Prayer is one of the least understood concepts among today’s Christians. From
Hymnal prayers to rambling requests for a green light on our way to work, we’re desperately in need of a change. Jesus called us to be prayer warriors, so let's approach prayer with that mindset.
Prayer is not to be taken lightly. As Paul says in Ephesians, we fight in the spiritual realms. This requires us to be active in them. We are called to a deeper prayer life than just dinner time prayers. Starting your meal by thanking God is excellent, but it shouldn't stop there. Prayer is a request to the highest level of authority that has ever existed. You are asking God himself to intervene in your life, and he actually takes time to listen.
Just because God listens doesn’t mean he answers every prayer. I think the movie Bruce Almighty accurately demonstrates the reason for this when Bruce causes millions of people to win the lottery. But some prayers mean more, so why does it feel like God ignores our prayers? Sometimes they don't get answered. You don't heal, someone passes away, your heart gets broken. It feels as though God couldn’t be more distant. In reality, he is close to us, but there isn't a good reason as to why he doesn't answer these hard prayers, at least not one that I’ve heard. But a couple things I've learned in my life may help in our prayer lives.
First of all, God didn’t give us prayer through the Holy Spirit as a “form” to fill out when we need a favor. He gave it to us to strengthen our relationship. God wants you to talk to him. A lot of times that takes the form of requests, but he just wants you to reach out to him. This is why he tells us to knock and we will receive. It's why he preached a parable about the persistent neighbor. It's why he spent all night in a garden praying, and why he taught the disciples how to pray. God wants us to pray, regardless of what we pray about.
Secondly, sometimes God has a better plan. Maybe winning the lottery isn’t the best plan for your life, and God is protecting you from it. This gets harder to believe when something terrible happens. I can't answer why God doesn't heal your relative, or allows someone to pass away before their time. Trusting God to have a better plan is one of the hardest things to do. Yet that trust brings more freedom and opportunity for God to appear in your life than almost anything.
In the same way we go through testing and trials to be refined, sometimes our prayers go unfulfilled. The point is that you did pray. You spending time with God, and relentlessly requesting something life changing of him is exactly what he instructs us to do.
So never hesitate to pray big. Because you never know what prayer will be answered, and every prayer brings you that much closer to God.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Philippians 4:6 NIV
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Trial,Testing,and Refinement
There is a theme in the Bible that stays hidden to most readers. It comes in times of testing, and it’s defined as refinement. Yes, refinement, as in the process used to purify gold. God gives us times of refinement to draw us closer to him.
We see it in the Israelites, who endured 40 years in the desert to bring a whole new generation up to follow God. We see it in David, who hid in the desert from Saul, and remained close to God even though he faced death. We see it in Jesus, who spent 40 days being tempted, and in Paul, who spent much of his time in prison.
This refinement is tough to endure. When Job’s whole life fell apart, he “Tore his robe and shaved his head” -Job 1:20. David repeatedly cried out to God as he went through times of refinement. It’s hard. It’s not fun. But refinement is vital to growing in Jesus. Paul used the years he spent in prison to write letters that ended up in the Bible. Jesus overcame his temptation. David became a godly king, because he knew it was only through God that he was a king. Every time you are refined, you are being prepared for something greater.
Think about it. Believing in God and following him is easy on Sunday mornings, when the worship is good and your fellow Christians are there to support you. But if you can follow God in times of trouble, you have a much more solid faith. A Sunday morning faith doesn’t cut it. Jesus wants us to grow deep roots in him, and build a foundation of rock to withstand the storms. If we can allow ourselves to be refined, we will be closer to Jesus than ever before.
I have experienced refinement in my own life. About two years ago, the church I had been attending for years went through major turmoil. The two senior pastors confessed to being in an affair, and they were both fired. This started a journey that led to the discovery of huge financial debt and a loss of friends that were badly hurt. Eventually the church decided to close the campus we had moved to in order to attend. During this time, I struggled harder than I ever have before. I doubted who Jesus was, his faithfulness, and my foundation in him. I had lost so much and I was grasping at straws, asking God if he was, in fact, there.
Then God spoke, softly. He said to me: “Hunter, I never left, and I am still in your heart. Your foundation hasn't changed.” In that moment, I knew I was okay. Jesus had never left; he had proved his faithfulness. What happened in those months? I was being refined. Jesus was letting me struggle to bring me to him. It wasn’t his plan for any of it to happen, but he used it for good. Now I have a more solid foundation in Jesus than ever before, and it is truly built on rock. Coming out of those months, which I would call the hardest time of my life so far, I am much closer to Jesus. I am able to fight for the things I need to fight for while resting in his power. This journey helped awaken my love and gift for writing, and this very blog was a result.
Times of testing aren’t bad. They are, in my opinion, the most important times we go through. God will never abandon you, and will always prove faithful. You can count on it. It may seem hard now, but remember that you are being refined. To me, there is no greater honor than to be refined by my creator. Because if God is refining me, then I will become more who he created me to be. And if that is the result, I will gladly be refined.
“This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
Zechariah 13:9 NIV
We see it in the Israelites, who endured 40 years in the desert to bring a whole new generation up to follow God. We see it in David, who hid in the desert from Saul, and remained close to God even though he faced death. We see it in Jesus, who spent 40 days being tempted, and in Paul, who spent much of his time in prison.
