Mountain Moving Prayer

Prayer is powerful!  Jesus taught the disciples the power of prayer.  One illustration he used is that of a mountain being cast into the sea (Mark 11:23).  All of us have mountains to overcome in our lives.  They stand before us, intimidating us.  Often we look for a way around them because we see no way to get over them easily.  But Jesus’ solution was to move them.  How do we move the mountains in our lives?  Through prayer!

Paul says we do not pray as we should (Romans 8:26). There are at least five reasons we do not pray as we should:

1.      We are preoccupied with other things and priorities that take the place of prayer, even that take the place of God.

2.      We are faithless – we do not believe God’s promises.  We all find ourselves like Peter who became distracted by what he saw rather than what he could not see, the power of God at work.  And to us God says, “Why did you doubt?”  Still God is faithful to pick us up

3.      We are discouraged – unanswered prayer.  Unanswered prayer does not lie in God’s hand but our own.  When God does not answer prayer, look to yourself first.

4.      We are sinful – If I regard sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

5.      We pray without heart

 Prayer that is routine or repetitious indicates an anemic spiritual life.  John Bunyun said, “When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words, than thy words without heart.”  To pray with your mouth what is not truly in your heart is hypocrisy. As God loves a broken and contrite heart, He loathes a divided heart.

Steps of Mountain Moving Prayer

1.      Mountain moving prayer begins with the recognition that you can’t move it.  If it is going to be moved it is going to be moved by God.  Jesus said that what you ask for you receive.  Answered prayer is a gift, so it is not of you but of God. 

2.      Mountain moving prayer occurs when you realize God wants to move it for you.  He waits to be wanted by you, which is often the reason the mountain is before you (Isaiah 30:18). 

3.      Mountain moving prayer is diligent. Refuse to leave God alone about it. In Latin, the ancients defined prayer as “Ascensus mentis ad Deum,” a climbing up of the heart unto God.  So, you do not have to climb the mountain to overcome it, you have to climb into the heart of God.

4.       Pray until the mountain is moved!

Got Peace?

Recently, Gina said to me, "I'll be out on the back porch if you are looking for me."  That phrase, 'back porch' is peace to me.  You see, some of our greatest joy and times of peace have taken place on our back porch in the cool of the morning just as the sun is coming up.  We share times of conversation and laughter on the back porch as the sky begins to glow.  But those times always come to an end as the day calls out its tasks and responsibilities and we both begin getting ready for the day. Is this the end of our peace for the day? Of course not!  Although the day may hold many stresses and complexities and trouble, none of these things dictate the disposition of our peace.  So how can peace be consistent?

The joy of the Lord is the hinge pin of consistent peace (Philippians 4:4-9).  All other disciplines follow after our joy in the Lord or to put it another way, our confidence in the Lord.  Without knowing he indwells and fills we will not be gracious. Without knowing he hears us we will not pray. Without knowing our hope in Christ we will not consider our hope in eternity.  Without the joy of the Lord, no other Christian discipline functions at its intended capacity.

But how can we have joy in the midst of a hostile chaotic world? 

“Christian joy is a mood independent of our immediate circumstances.  If it were dependent on our surroundings, then, indeed, it would be as uncertain as an unprotected candle burning on a gusty night.” – J. H. Jowett, Day by Day. 

This life changes but the Lord does not change. There are times and seasons in life that arrange themselves like a sunny spring day and others like the gloom of winter, cold and dreary.  One day I stand in the presence of new love at a wedding, the next over an open grave.  In a single hour I can hear the celebration of new parents over the birth of a child and the despair of a man who sees no reason to continue living.  In the same moment I can feel both like a champion and a chump.  The days we live change like the weather, but our joy can remain. What’s the secret?  “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." (De. 31:6).  “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” (Josh. 1:5).  “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Ro. 8:31).

God is not a fair-weather Companion leaving us when the days grow dark and lonely.  He is with us always in the days of life, the day of death, the day of judgment.

Anger: Satan's Playground

Anger has always been a part of my life.  I was an angry child.  I was an angry teen.  I was an angry adult.  I still wrestle with anger.  At times it gets the best of me.  But there are victories in life and  one of the victories I see as Christ’s nature continues to become my own is victory over anger.  He continues to overtake me and wash over me which causes my anger to be like a wave crashing into the shore only to dissipate into foam.

Paul wrote a very practical thought and activity of Christian living when he penned, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.”  The verse tells us a few things about anger.

There is a time to be angry. Anger is not a primary emotion. It is driven by other things.  Knowing what drives anger is certainly advantageous to us.  Anger in general is deceptive.  But identifying the source of anger enables us to discover a solution.  Four things that drive anger are: Hurt, Injustice, Fear and Frustration.

 If we consider our times of anger carefully, we will discover that most of our anger is driven by these four situations.  Although knowing the source of anger helps considerably in resolving an issue, there is a question we need to ask ourselves when we feel anger: “How does this affect the character and honor of God?”  James 1:19-20 says, “Know this, my beloved brethren: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Anger that is just about us individually will lead to destruction since it cannot achieve the righteousness of God. But anger that exists because it affects the honor and character of God leads to His glory.  Your anger is not right if it is just about you.

 There is a way to be angry. One Sabbath day Jesus was in the synagogue and discovered a man with a withered hand.  He asked the people if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath and when no one responded he, “looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.”  The way to be angry is to mingle grief with it.  We often get angry over sin, as well we should, but is that anger aimed at the person?   Often we want to crack their skull and pour in a little wisdom.  But the response of Jesus is helpful.  His anger was driven by grief because of their hardness of heart.  Grief is a love word.  When you lose something or someone that you love you grieve.  This love should drive us to pray for the person who has angered us rather than let their sin drive us to rage or bitterness.

