Shepherds' Fellowship

The following is a timely reminder adapted from an essay by J.C. Ryle, on the vital importance of this oft-neglected spiritual discipline. To read the full essay, click here.

I have a question to offer you. It is contained in three words, DO YOU PRAY?

The question is one that none but you can answer. Whether you attend public worship or not, your minister knows. Whether you have family prayers in your house or not, your relations know. But whether you pray in private or not, is a matter between yourself and God.

I beseech you in all affection to attend to the subject I bring before you. Do not say that my question is too close. If your heart is right in the sight of God, there is nothing in it to make you afraid. Do not turn off my question by replying that you say your prayers. It is one thing to say your prayers and another to pray. Do not tell me that my question is unnecessary. Listen to me for a few minutes, and I will show you good reason for asking it.

I ask whether you pray, because a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian.

All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray. Just as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are born again is praying.

This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God, “They cry unto him day and night” (Luke 18:1). The Holy Spirit, who makes them new creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). The Lord Jesus, when he quickens them, gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, “Be dumb no more.” God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They can not do otherwise than they do. They must pray. 

I have looked carefully over the lives of God’s saints in the Bible. I cannot find one of whose history much is told us, from Genesis to Revelation, who was not a man of prayer. I find it mentioned as a characteristic of the godly, that “they call on the Father” (I Peter 1:17), or “the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 1:2). Recorded as a characteristic of the wicked is the fact that “they call not upon the Lord” (Ps. 14:4).

I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on earth since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, and some poor. Some were learned, and some unlearned. Some were Calvinists, and some were Arminians. Some have loved to use a liturgy, and some to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in common. They have all been men of prayer.

I study the reports of missionary societies in our own times. I see with joy that heathen men and women are receiving the gospel in various parts of the globe. There are conversions in Africa, in New Zealand, in Hindustan, in China. The people converted are naturally unlike one another in every respect. But one striking thing I observe at all the missionary stations: the converted people always pray.

I do not deny that a man may pray without heart and without sincerity. I do not for a moment pretend to say that the mere fact of a person’s praying proves is everything about his soul. As in every other part of religion, so also in this, there may be deception and hypocrisy.

But this I do say, that not praying is a clear proof that a man is not yet a true Christian. He cannot really feel his sins. He cannot love God. He cannot feel himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after holiness. He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again. He has yet to be made a new creature. He may boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope, and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured it is all vain talk if he does not pray.

And I say, furthermore, that of all the evidences of the real work of the Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most satisfactory that can be named. A man may preach from false motives. A man may write books and make fine speeches and seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Iscariot. But a man seldom goes into his closet, and pours out his soul before God in secret, unless he is in earnest. The Lord himself has set his stamp on prayer as the best proof of a true conversion. When he sent Ananias to Saul in Damascus, he gave him no other evidence of his change of heart than this, “Behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9: 11).

Do you wish to find out whether you are a true Christian? Then rest assured that my question is of the very first importance — Do you pray?

(By Kelly Wright)

* Kelly serves as the Junior High pastor here at Grace Community Church.

“What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?”

This seemingly harmless riddle cost many travelers their lives. The sphinx was said to have stood guard at the entrance of the city of Thebes. It would challenge travelers with this riddle and take their life if they did not answer correctly. According to Greek mythology, the riddle was answered by Oedipus and the sphinx destroyed itself.

This riddle provides a pattern of physical maturity for man. In the ‘morning’ of a baby’s life they crawl on all fours. In the ‘afternoon’ of an adult’s life they walk on two legs. In the ‘evening’ of an elderly person’s life they walk with the aid of a cane. With only some exception, man has consistently followed this pattern of physical maturity. Getting older is a way of life.

Scripture provides a pattern of spiritual maturity for those who are God’s children. It provides a picture of what should be expected spiritually as we are matured by God’s grace. First John 2:12-14 provides the following picture:

[12] I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
[13] I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children, because you know the Father.
[14] I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

John addresses three different spiritual ‘age groups’ in the congregations of the churches to which he wrote: “children, young men, fathers.” These spiritual age groups provide for us guidance as to what can be and should be expected of God’s children. If you have experienced the new birth and become a child of God then you can expect to progress from a spiritual child to a spiritual father.

The intent of this passage was to strengthen the assurance of John’s readers. If his readers could see themselves in the pattern provided then they could be assured of God’s grace in their life. If they could not find themselves in the pattern then there was reason to doubt their salvation. Let’s briefly take a look at these different age groups and see if whether we are in God’s family and what we can anticipate as God matures us.  

John introduces the spiritual age groups by first designating all who are of God’s family with the title: LITTLE CHILDREN. John says that all who are Christians have had their sins forgiven. Everyone who is a part of God’s family and is in the process of maturing spiritually began here. We learned from Scripture that “God is light, and in his is no darkness at all” (1:5). We also learned that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Sin and holiness cannot mix. Those with sin cannot be with God who is without sin. Thankfully, God has provided forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ to anyone who confesses their sins (1:9). Once they have repented they can know that they are a part of God’s family and thus a ‘little child.’

The first spiritual age group is designated by the title: CHILDREN. John says that they know the Father (v. 13). What a glorious truth to know that having once been a child of wrath we are now a child of God. John writes in 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” Adoption becomes a sweet reality to those whose sins are forgiven.

Someone who is new to God’s family is very aware of their new relationship with God as their Father. There is a sense of awe and wonder at the new birth they have received.

The second spiritual age group is designated by the title: YOUNG MEN. John says of this group that they are strong, the word of God abides in them, and they have overcome the evil one (vv. 13, 14).

The young men of the faith are those who are spiritually stable and firm in their convictions, no longer being tossed to and fro like those described in Eph 4:14. This is possible because they have immersed themselves in the word of God (Col 3:16). John states that it abides in them. They are hungry to know the word and have done due diligence to learn it. They know what the bible says and are convinced of its truth. They are doctrinally sound.

They are also known to be victorious over the evil one. Their knowledge of scripture has equipped them to stand against Satan’s schemes. They are not deceived into believing false religions nor are they persuaded to live a life-style of sin. They have matured from children to young men.

The last spiritual group described by John is designated by the title FATHERS. It is simply said that they “know him who is from the beginning” (vv. 13, 14). Their knowledge of God is deep and personal. They not only know the word of God but they know the God wrote it. They are known for the God they fear and not only the knowledge they possess.

These are the spiritual age groups that one can expect in God’s family. Each of us who have been born again are in the process of maturing. Where are you? Are you a child of God? Do you know the Father? Are you a young man who is saturated in the word of God, defending truth, living victoriously? Have you matured to the point of being a father who knows God intimately? May God help us be known for our affection for the “one who is from the beginning.”

(By Kelly Wright)

* Kelly serves as the Junior High Pastor at Grace Community Church.

It is estimated that 5,500 Americans will die today. Over 2 million Americans will pass from this life to the next this year alone. Worldwide it will be more than 50 million individuals who will learn what lies beyond the grave.

There is no question that death is common in this world. Though death is guaranteed to happen to each living person I would be curious to know how common of a topic death is with us. How often do we contemplate that death will happen to us?

Death has been sanitized in our culture. The exposure to death tends to be during a television show, movie, or the matter-of-fact treatment given by the news media. This exposure numbs us to death’s sting and creates a distance between us and it.

Death is regarded as a disease to be cured. I was recently introduced to the option that a new process, cryonics, provides. Any individual may, for the right price, have their body suspended in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -320 degrees. The body is suspended after it has been clinically determined dead. One company website advertises their solution this way, “When and if future medical technology allows, our member patients hope to be healed, rejuvenated, revived, and awakened to a greatly extended life in youthful good health, free from disease or the aging process” (http://www.cryonics.org/).

Yet death cannot be escaped. Only a month ago my grandma passed away. My wife and I were present during her final days, we watched as her body began to shut down. We were there moments after her body had finished working and her soul entered into the presence of her Savior. In that moment, the event of death became real. Immediately my mind went to Solomon’s words, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart” (Eccl 7:2).

What is it that the living are to lay to heart? There are four thoughts, amongst many, that God has placed on my heart since my stay in the house of mourning.

First, Death Will Happen to Each of Us. Paul helps us to understand in Romans 6:23 that death is a consequence of sin. It is something that cannot be escaped and should be expected by all. In fact, a simple reading of the Bible reveals much death since the sin of Adam and Eve. In Genesis 5 we find a genealogy with reference to Methuselah who lived 969 years along with others who lived many more years than we do today. Yet, found eight times in the list is the phrase, “and he died.” Death has been a constant reality ever since the Fall.

Second, We Will Take Nothing With Us. Solomon makes this point best in Ecclesiastes 5:15, “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.” There are no U-haul trailers attached to the hearse. If none of the possessions we have today will come with us to eternity, why do we care so much about them? Solomon’s statement should bring to mind what Jim Elliot aptly stated, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Third, We Will Spend Eternity Somewhere. Existence does not end at death; rather it is the beginning of eternity in heaven or hell. This reality cannot be forgotten. Revelation 20:11-21:4 provides a very clear picture of the lake of fire and the new heaven and new earth. The reality of death should lead us to read, study, and meditate on what is in store in eternity. It will motivate our evangelism and cultivate our anticipation for God’s presence.

