God's Way Works

For a better life and a better eternity

Prayer

Praying like the Psalmists

by Leave a Comment

For centuries, Christians have looked to the psalms as a guide for prayer. No wonder, the raw emotion of the Psalms provides something for everyone no matter their situation or setting in life. Whether you are blessed beyond compare with health, wealth and salvation or you feel cursed and forsaken, the Psalms have prayers to echo what is in your heart. 

Even Jesus relied on the Psalms in His prayers, quoting the laments of Psalm 22:1 and Psalm 31:5 while on the cross. In my recent studies of the psalms, I have learned so much about prayer and praise. However, the number one point I’ve learned is tattooed across the pages of these writings. If we will ever pray like the Psalmists, we must see God as they did.

God is My Rock…

Whether the psalmists were ascending to heaven or making their bed in Sheol (cf. Psalm 139:8) they could pray because they were utterly dependent on God. Psalm 18:1-2 describes it extensively.

“I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

The amazing thing about Psalm 18 is this psalmist had been near death and in distress. Yet, he called upon the Lord? Why? So many in this place feel God has abandoned them and decide to abandon God. Why did this psalmist keep praying? Because no matter how he felt, he knew deliverance could only come from God. No matter what he was facing, he relied on God and surrendered to God. Instead of assuming God had to do everything his way on his time, he simply trusted God to take care of him on God’s time table. So, he kept crying out to God.

 

The Example of a Distressed Psalmist

Consider Psalm 10:1, 4. The psalmist begins saying:

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide ourself in times of trouble?”

Listen to this psalmist. I remember after Bette Middler made the Julie Gold song “From a Distance” famous the many well meaning Christians who seemed to rebuke everyone by saying, “If God is watching from a distance, who moved?” That seems meaningful and spiritual to us, but this Psalmist would have said, “God did and I’m begging Him to come back.” This violates our sensitivities. We know Hebrews 13:5-6, which says God never forsakes us. Therefore, we fear taking up this psalmist’s cry in our prayers. We see this as despair and doubt which lead to sin. However, that is not how they are pictured in Psalm 10.

This psalmist actually contrasts the wicked and the righteous. The contrast is not that they feel God is not watching. The psalmist starts his lament with that feeling. Then he describes the wicked in Psalm 10:4-11. In vs. 11 the wicked justifies his sin by saying, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Just like the psalmist, he believes God hidden Himself. The difference is seen in Psalm 10:4. “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.'” 

Did you see the difference? In this psalm both the righteous and the wicked believe God has hidden his face. The wicked takes that feeling and decides God is not watching. He decides God must not exist. He uses this as justification to sin. The psalmist, on the other hand, feeling that God is hiding starts to seek for Him. By the end of the psalm, he lets his faith overrun his doubts and feelings. Even though he feels like God is hiding, he knows by faith God does see and will act. Psalm 10:14-15 says:

“But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.”

Why can this psalmist whose feelings are covered over with so much despair that he will accuse God of hiding pray this prayer? Because he truly believes God is king forever (Psalm 10:16). Because, despite his feelings in the moment, he truly believe God hears him and will act based on his prayer (Psalm 10:17). Though he doesn’t use the terms found in some other psalms, like Psalm 18:1-2 noted above. The sentiment is the same. Even in his despair he can pray because God is his rock, his refuge, his redeemer.

 

The Springboard for Our Spiritual Lives

These are not sentimental terms to fill our praise songs. They are whole-hearted beliefs that anchored the psalmists no matter what was happening to them and no matter how their situation made them feel. Since God was their rock and refuge, whether times were good or bad, they could rest in Him. They could cry out to Him. They knew He was there. They knew He would listen. They knew He would act. Perhaps not on their time table. But He would deliver.

When we have that faith, we will pray like they did.

The Entire Serenity Prayer

by Leave a Comment

I’ve seen what is called the “Serenity Prayer” for years. Most commonly it is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, written during the early 1930s. It became famous in modified form by 12 step programs. I’ve seen it cross-stitched on walls. I’ve seen it printed on posters. I’ve even seen it written on bathroom stalls. 

Until recently, I thought it only contained three lines:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

That little bit of the prayer has actually helped me in numerous situations. It has kept me from blowing up at people I cannot change. It has kept me from falling prey to temptations I cannot change. It has kept me from sinking in the mire of past actions I cannot change.

However, I have learned that the original prayer/poem was a bit longer and I want to share it with you.

 

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.

