Three things that hinder prayer

12 09 2008

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66:18)

 

Love of the world and love of sin puts a barrier between man and God so that the heavens are like a ceiling of brass that bounces back prayer and keeps it from reaching God’s ears.

 

Have you ever felt like that? Have you complained that the Lord isn’t hearing and answering your prayers? Have you worried that He has forsaken or abandoned you because He doesn’t seem to listen to you? God has not forsaken you, but He wants you to forsake your sin and abandon your love of self.

 

Why is it that a man’s regarding iniquity in his heart (literally, cherishing or loving sin) hinders his prayers from being heard favorably by God? Here are three key reasons

 

1. If you cherish sin in your heart you cannot pray by the Spirit. All prayers that are acceptable with God are the breathings of His own Spirit within us (Romans 8:26). Without the intercession of Christ we can’t have our prayers accepted, and without the intercession of the Spirit we can’t pray rightly. If your spirit is infatuated with some sinful desire or activity, God’s Spirit within you is grieved, and your prayers are tainted.

 

2. If you cherish sin in your heart you cannot pray in faith. You can’t build a rational confidence upon any promise that God will accept you. The Bible teaches us that faith always respects the promise, and the promise of acceptance is made only to the upright in heart. As long as you cherish a love of sin in your heart, you fail to understand the promises of God, and so pray without understanding. At best, your prayers are presumptuous, because you are asking God to bless you while you are taking His grace and mercy for granted.

 

3. If you cherish sin in your heart you cannot pray with fervency. Next to sincerity, this is the greatest qualification for effective prayer that is acceptable before God. “The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much.” The cause of fervency or passion in anything that we seek is our love for it. The more we love something the harder we will pursue it. As long as the love of sin possesses our hearts, our love toward spiritual things is dull, heavy and inactive, and so is our pursuit of them.

 

This is a wretched error with which our souls deceive themselves. At the same time we love our sin and pray against it. At the same time we plead for grace, with a desire not to prevail. Such are the mysterious, intricate treacheries by which the love of sin will make a soul deceive and undo itself. Truth told, we pray sluggishly for spiritual mercies, because if we receive what we ask, we will have to put away our sin! The soul thus deceived cannot pray against sin in earnest. We fight against it, but with neither hope nor intent to conquer.  Like lovers in a game against one another, we fight with a desire to lose.

 

Do your prayers for deliverance seem to bounce off the ceiling? Then pray for God to give you a true hatred for your sin and a true and fervent love for His holiness and purifying presence. Pray that He will purge your heart of any lingering desire for the passing pleasures of sin. Only then will you be able to pray in the Spirit, in faith, and with the fervency that will reach the gracious ear of your patient and loving Father in heaven.


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Categories : Biblical Matters, Discipleship Matters, Everyday Matters, Godliness Matters

What are you talking about?

11 09 2008

“Is it possible that any man should love another and not commend him, nor speak of him? If thou hast but a hawk or a hound that thou lovest, thou wilt commend it; and is it consistent with love to Christ, to seldom or never speak of Him nor of His love, never to commend Him unto others, that they may fall in love with Him also? Is it consistent with this life of love, to be always speaking about worldly affairs, or news at the best; both week-day and Sabbath-day, in good company and bad, at home and abroad? I tell you, it should be one main reason why you desire to live, that you may make the Lord Jesus known to your children, friends, acquaintances, that so in the ages to come His name might ring, and His memorial might be of sweet aroma, from generation to generation. If before thy conversion thou hast poisoned others by vain and corrupt speeches, after thy conversion thou wilt seek to season the hearts of others by a gracious, sweet and wise communication of savoury and blessed speeches; what the Lord hath taught thee thou wilt talk of it to others, for the sake of Him whom thou lovest.” –Thomas Sheppard

 

How many words do you speak or write in a day? It would be mind boggling to count them. Christian rapper shai linne said, “Every rapper is a preacher the only question is, What’s your sermon about?” It’s true not only of emcees but of all of us every day. How much do we talk about Christ compared to how much we talk about worldly junk and nonsense? The words I speak are an overflow of my heart. What spills out of my lips is evidence of what I love and cherish. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

 

Listen to yourself today. What is the subject of your speech. What are you promoting? Is it the new movie you just saw? Is it that hot new song your friend hipped you to? Is it the latest plot twists of your favorite TV show? Or is it that Scripture the Lord just laid on your heart with fresh understanding? Or the sermon you heard last Sunday that really spoke to your conscience? Or the challenges you’re facing in seeking to share Christ with someone who’s lost but listening? Or the beauty of Christ and His grace that you have been discovering lately in your prayer life?

