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Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. Romans 12:12 (NLT)
“I hope”
Two little words ripe with expectation and emotion.
“I hope the car starts this morning.”
“I hope the doctor calls with good news.”
“I hope the job offer comes through.”
“I hope the bank accepts our offer.”
“I hope my son/daughter grows up to love God.”
“I hope [fill in your own words here.]”
The inherent problem with hope in the physical realm is that it almost always involves something in the present, in what we can see, hear or touch. Often times ‘hope’ is focused on the results of some action we’ve taken or tried to take in order to make our lives more complete, more whole, more comfortable.
But hope built on earthly standards is often subject to the whims of others. But in God’s economy hope isn’t about this world, it’s about eternity. Too often it’s easy to build our hopes for today on our own ability to accomplish something. We look to our past experiences to build future hope. That’s all fine and well if our past is squeaky clean, but for those of us who have a past littered with broken relationships and missed opportunities, building a hope for the future on the efforts of our past is risky at best.
“I hope the grades I got in school get me into the college I choose.”
“I hope the boss looks at my work record when he considers that promotion.
As a believer in Jesus Christ our hope is on the past, but not our past. Our hope is built on the past work of Jesus on the cross and the empty tomb. Our hope is built on spiritual position in Christ and not our ability to live up to someone else’s standards.
When our hope is built on what Jesus can do for us and with eternity in view it makes the troubles of this world pale. It’s the hope of our future, not the regrets of the past or the fears of today that give us joy and patience. It’s our walk with God built on study, fellowship and prayer that empowers us to forge ahead when the battle seems too big for us to handle.
Leave your past mistakes at the foot of the cross. Seek divine power to put your focus on the hope of our future with Christ. Let his word so richly dwell within you that you are able to withstand the attacks the enemy throws your way. Hopelessness comes from focusing on the past and present. Hope comes as we focus on eternal values and goals.
PRAYER: Father God, my past seeks to cripple me. The present tries to wrap me in worry and fear. Empower me by your Spirit to set my focus on a future with you. Give me patience to endure and wisdom to know how to pray as I forge ahead on this journey. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. James 5:13 (NLT)
The words of an old hymn:
The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide, A Shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide, A Shelter in the time of storm.
The words speak of comfort; of protection from life; of security and hope. For every person that calls Jesus Christ their Savior and Lord these words offer us the promise that regardless of how bad things go in our lives, we have a place where we can go to have our needs met.
Imagine climbing a mountain trail. Suddenly a violent storm encloses you. In the distance you see a large hole in a rock wall that is big enough for you to ‘hide’ in. You run to the rock and watch the storm crash around you. The thing that once brought fear (the storm) no becomes a source of awe as you see God’s power unleashed in nature.
Each of us has encountered storms in life. Perhaps you are going through one now. The storm of having a spouse that doesn’t believe in Jesus; a child who is in rebellion; financial pressure; unemployment; health issues or the inner struggle to forgive and let go of bitterness. Prayer should be that rock in which we hide from the storms that surround us.
When people encounter the storms of life they tend to seek advice from others, look for ways of escaping the pain or blame other people for the problem. They’ll try new relationships, new ‘adventures’, different jobs or circles of friends. But those are only temporary fixes. Some will seek books or counselors or even conferences to help weather the storm. But even though these may help, the most powerful thing we can do is pray.
Those of us who call ourselves Christ-followers know that. Some of us even preach that. But do we pray? Talking about prayer may give us some emotional satisfaction.Readingabout prayer may give us insightful information. Going to prayer conferences and ‘prayer houses’ may allow us to see awesome acts of God. But for change in our own life, pray.
Prayer. It’s the most powerful weapon we own as believers. It takes no training to learn its use. It can be done by the youngest and newest believer or by the ‘veteran believer’ steeped in years of experience.
I often have people ask me to pray for them. Sometimes they will say things like, “God listens to you” or “I can’t pray as good as you can.” Prayer isn’t graded. God doesn’t ‘listen’ more to a pastor than he does anyone else. The power of prayer comes from practice and persistence and the presence of the Holy Spirit, not from knowledge.
Prayer. It’s our shelter in the time of storm.
PRAYER: Father I thank you for the shelter you have given me in the midst of the storm. Forgive me for talking about prayer and talking to other people. Help me remember that coming to you is the best weapon I have against the storms I’ll face today. Amen.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16
A young mom sits alone in the waiting room, waiting for the doctor’s report. Her husband is 1,000’s of miles away. She’s alone. She’s scared. She’s worried for her baby. She earnestly pleads to her Lord Jesus for healing. Moments later the doctor enters. The look on his face tells her the answer. She breaks down in tears as he gently explains the baby’s last moments of life on earth.
A dad tucks in his young children. He looks at the clock. “Where is she tonight? Why hasn’t she called? She promised this wouldn’t happen again. How can she do this to her kids, to me?” He goes to the living room and kneels by the couch and prays, once again, for her. Her unfaithfulness to him hurts, but her unfaithfulness to the kids and to Jesus hurts even more. Earnestly he prays for her safety and for her deliverance. Hours later she comes home drunk, and it’s obvious she’s been in another man’s arms, again.
Pastor Smith listens for the clock to chime. Late again. He wonders where she is. Doubt and worry lead to anger. “Why God? Why can I see you work so strongly in the lives of those in the church and not her? Why do the prayers of her mother and me for our own daughter go unanswered? What has caused her to make these choices that are so radically different from her brother and sisters?” His prayer is interrupted by a door bell. A squad car sits in the driveway. Not again.
