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What Happens To Your Prayers?

Essential 100—Read:
Revelation 4:1-7:17

“And when he took the scroll, the four living beings fell down before the Lamb.  Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” (Revelation 5:8)

It is not uncommon for us to feel as if prayer is an exercise in futility; that either our payers are unheard, or if they are heard, that they don’t really matter. We don’t always feel this way, or else we would never pray. But sometimes we do sense that the heavens are brass and our prayers simply disappear like a puff of smoke into the atmosphere.

According to this verse, however, all of our prayers matter to God. They rise up to heaven and are offered as precious and pleasing incense before his very throne. God will not answer every prayer according to our desires—thankfully. I share this observation with Jean Ingelow: “I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered.” As Mother Teresa rightfully observed, “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.” Yes, thankfully not all of our prayers are answered in the way we want, but each prayer is an act of worship offered in faith that blesses the very heart of God.

Now there is nothing wrong in hoping for the answer to your prayer. God’s Word is clear in that our Father desires to give us those things we ask for in prayer. So don’t quit expecting your answer. But pray with this added dimension: The greatest answer to prayer is the act of prayer itself.

You see, prayer is practicing the presence of God. It is entering his very throne room in the great court of heaven. It is exercising faith in the One who rewards those who believe that he exists and diligently seek him. It is placing your needs, concerns and hopes into the hands of a loving Father who delights in your dependence and is pleased to provide for your needs according to his gracious will.

Hopefully, the answer you are expecting will be in line with his will to act. But if not, your act of prayer does far more in the unseen realm that you will ever realize this side of eternity.

So keep praying!

“If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, He will give you the first sign of His intimacy—silence.” ~Oswald Chambers

Reflect and Apply: Offer this prayer today: “Father, I lift my prayer to you simply as an act of worship. May I, and this prayer, please and glorify you. You know my heart, you know my needs, you know your will for my life. Fulfill your perfect plan for me—whether it come in the form of some great and miraculous intervention, or simply through the intimacy of your silent presence.”

 

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A Tale of Two Churches

Essential 100—Read:
Revelation 2:1-3:22

“To the church in Philadelphia…To the church in Laodicea…” (Revelation 3:7 & 14)

To paraphrase the unforgettable opening line of Dickens’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of churches, it was the worst of churches.”

Throughout the centuries, Biblical scholars have interpreted the letters to the seven churches in Revelation in a variety of ways.  Some have suggested that these letters are written literally to seven contemporary churches throughout Asia Minor during the time of John’s imprisonment, describing real conditions that existed in those churches. Others suggest that these seven churches represent eras of church history, with the last two, Philadelphia and Laodicea, concurrently representing the condition of the church at the end of time.

I lean heavily toward the latter, but however you wish to interpret, the message to these last two churches is clear, and quite applicable to the church in our day:

One, God assesses the condition of his church far differently than we do. What we consider weak, ineffective and unattractive in a church God treasures because of that church’s fidelity to his Word. Size, slickness and sizzle do not impress God if his Word is not being honored above all else.

On the other hand, what we might consider attractive, powerful, and impacting in a church because of its bigness, buildings and budget, God may assess as way off the mark because Biblical truth has been neglected or compromised, all in the name of cultural relevance and church growth.

That leads to the second thought: Beware of all the bells and whistles when evaluating the church. If these last two churches do represent the condition of the church in the last days, it is rather obvious that many of today’s churches are indeed the church at Laodicea. Don’t get caught up in the personality cult and celebrity worship of TV preachers or the hype of the mega-church.

Ask yourself: Does my church honor God’s Word above all else?  Is my pastor and are my spiritual leaders truly people of God—full of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and passionate about fulfilling the purposes of God for the church without compromise? Is this a church with whom God is well pleased?

If so, then you’ve got a great church. If not, start praying!

“God evaluates by character not charisma.”

Reflect and Apply: Spend some time praying for your church today.

