A sermon in rap form
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Prayerless praying
This is from a book I'm reading, called "Purpose in Prayer," by E.M. Bounds. I know its long (I think its about 4 pages of this book). But I think he has a really good point. After reading this, I would say almost all I have ever known how to do is prayerless praying. I rarely truly pray, and that scares me and makes me sad. But you should read what this guy says, it's good stuff.
"There are no possibilities, no necessity for prayerless praying, a heartless performance, a senseless routine, a dead habit, a hasty, careless performance-it justifies nothing. Prayerless praying has no life, gives no life, is dead, breathes our death. Not a battle-axe but a child's toy, for play not for service. Prayerless praying does not come up to the importance and aims of a recreation. Prayerless praying is only a weight, an impediment in the hour of struggle, of intense conflict, a call to retreat int he moment of battle and victory."
"There is nothing that will preserve the life of prayer; its vigour, sweetness obligations, seriousness and value, so much as a deep conviction that prayer is an approach to God, a pleading with God, and asking of God. Reality will then be in it; reverence will then be in the attitude, in the place, and in the air. Faith will draw, kindle and open. Formality and deadness cannot live in this high and all-serious home of the soul.
"Prayerless praying lacks the essential element of true praying; it is not based on desire, and is devoid of earnestness and faith. Desire burdens the chariot of prayer, and faith drives its wheels. Prayerless praying has no burden, because no sense of need; no ardency, because none of the vision, strength, or glow of faith. No mighty pressure to prayer, no holding on to God with the deathless, despairing grasp, 'I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me.' No utter self-abandon, lost in the throes of a desperate, pertinacious, and consuming plea: 'Yet now if Thou wilt forgive their sin-if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book;' or, 'Give me Scotland, or I die.' Prayerless praying stakes nothing on the issue, for it has nothing to stake. It comes from empty hands, indeed, but they are listless hands as well as empty. They have never learned the lesson of empty hands clinging to the cross; this lesson to them has no form nor comeliness.
"Prayerless praying has no heart in its praying. The lack of heart deprives praying of its reality, and makes it an empty and unfit vessel. Heart, soul, life must be in our praying; the heavens must feel the force of our crying, and must be brought into oppressed sympathy for our bitter and needy state. A need that oppresses us, and has no relief but in our crying to God, must voice our praying.
"Prayerless praying is insincere. It has no honesty at heart. We name in words what we do not want in heart. Our prayers give formal utterance to the things for which our hearts are not only not hungry, but for which they really have no taste. We once heard an eminent and saintly preacher, now in heaven, come abruptly and sharply on a congregation that had just risen from prayer, with the question and statement, 'What did you pray for? If God should take hold of you and shake you, and demand what you prayed for, you could not tell Him to save your life what the prayer was that has just died from your lips.' So it always is, prayerless praying has neither memory nor heart. A mere form, a heterogeneous mass, an insipid compound, a mixture thrown together of sound and to fill up, but with neither heart nor aim, is prayerless praying. A dry routine, a dreary drudge, a dull and heavy task is this prayerless praying.
" But prayerless praying is much worse than either task or drudge, it divorces praying from living; it utters its words against the world, but with heart and life runs into the world; it prays for humility, but nurtures pride; prays for self-denial, while indulging the flesh. Nothing exceeds in gracious results true praying, but better not to pray at all than to pray prayerless prayers, for they are but sinning, and the worst of sinning is to sin on our knees.
"The prayer habit is a good habit, but praying by dint of habit only is a very bad habit. This kind of praying is not conditioned after God's order, nor generated by God's power. It is not only a waste, a perversion, and a delusion, but it is a prolific source of unbelief. Prayerless praying gets no results. God is not reached, self is not helped. It is better not to pray at all than to secure no results from praying. Better for the one who prays, better for others. Men hear of the prodigious results which are to be secured by prayer: the matchless good promised in God's Word to prayer. These keen-eyed worldlings or timid little faith ones mark the great discrepancy between the results promised and the results realised, and are led necessarily to doubt the truth and worth of that which is so big in promise and so beggarly in results. Religion and God are dishonoured, doubt and unbelief are strengthened by much asking and no getting.
