Hard to get moving?

Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its position and state of motion. This includes changes to the object's speed, direction, or state of rest. Inertia is also defined as the tendency of objects to keep moving in a straight line at a constant velocity. The principle of inertia is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics that are still used to describe the motion of objects and how they are affected by the applied forces on them. This month, my word is ‘inertia.’

Once I get started on anything, I don’t want to quit, but getting started is a challenge. Prayer falls into this category. For that reason, Tozer’s illustration speaks to my inertia. He tells of an older Christian who was asked, “Which is the more important: reading God’s Word or praying?” To which he replied, “Which is more important to a bird: the right wing or the left?”

Too often I’m flying on one wing. I love reading and studying God’s Word but prayer gives me the same feeling as jumping into a cool pool. Once I get in there, the water is fine, but each day the call to talk to God is often marked by procrastination and a sense of ‘I don’t want to. It is too hard.’

For me, this is a symptom. God has yet to impress upon me some truths about Him and about myself. Some of them are in this section written by King David:

“My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:5–8)

Rather than dwell on my problems, there are solutions in this passage. I can remember what God has done to help me and let thoughts of His blessings fill my mind when I am in bed. I can praise God joyfully because of all He has done, even sing for joy — but quietly — my singing is not that great. I can also cling to Him emotionally, intellectually and willfully with my soul as I practice the art of praise.

The Holy Spirit reminds me of one reasons I find prayer difficult. Too often I’m praying more requests than giving praise and thanksgiving. I too easily go on a ‘shopping trip’ instead of a happy vacation from the cares of life. I too easily dwell on all the stuff that needs ‘fixing’ instead of being delighted in all that God has already done. Instead of gratitude and contentment, I’m too often wanting more.

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Jesus, You know this is not true all the time. Inertia means that once I start to pray, I don’t want to stop. However, You know my struggles in getting started. Grant me grace to overcome this tendency. I know that our enemy is not happy when Your people pray and will do whatever he can to put an end to it. As Tozer writes today, I want to want You. I long to be filled with longing. I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Your glory.

Greater works . . .

By not taking my own advice, for years I’ve missed the meaning of Jesus’ words in the first verse of this passage.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:12–14)

My advice? Meaning is always determined by context. Verse 12 is a puzzle, but the next two verses put the pieces together. Chambers says it well: “Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work.”

I tend to think of prayer only as taking my burdens to the Lord that He might do something about them. That is, He is doing the work and all I am doing is talking.

However, I’m involved in a Bible study entitled, “Hearing God.” From it, I now recognize that sometimes (and this is a great mystery) God is using my prayers to speak His will. This makes me somewhat of a partner in the great things that He is doing.

For example, when I pray for the salvation of a soul, even a person that I don’t know personally, and that soul is saved, my prayer is part of the “greater work” that brought that person into the kingdom. Actually, Christ is doing all the work, yet graciously partners me in it and even says it is my work!

Chambers says that when God’s people labor at prayer, results happen all the time from God’s standpoint. We cannot see all that He is doing. We will be astonished “when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped” simply because we are listening to God when we pray and saying aloud the thoughts that He puts in our minds.

Prayer is not preparation for the day’s work, the Lord’s work, or something like rubbing a lamp so the genie will grant my wishes. Prayer is work, even a battle. It is seeking God’s will so the forces of darkness might be pushed back and that His light will shine in those dark places. Prayer is also an intimacy. It is seeking the face of God that I might know Him as deeply as possible.

When I talk, or when I write, I’m not listening — except in the pauses, but it is in the pauses that God equips me that I might do ‘greater works than these.’ 

I need to pause more often!

The greatest ministry . . .

Yesterday I was praying and lamenting that I’m not doing anything visible toward building the kingdom of God. The next thought was, “But prayer builds the kingdom of God . . .” and I started to think that my lament could be just a complaint; prayer is unseen, hard work. Any form of ministry seems more rewarding.

But God keeps nudging me. I’m blessed this morning by a definition from today’s reading: “Prayer is the purest exercise of the faculties God has given us — an exercise that links our faculties with our Maker in order to work out His intentions.”

Working out the intentions of God is a lofty idea, yet it means total surrender. The example of Jesus Christ consistently reveals what prayer is all about . . .  

Then (Jesus) said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ (Hebrews 10:7)

In Gethsemane and before going to the cross, Jesus spoke to His disciples, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther He fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Then He found the disciples sleeping and said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” For the second time, He prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again, He found them sleeping, so left them and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. (Matthew 26:38–44)

On another occasion, He said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30)

People often say that Jesus changed the world because He is God, forgetting that He is God in human flesh, God who did not cling to the power of being God but became a man and relied on the Father, just as the Father also expects His children to rely on Him. That means total surrender. It means that God can do things through us to accomplish His will on earth. He does it by putting His will into a surrendered heart so that all our prayers are His prayers, and certain to be answered . . .

