What is Prayer?.. Craig Denison Ministries

 

What is Prayer?

Craig Denison Ministries

What is Prayer?

Weekly Overview:

This week we’ll spend time breaking down the individual components of First15 by sharing God's desire for each of them. The majority of First15 is dedicated to encountering God and learning about his character, but every now and then we will cover some teaching and tools that will help in pursuing God to greater depths. This week we will get back to the basics and learn some spiritual disciplines that will help us encounter him in deeper, more transformative ways.

Scripture: “What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.”1 Corinthians 14:15

Devotional:

Prayer is one of the most fulfilling aspects of Christian spirituality. It’s time set aside to simply listen to God, to place our lives in his hands, and to pray in response to the desires of his heart. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Scripture tells us to “pray without ceasing.” In John 14:13-14 Jesus states, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” But perhaps the most important Scripture on prayer is when Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:5-15.

Because First15 is meant to stir your affections for God and lead you to a transformational encounter with him, I won't walk you through an exegesis of verses 9-15. There are numerous resources (one of which I will point out in the extended reading) to assist you in coming to a better understanding of the depth and applications of Jesus' model prayer. However, I want to focus your attention on verses 5-8 and lead you to a broader definition of prayer so that your prayer life would be marked by God’s nearness. Let's walk through that text and then apply it as a model we will use daily in First15. In Matthew 6:5-8, Jesus says:

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

First, Jesus teaches us that we are to pray in secret. What an amazing God we have that he desires to meet with us in secret! All of us have a longing to know our Creator in a way that no one else is allowed into. We each need a secret place with our Maker. It’s vital to our relationship with God that we set aside time to listen to him and talk with him one on one. It’s in this secret place that our relationship with him will go deeper and our lives will be radically transformed.

Next Jesus teaches not to “heap up empty phrases” just to be heard for our “many words.” Jesus makes it clear that prayer is more about relationship with the Father than the words we say. Prayer is more about the heart than the lips. It’s about opening our hearts to God and letting him show us his plan for transformation in both our lives and in the world around us. Mother Theresa said, “Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” C. S. Lewis wrote, “I don't pray to change God. I pray because I have to. I pray because I can't help myself. It doesn't change God. It changes me.”

Do you need God today? Do you need his presence in your life? Do you need to be changed through an encounter with your heavenly Father? Take time in guided prayer to “place [yourself] in the hands of God” and allow him to change you by his goodness and love.                                  

Guided Prayer:

1. Take a moment to place yourself “in the hands of God.” Open your heart to God and surrender your life to him that all of you would be completely his.

“‘Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’” >Jeremiah 18:2-6

2. Take some time to listen to God.Ask him to lay something on your heart that he wants to accomplish in prayer today. It could be prayer for yourself, for someone you know, or for the nation in which you live. Sometimes God speaks with words, sometimes an inclination or a thought. Pay attention to anything the Spirit lays on your heart and trust his leading.

“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” >Proverbs 2:1-5

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

3. Pray for whatever the Spirit puts on your heart.Ask God how to pray for it. Ask God for his will. Through prayer we align ourselves with the heart of God and agree with what he wants to do in us and in the world around us.

Oftentimes we make prayer far more complex than the Lord ever intended. The weight of change does not rest on our shoulders. God alone heals and transforms. Just as salvation is about receiving the gift Jesus already paid for, prayer is about saying yes to what God already wants to do. We never have to beg him for mercy or compassion. He is a Father filled with grace to a level we will never comprehend. But it’s in prayer that we discover the grace God has and open ourselves up to be transformed by it. And through prayer we agree with God’s heart for others, that we might co-labor with him in what he longs to see happen in the world around us. May your prayer life be filled with the fullness of God and his powerful love.

Keep Me Teachable..TRILLIA NEWBELL

 Keep Me Teachable

TRILLIA NEWBELL 

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” Romans 11:33 (NIV)

I didn’t grow up in church and wasn’t exposed to Bible stories as a child. I became a Christian at age 22 but felt like a toddler. Everything was new!