 

Every life and conversation is a sermon. The only question is “What are you preaching about?”


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Categories : Apologetics Matters, Discipleship Matters, Everyday Matters

Practice what you Blog

26 08 2008

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1)

 

This verse from James always makes me nervous as a preacher. God holds those who are in a position of publicly proclaiming His Word to a higher standard of judgment. They are His visible representatives, or ambassadors. So it is imperative that their lives do not contradict the message they set forth, or in any way give the enemies of God an excuse to blaspheme. The verse applies especially to ministers who preach the Gospel as a calling, but it also applies to anyone who presumes to set forth instruction in the name of God and His truth… including bloggers. 

 

Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”

 

If holiness is required for anyone to see the Lord, how much more must we who publicly represent His name live holy lives as those who will give an account? Here are a few reasons that no one can be a spokesman for the Lord without living a holy life…

 

Because the doctrine of the Word is hard to understand and practice. The people who listen to your message don’t just take in the words; they watch what you DO and seek to imitate you. They assume that your lifestyle and manner of speech are the consistent outworking of the doctrine you present, and they follow your example. If you are representing Christ but acting out in ways that contradict His standards of godliness, you will lead people away from Him by your example. This is why Paul exhorted young Timothy, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16).

Because understanding of the Scriptures and the ability to present truth to others is not a guarantee of godliness. There are many preachers and teachers who have an amazing grasp of true doctrine, but who don’t live godly lives. The real proof of godliness is not just what you say in public, but how you live when no one else in watching. True godliness is a matter of the heart, not a slogan on the lips.

God hates godly speech that is not joined with a godly life. In Psalm 50:16 God says to the wicked, “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.” This is the stricter judgment that James talked about. If you think you can please God by blogging about Him while you live your life in rejection of His commandments, think again! God will call to account every one who fails to practice what they preach.

Because your life, if it is not consistent with what you teach, will tear down everything you think you are building. Little children like to build towers out of blocks only to knock them down. But men build things that are designed to stand the test of time. If your life contradicts the message you put out, you are like a child building a tower. You may instill some godly character in your listeners, but it will soon crash to the ground when they see how you live or follow your example.

 

Let’s determine before God that we will live in His grace and seek through His Spirit to back up what we preach, or blog, with lives that have been changed by His power.


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Are you a murderer?

23 08 2008

“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” [Ezekiel 3:18]

 

Are you a murderer? The comments of Jesus in Matthew 5:21-22 make it plain that murder is more than just the act of taking someone’s physical life. The sixth commandment requires more of us than merely keeping ourselves from choking the life out of someone who provokes us to anger.

 

In his exposition of the sixth commandment, James Durham talks about the duty that we have to preserve the spiritual life of our brothers. Sin kills. In this respect all who are unfaithful to others in the matter of their souls, or who cause them to sin, or give them occasion to sin, become guilty of soul-murder. God told the prophet Ezekiel that it was his duty to warn men of the judgments that would come to those who refuse to repent and turn to the Lord. If Ezekiel failed to do this, God said, “his blood I will require at your hands.” This is also why the Apostle Paul, when reviewing his ministry among the Gentiles, was able to say, “I am innocent of the blood of all men.”

 

Here are some ways that we can commit the sin of soul-murder…

 

  1. By giving advice or counsel that leads a person to a sinful course of action.
  2. By consenting to the sin of others, or in any way assisting, approving, or encouraging them in it.
  3. By provoking others, and stirring them up to sin in their reaction to us.
  4. By setting an evil example, that others imitate by sinning.
  5. By not warning faithfully before sin is committed.
  6. By not rebuking sin after it is committed.
  7. By rebuking sin too lightly, and thus failing to point out its seriousness.
  8. By putting men in leadership positions for which they are not qualified.
  9. By teaching error that leads men into a false hope.

 

Durham writes, “This sort of murder abounds and is very common, and yet is in a special manner forbidden by the sixth commandment, and the prevention of it accordingly called for; it being a greater evidence of love to our neighbor to be careful of his soul than of his body, the one being more precious than the other. And however false prophets, teachers and seducers seem ordinarily to be most tender of men’s persons, and most desirous to please them, yet are they in this sort horridly guilty of their murder.”

