Day #11: “Praying Together” (MK)
Yesterday, Joe ended the devotional with an analogy that explored the spiritual stability that comes from praying together. Four "boys in the boat" is less likely to tip. In the Scripture reading below, we see that Jesus attached great power to unified prayer. In other words, the boys in the boat are not only more stable, but they have harnessed a far greater power through their combined activity. The analogy continues... Matthew 18:19-20 “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. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” There are particular promises given for prayers said in a group. Of course, we can pray on our own and we believe God will hear those prayers. But, there is a particular emphasis in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, about the connection between spiritual power and Christian unity. Previously, we have talked about the practical concerns of praying together and intentionality in asking for others to pray together. Today, we want to think a little more about the theology beneath corporate prayer.* In the Scripture for today, Jesus attaches a powerful promise to prayers which “two people on earth agree on.” He then attaches the reason for that promise. Jesus dwells in the midst of his people, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Again, we want to recognize that we can have fellowship with Jesus on our own. But New Testament spirituality places great emphasis on presence of the Holy Spirit among a plurality of believers. Why is this the case? The first reason relates to God, himself. In the beginning of the Bible, Adam is told that it is not good for man to be alone. We are made for relationship. There seems to be a logical connection in the opening chapters of Genesis between our need for relationship and the character of God. Humans are made in God’s image. That is, we are made to represent God to the rest of his creation. But God is relational within himself. From all of eternity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit have lived in perfect loving harmony. Because God is eternally triune, it is possible to say that God is love. God did not become loving after he created lovable stuff. He has always been loving, because he is relational within himself – within the Trinity. Jesus opened a window into this reality when he said that the Father had loved from before the creation of the world (John 17:24.) Yesterday, we talked about praying with the grain, when we prayed in a Trinitarian way. Another way to “pray with the grain” is to agree with others in prayer, so that we reflect the relational character of God. A second reason that agreeing in prayer is important is that it is hard. It is not easy to agree with people on things. It takes lots of work, talking… and listening. It requires humility for us to open ourselves up to others and reveal our need for prayer. It is also humbling to set aside our agenda and listen while others explain what they want to pray for. I think you can see that all of this is really good for our spirituality. The humility of admitting we need prayer puts us in a really good position to appeal to God’s mercy (James 4:6-10.) The patience of bearing with others in their requests cultivates love. The actions of meeting together, communicating with each other, and seeking to agree in prayer can be used by God to remind us that we are finite creatures in need of big mercy from our Creator. How can you make the time and create the space so that you can pray with others? What are things that you need to humble yourself and ask for prayer about? What are the needs of people around you that you can agree with and lift up to the Lord? *”Corporate” means “body.” Christians use the word to describe the things that they do together, because the gathered church is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12.) We may talk about “corporate worship” or “corporate prayer.” Neither of these things are related to other modern uses of the term corporate which are related to the business world. (The background connection is that “corporate” in a business sense is a business that is given legal rights to act as a person in certain areas. For example, a corporation can own things or purchase insurance. City Reformed is a non-profit corporation which does both of those things with the full recognition of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.) Day #10: "Jesus our Mediator" (Joe Staley)
Our focus during this period is prayer. While that word is not included in these few verses or even in the several paragraphs leading to these verses, there are two key ideas presented here that enable our prayers: Mediation and confidence. Mediation is not a commonly used idea, and confidence is widely used but not easily adopted. Please slowly read the verses below, and then we will look at both ideas. Hebrews 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Like prayer, the word Mediator is not used here, but the idea is implicit in the role of a high priest. In a business sense, a mediator is usually an experienced and impartial third party who is able to see both sides of a situation and help the disagreeing parties to reach a resolution. Although we tend to think of a priest as a Catholic cleric, the broader meaning is an intermediary or mediator who enables us (sinners) to communicate with God. Westminster Shorter Catechism Question#25 says that Jesus as Priest, offers himself as a sacrifice for us, reconciles us to God, and intercedes for us. Jesus truly is our connection to God the Father – which is a key aspect of prayer. Jesus is not just “able to see both sides” but he has faced every temptation that we face – He knows how we are tempted, yet without sin. That sure knowledge is a source of confidence. Confidence is the second idea presented in these verses. If you have talked