Three Reasons Why You Should Pray
Everyone is called to pray, but not everyone prays. Some don’t pray because they believe that God doesn’t care about the smaller details of their lives. Others don’t pray because they believe that God doesn’t hear their prayers, and even if He did, He wouldn’t move on their behalf. All of these are good reasons not to pray, if they were true, but they aren’t. They are lies; lies which can easily be exposed by looking at the truth of the Word. God cares about every detail of our lives, no matter how big or small God cares so much about us that He knows the number of hairs we have on our head (Luke 12:7). When Jesus walked this earth, He didn’t just “show up” when it was a matter of life and death, but He also “showed up” when it wasn’t. Jesus cared enough about the details of a wedding that when the wine ran out, He made more (John 2:1-10). He cared enough about a crowd missing lunch that He multiplied a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish to feed 5,000. God cared enough for me that when I asked Him to help me find a lost cell phone, He showed me where to find it. If it matters to us, it matters to God; we can pray about everything and anything, and we should. God Hears Our Prayers How do we know that God hears our prayers? His Word says that He does. Psalms 34:15 reminds us that “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.” In Jeremiah 29:12, God tells us that when we pray, He will listen. In Jeremiah 33:3, God tells us to call to Him and He will answer us and tell us great and unsearchable things. 1 John 5:14-15 urges us to confidently come to God in prayer because when we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. If it were true that God doesn’t hear our prayers, why would He spend so much time encouraging us to pray? God moves on this earth in response to believers’ prayers Sometimes when we pray, it seems God is not moving, but in reality, things are happening in the spiritual realm that we cannot see. Daniel fasted and prayed for 21 days, waiting for God to move. For 21 days, he cried out to God, but there was only silence. Finally, an angel appeared to Daniel and said to him, “from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them..…” (Daniel 10:12). Daniel had no idea that from the moment he uttered the first word of his prayer, God began to move in the spiritual realm towards the answer. God heard Him. Sometimes we must wait longer than we want for the answer, and sometimes we don’t receive the answer we want at all. Instead of letting doubt take hold, we must trust that God is moving on our behalf and that He always has our best interests at heart. You are called to pray. You are called to communicate with your lifeline, with your one true path to peace, your heavenly Father. God cares about you and every detail of your life, no matter how big or small. God hears your prayers. He wants you to talk to Him. He wants a relationship with you. Don’t lose faith. Don’t lose hope. Sometimes it seems God is not moving on your behalf, but the truth is, you can’t always see Him moving; you can’t always see what He is setting in motion. Even in those times of silence, you can be assured that God is working things out with your best interests at heart; that He is working to give you hope and a future!
The Beatitudes: Being Happy, Hungry, and Thirsty
Finding true happiness. Many search for it. Many don’t find it. The good news is that Jesus gave us the spiritual roadmap to happiness in the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes describe spiritual qualities that operate within the Kingdom of Heaven, where we find true happiness. The Kingdom of Heaven is not just a future promise, but it is a promise for today and is found in the hearts of those who submit to the rule of Jesus, His followers. As we follow Jesus’ spiritual roadmap to happiness, we will need to make a few stops. First, we must stop at poor in spirit and then go to mourning over sin. Then we backtrack to meekness, the state Jesus calls the citizens of His Kingdom to visit so that God can use them to accomplish His plans and purposes here on earth. Then we move on to stop number four, where our hunger and thirst can be satisfied. Jesus said in Beatitude number 4, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 But how can we be blessed and satisfied if we are hungry and thirsty? Hunger and Thirst Hunger and thirst are the two physical needs of man that, if not satisfied, will lead to certain death. Jesus was no stranger to hunger. He spent 40 nights in the desert with no food and water and understood the overwhelming desire and craving for that which can physically satisfy and sustain. Jesus wants us to have the same overwhelming desire and craving for God because only God can spiritually satisfy and sustain us. However, instead of hungering and thirsting after God, people hunger and thirst after all the wrong things: money, possessions, power, and pleasure. They passionately pursue these things with the belief that when they gain them, they will be satisfied. But when they finally get everything they thought they wanted, they realize that these things cannot satisfy them and will not sustain them, so they begin their fruitless pursuit of all the wrong things again. Money & Possessions Many of Jesus’ teachings were warnings against the pursuit of money and possessions. He said, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroy them, and thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:19-21 He also said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” (Matthew 6:24). He also said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke 12:15 And finally, “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul.” Matthew 16:26 Power Even the disciples hungered and thirsted after wrong things. In Luke 22:24-27, the disciples “began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them.” They desired power. Jesus quickly set them straight about what was important in the Kingdom. He said, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.” Pleasure Jesus in the “Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed” refers to the pleasures of this life