"In contrast to this, what a mighty force prayerful praying is. Real prayer helps God and man. God's Kingdom is advanced by it. The greatest good comes to man by it. Prayer can do anything that God can do. The pity is that we do not believe this as we ought, and we do not put it to the test."
"There are no possibilities, no necessity for prayerless praying, a heartless performance, a senseless routine, a dead habit, a hasty, careless performance-it justifies nothing. Prayerless praying has no life, gives no life, is dead, breathes our death. Not a battle-axe but a child's toy, for play not for service. Prayerless praying does not come up to the importance and aims of a recreation. Prayerless praying is only a weight, an impediment in the hour of struggle, of intense conflict, a call to retreat int he moment of battle and victory."
"There is nothing that will preserve the life of prayer; its vigour, sweetness obligations, seriousness and value, so much as a deep conviction that prayer is an approach to God, a pleading with God, and asking of God. Reality will then be in it; reverence will then be in the attitude, in the place, and in the air. Faith will draw, kindle and open. Formality and deadness cannot live in this high and all-serious home of the soul.
"Prayerless praying lacks the essential element of true praying; it is not based on desire, and is devoid of earnestness and faith. Desire burdens the chariot of prayer, and faith drives its wheels. Prayerless praying has no burden, because no sense of need; no ardency, because none of the vision, strength, or glow of faith. No mighty pressure to prayer, no holding on to God with the deathless, despairing grasp, 'I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me.' No utter self-abandon, lost in the throes of a desperate, pertinacious, and consuming plea: 'Yet now if Thou wilt forgive their sin-if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book;' or, 'Give me Scotland, or I die.' Prayerless praying stakes nothing on the issue, for it has nothing to stake. It comes from empty hands, indeed, but they are listless hands as well as empty. They have never learned the lesson of empty hands clinging to the cross; this lesson to them has no form nor comeliness.
"Prayerless praying has no heart in its praying. The lack of heart deprives praying of its reality, and makes it an empty and unfit vessel. Heart, soul, life must be in our praying; the heavens must feel the force of our crying, and must be brought into oppressed sympathy for our bitter and needy state. A need that oppresses us, and has no relief but in our crying to God, must voice our praying.
"Prayerless praying is insincere. It has no honesty at heart. We name in words what we do not want in heart. Our prayers give formal utterance to the things for which our hearts are not only not hungry, but for which they really have no taste. We once heard an eminent and saintly preacher, now in heaven, come abruptly and sharply on a congregation that had just risen from prayer, with the question and statement, 'What did you pray for? If God should take hold of you and shake you, and demand what you prayed for, you could not tell Him to save your life what the prayer was that has just died from your lips.' So it always is, prayerless praying has neither memory nor heart. A mere form, a heterogeneous mass, an insipid compound, a mixture thrown together of sound and to fill up, but with neither heart nor aim, is prayerless praying. A dry routine, a dreary drudge, a dull and heavy task is this prayerless praying.
" But prayerless praying is much worse than either task or drudge, it divorces praying from living; it utters its words against the world, but with heart and life runs into the world; it prays for humility, but nurtures pride; prays for self-denial, while indulging the flesh. Nothing exceeds in gracious results true praying, but better not to pray at all than to pray prayerless prayers, for they are but sinning, and the worst of sinning is to sin on our knees.