Lastly, We Are Not Dead Yet. If you are reading this blog, you are still living. Are you saved? Have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead? If not, you still have an opportunity. If you are saved, do you own the truth of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Our lives are no longer our own as children of God. We are expected to serve our Savior. If living, this expectation and privilege is always on us.

Death is a common reality that is all around us. We should not ignore it, nor should we fear it. Rather we should prepare ourselves and live in light of eternity. Solomon reminds us that there are lessons to lay to our hearts in regards to death. With that in mind, let us live each day, beginning today, for God’s glory. 

(By John MacArthur)

In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.

First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer — it is required. The key to living an uncompromising life lies in one’s ability to exercise discernment in every area of his or her life. For example, failure to distinguish between truth and error leaves the Christian subject to all manner of false teaching. False teaching then leads to an unbiblical mindset, which results in unfruitful and disobedient living — a certain recipe for compromise.

Unfortunately, discernment is an area where most Christians stumble. They exhibit little ability to measure the things they are taught against the infallible standard of God’s Word, and they unwittingly engage in all kinds of unbiblical decision-making and behavior. In short, they are not armed to take a decidedly biblical stand against the onslaught of unbiblical thinking and attitudes that face them throughout their day.

Discernment intersects the Christian life at every point. And God’s Word provides us with the needed discernment about every issue of life. According to Peter, God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). You see, it is through the “true knowledge of Him,” that we have been given everything we need to live a Christian life in this fallen world. And how else do we have true knowledge of God but through the pages of His Word, the Bible? In fact, Peter goes on to say that such knowledge comes through God’s granting “to us His precious and magnificent promises” (2 Peter 1:4).

Discernment — the ability to think biblically about all areas of life — is indispensable to an uncompromising life. It is incumbent upon the Christian to seize upon the discernment that God has provided for in His precious truth! Without it, Christians are at risk of being “tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14).

(By John MacArthur)

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. (1 Tim. 6:17)

A very real danger facing American Christians is the temptation to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches. To base their hope on the uncertainty of riches, instead of God, is foolish. Proverbs 11:28 warns that “he who trusts in his riches will fall.” Proverbs 23:4–5 adds, “Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.”

Rather than trusting in riches, believers are to fix their hope on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. God provides far more security than any earthly investment. Psalm 50:10–12 describes His incalculable wealth: “Every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all it contains.” God is not stingy; He richly supplies His children with all things to enjoy. Ecclesiastes 5:18–20 reads,

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.

The highest form of joy for the believer is to bring glory to the Lord. True gladness, then, comes when believers give heed to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19–21:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Later, in that same passage, Jesus gives the command three times not to be anxious (vv. 25, 31, 34). When we trust in God rather than riches, we have no reason to worry.

Today’s post adapted from John’s commentary on 1 Timothy (Moody, 1995).

(By John MacArthur)

When Martin Luther was summoned to the Diet of Worms in 1521 and asked to recant his teaching, he replied, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe. God help me. Here I stand, I can do no other.”

Luther’s well-known formulation, “Scripture and plain reason,” is the only basis on which we can properly ground true spiritual discernment.

Scripture isn’t antithetical to sound, rational wisdom, though many today imagine otherwise. Reason is no substitute for Scripture, of course, but when good reason and sound logic are kept subject to the authority of Scripture, they are in no way a threat to the truth. On the contrary, the application of sound, logical thinking to the truth of Scripture is a key aspect of the formula for discernment.

Contrary to what a lot of people these days assume, discernment is not a mystical or intuitive ability to know the truth as if by magic. It is the skill of understanding, interpreting, and applying truth accurately. Discernment is a cognitive act. Therefore no one who spurns right doctrine or sound reason can be truly discerning.

Authentic spiritual discernment must begin with Scripture-revealed truth. Without a firm grounding in divine revelation, human reason always degenerates into skepticism (a denial that anything can be known for certain), rationalism (the theory that reason is a source of truth), secularism (an approach to life that purposely excludes God), or any number of other anti-Christian philosophies.

When Scripture condemns human wisdom (1 Cor. 3:19), it is not denouncing logic and reason per se, but humanistic ideology divorced from the divinely-revealed truth of God’s Word. In other words, reason apart from the Word of God leads inevitably to unsound ideas, but reason subjected to the Word of God is at the heart of wise spiritual discernment.

(By John MacArthur)

I have often spoken out against all the pragmatic and “seeker-sensitive” approaches to contemporary worship because they tend to diminish the proper place of preaching and replace it with quasi-spiritual forms of sheer entertainment (music, comedy, drama, and whatnot). Any trend that threatens the centrality of God’s Word in our corporate worship is a dangerous trend.

But one of the most disturbing side effects of the seeker-sensitive fad is something I haven’t said as much about: When one of the main aims of a ministry philosophy is to keep people entertained, church members inevitably become mere spectators. The architects of the modern megachurches admit that they have deliberately redesigned the worship service in order to make as few demands as possible on the person in the pew. After all, they don’t want the “unchurched” to be intimidated by appeals for personal involvement in ministry. That’s the very opposite of “seeker sensitivity.”

Such thinking is spiritually deadly. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Practically the worst thing any churchgoer can do is be a hearer but not a doer (James 1:22-25). Christ himself pronounced doom on religious people who want to be mere bystanders (Matthew 7:26-27).

Something is seriously wrong in a church where the staff does all the “ministry” and people are made to feel comfortable as mere observers. One of the pastor’s main duties is to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12). Every believer is called to be a minister of some sort, with each of us using the unique gifts given us by God for the edification of the whole church (Rom. 12:6-8).

That’s why Scripture portrays the church as a body—an organism with many organs (1 Corinthians 12:14), where each member has a unique role (vv. 15-25), and all contribute something important to the life of the body. “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (v. 26).

I can’t read that verse without thinking of Dizzy Dean. He was a Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher, whose career peaked in the 1930s. His 1934 season has never been excelled by any pitcher in history. Dean won thirty games that year, a feat that hasn’t been repeated since (though Dizzy himself came close, winning 28 games the following year). But in the 1937 All-Star game, he took a hard line drive off his toe, and the toe was broken. It should not have been a career-ending injury, but Dean was rushed back into the lineup before the fracture was completely healed, and he pitched several games favoring the sore toe. That led to an unnatural delivery that seriously injured his pitching arm. The arm never fully recovered. Dizzy Dean’s major-league career was essentially over in four years.

Something similar happens in any church where there are non-functioning members. The active members of the body become overextended, and the effectiveness of the whole body suffers greatly. Even the most insignificant member, like a toe, is designed to play a vital role.

That truth has been one of the main foundations of my approach to ministry for many years. When I first became pastor of Grace Community Church in 1969, I taught a series on Ephesians, and we spent a great deal of time studying the principle of Ephesians 4:11—that the pastor’s duty is to equip the saints, and it is their duty to shoulder the work of the ministry.

Our people quickly embraced that simple idea, and it transformed our church in a remarkable way. For one thing, we began to see dramatic growth. Within a matter of months, attendance on Sundays had ballooned to almost 1,000. About that same time, a well-known evangelical magazine asked a reporter to write an article about the growth of our church. He visited our services for several weeks, carefully observed how the ministry functioned, interviewed scores of people, and then wrote an article titled “The Church with 900 Ministers.”

That title perfectly summarized what has made Grace Church unique for all these years. Nowadays we have several thousand ministers, but the principle is still the same. Everyone is expected and encouraged to be involved in active ministry. Almost no one in our church would ever view ministry as the exclusive domain of professional clergy. If you want to be comfortable as a mere spectator, Grace Church is not the church for you.

I am not making a case for egalitarianism. Much less would I argue against the need for full-time vocational pastors who devote their whole lives to prayer, the study of the Word of God, and the training and equipping of the saints (cf. Acts 6:4; 1 Timothy 4:14-15; 5:17). The church needs leaders, and God has specifically called men to leadership and set them in places of authority in the church (cf. Hebrews 13:7, 17).

But the New Testament pattern is clear and inescapable: Every Christian is gifted and called to ministry. The spiritual gifts we are given are not for our own sake, but for the benefit of the whole body (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them” (Romans 12:6, emphasis added).

In my experience, it is not difficult to motivate gifted people to minister. The gift of mercy, for example, might practically be defined as the desire combined with the ability to show mercy. A person truly gifted to teach wants to teach. All the average person needs is encouragement and opportunities to employ his or her gifts. If faithful leaders properly train, equip, and guide people to the right ministry opportunities, the church will flourish.

If you are a church leader, I hope you have embraced your duty to equip people for ministry. It is, after all, one of your main duties—if not the single most important task for leaders in today’s church.

If you’re a lay person, I hope you’ll find a place where you can use your gift in the work of the ministry. Maybe you’ll be used by the Lord to start an epidemic of lay ministry in your congregation.

(By John MacArthur)

How can Christians make God-honoring decisions?

Decision-making can be a daunting task for anyone, but Christians have the unique advantage of making decisions that are informed by God’s Word. To do so, there are at least three factors to consider.

