I’m starting to read through A. W. Pink’s The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross along with a bunch of other people, organized by Tim Challies. This is the third Christian classic that he has selected for a group read-through.

Although the introduction was short, it addressed some deep topics. Tim Challies’ first post, and some of the commenters, have good summaries, so I won’t repeat them here.

Three things stood out for me as I read the forwards and Pink’s introduction.

1. The goal that I should have in reading this book. Here’s a quote from Pink:
   

   ”Unless our ‘Bible study’ is conforming us, both inwardly and outwardly, to the image of Christ, it profits us not.”

   I don’t think that I’ve ever read a book about the Bible with the conscious intention of being more conformed to Christ when I finished the study. It will take some effort to keep that idea in the forefront of my reading.

2. The presence of the gospel throughout this book. Another quote:
   

   ”In the chapters that follow we shall hearken to the words that fell from His lips while He hung upon the Cross – … words in which is wrapped up the Gospel of our Salvation.”

   I want to look for different aspects of the gospel throughout this book, and find ways to apply those to my life.

3. The divine nature of Jesus. Even in a brief look at Jesus’ 7 sayings in the introduction, Pink demonstrates clearly that the Saviour was in total control of the entire situation, from His arrest in the garden of Gethsemane to His final breath. No one other than God could have so deliberately fulfilled every prophecy and dominated the entire chain of events.

   In my readings through the Gospels, it is more and more apparent that the works Jesus did during His public ministry were laid out specifically to fulfill prophecies from the Old Testament, and signify that the promised kingdom of God was making its entrance into the world (Luke 7:20-22). From the beginning of His ministry (Luke 3:20-22) to the very end, God provided clear proof that Jesus was the Son of God. Even in His death, Christ’s divine nature was unmistakeable.

John Piper is starting a new series at Bethlehem Baptist Church on “a vision for the rising generation of young people.” Here are a few of quotes from the first sermon.

“There is a way for six-year-olds to make much of Christ and a way for ten-year-olds to make much of Christ and a way for sixteen-year-olds to make much of Christ.”

“The discipline and instruction of the Lord is not simply moral demands followed by rewards and punishments. That would not be “of the Lord.” The Lord is the Lord who died for the child’s sins and rose again and pours out his Spirit to help us. Dad and Mom bring their children up in this gospel-saturated instruction. The grace of God in the gospel becomes the rule and the power by which a child lives.”

“Parents, successful parenting is more than compliant kids. It is gospel-saturated living and teaching. Show your children how Christ, crucified for our sins, and Christ, raised for our justification, and Christ, showing the Father’s love, and Christ, guaranteeing the Spirit’s daily help—show them how this gospel is not just something that begins the Christian life but empowers it and shapes and sustains it. Pray and love and teach your children until Christ breaks in on their hearts and becomes their Treasure.”

This emphasis on living and teaching the gospel instead of focusing on obedience to rules is something I really struggle with as I raise my children. Just like I need to remind myself of the gospel every day, I need to remind myself to parent with the gospel, not the law. The gospel, not rules, is “the power of God for salvation,” and is the only thing that will bring my children to “make much of Christ.”

There were a couple excellent articles from Pulpit Magazine last week on principles for evangelizing children. With 4 young children at home (and 1 on the way), this is something that’s on my mind pretty much every day. The articles are HERE and HERE; they are taken from a Grace Community Church Elders’ Distinctive.

Here are the main points from these two articles:

Common Pitfalls in Evangelizing Children

1. Oversimplifying the Gospel of Christ
2. Coercing a Profession of Faith
3. Assuming the Reality of Regneration
4. Assuring the Child of Salvation
5. Rushing the Ordinance of Baptism

Foundational Keys to Evangelizing Children

1. Setting a Consistent Example of Godliness
2. Proclaiming the Complete Gospel of Christ
3. Understanding the Biblical Evidences of Salvation
4. Encouraging Possible Signs of Conversion
5. Trusting the Absolute Sovereignty of God

The two articles put the meat on the bones of the above points, and have some good things to think about. Two of the ideas really resonate with me. The first is the pitfall of oversimplifying the gospel. Among the many things I’ve learned from my children is not to underestimate their minds. While they may not process ideas with the sophistication of an adult, I’ve found that children are able to retain and understand much more than I give them credit for. My kids may not be able to define “penal substitutionary atonement,” but there’s not a doubt in my mind that they can understand the main points of the gospel.”

