Getting Specific with God

Genesis 24; Nehemiah 13; Matthew 23; Acts 23

A friend’s husband likes to go fishing and wanted an upgrade to replace his boat. He found one but it was longer than his garage and she thought it was too expensive. She prayed asking God to change the mind of the seller and help her husband find a shorter boat that was less expensive. A couple of days later, the seller called to say he’d changed his mind and didn’t want to sell the boat. About the same time, hubby found another boat that fit in the garage, was less money, and perfectly suited his needs.

My friend gave herself no credit for her specific prayer. She said God put it into her heart to pray that way. This is not a new thing, not for her or many others and not for a servant of Abraham.

This servant was given the task of going to another country and finding a wife for Isaac. The request was specific; he had to ‘kindred.’ The servant worried that even if he found such a woman, what if she was not willing to come with him and marry a stranger. Abraham let him off the hook should that happen. Then he sent the servant on his way. As this man neared the city where Abraham’s relatives lived, he stopped at a well and prayed:

“O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” (Genesis 24:12–14)

Before he finished speaking, an attractive young woman came out and did exactly as the servant requested. He “bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.’” (Genesis 24:26–27)

Nehemiah also prayed specifically. He had the hard task of rebuking sin among the people and insisting that they obey the Lord. He gave reasons for it, but also became physical in his persistence. He prayed the same prayer three times:

Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service. (Nehemiah 13:14)

Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. (Nehemiah 13:22)

Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. (Nehemiah 13:30–31)

This leader prayed for a blessing by specifically naming what he had done in obedience. The gospel says we cannot earn the favor of God, but this example tells me that I can request it. This may seem a little brazen, but then I read in Acts what the Lord said to Paul regarding his obedience:

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” (Acts 23:11)

God kept His promise. Paul was under arrest by the Romans. His young nephew heard of a plot by the Jews to kill his uncle. He informed Paul who sent him to the tribune or leader of the Roman army in that place. This man outsmarted those who devised the plot and was able to rescue Paul and send him on his way to Rome. The need was specific and so was the answer.

Today we renew our weekly prayer group. I had hoped to plan how I might encourage anyone comes to pray. A specific need, but we had a visitor last night and I ran out of steam. This morning God gives me what I need — real stories about specific prayer for specific needs, heard by God and answered just as they prayed. Lord, today I ask that You bless this time of prayer. Put the words in our hearts and answer those prayers according to Your will.

Who will listen?

In Bible college I had one class where an assigned mentor gave me specific books to read and discuss. One of them was about ‘doing theology’ in the sense that every generation must form a way to say the truths of God without distorting them. That is, they must remain true but still make sense to the people of their time.

Some of this could be a challenge. For instance, a great deal of our population communicates using text shorthand. LOL is not in the Bible, but I’m sure that putting John 3:16 into the current shorthand used in texting would mean a loss in meaning to the recipient!

Tozer’s devotional points out the problems with doing theology in any age. He says two errors are current regarding old things; everything old is good and everything new is bad.

One of my relatives is in that camp. He only recently got a computer and uses it strictly for email, a new thing for him, but outdated for many others. In his mind, there is no way computers have any value and he would never be caught texting on his phone.

Yet in many cases the opposite has happened regarding the things of God. Many people consider the Bible an ‘old book’ without value and Christian living is ‘old fashioned’ and certainly those who live according to the word of God are ‘not with it’ and are ‘out of date’ to use some of the polite language.

This morning I’m looking at a passage that says this is not a recent notion. Several hundred years before Christ, people had the same difficulty. The Lord said to them:

“Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’ Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.” (Jeremiah 6:16–19)

Were they hung up on the belief that old ideas thwart progress and discourage creativity? Or was their problem with the ideas themselves, not that they were ‘old’ but the people simply didn’t want to obey God?

The problem with obeying God remains, even though the forms have changed. Back then, the people wanted to look good so they offered sacrifices and attended worship services, but they were hypocrites at heart. Today, many people have no desire to appear godly. They would rather be what they are (self-centered) without naming what they are doing the way God names it (sin). They do not care about being in right relationship with Him, only about being and doing whatever they desire.

This presents a huge problem to those who know the Lord through faith. How can I present the truths of God to a generation that thinks He does not exist? To those who dismiss the Bible as a man-written old book? To those who think that Christians are fools if they live for Christ instead of doing whatever is profitable for themselves?

Tozer says he would like to see people committed to the everlasting truth as God gave it in the inspiration of Scripture and the faith of our fathers, so much so that going backward is not possible and so they can present truth in an imaginative way for our time.