Not only was I learning how to walk with God but also how to read His Word. Everyone seemed to know so much; at least that’s what I thought. I found myself tempted to approach God’s Word out of duty — to gain more knowledge about Him to feel like I wasn’t behind. My relationship with God became about knowing more rather than enjoying and delighting in the One who saved me.

That is, until God showed me that the key to growing as a Christian is not to gain more and more knowledge and one day “arrive,” having learned all there is to know — instead, the key is always to remain a student of Jesus.

One day, I was teaching a Bible study, and during our discussion, one of my sisters in the Lord told us that when she was younger, she prayed to the Lord: Keep me teachable. She was nearly twice my age and yet was eager to learn from me and the Lord.

My friend didn’t know it at the time, but she was teaching me at that moment to cherish learning about the Lord for the rest of my life.

As I listened and watched her, I realized she so loved her Savior that she never wanted to “arrive,” as if she could not learn more about Him. Her desire for knowledge was commendable, but it wasn’t just so she could answer trivia questions. No, she longed to be in relationship with the Lord. She longed for the humility it would take to be a lifelong learner.

After all, it’s absurd for us to think that we can get to the end of learning about God. The depths of God’s Word and His character are inexhaustible, as Paul proclaims in our key verse: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33). We will be searching the depths for eternity!

If we desire knowing the Lord only to be able to say that we have knowledge, falsely thinking that one day we might “arrive,” we will miss out on two glorious benefits of the Christian life:

1. The wonderful joys of learning and being taught.

May we never be puffed up because of our knowledge. (1 Corinthians 8:1b) Instead, my prayer for you and me is that the Lord would keep us teachable all the days of our lives. The Lord opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6) He will give us grace upon grace as we humbly seek to learn.

2. A relationship with Jesus.

It’s scary to think that we can know a lot about God and not really know Him at all. As we read Scripture, we are indeed gaining knowledge, but the purpose is to grow in our relationship with and love of our Lord. We cherish God’s Word because we cherish God.

I have had seasons of Spirit-filled, worshipful and consistent time in the Word and seasons when reading felt like a duty rather than a joy and delight. We all find ourselves struggling from time to time to read the Bible and interpret it correctly. And here’s the good news: That’s OK. Any time in the Word is time well spent. Time in the Word won’t always feel like a worship service, but every moment teaches you one more thing about your Lord and Savior. It’s not wasted!

When we change our focus away from merely gaining knowledge, we can watch our time with the Lord transform from duty to delight.

Like my friend, let’s long to be teachable, always eager to hear from the Lord through His Word.

Lord, we long to know You through Your Word. As we read, help us to enjoy our relationship with You. Help us to grow in our love for You, Lord. Take our temptation to read Your Word out of duty and turn it into delight. We love and worship You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

We Have a Trustworthy Guide..Dr. Charles Stanley

 We Have a Trustworthy Guide

Dr. Charles Stanley

Psalms 32:8-9

Hanging on my office wall is a print that I’ve had for nearly 60 years. It shows the Lord Jesus standing behind a young man whose eyes are focused in the direction that the Master is pointing. Jesus’ hand is on the man’s shoulder, and I imagine He is saying, “This is the way we’re going. I will get you to the destination.” Although the road will be marked with both joy and suffering, the Lord leads His followers all the way to their eternal home.

Anyone who is honest will admit that he or she is ill-equipped to go through life alone. Our all-knowing God created us with a need for His guidance. In our own strength, knowledge, and reasoning power, we are simply not able to figure out how to make the wisest decisions. But the Lord’s assuring hand at our shoulder can lead us down right paths to good choices.

The Lord is willing and able to guide us, if we will let Him. It isn’t difficult to fall in step with Him. Acknowledge that you have wandered down paths of life that led to sin and disobedience. Choose to follow His lead instead by reading the Word of God and applying biblical principles to your life. And learn to pray through both large and small decisions as you seek the path He has set for you.

Just beyond our last heartbeat lies eternity. That’s where our Savior is pointing us. The path may not be clear to our eyes, but Jesus is leading us there with a steady and sure hand. Our part is to follow in obedience so that we may reach heaven and hear the Father say, “Well done.”

The Power of Jesus' Last Words..Debbie McDaniel

 The Power of Jesus' Last Words

By Debbie McDaniel

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” – John 19:30

Last words have power. And often, deep meaning and significance.