"The prayer habit is a good habit, but praying by dint of habit only is a very bad habit. This kind of praying is not conditioned after God's order, nor generated by God's power. It is not only a waste, a perversion, and a delusion, but it is a prolific source of unbelief. Prayerless praying gets no results. God is not reached, self is not helped. It is better not to pray at all than to secure no results from praying. Better for the one who prays, better for others. Men hear of the prodigious results which are to be secured by prayer: the matchless good promised in God's Word to prayer. These keen-eyed worldlings or timid little faith ones mark the great discrepancy between the results promised and the results realised, and are led necessarily to doubt the truth and worth of that which is so big in promise and so beggarly in results. Religion and God are dishonoured, doubt and unbelief are strengthened by much asking and no getting.
"In contrast to this, what a mighty force prayerful praying is. Real prayer helps God and man. God's Kingdom is advanced by it. The greatest good comes to man by it. Prayer can do anything that God can do. The pity is that we do not believe this as we ought, and we do not put it to the test."
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Being like Christ
So I was reading through my old journals this weeks, and thought this was cool:
Colossians 1:24 says, "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's affliction, for the sake of his body, which is the church." I think God showed me something new from this verse about suffering. I have been told a thousand times, from pastors, friends, and the Bible itself, to rejoice in sufferings because they bring us closer to Christ and make us more like him by bringing perseverance, character, hope, etc. All of that is true, but I think there is another side to it.
Paul says he fills up in his flesh that which is lacking... in other words, the sufferings of Christ. Basically, we are called to be like Christ. Well, Christ suffered. So in order to be like him, we must also suffer. I don't think it's just that our sufferings bring us things that make us like Christ such as faith and hope (which they also do), but suffering itself makes us like Christ. No wonder the apostles rejoiced because "they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." (Acts 5:41) What an honor it is to follow in Christ's footsteps and suffer because he did.
Colossians 1:24 says, "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's affliction, for the sake of his body, which is the church." I think God showed me something new from this verse about suffering. I have been told a thousand times, from pastors, friends, and the Bible itself, to rejoice in sufferings because they bring us closer to Christ and make us more like him by bringing perseverance, character, hope, etc. All of that is true, but I think there is another side to it.
Paul says he fills up in his flesh that which is lacking... in other words, the sufferings of Christ. Basically, we are called to be like Christ. Well, Christ suffered. So in order to be like him, we must also suffer. I don't think it's just that our sufferings bring us things that make us like Christ such as faith and hope (which they also do), but suffering itself makes us like Christ. No wonder the apostles rejoiced because "they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." (Acts 5:41) What an honor it is to follow in Christ's footsteps and suffer because he did.
Monday, August 17, 2009
I can't restrict God
God is so good to continually set up chances for us to see him, to know him more and to grow to trust him. This weekend, God gently and mightily showed me and taught me more about himself.
We had the Parker Outreach this weekend and I definitely felt very uneasy about what would come of it. I felt God really put on my heart a vision to encourage Prairie View and to spur them on. Although the majority of the church consists of older, married couples with far greater responsibilities in life and are probably all far more mature than myself, I felt like God really wanted me to go and to bring others to add a little fuel to the fire they already had burning.
I was expecting more people to come. Plans switched from 20, to 12 and then we ended up with 8 on the first night. It was a busy weekend, and I know a lot was going on in Fort Collins with school starting in just a week, so maybe I should have been expecting a smaller group, but my thought was, "God, you gave me this vision, and I've made plans to accomplish this vision, if you gave me this task, why won't you provide what I need to do this?" Well, I'm sure you can see from this what God taught me this weekend.
God did so much more than I have time to record in this blog. He encouraged me and showed me how he takes just a few fish and loaves of bread, and does glorious things with it. Several times people tried to encourage me, trying to relate all of this to what God had Gideon trust him with, but my heart was hard to see the truth and to take my eyes off what I wanted, what I planned. This morning I realized this- God is not restricted by my plans. God accomplished what He had planned, and I stand in awe of him.
One more thing I praise God for and hope to encourage all of you with.
