Does Prayer Confuse You?

Are you confused by what James was saying in James 5:16? This promise that prayer is effectual, that God answers the fervent prayer of a righteous man can be a bit confusing.  We expect certain outcomes, they don't happen and we become confused and maybe even frustrated.

When we ask in faith, when the prayer comes from a heart of faith… God answers. That's the same promise Jesus made in Matthew 21:22: "Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." Mark 11:24 says "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."  1 John 5: 14-15 says…”this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."

Now, notice what all those verses are saying. Those aren't promises that you can use to manipulate God with your praying. The apostle John says, "If we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us." Mark 11:24 says… ”Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Jesus words.. but that not what he meant.

Genuine faith is grounded in God's promises and a true understanding of God's will.  If you think God is going to grant a prayer request that is inconsistent with His character; if you imagine that He is going to do something that contradicts His promises; if you delude yourself into thinking He will give you anything that is contrary to His Word; or if you think He's going to say yes to a prayer Effectual, Fervent Prayer request that is in conflict with His will for you it doesn't matter how much you have managed to convince yourself to believe in what you're praying for, that is not faith; it's presumption.

If you pray presumptuously, you're also praying selfishly, focused only on what you want.  You treat God as if He is a “granter of wishes.” In James 4, we are told that selfish prayers go unanswered. James 4:3: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."

So when Jesus tells us to pray in faith and not to doubt, that's not a lesson about positive thinking. Scripture isn't encouraging us to cultivate blind confidence that we can have whatever we desire. 

These promises ought to encourage us to understand the will of God, and ground our praying and our faith not in our own selfish desires, but in the certainty of God's promises; and in the steadfast faithfulness of His righteous character. Have faith, not presumption, when you pray.

So, as James says…  "the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." Here's what James is saying: your prayer life ought to be the most exciting and exhilarating aspect of your spiritual life and relationship with God. 

If you're not seeing answers to your prayers, it's not because there's something wrong with God.  The problem is with you and your prayer life. "You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." 

Learn to pray passionately, persistently, according to the will of God, and the Word of God guarantees that your prayers will avail much.  

Important... be prepared to not always see the dramatic results of your prayers, lived out in day-to-day life.  God works out your prayers for your good and for the good of those you prayer for.  You just might not see it as you expect it or when you expect it.  His Will and Purpose is always good... trust that promise and the perfect righteous character of God, and all will be good with your prayer life.

Does Prayer Confuse You?

Are you confused by what James was saying in James 5:16? This promise that prayer is effectual, that God answers the fervent prayer of a righteous man can be a bit confusing.  We expect certain outcomes, they don't happen and we become confused and maybe even frustrated.

When we ask in faith, when the prayer comes from a heart of faith… God answers. That's the same promise Jesus made in Matthew 21:22: "Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." Mark 11:24 says "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."  1 John 5: 14-15 says…”this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."

Now, notice what all those verses are saying. Those aren't promises that you can use to manipulate God with your praying. The apostle John says, "If we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us." Mark 11:24 says… ”Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Jesus words.. but that not what he meant.

Genuine faith is grounded in God's promises and a true understanding of God's will.  If you think God is going to grant a prayer request that is inconsistent with His character; if you imagine that He is going to do something that contradicts His promises; if you delude yourself into thinking He will give you anything that is contrary to His Word; or if you think He's going to say yes to a prayer Effectual, Fervent Prayer request that is in conflict with His will for you it doesn't matter how much you have managed to convince yourself to believe in what you're praying for, that is not faith; it's presumption.

If you pray presumptuously, you're also praying selfishly, focused only on what you want.  You treat God as if He is a “granter of wishes.” In James 4, we are told that selfish prayers go unanswered. James 4:3: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."

So when Jesus tells us to pray in faith and not to doubt, that's not a lesson about positive thinking. Scripture isn't encouraging us to cultivate blind confidence that we can have whatever we desire. 

These promises ought to encourage us to understand the will of God, and ground our praying and our faith not in our own selfish desires, but in the certainty of God's promises; and in the steadfast faithfulness of His righteous character. Have faith, not presumption, when you pray.

So, as James says…  "the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." Here's what James is saying: your prayer life ought to be the most exciting and exhilarating aspect of your spiritual life and relationship with God. 

If you're not seeing answers to your prayers, it's not because there's something wrong with God.  The problem is with you and your prayer life. "You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." 

Learn to pray passionately, persistently, according to the will of God, and the Word of God guarantees that your prayers will avail much.  