as thorns that can choke out the Word of God, hindering the believer from growing to full maturity and producing fruit. Luke 8:4-15 The disciple John says in 1st John 2:15-16, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world.” The One Right Thing Instead of hungering and thirsting after all the wrong things and ending up unsatisfied, Jesus calls His followers to hunger and thirst after the one right thing: the righteousness of God. Righteousness in Greek means the state of being in right relationship with God, justified, the act of doing what is in agreement with God’s standards. Jesus invites us to partake of his righteousness by thirsting and hungering after Him. He says that anyone who drinks the water He offers “will never be thirsty again.” That His water “becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” John 4:13-15 He says that He is “the bread of life” and whoever comes to Him “will never be hungry again.” John 6:35 We are made right through Jesus, who never sinned. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that “God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin so that we would be made right with God through Christ.” This righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Romans 3:21-26) Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross covers our sin so that God sees us as He sees Christ: perfect and unblemished. Once we are justified, the Holy Spirit begins to work in us to make us look more like Christ, and the more we look like Christ, the more we hunger and thirst after the one right thing! Spiritual Diet Do you hunger and thirst after God? Do you want to hunger and thirst after Him more? If you fill yourself up with too much junk
The Beatitudes: Welcome to the Upside Down
What is True Happiness? What is true happiness? Philosophers, scholars, and psychologists have pondered this question throughout the years and have offered us definition after definition. However, because they base their ideas of happiness on human wisdom, they only provide a fleeting type of happiness: happiness that relies on self-gratification and external factors instead of internal peace. Jesus, on the other hand, shows us a way to true, lasting happiness in a series of short teachings called the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are part of the Sermon on the Mount, a sermon given by Jesus and documented by Matthew in Matthew 5 through 7. The Sermon on the Mount is the most extended discourse by Jesus recorded in the Bible and is probably the most famous Sermon ever. Understanding this Sermon is foundational to understanding Jesus’ other teachings. Jesus Turned the World Upside Down As Jesus often did, He turned the world upside down with the Beatitudes. According to Jesus, to find true happiness, we must forget what the world tells us about the pursuit of happiness and instead look to Him. Jesus tells us that He came to give us a “rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10, NLT). Not only does Jesus give us the keys to true happiness, but He also presents a spiritual blueprint of the Kingdom of Heaven itself. Jesus opened His Sermon with this truth: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3 NIV). Jesus taught with order and purpose. He presents this Beatitude first because we can’t spiritually discern the remaining eight without making sense of it. To grasp the meaning of this Beatitude, let’s take a closer look at three keywords: “blessed,” “poor in spirit,” and “kingdom of heaven.” Blessed We toss around the word “blessed” a lot these days, Christians and non-Christians alike. When someone asks how we are doing, we might respond, “I am blessed”; when someone speaks of something good that happened in their life, they might say, “I was blessed.” In fact, over the past couple of years, the hashtag #blessed has been trending to a point where media outlets have published articles on the overuse of #blessed. In all this blessedness, the real meaning of blessed gets lost. Jesus also used the word “blessed” a lot. In fact, His first recorded Sermon began with the word “Blessed” and each of the Beatitudes that follow begins with the words “Blessed are”. Blessed is the Greek word makarios, which means happy. As we will see, the world’s idea of what it means to be “blessed” or “happy” is very different from the true meaning of happiness presented by Jesus in His teachings. Poor in Spirit The word “poor” in the American culture is viewed negatively and is associated with those who want for money, food, clothing, or housing. Our culture either feels sorry for the poor or looks down upon them as useless and worthless. Indeed, no one in the American culture aspires to be “poor,” and to my knowledge #poor has not trended on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. The meaning of poor in Greek is no different than how we define poor. In Greek, it means a beggar, a person of few resources, a person who is culturally considered oppressed, despised, and miserable. Notice that Jesus did not say, “Blessed are the poor”, but He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Being “poor in spirit” does not mean that a person lacks in spirit, but that they lack in self-reliance and self-assurance. Those who are poor in spirit look outside of themselves for their provision. Being “poor in spirit” has nothing to do with lacking financial resources but has everything to do with lacking in self. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? Another important concept we need to grasp to understand the teachings of Jesus better is the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the Gospels, Jesus spends a lot of time talking about it. He says that this Kingdom is not of this world, it can’t be observed by visible signs, and it is already among us (John 18:36, Luke 17:20-21). What exactly does Jesus mean by the Kingdom of Heaven? A kingdom is defined as a rule or realm, a dominion of a king. Kings exert their rule over their subjects, and their subjects submit to their king’s authority. Kingdom rule is what Americans revolted against in 1776. Kingdom rule is in direct contradiction to most Americans’ innate sense of self-rule and independence. Yet, Jesus is telling us to seek the Kingdom of Heaven first, above all else (Matthew 6:33). With the birth of Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven was brought to earth, and Jesus was crowned the King. Upon Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven, the Kingdom’s realm resides in the hearts of those who submit to the rule of Jesus, His followers. Spiritual Bankruptcy To enter the Kingdom of Heaven and receive its blessings, we must be poor in spirit. God “opposes the proud” (James 4:6), but “lives in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble” (Isaiah 57:15 NLT). The story of Jacob’s wrestling match with God found in Genesis 32: 22-32 demonstrates the spiritual principle of the first Beatitude. After fleeing his father-in-law Laban, Jacob wanted to return home but first would have to face his brother Esau, whom he had betrayed years before. Fearing Esau might retaliate for Jacob’s past betrayal, Jacob, on his own, devised a plan. Only when he realized that his plan might fail and there was nothing he could do in his own power to save himself did he turn to God in prayer. Wrestling With God One night, in response to Jacob’s prayer, God appeared to Jacob and wrestled with him until daybreak. When God saw that Jacob would not give up, He touched Jacob’s hip and lamed him. It was then that Jacob realized that he was
The Beatitudes: 5 Ways to Be Meek Not Weak
Jesus tells us in the third Beatitude that those who are meek are happy, and they will inherit the earth. The world associates meekness with weakness and thinks that only the strong can be happy and inherit the earth. Once again, Jesus’ teaching turns the world’s views upside down. In Welcome to the Upside Down, we talked about the blueprint for happiness that Jesus set out for us in the Beatitudes. We learned that the first step to finding true happiness is to be “poor in spirit.” To be poor in spirit, we must forget our self-interests and crown Jesus the king of our hearts. In Happy are the Sad, we discovered the second step to finding true happiness is to mourn our sins and choose the path of godly sorrow, which leads to salvation and comfort. The third step to finding true happiness can only be taken after accomplishing steps one and two. Jesus calls us to meekness. The Greek word for meek is “praus” and means gentle. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus described himself as “humble and gentle at heart,” in other words, “meek.” Not only did Jesus describe himself as meek, but He constantly displayed His meekness by yielding His power to the control and purposes of God. Jesus had power but chose not to exercise it. Meekness is Not Weakness By studying Jesus, we see that meekness is not weakness; it is power under control. A wild horse is powerful but cannot be used to accomplish the purpose of its master until it submits to the master’s direction. Just because the horse submits doesn’t mean that it is weak, only that its power is under control and can be wielded to accomplish the purpose of its master. Jesus calls the citizens of His kingdom to meekness so that God can use them to accomplish His plans and purposes. When we follow our own plans and purposes without submitting to the direction of God, we won’t accomplish God’s plans and purposes, which always far exceed our own. Blueprint for Meekness We understand that Jesus calls us to meekness, but what does meekness look like for a kingdom citizen? Psalm 37 is most likely the Old Testament teaching that Jesus was referring to when he said the meek would inherit the earth. Psalm 37 describes character traits that a person must have to be meek. To be meek, you must: 1. Trust in the Lord Meek people do not worry about God coming through on their behalf but trust the Lord with all aspects of their life. Jesus tells us in John 14:1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” Jesus continued to encourage His disciples to trust God by teaching them to pray this way: “Give us today the food we need.” (Matthew 6:11). Notice Jesus didn’t pray for God’s provision for tomorrow, only for today. He wants us to trust God day by day and not worry about tomorrow. Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 6:25-34 not to worry about what they eat or drink, or what they wear because God will provide for them just as he does the birds and the lilies in the field. He says that these worries “dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.” He goes on to say, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Finally, He says “don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries…” 2. Delight in the Lord Meek people delight in the Lord above all else. To delight in someone means to take pleasure in them, to make them the most important thing in your life. If you delight in someone you want to please them. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:10 to “Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.” God has set out all we need to know about pleasing Him in His Word. The Word tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). It tells us that we please God when we are spiritually, not worldly-minded (Romans 8:6-8), and when we “do good” (Hebrews 13:16). Jesus delighted in God and God delighted in Jesus. In John 8:29 Jesus said of God, “For I always do what pleases him” and in Matthew 17:5, God said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Father and Son delighted in each other. Jesus is our perfect example of delighting in the Lord. 3. Commit Your Ways to the Lord The Hebrew translates the verb commit as to roll or roll onto. Meek people roll their ways onto the Lord. Peter summed this up when he said, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1st Peter 5:7). The idea is that we should trust that God will take care of all of our worries and cares. 4. Still Yourself and Wait Patiently for the Lord Meek people are still before the Lord and wait patiently for him trusting that He will take care of them in His own time. Waiting on God means recognizing that He is God and that everything worth waiting for comes from Him. David understood this well. In Psalm 62 he said, “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken…Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.” God promises us that when we wait patiently on Him that he will “renew our strength” (Isaiah 40:31) and that we will be blessed (Isaiah 30:18). 5. Refrain from Anger and Turn from Wrath The last characteristic of a meek person is the ability to refrain from anger and turn from wrath even in the face of adversity, persecution, and injustice. The meek can do this
