Answering Prayers

Have you ever known a non-Christian to pray to God for something during a time of crisis in their lives? How often does God seem to answer those prayers? How do those people react when their prayer seems to go unanswered? What, specifically, were they praying for?

My guess is, yes, hardly ever, as if they expected nothing, and for some specific thing that they really wanted at that moment (usually material things or a particular relationship or job).

This is a popular excuse for people to disown God. They claim that their prayers go unanswered. Yet, are they truly praying for the right things? How is their relationship with God? Is this just a random shout-out to a God that they only hope (for that moment) maybe actually exists?

I’ll preface this the way Jesus so often did….”Have you not read…”

¹ Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
² But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
³ For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
Isaiah 59:1-3

In Psalm 4:1, the psalmist (presumably David who is described as “a man after God’s own heart) starts of by asking for his prayer to be heard. He doesn’t assume it will be. Though I do think he believes it will be. That, to make a distinction, is different than expecting.

Next, he writes about how ungodly men view his faith. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:18. They cling feverishly to their disbelief (and, incidentally, accuse those who cling to their faith just as fervently as “fanatics” or worse) and continue to seek something that will allow them to continue in sin without having to be held accountable for it.

But the author tells them to search their hearts. It seems David, like Paul in Romans 1:20, knew that the evidence of the Creator was obvious to everyone. He knows that if they search their hearts, they’ll be aware of God’s existence and then they’ll have to answer to Him. I guess they figure if they disbelieve, they won’t be held accountable. Well, I guess people can be wrong about all sorts of things, can’t they?

He implores them not to ignore this knowledge and to turn to the Lord. Even if it’s in the privacy of their homes, while lying in their beds he asks them to “search your hearts and be silent” so that the truth can be revealed to them.

Finally, in Psalm 4:6-8, he contrasts the doubt and reliance on worldly things with his own reliance on God and how his trust in the Lord gives him peace and rest.

So, if you want your prayers to be heard, first of all…ask! Second, be obedient. God likes obedience. It grabs His attention much more than disobedience…especially when you’re looking for favorable attention.

What areas are you obedient/disobedient in? Have you had God answer your prayers? Please let us know about them.

Grace, love and peace.

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Re-Post: What's Your Idol

Here it is, once again. Unedited and in its original form...a re-post from the old blog as I continue to clean it out in order to eventually decommission that blog. Enjoy.

The First Commandment tells us to take no gods before the Lord God. When it is put so succinctly and explicitly, most of us would probably say that we are in obedience with this commandment. But, disobedience is not always quite as obvious as we think it is.

If someone were to ask you what god you worship, most people who profess a believe in a supreme being would say that they worship God. For the large majority of Americans, this would be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It would be the God of the Bible. But the Bible gives us some very profound insight as to who or what we are truly worshiping.

According to the First Commandment, found in Exodus 20:3...

You shall have no other gods before me.

The Bible teaches us that God needs to be the central focal point of our lives. He is not only the means, He is then end. We are to serve Him and Him alone. As it says in Matthew 6:33, we are to seek His kingdom and His righteousness and He will give us the things we need.

But so often, it is so easy to put other things first. So often we do not even realize that we are putting something other than God in a higher position than God Himself. This is not anything new, this has been going on for thousands of years.

Take, for example, the Pharisees. When confronted with the signs that Jesus was performing, which clearly pointed to Him as being the Messiah, how did they react? When Jesus went so far as to bring Lazarus back from the dead in John 11, they said in verse 48...

"If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

So, what was their god? Position and political status! Their nation was placed higher on their list than God. Here was the Christ, sent by God Himself. But the Pharisees did not trust in God and instead clung to their positions so tightly that, as it says in verse 53, they started plotting Jesus' death!

If you would have asked these Pharisees who was their god, they would have told you that they followed the Living God, the One God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who led them out of Egypt and gave them the land of Israel. They would have said that. They probably even would have believed it. But, as we saw from verse 48, He was not truly their God. Not in the sense that the First Commandment talks about.

What about us, today? How often do little things take precedence over God? How often does a headache keep us from going to church? Or we choose to sleep in because it was a long week? Or we get invited to do something with family and/or friends. Church gets skipped so easily.

I know that I am just as guilty as anyone else. Sometimes, perhaps, I will try to justify it by saying that it was someone else's fault or that I did not have a choice. But that is not really true. Every week that I do not go to church, it is because I chose not to. There is nobody to blame but me. Just my own weakness.

What about Bible study? Who has the time? There is so much to do. We are so busy. By the time we get to bed, it is later than we expected and we just cannot stay up for another 15 minutes to read His Word?! Would you be able to stay up for 15 more minutes if your wife offered to make love to you? Would you be able to stay up for 15 more minutes if your husband was talking with you and opening up his heart to you? Would you be able to stay up for 15 more minutes if your child was sick?

Then, why not give God that same level of respect? Why not just spend 15 minutes reading His Word. It could be the very most important 15 minutes of your day, or even your life!