Important... be prepared to not always see the dramatic results of your prayers, lived out in day-to-day life.  God works out your prayers for your good and for the good of those you prayer for.  You just might not see it as you expect it or when you expect it.  His Will and Purpose is always good... trust that promise and the perfect righteous character of God, and all will be good with your prayer life.

The Main Ingredient in the Power of Prayer

Prayer is a lot like Chemistry.  You need to understand the ingredients, the necessary attitudes and everything needs to be properly balanced, -proportioned, to get the desired result… communicating effectively with GOD.

It’s tragic how easily we can miss the main ingredient in effective prayer.  SIN, has rewired our minds to focus on US — what do we need to do for our prayers to be heard. Prayer is not about method - a reproducible process — the right formula and results will multiply. While this applies to certain things, it doesn’t apply to prayer — or at least that’s not the vision the apostle James gives us. The main ingredient in effective prayer is emphatically not US.

Most of us recognize James 5:16b to be a familiar verse: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (NIV) which is also translated, in the ESV… “The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power.”

This is one of those coffee-mug verses. It’s commonly understood like this: Be righteous and your prayers will work. It’s what most of us think. But that’s the skim-milk meaning. It’s what happens when we fly thru the text without asking the deeper questions. Our inclination is to make the burden of this passage something to do with us. We simply settle to think that if we want our prayers to be effective then we need to be righteous.

But this idea doesn’t hold up.  First, look at the context surrounding verse 16.  James’s whole point is that prayer is effective. He asks in verse 13, “Is anyone among you suffering?” Then he replies, “Let him pray.” What about cheerfulness? Or sickness? Or sin? In each case, James encourages his readers to pray. Why? Because prayer is effective, which means, God hears his people and acts on their behalf.

OK, what about the beginning of verse 16, because prayer is effective (verses 13–15), he says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16a). That verse is a double-dose of support for our praying. James’s concern is not how prayer is made effective, but that prayer is effective. And then verse 17 personalizes his point.  James introduces Elijah…. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed fervently . . .” (James 5:17).

What does Elijah have to do with our praying? Does it mean that Elijah was righteous and his prayers worked so we should be like Elijah for our prayers to work too? Is that what he is saying?  No.

James is reassuring us by saying that Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. He was just a man. He was like us. He had a nature like ours. And being just a man, being like us, having a nature likes ours, he prayed fervently and God heard him. The point is not that we should be righteous at the extraordinary level of an Elijah, but that he was normal like you and me. James doesn’t say for us to be like Elijah for our prayers to be answered but that Elijah was like us and his prayers are heard and answered — therefore pray.

Don’t miss the main point in what James is saying.  This means that the focus of effective prayer is not us, but God. Prayer has less to do with the specifics of how we say what we say, and everything to do with the one to whom we are saying it.… Almighty God!

We pray as ordinary people who have an extraordinary God. We’re just normal, you and I. We’re just normal like Elijah. Prayer is effective, not because of great men who pray,  or even great words eloquently said, but because of a great God who in Christ graciously hears his people.

GOD is the main ingredient in the power of prayer… So pray often and fervently.

What Should the Church Be?

"I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth," (1 Tim. 3:15). The Christian church should be a reflection of Jesus' love, words, and deeds.  Its goal should be to glorify God, make Jesus known, develop godly people, equipping them to make disciples of every nation.  The church should be a group of believers, on the whole and in part, who live and teach the saving words of Christ.  To the extent that Jesus lived truth, so also should the "people" in the church.

The church is not supposed to be the building or the structure of a ruling body who act in the place of God and dictate to congregants what is and is not truth.   The church is not a convention, a building, a series of meetings, or commitments.  The church is the living Body of Christ comprised of the redeemed.  The external conveniences, trappings of celebrations, rituals, buildings, robes, hymn books, organs, pianos, chairs, pews, windows, and even a preacher are merely those things that give a tangible effect to the invisible reality of redemption.  These externals should not be considered the substance of the church.  The substance of the church is the redeemed in Christ.  That be YOU.

The visible church is supposed to be a collection of people who are saved by the blood of Jesus and indwelt by God Himself (John 14:23).  The Christian church is comprised of believers, equipped by God with teachers, pastors, etc. (1 Cor. 12:28), who grow in their relationship with Jesus through prayer and the study of God's word and who actively seek to expand God's kingdom through preaching which convicts the soul for living the Gospel.