The second idea that got my attention is that of not rushing or coercing a profession of faith. My kids have been doing AWANA for about 4 years now, and I love the focus on memorizing Scripture. One thing that’s always bothered me, though, is the way that the program essentially manipulates the children into “asking Jesus into their hearts” sometime during the year. Most kids I know will agree with almost anything, especially when an adult asks them to raise their hand, without really understanding what they’re doing. I don’t want to pressure my children into “making a decision,” then assuming that has been real and relying on that moment for all time.

A couple years ago, my parents gave us a copy of Your Child’s Profession of Faith by Dennis Gundersen. This short book gives an excellent treatment of the process of evangelizing children and evaluating their spiritual condition.

This post has gotten long enough for now – one more link and question coming up.

I might be praying the wrong way if:

- If my asking shows that my trust is in what I’m asking for, instead of in God. This is what Israel did when they insisted on having a king to fight their battles for them; the prophet Samuel called this “wickedness.”

1 Sam. 12:17: Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.

- If how I’m asking shows that I’ve forgotten what God has done in the past; if I’m ignoring God’s counsel in Scripture or through other people; if I’ve become a slave to my desire.

Ps. 106: 13-15: But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.

About this verse Matthew Henry says:

”They did not only wish for flesh, but they lusted exceedingly after it. A desire, even of lawful things, when it is inordinate and violent, becomes sinful; and therefore this is called lusting after evil things (1 Co. 10:6), though the quails, as God’s gift, were good things, and were so spoken of, (Ps. 105:40).” (Henry, M. (1996, c1991). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Ps 106:13). Peabody: Hendrickson.)

- If the reason for my asking is only to satisfy my earthly desires. If my requests demonstrate an affection that is stronger than my affection for God.

James 4:3-4: 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.

Here’s part of Matthew Henry’s commentary on this passage:

”They ask God to give them success in their callings or undertakings; not that they may glorify their heavenly Father and do good with what they have, but that they may consume it upon their lusts—that they may be enabled to eat better meat, and drink better drink, and wear better clothes, and so gratify their pride, vanity, and voluptuousness…and this we may be sure of, that, when our prayers are rather the language of our lusts than of our graces, they will return empty.” (Henry, M. (1996, c1991). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Jas 4:1). Peabody: Hendrickson.)

- If as I pray I doubt the power of God to provide my requests if He chooses.

James 1:5-7: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

- If I my heart as I pray is focused here on earth, not towards God.

Matthew 6:5: “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.

The common thread in all these passages is my heart, my affections. As I pray, am I trusting God? Am I seeking His glory or the satisfaction of my own desires? Do I doubt the greatness and power of my Father? These are things I should be deliberate about as I “make my requests known to God.”

Part of the American psyche is strong individualism; the focus of our thoughts, feelings and general national makeup is on the individual person rather than the collective. Since I have grown up in that culture, I’ve never really thought too much about this particular aspect, especially as it relates to the church and to the subject of prayer.

However, I got to thinking a little bit this morning about prayer requests in general, and my personal requests in particular, and how individually-focused they are. The Spirit reminded me of 1 Peter 2:5:

“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house” (ESV)

As a stone house is built, the stones must be shaped and tooled to fit into their proper place. The shaping of any individual stone is relatively insignificant in the building of the entire structure. Now, I don’t mean to imply that any individual believer is insignificant to the Father – after all, He cares for even the sparrows and flowers. God does have His purposes for the shaping of my life, but those purposes are not so much for me as an individual as they are for me as a stone that needs to be fitted into my proper place in the house.

What I do think, though, is that perhaps as shaping takes place in my own life (however painful that shaping might be), an internal, individual focus on that shaping causes me to completely miss the big picture of the house that God is putting together. The loss of that big-picture focus might then distort the focus of my prayers so that rather than praying for kingdom purposes (even in my own or my family’s life) I’m trying to give the Stone Mason some pointers on how I’d like to be shaped. Perhaps that perspective makes a difference in how and what I pray for and about.

This is going to be the first post on my issue with prayer. I started really thinking about this a couple months ago when I started my latest deployment with the Navy and realized that something wasn’t right about how I was praying for my family, particularly my wife and kids. I have a sinking suspicion that part of the reason I’m dealing with this now is that I haven’t ever taken this subject very seriously.