He raises the question in my mind: Do people still respond to godliness? Does anyone care if someone is able to discern good from evil? Do they take notice of those who serve others without personal gain? Do they listen with interest to someone who speaks truth that challenges their ideas? Do they care if generous people take care of the needy or if someone shows compassion when others suffer loss? Do they respond If someone points to an everlasting and loving God in an effort encourage them when they are down and out?

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Jesus, I know Your truth is eternal. It isn’t about the times or the culture but it is about how we communicate. Please help me become a better communicator. Help me speak the ancient truth in words and actions that touch the hearts of those who need it — even if they do not respond. Jeremiah dared to speak up, risking his very life — even though You told him no one would listen. That kind of commitment takes courage, a courage that only You can provide. Nevertheless, I would like to see Your truth rise above time and affect a culture that is sinking lower and lower.

Clarity and focus

This morning’s devotional threatened to side-track me from listening to God because I struggled with the author using a verse out of context to illustrate another passage about a completely different subject, and doing this to describe the importance of speaking clearly. Sigh.

I wanted to yell WHY, but instead asked God what He is trying to say to me with all this. The verse used to illustrate is from a longer passage about speaking in tongues that essentially says this should not be done without an interpreter. The purpose of tongues is to build up believers, but if they cannot understand what is being said, then this is a useless activity. The verse: “And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves. . .” (1 Corinthians 14:8)

The author makes a defense for speaking the gospel clearly. He says, “if it to be . . . understood by men . . .” it must include a certain three points. While speaking clearly is important and while those three points are important, I am totally convinced that the Lord does not depend on human oratory to make His truth clear.

For example, I once made a totally messed up gospel presentation. It was confusing and I was certain it did not make sense at all, but the listener became a Christian. How amazing! I realized that God’s Holy Spirit made the truth of the gospel clear to her spirit. It was certainly not my skill that did it, nor any one of those three points.

This is not an excuse for my bungling, but it illustrates that no one can take credit for the marvel of God’s power to speak through His people. Nor can I boast; the Lord once used a donkey to speak to a man, so I have no business thinking my speaking will do His job.

The devotional uses another passage to add credence to his convictions. It comes from the beginning of Paul’s rebuke to the church in Galatia. They had been saved by faith and were trying to live for Christ by keeping the Law. He told them they had fallen from grace and their efforts indicated they were duped by a distorted gospel:  

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed . . . For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:6–12)

Interesting. They had been fed a distortion of the gospel, yet this was not an unclear presentation, but a deliberate twisting of the truth. They might have even been great orators! The problem was not lack of clarity but lack of faithfulness to the Word of God.

The other thing in this passage is that Paul says no one preached to him at all. He heard the gospel directly from the Lord through a revelation, not a three-point message. He used this to tell them that the message they received was contrary to what God’s Word teaches. Instead, it was a false notion of what salvation means and how it works. Rather than preaching what God says salvation means, and what to believe, and how to walk in faith, this contrary gospel was man’s idea. The true gospel is not about law-keeping, but about God’s grace. This passage is not about clarity but about the contrast between true and false teaching.

Years ago, I was taught how to give a gospel message. Now I recognize that this step-by-step presentation is a model not an outline, much like the ‘Lord’s prayer’ is a model for praying, not words to repeat. Jesus showed his disciples about attitude, what to cover, how to think, etc. when they pray.

In the same way, learning that gospel presentation gave me a foundation and showed me important points, but it is not a “rule” for what “must be said” because God’s Spirit knows what the listener needs to hear. I need to listen to Him, not follow a check-list of points given in the proper order.

All that said, I agree with the main idea of clarity. Telling someone God loves them is not the gospel. It is only a part. Yet at the time, it might be the part that the listener needs to hear at that moment. Telling someone they are a sinner is not the whole gospel either, and may or may not be the right thing to say to fit in where a listener is on their spiritual journey. This is the reason God’s servants need to pay attention to God’s leading.

On the other hand, if I was a preacher speaking to a congregation, the whole gospel is important. Some of the people need to hear that God loves them. Some need to hear that all of us are bound in sin. Some need to hear what Jesus did at Calvary, or that He has risen from the dead. Some merely need to hear an invitation and instruction on how to receive the One who redeemed them. A pastor cannot leave out anything, not because each person needs to hear each point clearly, but because each person is at a different place in their spiritual journey. In fact, some of us have already come to faith in Christ and simply need to hear about His faithfulness to take care of our needs.

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Jesus, today I need the fullness of Your Spirit so I can listen well and hear what You want from me while I interact with people who do not know You. Are they having problems with believing there is a God? Or are they worried about unanswered prayer? The gospel is good news, yet it comes in many facets. Reveal to me where You want my focus and give me words to make that facet shine.