The Christian church is supposed to be a light "to" the world.  It is supposed to fight against wickedness, oppression, poverty, sin, rebellion, adultery, homosexuality, fornication, abortion, etc.  The church is supposed to be active, living what is right before God and standing against sin.  Yet, this resistance against ungodliness is to be done with gentleness, love, patience, kindness, and wisdom.  It is this last item, wisdom, which is so often lacking in the church today.

The world  hears us call ourselves followers of Christ but too often observes us following whatever draws away our interests whether it be money, buildings, convenience or comfort or experience.  Is this what the church is supposed to be and do?  There is nothing wrong with having buildings or asking for money for legitimate needs, but they must not be the reason for the church's existence and they should not be the things looked to for security.

The Christian church is supposed to be a light "in" the world, a light of love, peace, wisdom, truth, most importantly, it is supposed to bring Glory to God, equip the Christians for the work of the Great Commission, and demonstrate godliness and holiness.  That is what the church is supposed to be and do. 

That be YOU… How Are YOU doing?

The church should be wise.  "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity," (Col. 4:5).  Christians should not parade themselves on television as incessant beggars of money, or gaudy over dressed "guides of the blind" who sit in gold chairs and weep at the drop of a hat.  They should not display a drastic misuse of charismatic gifts by praying in tongues in public, becoming lost in uncontrollable laughter, or barking like dogs.  Christians should not speak of Jesus in one breath and then laugh at a dirty joke in the next.  All Christians are in the public eye one way or another and need to be above reproach, not hungry for money, not desirous of possessions, and not addicted to pornography, prostitutes, alcohol, drugs, off-color humor, or taking the Lord's name in vain.  Such sin brings mockery to the name of Christ.  The Christian church should be an example of propriety, decency, self-sacrifice, servitude, and love, not a money hungry, hypocritical, whining entity that is out of touch with reality as is so often portrayed on television.

The Christian church has great liberty and I am not condemning the right to let financial needs be known nor am I discouraging the expression of the Holy Spirit within the church.  There are thousands of godly Christians who are very loving and giving and who honestly desire to honor and serve God.  But, the church as a whole needs to act and move in wisdom because the world is watching -- closely.  It is the begging, the charismatic chaos, and the chicanery that permeates the high-profile, public church today that needs to be eliminated.  We Christians need to clean our own house first before we starting pointing fingers at sinners!  Those Christians who are in high public positions should always be mindful of what they do and should ask themselves "How will this appear to the unbeliever?  Will it stumble them?"  Such was the concern of Paul in 1 Cor. 14.  He did not want the church in its freedom to stumble the unbeliever.

Individual Christians should also be mindful of what they do and say in the workforce as well.  Remember that for many unbelievers, the only time they encounter Jesus is when they seem Him represented in Christians.  Therefore, the Christian should live his life lovingly, from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Tim. 1:5).

The world hears us call ourselves followers of Christ, but too often observes us following whatever draws away our interests whether it be money, buildings, convenience or comfort or experience.  Is this what the church is supposed to be and do?  There is nothing wrong with having buildings or asking for money for legitimate needs, but they must not be the reason for the church's existence and they should not be the things looked to for security.

The Christian church is supposed to be a light "in" the world, a light of love, peace, wisdom, truth, most importantly, it is supposed to bring Glory to God, equip the Christians for the work of the Great Commission, and demonstrate godliness and holiness.  That is what the church is supposed to be and do. 

Get on with being the Church, ACT like the people of God, before its too late!

God and Country...? The NEW Prosperity Gospel?

The prosperity gospel is fooling a lot of people.  Wait, there’s more than one?

Not that prosperity gospel. The other prosperity gospel.

The one that doesn’t have an official name, but that’s more popular than ever. It’s the one that worships America, the one that worships freedom, the one that worships “rights.” It’s a gospel premised on the idea that Christians should have an easy existence, and it’s as false a gospel as has ever existed.

You might call it the Patriotic Gospel, the American Civic Gospel or maybe even the “Duck Dynasty” Gospel. Whatever the name, it’s way more American than Christian, and it’s ultimately just another prosperity gospel that promises security through something other than Christ.

This form of American Christianity is a frustrating faction of the faith. There are passionate but generic references to God, calls for fervent prayer and public pleas for “morality.” But the alleged No. 1 devotion to God is usually tied to a No. 1a devotion to the Stars and Stripes, as if one must always be tied to the other.

It’s a gospel that pays lip service to a god that’s in control, but it’s heavy on emotions that say man is really the one who protects us. In other words, it’s a gospel that downplays or ignores the complete sovereignty of God.

