Got Prayer?

When we hear the word “prayer,” everyone has a picture of what this looks like. To some, it includes a special place and all kinds of ceremony, and to others it is less formal but set for “special” times. There are all kinds of ways to look at the action of praying, right? The dictionary defines prayer as this: “A devout petition to God or an object of worship.”

When it comes to prayer, our connotations of what it looks like are not really what matter most. What matters most is why we do it. If we are praying just to get what we think we want or need, we miss the point. Prayer is essentially the time we spend being conscious of being in the presence of God, and of desiring to know and love Him more each time.

This past weekend, and CHRISTmas Eve, we had a mesh tree set up where folks could insert their prayer requests. I prayed over, and through, each one this week. Regardless of each request, the one thing I know is that we all need prayer. We all have a desire to hear God speak into our situations and into our lives.

This was, and continues to be my prayer over these requests:

Father,

You know this person and this situation. They are a child of yours, created by you and for you. I ask that you would please hear this request, and I ask that they would hear your answer. You know us better than we know ourselves, and your answers are perfect. May we have the ears to hear and the hearts to receive your Word on this request, and may the power of the Holy Spirit’s presence be experienced in your response. Amen.

Sometimes the missed part of prayer is the expectation of an answer, and not just in the answer we want. But praying with knowledge that you have been heard, and God will not ignore you. Our part is simply to be ready and willing to hear His answer.

…just prayin’

In His Grip,

Pastor Pat

Consider The Source...

Does anyone remember Chicken Little? I typed Chicken Little into Google and got over 106 million hits… Let’s just say that there are a few variations of the story. Seems that a baby chicken (Chicken Little) convinced a duck and a hen, (in the version I read, it was Ducky Lucky and Henny Penny), that the sky was falling they needed to go tell the Lion. They met a fox, (Foxey Loxey), who tricked them into her den, and they never came out again.

Moral to the story? Seems like overreacting could be bad, and to not believe everything you hear. We pretty much all would agree with this idea of patience to reacting and investigating the truth of others statements, right? So why all the hype when another “end of the world” claim is made?

I think it comes down to fear. The fear of the unknown incites great emotion. So much so, we seem to go to great ends to remove it. No one has ever consistently predicted the future. But when an “end of the world” prediction comes along, it seems like everyone needs to respond. Some respond in extreme ways, and some not at all. We all hear the claims, but why are some taken more seriously than others? I believe the source of the claim matters, and when a new or somewhat strange one comes up, we seem to be all ears.

But what is the source of this recent claim? Has this source made other claims that have come true? Have all the previous claims by this source been 100% accurate? These are good questions to consider when we look to how we should respond to such claims, right?

Some sources have made predictions that have come true, but no one has ever had every prediction they made come true…no one, except one: God. God gave His Word to us, which contains prophecy, and every prophecy in God’s Word has come true so far. And everything else in the Bible is the same. The Bible has never been proven inaccurate or wrong in any of its historical accounts or predictions of the future. Now to me, that sounds like a credible source.

So instead of worrying if the end is near, why not look to the manger as a reminder of a beginning, and the answer to the question about what we can, could, or would do about the future – nothing. Tomorrow is coming, and no matter what we do it will come. Christmas is a reminder of someone who can guide us to the future…the “Babe”, “The Messiah”, “The Christ”; who grew up and taught us about such things.

Jesus said the most important matter was to keep watch and be prepared, ending his “little apocalypse” teaching in Matthew 24 with the parable of the 10 virgins, the parable of the talents and the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25).

And as for hope, the Psalmist writes: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (Psalm 46:1-4, NIV).

The real question then should not be whether or not the end will happen, but whether or not it will be met with faith in the living God. As the late Chuck Colson wrote, “Christians know that God is working out His purposes in history, and that faith removes all anxieties.” 

Crazy things happen in this crazy world, and people do crazy things for all kinds of crazy reasons. Maybe someone will do something crazy tomorrow, and use the “end of the world’ as his or her excuse for doing it. Plan accordingly so that you feel some sense of safety, but as for me, I am planning for another day in God's hands.