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7) The J. B. Phillips version says, “If you live your life in me and my words live in your hearts, you can ask for whatever you like and it will come true for you.” In other words, when I do what He says and live as He wants me to live, then He will do what I say.

A second thought is that prayer is the current ministry of Jesus Christ. He died, rose again, and is at the right hand of God, interceding for us. (Romans 8:34) How could I think anything else could be more important than what Jesus is doing?

Yet I know the real reason for hesitation. Prayer is spiritual warfare. The powers of evil do not want me surrendered to God saying, “Not my will, but thine be done” and be aligned with the Almighty in prayer. They will do anything to discourage prayer and to sidetrack me into sin or selfishness. Prayer is war.

Because of that, it is a lonely business. Many others are less inclined to pray for those involved in the ministry of prayer, for they too are subject to this continual effort to stop any sort of prayer support.

I’ve heard it said that prayer is the most difficult yet the most important task. Even though the rest of me resists and makes excuses, my heart says yes. If God gives me nothing else to do, this one thing I must do — pray.

Where I work is not as important as how…

The first time I joined a social networking site, I accepted almost all “friend” requests and tried to read everything that was posted. It didn’t take long to be tired of the trivia about “what I ate for breakfast” and the bold self-promotion of some who had home businesses. I also began getting requests from total strangers and invitations to business networks. Then the ads… asking they be hidden gets rid of them, but all of this took too much time. 

However, I did appreciate the connections to family and a few close friends. So I deleted my old account and created one under a different email address and using a variation of my name. Today, this network is changing their format to a timeline. I’m not sure why, but since I’ve no choice in the matter, I’m considering all the options. 

One option is putting in personal information, such as where I went to school and where I have worked. As I look at these options about work, my flippant thoughts included that I am a “kept woman” that has never needed to work outside the home, and variations of “domestic engineer” and “chief cook and bottle washer.” However, what I really want to put in that line is not my work places, but my working goal. It is expressed by today’s devotional verses…

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23–24)

The “whatever” part makes this more about attitude and motivation than actual workplaces. I could scrub bathrooms and cook meals at home, or file reports and balance ledgers at an office and still be “working heartily as for the Lord.” While this isn’t what that network has in mind, it is on my mind. 

One day, while out for a walk and praying through my list of requests and burdens, I complained about the time it takes to pray and how much work I had to do. The Lord spoke to my heart as clearly as if He had shouted. He said, “Prayer is your work.”

I still struggle with that task, but His rebuke changes the way I think about prayer. Instead of an important spiritual discipline, this is God-given work that goes beyond everything else. He is my employer, my Master. I serve Him in prayer. 

Today, I also found the following verse. It will go on my social network page in that place asking for information about my work.

I thank God whom I serve… with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. (2 Timothy 1:3)

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Lord, I am thankful, first of all to be able to serve You. No one could be a better boss. I’m also thankful that as long as I do what You ask, my conscience is clear. Guilt hinders, even destroys lives. Having forgiveness and cleansing from sin and guilt is freedom and puts a spring in my step. New life in Christ motivates me to think about others and pray for them. This is work, but it is work that blesses lives and brings eternal rewards. You also bless the workplace environment with others who pray for the same things, and bless me with joy as I do my job!

Struggles in prayer

Those whom we might admire for their powerful ability to serve God say that they do not feel powerful. They walk a fine line between what others can see in them and the great weakness that they experience in their own view of themselves. 
 

While this seems a conundrum, Paul wrote of this odd paradox so that all who struggle to stay on this line would understand how God works in their lives.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7–10)

Imagine what Paul might have been like had God answered his prayer and removed his thorn in the flesh. The Bible does not reveal what that thorn was, but it could have been the hardships that he endured, as the last line in this passage describes. The Bible is clear about hardships; God uses them to deepen the faith of His people and develop patience in our lives. James says,

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

In the beginning, Paul may not have understood the purpose for these insults and calamities, but later he realized that God knew what He was doing. Whether trials were the thorn or not, all his troubles kept him from thinking too highly of himself. It also kept him depending on God for strength to carry on, and in doing that, observers saw the power of God in his life.

No one likes to feel weak. I don’t. For me, the fine line is often between throwing in the towel and having faith that God is using me even if I cannot comprehend what He is doing.

