Posts in the category: ‘Reflections’
Love Is Kind, Not Nice
God is love. God is kind, not nice. He would much rather offend us with tough truth now, so that we walk in the light, than see us destroyed in our delusion.
When Jesus speaks words that cut to our heart, He is usually speaking on a different level than the level at which we are hearing. We try to interpret His words based on what we see and know. He is speaking based on what He sees and knows.
Consider the rich young ruler who asked Jesus how he might be complete in righteousness. He was obeying the commandments of God, but he must have felt distance between his heart and Christ’s. Why else would he ask such a question? Scripture tells us that “looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him,” but His answer was devastating! “‘One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me,’” He said (Mk. 10:21).
Immediately we think, “Jesus, really? Why? Isn’t this guy keeping all the commandments? Your answer is so extreme!” We argue, trying to interpret His words based on what we see and know.
But Jesus is speaking based on what He sees and knows. Luke recounted that “at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property” (Mk. 10:22). Jesus knew the young man’s heart was entwined with love for possessions, and that desire for material gain had such sway over his soul that he was deceived.
What Jesus may ask you or me to leave behind may be different. But Jesus never asks us to give something up without offering something better in exchange. He invited this young man to gain possessions which would never be destroyed!
So we have a choice: we can argue with Him based on what we see and know, or, we can humble ourselves and ask Him to tell us what He sees and knows.
We’ve all argued. It’s a very natural, human response. The prophets did it. We do it. The Lord is familiar with our struggle to comprehend His way of thinking. He listens as we spout off arguments. Then He waits to see if we will listen. Will we be quiet, and ask Him to tell us what He sees and knows? Will we let Him define the terms, reveal our motives, break in with light?
I see myself in my four-year-old daughter. She displays the struggles of my own soul in vivid color. She strains to understand why certain rules or disciplines are in place. To her way of thinking, the world would be a lot better place if I as her mother would just leave off. But I see some things she doesn’t see. Likewise, I struggle to grasp God’s goodness in His disciplines. When I struggle, I have not grasped the severity of my sin and where it would take me if He left me to grow in it.
Jesus triumphantly rejoices over budding virtues in my heart as though they were mature plants. He also points out the seedlings of wickedness in my heart in a tone I’d only expect if He were looking at evil when it is full-grown! It’s not that He’s not patient. He is—so much more patient than any of us—but He sees what is in our hearts, and He knows where those things will take us. “Nothing crooked” comes from His mouth (Prov. 8:8). He does not exaggerate to make a point. Neither does He minimize truth to lessen its sting. The Bible teaches that “faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Prov. 27:6). God is our true friend.
As I learn to listen to Him, I echo the prayer of the psalmist: “Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; it is oil upon the head; do not let my head refuse it” (Ps. 141:5). I will count such wounds as favor, Lord, not rejection. For You discipline those You love (Prov. 3:12; NIV).
All Scripture references, unless otherwise noted, are in the NASB.
Praying the Psalms: Psalm 23 – Feasting on God
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
(Ps. 23)
This beloved psalm beautifully relates David’s experience before God and his confession before his enemies. As a statement of faith and acknowledgment of dependency, this psalm can be our own confession of God’s faithfulness, our desire to agree with His ways, and our commitment to resist Satan’s lies about our lives.
We agree with God’s ways when we see Him as our shepherd. He is the one who leads, guides, and protects us, both when we feel as though we are resting in abundance and when we feel fear in times of danger and distress. He prepares a table, a feast for us in the midst of opposition. To feast on God’s table is to connect with God through praying the Word, and by communing with His indwelling Spirit. When we do this, we see our situation, circumstances, and enemies differently. They seem small and temporary instead of powerful and permanent. When we constantly dwell on our circumstances, we are tempted to feast on anxiety and worry. However, if we focus on God and His promises, we can feast on His goodness and mercy because we see their evidence in our lives.
