Confident praying.

I wonder how often you "pray"! Many do - but only in an emergency, or when they want something. I recall, when I was in the British Merchant Navy, and it had become known that I was a Christian, one fellow crew-member asking me to pray that such and such a horse would win a particular race, as he had bet a large sum of money on this happening! I may have been still very young in my faith, but even I knew that this was not the purpose of prayer!

John, in his first letter (see my book "Defending the Faith") writes: "And this is the confidence which we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us." (5:14). This is the classic conditional promise. Confidence in prayer is tied directly to the qualifier: "according to His will"!

It is, therefore, important that we "understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:17).

Many surveys have verified that most people pray. However, all of those studies note that a good portion of the prayers are directed toward an unknown “higher power.” It may seem obvious, but the first requirement for coming under the will of Almighty God is to “believe in the Name of His Son, Jesus the Christ” (1 John 3:23). Before God will respond positively to our “petitions,” we must be “born anew” (John 3:3).

 

Jesus was once asked what the greatest command was. His response, quoting from Deuteronomy 6, was: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). That internal and invisible love of the heart is expressed by obedience to the commandments that God has given. John records it this way: “this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (I John 5:3).

Thus, a simple formula appears. If we obey what God has commanded us (starting with faith in the saving work of Christ), then we are assured that God will hear us when we pray. Once our confidence is secured, we can know that God will respond to what we desired from Him. The psalmist states the formula like this: “Take delight in YHWH, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4). 

A new believer in a fellowship to which I once belonged, came to the meeting, very excited! He had just discovered that very verse. He quickly informed us of the "desires of his heart" for which he had asked. He had to have the clear condition pointed out to him - and also the fact that we need to ask in accordance with His will!

You wish to experience His answers - be they "Yes", "No", or "Wait"? Then delight in Him, and keep His commandments.

Charlie was not alone!

In my last English language post, I paid my personal tribute to the late Charlie Kirk - that fine young man of only 31 years of age, who was assassinated as he debated with University students in the State of Utah.

I have no idea as to exactly how much comment his assassination generated, but it was certainly a lot! However, as I typed that last post, I kept thinking of the murder of so many other people who are rarely mentioned, but who, like Charlie Kirk, are killed because they are disciples of the Lord Jesus. In their cases, that is all. No political aspect to "muddy the waters". They include young men, old men, young women, old women, and children. In their cases, the females, young and old, are often raped before they are murdered.

I am, of course, referring to what is generally known as "the persecuted church". According to the organisation Open Doors, almost 4,500 disciples of Jesus were killed, for their faith, last year.

This figure could well be exceeded for this year. It was on Sunday, 7th September, that Militant Fulani herders attacked two villages in northwest Nigeria’s Kaduna state earlier this month, killing eight Christians and wounding nine others. Local resident Timothy Kimbe said herdsmen attacked Wakeh and Gadanaji villages in Kachia county in the early hours of that day. In neighbouring Plateau state herdsmen have attacked 11 villages in the Qua’an Pan area, burning more than 30 houses and displacing at least 300 Christians, since late August, sources said.

On the following day, another series of brutal attacks took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At least 100 Christians have been killed, with hundreds more kidnapped.

Dozens were killed on Monday, 8th September, while attending a funeral in Ntoyo village, in North Kivu, in the east of the country. “They arrived and started killing. At this funeral place, they coldly murdered 26 Christians,” said Rev. Mbula Samaki. “Those who tried to flee were shot dead and others were killed with machetes.”  The devastating attack was carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an extremist Islamist group with links to so-called Islamic State.

Across the community, dozens more believers were killed in the same way over the course of two days. Rev. Mbula told an Open Doors local partner in a phone call: “The casualty count, as of now, stands at more than 70 Christians killed, at least 100 kidnapped, 16 houses, eight motorbikes and two vehicles burnt. It is horrible.” 

Pastor Paluku Nzalamingi, parish priest of Manguredjipa, shared with local news what he saw of the aftermath: “Women on mattresses in the living room… others in the corridor, still others outside in the plot. Some bodies are on the road, in plots close to the centre of Ntoyo. I was unable to count them. Most of them were shot dead.” 

The next morning the terrorist struck again in a nearby community, this time targeting Christian farmers. “The ADF arrived in Potodu,” says Pastor Paluku. “With machetes, they killed Christian farmers who were camped in their farms and those who were returning. It is a night of sadness and desolation for Christians.”At least 30 farmers were killed, though the true death toll may be even higher.

These are just two of the fifty, or so countries in which persecution takes place, to some extent, on a regular basis. Yet, these incidents never make the main news outlets in "the west"! If you are a praying person, please pray for those who suffer in these ways - simply because they own the Name of the Lord Jesus.

Charlie Kirk - a tribute

It was as I was preparing the post for my French-language blog that went out last Sunday, that I heard the news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Like so many more around the world, I was both shocked and saddened, and tears welled up in my eyes. Why? I had never met this young man - 31 one years of age when he was murdered. I had never been at one of the events that he had hosted in so many university campuses. However, I had often heard him speak as I watched YouTube videos taken at many of those events, and had been greatly impressed by his knowledge, his unapologetic testimony to Jesus as his Saviour and Lord, and his calm demeanour in the face of many attempts to rile him. He was known for his political debate, passion for sharing Christ, and support for Israel.

