Once More

For the last several writings, I've been delving into my prayer journal for thoughts and quotes that I use in my own prayer life. They seem to have been received pretty well, so I thought I'd try and share a few more. I hope they speak to you as they do to me.

The first comes from Henry Blackaby, who asks, "Are we so determined to 'get to the work' that we can't hear His heart?" I think this hits hard upon every Christian worker, but none more than they who are charged with the care of His church and people. We can so easily be sidetracked with what we wish to accomplish in ministry that we aren't even asking Him or listening for confirmation as to whether this is what He would have us do, or even where we should be. Back in the 80's and 90's, there was a strong emphasis on leaders to set goals, the popular axiom being "if you have no goals, you'll be sure to never achieve them." This always seemed strange to me, but I wasn't outspoken about it, believing I'd be seen as "negative." Then I read Blackaby's book titled "Spiritual Leadership," where he clearly spoke against such an approach. Goals mostly originate with us. Vision, true vision, comes from Him. We see this throughout His Word. Jesus had only one goal, to accomplish what His Father called Him to and sent Him for. He was always in tune with the Father's heart. The work was not His foremost concern. His Father's will was. I think too many have lost that connection. Someone said that His favorite word is, "Come!" In Revelation we're told to "listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches." We need to yield all, including what we wish to achieve, and simply discover and be in tune with His heart. Nothing matters more.

Secondly, I share what John Bevere wrote in one of his books. He said, "When we doubt Him, we insult His integrity." I'm grieved when I take a moment to remember all the places where I did just that. We don't want to see it that way, but how can it be anything else? When we, in the face of all that He has promised, question whether He can or will, how are we not insulting His integrity and character? How are we not calling Him a liar, if not in word, surely in thought? How often has He, as He did with Thomas, had to ask us, "How long have I been with you, and still you do not know (trust/believe) Me?" In His earthly ministry, He would often ask His listeners, "Do you believe this?" Most, even the disciples, struggled, even stumbled to do so. It wasn't until Pentecost, when the fullness of His Holy Spirit came upon them, that they triumphed over doubt. Could it be that we, who still struggle and stumble, need our own personal Pentecost, where we are consumed by His Spirit, and can say in truth, "Yes, Lord. I believe!"

The last thought comes from Chris Tiegreen who says, "If you do not hope, you do not find out what is beyond your hope." We are living in times of hopelessness, even among those who profess to follow Him. People, families, and churches are sinking into ever deeper pools of despair. We see only the obstacles and difficulties. We cannot see Him. I think we need a fresh understanding of what Paul wrote in Romans about Abraham, who is called the father of our faith. Paul said of him, "Abraham, against all hope, in hope, believed." Abraham, at age 90, had been promised a son. A son through whom all the promises that had been made to Abraham, would be the beginning conduit for them all to come to pass. It was God who made the promise, and it was to God that Abraham clung in believing that promise. He did not consider his ancient body, or that of his wife Sarah. He believed His God, and upon Him he cast all of his hope. He didn't see all that screamed that was promised couldn't be, He simply looked to the One who said it would be. Against all hope, he in hope, believed. In these days, as never before, we are called to the same. There is every reason not to, for they are everywhere around us. There is only one reason to believe; the One who has made the promise and all other promises. Him we can believe. Him we can trust. In Him, we can fix our hope.

So, as these men advise, let's realize that the Father seeks our intimacy and closeness above all, not our labor and our work. That we would remember that Jesus told His disciples, "If it were not so, I would have told you," and so take Him at His word, and all of His word, and not grieve His Spirit. Last, that we would dare to hope in even the darkest of circumstances, knowing that this is the key to laying hold of that which everyone but He has told is impossible.

Blessings,

Pastor O