We are prone to be spiritually bored and emotionally bound if we do not feast in God’s presence. A heart vibrant in God is satisfied, and filled with peace instead of with annoyance and fear. David knew God would provide an overflowing portion. Green pastures speak of abundant provision, while still waters represent peace and refreshment. The blessings extolled in this psalm are for any who make the Lord leader of their lives. This is why David referred to God as “my” shepherd (Ps. 23:1); it was a personal revelation to David. God made Himself known to him as an intimate guardian, ready to provide for all of David’s needs. God responds to our hunger by filling our souls with goodness (Psalm 107:9).
In relating to the Lord as our shepherd, we are placing our trust in His name – in other words, in His nature and character. Because He is jealous for His name (Isa. 48:11, 52:6), we know He will surely cause us to thrive. He will lead us in paths of righteousness for His own glory and honor. This is our confidence during periods of blessing and in times of testing. The shepherd’s rod is a symbol of protection from danger. The shepherd’s staff represents His ability to direct us through each season we experience. Feasting on God gives us strength for every season, every trial, and every circumstance. His Presence makes all the difference.
Building the House of Prayer
Moral decline advances rapidly and secular humanism grips the hearts and minds of this generation. Economic crisis hangs like a cloud over the land. We are in desperate days, and without vision, the people perish (Prov. 29:8).
Yet there is hope. God always has an answer and a remedy. The answer is always sovereign, but sometimes it is contingent upon the response and repentance of God’s people, and the promise of hope is carried upon the prayers of the saints.
Throughout redemptive history, God has led His people by establishing worship and prayer as the central, cooperative way to release a spirit of repentance, revelation, and revival to the nation. “If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr. 7:14).
In the Old Testament, God established His temple and the worship therein as the predominant means of blessing His people. From the tabernacle of Moses to the tabernacle of David, to Solomon’s temple, to the Moravians of Germany, to the present day, God sets His sanctuary in the midst of a people who bear His name in order that they might have one, primary vision: His glory among the nations.
Nowhere do we see this redemptive act more clearly than in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah during Israel’s captivity and subsequent release. At that time, there was only one remedy for Israel: repentance and revival through the rebuilding of the temple.
Where there is agreement with God, restoration is soon to follow. “I am the Lord and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret . . . I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right . . . Look to Me, and be saved all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Isa. 45:18–19, 22).
The prophet Isaiah was the first person in Scripture to refer to the temple as a house of prayer (Isa. 56:7), but God’s continual desire for the temple is that it be a sanctuary of unending, unhindered worship. At its core, worship is agreement with the truth of who God is and what He has promised to do.
Jesus understood His Father’s intentions for the temple. In Matthew 21:13, He quotes Isaiah, saying, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” We can understand Jesus’ anger at those who treated the temple as a place of commerce when we realize why the temple existed in the first place: to glorify God.
We can also see the labor and partnership of God’s people through history to build and maintain a sanctuary as a permanent place of worship for Yahweh. In 586 BC, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple that King Solomon had built. In those days, Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of the city, but he also prophesied its restoration: “Thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place” (Jer. 29:10–13).
After seventy years of captivity in Babylon, approximately 50,000 Jewish exiles returned to a desolate Jerusalem to begin rebuilding the temple (Ezra 1–2). Because of economic hardship, spiritual lethargy, resistance from their enemies, and drought, they worked for just a short time before quitting for sixteen years (536–520 BC). Eventually, the Lord sent Haggai and Zechariah to speak encouragement to the people, and they began working on the temple again.
Haggai prophesied strength to the people to continue their labors: “Yet now be strong, Zerrubabel . . . and be strong Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land . . . and work; for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts” (Hag. 2:4)
Zechariah prophesied the Lord’s faithfulness in healing the land through their efforts: “Return to Me . . . and I will return to you” (Zech. 1:3). The people were called to continue their work in spite of the difficulties they faced. They were assured that the Lord would be with them. God’s zeal, through the mouth of His prophets, strengthened the people to persevere.
This dramatic story from centuries ago is a powerful encouragement to those seeking to build a house of prayer in this present, desperate hour. God is restoring the worship that the temple was intended to facilitate, by calling His people across the world to night-and-day prayer.
Do You Partner with Your Intercessor or Your Accuser?