This month, I started praying differently for unsaved loved ones. At first, I felt confident about these prayers. But soon a sense of helplessness and mental discouragement has become overwhelming to the point that praying is a struggle and even a sacrifice. It is not that I have other plans or want to do something else. I just don’t want to pray. If I didn’t have a habit of it, I might not even remember prayer or even think of it. 

In my distress over this, I’ve tried praise and worship as they are supposed to bring joy into the prayer closet. This is not happening. Every effort, every aid and prayer help I’ve tried is not aiding or helping. Yet an odd thing has happened. Deep in my heart wells up an unexpected song. Also, I have a certainty that the way I am praying is penetrating the fog and darkness that has been around those persons on my prayer list. In all of the frustration and struggle, I know that my spiritual enemy is doing everything he can to stop me from praying this way and forcing him to back off. I don’t understand it, but I do know this is true.

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Lord, I’ve asked more than three times — if this sense of almost dreading prayer is a test to see if I will pray anyway, then I will pray anyway, but if not, if it is merely our foe trying to thwart my prayers, then You know what to do about that. One way or another, Paul knew, and I know too, that Your grace is sufficient. As for Your power being perfected in weakness, I am extremely aware of the weakness. It is up to You to do the power part, whether or not I am aware of it.

Fully Employed

One day I went for my usual prayer walk. My to-do list for the day was long and looming over my head. I felt a bit resentful that prayer was going to take some valuable time and expressed this to God along with my need to get my work done. He clearly said to me, “Prayer is your work.”

Since that rebuke, I’ve not grumbled about the time it takes to pray. However, I’d never connected prayer to John 14:12, a verse that has always puzzled me, until this morning while reading it in its context.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:12–14)

Oswald Chambers says that “prayer does not fit us for greater work; prayer is the greater work.” I once thought that prayer would prepare me for the day, give me strength and wisdom to do the Lord’s work, and keep me focused on Him. However, after God rebuked me, I’ve learned to agree with Chambers. Prayer is the greater ministry. It is the most important work, perhaps the only work that He asks of me that is truly effective.

As Chambers says, prayer is God working the miracle of Redemption in me that produces the miracle of Redemption in others by His power. This isn’t about me agonizing and wrestling in prayer though. It is based on “the agony of Redemption” and on what Jesus has done. It has taken me a long time to realize that wise words and “proper” praying are not what God answers. He wants prayer from the redeemed which means my fleshy ideas of prayer are not important. Instead, He hears and responds to childlike helplessness and the realization that this is not about me.

Prayer is also the battle of Christian living. I fight sin and indifference. I wrestle with false teaching and the devil’s lies, but none of these are nearly as challenging as taking the needs of the world to the throne of grace in the name of Jesus. Prayer, as Jesus defines it, is hard work.

I can easily pray in my own name and with my list of I-wants. I can easily tell God what I think He should be doing (such impertinence), but praying in the name of Christ because He asks me to do it requires the Spirit of God and the power of God. I cannot do this on my own and I don’t even want to.

Of course, the flesh likes the answers even if it recoils at the work. I love it when God answers prayer in ways that I can see. This thrill tends to become a motivation, but what about praying without ever seeing the answers? This adds to the difficulty of the work. A small comparison is the tedium of a factory assembly line where the workers do their small part and never see the finished product. The only way to avoid this is remembering that I am talking to the Creator of the Universe and that He promised to listen and respond. I cannot see into His realm unless He opens that to me. Instead, He asks that I walk by faith, not sight, and that I work hard in prayer.

Answered prayer can also be a glory for me. I love to stand and tell others that God answered my prayers, as if the “my” side had something to do with the answer. But Jesus said that the glory is not for me, but for the Father to be glorified in the Son. This makes prayer a totally unselfish task, one that is difficult to sustain without wanting something in it for me.

Clearly, prayer is my work. Is there a reward involved? When a servant does his duty, can he expect anything, even a “well done” when finished? Do I fall into thinking that answers are my reward rather than simply the privilege of being in the throne room with the King of kings?

Chambers surprises me with the last lines of his reading for today. He says, “You labor at prayer and results happen all the time from God’s standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.”

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Jesus, I am ashamed that I often feel neglected when the answers to my prayers do not come as quickly as I’d hoped or in the same manner as I expected. I know that talking to You is an incredible privilege. It is also my God-given task. You are the Lord, so I do not choose my work hours or the places where I am to be working. Nor can I dictate the rewards or the results of my labor.

Not only that, You are in charge and You have given Your commands. I am to ask in Your name, seek Your glory, and trust that praying is a great work because You say it is — whether or not I can see what comes of it. Forgive me for the slack times, the times that I either am late or do not show up at all. I know that in spite of my failures, You will never kick me off the job. Instead, You keep calling me to work, to pray without ceasing. 

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