Nine Pastoral Prayers

I was listening to Matt Chandler yesterday and ended up listening to a podcast titled “Nine Pastoral Prayers.” These are the prayers that Chandler and his staff prayed through when they were starting the Village Church. I think there is a lot of good stuff in these nine prayers for the church in general, but I also think that there are some good things for individual believers to remember. So here you go.

Prayer #1: That we would see that the greatest problem in the universe is not mere moral failure – but rather a failure to honor God. (“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:21)

Prayer #2: That we would understand that discipline rarely brings about love – but love always brings about discipline. (“Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” Galatians 3:5)

Prayer #3: That we would realize that children of God are not under wrath – but under mercy. (“[He will make known] the riches of his glory for vessels
of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.” Romans 9:23)

Prayer #4: That we would find that the fullness of all things – including life and joy – is in Christ. (“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10)

Prayer #5: That we would experience a holy discontentment with where our lives are – and that we would espouse the hope of what our lives can be. (“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope.” Romans 8:20)

Prayer #6: That we would recognize that God has purposefully placed us here – at this time, in this place – for His glory. (“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” Acts 17:26)

Prayer #7: That we would develop a taste for truth – even difficult ones. (“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11)

Prayer #8: That we would embrace Biblical Christianity – not American evangelicalism. (“In the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self,. . .having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Prayer #9: That we would believe in the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit – and desire them earnestly. (“So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.” 1 Corinthians 14:39)

Do You Worship the Work?

“We have no right to decide where we should be placed, or to have preconceived ideas as to what God is preparing us to do. God engineers everything; and wherever He places us, our one supreme goal should be to pour out our lives in wholehearted devotion to Him in that particular work.”

~Excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest “Do You Worship the Work?” April 23

This was good for me to hear this morning.

New MuteMath Video

Decisions, Faith

I’ve come to that point in every young person’s life, the time to make those decisions that will significantly effect my life for the coming years, I dare say the rest of my life. Normally I like the challenge that decision making brings, but never before have the decisions to be made had such a magnitude. I find myself struggling to make these decisions for several reasons:

First, the decision does not just impact me. I get married in June, and from that day on, I am responsible for another human being. Now I am well aware that Janie will be making considerably more money than I will be, but I think that biblically I am still to be the one to take care of her. The decisions I make on what church we go to and where I go to school and where we live will have a significant impact on how she is able to live her life. I love Janie to death, and I want to give her a great life, I want to take care of her to the best of my ability, but every option I am presented with doesn’t lead to anything anyone would consider easy. I thank God that she understands the situation she will be marrying by marrying me, but I still struggle with thoughts about how I am going to take care of her.

Second, my own future is “at stake” as it were. I have things that I think God is calling me to so that I can serve Him. The big one would be that I feel he is calling me to later in life be a professor. In order to do that, you have to have a whole lot of schooling which I am actually really excited about. Unfortunately, affording all of that schooling is a different issue. There is also the decision of where to go to Seminary, what will be more beneficial to me later, etc. I know where I want to go, and I know where Janie wants me to go, but it is an expensive choice and I don’t see the finances being there anytime soon. There is always the choice to wait, but I fear that if I don’t start right into my schooling, it will be even harder to get into it once I am established in a job.

Finally, I really want to follow God’s will on this one. Let me rephrase that, I really want to choose the options that will bring the most glory to God, where I can serve Him the best. This is the first time where there are several options ahead of me and I have the potential of “messing up” (for lack of a better term) real bad. I am really trying to seek God on these things, and as of yet, he hasn’t made it clear where I should go, and that makes me nervous. I talk to some people and they know what they are doing once May 10 gets here. Normally I would be the one who has it all figured out and knows where I am going, and I just haven’t been given a clear direction yet, and that frightens me.

So I am feel like I am going to have to really step out on faith on this one. I think I am really going to have to just trust God and run with what I know He has given me as of now. Much prayer would be great, and any advice is welcome as well. Maybe I will post my options later and try and get some feedback.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

Light Drums

Do We Really?

I am a huge fan of music. I love listening to it, playing it, and recently I have become fascinated with what is being said in the lyrics of songs. So recently I was listening to the song “Hosanna” and I started to think about the lyrics I was singing. Here is the line in particular that caught my eye:

“Break my heart for what breaks yours”

Here is what gets me. This is an incredibly popular worship song. I have seen hundreds of teenagers and college students lift up their hands and sing these words to the God of the Universe. But do they, do we, really know what we are asking for? This line is asking for God to break our hearts over what breaks His. Now I am not claiming to know the heart of God, but I would venture a guess and say that there is probably a lot in our world that breaks God’s heart.

But are we really ready to open ourselves up to that? I think if we truly allowed ourselves to be broken by all the things that break the heart of God, our lives would be radically different. We would look at the world, the events in the Sudan and elsewhere, and just be broken about them. I think we would not be so apathetic towards others, we would be revitalized with care for our fellow man. I think what this line is asking for is right.

But do we really want to be that broken? Are we really ready to let God rip away from us our comfortable world were everything is not perfect, but sugarcoated non the less, and let us see the world and all of it’s junk? I’ll be honest, the thought frightens me. I absolutely want to have my heart broken about the plight in this world, but to ask God to break my heart for what breaks his, that seems to open up quite a bit of brokenness to me. I would be very afraid to open myself up to that, I feel I would become very pessimistic about the world.

