Offer Yourself To God

In a recent post, I said we needed to preach the gospel to ourselves.  We need to remember the cross so we don’t want to sin.  We need to consider our new life that means we don’t have to sin.  As we remind ourselves of the gospel, we then offer ourselves to God.

We see this in Romans 12:1.  It begins by pointing us back to the first eleven chapters all about the gospel.  And then in response to the gospel, the verse tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.  Because of all that Jesus has suffered and done for us, we offer ourselves to God.

We see this again in Romans 6:11-13.  It begins by calling us to consider our new life in Christ (v11).  And then it goes on to tell us to present ourselves to God rather than sin.  Because we died to sin, we should no longer offer ourselves to sin, but rather to God who saved us.

In both passages, we offer ourselves to God in response to gospel truths.  And yet, to be more precise, both passages tell us to offer not ourselves, but actually our bodies to God.  And Romans 6 goes further telling us to offer the members or parts of our body to God.  Applying this to our lives might look something like this:

Father, because of all that Jesus suffered to pay for my sins, I don’t want to sin.  Because you have given me a new life, I recognize that I don’t have to sin.  And so I offer myself to you.

  • I offer my eyes to you.  Help me to see what you want me to see, and how you want me to see.  Keep my eyes from what is sinful.
  • I offer my ears to you.  Help me to hear what you want me to hear.  Help me to listen to others as you would.  Keep my ears from what you don’t want me to hear.
  • I offer my mouth to you.  Help me to speak kind words, loving words, true words.  May my mouth be used today to encourage those around me.  Help me to speak the words that you want me to say.  Help me to guard my tongue from unkind or untrue words.
  • I offer my hands to you.  Help me to do what you want me to do.  Help me to do my work in a way that please you today. 
  • I offer my feet to you.  I want to go where you want me to go, and stay away from places you don’t want me to go to.

Because of all that you have done for me, I offer myself to you.

Acts Articles – Church 02C

In Acts 2:42, the early church devoted themselves to prayer.  The context is the church.  They were devoted to praying together.  What about us?  Are we devoted to meeting together for prayer?  Do we love God and his people so much that we want to gather together before the throne?  What is our attitude?  Are we devoted?  How might we grow in our devotion to praying together?

Acts Articles – Prayer 01C

Yesterday we saw from Acts 1:15-26, that the 120 disciples sought direction from Jesus in prayer.  Our churches need to pray together for direction from Jesus too.  Three specific applications from the passage:

We need to pray together for direction in our witness.  The 12 apostles had a special role in being witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, and so Judas’ replacement was important for their witness.  We too need to seek direction from Jesus as we seek to be witnesses in our communities, and beyond to the ends of the earth.

We need to pray for direction in our meetings.  As the disciples met together, they prayed.  It is entirely too easy for us to begin a church meeting with a quick perfunctory prayer and then rush into the business at hand.  But prayer is the most important business at hand as we seek to discern what Jesus wants us to do.  Every meeting should begin as a prayer meeting.  And when we come to an issue that we are unsure of or divided on, the meeting should return to a prayer meeting.  Because it is not what any of us want or think that is important.  It only matters what Jesus wants and thinks.  Our churches are not supposed to be country clubs with God tacked on.  They are churches of the Living God – and we must pray for his direction.

Finally, we need to pray for direction in leadership.  As an apostle, the man the 120 disciples chose would be a leader in the church.  And so they prayed to the Lord who knew the two men’s hearts for direction on which man should take this place of leadership.  The Word gives us certain requirements for leadership to guide us.  But we can’t see the hearts of men.  So we need to pray to the One who can see men’s hearts to guide us to whom he wants to serve as leaders in our churches.

May our churches grow in their commitment to praying together for Jesus’ direction in our witness, meetings, and leadership.

Acts Articles – Prayer 01B

Jesus ascended into heaven where he still acts and still speaks through his followers, through his church.  But how do we know what he wants us to do?  How do we know what he wants us to say?  In the last post we said that part of the answer was the Word.  Another part of the answer is through prayer.

In Acts 1:15-26, the disciples are guided by the Word to replace Judas.  They find two men that fit the necessary requirements for an apostle – they had to be with Jesus during his ministry, and especially be eye-witnesses to his resurrection.  Having determined the possibilities, the disciples then pray for direction. 