to me for more than a few minutes, you know that I am an avid rower. Not a good rower, but one who appreciates the opportunity to be out on the river, getting good exercise and seeing God’s creation from a unique perspective. A person can row by themselves, in what is called a “single” or can row in a boat with up to eight rowers. My preference is usually to row in a boat with four rowers. The reason is confidence. In a single, the rower is totally responsible to take all of the necessary actions to keep the boat upright. With four rowers, each one doing their part to stay stable, you get the benefits of rowing with much less of a fear of going for a swim in the river. For me, that sense of confidence that I have with four rowers is analogous to the confidence I should have in prayer. With Jesus as our mediator, we can approach the throne of grace confidently, making our requests known to God. At the same time, our approach should be with the respect that comes from our humble recognition that we are able to pray only by the grace of God. Our confidence should not be brash or self-righteous but be based on thankful and humble recognition of Jesus’ work as our high priest. My example of rowing may not resonate with you, but the idea of a group of four rowers working together to stay upright and go fast may be an encouragement for groups of us to pray together, confidently approaching the throne of grace. As we continue our focus on prayer, please remember two things. We can be thankful for Jesus in his work as prophet, priest, and King, which enables us to pray. We can encourage one another to pray consistently and confidently. Day #9: “Trinitarian Prayer” (MK)
Galatians 4:4-7 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. People can get stuck on the doctrine of the Trinity, thinking of it as abstract pondering. Granted it is hard to pin down what we mean when we say that God is one substance (one God) in three persons. Admittedly, looking directly at the doctrine of the Trinity is hard. But looking through the doctrine of the Trinity illuminates the meaning of Scripture. Galatians 4:4-7 is a rich Trinitarian passage of Scripture. It does not give us a working definition of the Trinity, but in it we see all three persons of the Trinity at work in perfect harmony. The Father sends the Son, who does the work of redemption. The Father adopts those who have been redeemed and sends the Spirit to assist them in prayer. Let me say that again… the Spirit assists us in prayer. Prayer is a deeply Trinitarian activity. In particular, the Spirit is called by Paul the “Spirit of the Son.” And when the Spirit works in us, he makes the life of Jesus come alive in us. In other words, the work of the Spirit is to make us like Jesus. Of all the things the Paul could tell us about being formed into the image of Christ, first on the list is prayer. While on earth, Jesus described his life as perfect communion and communication with the Father. Regarding prayer, he said, “I know that you (God the Father) always hear me (John 11:42.)” Jesus, was living out in human form the relationship that he has always known as the eternal Son of God throughout all eternity. And now, the Holy Spirit begins to form that same connection in us. We experience through adoption, the type of relationship that Jesus had with God the Father…we are sons, with all the rights and privileges. And in the power of the Spirit we begin to act line sons. In particular, we have the privilege of praying to our Father and being heard. There is more to be said on this subject, but let’s step back and once again look at the big picture. What we see in Galatians 4 is found in other places in the NT. The pattern of prayer is Trinitarian in structure. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Luke 11:2) he taught them to say, “Father.” He also taught them to ask “in his name” (John 15:16.) And now we see that the Spirit assists us in prayer. This is wonderful news! While prayer is simple, it can often feel hard to focus and engage well. The good news is that God, himself, meets us at every point in prayer. God the Father is the object of our prayers, God the Son is the mediator who makes our prayers acceptable, and God the Spirit is working in us to help us to pray. We pray to God the Father, through the mediation of Jesus, in the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit. While it is not strictly wrong to pray to Jesus or even to the Holy Spirit (and we see a few examples in the NT), in general it is great to reinforce this Trinitarian structure in our prayer. This is what theologian Fred Sanders* calls, “praying with the grain of Scripture.” In doing so, we are reminded that we have divine assistance at every point of the process. May this divine power assist you today as you meet with the Lord in prayer. *The Deep Things of God, by Fred Sanders is a wonderful book on the Trinity. It is a very readable book which combines theological precision with practical application. Day #8: "Bring Anything and Everything to God and Find Peace" (Luke Kephart)
A special thanks to Luke Kephart for writing today's blog. Luke is one of our newest elders and the first contributor beyond myself. (MK) Philippians 4:4–7 (ESV): 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In the Bible, Paul mentions prayer (prayers, prayer reports, prayer requests, exhortations to pray), 41 times. In the sermons and posts over these 40 days we will have covered a lot of the reasons to pray and how to do it. In our passage, Paul calls us to one of the key reasons to pray. Philippians 4:4-7 begins with an encouragement to rejoice in the Lord, culminating in the promise of God's surpassing peace. Amidst these expressions of joy and peace, Paul addresses a common adversary; anxiousness. It's important to clarify that we're not talking about clinical anxiety disorders which are excessive, persistent, and irrational anxiety that can have many causes, and may require professional treatment. While prayer and faith can also benefit those suffering from anxiety, the anxiousness we are talking about is a worry that comes naturally to us as we face things that are legitimately scary or worrisome. So, what is the problem with worrying about worrisome things? This is what God has said to us:
