all. One of the best surgeons I know readily admits that he has the gift of hospitality, not healing. (Healing is not my spiritual gift, either.) This manifestation of the Spirit in the form of healing is not the ability to learn a vast store of medical knowledge, understand the workings of the human body, recognize its disease state, and choose appropriate treatment, although God can and does work through this knowledge.

The manifestation of healing is also not a divine treatment that brings a measure of improvement or controls a physical problem with a medication. In this verse, the manifestation of the Spirit is "a healing", a divine resolution of the physical problem. When Jesus healed the woman with the issue of blood, she received a divinely imparted healing, as did the lame, the blind, the deaf that He healed. That same risen Lord, working through the Holy Spirit, still heals.

Why, then, do we not see more healings? Let's read what James has written. 

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:14-16 NASB)

In this passage, the Scripture is very clear. Is anyone sick?  Confess our sins, pray for one another. Call for the elders to pray over them. 

These verses give some very clear steps in the process of seeking a divine healing. First and foremost is the recognition of sin in our own lives, without which we cannot confess it, repent of it, or relinquish it. A request is to be made of the elders of the church and they are to pray over the sick person and anoint them with oil. Because Jesus said that some things only come out by prayer and fasting, the discipline of fasting should be a part of any search for healing.

More than a decade ago, a woman came to see me for a significant problem of her lower legs due to venous disease. She had first taken her physical need to the elders at her church. She had confessed, they had prayed and fasted, but she had not experienced the healing she expected. Instead, one of the  elders had recommended that she make an appointment with me. The elders committed to pray for us both, and they did. The problem was clear, treatment was instituted, and the problem resolved. She was fitted with compression stockings which she wore with excellent control of her problem and very rare exacerbation. In this case, her acute problem was healed, but not at all in the way she expected. It was still a divine intervention, and resulted in her underlying problem being controlled.

A ministry I deeply respect had an intense prayer time recently, (preceded by a time of fasting). They reported that a man who required a cane even to walk with difficulty was there and requested prayer. He was healed and able to walk with no difficulty afterwards. He experienced a divine intervention and dramatic healing.

Many years ago, I had an overwhelming problem with headaches. When medical treatment failed to improve the condition, I requested a "healing service". I agonized at length before asking for a healing service, mostly because of pride and fear. It seemed unprofessional and irresponsible to seek a divine healing, rather than a medical one, and I held back for months. Finally, I requested the healing service and I was healed. 

When I fractured my finger, shattering the bone, I prayed nonstop and went for an x-ray. I did not have a healing service before surgery (I still wish I had) but, when the post-op healing did not go as hoped, members of a local church (not my own) prayed for my hand. In the end, the problem was resolved.

I've written more words than I intended trying to make the manifestation of the Spirit through healing clear while balancing my profession of medicine. The take-away point here is that God still heals. When we are healed, it is always a divine intervention. In places where medical care is less readily available, divine healing is seen more often, probably because it is requested more often. Healing is no less available in this country than in the "third world" countries. Our lack of miraculous healing may simply be due to the failure to ask for it. 

Do we want healing? Scripture says it begins with humbling ourselves, confessing and repenting of our sins, and requesting the prayers of our elders, who are to not only pray but anoint us with oil and pray with expectation that God will move. The decision to request that healing is ours to make. When we are willing to confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) We can count on spiritual healing every time we humble ourselves and ask for healing. The decision to heal physically belongs to God alone, but it is more common than we think. 

Do you long to experience the manifestation of the Spirit through healing? Scripture is clear. The possibility of healing begins with one step. Just ask. 

Teach us to pray, part 59: Manifestations of the Spirit

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13 NASB)

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:7-12 NASB)

We are continuing our study of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was clear that the Holy Spirit would be given to us in response to our desire (our asking) for it. We saw yesterday that Jesus did not leave us as orphans, but sent the Spirit to be with us, to comfort us and teach us. If you missed that post, you can read it here. Today we are looking at the manifestations of the Spirit.

Before we go any further, there are a few things we need to understand. 
1) Jesus promised the gift of the Holy Spirit and He expected that we would embrace Him.
2) The work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a disciple of Christ is not optional. If the Holy Spirit is not at work in ours lives, we need to ask our Lord why not, and do it with haste.
3) We serve a God of order and not confusion. Manifestations of the Spirit are not intended to create havoc, but they are not meant to be avoided, either.

With that in mind, let's look at this very exciting bit of truth.

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Paul made it clear at beginning of this section that the manifestation of the Spirit is given "to each one". If I am a disciple of Christ (and I am), God has given me a manifestation of the Spirit. If you are a disciple of Christ, God has given you a manifestation of the Spirit. We would do well to carefully consider the list above (more coming on the manifestations) and ask the Lord what He has given us. This becomes important because the manifestations (or gifts) are not given to us to hoard but to use.