First, you must obey the moral will of God as it is revealed in Scripture. If Scripture prohibits the action in question, your decision is easy: don’t do it.

Likewise, if one of the options in your choice causes you to neglect something God specifically commands you to do, you are required to make the choice that will allow you to fulfill your biblical obligation. For example, if God requires you to be an active part of a local church — Hebrews 10:25 indicates that He does — any decision that prohibits you from that is against God’s revealed will. In order to uphold God’s moral will in your decision making, ask yourself, “What does God’s Word say about it?” If it says anything, obey that (1 John 5:3). If it says nothing, you have freedom and do not need to fear missing God’s will or sinning against Him (Romans 14:2-6, 22).

Second, good decision-making requires that you exercise biblical wisdom. Such wisdom comes from a diligent study of God’s Word, coupled with God’s generous provision. James encourages those who lack wisdom to “ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). To make wise decisions, you need to gather necessary information, consider all the options carefully, seek godly counsel, and then choose the option that is most sensible (Proverbs 2:1-11).

Finally, you need to consider your own desire. If the Bible is silent about your decision, and if one choice is not clearly wiser than the other, then do what you want. You have the freedom to do so, and God sovereignly works out His plan through your desires (Psalm 37:4; Philippians 2:13).

The above process presupposes that you are submitted to Christ and filled with the Spirit. Otherwise you won’t be able to make biblical decisions, as sin blinds your ability to understand and apply God’s Word to your life. However, if you do have a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and are walking in the Spirit — as opposed to the flesh — you are free to make decisions so long as they don’t violate God’s revealed (moral) will. You shouldn’t be concerned that your decisions will somehow derail God’s sovereign will for you life, because He routinely works through your decisions to accomplish what He purposes.

For more on decision-making and the will of God, see these resources from Grace to You.

(By John MacArthur)

This concludes our series on contentment. This series was adapted from John’s book Anxiety Attacked.

5. Contentment Comes from Selflessness and Sacrificial Giving

If you live for yourself, you will never be content. Many of us don’t experience contentment because we demand our world to be exactly the way we want it to be. We want our spouse to fulfill our expectations and agenda. We want our children to conform to a prewritten plan we have ordained for them to fulfill. And we want everything else to fall into its perfect niche in the little cupboard where we compartmentalize every element of existence.

Paul prayed for the Philippians to have a different perspective. He began his letter to them with a prayer that their love for one another might abound (Phil. 1:9), and went on to give this practical advice: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself” (Phil. 2:3). He wanted them to lose themselves by being preoccupied with the well-being of others. This was the example he gave to them and us:

Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the Gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full, and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:14–19).

Even though Paul was assured of God’s providence, independent of his circumstances, and strengthened by divine power, he knew how to write a gracious thank-you note. He wanted the Philippians to know they had done a noble thing in caring for his needs. They were a poor church from Macedonia (an area whose poverty is described in 2 Cor. 8—9) who had apparently sent food, clothing, and money to Paul in Rome through Epaphroditus. Their generosity impressed Paul.

Notice what made him happiest of all about the gift: “Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account” (Phil. 4:17). He was more interested in their spiritual benefit than his material gain. Being comfortable, well fed, and satisfied weren’t Paul’s main concerns in life. Rather, he was interested in accruing eternal dividends to the lives of the people he loved. Here are the timeless scriptural principles that apply:

Proverbs 11:24–25: “There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.”

Proverbs 19:17: “He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.”

Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you.”

2 Corinthians 9:6: “He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.”

Paul described the gift he had received as “a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (Phil. 4:18). He was using Old Testament imagery to say, “Not only did you give it to me, but you also gave it to God.” At the beginning of our passage, in verse 10, we noted how happy Paul was to receive the gift. His joy came not because he finally received what he had been wanting (as we saw in verse 11, he politely mentioned that he didn’t need it), but because the Philippians had given him something that honored God and would accrue to their spiritual benefit.

Their doing that led Paul to say in closing, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (v. 19). That is one of the most often-quoted verses of Scripture, but it needs to be set in its context. Paul was saying, “You gave to me in a way that left you in need. I want to assure you that God will not remain in your debt. He will supply all your needs.” It refers to material, earthly needs sacrificed by the Philippians that God in response to their sacrifice would amply replenish.

If you likewise “honor the Lord from your wealth…your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” (Prov. 3:9–10). God’s not going to give you back spiritual blessings only and let you die of hunger. If you’re in Christ, the riches of God in glory are yours. That is why, as we learned in our first chapter , we are not to be preoccupied with what we eat, drink, or wear. Instead we are to “seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and… not be anxious” (Matt. 6:33–34).

Attack anxiety in your life by applying what you have learned about contentment. Be confident in God’s sovereign providence, and don’t allow your circumstances to trouble you. Instead of giving in to panic, cling to the promise of Romans 8:28: “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” Regard that verse as a spiritual lifeline for the rest of your life.

Also, buck the tide of our materialistic, selfish society by being satisfied with little and more concerned about the spiritual welfare of others than your material needs. Be obedient to God’s Word and confident in His power to meet all your needs. May our Lord keep all these principles in the forefront of our minds that we might be content—and free from anxiety!

(By Nathan Busenitz)

This is a continuation of our series on the secrets of contentment from Philippians 4 from yesterday.

3. Detachment from Circumstances

The one thing that steals our contentment more than anything else is trying circumstances. We crumble and lose our sense of satisfaction and peace when we allow our circumstances to victimize us. No doubt Paul was human and suffered that way too but then he learned a different way: remaining content no matter what his circumstances were. “I have learned to be content,” he said, “in whatever circumstances I am” (Phil. 4:11, emphasis added). He really meant whatever, for in the next verse he ran the gamut of extremes from great poverty to great wealth. It’s possible for us as Christians to learn to be content in facing any situation in life.

And we don’t have to wait for the next life to be able to do this. We do need to keep one foot in the next life, however. Paul said it this way: “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17–18). Paul endured many horrific circumstances (note his summary in 11:23–33) but through them he learned to be content by having an eternal perspective. Realize any circumstance you face is only temporary. The energy you’re tempted to expend on it by getting anxious isn’t worth being compared with your eternal reward. Learn to be content by not taking your earthly circumstances too seriously.

4. Being Sustained by Divine Power

Paul could face any earthly circumstance with this confident assurance: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). He had learned that no matter how difficult things get in this material world, every Christian has a spiritual undergirding.

In saying he could do all things through Christ, Paul was referring to endurance, not miraculous provision. He didn’t mean he could go on forever without eating or drinking. He couldn’t be battered 5,000 times and still survive. There’s a limit to the physical hardships any human being can endure. Instead Paul was saying, “When I have come to the end of my own resources, then I experience the power of Christ to sustain me until a provision is made.” He believed in the promise of Isaiah 40:31: “Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

Contentment is a by-product of distress. It comes when you experience the sustaining power of Christ when you simply have run out of steam: “To him who lacks might He increases power” (v. 29). We do well to experience enough difficulty in our lives to see Christ’s power on display in us.

Do you know how a pacemaker works? It kicks in when the heart it’s attached to doesn’t work right. It’s a sustaining power. We as believers have a reservoir of spiritual power that moves into action when we have come to the end of our resources. Therefore we can “do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).

You’ll learn contentment when you’ve stood in the valley of the shadow of death, when you’ve been at the brink, when you can’t resolve your problems, when you can’t eliminate the conflict, when you can’t change your work environment, when you’re unable to fight the disease that’s wracking your body. That’s when you’ll turn to God and find the strength to get through the situation.

To add an important qualifier, however, if you’ve been living a life of sin and you’re now at the bottom of the pit where sin has led you, don’t expect the Lord to step in, put on a dazzling display of His power, and make you feel content. What He’s more apt to do is add chastening to the pain that your circumstances have naturally produced. There’s no quick fix for a sinful pattern of living. Just like health is the result of right living in the physical dimension, so is power from God the result of being obedient in the spiritual dimension.

(By John MacArthur)

This is a continuation from last Friday's article on biblical contentment from Philippians 4.

2. Satisfaction with Little

Here is another secret to contentment from Paul’s life: “Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity” (Phil. 4:11–12).

He appreciated the revived generosity of the Philippian church, but wanted them to know he hadn’t been coveting it. He kept his wants or desires in check, not confusing them with his needs.

“Not that I speak from want” is another way of saying, “I really don’t have any needs that aren’t being met.” Our needs as human beings are simple: food, clothing, shelter, and godliness with contentment. Scripture says to be content with the bare necessities of life.

That attitude is in marked contrast to the attitude of our culture. People today aren’t content—with little or much. My theory is that the more people have, the more discontent they’re apt to be. Typically, the most unhappy people you’ll ever meet are very wealthy. They seem to believe their needs can never be met. Unlike Paul, they assume their wants are needs. They’ve followed our materialistic culture’s lead in redefining human needs.

You’ll never come across a commercial or ad that tells you to eat food, drink water, or go to sleep. Mass media advertises items that are far more optional and discretionary, but you’d never know it from the sales pitch. The appeal isn’t, “Wouldn’t you like to have this?” but “You need this!” If you expose yourself to such appeals without thinking, you’ll find yourself needing things you don’t even want! The goal of this kind of advertising is to produce discontentment and make a sale.