…just prayin’

In His Grip,

Pastor Pat

The Temptations of FEAR...

The word fear is not a “feel-good” word in itself, is it? This morning, I started thinking about some things that I am afraid of. Besides a healthy fear of snakes, and I have strong Biblical evidence they can’t be trusted and should be feared, I think I am really afraid of things happening that are out of my control. Like cars breaking down, getting into an accident, or sickness; stuff like that. I guess it’s really the fear of the unknown. Fear is not bad in itself; I guess fear is bad only in how we respond to it. Think about it – fear is real, and it demands a real response, but the fear does not control our response, we do.

We can use our fears and respond to make safe decisions, or let our fears keep us from experiencing some great things. We all have fears. Some are bigger than others. Some fears can be healthy, and some fears are not. Fearing a ticket, is good reason to slow down while driving, but being so afraid of getting a ticket one refuses to drive, can be a problem.

So, our fears are not the problem, our response is, and where we put our fears controls our response. If we put them in front of us, and give them priority, they can and will, be all we see, and they will control our response, tempting us to react to them, instead of acting on them. And as a point of clarification, “freezing” is a reaction – refusing to act is an act, refusing to choose is a choice, just so we are clear.

But what if, instead of letting fear tempt us to react in a bad or unhealthy way, we could let fear move us to positive action, using the fear for our good? Instead of weighing us down, we could use it as something to help us up? What if?

Psalm 55:22 (NKJV)
“Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

Our response to fear is either based on our feelings about the fear, or our trust in God. Give our fears to God? Absolutely, because they weigh us down, and I am certain He can carry much more than any of us ever could.

I am not saying not to be afraid anymore, just to have respect for your fears, and know what you want to do with them. That way, when fear presents itself, we need to, (not just should), turn to God. God is aware of everything; nothing has escaped His notice, right? If this is true, then we can trust Him wherever we are, and with however much fear we have, and continue to move forward. Trusting God doesn’t mean we have no more fears moving forward, but that we can move forward in spite of our fears.

After all, nothing healthy simply stands still.

…just prayin’

In His Grip,

Pastor Pat

Who's First?

Life is busy, and it seems to only be getting busier. Urgent, rules our lives, doesn't it? We live from one event to the next, and it seems to be never ending. The worst thing is that everyone seems to have more urgent stuff than YOU! So on the list of people who need attention, you are on the bottom...anyone feel like this?

We know what we want, and/or feel we need. Because, after all, who better to know what we want or need for ourselves, than ourselves, right? Although this is a totally natural feeling, it is totally wrong. I am not saying that we don't ever get it right, but most of the time, what we think is best for us, really is just what think will feel best for us. Yet our feelings can't always be trusted, right? Ever remember feeling like you had to have a certain fashion style in an outfit or hairstyle? Enough said.

Why do we seem to think we totally know best, and then end up blowing it? Look at what Paul said about this:

"For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing." Romans 7:19.

When it comes to doing the wrong thing, most of us have Phd. level experience from the school of hard knocks. So why is this? Simple - we broke design. God designed man to be in relationship with God. God set down the guidelines, and all man had to do, was follow them. We know how that worked out, and we have been suffering the consequences of this internal desire to do things our way ever since.

So how do we get back on the right track? Get back to the design, and the best way to understand the purpose of a design, is to ask the designer. His Words have the answers to those questions. So, when it comes to setting right priorities, God tells us clearly what and who should come first, and what it looks like lived out, here and now:

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Philippians 2:3.

Think about this: When it comes to your life, you are not what is most important, you are what is most important to God. So instead of looking at everyone else as getting their way, and everything coming at you as roadblocks or obstacles to getting what you really want or deserve, look at them all as being from God. If you do this, you can no longer be angry at anyone, or mad at a situation or circumstance, but humbly appreciate what God has given you, and what He is doing for you. This then enables us to experience the joy of knowing we are right where God has us...right where we are supposed to be.

So who's first? God. And when He is in His rightful place in our lives, our lives get right.

...just prayin'

In His Grip,

Pastor Pat