These manifestations are also not given for entertainment or to make us proud of what we can do. These manifestations of the Spirit are for one reason: the common good. Taken together, the body of Christ has every gift needed to be the kind of vibrant, world-changing body our Lord intended. Does every church have people in the church with every one of these gifts? Yes. I believe they do. Certainly the body of Christ at large has every one of these manifestations.

There are those who believe that these manifestations were given only to "get the church started". If we have a God who ran out of power in the first century, we have a poor God, indeed. The good news is that we DO NOT have an out-of-power God. Almighty God continues to be omnipotent. He has quite enough power to continue giving manifestations of the Spirit today, and He is doing just that.

Let's look at a list of those manifestations of the Spirit (ways the Spirit is at work through us). They are: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues. 

As disciples, the Spirit of our Omnipotent God is manifested in you and me. No one is left out. No one has missed the opportunity for the Spirit to work through us. For today, let's consider prayerfully in which of those ways the Spirit is manifested in us. Are we allowing the Spirit free reign in us? Are we allowing Him to use us for the common good of the body of Christ? If not, why not?

Teach us to pray, part 56: The difference between good and best

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13 NASB)

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:11 NASB)

Both of the verses above refer to the discussion about the ability of earthly fathers to give good gifts to their children.  If earthly fathers, with the propensity to sin and evil common to all mankind, can give good gifts when their children ask, how much more will our Heavenly Father be generous with what is good when we, His children, ask? 

The first point of significance in these verses is the difference between an earthly father and our Heavenly Father. As humans, our tendency is toward sin and rebellion against God. Even when we love (our spouse, children, family, friends) it is an imperfect love, colored by events in our past and circumstances of the present. We don't know what the future will bring nor how our decision of today will affect our children in the future. Even with our imperfections, God has placed in each of us an ability to love our children in a way that gives us an idea of His love toward us. 

Just as a father is overwhelmed by love for his newborn, takes delight in his toddler, enjoys spending time with his child and joyfully gives that child good gifts, our Heavenly Father delights in us, enjoys time with us, and joyfully gives good gifts to His children. 

The difference between the gifts of our earthly father and Heavenly Father is that God is omniscient. He knows everything, including the long-term consequences of that for which we ask. He knows the difference between what is good and what is best for us. 

We (myself included) have a tendency to want whatever it is that we want with a certainty that what we want is also what is best. God must shake His head at some of the things I have requested. What a blessing that He gave me what I needed instead of what I thought I wanted! 

As I look through my prayer list and ponder those things for which I have asked but have not received, it is important that I understand that God's decision about my request is not just final, it is best. There are some things for which I can pray with certainty, knowing that it is God's will. The salvation of a lost person or a prodigal is always God's will. Prayers for those in authority, for wisdom in making decisions, for provision and protection, for the peace of Jerusalem, for the persecuted church are all things for which we have been instructed to pray. I can pray with perseverance for those things I know are within the will of God. 

For those requests about which I am less certain, I still ask. Along the way, though, I've learned to relinquish my will to His. "I want what You want, God, more than what I want, for I know Your plan is best." That's usually our point of struggle, isn't it? It is the certainty that what God wants for us is absolutely, unequivocally best that brings tremendous peace as I pray. Until I believe that without reservation, how can I trust His provision? 

In this business of prayer, there is one thing I must understand. God knows best, and I do not. When I can embrace His ultimate wisdom, it is much easier to embrace His will. As we pray today, let us embrace the truth that God knows best. Suffering is never wasted. God can bring good from even the most horrible circumstances. 

His ways may be inscrutable to us, but they are always best. Let us, then, ask for what we will, but let us also submit our will to His. 

Don't just give us what we want, Lord. Give us what is best. 

Teach us to pray, part 54: those who knock

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10 NASB)

There is an amazing fact about knocking that I need to remember. I am not the only one knocking. Christ Himself is knocking, too. 

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20) 

Imagine that! Christ longs to visit with me and knocks on the door of my heart while He waits for me to invite Him in. "I will dine with him and he with Me" is just one more example of the relationship for which I was created, for which you were created. 

This verse is generally held to be a verse related to salvation. Certainly, that first opening of the door of our heart when Christ knocks is our salvation moment, but that is not the only time He knocks at the door of our hearts. Our Lord longs to have times of intimacy with us on a daily basis, just as God walked and talked daily with Adam and Eve in the garden. 

Knocking with unbridled enthusiasm as we ask repeatedly that our requests be granted is one of the prayer-actions Christ has granted to us. In our determination to achieve the desire of our heart, however, let us not overlook the quiet, persistent knocking of our Lord Jesus, who longs for us to swing wide the door of our heart so that we might spend time with Him.