To protect yourself, pay careful attention to whenever you attach the word need to something in your thoughts or speech. Edit any use of it that goes beyond life’s bare essentials. Paul did, and you can too. Thankfully regard any surplus as a blessing from God. You will be satisfied with little when you refuse to depend on luxuries the world redefines as needs.

(By John MacArthur)

In Philippians 4:11-12, Paul said, “I have learned to be content . . . I have learned the secret.” Here he used a Greek term pregnant with meaning—an allusion to the mystery religions of Greece. Initiation into those pagan cults involved becoming privy to certain religious secrets. Paul became privy to the secret of contentment, and it’s one he passed on to all who have been initiated by faith in Jesus Christ. Over the next few days we will consider several secrets to contentment, coming out of Philippians 4.

1. Confidence in God’s Providence

Paul said, “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that . . . you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity” (v. 10). Let me give you some background. About ten years had passed since Paul was last in Philippi. Acts 16 relates what happened during his first visit.

Paul and his traveling companions met a businesswoman named Lydia and preached the Gospel to her and her companions. Their conversion resulted in the formation of a church. During the early days of that church, Paul cast out a spirit of divination from a slave girl. The girl’s owners—livid over the loss of the income they had derived from her fortune-telling abilities—had Paul flogged, thrown into prison, and locked in stocks. Instead of complaining about the miserable situation in which he found himself, he praised God through thankful prayer and song far into the night.

God responded in an amazing way: He shook the foundations of the prison so violently that all its doors opened wide and the chains fell off the prisoners’ feet and wrists. That incredible experience, plus Paul’s incredible response to his dismal circumstances, led to the salvation of the jailer—and the jailer’s entire household. As the church at Philippi grew, it’s apparent they helped fund Paul for further missionary outreach.

Our text in Philippians makes it clear, however, that it had been awhile since they last were able to help support him in that endeavor. But that was fine with Paul. He knew it wasn’t that they lacked concern, but that they lacked “opportunity” (Gk., kairos). That’s a reference to a season or window of opportunity, not to chronological time.

In writing, “You have revived your concern for me,” Paul was using a horticultural term that means “to bloom again.” That’s like saying, “Your love has flowered again. I know it has always been there, but it just didn’t have an opportunity to bloom. Blooms are seasonal, and the right season hadn’t come along until now.”

The point is that Paul had a patient confidence in God’s sovereign providence. He was content to do without and wait on the Lord’s timing. He didn’t resort to panic or manipulation of others. Those things are never called for. Paul was certain that in due time God would order the circumstances so that his needs would be met. We can have that same certainty today.

Until we truly learn that God is sovereign, ordering everything for His own holy purposes and the ultimate good of those who love Him, we can’t help but be discontent. That’s because in taking on the responsibility of ordering our lives, we will be frustrated in repeatedly discovering that we can’t control everything. Everything already is under control, however, by Someone far greater than you or I.

A synonym for God’s providence is divine provision, but that’s a skimpy label for a complex theological reality. Providence is how God orchestrates everything to accomplish His purposes. Let me show you what that means by contrast.

There are two ways God can act in the world: by miracle and by providence. A miracle has no natural explanation. In the flow of normal life, God suddenly stems the tide and injects a miracle. Then He sets the flow back in motion, just like parting the Red Sea until His people could walk across and closing it up again. Do you think it would be easier to do that—to say, “Hold it, I want to do this miracle” and do it—or to say, “Let’s see, I’ve got 50 billion circumstances to orchestrate to accomplish this one thing”? The latter is providence. Think, for example, of how God providentially ordered the lives of Joseph, Ruth, and Esther. Today He does the same for us.

Contentment comes from learning that God is sovereign not only by supernatural intervention, but also by natural orchestration. And what an incredible orchestra it is! Appreciate the complexity of what God is doing every moment just to keep us alive. When we look at things from that perspective, we see what folly it is to think we can control our lives. When we give up that vain pursuit, we give up a major source of anxiety.

Paul was content because he had confidence in the providence of God. That confidence, however, never led him to a fatalistic “It doesn’t matter what I do” attitude. The example of Paul’s life throughout the New Testament is this: Work as hard as you can and be content that God is in control of the results.

(By John MacArthur)

This article concludes our series on How to Kill Sin in Your Life. Points 1-4 in this series were discussed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today we will conclude by considering a fifth and final step.

5. Cultivate Obedience.

Fifth, a life that puts the flesh to death must set itself on a course of obedience. Paul said, “I haven’t attained,” I love this, “but,” he said, “I press towards the mark” (cf. Php. 3:14). He had not yet reached the goal but he was on the path. What path was he on? The path of obedience.

Likewise, Peter said that our lives should be characterized by obedience to the truth (1 Pet. 1:22). We must walk a path of obedience. If we want to engage in a real battle with sin, we must set our course, day-by-day, moment-by-moment, one step at a time, on a path of obedience.

At first it seems hard and the progress seems slow, but stay with it and eventually you will become habitually obedient. If you stay on the path that God has laid out in His Word, that path will lead you to grow in grace, to renew the inward man day-by-day, and you’ll train yourself towards godliness.

In the meantime, how can we evaluate our progress? What inventory can we take to examine our lives, to see if these things are true of us? Just ask yourself some simple questions.

How’s my zeal toward God? Is my heart cold towards God? Has sin made me indifferent to times of communion with Him? Do I have little or no interest in His presence? In the glory of His name? Do I earnestly contend for the faith? Do I live to uphold truth? To live it? To proclaim it? What level is my zeal at?

Do I love His Word? Do I find myself drawn to the Word? Do I find myself indulging in the deep things of the Word? Do you love the time of prayer? Do you love the place of confession? Do you eagerly rush into the place where you can confess your sin and ask God to do the self-examining process by the light of the Holy Spirit, so that every dirty thing can be brought to light? Do you seek that? Do you delight in worship? Is it precious to you to spend the Lord’s Day in the church? Is it your soul’s highest delight to sing His praise and know Him better, that you might offer Him honor?” Or do you say with the Jews of Malachi’s day, “What a weariness worship is!”

Ask yourself this, “Are you sensitive to sin in the church? Are you sensitive to sin in the world? Does it tear your heart up when you see sin around you any where? In your own life?”

You see those are just the basic principles I gave you earlier, simply turned into self-examining questions. Spiritual victory is there if you recognize that you are not under any obligation to sin. If you recognize that the Spirit of God has already bent you towards life, and so He’s already killing sin in your life, and the power to kill all of it is there.

I don’t know about you but I want to have a life of virtue. I want to have a life of joy. I want to have a life of peace, and I want to have a life of usefulness to God, and this is the path to that life. May God give you the strength to walk it; and through your walk, may God bring glory to His own name. After all, that’s the purpose of everything.

(By John MacArthur)

Today’s post is the second part in our series on how to kill sin in your life.

Yesterday, we considered the first of five steps necessary to killing sin in your life — namely, that you must recognize the presence of sin in your flesh. Today we will consider steps two through four.

2. Fix Your Heart on on God.

Second, in order to gain victory over sin, you must have a heart fixed on God. You must love Him more than you love your sin.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 57:7, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.” What did he mean by that? He was speaking of undivided devotion to God! He was referring to a wholeness in spiritual life where he was given wholly to God. This attitude must be true in your heart if you are to conquer sin. You must be wholly devoted to God in every area of life. You cannot tolerate sin in any one area, even if it seems like a relatively small area. You must eradicate sin everywhere.

You can’t starve it out and kill it in one spot, but then allow it to remain somewhere else. If sin lives anywhere it will crawl all over everywhere. It is the most noxious, fastest growing weed in existence. It will not confine itself to one flower bed. Left unchecked, even for a short time, it will soon take over everywhere.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 119:6, “Then shall I not be ashamed.” When? When will you not be ashamed? “When I have respect unto all thy commandments.” In other words, our lives are not going to be right or without shame until we give proper respect to every command of God. And that is to deal with every issue of sin in our lives. The only unashamed life is the life of one who is totally fixed on God; everything has been dealt with.

3. Meditate on the Word.

Third, the victorious Christian life is a life that dwells on the Word of God (cf. Psalm 1:2).

The way to kill sin in your life is to feed it Scripture. Scripture is a spiritual weed-killer. It will poison sin.

Whatever really controls your mind, controls your behavior; so keep out the garbage (of worldly thinking) and saturate the soil of your mind with a steady diet of God’s glorious truth. Sin can’t grow in a Spirit-controlled life. And the Spirit controls our thinking through the Word of Christ (Col. 3:16-17; cf. Eph. 5:18; Rom. 12:2). If you want to kill sin, you must give yourself to the Word. That means you have to read it, listen to it, learn it, study it, and think about it.

4. Commune with God in Prayer.

These are so very basic, but fourth, you must commune with God in prayer.

This circles back around to the first point that I gave you. True prayer gives the heart a sense of its own vile character and renews the hatred of sin. It agrees with God about what sin is, recognizing that any violation of God’s law is a direct affront to Him. John Owen said, “He who pleads with God for the remission of sin also pleads with his own heart to detest it.”