 

 I know this prayer is not inspired scripture. But it certainly was inspired by scripture. I want to remember this prayer. I want to remember that there are numerous things I cannot change and I need to quit wasting my time and energy trying to change those. There is something I can change, by the grace of God. That is me. May I always have the wisdom to remember that.

I want to live one day at a time (cf. Matthew 6:34) and quit trashing today by worrying about tomorrow. I want to trust that God will make all things right in His time. I want to surrender myself to His will and simply do the next right thing. Through that, I can have happiness, not through pursuing my own ideas. My best thinking messed me up. God’s thinking is what will save me and make tomorrow better.

Just thought I’d share.

A Prayer for Us

by 1 Comment

Just this past weekend, I read for the first time the prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi. I was almost moved to tears. I hope to make the sentiments of this prayer my own every day.

 

Lord, make me a channel of your peace
–that where there is hatred, I may bring love
–that where there is wrong, I may bring a spirit of forgiveness
–that where there is discord, I may bring harmony
–that where there is error, I may bring truth
–that where there is doubt, I may bring faith
–that where there is despair, I may bring hope
–that where there are shadows, I may bring light
–that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted
–to understand, than to be understood
–to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

Amen

All I could say was, “WOW!” What a great encapsulation of a godly life. That is my prayer for me today. That is my prayer for you today.

May God richly bless you as you draw closer to Him. More importantly, may you richly bless God.

A 10 Step Plan to Fall Back into Sin

by 2 Comments

Giving in to sin may not be as easy as you might think. Therefore, to help you learn how to fall back into that bed of comfortability easily, I have prepared the following 10 step plan to fall back into sin. If you take these steps, I guarantee you that sinning will once again become the norm for you. 

 

 

1. Think you can run your life better than God.

Of course, I know you would never ever actually admit this verbally and out loud. However, if you really want to fall back into sin, this is the mindset you need to have. It will govern the other 9 steps you must take to fall back into sin. The greatest thing is, you don’t actually have to say it out loud. In fact, you can do this while you are still attending church and even looking good in Bible class by answering all the right questions with all the right answers. All you have to do is decide not to do what God says in His word. You can do it for any number of reasons. Maybe what God asks of you is too hard. Maybe you can’t see how it will make you happy. Maybe you are just convinced it is too old-fashioned. No matter the reason, if you just convince yourself what you want to do will produce better long term results for you than what God asks you to do, you are well on your way to falling back into sin.

2. Live in denial.

Who wants to honestly face their defects and flaws? We all know it was wrong of you to yell at your spouse last night, but why be honest about that? Just come up with some reason why in that scenario it wasn’t really all that wrong. It was probably your spouse’s fault anyway. Here is the great thing, you can do this and still keep up the saying of your prayers. Just don’t ever get specific in your confessions. Just ask God to “forgive me my many sins.” No one can prove you have to be specific. Besides being specific would mean you would actually have to look those sins in the face, own them and repudiate them. That is way too much work (remember step #1?). Another way to do this is to constantly look for everyone else’s sins and flaws. Trust me, you’ll find plenty and you can salve your conscience by realizing that at least you aren’t as bad as they are. 

3. Quit assembling with the saints.

Surely religion is just about your personal relationship with God. Who needs a congregational family? Who needs a time to get together with other people to edify and be edified? Who needs to spend time with other people praising and worshiping God? Not you. You already know you can run your life better and you’re a good person and don’t need that repeated reminder. Besides, you’re smarter than most of those people and don’t get that much out of the preaching and classes anyway.

4. Isolate yourself from your godly friends.

Those people only want to judge you anyway. Why would you want to spend any time with them? They have just as many problems as you. They’re no better than you are. If you spend too much time with them, they might get you to thinking about some of those sins you have committed. They might call you on the carpet. Not to mention, it is just uncomfortable being around people who actually want to overcome their sins. They’re always talking about God and their Bible reading. If you hang out with them too much, they may figure out what is going on inside you and you just can’t trust those Christians to still love you when they find out what is going on inside.

5. Refuse to be accountable to anyone.

Only cults expect you to be accountable to someone, letting them know what you are dealing with and accepting their advice for how to overcome. You need to avoid partnering with someone for purposes of accountability at all costs. Granted, it may lead you back to sin, but at least it won’t let anyone else have undue influence in your life. That just gives too much power to another person in your life. Besides, no one has the right to know what struggles you face; that’s just between you and God. You’d think if He wanted you to talk to someone else about those things, He would have told you to confess your sins to other people somewhere in the Bible.