You may be thinking, "Why does Christ knock if His Spirit in already residing within me?" Perhaps the metaphor of a house will be helpful. When a guest wants to enter my house, they usually knock on my outside door. Once inside, they have free reign to make themselves at home in the open rooms. 

It is when I go into a room, wishing for a bit of privacy, that I close the door. Before entering that private place, the one in which I have cloistered myself, those who wish to enter usually knock. 

In that same way, I can withdraw from Christ, metaphorically shutting the door of an area of my heart, and stepping away from closeness with Him. I can "hide" by distancing myself from Him. It is in those times that He gently and quietly knocks with the same persistence as at the start, for He longs to share my hurts, my sorrows, my confusion. He longs to turn my isolation into companionship, my sorrow into joy.  

It is all too easy to drown out the sound of His knocking with busyness or the clamor of sin. When I allow myself to be still and silence the clamor, I can hear that gentle knocking. It is then that I face a beautiful decision and a divine opportunity. Will I allow Christ access to more of me or not? 

Only in eternity, when we are made perfect in the presence of God, will we fully abandon ourselves to His presence. Only then will the knocking end, for our communion with Him will be made complete. 

For now, He knocks and we must answer, so let our answer be "more of Christ in me". Let us swing wide the doors of our heart in utter abandon to the One who longs to fill every empty place with the sweetest presence imaginable, heal every hurt, and fill our lives with the love, joy and peace that only He can give. 

He is knocking. What will be our answer? 

Teach us to pray, part 53: Knocking

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10 NASB)

When I read "knock and it will be opened to you", for some reason, it makes me think of that song from my growing up years. "If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land." The idea of hammering so enthusiastically is exactly the idea behind the knocking of Luke 11. The word translated as knock is not a polite little tapping at the door. This is "knocking with a heavy blow". It is pounding that leaves no doubt, inside or out, that you mean for the door to be opened.

We have it from the very mouth of Christ ("so I say to you") that we are to be so importunate in the things for which Christ has instructed us to ask, that we "must never hold our peace day or night, we must not keep silence, nor give God any rest." (Matthew Henry) We are to be pounding on the doors of heaven. What things has He instructed us to ask? That his name be sanctified, that his kingdom come, His will be done.

When I present my concerns to God in prayer, it behooves me to judge those concerns by the standard Christ has given us. Does my request sanctify His name, does it advance His kingdom, is it His will? I have to admit that I have besieged heaven, hammering on the door night and day to have something that was neither God's will nor likely to advance His kingdom. I thank God He did not grant my request. How miserable I would have been if He had given me that for which I foolishly asked! I praise God for those "no" answers that I desperately needed, but did not want, to the prayers for that which I desperately wanted, but did not need.

It is when I am willing to pray for God's will, and for events in my life to unfold in a way that glorifies Him and not myself, that I begin to pray in a way that pleases God. It is when I pray in this way that my hammering on the door of heaven has an amazing effect. The door of heaven is opened to me and I am ushered into the presence of God. Oh, if there were words to convey the joy that comes with this kind of prayer! 

Prayer, conversation with God, is an important part of having a relationship with Him, and, sometimes, importunate prayer, hammering away without stopping, is what it takes to gain our desire. That continued hammering is important, at least in part, because the persevering demonstrates our commitment to the need for which we ask. 

In the persistent knocking, however, we also gain an unexpected benefit. Change. There are times when I pray persistently over months, and even over years, for something. My prayer toward the end of that journey of persistence is often quite different from the one at the beginning, because God has changed my heart along the way. He has allowed me to see the need from a different perspective, to recognize what He has been doing in me as I waited. The desire I was so desperate to obtain at the beginning has been molded and changed by God in the interim. If we are to obtain the perfect will of God in our asking, this process of molding is critical, and (at least with my stubborn heart) it takes time. 

Let us take our needs, our desires, our hopes and dreams to the One who loves us most, and let us do it with persistence, hammering away at the door of heaven. In our hammering, though, let us not forget that the waiting, as we hammer and pray, is an important part of the process, for it is in the waiting that God fine-tunes us and our prayers to become exactly what He intended. It is only then that our prayers can be the kind of requests that line up with the will of God so that answers, glorious will-of-God answers, can come.

Pray without ceasing and wait with expectation to see the mighty Hand of God in response to your prayers.

Teach us to pray, part 52: Seeker prayers

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10 NASB)

In yesterday's blog post, we considered the idea of seeking and finding. If what we have found in life is not what we wanted, we've been seeking the wrong thing. It is that simple. God promises that, if we seek Him, we will find Him, for He is also seeking us.

This morning, it occurred to me that this is a series on prayer. "Seeking" seems more like an issue for a series on priority or lifestyle choices, rather than prayer, until I remember that prayer is rooted in relationship. That relationship is an outgrowth of the kind of seeking that finds the One who is the object of my search. 

