Prayer and the Study of God’s Word

Do we pray enough?

How often do you pray?  How often do you pray as you study the Word of God?  How much time do you spend in prayer as you prepare a lesson or message?  I fear we spend much too little time seeking to be taught and instructed by the Spirit of the One who inspired the very words we seek to teach others.  May God grant us eyes to see our dependence on Him, and may we be found on our knees praying, showing our dependence on God.

“For a man solemnly to undertake the interpretation of any portion of Scripture without invocation of God, to be taught and instructed by his Spirit, is a high provocation of him; nor shall I expect the discovery of truth from any one, who thus proudly engages in a work so much above his ability.”[1]

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[1] John Owen, A Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit (Philadelphia: Tower & Hogan, 1827), 371.

Please Pray for Conner

A long time friend of mine had a major accident, diving into a lake his spinal cord was pinched.  Currently he has no feeling from the head down and is in critical condition.  Please pray for Conner’s recovery, and for his family, all of whom are believers.

http://www.connorwatch.org/

Off to Cambodia!

Well, it has been a packed season in my life, getting engaged, finishing my 4th semester at seminary, completing summer school, moving my fiancée’s furniture down to LA, and now heading off to Cambodia for five weeks (leaving tonight at 1:00 AM and returning July 20th).  My fiancée will be joining me for the first two  weeks so that she can be introduced to the team and the country as we look to future long-term ministry there.
A team from Grace Community Church will be joining for the last two weeks of my trip focusing on serving the local church, through ESL, vbs, and running a week-long camp for Shalom Toul Kork.

We covet your prayers – with all the transition up ahead.  How good our God is to us!  How marvelous are His blessings!

I’ll keep you updated as we travel to Cambodia, and minister there.  Thank you for your prayers and continued support.

Because He lives,
Nathan

Should we pray to “Saints”? (revisited)

I came across this verse today in my Old Testament Studies class (the second half of the OT). I thought it was an interesting verse to look at in regard to the debate about whether or not Christians should pray to “Saints” or even to Mary. There is a slight translation issue in this verse – but when I have more time, I’ll go into that (only to say now, given the placement of the ’athnach, I think the NASB and ESV got it right).

(Isaiah 8:19)

וְכִֽי־יֹאמְר֣וּ אֲלֵיכֶ֗ם דִּרְשׁ֤וּ אֶל־הָאֹבוֹת֙ וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים הַֽמְצַפְצְפִ֖ים וְהַמַּהְגִּ֑ים הֲלוֹא־עַם֙ אֶל־אֱלֹהָ֣יו יִדְרֹ֔שׁ בְּעַ֥ד הַחַיִּ֖ים אֶל־הַמֵּתִֽים׃

“When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19, NASB)

Random Thoughts from Reading Matthew

“…what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

This verse is profound. Oh how little I pray to my Father, who is the giver of good things! What more motivation do I need than this statement made by the Lord Himself, God in flesh? You see, I know God hears prayer, and I know that God gives good to those who ask Him, and yet, I do not live in light of that truth as I should. Oh to remember the goodness of God! To recognize His awesome sovereign power over all things, and His invitation for communion with Him through prayer! The Lord is so gracious to us, to me!

Father, how encouraging these words are. Oh that they should drive me to pursue a deeper passion for the good that You desire, and that I would learn to entreat You for that good more and more. I have seen the Your work in my life, in helping me learn how to pray, and in giving me a greater desire to pray more – and I look forward to growing even more as You continue, by Your faithfulness, to grant me grace.

“Lustful Greed” in Prayer

I’m in the process of writing a paper for my Theology I class on “Does God Repent?” The subject really covers a large amount of Theology, and what one believes about the nature of God’s repentance reveals much about their own understanding of God. But as I was talking about the paper with a friend, we started talking about prayer, and I was reminded through the conversation how sometimes God gives us what we ask for, even though it might hurt us for a short while. Because it will ultimately result in our good-bringing us closer to God. As I studied and wrote last night I came across this quote and thought I would share it:

Psalm 119:89-92 Contextual Analysis

Psalm 119:89-92

[89] From eternity O LORD, your word has been firmly fixed in the heavens.