The Beatitudes: Happy are the Sad
Last time we talked about the pursuit of true happiness and discovered that the blueprint for happiness set out by Jesus in the Beatitudes is very different than the world’s. According to Jesus, to find true happiness, we must forget what the world tells us and instead look to Him. We learned that the first step to finding true happiness is to be “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3 NIV). To be poor in spirit, we must empty ourselves of “self” and acknowledge our inadequacy before God. We must choose who we will crown the king of our heart: ourselves or Jesus? “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Jesus didn’t stop with the first Beatitude; He went on to say, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4 NIV). Mourn (pentheo in Greek) means to feel or express deep sorrow or regret for something. Is Jesus suggesting that we can only be happy if we are sorrowful? And what kind of sorrow is He talking about? The Bible tells us that there are two kinds of sorrow: worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT says, “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” When Jesus said Happy are those who are sorrowful, He was not talking about just any kind of sorrow; He was talking about godly sorrow. He wants us to take the path of godly sorrow, which leads us away from sin and to salvation. He does not want us to feel regret. He wants us to face our sin, mourn our sin, and repent of our sin so we can receive comfort. Worldly Sorrow Worldly sorrow responds to sin selfishly and never finds lasting comfort, only regret. Worldly sorrow feels sorry for the sin, but instead of repenting, takes the following attitudes: Self-pity. “Why is this happening to me?” Embarrassment. “No one can know. What will people think of me?” Regret. “I will never be able to get over this.” “Poor me.” Unbelieving guilt. “I can’t forgive myself.” Saul, the first King of Israel expressed worldly sorrow when he was caught in sin. God gave Saul a mission. Saul accomplished some of the mission but purposely did not do all God asked of him, not because he couldn’t, but because he was worried about what others would think of him if he did. When the prophet Samuel confronted Saul about this, Saul admitted his sin of disobedience but made excuses. Saul asked for forgiveness but did not repent. Instead, he begged Samuel to show public support for him, so he would not have to experience the embarrassment of his sin in front of others (1st Samuel 15 NLT). Saul went before God, admitted his sin, and asked for forgiveness, but instead of repenting, he remained focused on hiding his sin to save his reputation. His unrepentant heart ultimately led to his spiritual death. Another biblical example of worldly sorrow is that of Judas. Judas, a disciple of Jesus, betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. When Judas “realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse.” He admitted his sin and tried to give the silver back to the priests and elders. When they refused to take it back, Judas threw the silver down in the temple and then hanged himself. Matthew 27:1-10 Instead of repenting, Judas tried to lessen his guilt by returning the silver. Penance does not replace repentance, and it does not offer comfort. Penance is just another expression of worldly sorrow and only leads to condemnation. Instead of doing the one thing that would have given him comfort, asking Jesus for forgiveness, Judas acted selfishly and hung himself. Judas chose the path of worldly sorrow, which always leads to condemnation and death for those who follow it. In this case, not only did it result in his spiritual death but also his physical death. Godly Sorrow Godly sorrow responds to sin not by focusing on self but by focusing on God and others. Godly sorrow admits the sin, repents of the sin, and then finds lasting comfort. Godly sorrow is expressed in the following ways: No concern about self, only concern that the sin committed is an insult to God and His holy nature. “I am a sinner and don’t deserve your forgiveness.” Concern for those who the sin has hurt. “God, please take away the pain my sin has caused others.” Begging God for forgiveness so that intimacy with God can be restored. “Lord, I can’t take another minute of separation from you because of my sin.” Receiving comfort. “Thank you, God, that you have forgiven my sin, and I take comfort in knowing I am forgiven.” David, Saul’s successor as King of Israel, shows us what godly sorrow looks like. David desired Bathsheba another man’s wife, committed adultery with her, and then in fear that his sin would be discovered, ordered the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. King David wrote Psalms 32 and 51 to express his godly sorrow for his sin. Psalm 32 Before David repented of his sin, he said he was wasting away and was weighed down by his sin. He was taking the path of worldly sorrow which was leading him to condemnation and eventual spiritual death. But after David confessed his sin, God forgave him, and his guilt was lifted. God’s forgiveness comforted David. Psalm 32 ended with David crying out, “So rejoice in the Lord and be glad…shout for joy all you whose hearts are pure!” Godly sorrow ultimately results in comfort for those who mourn their sin because it releases the mourner from the weight of their sin. David, in his godly sorrow also recognized his sin was an insult to God. He cried out in Psalm 51, “Against
Getting to Know Jesus: Our Great High Priest
Jesus is our great high priest—fully human yet without sin. Unlike earthly priests, His once-for-all sacrifice opened the way to God’s throne of grace. He understands our weakness, intercedes for us, and gives mercy and grace in every trial.