I love how God stuck with me through it all. I went out Thursday night and poured out my heart to him, shedding really painful tears. I felt so alone, and without much fellowship in Parker, I was. I was so fearful that the weekend would be a total bust and afraid that all the effort would go to waste and in the end I would look like a fool for even trying such a thing. With everything God totally knew my sorrow. I know he even wept with me (John 11:35). I experienced the truth of Psalm 34:17
"The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles"
Continue to pray for Prairie View. They continue to face many trials, but pray for their joy! Pray that they would celebrate their salvation and that their names are written in the book of life. Pray that people would come to Prairie View and draw close to God and fall head over heals in love with Him.
I love you all, I look forward to seeing you.
We had the Parker Outreach this weekend and I definitely felt very uneasy about what would come of it. I felt God really put on my heart a vision to encourage Prairie View and to spur them on. Although the majority of the church consists of older, married couples with far greater responsibilities in life and are probably all far more mature than myself, I felt like God really wanted me to go and to bring others to add a little fuel to the fire they already had burning.
I was expecting more people to come. Plans switched from 20, to 12 and then we ended up with 8 on the first night. It was a busy weekend, and I know a lot was going on in Fort Collins with school starting in just a week, so maybe I should have been expecting a smaller group, but my thought was, "God, you gave me this vision, and I've made plans to accomplish this vision, if you gave me this task, why won't you provide what I need to do this?" Well, I'm sure you can see from this what God taught me this weekend.
God did so much more than I have time to record in this blog. He encouraged me and showed me how he takes just a few fish and loaves of bread, and does glorious things with it. Several times people tried to encourage me, trying to relate all of this to what God had Gideon trust him with, but my heart was hard to see the truth and to take my eyes off what I wanted, what I planned. This morning I realized this- God is not restricted by my plans. God accomplished what He had planned, and I stand in awe of him.
One more thing I praise God for and hope to encourage all of you with.
I love how God stuck with me through it all. I went out Thursday night and poured out my heart to him, shedding really painful tears. I felt so alone, and without much fellowship in Parker, I was. I was so fearful that the weekend would be a total bust and afraid that all the effort would go to waste and in the end I would look like a fool for even trying such a thing. With everything God totally knew my sorrow. I know he even wept with me (John 11:35). I experienced the truth of Psalm 34:17
"The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles"
Continue to pray for Prairie View. They continue to face many trials, but pray for their joy! Pray that they would celebrate their salvation and that their names are written in the book of life. Pray that people would come to Prairie View and draw close to God and fall head over heals in love with Him.
I love you all, I look forward to seeing you.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
So fun
I like the fishes on the left. You can click on them to feed them and they follow the cursor around. It's fun...that is all
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Live for righteousness
I'm struggling to get very far in my bible lately. 1 Peter has me hooked. For days now, I have been stuck in the first two chapters, feeling like God is teaching me the same lesson over and over and over, and still every time I'm left ecstatic and desiring change in my life.
I sent out a text with the verse:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1Peter 1:3-5
With this God was reminding me, "Philip, I won't let you go, ever, and you can't do anything to lose this new life I gave you". When God speaks, He is powerful, so there is no point in resisting it.
Then, since I got that- I'm saved and God will keep it that way- He told me what was next.
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:14-16
Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. -1 Peter 1:17(b)-19
I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul- 1 Peter 2:11
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness- 1 Peter 2:24
Over and over and over. Don't sin, don't sin, don't sin- Make War (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4lwYRUwDRM)! Live for righteousness. Not that this is what saves me. No, don't ever mix it up, or you risk turning into a religious pharisee (see my side thought on this). But a key word in verse 13 explains it all. Before urging Christians to live holy lives, he talks about the amazing gift of salvation God gave us, the inexpressible and glorious joy He gave us, something even the angels long to see and understand. Amazing, and it must be understood before the next thought. Then the connecting word "Therefore". So the thought is, in view of all that God gave to you and what he did for you- be holy, reject sin! Not because that is what good religious people do, but that is really the only sound response in light of all that God does. Does this make sense? It is the idea of regeneration- which I don't want to get into, this blog is already way too long, but it gets me fired up and God is reminding me (and hopefully you as well now) what my motivations must be. Live a holy life because of Him, not to play church.