But still I sing the line. I think Christians need to be careful what they declare to God. If I am singing this song to God, and truly worshipping him, then I had better be expecting God to do what I ask. I had better be ready for him to start breaking my heart to things I knew nothing about. I try and remind the youth group that I work with that they should not sing empty words to God. I try and encourage them to really think about the words in the song and try and understand the implication of what singing that to God means, particularly if it is declaring or asking something of God.

I think truly, deep down inside me, I do want my heart to be broken by the same things that breaks God’s heart. In the last year or two, I have become more aware of a lot of injustice in our world and it truly does break my heart. But I always want to remember that when I ask something of God, I should be prepared for Him to give it to me.

I pray that I will never sing or say words to the God of the universe and have them be empty. I also pray that God would prepare my heart and my mind for just what I am asking, to be broken by the things that break his heart. But I also pray that God would show me the beauty of what the rest of the song talks about, of Christians rising up and being the agents of change in our world. I pray that I will still be able to see the beauty of this world, because I sometimes tend to be a little pessimistic when it comes to the condition of our world, the glass is half empty as opposed to half full if you catch my drift.

I ask that you would realize what you are asking of God, and that you would look at the words you say to him and the words you sing to him, and really make sure you believe what you are saying and are prepared for what you are asking.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. John 14:14

Is Santa Real?

Here is a blog I read today about the history of Santa Clause. Enjoy.

http://www.theresurgence.com/saint_nicholas

A Story

I read this story in John Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life,” as it was quoted from James Bradley’s “Flags of Our Fathers.” Sorry for the harsh language. I thought it was interesting that a man so young would be willing to sacrifice so much for others to have happiness and peace.

He’d fast-talked his way into the Marines at fourteen, fooling the recruits with his muscled physique….Assigned to drive a truck in Hawaii, he had grown frustrated; he wanted to fight. He stowed away on a transport out of Honolulu, surviving on food passed along to him by sympathetic leathernecks on board.

He landed on D-Day [at Iwo Jima] without a rifle. He grabbed one lying on the beach and fought his way inland.

Now, on D+1, Jack and three comrades were crawling through a trench when eight Japanese sprang in front of them. Jack shot one of them through the head. Then his rifle jammed. As he struggled with it a grenade landed at his feet. He yelled a warning to the others and rammed the grenade into the soft ash. Immediately, another rolled in. Jack Lucas, seventeen, fell on both grenades. “Luke, you’re gonna die,” he remembered thinking….

Aboard the hospital ship Samaritan the doctors could scarcely believe it. “Maybe he was too damned young and too damned tough to die,” one said. He endured twenty-one reconstructive operations and became the nation’s youngest Medal of Honor winner–and the only high school freshman to receive it.

A Prayer

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
Does in fact please you.

And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always,
Though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
~Thomas Merton, 1915-1968

This is an interesting prayer I found in the book “Understanding God’s Will” by Kyle Lake.

Rain Down

So, I am laying on my mattress, listening to the beginning of the thunder storm outside. I think rain is one of my favorite events in nature. I just think the idea of God making water fall from the sky to nourish the ground is pretty awesome.

As I sit here and think about the rain, I am reminded of how it is sort of like a renewal of God’s blessing and favor. Here is what I mean: in the Old Testament, when Israel would step out of line on God, he would, among other things, send famine and drought on the land. Now from my understanding, ancient Israel can be a pretty dry place, so these times where there was drought must have been awful. How refreshing it must have been when Israel had finally learned it’s lesson, and God opened the heavens, and the water flowed and the thunder rolled and all turned green again.

So what about me, what does rain in my life mean. It seems to me that quite obviously that when I am closest to God, his blessing rain down on me. And the flip side of that is also true, when I am far from God, it is like a deep drought, with no end in site. I do honestly believe that God uses the times of drought to teach us something, reliance on him, how much He loves us, whatever message he needs to send, I think a lot of the times he chooses to send it in times of drought, in hopes that we will get it and run back to him so the rain can start again.

As thankful as I am for the times of drought because of all I learn and how I renew my relationship with God, I love the rain. I love it most when I am closest to him, as I should. But I love it when I know that God and I are doing good, and by that I mean that I am actively seeking him out and obeying him as much as my humanness will allow. But I do love the rain, I love how when you are in it, you can’t escape it, it totally drenches you. I love how everything is brighter after it comes, life feels better when the rain is around. I love how most of the time, you can sense it coming, and you know that God is opening back up and saying “welcome home son.” I love how it quenches my thirst, how when I am going through the drought I get so dry, and so weary, but then God sends the rain, and I thirst no more. I even love how the rain shows me God is sovereign, it can happen in an instant and vanish just as quickly, it is all in his control (and this is my feeling on both spiritual and physical rain). But mostly, I love that God chooses to send it down. As far as my limited understanding of God goes, he doesn’t need me, or any of us, but he desires to have a relationship with us. He doesn’t have to send down the rain, but he does, because he is loving and he cares for us.

Thank you for the rain!