WHAT DO WE TELL THE CHILDREN

Many, if not most of you have heard Andy Stanley's humorous warning, "You are scaring the children!" Northside Baptist Church no longer allows the video to be seen because of copyright claims, although over two hundred thousand people already saw it. Here is a portion of Andy's admonition.

“All of you who are 45 and older, look up here.

Many of you have grown weary and lost heart and the reason is–you have fixed your eyes on a political system… and you are growing weary. And you need to knock it off. And I’ll tell you why… because you are scaring the children!”

But what do we tell our children in these days? Let me suggest that we tell them to pray.

From this you and they may hopefully ask, "If we begin to pray as we have never prayed, will that solve all the social and political problems of our day? Will that restore our nation?"

God might indeed do that. He will certainly do that eventually. But I am not certain that He will work that way immediately.

If we look back in history we do not always see revival leading to complete restoration. Instead the awakening often prepared believers bring Him glory in terrible times to come.

A great prayer awakening swept America in 1858. Did that end slavery, the great moral and political division in our country? It did not. In three swift years the nation was thrust into a great civil war in which more Americans died than in either of the world wars.

If it did not prevent such a catastrophe, what was the point? Well, many thousands died  and went to heaven instead of hell. Many came home crippled or blinded with a spiritual strength to face the difficulties. Our country was able to pick up the pieces and go on. I don't think that would have happened without God in the lives of many.

In the mid-twentieth century would a prayer revival in Europe have prevented the rise of the NAZI regime? I don't know. But I do know praying people were able to help hundreds of thousands of children and others escape from the horror of the Third Reich. Many horrible things happened in those days. But there were also many with God given courage to oppose power of evil in their day.

I don't want to promise that we will not pay a terrific price for our sins as a nation. And like Daniel and his godly friends, righteous people will share the judgment. But we can be prepared to love and minister to people, and give great glory to God whatever happens in our country. And who knows what God will do, if we begin to pray as never before?

Priestly Prayer

Hezekiah became king of Israel after the death of the wicked king, Ahaz. Ahaz had led the people to turn away from the Lord to worship Baal. After he was installed as king Hezekiah led the people to return to the Lord. That year they cleaned out the abandoned temple to celebrate the Passover for the first time in years. But they had to postpone the celebration because too few of their priests were consecrated before the Lord. But they finally had the most wonderful celebration they had ever had. The last verse of 2 Chronicles 30 tells us about the ministry of the newly consecrated priests. "The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God healed them, for their prayer reached heaven, His holy dwelling place."

Did you know that God is calling you to a priestly ministry? Our nation needs healing. God has put you in contact with people who need spiritual healing. But most of you are aware that this calling requires more than you can do or be. But you need to know that God provides the primary things  you need to be a priest of God.

You need A higher Priest.

On the cross Jesus prayed even for those who were crucifying Him. "Father, forgive them." That prayer is at the heart of the will of God for the people around you.

Right before the cross Jesus being a priest to His disciples, told Peter that despite his pride, he was going to deny Him three times. Then Jesus said, "But I have prayed for you. And when you return, strengthen your brothers.”

Wouldn't it be powerful assurance  to know that Jesus prayed for you. He has and He does. As Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17, He also prayed for us who would believe in Him through their word. And Hebrews 7:25 says Jesus continues intercede for you before the throne of God. When you pray for your neighbors relatives and friends, you can know you are joining God in interceding for them. The Lord has planted you in their lives so you would join Him in praying for them.

You need A higher Righteousness.

When Hezekiah became King the priests had to be consecrated before they could serve. Nothing is more important to prayer or any other ministry than holiness. When Abraham interceded with God on behalf of Sodom, he appealed to the righteousness of God. "Surely the Lord of all the earth will do what is right." And he appealed to God's love of Righteousness. He asked if God would spare the unrighteous, if there were fifty righteous people in the city. And God said He would spare even the unrighteous because of the righteousness of fifty people.