This refinement is tough to endure. When Job’s whole life fell apart, he “Tore his robe and shaved his head” -Job 1:20. David repeatedly cried out to God as he went through times of refinement. It’s hard. It’s not fun. But refinement is vital to growing in Jesus. Paul used the years he spent in prison to write letters that ended up in the Bible. Jesus overcame his temptation. David became a godly king, because he knew it was only through God that he was a king. Every time you are refined, you are being prepared for something greater.
Think about it. Believing in God and following him is easy on Sunday mornings, when the worship is good and your fellow Christians are there to support you. But if you can follow God in times of trouble, you have a much more solid faith. A Sunday morning faith doesn’t cut it. Jesus wants us to grow deep roots in him, and build a foundation of rock to withstand the storms. If we can allow ourselves to be refined, we will be closer to Jesus than ever before.
I have experienced refinement in my own life. About two years ago, the church I had been attending for years went through major turmoil. The two senior pastors confessed to being in an affair, and they were both fired. This started a journey that led to the discovery of huge financial debt and a loss of friends that were badly hurt. Eventually the church decided to close the campus we had moved to in order to attend. During this time, I struggled harder than I ever have before. I doubted who Jesus was, his faithfulness, and my foundation in him. I had lost so much and I was grasping at straws, asking God if he was, in fact, there.
Then God spoke, softly. He said to me: “Hunter, I never left, and I am still in your heart. Your foundation hasn't changed.” In that moment, I knew I was okay. Jesus had never left; he had proved his faithfulness. What happened in those months? I was being refined. Jesus was letting me struggle to bring me to him. It wasn’t his plan for any of it to happen, but he used it for good. Now I have a more solid foundation in Jesus than ever before, and it is truly built on rock. Coming out of those months, which I would call the hardest time of my life so far, I am much closer to Jesus. I am able to fight for the things I need to fight for while resting in his power. This journey helped awaken my love and gift for writing, and this very blog was a result.
Times of testing aren’t bad. They are, in my opinion, the most important times we go through. God will never abandon you, and will always prove faithful. You can count on it. It may seem hard now, but remember that you are being refined. To me, there is no greater honor than to be refined by my creator. Because if God is refining me, then I will become more who he created me to be. And if that is the result, I will gladly be refined.
“This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
Zechariah 13:9 NIV
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Love, Sin, and What Defines You
In today's world, we are constantly trying to label everyone. Even Christians tend to label others. We define people who aren't Christians, or even one another, as sinners. While it’s good that we are humble about the reality of our sin, I believe it shouldn’t define us. I may sin, but I am not a sinner. I am wiped clean by the grace of God. My sin doesn’t define me, God does.
If we believe that we have been saved by grace, we need to live like it. Because our sin no longer defines us. If we actually believe God saved us, we are changed. That brings us away from being a sinner and towards being a loved child of God. This shift is important. If we say we are saved but live as sinners, how can we really show Christ? If you label yourself as a sinner you will act like a sinner; it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. In all actuality, you are victorious. God has won, and he has wiped you clean. So live like it!
This isn’t to say you’re perfect and don't sin. We are far from that. But there is a difference between little “t” truths and big “T” truths. A little “t” truth is something you do. You lie, you sin, you have pride. But a big “T” truth is something that defines you. You are a loved child of God. You are redeemed. You are wiped clean by the very grace of God. The real truth is that you might sin, but that doesn't define you as a sinner. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then your record is wiped clean. This is good news. Your sin does NOT label you anymore! You are free from it.
Jesus wants you to be free. He came and broke the chains of sin for you to live freely. He knows that a better life waits for you when you define yourself not by your sin, but by God and his freedom from sin. It's a distinct shift that this world needs. If we, as Christians, humbly admit our sin, but live by God’s grace, we will be more accurately showing Jesus. He didn't come to free perfect people, so let's stop acting like we are. But he also didn’t come just to leave us in the chains of sin. So let's throw them off and live free, defined by HIM.
“Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:2
If we believe that we have been saved by grace, we need to live like it. Because our sin no longer defines us. If we actually believe God saved us, we are changed. That brings us away from being a sinner and towards being a loved child of God. This shift is important. If we say we are saved but live as sinners, how can we really show Christ? If you label yourself as a sinner you will act like a sinner; it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. In all actuality, you are victorious. God has won, and he has wiped you clean. So live like it!
This isn’t to say you’re perfect and don't sin. We are far from that. But there is a difference between little “t” truths and big “T” truths. A little “t” truth is something you do. You lie, you sin, you have pride. But a big “T” truth is something that defines you. You are a loved child of God. You are redeemed. You are wiped clean by the very grace of God. The real truth is that you might sin, but that doesn't define you as a sinner. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then your record is wiped clean. This is good news. Your sin does NOT label you anymore! You are free from it.
Jesus wants you to be free. He came and broke the chains of sin for you to live freely. He knows that a better life waits for you when you define yourself not by your sin, but by God and his freedom from sin. It's a distinct shift that this world needs. If we, as Christians, humbly admit our sin, but live by God’s grace, we will be more accurately showing Jesus. He didn't come to free perfect people, so let's stop acting like we are. But he also didn’t come just to leave us in the chains of sin. So let's throw them off and live free, defined by HIM.
“Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:2
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