The human mind is one of God’s amazing creations. It never stops, even when we sleep. God designed our minds to help us be in continual dialogue with Him, but this does not happen automatically. Unless we tell our thoughts where to go, they will slide down into darkness as easily as eggs roll off the counter onto the floor!
Our thoughts are not neutral. Scripture teaches us we have both an Intercessor (Heb. 7:25) and an Accuser (Rev. 12:10). Our thoughts either partner with the intercession of Jesus or with the accusations of Satan.
Recently Paul’s prayer for the church at Rome has revived in my heart: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).
The God of hope! Seeing the end from the beginning, He “gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Rom. 4:17). He is the One who looked at childless Abraham and called him “a father of many nations” (Gen. 17:5). Appearing to Gideon, the man who had a complex about being the least, He called him a “mighty man of valor” (Judg. 6:12). He described David as “a man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14), although David had some serious issues which caused him to stumble badly. He affirmed Peter’s willing spirit when his flesh was still weak (Mt. 26:40). He called Paul forth as a love-stricken apostle while he was yet a murderer of the saints.
What does He see when He looks at you? You would likely be surprised by what He’d say. My guess is that you might sometimes—even often—look at yourself with more of the Accuser’s eye than the Intercessor’s. Do you speak dark words over yourself? Are your thoughts about yourself dark?
Do you know He has great hope when He looks at you? When He looks at you in the midst of your struggles, He sees through them to the glory He is producing in you because of them. He sees the gold while it is yet covered in muck, being refined in the fire. He knows the greatness and beauty of the vessel while it is yet a mass of clay. There is a smile in the Potter’s eye as He works!
Or do you think somehow He has hope in His eyes for everyone but you? Not so! He sees where you have come from, the challenges you are facing, and where you are going. He calls forth the little seeds of promise in you long before they are mature.
I love to grow garden plants from seed. I start them indoors before spring arrives because it takes so much time for them to grow. If I want to get three tomato plants, I plant at least twenty seeds because they don’t all make it. So when I see some little sprouts poking their tiny heads through the soil, I’m excited! As I water them every day, I can’t help but sing over them and speak to them, because I am glad they grew some more. Within a month, they are two inches tall; and while they are far from being fruitful vines, I rejoice over them. When I look at a little seedling, I see a full-grown tomato plant. If I, being human, can feel so much pleasure in the process of a seed’s growth, how much more pleasure must our Father in heaven feel over the growth of His children?
When we see ourselves as the God of hope sees us, it becomes a lot easier to also see others as the God of hope sees them. You can’t give what you haven’t received.
Receive God’s perspective of you, and you will be able to give God’s perspective of others.
As a start, just tell Him each day, “I want to see what You see and feel what You feel when You look at me.” You might think it sounds selfish, but it’s essential. It’s about agreeing with God. And pray this concerning others.
I find that when I get cranky I can often trace it back to some agreement with the Accuser in my thoughts. It usually starts with believing an accusation concerning my own heart and the Lord. I think He’s annoyed with me, tired of loving me. Then I feel sure others feel the same way about me. Before long, I feel annoyed with others, tired of being patient.
Sound familiar?
The cure for such a funk is quite simple. We break agreement with the lies. Then we fill our minds with the truth of who God is and what He sees. He’s the God of hope, and He sees the fruit coming forth from our struggle, if we yield to Him in it.
And we pray Romans 15:13 every time our thoughts start sliding downward.
Apostolic Prayers – Ephesians 1 & 3
Paul’s letters contain some of the most powerful prayers in the Bible. The Apostle to the Gentiles left us a record in the New Testament of what he prayed over the churches he interacted with. Together with the New Testament prayers of Peter, John, and other believers, they are known as apostolic prayers. Here at IHOP–KC, we pray them daily.
These prayers are powerful because they draw the heart and mind to the throne room and give courage to walk with Jesus each day. They are positive, focusing our minds on the spiritual qualities we desire to cultivate, rather than on the negative thoughts and attitudes we can so often dwell on. They reflect the skillful and tender care with which Paul labored as a spiritual father over the early believers in Jesus.