When we let our worries become our focus, we lose focus on God and can’t see how God can manage our fears as He has promised. In my case, the root cause is often a lack of humility. I think that I can fix things, even though I’ve had many experiences where I have no control at all. That attitude tries to put me in the role that God has reserved for Himself, and it ultimately fails. We are to cast our cares on him. Psalm 62:8. “O people, pour out your heart before Him”, points us back to the guidance in our passage, “The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” If we break that down:
The takeaway is the peace of God which is beyond understanding. The promise isn’t that you will get what you ask for, but that God is working for His purposes and for your good, and that God’s peace will guard you in Jesus. In 1982, when I was 16, I was in a car accident and suffered a spinal cord injury. My mom prayed earnestly and was convinced that I would be completely healed. After an extended time, mom realized that her perception of God’s healing wasn’t going to happen. We talked about it, and we concluded that God had done a healing work in me, but that it was in my spirit and my acceptance of His will, and less so in my body. God gave my mom peace in that outcome. That peace made it clear that that God was at work in me, and that she could trust Him for her answers. You can too, and that trust will guard our hearts and minds when the reasons aren’t apparent. Here is some guidance on how to pray*:
*A planned-out prayer isn’t always necessary or good, but in some cases, it can really support being intentional. It’s also likely that you will think of more requests the longer you give yourself to think. It’s not necessary to pray for everything every time, but writing things down can help you remember to pray for things over time. The following Scripture will be unfolded in the Sunday Sermon at City Reformed Church. We will look at the reasons that God chooses to use prayer to accomplish his purposes. For those unable to attend, the service is streamed live on YouTube and later a recording archived on our channel.
Sunday's Livestream link is here: 2024/02/25 CRPC Worship Service Livestream - YouTube John 15:5-17 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another. Day #6: Historical Forms of Prayer - “The Lord’s Prayer” (MK)
Saturdays in our prayer blog are set apart for a slightly different perspective. While much of our blog will focus on prayer that is extemporaneous and highly personal – whether done alone or with others – we will commit Saturdays to looking at the rich Christian tradition of liturgical prayer. When I say “liturgical prayer” I am referring to prayers which are written in advance. Often this allows people to say them in unison. In many cases they are handed down through the ages. In Christian history, a large part of prayer has happened this way, and we include this type of prayer in our worship service each week. For most of the following Saturdays Daniel Snoke will contribute on this day. Today, I (Matt) will write about the greatest liturgical prayer of all time, The Lord’s Prayer… but I’ll give Daniel a shout out at the end. This is the form of the Lord’s Prayer that we use in worship at City Reformed. The Lord’s Prayer Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen. The title, “The Lord’s Prayer” (Latin = Pater Noster) is a fine and descriptive way to identify this prayer. But technically speaking, it was not a prayer that Jesus said himself. We have examples of Jesus praying, and we will look at those prayers later in our series. There are some things in this prayer that Jesus would not have prayed*, such as “forgive us our debts.” Instead of being a prayer of Jesus, it is really a prayer from Jesus. There are two places in the Bible where a form of this prayer is given. The most famous, and the one which most directly shapes the form of this prayer we use is from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 6:9-13.) However, there is a second form of the prayer found in the Gospel of Luke. It is slightly shorter, excluding the lines “your will be done” and “deliver us from evil.” What do we make of the fact that this prayer is not he same in both places? It is an incredibly important question and one which relates to our overall view of prayer and what Jesus intended with this prayer. Because the context of Matthew 6 is a warning against vain repetition in prayer (Matt 6:7-8) it seems clear that Jesus is after more than monotonous repetition. Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that it is vainly repetitive to recite the Lord’s prayer with a group of people. In fact, it can be wonderfully unifying as it ties us to each other and to Christians throughout history and around the world. I am simply saying that we would be missing the point if we limited our prayer to repeating the exact words that Jesus used. Instead, the Lord’s Prayer should be viewed as a template for the types of things we pray. If we think of it that way, the differences between Luke’s prayer and Matthew’s prayer reinforce that main point. In my view, it is likely that Jesus taught on prayer often and he didn’t feel the need to say the exact same thing each time. It is also possible that Matthew and Luke summarized his teaching differently, which still reinforces that main idea that repetition of the exact words are not the main idea. This approach informs the way the Lord’s Prayer is