They pray to the Lord.  In the context of Acts, Jesus is often referred to as Lord.  And so it is possible that we should understand the disciples as praying to Jesus.  As the Head of the church, it would make sense for them to seek his direction.  As the one who chose the original twelve disciples, it would make sense for them to speak to him about his chosen replacement of Judas.

And so we ought to seek direction from Jesus in prayer.  Our churches need to pray together seeking his direction in how he wants us to apply his Word in our specific situations.  We will look at three specific applications tomorrow.

Acts Articles – Prayer 01A

Yesterday I suggested two applications from the example of 120 disciples who devoted themselves to praying in one accord for the Spirit to empower them as witnesses.  But are we supposed to follow their example?  Is this recorded for us to imitate or is it recorded simply to tell us what happened?

Alan Thompson in his book, The Acts of the Risen Lord Jesus, suggests one helpful way forward.  He suggests that something mentioned once is probably to be taken as merely descriptive.  But if Luke mentions something repeatedly, that it is probably to be taken as prescriptive; that is, it is a pattern in the early church that should be a pattern for the church today (see p25-27).

So then, the 120 disciples were devoted to praying together for 10 days.  Do we need to devote ourselves to praying together for 10 days?  Probably not since this is the only occasion that we read of a 10 day period.  And indeed this ten day period between the Ascension and Pentecost (these two great works in salvation history) is unrepeatable.  That is not to say, we couldn’t commit to pray together for 10 days – it may be a great thing to do.  But it is not prescribed for us to do it.

But what about devoting ourselves to praying together apart from the 10 day length?  Is devoting ourselves to praying together merely descriptive, or should we take it as prescriptive.  Three patterns suggest that we should take this as prescriptive.

First, there is a pattern throughout Acts of Christians devoting themselves to prayer together.  It is clearly a regular practice for them.  Why would we think it shouldn’t be a regular practice for us?  And remember that Acts does not give us an exhaustive view of the early church.  Luke merely hits some of the highlights, and apparently Luke thought praying together was important enough to highlight, probably at least in part because he thought we should imitate their devotion to praying together.

Second, if you compare the gospels, the Gospel of Luke has the greatest emphasis on prayer.  Luke clearly wanted his readers to be instructed in prayer, and so it is reasonable that he would continue that instruction into his second volume – the Book of Acts.  Luke is instructing us in how we are to pray by recording for us the practice and teaching of Jesus and the practice of the early church.

Third, there is a perceptible pattern in Acts of the people praying together, the Spirit powerfully working, and the word going forth.  We see it in Acts 1-2 as the 120 pray, the Spirit comes in power, and the word is preached with 3000 people getting saved.  We see it again in Acts 4, as the church prays, the Spirit comes in power, and the people boldly proclaim the gospel.  In Acts 13, the church is praying, the Spirit calls Paul and Barnabas, and thousands will be saved through his missionary work. 

Perhaps we see few people saved today in many of our churches, because we aren’t devoting ourselves to praying together for the Spirit to powerfully work.  Not that we can force the Spirit’s hand, as if he has to act if we pray.  But if we don’t care enough to ask, why would we expect him to act?  If we try to do the ministry on our own without prayer, why would we expect God to bless our ministries?

These three patterns in Luke-Acts makes clear that devoting ourselves to praying together is prescriptive for us.  We are to follow the early church’s example.  What are we waiting for?

Acts Articles – Prayer 01

After seeing Jesus ascend into heaven, the disciples return to Jerusalem to wait for the coming of the Spirit (Acts 1:12-14).  They wait with the women who had supported Jesus and visited his tomb.  They wait with Mary, the mother of Jesus.  And they wait with Jesus’ brothers who did not believe during Jesus’ life, but have come to believe since the resurrection.  In all there are around 120 people waiting. 

Jesus ascended 40 days after the resurrection.  We know the Spirit will come on Pentecost – 50 days after the resurrection.  So what do these 120 followers of Christ do while they wait for 10 days?  They have an extended prayer meeting!

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer. – Acts 1:14a

Notice their example:

  • They prayed with one accord.  They were united in prayer.  They were of one mind, joined together in crying out to God.
  • They were devoted to prayer.  They continued in it.  They were persistent, persevering, constant, busy in prayer.

And what were they praying for?  The context suggests they were praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus had promised that the Spirit would come.  And indeed they are waiting in Jerusalem for the Spirit to come.  Certainly the Spirit was on their minds. 