What other things are there that keep you from God? What things do you choose in your life that cause you to be so busy that something has to be sacrificed...and the first thing that gets cut from the list is time with God? What is it for you?

God deserves everything we have got. In fact, whatever it is we have got, we got it from Him in the first place. Every breath we take is a gift from Him. It happens because He wills it to happen. If you knew and understood that your very existence is completely dependent on the fact that He wills you to exist, what else could ever possibly be more important than Him?

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The Final Say

It is interesting to me how often skeptics will try to use certain tactics to shake the faith of believers. While I’m not entirely certain why they feel it’s necessary to do so, some of them put a lot of time and energy into it.

A popular tactic is to convince us that we are “beyond redemption.” For any of you who, like me, have “a past,” you may know what I’m talking about. If it wasn’t a skeptic who tried to convince you that you weren’t saving, often times it might have been you.

¹ O LORD , how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
² Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."
Psalm 3:1-2

If you buy into this, it can rock your world, spiritually speaking. And, if you’re in a phase where you’ve heard this from someone, or are thinking it yourself, think again. No man or woman is in a position to decide who gets saved and who does not. There is only One who can make that call.

³ But you are a shield around me, O LORD ;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
⁴ To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah
⁵ I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
⁶ I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
Psalm 3:3-6

God decides who is and is not beyond salvation. Not you. Not me. Not the Pope. Not a Bible-thumper on a street corner shouting out scripture and threatening everyone with eternal damnation. God has the final say.

⁸ From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Psalm 3:8

If deliverance comes from the Lord, then shouldn’t it be up to Him whom He chooses to deliver? Just look at some of the people He chose to save. Adulterers, murderers, thieves, crooked business men, prostitutes, slaves. The list goes on and on. And if you were to have known some of these people, you probably would not have imagined that they would ever be saved. But God saved them.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re beyond salvation. Don’t let yourself be convinced that you’re not worth saving. God saves all who accept His Son, Jesus. No matter how bad you think you are, you can still do that. And that is all that is required.

Grace, love and peace.

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Re-Post: Creator and Sustainer

Here is a post I did on my old blog after listening to a podcast from Dr. William Lane Craig. As usual, this is re-posted in it's original form with no editing, splicing or otherwise monkeying around with the original post. Enjoy.

How many times have we heard about God being the creator and sustainer of the universe and all creation? I know, speaking for myself, it has been more than a few times.

Recently, while listening to a Defenders podcast by Dr. William Lane Craig, he talked about God as creator and sustainer. But this time, the way he put it really caused me to the think about Him as the sustainer quite differently. And, as I thought about this new perspective (to me, anyway) of what it means for Him to sustain all of creation, it was a pretty amazing revelation!

Dr. Craig mentioned that, not only did God create the universe, but that all created things continue to exist as a direct result of His willing it to do so. Therefore, if He were to simply stop willing the universe to exist (if He stopped thinking about every single created thing) it would instantly cease to exist. Wow!

So, essentially, the proposition here is that God specifically and explicitly wills the continued existence of every, single created thing in the entire universe. That includes me! That also includes you! Every moment of every day, God explicitly wills you and I to continue to exists. This is not just some general thought, as if God was willing the creation as a whole to continue. He literally wills each individual particle of matter to exist each and every moment.

Now, for someone like me who has a tendancy to be a smart-alec, I start thinking things like, "What if God got distracted for a moment? Would we all just be gone? Would we just continue where we left off when He came back to thinking about us? Or would everything have to start over again?"

All joking aside, though, this is a mighty significant concept. That's a whole lot of stuff to be paying attention to. If nothing else, that should give us quite a sense of humility!

Job makes reference to this in Job 7:17-18.

Imagine a God who loves you so much that there is not a single moment that goes by that He not only thinks about you, but even specifically and explicitly wills your existence! How could anyone, realizing this, not spend his entire life serving Him?
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The Futility of Skepticism

Over the last year or two, I've gotten into many discussions, debates, conversations and dialogues regarding faith. One of the issues that I have always had with skeptics is the fact that, without God, there can be no purpose for life and therefore no hope. It is a dull, hopeless, helpless and futile way to live.

Psalm 2 seems to address this futility very well. Right at the beginning, starting at Psalm 2:1, the psalmist gets right to the fact that this type of life is certainly futile. No time is wasted beating around the bush here. Take a look:

¹ Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the LORD
and against his Anointed One.
³ "Let us break their chains," they say,
"and throw off their fetters."
Psalm 2:1-3

As you can see, the “kings of the earth” are teamed up to refute God and everything He stands for. This begs the question, “Why do they do this?” That is a very valid and, I believe, important question.

To answer this question, take a look a Psalm 2:3. It seems clear that a great deal of the reason behind this disregard of God and His existence, creation, love, grace, salvation, etc. is because many skeptics seem to view Christianity (as well as other faiths such as Judaism or Islam) as merely a set of rules that tie them down and don’t allow them to call the shots for themselves. It’s an issue of pride, really.

