Prayer and Ministry (Part 1) - Praying for People

Have you ever noticed how often Paul talks about praying for other Christians? Specifically, Christians he has ministered to? Col 1:3, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.” Col 1:9, “we have not ceased to pray for you.” 2 Thess 1:11, “we always pray for you.” Phlm 1:4, “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers.” 2 Tim 1:3, “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.”

In Acts 6, the apostles (who, among other things serve as models for pastoral ministry) say they cannot serve the widows – not because the task isn’t important, but because it is not their calling. Instead they said, “we must devote ourselves to the ministry of the word and prayer.” Prayer was integral to their ministry, and should be to ours as well.

C. H. Spurgeon says, “If you are a genuine minister of God you will stand as a priest before the Lord, spiritually wearing the ephod and the breast­plate whereon you bear the names of the children of Israel, pleading for them within the veil…. The preacher who neglects to pray much must be very careless about his ministry. He can­not have comprehended his calling. He cannot have computed the value of a soul, or estimated the meaning of eternity. He must be a mere official, tempted into a pulpit because the piece of bread which belongs to the priest’s office is very necessary to him, or a detestable hypocrite who loves the praise of men, and cares not for the praise of God.... He cannot be one of those who plough deep and reap abundant harvests. He is a mere loiterer, not a labourer. As a preacher he has a name to live and is dead. He limps in his life like the lame man in the Proverbs, whose legs were not equal, for his praying is shorter than his preaching.”

As we consider what Paul says, here we should be struck by the fact that prayer is not easy. If we are serious about prayer, we will soon discover that prayer is work. Prayer involves struggle and tears groaning because of the fallen world in which we live. One of my spiritual heroes is Robert Murray M’Cheyne. He was a pastor in Scotland from 1836-1843, who died shortly before he turned 30 yrs old. He saw true revival and began a missionary movement to the Arabic and Jewish people of Palestine. But more than anything else, M’Cheyne was a man of prayer. He believed that as a pastor, he was responsible for the spiritual condition of all the people in his town. In his biography you can read of him keeping a large plaid blanket by his bed. And on many a cold night, his wife would wake up to find him awake, wrapped up in his blanket, praying for the people in his town. Once she even found him face-down on the floor weeping for them in prayer. She urged to come back to bed, to which he said, “O woman, I have the souls of three thousand to answer for, and I know not how it is with many of them.”

So, how can we do this? Can how we cultivate that kind of passion. First, we have to ask God to give it to us! Such a love for people can only spring from the depths of God’s own love for sinful humanity. Second, and more practically, we simply need to start praying for people. Do not try to become a M’Cheyne over night; start small. The easiest way to do this is by developing some kind of a prayer list. That is, list out the people or events that you want to pray for on a regular basis. Then make some plan to pray for them.

One pastor – Derek Prime – keeps a list of people to pray for on a regular basis and pulls it out right after his devotional time. He writes down a key thought from the passage, and then prays that thought for each of the names he covered that day. So for instance, if you read over 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” You may write down, ‘do not love the world,’ and make that your petition for everyone on your list for that day. You can pray through a couple people or families, mark where you ended and pick it up there the next day. In the end the method is not important. What is important, is finding some way of carving out regular time to spend with God praying for the people of church.

Paul sets the example for us in constantly praying for his brothers and sisters in Christ. Pastors should do the same. The pulpit ministry is vital, but not the totality of our ministry. Did not Jesus pray for us (John 17)? We must devote ourselves to praying for God's work in the lives of his people.

The Basics of Family Worship

Introduction

Today, family worship has all but disappeared. This is surprising considering how widespread a practice it has previously been among Christian families. There is hope, though, with some having a renewed interest in family worship. Here are some brief thoughts about the basics of family worship that will hopefully help someone get off on the right track.


Teach God’s Word


A biblical mandate

God should be worshiped by reading and instruction from His Word. Through questions, answers, and instructions, parents and children are to interact with each other about sacred truth. As Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (cf. Deut. 11:18-19).

The Lord makes it clear the family is to be the center for teaching. The principle here is just as valid today as it was in Moses’ day. As important as the local church is (and it is important!), the best vehicle for children to learn the ways of God is to have it ingrained in them by their parents – every day of their lives. God foresees both structured and unstructured times of teaching. Family worship provides a regular opportunity for structured teaching.