All of this suggests two applications for us today:

  • As they were devoted to praying together in one accord, so we should be devoted to praying together in one accord.  Each church should unite together in devoted prayer.  Our prayer services should be highly attended, and whenever we gather we should be quick to pray together.
  • As they prayed for the Spirit to come to empower them to be Jesus’ witnesses, so we should pray for the Spirit (who has already come) to empower us to be Jesus’ witnesses.  How might our churches (and communities) change if this became our united prayer?

Pray For Your Pastor

You ought to pray for those whom the Holy Spirit has made overseers over you.  This is what Saint Paul begs again and again of the churches to whom he writes…surely, if the great Saint Paul, that chosen vessel, that favorite of heaven, needed the most importunate prayers of his Christian converts, much more do the ordinary ministers of the gospel stand in need of the intercession of their respective flocks.

– George Whitefield
(Taken from George Whitefield Daily Readings edited by Randall J. Pederson)

Trust, Blessing, and Prayer

Yesterday I asked two questions:

Where are you placing your trust?

Where are you seeking your blessing?

As I have been thinking about this, I would suggest that our prayer lives help us answer these questions.  If we trust in God in the midst of trials, we will look to him in prayer for those trials.  If we seek God for blessings, we will look to him in prayer for those blessings.  The more we trust God, the more we will pray.  The more we seek our blessings from him, the more we will pray.

On the other hand, if our prayer lives are small, I suspect our trust in God is likewise small.  If we pray only a little, we are seeking God for blessings only a little.  A small prayer life suggests that we may be trusting in something else, that we are seeking blessings somewhere else, that we are looking to an idol.

What does your prayer life reveal about you?

Two Necessary Ingredients for Prayer

The end of all things is at hand;
therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
– 1 Peter 4:7

This verse suggests two necessary ingredients for prayer. 

First, we must be self-controlled.  We must exercise the self-control to manage our time in such a way that we make much time for prayer.  Projects, chores, and obligations call to us constantly.  We have so much to do!  Only with self-control, will we take the time to pray.

Second, we need to be sober-minded.  We need to have clear minds to see things as they are.  The end is near.  Christ is coming back.  Some things have greater priority than others in our limited time.  What is more, we can do nothing on our own.  All those projects, chores, and obligations require God’s blessing, God’s enablement, God’s strength.  When we soberly recognize our necessary priorities and our need for help in all we do, we will take time to pray.

Restore Us, O God

Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!
– Psalm 80:3

Three times with slight variations we read this refrain in Psalm 80.  What a great prayer for us to pray.  How much we need this today!

In the Psalm, a neighboring country has invaded and ravaged Israel.  Israel desperately needs salvation from their political enemies.  They need God’s face to shine upon them.  They need God to restore them. 

Today, enemies have invaded and ravaged the church collectively and each of us individually.  We desperately need salvation from our enemies.  We need God’s face to shine upon us.  We need God to restore us.

The enemy of idolatry has invaded the church and our lives.  We treasure money, shopping, possessions, beauty, dieting, food, people, family, reputation, popularity, sex, sports, TV, sleep, comfort, or ease more than we treasure Christ.  We trust in these idols to bring happiness, fulfillment, and security rather than trusting in Christ.  Idols abound around us.  And too often we bow down.  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

The enemy of busyness has invaded the church and our lives.  We have filled our lives with trivial matters that mean nothing in light of eternity.  We are too busy to spend much time in the Word, much time in prayer, much time in worship, much time with God’s people, much time in evangelism, much time in service.  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

The enemy of “respectable sins” has invaded the church and our lives.  Ungodliness, anxiety, frustration, discontentment, unthankfulness, pride, selfishness, lack of self-control, impatience, irritability, anger, judgmentalism, envy, jealousy, sins of the tongue, and worldliness are tolerated among us.  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

The enemy of moralism and  legalism have invaded the church and our lives.  We have lost sight of the gospel, replacing it with goodness.  We seek to be good, not godly.  And by example and teaching, we seek to make our kids the same.  We have resorted to graceless keeping of Biblical commands mixed with man-made rules in hopes of earning God’s continued favor, rather than dwelling in the gospel that empowers and motivates a godly life.  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Do any of these enemies ring true in your church?  In your life?  Then let us join together in repenting of our idolatry, our busyness, our respectable sins, our moralism and legalism.  Let us cry out together to our Shepherd and King.  Only he can restore.  Only he can save.  Only he can revive.  Let us long to have his face shine upon us.  Let us join together in crying out:

Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.