Striving Together In Prayer

"Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;"  Romans 15:30

In this precious verse we learn many things about prayer that if we as God's people take hold of, will truly help us not only to pray but to continue to pray.  Many growing Christians will at the beginning of the year determine to pray more and more effectively.  May these words be a help.

1)  Our praying, or asking God to meet a particular desire, is good for the Lord Jesus Christ.  We see that praying is for the Lord's sake.  Because we care about the Lord Jesus Christ we will pray.  When we call on someone to do something for their "sake" it is assumed that there is a genuine care for that person.  If we genuinely care we will pray.

2) Paul sees fit to call upon a sincere love of the Spirit.  We ought to love the Spirit, because like the Lord Jesus who first loved us so did the Holy Spirit.  Without Him we would not be saved for he is the one who taught you the truth.  Without Him you could not truly understand the Word of God.  Without Him you would not know how to pray.  Without Him you would not know how to do the will of God.  Without Him our consciences would not be sensitive to sin.  We ought to love the Holy Spirit and if we are not praying then we are lacking in love for Him.

3) We ought to pray for ourselves!  Paul said "Strive together with me... for me." I have heard people proclaim never praying for themselves because they do not want to be selfish.  This is a misunderstanding about God.  If every person in the world prayed for themselves at the same time, God would hear and be able to answer each one without the slightest effort.  This is also a misunderstanding of ourselves.  We cannot walk this perilous road without God. We need His grace, mercy, and peace.  We need His wisdom and protection.  We need Him to comfort us and console us.  The sin of not praying for oneself is the sin of Laodicea in Revelation 3.  They said, "I have need of nothing."

4) We ought to pray for others.  Just as we need the Lord so do all others.  I believe Paul was admitting two things by this beseeching of believers.  First, our prayers for ourselves are not as effective as our prayers for ourselves with others.  It seems God is moved as more of His children cry unto Him. Second, I believe Paul understood that there are things he might not pray for himself that others would.  We can have blind spots in our own lives that others see and can pray for.

5) We ought to pray together.  This is of the upmost importance.  It is important to pray alone in our "closets," but we must pray together.  This prayer together will lead us to a care for the one being prayed for and the one we are praying with in truly supernatural ways.  If we do not make time to pray with others we are lacking in our prayer lives.

6) We must "strive" in prayer.  To strive is to reach forth with all our might without giving up.  Prayer is hard; physically, emotionally, and mentally.  Anything that is hard we are always in danger of quitting; exercise, cleaning, yard work, you name it.  If it is hard we are always in danger of quitting before we are finished.  We cannot quit praying.  The reward is to great and it will be forfeited if we do not continue in prayer.  This means we will pray when we don't want to.  We will because the end of our prayer is God's precious answer.  "We have not because we ask not!"

God bless you brethren!  I beseech you to pray for me!  May this year be our greatest year with the Lord!

God's Communication - Jonah 1:1

"Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai..." Jonah 1:1

When the Lord sent his word unto Jonah, he was attempting to communicate to Him both what He would like for Jonah to do as well as His heart or reasoning to go.  We should remember that the Lord is not seeking to simply communicate the do's and don'ts of the "good" Christian but to truly communicate His heart.  A truly Godly Christian will take hold of what God is seeking to communicate both in HIs commands and His reasoning or His heart in so commanding. 

In John 14:15, Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  By combining the terms love and keep He is reminding us that our relationship to Him is not simply, "Do what I tell you to do." But much deeper and heartfelt.  He desires us to take hold of Himself and what He is doing on the World and why He is doing it. 

God was not being cruel to Jonah in His command to go.  He was inviting him to come along side and be part of His work in the world, of which he "so loves." 

As you read the Bible, study its precious truths, and meditate on it, God is seeking to communicate with you!  Will you listen not just for the words but also for the heart of God.  If we receive just the words and their meaning and fail to catch onto God's heart, we, like Jonah will be greatly lacking.  Ask God to reveal His heart, His desires, and He will.  Reveal to God your heart as well; He knows already.

Also, it is vitally important that we learn to communicate this way with others of whom we have intimate relationships with:  Our spouses, children, friends, family, brethren.  If we fail to communicate our heart to others we will never have the deepness that God desire for our earthly relationships.  The deepness others have in our heart's desires will most certainly vary depending on what type of relationship we have (we will not reveal to a coworker what we would reveal to our spouse) but our heart must be given. 

May God help us to take hold of all He is seeking to communicate to us!

American, Islamic, and Biblical Culture

Unbelievers have begun to accuse Christians of bigotry once again. This time because of the attacks in Paris by Islamic Terrorists and the sobering truth spoken from pulpits that Islam is an ungodly and therefore devilish religion. This is the truth. Islam from it's beginnings has sought to overwhelm the world through violence. It is mandated by it's scripture to kill all infidels that do  not convert or pay the steep price for freedom. The question becomes what do we do?