Somewhere along the line in your own prayer life you need to get honest. You need to begin to say to God, “I want You to reveal my sin, I want You to stir it up in me. I want You to show it to me. I want You to blow away the dust that is covering it. I want You to peel off the things that have been hiding it away in my life, so that it becomes manifest and visible to me. I want to see the reality of my sin. I want You to show it to me just the way it is.” That is a vital part of your communion with God.

When you pray to God it must be an honest confession. The true prayers of repentance go something like this, “God show me all the sins of my life, reveal all of them, uncover every little corner of my life. Bring it up and may it become as detestable to me as it is to You. May I never do that again, and may You give me the strength to see it go away.”

Prayer exposes secret sins. Prayer weakens prevailing sins. Prayer finds strength in fellowship with the Holy God to kill sin in our lives.

(To be concluded tomorrow)

(By John MacArthur)

Today's article comes from a message John preached on a practical plan for overcoming personal sin.

The question is, “How do I kill sin in my life? How do I do it?” Let me give you some little principles — very basic and straightforward.

If you live by the Spirit and are headed towards eternal life because of your salvation, the Spirit in you gives the power to be killing the deeds of the flesh.

The question is, “All right, how do I do that? I agree that the power is there, that’s the bent of my life, that’s the way I am going. I want to see the Spirit do more and more of it. How do I get to that point? How do I gain that victory? How do I establish that habitual pattern? What do I do?”

1. Recognize the Presence of Sin in Your Flesh.

Do you know why most Christians are most commonly defeated by sin? I believe it is because their sin has so totally deceived them, that they never really get to the point where they honestly evaluate its reality. They are not dealing with the issue.

They spend so much of their lives justifying their sin as a personality quirk or a product of their environment. They sugar-coat their habitual sins as simply idiosyncrasies of individuality, or some prenatal predilection that their mother had, or whatever. People can become so good at denying the reality of sin that they don’t see it. As a result, they don’t deal with it because they don’t even recognize it for what it is.

Any kind of spiritual victory begins by identifying the enemy. It is the same old story, “If you don’t know what you are shooting at, how are you going to hit it?” How am I going to eliminate from my life what I don’t even identify as needing to be eliminated?

Sin is not only wicked, it is deceitful. And it’s there inside each of us. Believe me it is there. John Owen was right, he says of sin:

It has no doors to open. It needs no engine by which to work. It lies in the mind and in the understanding. It is found in the will. It is in the inclinations of the affections. It has such intimacy in the soul.

It’s there! But inevitably it’s covered up. As the Psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:22). We must ask God to help us see our sinfulness, if we want to recognize it for what it is.

Don’t be deceived about how good you are. Believe me, your sin is there, and it is wretched and it spurts forth between the cracks of your supposed righteousness. It comes out in anger and bitter words, unkind thoughts, criticisms, self-conceit, lack of understanding, impatience, weak prayers, immoral thoughts, and even overt sins. You need to know your weaknesses.

Haggai the prophet, in chapter one of his prophecy, repeats the command, “Consider your ways! Consider your ways!” (vv. 5, 7). In other words, take a good deep look at yourself. First Kings 8:38 says, “Know the plague in your own heart.” And Paul in Ephesians 4:22 talks about deceitful lusts. From these and many other passages, the Bible makes the point: If you want to kill sin in your life, you must begin by examining your own heart to see the reality of what is there.

(To be continued tomorrow)

(By John MacArthur)

The apostle Paul perfectly expresses the most earnest desire of every true follower of Christ: “That I may know him” (Phil. 3:10).

“Knowing Christ,” in the Pauline sense is not the sort of mystical relationship many people imagine. Paul wasn’t longing for some secret knowledge of Christ beyond what is revealed in Scripture. In fact, the knowledge of Christ Paul sought was anything but mystical. What he longed to know was the power of Christ’s resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, and conformity to His death.

We err greatly if we think of intimacy with Christ as some lofty level of mysterious, feelings-based communion with the Divine—as if it involved some knowledge of God that goes beyond what Scripture has revealed. That idea is the very heart of the gnostic heresy. It has nothing in common with true Christianity.

Just what do we mean, then, when we speak of intimacy with Christ? How can we pursue knowing Christ the way Paul had in mind in Philippians 3:10? Scripture suggests at least five aspects of true intimacy with Christ:

The Intimacy of Faith

Notice what prompts Paul's  comment about knowing Christ in Philippians 3:10. He had already spent several verses describing his life before Christ (4-6). He cited all the spiritual advantages he enjoyed as a Pharisaic Jew. But then he declared that he had discarded all those spiritual advantages for Christ’s sake:

“What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (vv. 7-8).

As a Pharisee, Paul had sought to earn God’s favor by legal obedience. But he came to realize that the law sets a standard he could never meet. And so he scrapped all his own works of righteousness as if they were filthy rags (cf. Isa. 64:6). This does not mean that he ceased doing good works, of course, but that he gave up trusting in those works for his salvation. Instead, he put all his faith in Christ—and was clothed in Christ’s perfect righteousness instead of his own imperfect works.

This is the doctrine known as justification by faith. Scripture teaches that our sins were imputed to Christ, and He paid the full penalty for them in His death. Now Christ’s own righteousness is imputed to us, and we receive the full merit of it. Without this reality we could enjoy no relationship whatsoever with a holy God.

Moreover, justification by faith—because it means we are clothed in Christ’s own righteousness—establishes the most intimate imaginable relationship between the believer and his Lord. It is an inviolable spiritual union. That’s why Paul often described believers as those who are “in Christ.”

In other words, all true intimacy with Christ has its basis in faith. In fact, no relationship with Him whatsoever is possible apart from faith (Heb. 1:1). As the apostle Peter points out, we love Him by faith, even though we have not seen Him (1 Pet. 1:8).

The Intimacy of True Worship

In Hosea 6:6 the Lord says, “I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

That verse means we should not imagine that worship consists of rote acts of religious ritual—like sacrifices, burnt offerings, and other ceremonies. Instead, we need to realize that real worship is grounded in the true knowledge of God.

If we want God to delight in our worship, we must think rightly about Him. The very essence of idolatry consists in wrong thoughts about God. And conversely, true knowledge of God means knowing Him as He is revealed in Scripture.

To put it another way, sound doctrine, not liturgy and ritual, is the litmus test of whether our worship is acceptable.

Right thinking about God is therefore essential to true intimacy with Him. Anyone who would know Him intimately must know what He has revealed about Himself. And again, this does not mean we should seek some mystical knowledge about God. All we can know with any certainty about God is what is revealed in Scripture. Those who would know the true God in the true way must therefore seek to be thoroughly familiar with His Word.

The Intimacy of Prayer

Jesus himself taught us to seek intimacy with God through private prayer. Prayer is where the worshiper pours out his heart to God. And Jesus Himself stressed the importance of private prayer: “when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret” (Matt. 6:6).

He was confronting the practice of the Pharisees, who loved to pray publicly, for show. Jesus was not teaching that prayers should never be offered publicly, for there are obviously times when Scripture calls us to corporate prayer.

But the true Christian seeking intimacy with God will pray most often, and most fervently, in private. The true audience of all our prayers is God Himself. And if we understood what an incomprehensible privilege it is to be invited to come boldly before His throne of grace, we would surely spend more time there, pouring out our most intimate thoughts, fears, desires, and expressions of love to Him.

The Intimacy of Obedience

Jesus said to the disciples, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (Jn. 15:14). Thus Christ Himself made obedience to Him an absolute requirement for true spiritual intimacy.

Let no one claim intimacy with Christ whose life is marked by disobedience rather than submission to Him. Those who refuse to obey Christ as Lord cannot claim to know Him as a friend. Scripture plainly declares that He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36), and He is therefore entitled to demand our allegiance to His Lordship.

As a matter of fact, those who withhold that allegiance are His enemies, not His intimates (cf. Jas. 4:4). That’s why true intimacy with Him is utterly impossible without unconditional surrender to His divine authority.

Again, this takes the matter of intimacy with Christ out of the realm of the mystical and defines it in terms that are intensely practical.

The Intimacy of Suffering

Returning to Philippians 3:10, we note once again what kind of intimacy with Christ Paul was seeking: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

Of course, we easily understand why Paul wanted a share in the power of Christ’s resurrection. But why did the apostle desire to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings and be conformed to His death?

We can be certain that Paul had no perverse love of pain and suffering. Elsewhere he testified how he repeatedly besought the Lord to deliver him from a “messenger of Satan” that was like a thorn under his skin (2 Cor. 12:7).

In the midst of that experience Paul discovered that God’s grace is sufficient to see us through all our sufferings. Moreover, God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness (v. 9).

God gives a special measure of grace to those whom He calls to endure suffering. In a familiar passage in the Beatitudes, Jesus said this about suffering:

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you (Matt. 5:10-12).

There is a special blessedness known only to those who suffer for Christ’s sake. Those who would desire true intimacy with Him must be willing to endure what He endured.

The Full Picture

Add all those things together to get the full picture: True intimacy with Christ involves suffering, obedience, much prayer, a good knowledge of God’s Word, and a life of faith.

