LISTENING IN PRAYER

This is the third in a series of blogs on developing faith by listening to God, adapted from my upcoming book, Faith, The Infinite, Ultimate Love of God.
We sometimes think of prayer as a monologue where we tell God what is on our hearts. But prayer is far more than that. Prayer is crucial among the ways that we hear the voice of God.

We listen to God by PRAYING THE WORD.

Listening to God in Scripture cannot be severed from listening in prayer. If you wish to hear God's voice in Scripture, you need to read prayerfully. We need to understand that God is present with us. He personally speaks to us through His word and prayer.

We listen to God by PRAYING TOGETHER.

Much prayer in the New Testament is corporate. Wouldn't it have been wonderful to join one of those power-filled prayer meetings in the Book of Acts? I sometimes call praying together, "Fellowship on Fire," or simply the fellowship of the Spirit. Everything we do as the church gathers should be the fellowship of the Spirit. Our services should be bathed in continual prayer. You will discover that God speaks to and through His children when we pray together. I often have the sense of God speaking to me as others around me pray. That is especially true in small group prayer meetings.

We listen to God by spending TIME IN PRAYER.

The lack of time can be a major barrier to prayer. In the garden before the cross Jesus asked His disciples if they couldn't even pray for an hour. Some of the power and blessing of prayer needs time. We are only given so much time. And other things swallow up time we could spend in the presence of God. How much time do you spend watching television, checking your email, playing video games, or in some other recreational activity? If you are serious about developing faith that will move mountains, you will have to replace the time invested in other things by spending more time with God.

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HEARING GOD IN HIS WORD

Listening to God begins with the Bible. God will speak personally to you through His word. James 1:21 calls us to receive with meekness the word of God grafted into us. God will graft His word into your heart.

Let me suggest 4 disciplines that are essential to developing faith from God's word in your life. First, READ it. Read it prayerfully. Read it hungrily. Read it consistently.

Next, MEMORIZE Scripture. You may begin by memorizing verses that stir your heart. You could start trying to memorize chapters systematically going through whole books, first of the New Testament and then of the Old. If you could memorize a chapter a week, you could memorize the entire New Testament in less than four years.

All of my adult life I have encouraged and helped adults memorize Scripture. I have helped quite a number who were convinced they could not memorize. Let me give you several steps to memorizing a verse or a passage.

1. Commit to memorizing. If you are determined, you will succeed.
2. Ask God to help you memorize. 
3. Read it aloud. It is much more difficult to memorize something silently.
4. Repeat it over and over until you can say it without looking. 
5. Continue to review what you have memorized. I mark the day when I memorize a verse, and review it every day for a month.

The third discipline in listening to God in the Bible is to THINK about it. After you have memorized a verse you will be amazed at new things you come to understand from it. I recently memorized a passage whose meaning puzzles me. I meditate on it some everyday. I still do not understand much about this passage, but God ministers to me through it.

The final discipline for opening the word of God so that God can speak to you through it is, OBEY it. A major key to understanding the word of God is a willingness to obey. As we learn to obey small things in Scripture, He will reveal greater things to us.

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LISTENING FAITH

In the next few weeks I would like to share with you something that I wrote in my soon to be released book, FAITH, Risking and Resting on The Word of God.

LISTENING FAITH

Jesus made it clear that there is absolutely nothing that God cannot do through you when you trust Him. He repeatedly told us we could do things like casting mountains into the sea.

Of course one important question is, “How do you develop miracle-working faith?” We Cannot begin by using our imagination. Don't try to imagine what great and wonderful things you could do for God. Instead, learn to listen to what God is telling you. Isaiah 55:3 calls to us.

“Incline your ear, and come to me;

hear, that your soul may live.”

The main reason we do not hear the voice of God is that we are not listening. This week our pastor ask me to lead the Call to Worship in our Sunday morning service. I began by asking people to pray something I think we should pray every time we enter a worship service. “Father, let me hear your voice this morning.” I went on to say I don't think it offends God for you to pray something like, “God, if you are real, let me hear your voice.” Are you listening for the voice of God?