used in the Reformed theological tradition. While we certainly approve of using the Lord’s prayer as a liturgical element, the Westminster Smaller Catechism uses each part of the prayer as a springboard to discuss prayer (See WSC #99-#107.) We will cover one of the six petitions in our Sunday evening service between now and Easter, so if you want to learn more about the Lord’s prayer, stay tuned. The final note to make relates to the way the words of the Lord’s Prayer have changed over time as the English language has changed. Because this prayer is so central to the church, it resists the changes that happen as the English language morphs over time. Many people, myself included, instinctively use the 17th century language of the King James Bible when we say the Lord’s Prayer. When we say, “Our Father who art in heaven”, we are inherently drawing on ancient Christian traditions. There is nothing wrong with that, and it can be helpful to be historically tied. We just want to remember that Jesus didn’t speak in the King James English and fancy language was not part of the prayer tradition that he encouraged. When we pray this in worship we usually print a version in the bulletin so that we can all be (literally) on the same page. Along with this we see a debate about whether to use “debts” or trespasses” in the fifth petition. Because William Tyndale used “trespasses” in his English translation, the first Anglican Book of Common Prayer used the word “trespasses” in their rendition. To this day, Catholics, Anglicans and Methodists go that route. Presbyterian and Reformed churches usually use “debts.” There are shades of difference in meaning, but I don’t think anyone intends to make a big theological deal of the differences. Finally, the King James Bible followed the lead of later Greek manuscripts when it included the closing “mini-benediction”, “for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” Because the earliest Greek manuscripts of the Bible do not include this line, the ESV Bible (and most modern English translations) do not include this line in the text of Matthew 6. But we still include this traditional ending when we say it at church. It is a great way to close the prayer, it links us to our spiritual forefathers, and it is a great summary of Biblical teaching found in places like 1 Chronicles 29:11. In closing, here is a great musical version of the Lord’s Prayer on Spotify by Daniel Snoke. * An argument could be made that Jesus identified with our sin on the cross, and so he could have prayed this, but that takes us down another path altogether. Day #5: “Personal Prayer”
During 40 Days Praying Together we will be asking you to pray for three things. Today we will look at the third of those things. (3.) Please commit to praying daily for an item in your personal life and ask others to join with you in prayer. Here are some background thoughts on that prayer request. James 4:2-10 You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. In the book of James we learn that there are some things that we don’t have due to our failure to ask in prayer. He wrote, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” Could it be that the bottleneck for God’s work in our lives is our failure to ask for things that we need? As we move toward Easter, let’s be intentional in asking for God to work in our lives. It should be noted that there is more to James 4 than just the importance of saying a prayer. We don’t want to miss the rest of the context. First of all, he warns that there is the additional problem of “asking amiss.” That is, our prayer requests are not lined up with God and his kingdom, but with our own “passions.” How do we know if we are asking amiss? Well, one simple way to test this is to start praying. Many Christians have recognized that the process of committing to pray regularly for something often has the effect of forcing us to examine our motivations. As we pray repeatedly, we begin to ask the question… What are my real motives? However, there is a second thing that James includes in his context of prayer. That is the importance of humility in accessing God’s spiritual power. God “gives grace to the humble.” Asking other people to pray for you is a huge step of humility. In the coming weeks we will dive deeper into the theology of group prayer. For now, we can observe that group prayer is humbling… and that is good. James promises, "humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you." After that brief admonition I would like to share two personal things. First of all, I would like to say that I have been attempting to live this challenge for the past week. Most mornings I have been praying on my own, and with Chrissie for our normal needs (family, ministry, etc.) In addition to that we are also praying for the first two requests, a building and renewal. In addition to that, I have made it my goal to pray with someone else each evening about some personal requests. One thing that I have been asking for in prayer is to sleep well. I’m in the midst of a very busy and active season and its been hard to unwind. But I am happy to report that the humbling act of asking someone (often one of my kids) to pray with me and for me at night has been producing some really powerful results. There is a second way that this is important. The idea of a committed season of prayer has a long and important history in Pittsburgh and in my extended family history. During the 1950’s and 1960’s (and beyond) a local Pittsburgh ministry began to rise in prominence and received national attention. The Pittsburgh Experiment was an inter-denominational ministry that sought to bring spiritual vitality into the lives of ordinary citizens. One of the features of the ministry was a “30-Day Prayer Experiment.” This helped people to see the presence of God in their lives. The ministry brought transformation to many