Notice that those are not advanced skills for second-level Christians. They are the most elementary issues of the Christian life. That underscores the truth that intimacy with Christ is not some sort of mystical secret. It is the whole point of our life in Christ. Indeed, it is the chief end for which we were created: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

(By John MacArthur)

Holy Living Makes the Gospel Attractive

Paul states his third reason for holy living in Titus 2:10, “That they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.” “Adorn” is from the Greek word kosmeō and refers to making something beautiful.

What is our primary message to this world about God? Do we want the world to know that God is omnipotent? Omniscient? Omnipresent? Immutable? Sovereign? Eternal? The Creator and the Sustainer of the universe? Yes, we do. But by far the main attribute of God we want the unsaved to understand is that He is a Savior.

How will we ever make the good news about God as Savior beautiful in every respect if we don’t look like we’ve been saved? When we live in obedience to God, that in itself will be a testimony against wrong. When those around us see us helping rather than exploiting, hear us talking with purity instead of profanity, and observe us speaking truthfully rather than deceitfully, our example will itself be a rebuke of selfishness, unwholesome talk, and falsehood. Simply refusing to participate in a dishonest business or social practice will sometimes be such a strong rebuke that it costs us our job or friendship. Dishonesty is terribly uncomfortable in the presence of honesty, even when there is no verbal or other direct opposition.

Often, of course, open rebuke is necessary. Silent testimony will go only so far. Failure to speak out against and to oppose evil things in practical ways is a failure to obey God. Believers are to expose them in whatever legitimate, biblical ways are necessary.

Unfortunately, many Christians are barely able to keep their own spiritual and moral houses in order. Thus they lack the discernment, inclination, or power to confront evil in the church or in society at large. That’s why it is imperative that we be so mature in biblical truth, and in obedience, holiness, and love, that the natural course of our lives will be to expose, rebuke, and offer remedy for every kind of evil.

Making salvation attractive is a high calling, and we will fail in that endeavor unless we can demonstrate that we have indeed been delivered from sin. Rebuking sin in others without an accompanying lifestyle of righteousness is the greatest hypocrisy. But lives characterized by purity, power, and joy reflect the order, beauty, and power of a saving God. When we make salvation beautiful, we make God attractive.

To convince a man God can save, I need to show him a man He saved. To convince a man that God can give hope, I need to show him a man with hope. To convince a man that God can give peace, joy, and love, I need to show him a man with peace, joy, and love. To convince a man that God can give complete, total, and utter satisfaction, I need to show him a satisfied man. When the world sees people who are holy, righteous, peaceful, joyful, and fulfilled, they see the evidence of God’s transforming power.

At stake is the eternal destiny of unredeemed souls. Christians who are unholy lead unbelievers to slander God; those who are holy lead them to glorify God. The central issue in evangelism is holy living. A powerful church is not built on its strategy, but on the virtue and holiness of its people. What we believe is linked to how we live, and how we live is directly linked to the effectiveness of our gospel proclamation. So, Christian, it’s imperative that you be “blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).

(By John MacArthur)

Despite many technological advancements, the twenty-first century has entered frighteningly dark waters. Look at the headlines—the threat of global terrorism, the chaos of unthinkable criminal activity, the defilement of pornography, the confusion of gender roles, the future of the economy, the “lostness” of our children, etc., etc. People are helplessly buckled up, strapped in, and holding on to a world careening out of control into a future of even greater fear, confusion, frustration, uncertainty, and isolation.

As a Christian, a true Christians, you are quite a contrast. Anchored in Jesus Christ, you are immoveable, steadfast, and strong. Your eyes are fixed on the Word of God, a beacon that stands out like a “lamp shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19). As you move toward that light, God changes your life by the power of the Holy Spirit. The message you proclaim and the life you live guarantees you will stand out in the culture.

Holy, righteous lives are the backbone of the gospel we preach. The apostle Paul understood that. In the midst of a pagan society that did all it could to persecute Christians and discredit the Christian faith, he wrote to Titus telling him how to instruct the Cretans “to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:12).

As I’ve reflected on what Paul told Titus, I can see three compelling reasons we ought to live holy lives. And each reason has little to do with benefits that come from godly living, though there are benefits (cf. 1 Timothy 6:6). Rather, Paul sets forth evangelism as the motive for holy living.

Holy Living Honors God’s Word

In chapter two, Paul instructs Titus regarding different age groups in the church. The young women, he says, are to act in such a way “so that the word of God may not be dishonored” (Titus 2:5). The Greek word translated “dishonored” literally means “blasphemed.” We can’t allow unbelievers to mock, ignore, or totally reject God’s Word. Yet, how we live will directly affect how people feel about it.

No matter what their station in life, Christian men and women who are not what they ought to be will give people reason to blaspheme God’s Word. The world doesn’t judge us by our theology; it judges us by our behavior. The validity of Scripture in the world’s view is determined by how it affects us. If unbelievers see that our lives are truly transformed, separate and distinct from the world, they might conclude that Scripture is true, powerful, and life-changing.

The credibility of the Christian gospel is inseparably linked to the integrity of the lives of those who proclaim it. That’s why it is so devastating when well-known evangelists or Christian leaders are caught in some gross sin or immorality. How do you think unbelievers react when they see such hypocrisy? They laugh at it, thus blaspheming God’s Word and short-circuiting any opportunity we have to tell them about its power to transform their lives. The impact of the lives of men and women who bear the Lord’s name is vital to the credibility of the faith and the effectiveness of personal witness and preaching. That’s ultimately what is at stake in the way we live.

Holy Living Silences the Opposition

Paul’s second reason for living holy lives gives us the heart of what he wants to communicate: “so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us” (Titus 2:8). The Greek word translated “put to shame” literally means “to blush,” emphasizing the opponent’s utter embarrassment over having no just criticism.

Opponents of Christianity love to gloat when Christians cause a scandal. Don’t you think some of the unbelievers in your sphere of influence would love to see you fail significantly so they can justify their unbelief? They don’t want to see God transform your life—that would stand as a rebuke to their sinful lifestyles. But that’s exactly what you want to do—you want to embarrass them when they criticize you because there is nothing for them to justifiably criticize.

The issue is evangelism. The proper strategy for our evangelization is not methodological. We reach the world through epitomizing virtue, godliness, holiness, and a purity of life that makes our faith and God’s Word believable.

The apostle Peter understood the way believers have impact on the godless world. He wrote, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage ware against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the [pagans], so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12).

Do you see how imperative it is that we live godly lives? We want unbelievers to examine us. They come initially to criticize, but if our behavior is excellent, the criticism of some might turn to curiosity. And if that curiosity turns to conversion, they’ll glorify God because of their salvation. Thus we’ve done our part in bringing God glory. You lead people to the credibility of Christianity and ultimately to conversion by the virtue of your life. So stay away from fleshly lusts and maintain excellent behavior.

(To Be Concluded Tomorrow)

(By John MacArthur)

All people like to be happy — to be exhilarated with joy, to feel good, and to be on top of everything. There’s nothing wrong with that. God wants joyous, excited, happy, and uplifted people. The problem lies in how happiness is generated. Some people think they’ll find it in a liquor bottle or in a narcotic. But neither of those is the Christian’s source of joy.

Ephesians 5:18 says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.” Paul doesn’t try to prove that drunkenness is incompatible with Christianity, he simply gives the command. Once a person becomes a Christian, he says goodbye to the life he once lived in drunken debauchery–the party life is to have no place in a believer’s life.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “John, are you going to lecture me on the evils of alcohol? That’s preaching to the choir!” Is it? One study I found said nearly 14 million Americans last year were classified as alcohol abusers or alcoholics–that’s about 1 out of every 13 adults. Millions more regularly engage in binge drinking or heavy drinking and over 50 percent of Americans report that one or more of their close relatives have a drinking problem. With figures like that, do you think some of those people might now attend your church? Were you one of those people?

I won’t lecture you on the dangers of alcohol — you’re no doubt painfully aware of the problem. Drunkenness causes violence, accidents, abuse, and indebtedness, and we pay millions of dollars in tax money to clean up the wreckage. Insobriety exacts a tremendous toll on our society, both directly and indirectly.

The Spirit and the Bottle

So if Christians are not to be drunk with wine, where do they find joy and happiness? The answer is in the second half of Ephesians 5:18: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit” (emphasis added). Your thrills, your exhilaration, and your happiness should be the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit, not from being filled with wine.

You might be shocked by the language of that verse. It sounds like Paul is saying we should be drunk with the Holy Spirit. In fact, observers of the apostles exuberant behavior at Pentecost mistakenly concluded they had been dipping into the wineskins a little too early in the morning (see Acts 2:1-4, 13-18). But here’s the idea: Being filled with the Spirit results in behavior marked by joy, boldness, and a lack of inhibition. Even a mild person can become bold and unafraid when living under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

That sounds like what happens when a person gets drunk, doesn’t it? But Paul is actually making a contrast, not a comparison, between wine and the Holy Spirit. Wine controls a person completely and works evil in his heart and life. The Holy Spirit also controls completely, but He empowers you unto true righteousness. The Spirit’s influence provides divine fuel for a different, free, uninhibited life lived for God’s glory.

