Calling Out to God #30

In II Chronicles 6 we find King Solomon doing a very public thing: dedicating the Temple for the worship of the LORD.  In chapter 7, he, along with the leader and people witnessed when fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Besides all the music, speeches and sacrifices, there was a week-long feast, then a solemn assembly before God. He then sent everyone home. That night, God did a very private thing: 

12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 

God heard Solomon's prayer, requesting God's presence and blessing on His people. God says: "It's nice of you to ask. Now here is what I choose to do. I choose to be here. I choose to watch and wait and listen and always be available. I also choose to remind you I am here when my people choose to forget me; I choose to do things to get your attention when they go astray; I choose to either withhold or pour out My mercy on the basis of your response. The ball will be in your court. What will you choose to do? Pray or stay away? 

Calling Out to God #29

Psalm 95 is known as the Great Call to Worship, where we are called to come together and see the Great Creator as our Great Savior:

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
8     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

The Great Creator who made the mountains is the rock of our salvation, worthy of both praise and thanksgiving. What we rarely get to are the last two verses, which are introduced by this phrase: Today, if you hear his voice, - notice he says "if". Can you hear God's voice calling you to come talk with Him. Since this is a corporate call to worship: can we hear God's voice calling us to worship and fellowship with Him? Or are we developing a hardness of heart, where all we do is complain about God, to God, and forgetting His work as Creator and Savior, we stop listening to God and seeking His face.  Can we hear Him? Can He hear us? Or have we stopped talking to Him? 

Calling Out to God #28

As Peter prepares to conclude his letter to these fellow believers who were suffering persecution for their faith, he has just exhorted them to choose the path of humility over pride. He then says:

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

In a way, Peter is talking about the way we live and the way we pray.  We are to humbly bow before Him in prayer, submitting our lives to His plan.  We are not to live in anxiety, but bring all our cares and fears to Him. We are to live with an awareness, and pray with our eyes wide open, because the Devil, the author of pride is looking for every opportunity to make us think and act like "it's all about me." But it's not just me; fellow believers worldwide are suffering for their faith - most of them much more than me. We need to approach life, and pray with this attitude: "this too shall pass." The eternal plan of God is just that: eternal.  God is the God of Grace, who gives us the ability to do what we cannot do on our own: to change. He is the God of Glory - He has a Plan and Purpose. And God is good: He will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. He will see you though, because He has dominion: He is sovereign. 

Calling Out to God #27

In Job 22, Eliphaz, one of Job's supposed friends, is telling Job all the reasons God might not be hearing Job's prayers anymore. He hints that Job has maybe been wicked and greedy, ignoring the needy around him while he hoarded all his riches. He then calls on Job to "return to God":

26 For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty
    and lift up your face to God.
27 You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you,
    and you will pay your vows.

We find later that these accusations were not true, but when we do self-examination in our lives, it is never a bad thing for us to do as the psalmist does and ask: "see if there be any wicked way in me." Ask God if there is anything between the two of you hindering your open conversation and fellowship. Is there any topic you refuse to talk about. When we do, we can be sure that God, by His Spirit will lovingly show us if there is, or if the great Accuser is trying to use false guilt to discourage us.  Eliphaz rightly brings out what every child of God wants - to be able to come openly to Almighty God, know He hears, and that the life we lay before Him is acceptable to Him.  That acceptance comes only through Christ, and that access into God's presence only comes through Christ. There is no other middleman - especially the great Accuser. 

Calling Out to God #26

As soon as I say the book "First John", most of us probably think of this passage:

1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This really is one of those love/hate statements: We love verse 9 - the promise of forgiveness; we don't like so much how we need to get there: Admit we sin, that we have broken fellowship with Him and others. Calling out to God in prayer without considering the possibility that we have something to confess just doesn't fly.  It hinders the relationship; it thwarts the conversation. This letter is a powerful statement about the love of God in Christ; we just need to get through the opening to appreciate it.  Just do it. Come to the conversation openly admitting your failure and need, so you can experience the fullness of His love. Then be ready for the cleansing, the joy, the peace and assurance to rush in. Tell it like it is. 

Calling Out to God #25

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did as much talking about what not to do as what to do as His followers. That included prayer. In Matthew 6 He says:
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. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Jesus gives two different "dont's" here. Don't be like the hypocrites - people who say they are a part of God's family - even prominent members in it - but really are not, and don't be like the Gentiles - outsiders - who think they are better and smarter than God's family. The first group wants to be seen and the second wants to be heard by other people so they are the focus of attention: "look at him; listen to that guy talk." Jesus says "No! If you really believe that you have a loving heavenly Father, He is your only audience, and there is nothing you can do or say to impress Him. You don't have to get His attention; He is watching you all the time. You don't have to say 'just the right words'; you have to have the right, humble, seeking heart. Your don't have a distant "god" who has to be convinced to give you what you want; you have a loving Father Who knows what you need better than you do, and is just waiting for you to come and ask. Don't put on a show; come to let Him show how much He loves you. 

Calling Out to God #24

In Mark 11,  we find Peter's recollection of two days after the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. They are walking by a fig tree Jesus had cursed the day before, which overnight had withered and died. Peter was amazed, to which Jesus replied have faith, then gave this promise and exhortation about prayer:
23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

What a powerful, and misunderstood, promise.  Jesus says whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Some have thought that meant literally whatever you want, just ask and God is obligated to reward your faith and give it to you. On the negative side, many have believed and thought that this was a self-righteous weapon to use against someone they want to feel spiritually superior to, and be able to say: "God did not answer because you did not have enough faith." Worst case scenario: prayer is a weapon where you can wish catastrophe and even death on someone, and God will do it for you. But all those misunderstandings are cast out the window by Jesus' last statement: prayer is ineffective if you have not learned how to forgive like God has forgiven you. Forget the idea of blowing people away with your prayers like Jesus blew Peter's mind with the tree. What do you believe about God? Do you believe He is powerful enough to calm the sea or calm your heart? Do you believe He can do it overnight like wilting the tree or driving away the Assyrian army? Do you believe He can change those who have hurt you? Do you believe He can help you forgive? Do you believe He can forgive you for what you have done? It's not about how big your faith is; it's about how big your God is. So pray; pray away; talk to God about everything, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant to others, or how big and overwhelming it is. God fits there.