Teaching children is both the responsibility of fathers and mothers. Solomon says, “Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,” (Prov 1:8). And, do you remember young Timothy’s testimony? How did he come to faith in Jesus Christ? Paul recounts for us that it was his mother and grandmother who taught him the Scriptures and led him to Christ: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” (2 Tim 1:5).

Certainly, we want to say that men need to take the initiative and be the leaders God wants them to be. Perhaps even during family worship, it is most appropriate for the fathers to teach. But mothers should not feel as if they have no obligation. If the father is not available to teach, the mothers should take the responsibility. That is exactly what both parents have – a responsibility to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Family worship is a great context to that. We do our children a mis-service if we try to teach them all manner of things (money management, skills in building, cleaning their room, etc), but fail to teach them anything from God’s word, or show them how the others things we are teaching them relate to God’s word.


some practical suggestions

1. Today, the Lord has blessed us with many resources. For some, it may be easy just to sit down with the family and start teaching. But for many of us, it will be difficult to think through an explanation along with illustrations and good, specific application, particularly with younger children. This is where a very good family devotional can help. But don’t just choose one with a pretty cover! Look through it at some key passages, just as you would a commentary or study Bible. Read through a couple lessons and see if what it says is helpful or hokey.

2. Let me also mention catechisms. These are a set of questions and answers that are used to spark meaningful conversation on specific topics. They are not an end in themselves, but a means to an end. Here are a few helpful ones - 1, 2, 3.

3. Also, you want to remove things that could be the cause for distraction. When I was younger, my parents and I used to go over to my grandparents for Bible study on Friday or Saturday nights. One time, I had a can of Minute Maid orange pop, and as I was fooling around with it, I dumped out half the can on my Bible. Needless to say that was the end of anyone’s focus on the Bible study! Think about television, food, toys, computers or phones (cell and landline! Turn the ringer off) – whatever might a distraction for your family and remove it.


Prayer to the Throne of God

a biblical mandate

Several passages in the Bible call us to prayer, showing us both the benefit of prayerfulness and the consequences of prayerlessness. For instance, Jeremiah 10:25 says, “Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name [=do not pray].” Likewise, Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Surely, if we are to pray as a church and as individuals, we should pray as families!

Denise George gives six benefits of praying as a family. She says that praying with your children during times of family worship will teach them to worship God, teach them how to pray, teach them the Bible, teach them moral values, teach them to love others, and teach them how to bond closer together with the rest of the family.

Perhaps one of the strongest examples of praying with children is an inadvertent one. Some of you may know Paige Patterson (former SBC President, seminary President). He tells of his childhood and how he was an ornery little boy, making mischief all the time. He got into trouble one night and his mother said he was going to get a spanking when his dad got home. Dr. Patterson said he went to be early, but he didn’t fall asleep. He heard dad come home and he and mom talking for a long time. We wanted to know what they were talking about, so he slithered out of bed and quietly crawled down the hall. When he got closer, he only heard his mom – dad had gone to bed and she was talking to God in prayer. He heard her weep over him and plead for God to save him. It was a turning point for his life that quickly led to his salvation. If you to teach your kids how to pray, how to grow close to God, how much you love them, then you will pray with them. Only good things can come from it. As Thomas Brooks said, “A family without prayer is like a house without a roof, open and exposed to all the storms of heaven.”


some practical suggestions

1. Let the family prayers follow the pattern of your personal prayer life. Families often commit sins against each other – seek forgiveness together; families experience God’s blessing together – thank God together; parents make decisions that affect the while family, sometimes even individuals make big decisions (e.g. choosing a college) – take them to God together!

2. Tie your prayers to the Bible lesson so it will stick in their minds better.

3. Show the practical implications of the lesson in prayer. Pray for homeless people, or persecuted Christians, then let them see you donate food or money to programs that assist such people

4. Let everyone take a turn praying. Yes, the little ones’ prayer will sound immature, but that’s okay (at least they’re honest!). As they get older and hear you pray more, they will get better.