6. Keep all your stuff on the inside.

Nobody else wants to be burdened with your emotional and spiritual stuff. Besides, if you told them, someone somewhere would just end up judging you. So, don’t ever tell anyone, no matter how much you think you might be able to trust them, about what is going on inside your head. Never share with them the sins you have committed, the things that trigger your temptations or even just the emotions you feel. Don’t ever let anyone know what makes you sad, guilty, ashamed, lonely, angry or happy. Never let them know you are feeling any of those things right now. Instead, just keep it on the inside. If possible, figure out some way to escape those emotions like playing a video game, watching a movie, smoking a joint, drinking some liquor, raging, getting vengeance on someone, eating some ice cream, looking at pornography. See, if you play you cards right at this step, you’ll be jumping back into your sin and not even having to finish all 10 steps.

7. Revel in your entitlements.

Your life stinks right now because no one else is giving you what you expect from them and what you rightfully deserve from them. At all costs, you must avoid anything that looks like selflessness or personal sacrifice. Instead of serving others, simply complain about how no one is serving you. Instead of giving to others or taking the actions of love toward others, focus on all the ways others should be giving to you and aren’t. Focusing on these issues is the perfect way to start building up the justifications and excuses for why you went ahead and sinned even when you “knew better.” If you focus on this stuff enough, you will even be able to convince yourself that God not only understands why you went back into your sins, but He doesn’t mind and would probably have done the same Himself if He had ever lived in the world.

8. Quit reading God’s book.

You definitely don’t want to spend too much time reading your Bible. If you keep doing that, you might find things that help you keep from sinning. You might find the encouragement, comfort, strength, hope and faith to keep relying on God in the troubled times you face. You might learn about people who have faced exactly what you are facing and overcame by the grace and power of God working in their lives. This will, no doubt, be extremely detrimental to your plan to fall back into sin. So, whatever you do, don’t read that book. Just set it on your coffee table. Carry it with you to church (if you decide to go). But don’t read it.

9. Quit talking to God.

This is an absolute must. If you spend too much time praying, you might remember that the only way you can stay out of sin is to surrender your life to Him and let Him run it. That would be a real mistake on your path to fall back into sin. Additionally, if you keep praying you might realize you can get from Him all the things you are trying to get out of your sins–the peace, comfort, emotional support, help through pain, etc. Of course, if you feel the need to keep up with your Christian homework by saying your daily prayers, that can be okay. Just make sure you don’t actually share with God what you are feeling. Keep that tucked away on the inside. Just offer some trite phrases. Don’t think about what you’re saying, just come up with some forms and phrases you can repeat as necessary. “Dear God, thank You for Your many blessings. Forgive me of my sins. Be with the sick the world over. Bless the church. In Jesus name, Amen.” Something like that will accomplish both things. You can say your daily prayers without actually praying. This will work great to salve your conscience but let you go right back into your sinning.

10. Never talk to anyone about your faith.

If you spend too much time talking to folks about your faith in God, you might actually increase that faith. If you increase that faith, you might actually begin to think your sins won’t help you out as much as you initially hoped. If you recognize that, you may hop on the completely wrong path and just keep surrendering yourself to God. Above all, you don’t want to share what God has done for you in the past with other people because you might remember God’s way really does work when all the other ways have always failed you in the end.

As you can see, falling back into your sins really does take some work. I hope my list helps you as you strive to stay on the right path.

5 Keys for Standing Out in the Crowd

by Leave a Comment

Have you ever read the first ten chapters of I Chronicles? Talk about chloroform in action. I generally just scan through them and try to get done with them as quickly as I can. However, stuck smack in the middle of this droning roll call of humanity stands I Chronicles 4:9-10.

“Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, ‘Because I bore him in pain.’ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested” (NKJV).

Apparently, when God got to Jabez’s name, He wanted to call attention to it. It is as if when God was going through this roll call and He got to Jabez, He stopped and said, “Whoa! Wait a minute. You need to know about this guy.” But what was it that made him so special? Why did he stand out in the crowd? As I consider these two verses, I notice five keys in Jabez that will help us also stand out in the crowd.

1. If you want to stand out in the crowd, don’t let the crowd determine where you will stand.

Can you imagine being named “Jabez”? That sounds bad enough for us today just because it is so archaic. But when you recognize that it meant “Causes pain,” you suddenly realize how bad it really is. Every day of his life, just by hearing his name, Jabez was called “causes pain.” Can you imagine hearing day in and day out that you are nothing but a pain to those around you? After a while, you might begin to believe it. Jabez’s mother prophesied his life for him. She told him over and over again that he would be nothing more than a pain. But Jabez refused to listen. He prayed to God that he would not cause pain.