Using the apostolic prayers as I talk with God develops my life in the Spirit, matures my walk of obedience, and grounds me in biblical doctrine. It impacts my life to such a degree that I can’t imagine praying without them. They are an incredible gift!
Two of my favorite apostolic prayers are in Ephesians. One focuses on receiving the spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17−18), and the other on being powerfully strengthened by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 3:16). We may pray for a spirit of revelation and actually receive it. However, knowledge is not all we need. We need spiritual strength and determination to take what we know to be true and walk it out. This is why we pray for strength in our inner man as well as for revelation of God’s will.
These two prayers, taken together, are a treasury of grace. As we explore their extensive truths and turn them into our own prayers, we nourish our spirits.
What Paul knew about the believers in the New Testament period is true of us too: we need the transforming truths of both these prayers as we endeavor to be true disciples of Jesus.
I challenge you to pray these prayers daily.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling. (Eph. 1:17−18)
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His spirit in the inner man. (Eph. 3:16)
Wordless Words of God in Bethlehem
As a babe in a manger, He came to tenderize our hearts. The Child has much to speak to lowly hearts, much to convey to hungry souls and any who will heed so tiny a voice. Have we become so familiar with the nativity story that we have relegated it to the narrative we tell our children in the Christmas season? And in so doing, have we neglected the gift of His nearness that the Holy Spirit desires to give to us through it—softening our hearts by it and piercing through our darkened understandings with the light of His nature there revealed?
The One we thought too far and too distant, too aloof and too indifferent to be known now lies before us as a Baby, so accessible. The One who created all things is now so close and approachable, having come to us in the form of a helpless, vulnerable baby. We see who God is in His humility, in His meekness, in His gentleness. As we join the story and kneel with the shepherds to gaze in upon the One in the manger, our hearts and minds are confronted with the truth that this tiny frame before us is the Word of God, God in the flesh, and that He has come near to us for the sake of love. When God the Creator—the Covenant Keeper, and the Redeemer—lies before us in the form of a newborn babe, the effect in our hearts is explosive.
As we kneel beside the shepherds and peer into the cave, our hearts pounding with the weight of the angels’ proclamation, we find Him there with wordless words, speaking so many things: “You thought I was too far and too distant, too aloof and too indifferent to be known. You thought that you were too weak or too broken to be received by Me. But behold, I am here in this dingy cave—I, the One who created all things. I am here so close to you in this cold night, inviting you to come near to Me.”
Our wrong paradigms of the Lord are exposed to the truth of the One we thought was unapproachable who now comes to us in the form of a defenseless baby. And the question must be asked: would we ever fear that a newborn baby might not want us near or think Him to be rejecting us? Would we ever wonder if He would rather another be in His presence instead? No! Without hesitation or the smallest inkling of rejection, we would hold Him fast in love and treasure the honor and beauty of such an opportunity. Babies do not reject another, and who would not rush into the privilege of holding so accessible a human frame? This is what Jesus whispers to us about His nature from of old in the fragile vulnerability of His infancy.
He is as approachable and embraceable as a newborn babe, and His reception of us without rejection is as sure as a receiving infant in one’s arms. Here in Bethlehem’s stable, as we gaze upon the glory of God revealed in His face, He conveys mysteries that have been obscured since the foundations of the world, now revealed in brightest light by the Incarnate Son—mysteries about His humility, His meekness, His mercy. And as we gaze upon Immanuel now with us, our hearts become assured of His unchanging love, His tenderness toward us, and His constant receiving of our love back toward Him.
Even from these first moments of His infancy, our only fitting response is to gaze with trembling tears and let our hearts be washed by wave after wave of so scandalous and glorious a truth—that this One is God, and this is what God is like. As we ponder how close He allows us to come, how He does not shun our presence or shield Himself from our love and worship of Him, our hearts cry out to Him, “Oh, who are we to be so near to You? And yet you desire us to come even nearer in heart and love. O, Christ Child, so tender, You have so many things to tell us and so many truths to convince us of. We wait here before You on this silent night and allow Your wordless speech to pierce our hearts over and over and over again.”
