Tag Archive for 'prayer'

Bookgiveaway #4: Daring to Draw Near

Published
by
Eddy E
on February 12, 2008
in Giveaway
. 1 Comment

Thanks for visiting my blog, Serving Bread. Here you'll read stories, insights, reflections and ramblings from a campus minister, father, husband and Jesus-follower. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Every year, thousands of new Christian books hit the market and very few of them will stand the test of time and become a classic. Author John White has sold over 1.5 million copies of his books, with Daring to Draw Near being one of his most popular and impacting books.

This book draws on ten prayers in scripture that teach us about the character of God and our relationship to a very personal God. Personally, I have been in a season in the past half-a-year learning about personal prayer (both petitionary and intercessory). And currently, I have invited John White to serve as a literary mentor to me through his other classic, The Fight.

By the way, I recommend that we all adopt mentors through books, who can walk with us in our journey of faith and guide us to God. Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, and Henry Nouwen have been a blessing in my journey.

Some may argue that White’s books are for new Christians, and that maturing Christians should look for resources elsewhere. And they are. They are fantastic resources for new believers who are on a steep learning curve to know what it means to know God, be known by God, and follow him in obedience. For me, his book during my Sabbaths has served as a refresher course, to reconnect with the essence of knowing God.

I will mail out this book (includes free shipping) to the first person who comments on this post or on his or her blog regarding this question: In what ways are you growing in your prayer life? (Make sure you link back to this post to notify me of your answer)

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Prayer and God

Published
by
Eddy E
on February 6, 2008
in Theology
. 1 Comment

I came across this quote today that I found insightful:

It is often said that a person’s view of God becomes much clearer when we know how that person approaches prayer.

Donald G. Bloesch, Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration and Interpretation

Using this insight as a critique of myself, I have found that it does paint a profound picture of how I view (or don’t view) God. My prayer life is accurate engouh to indicate the depth of my faith in God and belief in God’s power.

My hesitancy to pray or to pray boldly may be reflective of what I think God can or cannot do. And it will shed light on what I think of God’s character—Does God want to be approached (or bothered) by my petitions? Is God as motivated as I am to want a particular situation to change?

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Assumptions about God

Published
by
Eddy E
on January 10, 2008
in Theology
. 1 Comment

I wonder how many assumptions I have about God that are not necessarily Biblical? In taking my first theology course at Fuller Seminary (even though I am nearly done with my program), I am challenged to reflect on my assumptions about God’s nature.

Why do I believe that God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent (among the other omni’s that are classically attributed to God)? How do these omni’s or other beliefs shape how I connect with God and how I teach about God? For example, do I explain prayer in terms of the classic analogy of the child who asks her parent for something and the parent already knows what the child wants but delights in the process of the child asking? Or is prayer an appeal for God to change circumstances that seem hopeless and perhaps the answer to prayer is conditioned on the ask itself?

About 10 years ago, I read John Stott’s The Cross of Christ for the first time. That book deeply shaped my understanding of the cross, but what it also did is give me a deep appreciation for the thinkers and shapers of Christianity for the past 2000 years. They spent energy articulating doctrines we take for granted as being essential and orthodox to the Christian faith.

To solely rely on the work done with these thinkers will eventually test and challenge our faith. When The Da Vinci Code came out in 2003, many Christians found themselves unable to interact with author Dan Brown’s heresy. While some pastors took the time to educate their parishioners about the nature of Christ and the reliability of Scripture, many others shunned the book as heresy, not equipping people to interact with our culture about God who is far superior than what Brown paints in his book.

I am thankful for the ancient shapers of the faith and I pray to enter with them in the dialog rather than to take their conclusions as ‘gospel truth.’

If what I assume about God influences how I teach, lead, and preach, I want to make sure that I am growing on a trajectory to adopt right concepts about God. My hope relies on a growing relationship with God who will surely surprise me by his character. And rather than ignore everything I know about God and start over, I pray that as I grow in my relationship with God and my dedication to study and know the Scriptures, my understanding of God’s character would be more and more clarified.

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Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study

Published
by
Eddy E
on October 31, 2007
in Reflections and Theology
. 0 Comments

(Part I, Part II, Part III)

BIBLICAL CASE STUDY

In Numbers 13, Moses sends out 12 spies to scout the land that God has given to them. These spies see how rich the land is and they recognize that the land is a gift from God to the Israelites. As they spy out the land, they recognize the reality of their world—that the land may be great, but the inhabitants are dangerous. The report back to Moses was negative—that the Israelites did not have what it takes to take over the land.

When they are disappointed by the realities of their world, the spies (save Caleb and Joshua) and what seems like the entire nation (Numbers 14.1) is devastated by the report. The entire nation is upset and disappointed, to the point that they would rather be in Egypt rather than at the frontiers of the Promised Land. There is no more hope left. Caleb and Joshua try to bring the word of hope, but the other spies drown out their voices. Hopelessness turns to desire for slavery.

Rather than turn toward God, the nation is turning away from God. As a consequence of their lack of faith and their hopelessness, God prevents anyone from that generation (except for Caleb and Joshua) from ever possessing the Promised Land. The Israelites’ hopelessness turns to death. They will die in the wilderness without experiencing the gift of God.

The Israelites’ lack of obedience informed their decision to turn against God’s vision. And that lack of obedience plays itself out throughout the 40 year journey. At the end of Numbers 14, the nation deceives itself into believing that by apologizing, they can regain God’s trust to take the land. Their desire to go to battle is yet another act of disobedience. In other words, their calling is being formed by disobedience and they re-engage realities through that lens.