We must lean in to hear His voice. That is what God meant in Isaiah by “Incline your ear to me.” You already incline your ear to the world. You watch TV, listen to the radio, and surf the internet. You may even read books from time to time. Do you ever listen for the voice of God? In the next few sequential blog posts I will deal with how God speaks to us. And I encourage you to begin to listen as He speaks to you through His Son who walked upon the Earth and changed all of history. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ.

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WAGING SPIRITUAL WAR

I have recently been made more aware of serious problems in our nation, and of spiritual attack in the lives of people that I love. These things are frustrating. And one of the most frustrating factors in my seeing these things is that I cannot see anything I can do to have any appreciable effect. But while I cannot help in the physical realm, I know I can have great effect in the spiritual realm where the real battle will be fought. Paul wrote about this in 2 Corinthians 10. Verse 3 says as much.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.”

I am not exactly sure how to apply this truth. Paul is warning people who have not repented of sins against the church that he is coming with spiritual authority. But how he applies this seems to fit a much larger set of circumstances, including those that I am dealing with right now. Look at the following verses. Verse 4 reads,

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

Paul says the weapons of spiritual warfare are not fleshly efforts. They do not come by screaming at people, although God can speak thunderously. On a broader scale, they are not political, although they can affect governments. When Paul says they demolish strongholds, he is talking about the strongholds of demonic forces in the world and in the lives of people, sometimes even believers. This certainly describes things I have seen in the lives of people who cannot seem to let go of attitudes that are destroying them and others. It also applies to some who are being attacked by jealousy, intrigue, and infighting among colleagues. And I can see this in the culture of my own country, and around the world.

We see something of how this works in verse 5.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

How do we confound ungodly arguments? Let me point out three crucial factors. The first is love. God's love for people will often overcome opposition. When we speak of spirituality, we have to include all the fruit of the the Spirit listed in Galatians 5. But possibly the most powerful of them is agape, the infinite, ultimate love of God in our lives. Next is spiritual knowledge. This must begin with the gospel by which lives are transformed. Sometimes this means simply speaking the truth even when it is opposed. When he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus just quoted Scripture. He did not convince Satan, but Jesus was not swayed by the temptation.

Finally, and many ways most important is prayer. In Ephesians 6:10-17 Paul gives us what are mostly defensive weapons. But in verse 18 he concludes with the power of prayer.

“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

We break the power of the enemy by prayer. We extend the Kingdom of God by praying. And we can trust the power of God as we become more and more intimate with Him. You may not see revival as you pray. But you can know God is at work. And you never see revival without extraordinary prayer. You may not avoid evil in this world. Abraham interceded for Sodom. But it was still destroyed. Jesus could have avoided the cross. But I am so thankful that He did not. You will not be able to to keep the Antichrist from rising in the last days. But you will be able to endure all that comes upon the Earth. And you can build a shelter of prayer around those you pray for. And again and again you will turn the hearts of those for whom you pray back to the God of the Bible.

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FAITH HEALS

The Bible clearly draws us not only to believe in healing, but to believe in Jesus. Let my share my own testimony. I have had numbers of people pray very formally for my healing, including some who anointed me with oil. And frankly, I am encouraged when someone tells me they're praying I will be healed of my cancer. Some years ago now, I told one of my oncologists,”The reason I am alive longer than you thought I would be, is because people are praying for me.” He was silent a moment and then he said, “That's right.”

But I also need to say that everytime I think about praying for God to completely heal me of my cancer a scripture verse comes to my mind. Hebrews 9:27 reads,

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,”

You may have noticed that the sentence does not end with this verse. Verse 28 concludes the thought.

“so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

I do not believe that God is using this passage, necessarily, to tell me I am not going to be healed. But I do believe He is giving me a broader perspective on faith in Jesus Christ. I am not just trusting him for the here and now. I'm trusting Him for the forever. And I am waiting for Him to bring it about.

And in this God has been giving me a peace about life and death. And He has used that to bear witness to people in a world where all of us will die. And I certainly believe that is more important than immediate healing.