What really bothered me for the first few weeks I was gone was how things were going at home. There’s nothing seriously wrong, but several things with the latest pregnancy, children’s behaviour, etc. were just not where I wanted them to be. I was praying for the kids to behave the way we’ve tried to teach them, my wife to feel better, and for things to generally smooth out for the family. After a couple weeks of things definitely not smoothing out, I was getting a little frustrated, which really shocked me because I’ve never felt that way before. Surely these were good things I was asking for – I mean, they weren’t even for me.

It didn’t help that I was reading through Matthew’s gospel at the time, and every chapter or so someone was getting healed because their faith in Jesus was strong. So I really started thinking and trying to figure out what was going on. The obvious first answer is that the things I was praying for weren’t what God wanted for our family right now, but that’s a little too easy and somewhat fatalistic.

I’m going to spend the next little while going through a lot of Scriptures on prayer and faith, trying to synthesize the disconnect between the evidence of my personal experience and some of God’s somewhat unbelievable promises. One of my responsibilities as the leader of my family is to pray for my wife and children – if I’m doing that ineffectively, I have a feeling we’re going to have some big problems. The point of this exercise, then, is to figure out as best I can how and what I am supposed to be praying for.

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One thing I think can be conclusively stated is that God is not a cosmic repair man, standing by to fix all of my personal troubles. I think that’s pretty obvious both from the Bible and from the overwhelming experience of the human race in general. Michael Spencer has another excellent post which hits some of the issues with “prayer requests” as popularized in the American evangelical church. I’ll admit now to never having read Joel Osteen or The Secret, but I’ve talked with folks who have bought into those messages. One fellow who worked for me was convinced beyond a doubt that if he had enough faith, he’d have everything he wanted. He even went so far as to say that if he died of cancer or some other unexpected disease, it was because he simply didn’t have enough faith to be healed. A couple months later, when he spent a week with a miserable cold, it was only the grace of God that kept the sarcastic comments in my head. That kind of belief is un-Biblical and demoralizing beyond belief.

I’ll finish this post with a quote from a post today at the Boar’s Head Tavern:

”Jesus said, when you pray, pray like this….so I pray the Lord’s prayer with all my heart. If Jesus is the ultimate expression of love and judgment then God is most certainly interested in our welfare. I just can’t figure out where prayer fits into how I’m supposed to be a disciple.”

That’s pretty much the question I’m hoping to answer. We’ll see how it goes.

Before reading this, refer to the Disclaimer in my last post.

One of the things I don’t do well is consider opposite points of view from my own. As I grew up and went through my school years, I really wasn’t exposed to alternative ideologies from the one my family held. The most we really talked about alternative views was to criticize them (as in, they’re wrong and we’re right), not to examine them and try to honestly assess their merits and deficiencies. I’m just now starting to engage with ideas that are different from my own and analyze them honestly. There are a couple blogs that I have enjoyed in that regard. One is on my blogroll – the Internet Monk, written by Michael Spencer. I agree with much of what he writes, but all his articles make me think – a lot, even if I disagree with them.

Another one, which admittedly I’ve just begun reading, is The Boar’s Head Tavern (BHT), coincidentally (or maybe not) also hosted by Michael Spencer. I don’t necessarily agree with everything that’s written there, but it’s important for me think about WHY I don’t agree with it, and whether that’s really the right response, or is the author on to something that I haven’t gotten around to figuring out yet?

All that is more or less an introduction to why I’m reading and referencing those two blogs, since a couple of this week’s posts on the BHT relate directly to the thinking about prayer that I’ve been doing the last few months, and that I’m going to try to organize and write about in the future. What do you know – I’m not the only one who struggles with some of these questions!

Next time I post on prayer, I’ll post some excerpts from the BHT posts; they will really help frame the issue that I’ve been dealing with. My point with this article has basically been that it’s good for me to get outside my own echo chamber, where all I hear agrees with me, and put some effort into seeing life from a different point of view. Not that I’m that far outside the chamber yet, but it’s a start. As I said at the beginning, I’m awfully thankful for grace!