 

Are you careful for the spiritual welfare of those around you? The law tells us that if we see a person in danger of death, and we have the means to prevent it, but we stand idly by and do nothing, we bear a measure of responsibility for their death. God tells us that the same is true of the spiritual death of those around us. If you see your brother or sister in danger of sin, and you know that the wages of sin is death, what will you do to keep them from sinning? Can you say with Paul, “I am innocent of the blood of all men?”


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Keeping Your Vineyard

16 08 2008

Here is a compelling observation by Hudson Taylor commenting on Song of Solomon 1:6 – “…they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”

Our attention is here drawn to a danger which is pre-eminently one of this day: the intense activity of our times may lead to zeal in service, to the neglect of personal communion; but such neglect will not only lessen the value of the service, but tend to incapacitate us for the highest service. If we are watchful over the souls of others, and neglect our own – if we are seeking to remove the motes from our brother’s eye, unmindful of the beam in our own, we shall often be disappointed with our powerlessness to help our brethren, while our MASTER will not be less disappointed in us. Let us never forget that what we are is more important than what we do; and that all fruit borne when not abiding in CHRIST must be fruit of the flesh, and not of the SPIRIT. The sin of neglected communion may be forgiven, and yet the effect remain permanently; as wounds when healed often leave a scar behind.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the busyness of ministry while allowing our own walk with Christ to suffer from neglect. How often have we found ourselves on the verge of complete burn-out because we have over-extended ourselves in seeking to serve others while our own prayer life and daily communion with the Lord is all but non-existent. No wonder we become exhausted and discouraged! We are like marathon runners who pass by the water table and pass out from dehydration. If we are not drinking ourselves from the Living Water, the well that we have to offer others will quickly run dry. Not only that, but we will find ourselves far more vulnerable to sin and temptation, even in the midst of ministry.

Check your vineyard. While seeking to tend the vineyards of others, has your own vineyard become withered and overgrown with weeds? If so, you may need to take some time off to re-group and re-establish the priority of seeking close communion with Jesus daily. Remember the challenge of Hudson Taylor – “What we ARE is more important than what we DO!”


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What matters most

15 08 2008

The success of every temptation that the devil brings against men depends upon their putting the object of the temptation above God in their affections. When Satan can convince you that some coveted object is better for you than the love and favor and presence of God, he has caught you in his trap. This is at the heart of every temptation: which is your greatest delight, God or the object of your lust?

 

Renowned Puritan preacher, Thomas Brooks, counseled every Christian to answer all temptations with this short saying: “The Lord is my portion.” This is very wise advice. Think of a few examples from Scripture.

 

  • If Satan should come to you with an apple, as he once did to Eve, say to him “The Lord is my portion.”

 

  • If Satan should come to you with a grape, tempting you to drunkenness as he once did to Noah, say to him “The Lord is my portion.”

 

  • If he should come to you with fashionable clothing, as he once did to Gehazi, tell him “The Lord is my portion.”

 

  • If the devil should come to you with a ready seductress, as he once did to Joseph, tell him “The Lord is my portion.”

 

  • If he offers you a wedge of gold, as he once did to Achan, or a bag of money, as he once did to Judas, say to him “The Lord is my portion.”

 

  • If he comes to you with a crown and a kingdom, as he once did to Moses, tell him “The Lord is my portion.”

 

In every case, the heart that delights in God above every empty trinket that this world has to offer will rise above the devil’s attempt to put temporary worldly satisfaction ahead of the present and eternal joy of knowing God and finding contentment in His presence.

 

But in order for this tactic against temptation to work effectively, your insistence that “the Lord is your portion” must be a genuine confession of your heart. Do you love God more than worldly pleasure? Do you delight in Him more than in the riches and ease of accumulated wealth? Do you desire His presence more than the fickle affections of the seductress? Do you prefer the benefits of serving God to the trappings of earthly power or worldly reputation? Can you honestly say to Satan, when he throws these temptations in your path, “Begone with these empty and worthless trifles! I have something far better than these! The Lord is my portion!”?

 

If you would have this power over temptation, you must set yourself to seeking God as the highest and best reward. Look to Jesus, and commune with Him through the study of His word, and through earnest prayer, and through the fellowship of His people. Meditate upon the infinite perfections of the God of grace, and mercy, and love, and justice. Think often about the wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the precious blood that has paid the price for your sins and brought you from death to life. Pray for His Spirit to be poured out in your heart and commit yourself to serving Him by serving others. The more that you practice these spiritual disciplines, the more you will find your heart filled with delight in the Lord and His presence. Then, when the devil comes creeping with his promises of temporary satisfaction, you will be able to say to him with complete confidence and temptation-conquering conviction: “The Lord is my portion!”


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