Among its other tenets:

It’s a gospel that suggests living out and sharing your faith is dependent on having the freedom to do so.

It’s a gospel that looks to the government, rather than the church or the home, to do the heavy lifting on matters of faith.

It’s a gospel that suggests without conservative Supreme Court justices, or without guns, or without a strong military that life will be unbearable for Christians.

It’s a gospel that suggests one’s greatest source of identity and value can be found in one’s nationality.

It’s a gospel that laments the loss of prayer in schools, rather than the lack of prayer at home.

It’s a gospel that dreads a future in which Christians are persecuted for sharing their faith, but puts no real emphasis on sharing it now.

It’s a gospel that says it’s better to silence opponents than minister to them.

It’s a gospel that looks to Fox News for truth, rather than the Bible.

It’s a gospel that says it’s OK to put biblical teachings aside to “make America great.”

It’s a gospel that calls for blood when someone “disrespects” the national anthem.

It’s a gospel that says persecution is having to hear someone say “happy holidays.”

It’s a gospel that says eating at Chick-fil-A counts as living out your faith.

Friends, it’s simply a false gospel, filled with hollow promises.

As we’ve seen during the 2016 election cycle, America has become an idol for many who profess to follow Jesus.

Just look at the pleas from evangelicals to keep the Supreme Court conservative, even at the expense of other biblical callings and convictions. Look at the responses to Colin Kaepernick and other athletes who sit or kneel during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” as if unwavering patriotism is somehow mandatory and non-negotiable in a country based on freedom.

Listen to James Dobson, widely respected in many evangelical circles, saying he’s “passionately in favor of Donald Trump” because America “will go down in flames, maybe literally” if Hillary Clinton is elected.  “I lose sleep thinking about having Hillary Clinton pack that court with people from the far left, and what that would mean for the institution of the family,” Dobson said, according to the Christian Post.

Never mind that Christians take their cues on the family from the Bible, not from the courts. Perhaps Mr. Dobson’s sleep patterns would be helped by the peace that surpasses all understanding.

Listen to Franklin Graham, another prominent evangelical, asking supporters to sign a pledge “for God and country,” as if those allegiances should be equal.  “This presidential election isn’t about personalities. It’s about the #SCOTUS,” Graham tweeted.

Never mind that the Bible’s stances on abortion, marriage and other moral issues are binding for Christians, no matter what the government says. Perhaps Mr. Graham should ponder the complete truth of Daniel 2:20-21.

Dobson, Graham and others use a lot of words to talk about God and the Bible, but their double-speak message — intended or not — is clear: Put your faith and hope in government and the courts, not in Jesus. 

Don’t misunderstand… There’s nothing wrong with loving your country. But we should keep that love in balanced check. Yes, we should want a strong country. Yes, we should be thankful for our freedoms and rights. Yes, part of the biblical role of government is to restrain evil.

But none of those should become the source of our security, nor should they be the things we value most. They shouldn’t be the reasons we live as Christians. They shouldn’t become our idols.

Here’s the thing: Christians are never guaranteed control. We’re never guaranteed happiness. We’re never guaranteed safety. We’re owed nothing.

What we are guaranteed, according to the Bible: Hatred, real persecution, perhaps even death. The Christian life was never meant to be easy. It was never supposed to be popular, at least not by worldly standards.

If you’ve gotten caught up in this silly Patriotic Gospel, ask yourself: Why are you so concerned with keeping an easy existence as a Christian? Is the easy existence what holds your faith together? Have you made an idol of comfort? Of freedom?

As Christians, our hope and our faith — all of it — is supposed to be in Christ. Everything else — our behaviors, our desires, our perspective — flows from that. It’s not Jesus and ... that gives us security. It’s just Jesus.

This is important because when things get hard — and I mean truly hard — people’s real idols will show.

Traditional American comforts are nothing but a false sense of security. They’re a nice sense of security, for sure, but they’re still false — just like every other idol in history.  We hold onto them because we don’t want to be challenged. We don’t want it to be hard. But if you’re living by biblical teachings, it’s supposed to be hard.

You see, people don’t like it when you criticize their idols. People jump to their defense. People yell. People sometimes get violent.

Even good things can become idols. That’s a Sunday school lesson that’s been taught for decades. But idols usually require a sacrifice, and they always lead to spiritual ruin.  You can often tell what people love most by what they’re most quick to defend.

What are you most quick to defend... the world or God's Kingdom?  What does God tell His people about this World?

1 John 2:15-16… Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not from the Father but from the world.

James 4:4… You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.