"What if there were five less than fifty?" Abraham continued to bargain God down. And God agreed that He loved righteousness so much that He would spare the unrighteous because of the righteousness of ten people. But there were evidently not even ten righteous people in that wicked city. At that point the Lord ended the conversation with Abraham and Abraham went back home. Why do you suppose that was? I am of course not sure, but I suspect this was the reason. If Abraham got down to asking God to save the city for one righteous person, was his nephew Lot really righteous? Even Abraham was depending upon the righteousness of God. Romans 4:3 quoting Genesis 15:6 telling us Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Are any of us holy enough for our righteousness to be counted for others? Not eternally. There is only one person who was that righteous, Jesus. He died in our stead so His righteousness would count for us. Whatever you are praying for others, you are appealing for the righteousness of Jesus to be applied to their lives.

PRAYING FOR FRUITFULNESS

Modern Americans often have the strangest notion of prayer. Much prayer in these days is an extension of our materialist convictions. You can hear preaching, here and in many countries around the world, that poses provision as the primary purpose of prayer. This is often taken to the extremes. "God give me a Cadillac." "God let me win the lottery."

But according to Jesus, the primary purpose of prayer is fruitfulness. In John 15:7 Jesus gave us a wonderful promise of prayer. He said, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. 

But Jesus continued in verse 8, "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." The purpose of prayer is fruitfulness. Today I read day 10 in the little booklet, 40 Days of Prayer, on the fruit of the Spirit. It reminded me that bearing fruit begins with my character and continues in the significance of my life. God is planting His seeds in my life to touch others and impact the world.

The provision of the Father is a foundational assumption of prayer. You don't need to spend much time praying for provisions. Your Father knows what you need before you ask. But fulfillment and joy do not come from worldly possessions, pleasure, or success.

Jesus continues in John 15:11, "I have told you this that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full. Joy comes from purpose and usefulness. Are you praying for fruitfulness? Or are you praying junk?

MANIPULATION or FAITH

The subject of my blog this week sounds a little like it belongs in my other blog, thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/ rather than watchininprayer. But in fact, this deals with the attitude that must drive our prayers. Is your life, are your prayers, driven by faith or by the need to manipulate circumstances, people or even God?

Do you approach Your Circumstances in Faith or the desire to Manipulate?

When you face painful circumstances, it is difficult if not impossible not to ask God to change them. In Fact, prayer can be a statement that you are trusting God to improve your circumstances. Can you imagine Joseph in the Old Testament not praying for his release as He languished in prison? I'm sure he cried out to God for relief. But instead God used him in the prison. And God chose to use his situation to promote him to the highest position in the land.

In Philippians 2:5 and following Paul says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Jesus voluntarily left heaven and all its glory to be born in a manger, to have no place to lay His head, to be rejected by men, to be unjustly condemned and crucified for you. In John 12:27,28 He said, "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason that I came to this hour." God has also determined your circumstances, however painful. Can you trust God to use you in the situations where He has planted you?

Do you trust God to work in Other People's lives rather than trying to manipulate them? When you and I are driven to change someone else, we need to ask ourselves if we are trying to manipulate them for their benefit or for ourselves. This may be difficult to determine because we are so quick to justify our behavior. Even if our motives are always pure, we must trust other people to God. Have you noticed that God gives people the freedom to sin and even to reject Him? Without such freedom there could be no true righteousness? It is difficult to watch someone you love ruin their life. And realizing that you cannot manipulate them to do what you want becomes a motivation to pray. Faith trusts and cries out to God to speak to their hearts to draw them to repent and voluntarily turn to Him. Only God can do what needs to be done in someone's heart.

Are you seeking to Manipulate God?

When our prayers are driven by wants and fears rather than faith in our Heavenly Father, we fall into praying and doing anything else we do to put God in our debt, so He will have to give us what we want. We are trying to pray against God's will. Philippians 4:6 calls us to lift our prayers with thanksgiving. You can exercise your faith in God's grace by giving thanks before you see how God will answer your prayers. He is your Father. And you can trust Him to give you what you need. Our children don't always understand what we are trying to do for them. But in the long run they come to appreciate their parents' love. You can trust God to give you what you ask for or to give you what you would ask for if you knew everything He knows.

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PRAY FOR THE COURT

Many of us are, or should be, alarmed about rulings by the supreme court in these days. Our founding Fathers set up a balance of power between three somewhat independent branches of government. But now the Supreme Court of the United States has begun to trump the law and the will of the people apparently without precedent in law or the constitution. They have begun to short-cut our representative government by legislating from the bench. Hence we are losing government of the people by the people and for the people.