The Israelites chose the path that leads to death. Contrast their story with that of Paul in Acts 18. His preaching produced mixed results. Some people responded in belief while others reviled him. And knowing Paul’s story, the apostle was persecuted and beaten for his faith and his preaching. Paul recognizes the realities of the world and it does lead to disappointment. In Acts 18.6, he declares to the Jews, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Paul is disappointed with the Jewish response to the gospel. Immediately following this incident, God speaks to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.” (Acts 18.9-10) I imagine that Paul’s disappointment was turned to intercession and Paul connected with God. In connecting with God, Paul had his calling re-enforced. Luke then tells us that Paul stayed in that place for another 18 months. Paul’s disappointment took him to God. And God reinforced his calling to stay in the very place where he may have abandoned.

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Related Posts:

Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study
Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession
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Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice

Published
by
Eddy E
on October 25, 2007
in General
. 0 Comments

(Part I, Part II)

TWO CHOICES

When we confront discouragement, we have two choices—either to turn to intercession or to turn to hopelessness. And each path will lay a set of consequences. From experience, hopelessness tends to be the default mode for me. In other words, it takes more energy, discipline and intentionality to choose to intercede for a situation or person, rather than to be hopeless about it.

And though it would be easier if we only had to face the decision once, the reality is that we are constantly confronted by the issues associated with the realities of our world. We may choose to intercede and gain the proper authority from God to minister within that reality, only to be discouraged again.

Intercession

The continued and regular process of discouragement may over time thwart us from intercession to hopelessness. At the moment we open the door to hopelessness, we are inviting defeat and death into our lives. Success as a minister is not just defined by fruit (though fruit in ministry should give us some sense of direction). Success as a minister must also be defined by our resilience to suffer well (in light of discouragement), to turn to God for our identity and authority, and persevere as we re-engage the mission field.

Once a leader or minister turns to hopelessness, he or she has opened the door for defeat and failure in his or her ministry.

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Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession
Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions
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Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession

Published
by
Eddy E
on October 20, 2007
in Ministry, Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology
. 1 Comment

(Part I)

THE GIFT OF INTERCESSION

LifeBut rather than turn to hopelessness when confronted by discouragement, we can turn to intercession. By going to God, we gain truth. We gain truth about the situation. We may see spiritual realities and have a much better and informed perspective about the situation at hand and the realities of the world. Out of our time with God, our calling will be informed. We will see how God is calling us into the “hell of people’s lives.”

And when we are with God, God will empower us with wisdom (James 1.5). And he will equip us with what we need to enter into the realities of our world and to confront whatever the situation may be.

I believe we have a choice. We have a choice to respond by interceding and going before God or we can dwell in our hopelessness. Our response to discouragement will inevitably shape our calling and sense of mission.

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Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice
Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions
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Intercession and Calling, Part I: The way to death

Published
by
Eddy E
on October 17, 2007
in Ministry, Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology
. 5 Comments

For two years, I have been working on a reflection exercise that addresses calling and intercession. I was at a conference in November 2005, where God clarified the work of intercession in my life. I’ve broken up this article in several posts.

…

INTRODUCTION

The discipline of intercessory (I recognize there are many definitions for “intercession.” This paper will in no way capture all of what that means) prayer moves us to recognize who we are before God and who God is in all of his glory. I recognize there are many excellent books and resources on intercessory prayer. And many of those have deepened my prayer life. In this paper, I seek to draft a model for intercessory prayer that strengthens our calling in ministry. As I have grown deeper in my prayer life, I have recognized how prayer has shaped me to know God, and how the lack of prayer has power to lead me farther from God.

Too often, prayer can be relegated as an afterthought. It may be the thing we do to start or end a meeting. It is the time where we take prayer requests during a Bible Study. And it is the thing we might do when we start our day. But in the life of my ministry, I have discovered prayer to be the discipline that has led me to know God and know his purposes, especially in light of difficult and trying situations.

This model for intercession has paved the way for me to recognize the importance of prayer in my personal and ministry life.


THE WAY TO DEATH

The Way to DeathBeing in ministry, I am often confronted by the realities of sin and its impact on people. There are injustices that are committed against people that break my heart. To see people assaulted by the sin that exists in our fallen world makes me wonder if God is powerful enough to confront those principalities and deliver people from such darkness. Other times, we see people choosing into disobedience and dealing with the consequences of choosing against God.

Our world is fallen and it is impossible to escape the corrupting effects of the world around us. Any reflection or examination of these realities leads me to discouragement. I am easily discouraged when I recognize the world for what it is. One pastor commented that ministry is “the call into the hell of people’s lives.”

But it’s what we do with the discouragement that shapes our next steps. Discouragement can easily lead to hopelessness. To feel defeated in ministry and be discouraged by the realities of our world can lead to be hopeless. Hopelessness is a powerful force that can strip away any thoughts or faith in God. Hopelessness strips God from bringing change when everything else looks dead.

And hopelessness will lead to spiritual death. That death will make me numb to the realities and saving powers of God. My eyes will stop seeing the work of God and my mind will start believing that either God has abandoned me or that he is not at work in my life or in my ministry.

Spiritual death, as bad as it is in of itself, will eventually also inform my calling. Rather than lead with vision, I will lead with cynicism.

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Related Posts:

Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession
Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice
Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions
Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study
Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study