Be Filled

You’ll notice that Ephesians 5:18 has a positive command: “Be filled with the Spirit.” What does that mean? First, let me tell you what that doesn’t mean. Being filled with the Spirit doesn’t mean to be indwelt with, to be baptized in, or to be sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Paul never says, “Be indwelt by the Spirit.” If you’re a Christian, the Spirit already lives in you (1 Cor. 6:19).

Paul never says, “Be baptized in the Spirit.” If you’re a Christian, you were baptized in Him at your conversion (1 Cor. 12:13).

Paul never says, “Be sealed with the Spirit.” If you’re a Christian, you’ve already been sealed with the Spirit (Eph. 1:13).

All three events occurred the moment you were saved.

Instead, Paul’s command has our sanctification in view. Though it sounds a little odd in English, the Greek verb means “be continually filled” or “be kept filled.” He is actually saying, “Be continually letting the Spirit of God — who is already in you — control you.” It isn’t a second work of grace, a one-time experience, or a step up to a higher level. It is the continual, ongoing experience of the Christian life.

Surrender and Submit

To be filled with the Holy Spirit means you are continually surrendering your will, mind, body, time, talents, and treasures — every area of your life — to His control. The context shows that every realm of your life will be affected when you are filled with the Spirit. Notice how the Spirit-filled person submits to others (5:21–6:9). The Spirit-filled wife submits to her husband. The Spirit-filled husband loves his wife. Spirit-filled children obey their parents. A Spirit-filled father doesn’t provoke his children to anger. A Spirit-filled employee works diligently for his employer. A Spirit-filled employer is fair with his employees. All those are manifestations of the Spirit-filled life.

“So,” you ask, “is this a ‘Let go and let God’ kind of thing?” Hardly. Look at Colossians 3:16 for the answer to the question, “How do I surrender?” It says, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.” The effect of the Word of Christ dwelling in you is an exact parallel to what happens when you are filled with the Spirit (see vv. 16-23). It’s all there–singing, submission, love, obedience, gentle parenting, diligence, and fairness. Therefore, being filled with the Spirit is exactly the same thing as letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. As you study God’s Word, as it dwells in you richly, your thoughts become saturated with Christ. You become Christ-centered, Christ-conscious at all times–that’s what it is to be Spirit-filled.

Attitude Adjustment

We’ve already looked at the behavior of a Spirit-filled person, but where is the joy I mentioned earlier? Tucked between the command and the change in behavior is a very important comment on the attitudes of a Spirit-filled Christian. Ephesians 5:19-20 says, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God.” In those two verses, Paul is looking at the fruit of two attitudes that demonstrate vitality of the Christian life — joy and gratitude.

Joy and gratitude will characterize you when you are under the Holy Spirit’s control. Whether public or private, inward or outward, Spirit-induced joy produces singing that comes from the heart. To whom do you sing? You sing “to one another” and “to the Lord.” Keep that in mind the next time you sing in church. Your songs should not be a performance — they aren’t entertainment. Rather, they should be the sincere testimony of your joy in the Lord. When you express your joy in the Holy Spirit through singing, you bring pleasure to the Lord Himself.

Hand in hand with joy is thanksgiving (cf. 1 Thess. 5:16-18). If ingratitude sours and darkens the soul, gratitude sweetens it and floods it with light. Thanksgiving is more than the act of saying thanks or sending a thank you note — it is an attitude of the heart. Without the attitude, the act is mere hypocrisy.

Spirit-produced joy and gratitude are indomitable. When Jesus said, “Your sorrow will be turned to joy,” He used the example of a woman giving birth to a child. Though the pain of childbirth is agonizing, when the child is born, the joy is both unequaled and unstoppable — nothing can drive it away. That’s the kind of change the Holy Spirit produces in everyone who lives under His control.

The Spirit-filled life is overflowing with gratitude, joy, right relationships, and good behavior — quite a contrast to those enslaved by alcohol. You may not be seeking your joy in drugs or alcohol, but are you seeking to be filled with the Spirit? His resources are immediately available and He desires to produce new life in you. What are you waiting for?

(By Matt Waymeyer)

Today's post concludes our series on this important topic, with a fifth and final reason why believers should pray in light of God's sovereignty.

5. God has ordained prayer as a means by which He accomplishes His eternal purposes.

At this point, some may wonder how it is that Scripture can teach both that God providentially brings all things to pass in conformity with His eternal purpose and that the prayers of men can have a significant affect in the unfolding of world history. The seeming contradiction between these two truths vanishes, however, when one realizes that “the same God who has decreed the end has also decreed that His end shall be reached through His appointed means, and one of these is prayer” (The Sovereignty of God, 167). In other words, God in His infinite wisdom was pleased to ordain prayer to be a means through which He accomplishes His good pleasure in and through His creation. As A.W. Pink writes,

God has decreed that certain events shall come to pass, but He has also decreed that these events shall come to pass through the means He has appointed for their accomplishment. God has elected certain ones to be saved, but He has also decreed that these ones shall be saved through the preaching of the Gospel. The Gospel, then, is one of the appointed means for the working out of the eternal counsel of the Lord; and prayer is another. God has decreed the means as well as the end, and among the means is prayer (Ibid., 171).

Understanding this relationship between the sovereignty of God and the prayers of men begins with recognizing the comprehensive nature of God’s eternal purpose. Richard Pratt writes,

God’s plan is so comprehensive that it not only includes the final destinies of things but also includes the secondary, creaturely processes that work together to accomplish these ends. For instance, God does not simply ordain light to shine on the earth each day; He also employs the sun, the moon, the stars, and countless other things to accomplish that end. God does not merely determine that someone will recover from a disease; He uses doctors and medicine to accomplish the healing. As the playwright of history, God did not simply write an ending for the book of time. He wrote every word on every page so that all events lead to the grand finale (Pray With Your Eyes Open, 109-10).

In other words, the “all things” which God works out “according to the counsel of His will” (Eph 1:11) includes the means that He uses to bring about His ultimate ends. God uses the sun to bring light to the earth, He uses doctors to restore people to health, and He uses prayer to bring about many things He has purposed in eternity past.

When one wants to cross the street safely, he uses the crosswalk and looks both ways before doing so; when one desires his family members to turn to Christ for salvation, he seeks to proclaim the gospel to them; when one desires to provide for his family, he works hard at his place of employment. And in the same way, when one desires such-and-such to happen, he prays to God to bring it about, recognizing that prayer is one of the means through which God brings about His purposes here on earth.

Several examples in Scripture indicate that God has ordained prayer as a means to accomplish His eternal plans. First, when Abraham sojourned in Gerar in Genesis 20, he lied and told King Abimelech that Sarah was his sister, at which time Abimelech took Sarah into his harem of wives (v. 2). In response, God closed all the wombs of the household of Abimelech and threatened the king with further judgment if he did not restore Sarah to Abraham (vv. 7, 17). However, at the same time that God warned Abimelech of this judgment, He also told him, “[Abraham] is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live” (v. 7). In other words, God revealed to the king that His plan was for Abraham to pray and intercede for the King so that divine judgment would be withdrawn. Then, in verse 17, God’s preordained plan came to fruition: “And Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children.”

A second example can be found at the end of the book of Job. God addressed Job’s friend, Eliphaz the Temanite, saying,

I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly (Job 42:7b-8a; NIV)

Then, as verse 9 reveals, Eliphaz “did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer” (NIV). From this it is clear that God not only ordained that His wrath toward Eliphaz would be turned aside, but He also ordained that the means He would use to accomplish that end would include the intercessory prayer of His servant Job.

A third and final example of God’s ordination of prayer as a means to accomplish His end can be found in God’s promise to Israel of future restoration in Jeremiah 29. In verse 11a, the Lord told Israel that He knew the plans that He had for her. In other words, the God who knew the end from the beginning was not unaware of what He had purposed for Israel's future. He continued by telling Israel that His plans were “for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (v. 11b). What will happen in the future when God's plan unfolds and He providentially brings it to pass? He continued:

“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile” (vv. 12-14).

God will restore His people in response to their prayers, but these prayers—rather than being an intrusion into God’s eternal plan—are actually part of God’s plan. Both the means and the end—the prayers and the restoration—have been ordained by Him and will be brought to pass by Him (cf. Ezekiel 36:37).

Prayers of petition and intercession, then, should not be thought of as attempts to alter the eternal purposes of God. As Pratt writes, “Trying to alter the eternal decrees of God through prayer is like trying to reach the moon on a trampoline; it is impossible. Our petitions cannot interrupt God’s plan for the universe anymore than a trampoline can break the power of earth’s gravity” (Pray With Your Eyes Open, 109). Instead, prayer should be understood as “one of the many secondary causes through which God fulfills His plan” (Ibid., 110).

It is obvious, then, that one need not deny the sovereignty of God in order to be committed to a life of fervent prayer. For such a life begins in an obedient submission to the command of God and the model of Christ, it flows out of the recognition that God is able and willing to respond to the prayers of His children, and it rests in the assurance that God has sovereignly ordained prayer as a means to accomplish His purposes.