This article is an excerpt from Dana Candler’s book, Mourning for the Bridegroom.
Turning Thoughts into Prayer
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing…”
And how do we do that! First, how do we rejoice always without denying the reality of our struggling emotions? And secondly, how do we pray without ceasing?
Now, we know that God is not excited about the mere vocabulary of praise if it doesn’t flow from the heart (Mt. 15:8-9). Rejoice always cannot mean “Just speak happy words in all circumstances,” for He values what’s going on in the heart more than what’s coming from the lips.
And we know God doesn’t wish that we’d speak only with Him, for we are to edify others with our speech—exhort, teach, encourage, prophesy.
Paul seems to be getting at something deeper. It’s as though he is saying that there is a posture of joy in God that is related to a position of on-going dialogue with Him. Paul expounds on this idea in Philippians 4:6. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (emphases mine).
Through an attitude of gratitude, we turn our cares into prayer.
We pour out our hearts before Him—every hurt, all worries, each struggle! And as we do so, we call to mind who God is and what He does. We perceive and process our struggles in light of His nature, His promises, and His faithfulness.
This is exactly what we find in the Psalms: utter honesty with God and radical trust in Him, so often viewed by moderns as mutually exclusive, are repeatedly brought together to give us the inner portrait of a saint’s soul. One who pretends he has no struggle is no saint, he is simply in denial! But, ah, one who admits struggle, yet sees it as grounds for God’s glory to be seen—there is one who is like Abraham and Moses and David.
So, we take our thoughts and turn them into prayer. And we take God’s thoughts, revealed in His Word, and turn them into prayer. We do not hide our struggles; we speak the words of God into them. Every thought of temptation, be it toward open immorality or some hidden darkness of heart (envy, anger, etc.), can be turned into dialogue with the Lord. We share. We ask Him questions. We listen. We repeat what He says.
We cherish who He is and what He says above all else. His promises are the words we live by. This posture of joy in Him equips us to live in a position of on-going dialogue with Him, a position that is much of how we walk in and with the Spirit, resisting the cravings of darkness that tug at us. We talk with Him! We commune—share thoughts. Our thoughts, His thoughts. And, in time, our thoughts become more like His. Our thoughts become captive to the knowledge of God, and they line up.
There’s a promise that Paul links with such prayer (notice how verse 7 follows verse 6!): “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). Peace is related to our attitude of gratitude that turns cares into prayer.
No matter what storm may be raging around you, or what disappointments may be crashing down upon you, if your life has become an on-going dialogue with the Lord, peace is your portion in Christ. It doesn’t mean you won’t struggle. It doesn’t mean that temptations won’t fly at you or stir within you. But peace will guard you in the onslaught of dark thoughts that would seek to take hold inside you.
The enemy will not find a foothold in you, because you will turn those thoughts into prayer.
Even if there already exists within you some old fortress of the enemy’s making—a stronghold whose roots stem from some past trauma or sin—it will not stay forever, because the new Guard will take over. Turning His thoughts and yours into dialogue with Him will eventually lead you to launch a victorious attack in the name of Christ against that old fortress.
Walking with Christ is a journey. He’s very patient with us. He doesn’t expect us to be perfected immediately. Possessing the land He has been promised (I speak figuratively, of our whole selves, for we are His inheritance as much as He is ours) is a process involving many battles—uprooting old kingdoms and establishing His. He is eager yet steadfast; He leads at just the pace we need for maximum growth.
One thing is for sure: we will not go very far with Him, if we don’t talk to Him along the way—turning our thoughts and His into prayer. And so we “rejoice always; pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17).
Praying from the Psalms
Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. (Ps. 119:18)
God is revealed in His written Word. One of my favorite passages in which God reveals Himself is Psalm 119, a “Psalm of David.” It is a devotion of love for the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, and it overflows with meditations on God’s nature and character. David references the Torah over 170 times, calling it the words, statutes, precepts, judgments, laws, decrees, and ways of God. He continually asks for help to walk according to these precepts and in a manner pleasing to the Lord. From phrases like “I yearn for Your righteous judgments,” “I will delight in Your statutes,” “Your word has given me life,” “I will meditate upon Your precepts,” “I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes,” and “I shall observe it with my whole heart,” it is clear that David had a deep love for God’s Word. He understood that God’s very nature was enclosed in it. Therefore, David meditated upon it day and night (Ps. 119:147, 148).
Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works. (Ps. 119:27)
The Word presents a clear picture of who the Father is, second only to Jesus Himself in human form. The Bible and the incarnated Son of God are the supreme witnesses of God’s person. Sadly, we often neglect time in the Word. Having the Bible at our fingertips without reading it is like having Jesus in the same room without asking Him a single question. Reading and meditating on the Word should be our chief concern.
The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. (Ps. 119:130)
We would do well to marvel at God’s Word. When we pray and meditate on it, we are receiving living understanding of the One that we so desperately long to know and love. The Bible is our delight, because it is God’s method of communication with us. Even the more difficult sections of the Bible contain a wealth of truth that we can find if we take time to wade through it. Timothy says, “all scripture . . . is profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16).
Having a love for the truth of God’s Word will keep us in times of trouble. Now is the time to be sober and vigilant, going deep in the things of God, because we know that seasons of shaking are coming. Meditating on Scripture will prepare our hearts for the hour of trial, and it will instill in us a steely resolve to be faithful while surrounded by faithlessness. It is an invitation to be a friend of the Bridegroom, to hear His voice, and to glory in it.
Oh how I love Your law, it is my meditation all the day. (Ps. 119:97)
Room for God
Recently, I was with someone who had just moved to Kansas City to become part of the house of prayer. Our dialogue took me back to my early days here, when God wooed me into a wilderness. Oh, the blessedly painful days when He removed “other lovers” from me, as He said He would do for Israel in Hosea 2. It was there that I learned to hear His voice—the lover of my soul.
When people move here, they often think they are coming to a spiritual oasis—and in many ways, they are—but at some point along the way they encounter a wilderness. In God’s leading, the wilderness is an invitation to an oasis, a promised land. But when you’re the pilgrim, it’s hard to see that the way to an oasis is through the wilderness. Our capacity to appreciate water is caused by thirst, but who of us recognizes thirst as a gift when we’re in the throes of it? It’s hard to even talk about your heart when you’re in a spiritual wilderness. Friends might misdiagnose it as depression. What’s really going on is detox—and it leads to life.
I think we in America are so full of other comforts that there is almost no room to enjoy God. Sure, we read His Word; we attend church services; we pray. But do we have daily pleasure in Him? Have we ceased long enough from other entertainments—so often useless medications for our hurting souls—to feel the emptiness in ourselves and run to Him? Only in a place of emptiness can we know the pleasure of being filled by Him. But do I “make room” for such encounter? Dare I face the empty spaces in my soul by abstaining from cheap fillers—even for a little bit?
I was inspired by the conversation with my young friend. I needed to be reminded of that space in my soul that I so readily fill with other pleasures, even if they are legitimate—not sinful—pleasures, until there is little space left to hunger and thirst for encounter with God. I live on with less experience of Him, and then wonder why I am not craving Him as much.
The question, then, is how to make room for enjoying God. How do we cultivate hunger for Him? There are specific answers to that question according to each individual’s relationship with God, but this truth applies to all: we must allow our hearts to hunger. There must be regular times when we do not run to our earthly comforts in an attempt to fill an eternal ache. These times must be regular enough to make blows against the idol that every human harbors within—the great “I”—the idea of the self succeeding in its own strength and through its own sustenance. Fasting is for humbling (Ps. 35:13).
We must learn to feel the deep longing and permit ourselves to feel our barrenness, because God loves to respond to spiritual hunger (Ps. 42:7). Perhaps we fast from food for one meal or for one day per week. We can fast from coffee and chocolate or “comfort foods” for half of each week. Perhaps we go without TV or movies for a while. Or, at first, it might be as simple as carving out time each day—even if it’s only for fifteen minutes—when we sit before God, lift our hearts to Him, and let Him love us there in our emptiness.