And if, like me, any of you have ever been at the side of a precious friend or family member who was whispering final words in their last moments here on earth, you know the incredible heart connection they hold for you, personally. We often find ourselves clinging to those words as we think about a loved one who has passed away. We treasure what they said and we remember…

There’s no doubt that Jesus knew what His last words needed to be here in this life. He knew the power those final words would have for generations still to come. And He had great purpose in them, which still breathe such life and meaning for our lives today.

Jesus became the final and ultimate sacrifice for our sin. The word in this verse, “finished,” is actually from the Greek word, “tetelestai,” which is the same word that means “paid in full.” Often, it was used in an accounting term, which indicates a debt was paid. The uniqueness about the way it was written is that the tense of the word indicates both a point in time it was complete and that it would also continue to be complete or finished. And this is the essence of what Christ came to do. He came to “finish” God’s work of salvation in us. He came to “pay it in full,” the entire penalty, or debt, for our sins. He’s at work in our world still today in powerful ways.

People sin every day. They did, then and we do, now. And that sin costs us greatly. It separates us from God, it sets up a barrier, it leads to further drifting away from what we know to be right, and often leads us to great despair. But the hope that we have now because of Christ’s death on the cross and His ultimate sacrifice on our behalf is this: He completed the work. He paid the sacrifice in full on our behalf. No other payment is needed. He just asks that we accept His gift of forgiveness and life.

Jesus came to save. He came to rescue us, a people without true hope, to give us a lasting life and freedom that we can only find through Him.

A Prayer for When Change Seems Impossible..Ashley Moore

 A Prayer for When Change Seems Impossible

By Ashley Moore

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” - 2 Peter 1:3, NLT

Something about transitioning to a new year drives people to reflect on the past and ponder ways to improve the future. We see it in businesses as they examine their last quarter and make new goals for the next four quarters. Family’s examine their rhythms and commitments and make decisions about what they want to keep or change moving forward. And people personally inspect their health and fitness levels and make plans for personal growth for the upcoming year. 

What typically happens next, though, can be rather disappointing. We start strong with the momentum of transition and ride the high of new habits and routines. But it doesn’t take long before employees get swamped maintaining rather than advancing the business, the family calendar gets overtaken by the kid’s sports and church commitments, and our sneakers and dumbbells begin to collect dust. 

Lasting change can feel impossible sometimes, can’t it? It only adds to our discouragement when we fail to meet our goals, keep our promises, or honor our commitments. 

Change can begin to seem futile. This is a dangerous mindset for the believer. When we doubt that change is possible, we can grow cynical. Our cynicism can breed hopelessness about our situations and whether others will ever be capable of making the greatest change–turning from their sin and following Jesus.

We fall prey to a lie that true and lasting change depends only on our ability, convincing ourselves we aren’t capable. Have you ever been there?

This is why I have so much love for Peter’s words from our key verse. Peter lived the reality of this human experience, this tension of desiring change and wanting to live a fruitful life but not quite hitting the mark. To put it the way Jesus said in another reminder to our friend Peter, our spirits are willing, but our flesh is oh so weak (Matthew 26:41). 

Peter was this headstrong disciple who was utterly convinced he was going to prevent Christ from being crucified (Matthew 16:22). Jesus, coincidentally, called him Satan and rebuked him for this (Matthew 16:23). He was also the disciple who claimed to Jesus that if everyone else abandoned him, he would be willing to go to prison and die for him (John 22:33-34). Still not quite understanding Jesus’ plan for salvation in an ill-fitting attempt to protect Jesus, Peter sliced off the ear of one of the High Priest’s servants (John 18:10). Finally, as Christ was taken to be crucified, just as he said he would never do, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times (Luke 22:57-60).  

But, we see from his writings in 2 Peter that people can change. Peter finally acknowledged and accepted that the power to change and live anything that remotely resembles a Christ-like life comes from God’s divine power, not our own. 

And we need that reminder as we seek to make changes in the new year, too. Our strength, grit, and sheer will won’t be enough to make lasting changes. God has given us everything we need to live a changed life, a life that is pleasing to Him. And we received this by coming to know Him. By the power of the Holy Spirit, change, true change that brings glory to God, is possible. 