[90] Your faithfulness has stood firm through all generations.

You established the earth therefore it endures.

[91] By your decision all things endure today,

Surely all things are your servants.

[92] If your law had not been my delight,

Then I would have perished in my affliction.

(NOTE: this is a paper I did for my Hebrew Exegesis class – the fourth in a series of five)

Introduction

The goal of this paper is to explore the various contexts of Psalm 119:89-92 in order to better understand the passage and to give insight into its meaning, as well as to protect against error in exposition.

Grasping the Cross

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! – and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;” (Ephesians 2:4-8)

Father, what can be said in view of your amazing, rich mercy? How can I even begin to speak of your grace – for it is so vast! How little I think about and ponder what you have done, for I forget, I cringe at this thought, but I forget, that you saved me.

Seventh Principle Drawn From God’s Sovereignty in Relation to Prayer

1. Prayer is a Profound Privilege

   1. With Respect to Who God Is
      As one ponders all these truths about prayer and who God is, one cannot but fall down in worship. God, the Unsearchable (Job 11:7), the Incorruptible (Rom. 1:23), the Eternal (Ps. 90:2), the Only-wise (Rom. 16:27), the Most High (Ps. 83:18), the Holy One (Rev. 16:5), can be approached, and conversed with in prayer! How is it, that the Lord who does all things after the counsel of his will (Eph. 1:11) interact with our own desires that we express in prayer – what is the relationship between the ultimate purpose of God, and our human desires? I do not know. And even beyond this mystery, how can it be, that the Lord of the universe would incline his ear toward men? This is the true mystery of prayer – for there is absolutely no reason in us that God should chose to hear us. Yet he does. What an awesome privilege!

   2. With Respect to Who We Are
      As sinners, we are separated from God, and deserve nothing but eternal death (Rom. 3:23; 6:23), and yet as Edward Bickerateth so rightly put it that prayer gives us, “every day, yes, every hour, this great privilege of access to the King of kings and the Lord of lords, to the Most High and the Most Holy, and this with the utmost freedom and confidence; the access not merely of a servant to a master, or a subject to a king, but of a child to a tender parent” (Edward Bickersteth, A Treatise On Prayer, p. 8). Though our sins were as scarlet, by the blood of Christ we are washed clean – through his great gift, we have this profound privilege. Let us now pray all the more fervently, for God is sovereign, and through Christ, we have access to the throne room of grace (Heb. 4:16).

Sixth Principle Drawn From God’s Sovereignty in Relation to Prayer

1. Prayer is Beneficial Because it Changes Us

   1. Abiding in Christ
      In John 15:7 Jesus says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” This principle that Jesus laid out is key to our understanding of the relationship God’s sovereignty has with our prayers. When we abide in Christ, and his words abide in us, we can ask God for whatever we want and it will be done! When Jesus says this, he speaks of our conforming to himself. God does not change when we ask him for things, rather, we change as we grow in our abiding, and as his words grow in us. “Only prayer according to God’s will is granted” (Hunter, p. 60), our own wills must move to match his if our requests are to be granted.

   2. An Example from Scripture Showing How Prayer Changes Us
      When Paul entreated the Lord three times that the thorn in his flesh to be removed (2 Cor. 12:7-9), God did not remove the thorn. Rather the Lord replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). But rather than cause Paul to be angry, it caused him to change, and align himself with what God wanted and gladly boast about his weaknesses so that the power of Christ might dwell in him (2 Cor. 12:9).
      While at first Paul did not understand that God desired the thorn in the flesh to torment Paul for his own benifit, Paul learned through prayer that God allowed the thorn in the flesh to torment him so that the Lord would be glorified through Paul’s weakness. Originally, Paul did not want the thorn in the flesh, but through prayer, he came to realize that it was for his own benefit, keeping him from pride (2 Cor. 12:7) and allowing him to display the power of Christ (2 Cor. 12:9).
      Paul knew that what God had planned was better than anything he could have thought of himself. Therefore he was more than willing to submit himself to the sovereign plan of God. Paul understood that God knows best and is working all things for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose as clearly shown in his letter to the Romans which he penned by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:28).