Righteous, Effective Praying

I will never forget. It was my final year at the Moody Bible Institute. Founder's Week was upon us, and the topic of the week was prayer. We had many incredible speakers to look forward to and I was excited because I have always had many questions about the topic. As tradition has it the then president of Moody, Joseph M Stowell III, spoke at the first session that Monday night. His text: James 5:16.

The prayer of a righteous man avails much.

He titled his message "The Muchness of Prayer." While he was able to get us all excited about the fact of how God listens to and answers our prayers, he left me very depressed on another point.

...a righteous man...

Righteous??? Definitely not a description of me! In fact, I am quite the opposite. Yes, I know through salvation I am positionally made righteous before God through the imputed righteousness of Christ. But to know it and to own it are two different things. And I have no idea how or when I will ever own it in my life. But here is why I struggle with that thought the most.

...avails much.

If I am made righteous by the imputed righteousness of Christ, then why do my prayers avail so little? I have prayed for numerous things and almost never seen them answered; positively or negatively. But when I have certain friends pray for me or something I know about, I do see God answer it. There is one friend in particular that I have asked to pray for things, and I know she does, and I see God answer her prayers almost immediately. So what is the problem here? This is when my thought returns to the first part.

...a righteous man...

So I must ask the question of what the problem might be. A couple possibilities come to mind. First; a problem of unconfessed sin that is hindering my relationship with God, and second; faith.

Unconfessed Sin

While we may have found forgiveness from sin at a fundamental level in the salvation experience, we still are bound to bodies of flesh that are bent toward sinning. Our spirits are renewed day by day, but our bodies of flesh are still in need of that final redemption, and as a result we still sin. The sins committed after the salvation experience can hinder our relationship with God. They do not cause us to loose salvation because our salvation is not dependant upon us but God, but they do get in the way of our ability to have close fellowship with him. So positionally I may be righteous before God thanks to the imputed righteousness of Christ, but experientially my sin is getting in the way of my fellowship and thus my prayers could be rendered ineffective. Perhaps the A.C.T.S. acronym for prayer is so helpful in this regard. First we show adoration; praise and worship towards God in prayer. Then we confess sin, even praying that God would reveal to us sin that we may not be aware of. Then after expressing thanksgiving for his work in our lives can we make our requests, our supplications made known to God, and thus the prayer of the righteous man will avail much.

Faith

Here is the second concern. Do I have faith that my prayers are not just being heard, but answered? Are my prayers specific, or am I being so general that even when God does answer, the answers are unrecognizable? We have the right and privilege to go before the throne of Grace BOLDLY. So let us do that, let us pray believing God will answer. And if we still struggle with faith, then maybe we should pray as the man in Mark 9:24 expressed; “I believe, help my unbelief!”

Love With All Your Mind

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Reflecting on the situation of American culture and the state of the church, I am compelled to ask a question related to this the first and greatest commandment in Scripture; are we loving God with all our minds?

My church recently held a baptism service, and as part of the service a video recording was played of the people who were baptized giving their testimony. Later, while reflecting on the service, a friend pointed out there was something significant missing from the testimonies; conviction over sin, punishment, redemption. All testimonies were focused on what God has done for the person on an emotional level. People would talk about the “bad stuff” which they were a part of, but very little was spoken about sin. The salvation experiences recounted were focused on feeling, not on sound judgment of the mind. But it seems this is characteristic of the church as a whole. People are lead into the church to find the answer to their immediate problems, to gain emotional relief. People come to Christ looking for that next emotional high, and when it leaves they leave the church or even the religion to find a new high to obtain.

I am convinced part of the cause for this is the church’s neglect of the mind. The church has followed the culture in seeking to fulfill the next emotional high. We develop programs and worship services centered around this high, but little is focused on the mind and real, thoughtful conviction of sin.