Let’s pray:

Dear Lord, 
Thank you for giving your people a desire to make positive changes. We know every good thing about us is a gift from you. I pray that as we look to make changes in the new year, we would do so from a heart motivation of bringing glory to you. Lord, forgive us when that is not our motivation. But Lord, we also pray that as we seek to change, we would remember and depend on your spirit for power and not the power of our fleshly, faulty self-will. Lord, thank you that you’ve equipped us with everything we need to live a godly life this year and forever! In Jesus’ name, amen.

More Than a New Year’s Resolution..Wendy Speake

 More Than a New Year’s Resolution

 Wendy Speake

Today’s Truth

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV).

Friend to Friend

My Christmas guests have left. My husband and our sons are celebrating the New Year with a camping trip in the desert. I am home, undressing the tree and packaging our nativity set away for the next 11 months. These are my first quiet moments in weeks, with only the familiar sound of tissue paper crinkling as the soundtrack to my thoughts. During the hustle and bustle of guests and going, little space remained for this sort of pondering. But today, here in the quiet, I have a new year on my mind.

Resolution.

I was thinking of sitting down and writing down a few resolutions today. However, I’m afraid that resolution is too small a word for all that’s on my heart. It lacks power, because resolutions are rooted in my resolve to do better. And I often fail at better. No matter how hard I try to read the Bible more consistently and drink more water and say no to sweets and limit the amount of time I spend on Facebook and increase the amount of time I spend on the treadmill… I rarely make it past January 10th transformed. Though I am desperate to be transformed. No, I don't need another New Year's resolution that will leave me unchanged. What I need is a revolution. That’s the word.

Revolution.

It came to me clearly as the Christmas bell I was carefully wrapping and laying in a box. I don't need another resolution... and I don’t need more resolve. What I need is more of Jesus. Not a resolution that I make, but a revolution that He makes… in me. Christ in me, revolting against me in this world. His power revolutionizing my weakness. His transforming purpose prevailing over all my plans in the new year. What I need in 2019 is a total Jesus-revolution, way down deep in my fibers. Down in my habits too; my eating and my drinking and my shopping and the time I spend on social media. I need Jesus’ strength revolting against all of the areas of my life where I’ve been too weak for far too long!

My weakness stops me from turning resolutions into a reformed life. But the revolution power of Christ reforms and transforms me day-by-day-by-day, for 365 days as I learn to seek Him first.

I’m reminded of 2 Corinthians 12:9: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me”. That’s what I’m doing at the start of 2019, and I’m inviting you to do the same. Boast in the One who has the power to completely revolutionize your life this year.

Do you struggle with sugar addiction and food fixation? Resolving again to eat more veggies and less cookies won’t do it! We need a Jesus-revolution in our lives to transform our eating (and drinking too). We need more whole foods, yes. But what we really need is to ingest more of Him and His Word. We need to turn to Him more than we turn into the Starbucks drive-through. We need to run to Jesus, more than we run into our pantries. We need Jesus to crowd out all of the habits and all of our addictions that we’ve resolved to stop for years and years.

Here at the start of 2019, let’s revolt against all of the things we’ve been running to for comfort, when we could have been (should have been) running to the Comforter. Let’s revolt against our tendency to self-medicate with online shopping and run instead to the Great Physician. Do you see what I’m saying? We can make resolutions to stop spending and stop eating and start working out, but we’re simply too weak and lack the resolve to make it work. We don’t need another resolution, we need a revolution of Christ’s power in us as we begin a new year, eagerly anticipating radical transformation!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, More of You is what I need… more of You and less of me muscling through this life of faith another year. I am weak, but You are strong. That’s why I don’t need more resolve this new year, I simply need more of You.

In Jesus’s revolutionizing Name,

Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn 

What do you struggle with most? Do you struggle with sugar addiction? Year after year, do you make the same old resolutions to get to the gym and eat healthier? Or maybe you’re addicted to your phone, always scrolling through social media. Or maybe it’s shopping, retail therapy. Are you tired of the conviction and ready for transformation? A Jesus-revolution is just what you need this year!