(By Matt Waymeyer)

So far, we have considered two reasons to pray in light of God's sovereignty. Today we will consider two more.

3. God is able to respond to our prayers.

Rather than hindering the prayers of believers, the sovereignty of God ought to motivate them to pray, for “prayer grows from the certainty of God’s omnipotence and sovereignty” (The God Who Hears, 47). Put another way, if God does not reign in sovereignty over His creation and is not able to accomplish whatever He desires in and through it, why bother requesting of Him what He is unable to deliver?

To illustrate, if a five-year-old boy repeatedly asks his mother to make it stop raining on a Saturday morning, this may create a precious memory, but in the final analysis the boy’s request is misguided. As much as his mother might like to alter the weather, she simply lacks the ability to do so, and therefore to request this of her makes little sense. But when the children of God come before the throne of grace, they come with the full assurance that their heavenly Father is able to accomplish whatever He is pleased to do, for nothing is too difficult for Him. And this ought to motivate them to pray.

“To be worth praying to,” Hunter writes, “God has first of all got to have the power to do what we ask. Second, he must have sovereignty over creation to do what he wants to do” (The God Who Hears, 48). So perhaps the question, “If God is sovereign, why pray?” could be replaced with the question, “If God is not sovereign, why pray?” Believers must come to their God presenting to Him their requests because He has both the authority and the ability to grant what they have requested in their petitions and intercessory prayers.

4. God actually does respond to prayer.

The fourth reason that believers should pray is that God not only can, but actually does change the course of history in response to prayer. Jesus said, “[A]sk, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.” As Wayne Grudem points out, Jesus “makes a clear connection between seeking things from God and receiving them. When we ask, God responds” (Systematic Theology, 377).

Scripture is filled with examples of God granting to His people what they have requested in their prayers of petition and intercession. First Chronicles 4:10a records the prayer of Jabez in which he said, “Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm, that it may not pain me!” In response to Jabez’s prayer, “God granted him what he requested” (v. 10b). In Exodus 32:10, God told Moses of His intentions to destroy the people of Israel because of their idolatry. But Moses interceded on behalf of Israel (vv. 11-13), and in response to his prayer God relented and did not destroy them (v. 14). And as James records, God responded to the earnest prayers of Elijah in both initiating and ending a three-and-a-half-year drought (James 5:17-18; cf. Genesis 18:22-33; 32:26; Daniel 10:12; Amos 7:1-6; Acts 4:29-31; 10:31; and 12:5-11).

At the same time that it is acknowledged that God is sovereign, then, it must also be acknowledged that “[t]he effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16b; cf. 4:2). In fact, immediately after answering the question of how to pray in Luke 11:2-4, Jesus goes on to answer the question of why to pray by giving two reasons—because God rewards diligence in prayer by granting requests (Luke 11:5-10), and because God delights in giving good gifts to His children (Luke 11:11-13).

In the words of Richard Pratt, then, “Prayer is a powerful human effort that can significantly affect not only the lives of individuals but the very course of world history” (Pray with Your Eyes Open, 112). This truth, no doubt, should be a powerful motive for the children of God to pray. As Grudem writes,

If we were really convinced that prayer changes the way God acts, and that God does bring about remarkable changes in the world in response to prayer,...then we would pray much more than we do. If we pray little, it is probably because we do not really believe that prayer accomplishes much at all (Systematic Theology, 377).

(By Matt Waymeyer)

Why Pray?

In this series, we will consider five reasons why believers should pray in light of the sovereignty of God.

1. God has commanded us to pray.

The most obvious reason to pray is that God has commanded us to pray. This is evident throughout the teachings of both Jesus and the apostle Paul. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, introducing the prayer with the words, “Pray, then, in this way” (v. 9). Afterward, He instructed His disciples to be persistent in their prayers (Luke 11:5-13). In Luke 18:2-8, Jesus told them a parable “to show that at all times they ought to pray” (Luke 18:1). And upon arriving at the Garden of Gethsemane, He instructed them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:40).

The apostle Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17); he instructed the Philippians, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (4:6); he charged the Colossians, “Devote yourselves to prayer” (4:2); he wrote to the Ephesians, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf…” (6:18-19a); and he urged Timothy “that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men” (1 Tim 2:1).

The point is clear: God has commanded us to pray, and our response to this command must first and foremost be one of obedience. Even if we never reach a clear understanding of the relationship between the sovereignty of God and the prayers of man, the fact that God has commanded it should be enough to move us to pray. When God promised Abraham a son through whom he would become a great nation (Gen 21:12b) and then commanded him to sacrifice that very son (Gen 22:2), Abraham bowed the knee of submission before His Creator and simply obeyed what was commanded of Him (Gen. 22:3-10). The believer who asks the question “Why pray?” must follow his example and do the same.

2. Jesus modeled a life of prayer.

A second reason believers should offer prayers of petition and intercession to God is that such prayer was modeled by Jesus who “would often slip away to the wilderness and pray” during His ministry (Luke 5:16). Jesus’ consistent example of fervent prayer to the Father is evident throughout the gospel accounts. During His ministry in Galilee, Mark records that “in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there” (Mark 1:35). After feeding the five thousand in Bethsaida, Jesus sent the multitudes away and “went up to the mountain by Himself to pray” (Matt 14:23).

On the night before He chose the twelve disciples, Jesus “went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12). Later Luke refers to a time “while Jesus was praying alone” (9:18), and eight days later Jesus “took along Peter and John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray” (Luke 9:28). And who could forget His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:39-44; Mark 14:35-39; Luke 22:41-45) or the “High Priestly prayer” of John 17? And what believer fails to cherish the fact that He lives to intercede even now on our behalf (Heb 7:25)?

In offering prayers of petition and intercession, Jesus was not ignoring or denying the sovereignty of His Father. This is obvious from several of Jesus’ prayers, not the least of which include His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:39-44; Mark 14:35-39; Luke 22:41-45). As Hunter writes, “He knew that by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge he would be put to death by being nailed to the cross (Acts 2:23). He told the incredulous disciples this at least three times…. Yet in Gethsemane, as Mark tells it, he ‘fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him’ (14:35)” (The God Who Hears, 51). In other words, even though Jesus was well aware that His death at Calvary had been preordained by God, He still saw fit to petition His Father that this cup might pass from him.

If the followers of Christ are to be imitators of Him and “walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6), they too must be characterized by fervent prayer for themselves and for those around them. Knowing that Jesus prayed as a way of life may not clear up the tension that exists in believers’ minds between the sovereignty of God and the prayers of men, but it should motivate them to imitate the One who Himself saw no disparity between His own prayers and the sovereignty of His Father.

(By Matt Waymeyer)

* Matt pastors Community Bible Church in Vista, California. He is a graduate of The Master's Seminary, and a periodic contributor to Pulpit.

The story is told about a small town in the south. For many years, this town had been “dry” in that no alcohol was ever sold or served there. But one day a businessman in the area decided to build a tavern. In response to this new tavern, a group of Christians from a local church became concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. Shortly after the prayer meeting that night, lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

In the aftermath of the fire, the owner of the tavern sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible for his loss. But the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. After his initial review of the case the presiding judge began the trial with an official statement. He said: “No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear: the tavern owner believes in prayer, and the Christians do not.”

It is very easy to dismiss the power of prayer, isn’t it? It is very easy to drift into thinking that prayer is a nice sentiment, but in the end, a waste of time because it doesn’t really make any difference anyway.

For some people, this kind of dismissal arises from unbelief and doubt that God really can answer prayer. For others, however, the question that paralyzes their prayer life is this: If God is sovereign, why pray?

In other words, if God will simply do what He wants to anyway, why offer prayers of petition and intercession? Why bother requesting that God do such and such when everything has been ordained by Him beforehand? If prayer consists of pleading with God to change His eternal purposes, isn’t such an undertaking feeble at best and arrogant at worst?

Although there are no easy answers to these questions, Scripture is not silent on this issue. My purpose here is to examine the Bible’s teaching on the sovereignty of God and the prayers of man with the goal of answering the question, “If God is sovereign, why pray?” This will be done by briefly defining what it means that God is sovereign and then by offering five answers to the question of why people should pray.

God Is Sovereign

When people make plans, it is not uncommon for those plans to fail or to be thwarted in one way or another. In contrast to His creatures, however, Almighty God always brings about that which He has purposed. In a word, God is sovereign.

This truth is perhaps most clearly seen in the words of Isaiah 46:9-11, where God demonstrated His superiority over the Babylonian idols by declaring:

Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, “My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure”; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.

In this passage, God indicates that He both purposes what He desires to happen and then actually brings those purposes to pass. In other words, God providentially brings about in time and history what He has sovereignly ordained in eternity past. As the apostle Paul writes, God “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph 1:11).

The truth of God’s sovereignty over His creation is taught throughout Scripture. The psalmist declares, “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Ps 135:6; cf. 115:3; Dan. 4:35); Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand;” and Proverbs 21:1 states, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.” As W. Bingham Hunter writes, “From a biblical perspective, your world-history book should be prefaced with 2 Kings 19:25: ‘Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In the days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass’” (The God Who Hears, 49).

(To Be Continued Tomorrow)