The time of anger should be short.  John Piper writes, “Anger, for all its possible legitimacy, is a dangerous emotion and should not be nurtured into a grudge. Anger is the moral equivalent of biological adrenaline. It is good and healthy to experience periodic secretions of adrenaline in reaction to dangerous situations. But a steady flow would damage the heart. So with anger. It has damaged many hearts because it was not put away, but nurtured again and again into a life-destroying grudge.”

 So be angry when the honor and character of God are at stake.  Be angry but add grief to it in order to temper the anger from becoming rage or bitterness.  Be angry but not for long. Otherwise, your emotions will become the playground of the Devil.

Madelyn

The day is drawing near when our first grandchild, Madelyn Ruth Dees will be born.  She is already our grandchild; we just have not seen her or held her yet.  So I thought I would write to her the first of what I hope to be many thoughts about her.

Madelyn,

Although I have never seen you, you are beautiful in my eyes.

Although I have never heard your voice, I listen for it.

Although I have never touched you, I feel your nearness.

Although we have never met, I love you.

Papa

Flash Mobs are Cool!!

I saw a commercial recently of a dude breaking out in dance and then getting a text saying, “Flash Mob moved to 12:30.”  The term was new to me so I asked Jake, “What’s a flash mob?” I know I am showing that I am behind the times, but my oldest son, Rickey, played a flash mob video on YouTube for me last night.  Flash mobs are cool!!  (See the video below.)

What is a flash mob?  You can look at Wikipedia for a fuller description, but generally it is an organized event that appears spontaneous and is designed to promote a product, issue or just bring joy to the people who witness the event.   It is said that the first flash mob occurred in 2003, but I began thinking and realized it was much earlier, say around 30 A.D.

On the day of Pentecost the Spirit of God was poured out and a group of believers began to speak in the languages of those around them.  You can imagine their amazement!  They spoke of Jesus, who he was, what his death meant to those who believe and explained what they were seeing; a fulfillment of God’s promise.  People’s lives were changed that day and its effect has continued.

Imagine if all who are Christians really began to live in the Spirit of God and show the fruit of the Spirit of God.  Imagine if our pursuits were love instead of lust, joy instead of anxiety, peace instead of chaos, patience instead of quick-tempered, kindness instead of spite, goodness instead of immorality, faithfulness instead of fickle, gentleness instead of callousness, self-control instead of self-indulgence.  The glory to God would be seen and the results would be more impactful than a few hits on You Tube.

Christians, lets flash mob!

Decision Making

Decisions can be difficult, especially when emotions become primary in making them. I have often heard and even said the phrase, “Follow your heart.”  It sounds good, but what if your heart is leading you into a destructive lifestyle? Instead of following your heart in decision making you should lead your heart to understanding (Proverbs 2:2).

How can we know when emotion is dominating decision making?  Usually emotional decision making is identified when we use the word ‘feel.’  “I feel lonely,” can lead to making a bad relationship decision, or “I feel tired,” can be the first step in shirking responsibility.

So, how can we lead our heart in decision making instead of our heart leading us?  Here are a few suggestions from Proverbs 2:1-5

1.      Be intent on making a right decision as opposed to deciding what you want to do.

2.      Discover what God says about your particular decision.  The Bible is filled with counsel for a variety of decisions.  I believe you will find what you are looking for regardless of the decision you face.

3.      Listen to wise, godly counselors.  Apart from the Bible, these are the people that make the biggest difference in my own life.  They are mature believers with a multitude of experience.

4.      Pray a lot!

Learning to be Content

Being bound to Christ enables us to live out God’s passion,by His power for His pleasure.  His passion is to transform us into true worshipers in the image of Jesus His Son.  Honestly, I have a long way to go.  Let me share a story with you.

Lying in a hot, dark room in Haiti was uncomfortable but what we were doing made a difference to a few Haitians who had suffered much from a devastating earthquake.  We were sinking pumps into wells that had been dug by the people.  The days were hot but so were the nights.  We went to bed each night sweating and miserable.  But things grew unbearable when the man in charge of the house we were staying in would remove the battery from the generator that powered our fans to put in his truck.  We complained to one another about the situation and then finally, out of frustration, we demanded that the battery remain in the generator.  Eventually, we bought a new battery so this would not occur again.  Our grumbling about the generator demonstrated our self centeredness and lack of contentment.  We would return to the comforts of our homes in a few days.  These people would remain and continue to struggle against their environment and pain of loss.

To grumble is not loud and outspoken griping. It is the expression of dissatisfaction through continuous complaining.  It’s the chatter of cliques when they talk about others. This seems to be the way churches function often and it is really distasteful to mature believers and ironically, to those who are not believers.  Humility demands satisfaction, or contentment with yourself, your circumstances and others.  Later in Philippians Paul says that he has learned to be content in all circumstances.  Contentment or the absence of grumbling is a learning process.  Once again Paul brings Christ to the forefront and teaches us what he has learned; all things can be accomplished through Christ who gives strength.  With that in mind, here are a few hints toward contentment.

1.      Avoid complaining about anything.  Instead seek the Christ honoring words for the moment and if you do not find any remain silent.

2.      Avoid imagining yourself in a situation you are not in. 

3.      Avoid comparisons of your station in life with someone else.  They are probably thinking you are better off than they are.

4.      Never allow ourselves to wish that this or that had been otherwise.
Rules for Contentment #5: Never dwell on the morrow; remember that it is God’s and not ours.Rules for Contentment #4: Never allow ourselves to wish that this or that had been otherwise.
Rules for Contentment #5: Never dwell on the morrow; remember that it is God’s and not ours.Avoid dwelling on tomorrow.  Today has enough to dwell on.GodG    

5.      You can do all these things because Christ strengthens you to do them. (Adapted from Edward Pusey)