Singing the Praises of God

a biblical mandate

Psalm 118:15 says, “Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous.” That is a clear reference to singing. The psalmist says this sound is (not simply ought to be) in the tents of the righteous. If you desire to be a family of righteousness, then singing should be a part of your life. Philip Henry, father of the famed Matthew Henry, believed this text provided a biblical basis for the singing of psalms in families. He argued that joyful singing comes from the individual tents of the righteous. It involves family singing as well as temple singing. Therefore, the sound of rejoicing and salvation should rise from family homes on a daily basis.

Singing also promotes devotion as it warms the heart towards God. Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” How are we to do that? By “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:16).

Jesus regularly himself led a kind of family worship with his disciples. He taught them the Scriptures and about their fulfillment in himself. And he sang with them. And even as he was leaving his last meal to go to the cross, Jesus sang with them. Jesus give leads the eleven in the first Lord’s Supper and then we are told, “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matt 26:30).


some practical suggestions

1. Sing the psalms. Not only is it commanded, God is glorified, and families are edified by them.
Because these songs are God’s Word, singing them is a means of instruction, enlightening the understanding.

2. Buy a hymnal or some other song book to help guide you. Use cd’s (here is a great one for kids) or tapes to learn new songs.

3. Vary the kinds of music you sing. Sing songs the younger children know, as well as the older kids and you parents; in the process, learn each others songs.

4. Pick good songs. Don’t just go with whatever is popular or liked – test the lyrics. The lyrics can be just as much a teaching opportunity as anything else.

5. If your children can play an instrument, let them accompany you. It will make them feel more of a part of the worship event.


Conclusion

Our families owe their allegiance to God. God has placed parents in a position of authority to guide our children in the way of the Lord. We are to be more than friends to our children. We are to be teachers and leaders in the home, setting a godly example. Clothed with holy authority, we owe to our children prophetical teaching, priestly intercession, and royal guidance. We must direct family worship by way of Scripture, prayer, and song.

for more resources on family worship, check out this list.

Dr. Mohler Update

Earlier, I posted a request for prayer for Dr. Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Complications from surgery put him in the intensive care unit. Now several sites are reporting that Dr. Mohler is doing better and is out of intensive care. After visiting him, Russ Moore makes the comment:

"He has a stack of books and articles in his bed along with a massive number of highlighters," Moore said, "so the Albert Mohler I know is back."

That's why we love him! Thanks for your prayers - continue to pray for him while he's in recovery.

Suffering, Sovereignty, and the Beauty of God's Glory and Grace

My freshman year in college, my ‘theological worldview’ was dashed on the rocks. I had been raised in a good, conservative church, but had never heard anything that approached the Reformed position on God’s sovereignty. But in my very first Bible class, there it was – a lecture on doctrine of election. To my knowledge, I had never heard a sermon on the subject before, let alone having thought about it on my own for any length of time. This was, of course, the window to many other questions about God, salvation, and humanity’s freedom and responsibility.

In the midst of wrestling through the extent of God’s sovereignty, I was forced to contemplate something else – the problem of evil. My first real, thoughtful confrontation of the problem of evil came in the form of my college roommate. Initially, God slipped this living lesson under my radar. We met for the first time as freshmen in college. We had not known each before and had been placed together, seemingly at random, by the college administration. At the time I had no idea that God had providentially provided for me both a best friend and a powerful lesson in the problem of evil.

Shortly after Jason (my roommate) and I met for the first time, his mother revealed to me something special about Jason; something I had not yet noticed. She shared with me that he was grateful that I had picked the top bunk because he had problems with his hips. As time went on, I learned that Jason had a degenerative disease that caused the ball-and-socket joint in both his hips to become rough. This in turn caused the cartilage in those joints to be worn away so that when he walked, his bones pressed against each other. He had been diagnosed with this when he was only eight years old. Since his diagnosis, he had had a brace put on this legs when he was eight, had surgery when he was ten, and then spent three months in a body-cast the following summer. As a result of the surgery, Jason’s hips had been fused and his mobility had been greatly reduced. He constantly had to tolerate walking with a limp, having difficulty keeping his balance, and not being able to ride a bike or engage in any other activity that forced him to spread his legs out farther apart than the width of his waist. Since his operation, Jason had never been able to even cross his legs – something I took for granted numerous times a day.