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Double Blessing

Essential 100—Read:
Revelation 1:1-20

“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3)

John promised God’s blessings upon those who read and acted upon the words of his prophetic revelation. The same double blessing applies to all of God’s Word—both Old and New Testaments alike.

Today, when you read the Bible, there is a blessing that will be upon you.  You are not just reading another book, you are reading God’s Book. You hold in your hand the very revelation of God himself, inspired by God, revealing God’s nature, God’s will for all of mankind—which includes you—and God’s plan for the ages.

To all who read with an open heart and a humble spirit, God’s favor will rest.  But there is another, even greater blessing: It is for those who not only read the Word of God; it is for those who act upon it. Divine blessing awaits those who translate their belief into behavior.

As you read this portion of Scripture, the Revelation of John, what behavior is required of you? Simply this: Since this prophecy concerns God’s plan for the end of days, you must seek to apply it in readying yourself for Christ’s return.

So then, how do you actually live such a ready life? First, you must live with an end-time perspective. Verse 7 says, “Look, he is coming with the clouds…”  Jesus is coming soon, and everything you think, say or do ought to be lived in the light of his return.

Second, you must realize that you have been redeemed to be both a king and a priest in God’s eternal reign. Verses 5-6 remind us, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priest to serve his God and Father…” You are going to rule and reign with Jesus in the eternal kingdom soon, so you ought to act like a king and priest now!

And third, until then, you must patiently endure trial and tribulation. In verse 9, John reveals himself as “your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus…” John was able to endure great hardship—harder than you will ever face, most likely, because he knew what was coming. When you know the end of the story—that you win—you can put up with anything in your present circumstances.

Reading and receiving the blessing promised in this book requires you to adjust your beliefs and your behaviors to it. So develop an eternal perspective, act like the priest of God’s kingdom that you are, and patiently endure difficulty, and you will be handsomely rewarded for it!

“Looking forward to the eternal world is not…a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.”  ~C.S. Lewis

Reflect and Apply: What adjustments do you need to make in your life to be ready for Christ’s return? Write down five things you would stop doing and five things you would start doing if you knew Jesus would return a week from now.

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God On Display

Essential 100—Read:
I John 3:11-24 & 4:1-21

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (I John 4:12)

Ask a thousand different people for their concept of God and you will most likely get a thousand different depictions. But the Bible makes it plain that the chief expression of God is love. What does God look like? He looks like love.

Not the sloppy, squishy, anything goes kind of love our world knows. Not the ever-changing love that rises and falls with one’s current emotional state that far too many people today understand love to be. Not the selfish kind of love that loves to the degree that love is requited.

No—real love is an unconditional love; it is a sacrificial love; it is a proactive love; it is a love that seeks out unworthy objects. It is a holy and righteous love; it is a tough love; it is an unchanging love. It is that kind of love that is at the core of God’s nature. It is this love that is the essence of his being.

And though no one has ever seen God, he has made himself visible by the evidence of his love in this world. Wherever you see this kind of love, there, in a very real sense, you see evidence of God. Whether you see evidence of love in the wonder and majesty of nature or in the selflessness and sacrifice of humanity, there God has left his fingerprint of love.

But God is best seen in the lives of his redeemed ones as they live in loving community within the family of God. Whenever you see authentic fellowship, spiritual unity, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, serving—you are seeing love in action; you are seeing God.

When you see God’s people reaching out to a lost world, loving the unlovely, serving the poor, preaching the Good News to the lost, laying down their lives so that hostile people can see the Father, there you have God’s love on display; there you see God.

And God is especially visible when his love is on display in you. When you love with no thought of love in return; when you go out of your way to love; when you love in response to hurtful and hateful actions; when you suffer, but patiently love; when everyone else has given up but you stubbornly love anyway…

When that kind of love in action is displayed in you, there God is seen.