These kinds of prophecies go on all the time. Every day parents, professors and peers prophesy our lives. Some times it is positive. Some times it is negative. Each day some children are told they will be doctors, lawyers and even presidents. Others are told they will be hoodlums, thieves and crooks. Some are called the class star, some the class clown. Some are Daddy’s girls, while others are Momma’s boys. When we hear these message over and over again, we begin to believe them. 

Don’t.

You do not have to be limited by the prophecies of your parents, professors and peers. You, like Jabez, can stand out in the crowd if you will simply throw yourself on God’s mercy and let him help you be all He has planned for you. Don’t let the crowd determine where you will stand.

2. If you want to stand out in the crowd, stop standing still and start going somewhere.

Jabez had goals. He wanted an enlarged territory. Within the context of his mother’s prophecies for him, this is impressive. It demonstrates a great mindset. He wasn’t trapped within his circumstances. He would step out of those and pray that God give him a blessing to help him with his plans. 

What plans do you have? While we are not of this world, we are in this world. God has not demanded that we hole up in monasteries and have no involvement or plans within this world. We are allowed to have goals. We are allowed to have plans. Yes, we must keep them within the confines of God’s will understanding that we will be judged. However, if we just stand still, we will never stand out. No, don’t get bogged down in worries about the future. But look ahead. Plan ahead and ask God’s blessing on your future as well as your present.

3. If you want to stand out in the crowd, stop standing and start kneeling.

Sadly, so many have focused on what Jabez prayed, even turning it into a mantra of sorts to be repeated as if the words themselves are magical that they have missed the real point. We must not so focus on what Jabez prayed that we miss the important point is that Jabez prayed. Jabez was not more honorable because of what he prayed. He was more honorable because he prayed. He was more honorable because the fact that he prayed represented that he relied on God.

When God wanted us to know about Jabez, he didn’t tell us a out his property, his prowess, his predecessors. He told us about his prayer. If God were going to point us out to the world, would He have anything to say about our prayer life? The fact is, we can only stand out if we rely on God.

I think that is why these two verses are even here. In the books of Chronicles, God is going to tell all kinds of stories about all kinds of people. In reality, they are all judged based on how they measure up to Jabez. Do they rely on God or on idols? Do they pray to God or to false gods? That will be the dividing line between those God blesses and God condemns.

If you want to stand out in the crowd, you can’t do it alone. God has to be on your side. So, stop standing and start kneeling.

4. If you want to stand out in the crowd, recognize you aren’t standing on your own two legs but on legs God has given you.

Jabez recognized that he could not enlarge his own borders. From the beginning of God’s dealings with the Israelites, He pointed out that He would be the one to enlarge borders. Jabez grasped that and instead of relying merely on his own strength, he relied on God’s strength.

Too often today, we have a “pull myself up by the bootstraps” mentality that says we don’t need help. We have this idea that we can do things all on our own and only need God for really big things. That just isn’t true.

You realize, of course, that the only reason you are breathing today is because God is letting you, right? You realize, of course, that the only reason you are moving today is because God is letting you, right? You realize, of course, that the only reason you are walking today is because of the legs God has given you, right?

The fact is, apart from God we can do nothing. Therefore, if we want to stand out in the crowd, we must start recognizing any real strength comes from God and not from us. We can’t do this on our own. We have to rely on God.

5. If you want to stand out in the crowd, don’t let Satan cut off your legs.

Jabez understood that committing evil would be contradictory to what he was asking of God. He did not expect, as too many do today, to live however he wanted and still receive God’s blessing. However, he also knew evil was too powerful for him. Therefore, he asked God to keep him from evil so that he would not be a pain to others.

We need to recognize this. We may have all kinds of plans. We may even say we are relying on God and offering all kinds of prayers. However, if we are going from our prayers to simply walk in sin, Satan will cut our legs out from under us and we will not stand out in the crowd. Sin is diametrically opposed to what God wants for us. If we want to stand out in the crowd, we need to turn from our sins.

Keep in mind the last two points, however. We will not overcome sin on our own or by our own power. We will only be able to do that by relying on God. This is not about proving to God how great we are. This is about recognizing how weak we are and just surrendering to Him to help us overcome.

 

What a great example Jabez is. He stood out in a crowd and we can too. But we have to follow these same five steps.

If you would like to read more about this or hear a sermon I have presented on these very same points. Feel free to check out the presentation made to the Franklin Church of Christ at the link below.

Jabez: A Man Who Stood Out in the Crowd