It may sound odd, but at first this did not bother me. This natural evil was not a ‘problem’ for me.’ But when the time was right, God opened my eyes and Jason’s condition hit me like a ton of theological bricks. All of this came in the larger context of the development of my larger doctrinal categories. I was slowly coming to believe that a more Reformed understanding of the Scriptures was the correct one. And it was the winter quarter of my sophomore year that God really began to drive this home to me.

The college I attended had chapel everyday, Monday through Friday. My roommate and I usually sat together in chapel and one Monday the school had invited a group from Michigan to speak. This group came from a home for the mentally handicapped. Before the actual speaker shared his message about what God was doing at this home, some of the home’s residents gave their testimonies and performed a song with hand-bells. The song they performed was virtually flawless and the testimonies were more than we were prepared for. As we sat together admiring their hand-bell performance, they began giving their testimonies. They were powerful in their simplicity. Basically, every person gave the same testimony: they would approach the microphone, and in a voice that was distorted from their handicap proclaimed ‘I’m saved.’ At first, this was almost humorous, but after the third person the message came home to us. Despite the mental difficulties that these men and women suffered from, God had worked a miracle of grace in their hearts and saved them from their sins. By the end of the chapel service, both my roommate and I were weeping in joyous amazement.

How does this relate to the problem of evil? It did not relate in my mind until Jason and I began to talk about it. We began talking about how we had been moved by the service and how salvation was truly amazing. But then, the conversation turned to the question of why God allowed them and others like them to be born with mental handicaps. At first, I sat back feeling very pious and proclaimed that God did not purposely cause these people to suffer this disability. It was simply an outworking of the sin-affected nature. This had arisen from the corrupt natural order of the world. I said that anything less would make God the author of sin and suffering. Such things did not happen because God specifically wanted them to happen. Rather, he allowed them to happen as part of the natural order of his creation. I believed that anything more would make God evil.

At this point, Jason got a little upset and pressed me on my ‘pious’ position with his own personal struggle – ‘Are you saying that my hips are like this for no reason? That God did not have a purpose behind this?’ I honestly did not know what to say. My first thought was to say ‘yes.’ Why would God cause Jason to suffer like that? How could God want someone to go through that? I did not say this to Jason, though. Instead, I just muttered something like ‘I don’t know’ and retreated from the front-line of the discussion.

Jason’s questions haunted my thoughts for weeks after our conversation. The same questioned rolled thoughts my mind: Could God have ordained that Jason suffer with his hip disease? Why would he do that? After prayerful meditation on the subject and a searching of the Scriptures, I arrived at a solution that not only seemed to fit the Biblical text, and my budding Reformed theology, but also gave me a quiet confidence in the goodness of my God. This solution became crystallized in my thinking because of one passage in John 9. There, the apostle relates an incident of Jesus healing a man who was blind from birth (9:1). His disciples asked a similar question that Jason had posed to me. ‘Why was he born this way?’ Jesus’ answer to his disciples was became my answer to Jason. Jesus said, “…it was so the works of God might be displayed in him” (9:3). This was answer that I was looking for. At first, it may not have seemed like the most comfortable answer, but I believed it was the most biblical answer.

After months of reflection, I gave Jason an answer to the question he had posed to me. I told him that I believed God did indeed want him to have that degenerative hip disease. I also told him I believed that God had given it to him for a reason. And though he may never know the reason, God did. God would use Jason and the problems he went through so that He might display His works through him. And at the end of the day, God would accomplish good and be glorified through it.

Since that time, Jason’s continued, solid faith in God, despite his suffering, has spoken volumes to me over our many years of friendship. He has strengthened my own faith and has been a constant source of encouragement for me in my own times of trials and suffering. Jason’s total faith in the goodness of God even in the midst of suffering was evident at his senior recital for his degree in Music. After having sung various pieces to demonstrate his skill, he ended with a hymn – It is Well with My Soul. I found myself again weeping as I did before. But this time, I was weeping for a different reason. Jason had let God do the work he wanted in his life. And despite the pain it sometimes brought, Jason was confident that it was best for his life and the lives of those who knew him. The grace and glory of God in the midst of suffering was truly a beautiful thing.


[Others have come to the same conclusions I have come to abotu these issues. Perhaps the most powerful testimony is that of Steve Saint , which can be found here.]