DISCLAIMER: Anything I write about my family while I was growing up is in no way critical of my Dad & Mom – it’s simply a statement of fact. My parents worked and prayed hard to honor the Lord and bring up their children in some difficult situations, and over the years I have gained increasing respect for their effort, example, and patience. There’s no way for me to thank my folks enough for their love and guidance. I’m incredibly grateful for their investment in my life and for the relationship we enjoy now. If I had a kid like me, there’s no way that I could do as well. God’s bottle of tears has a lot of my Mom’s from what I’ve put them through. The Father has been really gracious and we’ve all grown a lot. As I look back (with admittedly imperfect hindsight), and think about how to raise my own family, though, I see areas that weren’t as good as they could have been. I shudder to think about what my own blind spots are and what my kids will tell me 30 years from now. Thank God for grace! Oh, did I mention I love my parents?

So the list came out for my XO screening board last night; I got it before I left for work this morning.  My name wasn’t on it.  It’s a little disappointing, since it was my next big career milestone, but a lot of prayer has gone up for my attitude over the last couple months.  Here are some reasons I’m thankful that I didn’t get chosen

– My name is already on a much, much better list:

“Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”(Luke 10:20, ESV)

– The Lord knows better than I do what I need – now is not His timing.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11, ESV)

– My Heavenly Father has given me blessings beyond measure, not the least of which is adoption and righteousness through Jesus Christ.  Unfortunately, I’m rarely as thankful as I should be for the blessings I do have – I’m not really in a position to complain about one thing that doesn’t go my way.

“Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10, ESV)

– I have an opportunity to trust in God for the results of the next board.  I get one more opportunity next year to be selected, so I will have a year to be patient and see what direction the Lord has for me.  There are many temptations – to worry about what will happen to my career if I’m not selected; to be angry because I didn’t achieve what I wanted professionally; to put too much effort into trying to make sure that I’m selected next time.  This is a chance to grow.

– My pride and self-righteousness get exposed.  I’ve been praying for a few weeks that as this board met I would be thankful and not feel disappointed no matter what the outcome.  I realize that God determined whose names would be on this list before He created the world; He even wrote the script for this day before I was born (Psalm 139:16).  When I read the list this morning, I didn’t feel the disappointment, fear, etc. that might be natural – the Holy Spirit graciously answered prayer and gave me peace.  But even as I went off to the gym, I was feeling pretty good about myself; my pride rose up and thought, “Hey, I’m doing pretty well here – way to react!”  This is another opportunity to humble myself, kill pride, and give all the thanks to God.

– I learn not to rely on myself and my personal performance for advancement.  If I had been selected this first time, the temptation might have come to congratulate myself on how well I did, instead of remembering that God blesses not because I do well, but because He will be gracious to whom He will be gracious.

– I learn to align my desires with God’s will and not my own.  A few years ago, I would have said that being selected to be XO and then CO of a ship was what I wanted most in my career.  In fact, I have said that if I can make the rank of O-5 and get command of a ship, I’ll have achieved my professional goals.  I need to remember that might not happen; and my professional goals, while good in themselves, need to be brought under whatever goals my Father has for my life, my career, and my family. Proverbs 3:5-6 is a familiar verse, but that doesn’t make it less true.

– I have an opportunity now, and an example to use later in life, in which to lead my family to trust in God and bless Him in all circumstances.  How I respond now will teach my wife and children – I need to be careful what lesson I give them.

There’s a fine line between fatalism and trusting in the sovereignty of God.  They even look a lot the same from the outside; it’s only as one digs a little deeper that I see the difference.  Fatalism says, “Well, what happened happened and that’s it.  It’s all chance anyway.”  There’s no deeper purpose, no point to that, just a teeth-gritting resignation to the facts.  That’s not what God calls me to.  His sovereignty says, “Well, what happened happened.  But I made it happen.  And if you trust My purposes for you, you  will find infinitely more happiness and joy than if you had been selected in the first place.”

So thank you, Father, that I was not selected this time; I look forward to seeing what You have for me next.

I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer over the last couple months, trying to find a harmony between my daily experience, and some of the remarkable promises that Jesus made to His disciples. This has come into sharp focus as I have begun to pray more for my family, particularly my wife and children.

Stephen Altrogge had a great post a couple weeks ago on Arguing with God. And last last week Thabiti Anyabwile posted this quote from Sinclair Ferguson.

I’ve thought a little about some of the often-used verses on prayer, but I can’t yet put my questions together with an organized understanding of the Scripture. Now that a couple other projects are more or less finished, I’m going to put some time into studying this subject and getting my thoughts organized.