individuals and families in our region. It was associated with a spiritual renewal movement in Pittsburgh that birthed ministries like The Coalition for Christian Outreach, and Ligonier Ministries. The story of the Pittsburgh Experiment is featured in a chapter of a book on the religious history of Pittsburgh (See below.) Importantly for me, it changed the life of my Grandfather, Dwight Koerber. If you are interested in hearing that story, mostly from his memoirs, read the appendix below. Appendix: The Pittsburgh Experiment and Dwight (Ike) Koerber Sr. In his memoirs, my grandfather talked about the life changing significance of the Pittsburgh Experiment and the 30-Day Prayer Challenge. Having grown up in the church… actually, it was Greenfield Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), Ike came to faith through the influence of local church leaders. He committed his life to the Lord while a high school student on the same night that he met his future wife. They didn’t date immediately, but were married a few years after graduation. Then America entered WWII and he was deployed. After the war and their reunion, they moved from Pittsburgh before eventually returning. Life was hard and marital conflict emerged. During a time of real difficulty, Ike got connected with Rev. Sam Shoemaker, one of the leading pastors in the city. Sam encouraged him to love his wife patiently (good advice) and join a small group that was seeking to connect faith to everyday life (also good advice.) That group was connected to the emerging parachurch ministry called the Pittsburgh Experiment. This ministry would run parallel to some of the outbursts of spiritual renewal that would transform the entire region. Soon, they embarked on a 30-Day Prayer Experiment. They called it an experiment, because they were playfully asking the question, What if we just took God’s promises seriously? What if we asked for things we needed and looked for his answer? The members of their small group committed to daily prayer and shared their requests together in a transparency uncommon for those days. The motto of the Prayer Experiment was, When We Pray, Sometimes God Changes Our Circumstances, and Sometimes He Changes Us. As you read some of his words from his memoirs, I think that you will see both of those dynamics in play. “Sam then called a friend and arranged for Sis (my Grandma) and me to get involved in a new prayer group program that stressed application of one’s Christian commitment…called the Pittsburgh Experiment….It is bottomed on the premise that Jesus Christ is the answer to the world’s problems, but that Christianity has not been tried and found wanting – it just hadn’t really been tried… I was amazed at the openness and candor of a lot of our new friends who, in small group, confessed sins to each other as well as to the Lord. We met in homes and downtown business sites, such as the Oliver Building where I worked. One time we were discussing the Biblical admonition to “pray without ceasing” and decided to conduct a 30-Day Prayer Experiment. We had concluded that a good business man knows how to delegate – to turn matters we can’t really handle over to a specialist who can. Let me tell you some of the results. Ike went on to share some anecdotes of his friends who began to experience the dynamic realities of seeing God at work in their lives. He wrote about two stories regarding himself which I will share here. In addition to hassles with my wife… I’d been having problems at work – in the Chamber of Commerce. I was mighty bitter over the fact that someone had been brought in from New York to fill a job I was supposed to get. And I felt bitter toward the new man, which only affected my own work product. I considered myself despitefully used, so my friends challenged me to pray for the new man, Sherm. I felt that he was the one who should be praying, but I went through the motions, and soon I was praying for him in earnest, and able to function creatively in my job. I stayed on for a year or so before accepting another job that also permitted me to engage in the general practice of law. A couple of years later, Sherm was given the opportunity (with a foot behind him) to resign from the executive V.P. job and return to New York. I’d never shared with him my ill-will that I had once felt toward him or about the prayer experiment, but about 5 years after he left town I was moved to write to him about it and ask him to forgive my smallness and distrust. He wrote a beautiful letter in return, thanking me for a healing touch from the Lord. Two weeks later Sherm died unexpectedly. I’m so glad I finally responded to the Spirit’s nudging in that relational matter. I think you can see both elements of changed circumstances and changed heart in that story. The second story narrates the beginning of a powerful new ministry. It also connects with a thread of his personal story. Having grown up in a home where his father was a binge drinking alcoholic who frequently brought shame on the family, Ike had often lived in the shadow of this shame. When I left the Chamber of Commerce I accepted a job managing a coal trade association and began practicing law. However, my specialty was transportation law and that constituted most of my practice. I didn’t experience much of a sense of fulfillment. I had prayed for help and guidance, but was getting no answers. Finally, I prayed, “Lord, I’m available. Use me anyway you want to.” The next day I got a call from the Bar Association asking me to represent a prisoner in a post-conviction case. (The courts at that time were flooded with such cases due to the celebrated Gideon v. Wainwright decision of the Supreme Court, so they were glad to have anybody to help clear the docket.) That was only the beginning of a long series of events over twenty years that led to the formation of a program at the State Correctional Institution in Pittsburgh. It involved one-to-one relationships between inmates and Christian businessmen. Not strings, just bonds of love. The program was called “Alpha” – a new beginning and it is bottomed on the promise that for rehabilitation to be effective, change must come from the heart. And this heart change is most permanently brought about by the regenerative power of Jesus Christ. I was really gung-ho on the program and felt a special kinship with those on the inside… all the society misfits. Most of them boozers and other addicts. We had a bunch of them live with our family for a couple of months after their release until they could find work and get settled…. This from a guy who had struggled so much growing up with the stigma of a father who was an alcoholic. The Lord works in strange ways but he really works. Day #4: “Praying for Renewal”