Yesterday, I was humming a song I learned as a child, "My Best Friend is Jesus". As I hummed aloud and listened to the words silently as they played in my head, I thought, "I really mean this!" When I learned those words as a little girl, I had no idea at all of the richness of relationship available to me, nor the depth of love that could be mine. 

Over the course of several decades, my seeking has led me to the One my heart most desired, my Lord, and to a relationship with Him. As I have spent time with Him in prayer, studied His words, and learned to trust Him, a relationship that is precious beyond all else has developed. Christ is the first one to whom I speak in the morning, before my feet hit the floor. He's the One whose "tongue is the pen of a ready writer" and supplies the words I write. He's the first One I go to with a problem, a need, a desire. He's the One I trust above all others. He's my best friend.

My best friend. As I write those words, I am utterly astounded. How can it be that someone who has done so very much sinning can find a friend in God? It seems impossible, yet our God is so forgiving, so loving and long-suffering, that He can embrace even someone like me. Someone like you. What is even more astounding is that the God who created and sustains the Universe will take the time to communicate with me, listen to me, talk to me in that Still, Small Voice in my heart!

We call that communication, between my heart and His, prayer. When I understand that prayer is simply talking to the one I love the most, it becomes a simple thing. I talk to God about all the things that concern Me, then leave those concerns in His capable hands, trusting Him to deal with every single issue. Sometimes His solutions require some action from me, but more often than not, they don't. 

If I want to have power in prayer, if  I want answered prayer, I must begin by having a relationship with the One to whom I pray. Satisfying myself, whether by the accumulation of money, houses, things, or by pleasure that lasts for a moment, or by gaining the status and power the world offers, must be set aside in order to satisfy and to please my God. Answered prayer begins with relationship, and the deeper the relationship, the deeper the conversation between us.

In teaching us to pray, Jesus taught, "Seek and you will find" because our seeking must first be for His kingdom and His righteousness. Prayer is simply the communication that flows naturally from that relationship. 

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, 

and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 NASB)

Teach us to pray, part 51: Seeking

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10 NASB)

The word translated as "seek" is zēteō.  This word can mean several kinds of seeking, but in this verse it means "to seek with the intention of finding." My first question on reading that was why anyone would seek and not expect to find. Maybe that kind of seeking is really just looking around aimlessly. It turns out that this word can indicate the kind of seeking that is nothing more than pondering with the hope of figuring it out yourself. There is also a kind of seeking that is "striving". You might "seek" to be the richest person in America, but that is not the same as having the expectation that you might attain that goal.

This seeking, however, is the kind of seeking that expects to find or attain what it seeks. Proverbs 17:11 says a rebellious man seeks only evil. If that's what he's seeking, it's what he's going to find, as well. Scripture says a "cruel messenger will be sent after him". That's not the kind of seeking we should be doing. 

Scripture has numerous instructions about seeking. "Seek the Lord your God" (Deut. 4:29), "pray and seek My face" (2 Chron. 7:14), "seek peace and pursue it" (Ps 34:14), "seek good and not evil" (Amos 5:14), "keep seeking the things above" (Col 3:1). Our job as disciples of Christ is to seek our Lord and the things of God, rather than the riches and honor of this world. Our goal and that for which we seek must be pleasing God with our lives. We are to seek peace, seek good and not evil. When we seek those things with the intention that we will find them, our Lord promises that we will do exactly that. 

If we seek God with the intention of knowing Him, we will find Him. If we seek peace with that same intention, we will find it. 

Scripture also draws a sharp contrast between that which our enemy the devil seeks and that which God seeks. 1 Peter 5:8 says that our enemy the devil "prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour." 

Ezekiel records the promise of God to send a shepherd for his people, who were like lost sheep, wandering about with no one to care for them. "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick... (Ezekiel 34:16 NASB) Jesus declared that He was the Good Shepherd, come to seek and to save that which is lost. (John 10:11). It is the goal of the evil one to destroy those who are lost. It is the goal of Almighty to God to find us when we are lost, restore us, bind up our wounds and strengthen us. What a difference!

Here's the wonderful thing about seeking for God. When we are seeking for God, He is also seeking for us. In our seeking, we can count on both being found and finding the object of our desire!

The question we must answer is simple. For what do we seek? The answer often lies in what we have found. If we find that for which we seek, and we do, then what we have found so far is what we have sought. Ouch! For today, let's take a close look at our lives. Look at the kind of life we have found in our seeking, at the kind of relationships we have found, at the kind of relationship we have with Christ. Is it a warm and intimate relationship with Him or do we have a passing head knowledge that is more history than current event? 

If what we have sought has not brought us that which satisfies, let's be done with it and seek that which has eternal significance and brings joy and peace that lasts.

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, 

and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 NASB)