“Our love to Him is the proof and measure of what we know of His love to us.” ~John Newton

Reflect and Apply: Think of practical ways that you can demonstrate the love of God through your life today

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Dead Sea Saints

Essential 100—Read:
James 1:1-2:26

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  … Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14,17)

Let me offer my translation what James is saying:  “Prove your faith by living it out, because faith without action is no faith at all!”

Church-goers in our culture really need to listen up to James’ words, because there’s a great deal of belief that’s not matched by behavior these days. Our talk is not commensurate with our walk. As James would say, there’s an unfortunate disconnect between faith and action. And this disconnect is the source of much unhappiness, frustration, and even stress for believers.

For instance, we value generosity, but hoard our wealth. We believe in God, but decreasingly participate in worship. We tout the sanctity of marriage and family values, yet the divorce rate among believers has skyrocketed. We sing of peace on earth, yet there’s more hostility in our homes than ever.

Sociologists refer to this disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually live as incongruent values. In chapter 1, James spelled out the sad consequences of living with these incongruent values:

  • Self-deception:  “…and so deceive yourselves.”  (James 2:22)
  • Dissatisfaction:  “…like the man who looks at his face in the mirror…and immediately forgets what he looks like.” (James 2:23)
  • Bondage:  “…the law that gives freedom…”  (James 2:25)
  • Spiritual Poverty:  He won’t be “blessed in what he does.” (James 2:25)
  • Irrelevance:  “…his religion is worthless.” (James 2:26)

What James is describing is a pointless faith; a lot of knowledge but little implementation.  That’s a big problem in the church today.  We’re like Dead Sea saints: A lot of inflow but no outflow. And like the real Dead Sea, the result is a stagnant, stinky body of water. Nothing is more disgusting to God and dissatisfying to people who live it than dead faith…an inflow of God’s riches with little or no outflow.

Authentic, saving, God-pleasing faith is not just something you say or feel or believe, it is something you do! Now just to be clear, our faith is not determined by what we do. But it is demonstrated by what we do. Faith is taking what you know to be true, what is of utmost and eternal value to you, and living it out in every fiber of your existence.

God’s invitation to you, wherever you are on the faith continuum, is to move from knowledge to a day-by-day, moment-by-moment personal relationship with him.

In the 1850’s, a famous tightrope walker named George Blondin, for a publicity stunt, decided he would walk across Niagara Falls on a rope that had been stretched from one side of the falls to the other. Crowds lined up on both the Canadian and American side to watch this unbelievable feat. Blondin began to walk across—inch-by-inch, step-by-step and everybody knew that if he’d make one mistake he was a goner. He got to the other side and the crowd went wild.  Blondin said, “I’m going to do it again.”  And to the crowds delight, he did. Then, to everybody’s amazement, he crossed again, this time pushing a wheel-barrow full of dirt. He actually did this several times, and as he started to go across one last time, someone in the crowd said, “I believe you could do that all day.” 

Blondin dumped out the dirt and said, “Get into the wheelbarrow.” 

In a very real sense that’s what God is saying to you today.  Talk is cheap.  Get in the wheelbarrow of faith…And “you will be accepted and pleasing to me…and I will bless your life!” (James 1:25-27)

“Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.” ~Martin Luther

Reflect and Apply: What can you do today to put your faith into action?

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Give Thanks

“Be joyful always; pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

That’s what the Apostle Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 5:16-18. Be joyful—always! Be prayerful—always!  Be grateful—always! That’s quite a challenge, wouldn’t you agree?  In fact, I would say it is next to impossible to live that command out continually.  That is, unless you practice slowing to view all the reasons why God has given you to be joyful, prayerful and thankful—which is the genius of having a holiday like Thanksgiving.

There’s a chorus we used to sing in our church called Hallelujah, Thank You Lord.  The song has a line that says, “Who could ever list your miracles?  Who could praise you half enough?” 