People in general, both secular and otherwise, seem inclined to want to be in control. Our society loves the concept of the “rugged individual.” Just look at the types of movies that are popular. They often revolve around a single protagonist who single-handedly overcomes enormous odds to defeat a powerful enemy.

Sometimes, perhaps, it’s not a single hero, but a small group. But the concept remains the same. Even in these group scenarios, each person in the group has a specific, unique contribution to the success of the team. Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with the concept of teaming people together with complimentary skills to achieve a desired goal. But, in Hollywood, it is still each individual’s skill and power that delivers the result.

How does God react to this? Psalm 2:4 tells us that He scoffs and laughs at this. God already knows how the story ends. He is not intimidated by people posturing and trying to claim any kind of authority. In fact, many of these people unwittingly contribute to bring about God’s plan. Just look at Nebuchadnezzar.

What I love about this is that, even with the abject rebellion against Him, God is still full of grace and gives ample opportunity for repentance. This psalm ends like this…

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
¹¹ Worship the LORD with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
¹² Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
Psalm 2:10-12 (NASB)

The psalmist pleads with these leaders to open their eyes, repent and recognize God for what He is. He is trying to get them to recognize the truth so that they would know God, know His Son and be spared.

Thus is God’s heart for us.

⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

God is patient, but at some point, that patience will run it’s course and we will be judged. Are you covered?

Grace, love and peace.

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Guest Post: American Desensitization

Good day to you all. Once again, I would invite you to take a look at a guest post on my friend’s Jesus Site. This post has to do with American entertainment and how the media continually pushes the limits of what is acceptable behavior so that we are more and more desensitized to lower and lower moral values.

Some examples I call out are some of the hot television shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen” and “The Apprentice.” Take a look and let me know what you think.

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Re-Post: Does God Change His Mind?

Here is another re-post from my old blog site. Once again, this has been brought forth from the other site un-edited and un-changed. Enjoy!

Reading through a friends blog recently, he had written about the apparent contrast between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. I won't get into what he wrote there as you can read it on your own here.

This got me thinking about some other things that seem different between the OT and the NT. Some of them I had a difficult time with when I first began studying the Bible.

Remember how it used to be "an eye for an eye...?" And how so many of the "heroes" of the OT practiced polygamy? Or how Israel had all these laws that they had to follow?

If you're like me, you've probably asked what happened to all that stuff in the NT? I mean, if I didn't know any better, I might think that God changed His mind! Well, not to worry. He is the same today, yesterday and forever. What has changed is man.

One thing that God is very good at is knowing where we are at any given time. Not just with regard to our physical or geographic location, but with our relationship with Him or others. And He never lets us see all of the areas in our lives that need to be fixed. Only He knows all of the areas that we are flawed.

But, He allows us to see glimpses of what is broken in us so that we can work, by His grace, to fix them. In the Old Testament, He knew that if He held them to the higher standard of forgiveness that Jesus eventually taught, they would have felt like they would never be able to do that. That's why He, for the time being, put a "rule" or "law" in place to keep people from taking more vengeance than they should. That's where the "eye for and eye..." comes in.

The people of the time could get out of control with how they would avenge wrongs done to them. God understood this and moved them in the direction that He wanted them to move in by allowing them to take revenge, but limiting it to the degree that the person was wronged. This way, if someone stole another man's goat, the victim would not then go and murder the thief and his entire family. (Perhaps a bit exaggerated, but you get the point.)

Eventually, as God continued to mold and shape His followers, regardless of the fact that they were obstinate and "stiff-necked" much the time, by the time Jesus arrived on the scene, it was time to raise the bar. And Jesus did exactly that. He raised the standard in order to keep His people striving to do more and do better.

What about Polygamy?

Certainly, nobody is going to argue that many of the "heroes" of the Old Testament had multiple wives. And, yes, the Bible does refer to this practice. And, no, the authors of these books do not condemn the practice of polygamy. So, does that mean it was OK?

The answer would be a resounding "No!"

While the authors of books such as Genesis, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, etc. did not condemn polygamy, neither did they condone it! Look further into the Old Testament scriptures and notice the references to "the wife of your youth."

Proverbs 5:18 - Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

Malachi 2:14 - "Yet you say, `For what reason?' Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

Malachi 2:15 - "But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

These are a couple of examples of this phrase. And I'm convinced that the "wife of your youth" is a reference to the first wife. So, in a sense, the Old Testament does rebuke the practice of polygamy. Otherwise, the references would be to "your wife or wives." But it doesn't say that. It uses "wife" as singular. It includes "of your youth" probably as a reference to the wife you first married when you were young. Remember, most of these people were married somewhat young and, those that had multiple wives, typically were older when they began to take additional wives.

The long and the short of it is, God doesn't change. He sometimes changes the standard He holds us to as we continue to progress and move closer to Him. He may continually raise the bar, but He doesn't change. One way to think of it is that He is jut accomodating us.

So, before assuming that God is different in the Old Testament versus the New Testament, this will hopefully give you something to consider.
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