It’s been a brutal fight. She’s come to realize why some parents steal their kids to protect them from an angry abusive spouse. All the signs have pointed to her request for her kids to spend less time with their dad have been positive. She has her church praying, her family praying. She’s prayed for his change of heart as well. Then the judge reads the verdict. Her heart melts as the tells the kids the verdict and holds them through terror filled sobs.
Although these stories are fictitious they happen every day. Good people praying earnestly for loved ones. Righteous, faith-filled, Jesus loving moms and dads, pastors, teachers and auto mechanics. Every walk of life. Every denomination. Every country in the world. Praying to a God they trust and believe in for answers that never happen. Where are the wonderful results? Where is their loving Father when they need him most?
Some, to be sure, look at these things as being the final straw. Some turn from him, or blame themselves, or act out in anger. But the person of faith accepts God at his word. Were their words prayers of faith? Yes. Were they asking selfishly? Not from a human perspective anyway. Faith isn’t about believing God answers prayer. Faith is about trusting and accepting God’s answer when it goes against every thing we’d hoped for.
PRAYER: Father God, my prayer today is for my brothers and sisters. For those of us who struggle with our faith from time to time because our prayers aren’t answered as we’d hoped. Help us to trust your answers as best when they seem to be the worst. We know you are a God of hope. We love you. We trust you. Help us grow in that trust. Amen.
Yes, everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened. Matthew 7:8 (NCV)
Do you remember when you were a little child as Christmas approached? Maybe your parents brought you to the local mall to ‘meet Santa’. The beamed proudly as you sat on some strange man’s lap and told him all the things you wanted for Christmas. Do you remember the disappointment when there was no pony under the tree? When you didn’t get the ball glove you told Santa about? By the way (side trip!), did you ever wonder why, if Santa knew when you were sleeping, when you were awake, and how well you behaved, he had to ask what you wanted for Christmas?
There’s a tendency in our human nature to think of God in the same way we grew up thinking about Santa Claus. He gives good gift if we are nice and bad gifts, or no gifts, if we are bad. Two things for you to remember. Santa Claus isn’t real (sorry for the disappointment so close to Christmas) and, secondly, God isn’t Santa Claus.
When Jesus talks about our relationship with the Heavenly Father he talks about commitment and endurance. Your Heavenly Father is committed to you. Period. In our world that’s hard to really comprehend. Sadly, fathers in our society are portrayed as bumbling idiots more intent on watching football than building relationships. Many of us men have lived up to that image.
I’ll say it again. Your Heavenly Father is like no other father you have ever known. You are his one priority. You are his pride and joy. Nothing else matters. So, when you are struggling with life ask. Not just once. Your Father is committed to you. Be committed to him. Don’t just ask once and forget about it. Persistent prayer, committed conversation with your Father helps you to see his feelings as well as evaluate your own.
Secondly, seek. Not occasional glances. Not hurried requests. To seek means you look deeply at every possible solution to find what how God wants to bless you. It’s too easy to pray once and figure if we don’t get what we want, God doesn’t care. Fact of the matter is, you may be asking him for a stone when he really wants to give you bread. You may be longing for a snake without realizing it when all the while he wants to give you a fish.
Unanswered prayer is really God’s way of telling us he has something better in mind. Grace teaches us to realize he will never let us down. Faith says we’ll trust his wisdom over our desires. It takes time. It takes commitment. It takes trust. God has all the time in the world. He’s totally committed to your well-being. All he asks is for your persistent trust.
PRAYER: Father, when I pray it’s so easy to be lured into the trap of thinking you are a vending machine god that gives according to what I put into our relationship. Help me to have the wisdom to seek your direction and the courage to follow it. Amen.
Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:23-24 (NLT)
Have you ever looked at a group of people and thought to yourself “They have to be brothers/sisters, etc? Ever noticed how often a person’s pet takes on the same personality and sometimes even begins to look like their owner? Ever been in a store or restaurant and had a complete stranger come up to you and ask you if you were so-and-so’s sibling? How about the last time someone came up to you and asked if you were God?
Okay, the last one maybe not so likely since no one really knows what God looks like. The Apostle Paul encourages us though to ‘put on our new nature which we were given so that we’d look just like God’. So, just how does one even begin to look like God? Paul isn’t speaking of physical features of course but he often we are associated with the groups we belong to by our actions and behavior, not our physical features.
Beginning to ‘look like God’ involves two basic actions on our part: Passion and Presence. When you are in love with someone you want to be passionately involved in their lives. You begin to take an interest in their music, their likes and dislikes, their friends. You conversations turn from surface level information gathering to digging into the soul to see that they are really like. Passionate love isn’t blind. You look at your lover and see the faults, the glitches, the struggles. But those things don’t matter because you love them.
Passion for God means we do whatever we can to find our more about him. Although there are many excellent Christian books, authors and speakers to help us on this journey, the best source for learning about God is through his Word. Read the stories. See how God interacts with people. You won’t always understand why he does what he does, but then again, you don’t always understand your physical lover either.
The second step in looking like God is ‘Presence.’ The more you are with someone the more you are passionately in love with, the more you will naturally take on the characteristics of that person. The more you spend time with God in prayer, fellowship with others and alone time with your Father, the more you will begin to act like him. It takes time. In fact it takes a lifetime. But don’t give up. Don’t let the failures and the struggles and the stupid decisions you’ve made keep you from pursuing the one who is passionately in love with you.
God sees your faults. He sees your struggles and failures. He knows you will fail again. Like any passionate lover, he’s more concerned about spending time with you than he is your performance.
PRAYER: Father God. Thank you for being so passionate in your love for me. I don’t deserve your love. I don’t understand your actions. But my desire is to look like you. Empower me with your Spirit to make the changes needed to resemble you in my thoughts, actions and likes/dislikes. In your name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 