I need to say the court has opposed righteousness and the constitution before. In 1858 the Supreme Court ruled that negroes whose ancestors were brought here as slaves had no access to American courts.[1] That ungodly decision helped to throw us into a bloody civil war. On the other hand, I have to admit that I thank God for civil rights decisions that went against the will of voters in southern states in the 1950s. They were on the side of the angels.

I have some crucial advice that those who care about righteousness in our country.

Trust God!

That surely means being confident that He is still sovereign over history. I do not mean to say bad things will not come upon our nation as a result of our sin. Sin is still a disgrace to any people. And the way of the transgressor is hard. But even as terrible things come, God will draw people to His grace, and He will see us through our trials.

Trusting God will also mean standing for what is right even when our laws or judicial rulings tend to normalize evil. We must do our best to stand firm even when all of society seems to be turning against God.

Most importantly people who trust God, will pray. We will pray for our neighbors and neighborhoods. We will pray for the power of holiness in our churches. We will pray for our government and our laws. We will pray for our president and congress as they appoint and approve judges. And yes we will pray for The Supreme Court of The United States. Have you prayed for the court? It is more important to ask, if you will pray for the court. Here are the names of the current Supreme Court Justices. I encourage you to write them in your Bible and pray regularly for each of them.

Justice Clarence Thomas

Chief Justice John G. Roberts

Justice Anthony Kennedy,

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Justice Stephen G. Breyer

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Justice Elena Kagan

Of course there are only eight justices since the untimely death of Antonin Scalia. We also need to pray for the appointment of the ninth justice who will be brought up from a lower court. I believe God will work mightily through our prayers.

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[1] http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/dred-scott-case

PRAYING FOR EMERGENCIES II

I am writing a second WATCHING IN PRAYER blog this week, rather than my THINKING IN THE SPIRIT blog. I apologize to you who may prefer the other. I intend to return to Thinking in The Spirit next week.

Thank God, I did not receive another Amber Alert this week. But this week a series of national tragedies unfolded. Two more black Americans were shot by police officers. That is a tragedy whether those two armed men or the policemen were in the wrong. Who can defend either all police who see every black man as a threat or people who grow up with hatred and resentment toward police.

And who of us was not horrified by the sniper who shot eleven police officers who were helping to keep the crowd safe at the protest rally in Dallas. We heard person after person who had come to the rally to protest police shootings, as they cried out in shock against the murder of the peace officers.

We face a host of national emergencies in these days. We see moral and spiritual emergencies in America. The political and social divisions are a crisis in. And who would say our sins have not offended the holiness of God who has so richly blessed us?

The first thing we must do in the face emergencies is cry out to God. The Lord told Abraham as He sent the angels to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham interceded for the wicked cities. Are you interceding for America? Are you searching for ways to intercede in accordance with the righteousness of God? Are you crying out for the power of God that alone can turn our hearts around? Are you praying for God's glory to be magnified by His intervention in our government, in our institutions, in the police, in the media, in our neighborhoods, in our churches, in our homes, and in our lives? I am praying for an army of prayer warriors who will cry out to God night and day for our nation.

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PRAYING FOR EMERGENCIES I

I intend to post two watching in prayer blogs in a row, rather than alternating next week with my THINKING IN THE SPIRIT blog. So this is PRAYING FOR EMERGENCIES I.

This week I received an Amber Alert on my phone. This is a new function of my phone. In fact, after I received it I got a message asking if I wanted to receive such messages in the future. I automatically keyed in "yes." But, of course part of me wanted to say, "No." I don't ever want there to be kidnapped children. I can rejoice that that day will come. But until that day I want to know about such terrors so I can pray as they unfold.

Of course an Amber Alert or a screaming siren, even a honking horn can be a distraction. We are tempted to try to find out what is happening. That of course is natural. But let me suggest that we start praying before we do anything else.

Romans 12:12 is one of those Scriptures that God has often used to speak to me. The King James Version concludes that verse with the words, "continuing instant in prayer." William Carrie said he was able to bring people on the mission field to Christ because God helped him be "instant in prayer." Our English word, "instant" comes to us through Middle English and French from the Latin, "in stare," which meant to stand at the ready."

The secret to being instant in prayer is to be immersed in prayer. If I am already praying when I hear the alarm, I will automatically pray for the urgency.

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