Resource for Bible Reading

This year my wife and I committed to read through the entire Bible together. We talked about this late in 2006 and I began looking for something that would help keep us going. In my internet wanderings, I stumbled across something our good friends at Crossway Books produced. It's called the ESV Daily Reading Bible. Unlike other daily reading Bibles, the text is not shuffled around. It's a regular Bible, but with a couple added features to help you maintain a consistent reading time. First, it has a reading program designed to take you through the Old Testmant once and the New Testmant and Psalms twice (through three daily readings). However, the design of the Bible allows for less ambitious reading plans. Three ribbon markers help keep track of the various readings. And marginal indicators tell you what the day's readings should be. My wife even says she likes the color of the cover!

Jesus said "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32). Few things could be more important than a consistent reading of God's word. Because of its perfection, trustworthiness, righteousness, pureness, eternal endurance, because of its ability to revive the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, and warn of sin, we should treasure God's word more than any perishable wealth (Ps 19:7-11).

This ESV daily reading Bible can help you stay close to God by keeping close to his Word.

Pray for Dr. Albert Mohler of SBTS

Dr. Mohler has undergone treatment for some health problems recently. Today, we found out that he is not doing well and is in intensive care at a hospital in Louisville, KY. Updates can be found at www.sbts.edu

Dr. Mohler is, of course, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He is near and dear to my heart as an alumnus, as I am sure he is loved by the current students. Dr. Mohler is a model of Christian godliness, an incredible theologian and church leader, and a loving husband and father.

Please pray that the Lord gives him a swift recovery.

Resolved ... in the New Year

So, are you still keeping your New Year’s Resolution(s)? Did you make any? Some Christians speak ill of making resolutions. But I don’t see all that much that is wrong with them. In fact, whenever New Years comes around, I cannot help but think of Paul’s words in Ephesians:

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Eph 5:15-16 ESV)

In his commentary on this passage Matthew Henry says, “Time is a talent given us by God, and it is misspent and lost when not employed according to his design. If we have lost our time heretofore, we must double our diligence for the future.” Isn’t this the very nature of a New Year’s resolution? To identify those areas of our life that we are not doing well in and resolve to do better in the coming year? As Christians, to do this for the glory of God?

Of course, the key to making resolutions is to make them and then work at keeping them. Many make great goals, but fail to make plans on how to get there.

Perhaps the greatest example to Christians on making resolutions was Jonathan Edwards. He made a series of resolutions at a young age, and then looked at the list everyday as a reminder of how he had resolved to live. Here is sample of some of his challenging resolutions:

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.

7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

14. Resolved, never to do any thing out of revenge.

43. Resolved, never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God’s.

48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of.

Even if you missed January 1 as your start date, think about making a resolution for the coming year. As you think about how God desires you to live, ask yourself ‘what areas of my life need work?’ Then make a plan, involving at the very least a reminder of your goal, Scripture reading, and prayer for God’s help to see your goal met. Sanctification is more than good planning, but it is not less than good planning. Holiness doesn’t happen by accident, you need a plan. So make one for the coming year – for your good and God’s glory.

Christmas Cheer and the Early Church

My kids are some of the luckiest in the world (okay, most providentially blessed!). They have all but one of their great-grandparents still living, they have numerous aunts and uncles and cousins and great-everythings. This means Christmas is a present blow-out! Toys, clothes, giftcards - you name, they get it.

With all of this in mind, then, it made me pretty frustrated when at one family visit, my oldest son (5 yrs old) cried out, "but I don't have enough presents!" He had opened his gifts faster than his sister and younger brother, and it seemed they were getting more than him. After trying to remind him how fortunate he was compared to so many other kids in the world, I began to reflect on the ingratitude and selfishness most of us adults show in our lives. Getting ready to preach through Acts, I was thinking about this in light of what Luke tells us about the early church:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 ESV)

“All things in common” – isn’t amazing how far we have come in the last 2000 years! Where along the way did we lose such Spirit-led living? While I have observed first-hand how other Christians around the world seem to live much closer to this, the Church in the western world has a lot to learn. We are often far more concerned with comfort than sacrifice, I think. And yet what is surely a picture of God’s design for his people sees them living in loving unity, willingly giving from what God has given them to ensure their brothers and sisters in Christ have all that they need.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so hard on my son? After all, it seems that he was just following the example he has seen from those around him. Maybe this year I can give him a better one to follow.