We should beware that there is a type of fasting that boosts our pride, rather than deflating it: performance fasting. If I fast for man’s recognition or to earn God’s approval, as did the Pharisees, it is fruitless, if not harmful. But fasting unto God is different; it is productive! We do not earn anything by fasting before God. It simply (and powerfully) positions us to receive more from God. It makes more room in us. True, it may appear that fasting causes God to move, but religious acts have never moved Him. Rather, it is the humble heart that moves Him. He draws near to and acts on behalf of the humble! Since true fasting humbles the soul, God moves in response!
God answers the humble. He fills the hungry (Mt. 5:6). Now, don’t expect God’s answer to your hunger to always be what you’d like (immediate satisfaction). The heart doesn’t grow in love or humility very much through instant gratification, when it always gets what it wants right when it wants it! But do believe in surprising moments of grace—perhaps a wave of longing for God, a new understanding of a verse in the Word, the will to forgive someone who has wronged you, the breaking of bondage, or any kind of empowering from the Lord.
There’s no greater pleasure than feeling God in my inner man. Those little moments of receiving something from Him are worth hours of hunger. So worth it. Over weeks, months, and years, these grace-deposits become part of our walk with the Lord, shaping our interior more than we can see. And so we develop hearts in which there is more and more room for God, until He is our all in all, our everything.
The next time Christ comes to the earth, He won’t be pushed aside into a stable, despite the “no room in the inn” nature of the world. He will have a Bride who has made herself ready. He’ll come to those who have room in their hearts. And they will reign with Him forever.
Praying from the Psalms
Perspective. We all need it. Having God’s vision for our lives is vital if we are to walk in faithfulness and diligence. Without proper perspective, we tend to wander and fall short of our godly commitments and objectives. The life we’ve been given by the Lord is a gift. Our breath is precious. Learning to make the most of it requires spiritual wisdom.
If we desire divine perspective, we must pray. Better yet, pray God’s Word. King David had a remarkable understanding of the laws, precepts, and judgments of God, and a passionate love for His ways. Throughout church history, David’s psalms have been sung, prayed, and quoted, and have consistently inspired and encouraged generations of believers.
The early Christians continued the Jewish practice of reciting prayers at certain hours of the day or night, based upon expressions from the Psalms like “evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud”; “at midnight I will rise to give thanks to you”; “seven times a day I praise you” (Ps. 55:17; 119:62, 164). By the Middle Ages, monastic orders had developed devotional prayer hymnals based on the Psalter. To this day, the Liturgy of the Hours of the Catholic Church consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and other Bible readings, and is used daily throughout the seven watches of the day and night.
We gain much divine perspective and wisdom from reading and praying the Psalms. They contain a great wealth of personal prayers and devotional meditations, covering every human emotion and the many challenges of life. The Psalms give inspiration and direction in every season of our lives, from the highs to the lows.
Take verse 4 of Psalm 39: “Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am” (NASB)
How’s that for godly perspective? It may seem depressing to focus on death and how short life on earth is. But however sobering this may be, it is an understanding that David wanted to keep with him. He knew that life was fleeting, a mere shadow and vapor. We are frail beings. David’s prayer was to truly know the extent of his frailty. With a love for truth like David’s, the human spirit can learn wisdom.
Knowing that our bodies will die, it is wise for us to consider the life that we have been given. What are we doing with it? Perspective comes when we see clearly, and we see clearly when we read and absorb God’s Word and pray accordingly. If we do this, we will learn how to approach each day as the gift that it is, and to concentrate on what is important, so that we focus our attention on preparing for eternity with God.
Prayer for the Day
God, teach me to fear You. Teach me to consider my ways, that I might gain a heart of wisdom. Show me how fleeting this life is, and that I was made for more than temporal things. Cause me to consider how short is the measure of my days. With this understanding, grant me grace to live before You rightly with my time, money, energy, and strength. Let me not waste a minute of this life on the passing pleasures of sin that lead to a dull heart. Quicken my spirit to love Your ways, and set me aflame with passion for Your Son. Amen.