It all starts with God, not us. He loved us first, so now we love him. He showed us mercy, so we show mercy. He took a completely unjustified beating on the cross, so we bear up under unjust punishment. He is holy, so we also live as holy.
Side thought: Here is a scary statistic
"Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical"."- http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html
Why are there so many Christan women getting abortions? Here is my thought- obviously it isn't true for every case, but this is how I make sense of it. People so desperately want to look like a "good christian", so if they get pregnant before marriage, they are caught with a big sin. Oh no! They will loose their image! Everybody knows that sex outside of marriage is a sin, but God forbid that anybody ever be caught in their sin! Abortion is a way to cover it up. To keep their image as a good christian that never screws up, never gets in trouble. What gets pushed over and over (not even on the pulpit, but just by the culture, by you and me) is "follow these rules, and you'll be okay" instead of remembering God's grace and the response that it should cause in us. Religion- as the word is used today- FAILS. God doesn't like it, he doesn't honor it, and we can see that the result is that people don't really live any differently than an atheist. We must remember the first half of 1 Peter 1 before we start pushing the second half. Lets show mercy and grace towards each other when we stumble, instead of putting such great fear in each other that we have to hide our sins. How many children would still be alive today if we weren't so religious?
I sent out a text with the verse:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1Peter 1:3-5
With this God was reminding me, "Philip, I won't let you go, ever, and you can't do anything to lose this new life I gave you". When God speaks, He is powerful, so there is no point in resisting it.
Then, since I got that- I'm saved and God will keep it that way- He told me what was next.
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:14-16
Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. -1 Peter 1:17(b)-19
I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul- 1 Peter 2:11
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness- 1 Peter 2:24
Over and over and over. Don't sin, don't sin, don't sin- Make War (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4lwYRUwDRM)! Live for righteousness. Not that this is what saves me. No, don't ever mix it up, or you risk turning into a religious pharisee (see my side thought on this). But a key word in verse 13 explains it all. Before urging Christians to live holy lives, he talks about the amazing gift of salvation God gave us, the inexpressible and glorious joy He gave us, something even the angels long to see and understand. Amazing, and it must be understood before the next thought. Then the connecting word "Therefore". So the thought is, in view of all that God gave to you and what he did for you- be holy, reject sin! Not because that is what good religious people do, but that is really the only sound response in light of all that God does. Does this make sense? It is the idea of regeneration- which I don't want to get into, this blog is already way too long, but it gets me fired up and God is reminding me (and hopefully you as well now) what my motivations must be. Live a holy life because of Him, not to play church.
It all starts with God, not us. He loved us first, so now we love him. He showed us mercy, so we show mercy. He took a completely unjustified beating on the cross, so we bear up under unjust punishment. He is holy, so we also live as holy.
Side thought: Here is a scary statistic
"Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical"."- http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html
Why are there so many Christan women getting abortions? Here is my thought- obviously it isn't true for every case, but this is how I make sense of it. People so desperately want to look like a "good christian", so if they get pregnant before marriage, they are caught with a big sin. Oh no! They will loose their image! Everybody knows that sex outside of marriage is a sin, but God forbid that anybody ever be caught in their sin! Abortion is a way to cover it up. To keep their image as a good christian that never screws up, never gets in trouble. What gets pushed over and over (not even on the pulpit, but just by the culture, by you and me) is "follow these rules, and you'll be okay" instead of remembering God's grace and the response that it should cause in us. Religion- as the word is used today- FAILS. God doesn't like it, he doesn't honor it, and we can see that the result is that people don't really live any differently than an atheist. We must remember the first half of 1 Peter 1 before we start pushing the second half. Lets show mercy and grace towards each other when we stumble, instead of putting such great fear in each other that we have to hide our sins. How many children would still be alive today if we weren't so religious?
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