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I fear that the church in these days, especially in the West, has become shallow in our understanding and practice of forgiveness. We sometimes confuse forgiveness with overlooking sins. And agape* love in the church family certainly covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8) But the depth of forgiveness in the church family must be more than putting up with one another's faults and weaknesses. Nor is forgiveness the same as understanding. I have heard someone say, “Well, I can forgive him because I understand why he did that.” Real forgiveness does not demand understanding. It can come while you still hurt. Such forgiveness is the key to true reconciliation that releases the power of God in our midst.

In the years that I was pastoring churches I always used the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17 as a guide for church discipline when someone had sinned against the whole body. I believe that is justified to some extent. But that is really not the context in which Jesus spoke those words. They begin, “If your brother sins against you.” Because of the importance of this passage I want to present it here in its entirety including verses 18-20. And I encourage you to read it slowly and thoughtfully before I begin to unpack some of it.

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

First, notice the goal of reconciliation. When someone wrongs you, you are not to go to them as the judge pointing out how wrong they are. Your goal is to heal the relationship. From the start you need to have worked through your willingness to forgive, and restore the relationship, possibly deeper than it ever had been before.

This requires humility produced by the Holy Spirit through time spent agonizing in prayer for the person. And that humility extends to a willingness to sit down with a person before an outside party. When you bring in another party, or failing that, go before the entire church, you have to be open for them to see things you haven't seen in the issue. And you have to be humble enough to submit to their authority over you for the sake of reconciliation. This will require nothing short of the agape* love that God is developing in our lives and in the fellowship of the church.

And even the judgment of the church, is to be carried out in heartbroken agape*. While treating people as non-believers does not mean we have no more contact with them, it does mean that the whole purpose of the body of Christ is broken. And seems to be very serious. Jesus says rather forcefully here, “Whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in heaven.” He says identical words in John 20 where He breathes on his disciples the Holy Spirit.

“And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
(John 20:22,23)

Finally we see the depth of agreeing together in prayer that can only come from forgiving from our very hearts. Peter comes to Jesus and asks how many times shall he keep on forgiving someone who has wronged him. Jesus tells the parable of the servant who has received great forgiveness, but won't forgive his fellow servant. And he concludes with verse 35.

“So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

*Agape is the ultimate love of God poured out in our lives. The fullest description of agape in 1 Corinthians 13.

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SCRIPTURE MEMORY AND YOUR PRAYER LIFE

Can you see an orchard with trees covered with luscious fruit? I'll let you decide what kind of fruit you see. Whatever the fruit, those trees were almost certainly grafted. Any fruit tree has the DNA of two kinds of apple or apricot or whatever fruit. So the desired variety must be grafted into the existing root system either by budding or scion grafting.

Something like that happens as God's word is grafted into our lives. In John 15:7-8 Jesus said,
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

This particular passage speaks especially to our prayer lives. It clearly teaches that answered prayer flows from character shaped by a deep devotional life. 1 John 4:14 promises answers when we pray in God's will. As our understanding and character conform more to God's will, our prayer lives will become more fruitful. This is the process of spiritual growth.

In John 15:7,8 Jesus calls us to remain in continual fellowship with Him. And He connects abiding in Him with His words living in us. This surely includes memorizing Scripture. Many of our churches work at helping children memorize Bible verses. But adults, even church leaders, sometimes avoid the discipline of Scripture memory.

I recently made a commitment to increase the level of my Scripture memory in the twilight of my life and ministry. I wonder what this might have produced through my prayer life had I done it 40 or 50 years ago. Who knows what God may do through me even now.

For many years I have read the same chapter of The New Testament three days in a row trying to soak it up before moving on to the next. Several months ago I started memorizing the chapter verse by verse before I move on. This has slowed me down some. It usually takes me about a week to memorize a chapter. And this adds to my daily devotional time because I review each memorized verse every day for a month. I may have to do something different, because I am not retaining the verses as well as I would like. I have a long term goal of memorizing the entire New Testament even though the doctors do not think I will live that long. In the process I long for God to make me more like Jesus, and my prayer life more like His. God will continue to transform my thinking as His word is grafted into my heart.

I hunger for God to bear more fruit in the lives of others through my character, relationships, writing, and praying, showing more and more that I am truly a disciple of Jesus Christ.

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