That’s so true!  How can any of us narrow down all the many reasons we have for thanksgiving to just a few words? Yet whenever I begin to count the many blessings in my life—like family and friends and the fellowship of the church, prosperity and provision, health and wholeness, and so many other wonderful blessings that come in the form of people, things and experiences—I always come down to  this bottom line reason for my gratitude:

God’s grace and mercy in my life! 

That’s really the reason I’m most thankful.

In Lamentations 3:22, the prophet Jeremiah summed up this whole idea of grace and mercy in one of my favorite verses, where he wrote these words:

Because of the Lord’s great love 
we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness.

Think about it:  If it weren’t for the great love of the Lord, none of us would be able to sit at the Thanksgiving table with our loved ones to recount our reasons for gratitude.  That’s God’s mercy.  In his rich and unending mercy, God didn’t give us what we really deserve: judgment and complete separation from his presence.

So on the one hand, I’m sure thankful for what I don’t have, what I didn’t get, what I do really deserve: God’s wrath poured out on me.

On the other hand, I’m thankful for what I did get—and what I got is what I really didn’t deserve: God’s favor in the form of his love, his friendship, his protection and his provision both for this life and for the next.

Unlimited mercy and undeserved grace! I don’t think I’ll ever recover from that—and I don’t really want to.

And that’s why I am most grateful.

“Gratitude has been called the gateway to the virtues. As Cicero put it, ‘Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues, but the parent of all others,’ opening the heart to deeper appreciation, compassion, repentance, forgiveness, generosity and wisdom. Giving thanks should be cultivated as a habit. It is a kind of therapy for the spirit.” ~Bruce Chapman

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Angelic Admiration

Essential 100—Read:
I Peter 1:1-2:12

“Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!” (I Peter 1:12)

Even before the Good News was announced at Bethlehem’s manger and authenticated at Calvary’s cross, rumors were spreading in heaven’s court that something big was about to happen. The Triune God had kept his plans for the salvation of mankind a secret from all creation—and it was really bugging the heavenly hosts. They were itching to know!

Little by little, as the time drew near, God began to release bits and pieces of the Good News, but never in completed form. The angels periodically announced to humans that something really big was coming, and the prophets prophesied the birth, suffering and redemptive work of Christ long before it happened, but always as if seeing “through a glass darkly.”

Then it came! Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died as God’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind, and rose again as Lord of life, Savior of the world, and Ruler of the universe. But even then, the Good News was still a bit of a mystery to the heavenly beings (as it still is to the unsaved world), because the only beings who could truly grasp this mystery were the one’s who had been redeemed by it.

You see, only undeserving sinners who have been redeemed from sin and death can truly appreciate salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Angles can’t—they can’t be redeemed because they can’t sin. Only humans have the free will to choose this amazing gift of God—and when they do, the mystery is grasped.

All the angels could do was witness it longingly from afar. They witnessed it when Jesus was born, when he died, when he rose, and when you received Jesus as your Lord. They know it is glorious beyond comprehension. But they can’t quite get their angel brains around it—and they envy!

How great a salvation you and I enjoy! No other creature can experience the greatest gift that God has made available in his entire universe. No other being but mankind can take part in the most powerful miracle of all—bigger than the creation of the worlds, bigger than the parting of the Red Sea, bigger than any other sensational miracle in the Bible—and that is the miracle of the new birth. God’s best miracle took place when you were born again!

Don’t take for granted this great gift God has bestowed upon you! Every heavenly being longs to understand what is now yours. On this day, take some time to appreciate God for “so great a salvation, so rich and so free.”

 “There is no mystery in heaven or earth so great as this—a suffering Deity, an almighty Saviour nailed to a Cross.”  ~Samuel Zwermer

Reflect and Apply: Perhaps you might offer this prayer in response to so great a salvation: “Father God, forgive me for neglecting so great a salvation—for taking it, and you, for granted. Thank you for this indescribable gift. How privileged I am, above all your created beings, to be the recipient of this undeserved miracle.”