On the day following his assassination, I started to read, again, the book of the prophet Jeremiah. As is my custom, I lifted down a couple of commentaries from my bookshelves, that I might benefit from the words of those who understand much more than I. One of those was a Scripture Union book from many years ago, written by Rev A.E.Cundall. In the introduction to Jeremiah, I read these words: "The prophet Jeremiah ... was an exceedingly courageous man. Called to an extremely difficult task, that of proclaiming God's judgement upon an unresponsive,apostate Judah, he stuck to his task for forty years in spite of popular resentment, which sometimes took violent forms. A lesser man would have given in long before this. Jeremiah had an especial heartache, for he was every inch a patriot; he loved his people and it grieved him to see them inching towards the disaster which he foresaw so clearly, but to which they were so blind."

I would suggest that that description would, to a very large extent, fit Charlie Kirk. 

Last Sunday's French blog post was based on II Tim.2:24 - "And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher," (emphasis added). I had shared the road that I had been obliged to travel before entering the teaching profession, here in Scotland, and made the point that disciples of Jesus don't have to follow such a path, but that we should all be teachers in our own way - teaching the Gospel message by word and action.

Those words of Paul to Timothy applied to Charlie Kirk. He withdrew from university studies after one year because he had quickly recognised that he was not being educated, but indoctrinated. Yet, he had a wealth of information at his fingertips, including an apparently encyclopaedic knowledge of God's written Word, that I wish I could match. He was certainly "an apt teacher".

Let those of us who pray, seek to uphold his widow, Erika, and their two young children, before the throne of grace.

I want to write more, but that would make this post unacceptably long, so I'll leave that until next time. Be sure to read!

How to Know the Will of God.

Maybe it's an age thing, but I find myself, more and more, thinking of my life as a much younger person! One of the organisations to which I belonged was the Boys' Brigade - a Christian organisation for young lads. In my day I started in the Lifeboys, and moved on to the older group, where I was privileged to hold every rank apart from Sergeant, and Captain (and including, of course, Chaplain!).

One of the Bible quotations that was impressed upon me in those far-off days was: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths." (Prov.3:5-6). Of course, in the 1950s, we learned it in the AV translation: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”  Just for the record, the other important verse that was committed to memory was: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Thy word." (Ps.119:9.) 

The key to knowing God’s will is willingness and determination to follow it before knowing it. “... if any man’s will is to do His will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God ...” (John 7:17).

 

The best indicator as to whether one is really willing to follow God’s will, of course, is whether or not he is now following that part of His will which is already known, as revealed in His Word. This requires first knowing and believing, and then obeying, the Word, especially those portions dealing with God’s general will for all Christians. “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105). Then, if one indeed is following the revealed will of God, he may ask in confidence: "And this is the confidence which we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him." (1 John 5:14-15). Further, we may ask the Lord to indicate His will in a specific matter on which there is no explicit Biblical teaching: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." (James 1:5-6).

 

God will then answer, though it may not be immediately. “... He told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1). It may not be in accordance with our preferences or personal judgment, but it will always be for the ultimate best. “... for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And He who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are the called according to His purpose."  (Romans 8:26-28).

 

God will lead in two ways in the absence of specific Scripture guidance (which must always take precedence, of course). One is by providential circumstances, the other by inner witness of the Spirit, and these two must agree. Then, if all the terms have been met, we should proceed to follow God’s will as best we can, knowing that God will redirect us if we have made a mistake. God does want us to know His will, and He will “direct our paths.”

Grace, Faith, and Works.

 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph.2:8-9).

This is, quite possibly, one of the most frequently quoted statements in the New Testament, after John 3:16. It deals with three essential aspects of the Christian Faith - grace; faith; and works. That faith (or belief, it's the same Greek word) in the substitutionary work of Jesus, the Christ, on the cross, is essential to salvation (see John 3:15-18, etc.). But faith does not stop there; it grows as a disciple of Jesus matures. Let us look at some of the characteristics of a growing faith in God.

One who has accepted God's gracious offer of forgiveness and salvation, one who, by faith, has found God trustworthy, comes to trust Him and His promises in other areas as well. Paul, who had been sorely persecuted for his faith, claimed, "I am not ashamed, for I know Whom I have believed, and I am sure that He is able to guard until that Day what I have entrusted to Him." (II Timothy 1:12). God will faithfully fulfill His promises, and we can have faith that He will.

The great heroes of faith, some of whom are listed in Hebrews 11, all had one thing in common. They dared to trust God for great things, even impossible things, and moved out on that basis. Consider Joshua: "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days." (Heb.11:30). Joshua was confronted with an impossible problem, but dared to trust God for a solution.

Then there is the mature faith which can "rest in YHWH, and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7) in the face of hardship and opposition. "For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for YHWH shall possess the land." (v. 9).

But, as James reminds us: "What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." (2:14-17). Some try to suggest that James and Paul were "at odds" with one another. Nothing could be further from the truth! Read on from those words at the head of this post! "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph.2:10). 

So, we are saved, by grace, through faith, for good works.

At every stage of our lives as disciples of Jesus, Father God allows us opportunities to exercise and expand our faith. Remember, "without faith it is impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:6).