During 40 Days Praying Together we will be asking you to pray for three things. Today we will look at the second of those things. (2.) Please commit to praying daily that God would renew his churches across our land. Here are some background thoughts on that prayer request. 2 Chronicles 7:11-16 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. I became a Christian in the summer of 1997, before my final semester of college. One of the features of Christian culture in the late 1990’s was a strong interest in the topic of “revival.” I attended a large men’s gathering in Washington D.C. the following fall and the whispers of revival were in the air. As over 1 million Christian men gathered in the nation’s capital, many people wondered if this was the beginning of a large scale renewal movement. One of the passages of Scripture featured at the time was 2 Chronicles 7:14. In it we see a promise that God will hear his people when they cry to him and bring renewal to “the land.” I have since grown in my appreciation for the need to be careful when we appropriate OT promises to the experience of the church. For example, the context of 2 Chronicles 7 includes Israel as a nation/state, a physical temple and particular promises for Israel in the promised land. At the same time, I have grown in my appreciation for the ongoing relevance for the general principle found in 2 Chronicles 7. God’s people need constant renewal, lest the church descend into listlessness and deadness. As I think back to 1997 and draw parallels to today, I am surprised at how little I hear people talking about revival. This is in spite of the fact that the Church is without a doubt in far worse condition than it was 27 years ago. The last two and half decades have been bad for the Church in America. In retrospect, 1997 was close to a high-water mark in our recent history. Since then, Christians have been increasingly marginalized in public life. More importantly, American Christians have struggled internally. We’ve been rocked by scandals and internal conflict. The changing structures of modern life and the assumptions of our secular age present new challenges. Statistically, America has experienced over the last 25 years the largest religious change in American history. During that time, 40 million Americans, or 16% of the adult population, stopped going to church.* The anecdotal evidence of this change is pervasive. Our city is full of empty churches, many of them having been repurposed as bars or condos. Most of us know people, or have family members who stopped going to church. Sometimes this seems to be an unintentional slide away from the religious life. On other occasions there is an intentional rejection of faith altogether. This is not the first time in history that God’s people have experienced decline in spiritual vitality. The Old Testament is full of examples where God’s people slide into faithlessness and experience religious decay. Fortunately, there are many stories of strong rebounds. The book of Judges is full of cycles, wherein Israel falls away, experiences pain, cries out to God and is saved by God’s work through one of the judges. Our text in 7 Chronicles is meant for just that sort of thing. The letters of the New Testament are often written to encourage churches back to faithfulness. In particular, the address to the seven churches in Revelation shows that some need significant correction or they risk losing their spiritual vitality all together. They are called to “remember their first love” and “stop being lukewarm” (Rev 2-3.) Church history is full of examples when the Church needed to be restored. We are covering that history during the Adult CE class this Spring, so join us on Sundays at 9:00 am if you are interested in learning more. In history, the times that God renewed the church came to be called “revivals.” Though that term has taken on different connotations over the years, at the root of it, a revival is a sovereign work of God to renew his church and restore their spiritual vigor. While we cannot control or start a true revival on our own, there are certain things that we are called to do when we recognize that spiritual renewal is needed. Let’s look in more detail at 2 Chron. 7:14. If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. There are things that we are called to do:
Translated to the New Testament era and viewed through the lens of Church history we can summarize it in this way. Historically, renewal movements (revivals) have been preceded by humility and dependent prayer. They are also associated with a strong renewal on the authority of God’s word and result in repentance. This in turn leads to a renewal in the church. Which in turn leads the church to have a greater impact on the world around it, through the power of God’s Spirit. During our 40 Days Praying Together, we want to pray that God would give his church a deep concern for our spiritual weakness. Instead of trusting in human ingenuity or political power, we pray that God would cause his people to “seek his face” in humility and prayer. Let’s also pray that God’s word would prompt sincere repentance and renewed life in his churches. That through our faithful witness we would seek healing in our land. *From The Great Dechurching, by Jim Davis and Michael Graham. The phenomenon is so pervasive that the authors felt the need to coin a new term, describing a person who stopped going to church. That new term is “dechurched.” Unlike the term “unchurched”, which describes people who have never been in church, “dechurched” is not yet recognized by Microsoft Word as a real word. To put this in perspective, the authors compare this to our changes in church growth relative to the total population. However, in terms of total numbers, the 40 million who have “dechurched” is larger than the number of people added to the church during the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, and the Billy Graham Crusades, combined. (p5) Day #3: “Praying Together for a Building” During 40 Days Praying Together we will be asking you to pray for three things. Today we will look at the first of those three. (1.)Please commit to praying daily that God would help us and guide us in our search for a building that would help us serve the university and medical community in Oakland. Here are some background thoughts on that prayer request. 1 Thess. 4:9 -11 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. Last Spring our congregation recommitted itself to a ministry that serves the university and medical community in Oakland. That has been core to our identity since our inception 20 years ago, but this was the first time we articulated in the form of a common commitment. Now, to be clear, that does not mean that our church is exclusively for one certain kind of people or that you have to live in a certain area to come. Nor do we think that this kind of ministry is more valuable than any other. The reason that we specified this commitment is because ministry in Oakland is hard, and unless we stay focused on that calling, we will drift away from it. There are a lot of people that live in and around Oakland, and very few churches that serve them. When we relocated into the heart of Oakland about 17 years ago, the (then) pastor at Bellefield Presbyterian Church offered us a very gracious reception. He said bluntly, “Oakland is an under-churched area, and we are glad that you are here to join in the work.” Since that time, many churches have come and gone. The cost of property is high and the people who live close by are very transient. Both of those factors war against ministry stability. The temptation to slide outward away from this key area is often very strong. Property just a few miles away from Oakland is significantly less expensive. And yet Oakland offers really unique ministry opportunities. To start with, there is the sheer number of people. There are 22,000 residents in Oakland, plus 30,000 students at Pitt and 16,000 at CMU. The students are at a critical stage in their life and it is essential that they have access to faithful ministry. Among the number of students, there are many international students who travel here for their studies. For some of them this may be the only time in their life that they have freedom to hear religious ideas openly. Beyond that, countless* numbers of people work in the hospital system of Pittsburgh. Some of them rotate into the area for periods of training and are located in regions that surround Oakland. Even as we move into some of the neighborhoods that immediately surround Oakland there are not a lot of Bible-believing churches in those areas. If we want to maintain our proximity to this fertile mission field, it'll take work. For the past 20 years God has helped us to keep a toehold in Oakland. This has been a cause of praise to him. But as we look forward at the next 20 years, it seems that the ministry would be far more stable if we could have control over our meeting space. Having our own meeting space would greatly reduce our volunteer time and we would not be at the mercy of the landlord for whether we can continue to meet there. Which brings me back to our introductory verse. The Apostle Paul told the Ephesians that they were to “walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” This is an interesting verse. It indicates that there is a wrong kind of dependence. Or at least a type of relationships in which dependency is not helpful. Since the beginning of the paragraph is all about brotherly love, it would seem apparent that he is not warning us to avoid dependence upon other Christians. Love often brings mutual inter-dependence. It seems rather that we are to avoid improper dependence upon outsiders. However, you look at it right now, we are currently dependent upon outsiders. We would survive if WT closed or stopped renting to us. But it would throw a huge wrench in our plans. It seems to me that the things that Paul lists in this paragraph are aspirational. That is, they are things that we want but can’t fully control. We can’t control whether people see our walk as being “proper.” Sometimes we are forced out of “quiet lives” and not all of us have the choice of working “with our hands.” But these are things we can value and pursue. Which brings us to our second (and final) observation. After a year of pursuing a building in Oakland, we concluded that there was no immediate path forward that we could take in our own strength. The gap between what a building would cost and what we could afford was just too great. So, we need to ask God to do something. He could… provide a new building we never imagined. He could provide funds that we never dreamt of. He could change us and help us to see that we can fit in an existing space. He could also tell us to keep marching through the wilderness without a building and trust him to sustain us. But right now, our goal is to pause and pray. And then watch for what God might be doing. Please join us in praying daily that God would help us and guide us in our search for a building that would help us serve the university and medical community in Oakland. *The number of people who work in the hospital system in/around Oakland is not really “countless”, but it was far harder to find those numbers than for the numbers of Oakland, Pitt and CMU. But you can imagine how many people are tied into those systems – many of you reading this are yourself connected to those systems. Day #2: “Planning to Pray Together”