But the call to true Christian faith involves all of the faculties of humanity; emotion, strength, and the oft neglected mind. We must be careful as we share the Gospel to focus on sin and resulting punishment. Salvation is not about good feelings, though that may result. Salvation is not about finding ways to improve our earthly lives. Salvation is about dealing with sin, finding hope from living under the wrath of God. The Gospel is about redemption and forgiveness of sin. Yes this forgiveness often brings about a sense of relief, as if a huge weight has been lifted off the shoulders, and thus salvation is an emotional experience, but it is also an intellectual experience. We must remember the importance of the intellectual acknowledgment of sin for what it is, an affront to the will of God.

Maybe Paul’s summation of the problem with Israel can apply to the modern evangelical church;

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:2)

Zeal, emotional highs, warm fuzzies, the quest for health and prosperity all simply do not cut it. Knowledge of Christ, what he has done, is the only thing that will bring us to him in a lasting, meaningful relationship. Knowledge, the use of the mind, is required for true salvation.

The Plans I Have

It's that time of year. Graduation open house invitations keep coming in the mail. People demanding that I attend, leave a card, and make sure it's stuffed with money. I don't mind all that, but there is one thing I've noticed that is in common with so many graduates. If they include a "life verse," nine times out of ten it is Jeremiah 29:11. I wonder how often people really take the time to find out what that verse is all about. Well, here is a study I did recently to better understand why Jeremiah wrote that wonderful verse.

Context, context, context. My hermeneutics professor told us over and over that those are the three most important things when studying the Bible. And in this instance it is of particular importance. The entire 29th chapter of Jeremiah is a letter written to Israelites shortly after the Babylonian exile began. The people were in great distress, wondering what was to happen to them. Had God given up on His covenant promise to them? Many false prophets were telling them that He had not and that they would soon be returning to their homeland. Jeremiah knew better. No, God had not given up on His covenant, but they were destined to live in Babylon for 70 years. So, through Jeremiah, God sent this letter to His people in exile.

He told the people to settle down. Live and enjoy life. Establish businesses, start families, do what they would normally do even when in their homeland. In spite of this, it was a very difficult time for the people. They were captives. They were living in exile, in a foreign land, a foreign culture. Life was hard, things were not making sense. Thus comes the encouragement of verse 11. He knows the plans He has for His people. He desires to cause them to prosper, to have a hope and a future, not plans to bring evil on them, but good. Even so, they must go through this trial for 70 years. It is a time of judgment, of punishment, of chastisement.

They sinned and are now paying the penalty. The temptation is to become angry with God for it, but God reassures them, stating that this is only temporary, and there is a goal in mind. The plan and goal He has for them comes in verses 12 through 14. His desire is for perfect, unadulterated fellowship with them. And when they turn and seek Him alone, then and only then will he return them to the promised land.

So how does this apply to us? All to often we approach this verse with a social gospel mentality. This is the idea that God will bless us at all times and that we will prosper in health, wealth, and all the other "good" things of this life. But that is not necessarily true. The true gospel is a call to suffering. When we come to Christ, we are promised trials, hardships, and persecutions. But these things are not meant for evil, but for good. These trials are meant for our growth. They cause us to grow in our trust and reliance upon Him. They drive us to seek Him. The ultimate good is the sweet fellowship we have with our God as a result. The true blessed future is an eternal future of perfect, fulfilling fellowship with God in the form of a deeper love, experienced only in part here on Earth, but in its fullest form in Heaven. That is our hope, our future, the place in which true prosperity comes.

I recently read this illustration.

A group of researchers once studied 100 caterpillars which were about to fight their way free from their cocoons. Instead of letting them struggle, the observers gently cut them out and released them. Then they set them on a table and tried to get them to fly. But none of them could. Not one.

The study demonstrated that the time of wrestling and fighting through the walls of the cocoon actually strengthens the wings of the butterfly to take flight. The very struggle - all the pushing and thrashing to free itself from restraint - is what makes new life possible. Without strife, there is no strength. (not a perfect quote, but very close)

If we hold to the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 in this manner, we will not be disappointed. But if we hold to this promise expecting health, wealth and prosperity here in this life, we quite possibly will be disappointed. When the trials come, we may become disillusioned because of our false perception of verses such as this one.

The prosperity we will experience in Heaven, in eternal, perfect fellowship with our God, will far outweigh any suffering we may experience here on Earth.