I believe the answer is found in the Word of God, the Bible, for all answers are found here. In Ephesians 6 God tells us that our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against principalities. This word principalities has to do with deeply held beliefs that have permeated a society of people forming their culture.  There is no society that has not been tainted by the sin of man and the craftiness of the devil. Islam has been shaped starting with Mohammed and then men who ascribe to his teachings. Another example is our current American culture. We speak of American exceptionalism and in doing so we lift up our society above every other.  Our America, nearly devoid of it's Christian roots is certainly tainted and any honest assessment of our society would not declare exceptional.   Our society is currently being shaped by Secularists who insist that right and wrong is dictated by the current majority trends.  It is not America that is exceptional but Jesus Christ.  Where Jesus Christ is worshipped and lifted up that society will be exceptional. No culture is exceptional except that culture that is shaped by the Word which is the Lord Jesus Christ.  I believe the culture of America is no longer exceptional but the culture of our homes and our churches can be!

In most Muslim societies the Lord Jesus Christ is removed from the conversation.  He cannot be worshipped without terrible consequences upon discovery.  This has led to societies that have great oppression and are often very violent.  

In today's permeable world Muslims have migrated throughout the world bringing with them a disdain for Jesus Christ and a warped love of a false God.  It has led to violence and a suppression of freedom in every place they are.

What then do we as Christians do?  Should we seek to blow up every Muslim society on earth? Do we restrict their freedom to live peaceably in our own country as has been proposed by some?  The answer of course to these questions is no.  Our government should highly restrict those who ascribe to this religion from entering into our country.  But what if our country does not do this.  And even if our country does do this what must we do.

First, we must understand that God knows all things!  He is not surprised at what is going on, he proves this by having already told us of these things in the Bible.  He has declared that he will judge every nation in which He is despised.  He has done this throughout the history of the World.  We must also understand that He is able to protect those homes that do not deny His name.  We do not have to succumb to a lackluster love for Christ because of the great iniquity of our culture.

Second, we must get a hold of the culture of our homes.  If we do not have Bible-believing homes we are rejecting the exceptionalism of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We must have home were the people in them love the Lord, for without this we are opening our homes to the wiles of the Devil.  Is the culture of your home led by the Lord through His Word and prayer?  Are you letting our society dictate the culture of your home or the Lord?

Third, we must lovingly give the gospel, for the "gospel is the power of God unto salvation."  We must by faith believe that the gospel can and will transform the lives of all who believe.  This includes the most determined Jihadist or the most militant Atheist for that matter.  I know that the entire culture of the home can be transformed by Jesus.  We see this very plainly in II Corinthians 6:9-11. 

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

May God's Word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path during this dark generation.

Do Not Err

In James 1:16 we come to a precious verse that speaks of the heart of God towards us; "Do not err, my beloved brethren."  These six words are written down by James, "the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ," in order to reveal great truths about God.  First, the word err does not mean a small mistake, such as not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign (though don't do that, I know by personal experience) or to fail to properly reconcile your checkbook (who does that anymore anyway).  It means to be lead astray, to be deceived, to be seduced away from the Lord toward some evil and often devastating thing.  Our world today is filled with peril and we as God's people are not immune to the temptations of the wicked one (the devil).  We will have decisions to make in our life and some can change everything.  I believe James as he was writing these words, with thoughts of people who were dear to him suddenly and emotionally cried, "Do not err, my beloved brethren!"  I believe even more so, these words were given from God, with thoughts of us His children, is crying out, "Do not err, my beloved!"  Our Father knows the end of our erring and does not want us to ever experience it.  He does not want His children to know the physical anguish of withdrawing from drugs. Nor does He want us to know the awful consequences of what we will do while drunk.  And so many other things that His children have suffered because of our erring. 

What will keep us from erring.  It is not simple will-power.  None of us can withstand the devil.  It is not the goodness and devotion of our fathers and mothers (though that is a blessed example).  God tells us in Hebrews 3:10, "Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways." 

God says of this generation of His people during the time of Moses, you always err.  I do not believe that this means that every decision made by individuals was wrong, but, that in general, the vast majority of people would make a decision that would change the course of their lives forever and not towards the Lord but away from Him.  We are living in a similar time.  It seems that in general, nearly every young person of this generation will make a great and terrible error.  It can be fornication (sex outside of biblical marriage).  For many reasons this a very real and terrible erring. Drunkenness; oh how many have fallen to this awful weapon of the devil.  Covetousness (money and the things I can buy are more important than the will of God); this may be the most wicked of the Devil's devices.  How many young people will forsake the will of God and the Body of Christ (the church) because I must make money to pay for my car, my entertainments, etc.!

We keep from these errors by knowing the Lord Jesus, and His ways.  We keep from these errors by daily "cleaving unto the Lord" (Acts 11:23).  The problem of our current age is not that we are faced with to many of the Devil's temptations.  The problem of our current age is that we do not love the Lord Jesus Christ and come to Him everyday. We do not assemble with our brethren and the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be strengthened by Him and His Word. This is what leads us to err and it breaks the hearts of so many, but especially God.

I cry out with the Lord, "Do not err, my beloved brethren!" 

Wood River Baptist