1 Thess. 5:25 Brothers, pray for us. So, yeah. That is one of the shortest verses in the Bible. As Paul drew his first letter to the Thessalonians to a close, he simply asks them to pray for him. This is not uncommon. In other places Paul asks for prayer. (See also, 2 Cor. 1:11, Col. 4:3, 2 Thess. 3:1.) Is that surprising to you? It is easy to think of the Apostles as pillars of the faith that tower above mere mortals. We can imagine that Paul is always poured out, never needing help from another human. If that is what we imagine, we could not be further from the truth. Paul believed that God chooses to work through prayer. But he also knew that God’s intention is for us to pray for each other. In personal life, I have often found that God answers the prayers of other people for me… more quickly than he answers my prayers for myself. There could be many reasons why this is true. Since humility is the key to prayer, humbling yourself to ask others to pray for you moves in the right direction. On the flip side, we are always tempted to receive God’s powerful answers to prayer and forget that the power came from outside of us. When we ask others for prayer, it reminds us (and them) that we are dependent upon God. Finally, God’s plan for us is to grow relationally, so prayer from others accomplishes this greater goal. We will talk more about the theology of group prayer next week. For now, I want to stay practical. How can we pray together during these 40 days? There are several opportunities for you to do that as a group. We will be praying together as a group during the evening service. We will be praying in our community groups. We will even have some additional group prayer times in the next few weeks. In addition to those things, I would like to encourage you to be intentional to pray with others during this time. Like the Apostle Paul, why not ask someone you know: would you pray for me?
Unlike other things, we don’t usually fall into mutual prayer accidentally. We need to initiate. We need to follow the lead of the Apostle Paul and ask others… Pray for us! Sorry for the delay, there was a slight technical glitch this morning and this first post dropped few hours late.
Day #1: “Finding a Time and a Place” Mark 1:35-39 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. Our goal for this reading program is to encourage our readers toward a revitalized prayer life. We hope to do that through a wide range of methods. We will teach, encourage and model. There is a benefit to learning about prayer and deeper theological understanding of the one we pray to absolutely helps us to grow in our knowledge of prayer. That is why we will spend so much time in the coming weeks reflecting on who God is and why he invites us to pray with confidence. Some of what we need is also extremely practical. When the disciples came to Jesus asking for him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1), it was immediately after Jesus had just been away praying, “in a certain place.” Apparently, it was the pattern for Jesus to go away to pray. This is very practical to consider. On one hand, we can pray anywhere and at any time. For example, the Apostle Paul urges us to pray “without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17.) and Jesus believed that his Father in Heaven always heard him (John 11:42.) But, Jesus also models a commitment to setting aside a specific time and place for prayer. Since he was an itinerant preacher, he did not always go to the same location. But he would intentionally seek out a “desolate place” in the early morning hour (v.35.) The reason seems obvious enough from the text. He wanted to go somewhere that he could not be interrupted. In this particular case he was successful. The people could not find him. Even his disciples had to search for awhile before he could be located (v.36.) Some people excuse their lack of structure in prayer by appealing to their desire to have ongoing and spontaneous prayer. But we see from the life of Jesus that this is not an either/or proposition. In fact, most people find that a regular and intentional time of prayer encourages them to have more spontaneous prayers throughout the rest of the day. By way of analogy, when a married couple has a regular “date night” it does not prevent them from having spontaneous conversation during their normal schedules. In fact, most people say that “date nights” make conversation easier during the rest of life because we are establishing better patterns of communication. What does this tell us about prayer? Even Jesus found it was important to be intentional to find a place and a time that were conducive to prayer. Practically speaking, this is one of the most important things for us to consider. If you want to have a revitalized prayer life, give some consideration to when and how you can pray.
That’s enough for today. We’re praying that God will help you take this step to know him better and interacting with him in a way that leads to greater spiritual fruitfulness. (MK) * There were a lot of problems with monastic spirituality. While we can admire their commitment to prayer, it often came at the cost of minimizing other areas of Christian faithfulness. |
AuthorThe primary author and coordinator of the blog is Pastor Matt Koerber. ArchivesCategories |