Be still and know . . .

In today’s reading, Selwyn Hughes says, “When you sit in silence before God and wait for Him to speak to you, then you bring more and more areas of your life under His control, more and more powers are put at your disposal and your being is more and more closely aligned to the being of God.”

Jesus says the same thing . . .

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit . . . . As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me . . . . Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing . . . . If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15:1–8)

The psalmist also says it . . .

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear . . . The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress . . . . “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah (Psalm 46:1–11)

Running through all of these is the principle of relying on Him. That means being still and not anxious, nor busily trying to come up with my own solutions. I might be upset, but even then, I am to be still. “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent . . . Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 4:4–5)

If someone tells me to calm down, I might say I cannot, but this is only partially true. In myself, there is no stillness, no calm spirit, but in the Lord, I can be quiet and at rest. Because God “rules the raging of the sea” and because He is powerful to still its rising waves (Psalm 89:9), then He also can . . . “make me lie down in green pastures, lead me beside still waters, restore my soul and lead me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:2–3)

Boot camp and sore fingers

This week’s unit of study is justification and sanctification. Justification is God declaring sinners “just” because Christ has taken their sin and replaced it with His righteousness. It is a legal declaration, but not in our experience. It is like enlistment in the army; you become a soldier instantly, but it takes time and training to learn how to live like a soldier.

This is where sanctification comes in. It is the process whereby God makes a justified person into what He has declared they are, His soldiers. This process begins at salvation and continues through life. Sometimes it is delightful, and sometimes it feels like God is ripping out my innards.

Because Jesus lives in me, and because God’s goal is that He is glorified in my life, God must get rid of all that blocks Him from being seen. This can be external activities and attitudes, but for me right now, it is deeply held values and desires. Corrie ten Boom once said, “I’ve learned not to hold too tightly to anything, for it hurts when God pries my fingers loose.”

I’ve not learned that yet. I know the principle, but absolute surrender, even to a loving and faithful God, is not as easy as tossing old or useless possessions. Not only that, He also asks for the new and valued, the near and dear. It hurts as He pries my fingers loose.

The reality is that there is only One Treasure, only One Hero, only One Valuable in my life, this Treasure is in this “jar of clay” and demonstrates that all “surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” And when this jar of clay (a frail, cracked pot) suffers, the more the treasure is relied on and released to serve others. Paul put it this way . . .

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:7–18)

This morning, God gives me this Word to not lose heart for this is “light affliction” and better things are coming. If that isn’t helpful — and thinking of heaven does not always make life here feel better — then He urges me with another Word to wait on Him . . .  

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28–31)

Two more passages also give me a boost. One is the goal of King David who was called a “man after God’s own heart.” As devoted as he was to God, he knew that he was not there yet and prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) That is God’s goal for me as well, but getting there is a battle.

Israel struggled with inner and outer backsliding and needed encouragement and hope. For them, God said, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:11–14)

God has not driven me from home and sent me into exile, nor am I being persecuted and struck down. Instead, these current battles are within me, and invisible, except maybe for the pried fingers.

Answers to prayer beyond my expectations

Yesterday I woke up tired and was glad to read again the verses from Isaiah about waiting on the Lord to have my strength renewed. While sleep cannot be neglected, spiritual strength comes from the Lord as do the resources needed to serve Him. Jesus is my example . . .

But now even more the report about (Jesus) went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray . . . . And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. (Luke 5:15–17)

Hughes says we are like watches that need rewinding. Otherwise we run down and become unable to serve the Lord. In that state, we become detached from God like branch lopped off from the vine. Instead, Jesus tells us to abide in Him for without Him, we can do nothing (John 15). Prayer is the way to abide, to stay close.

With this in mind, Paul prayed for the Christians at Ephesus. He wanted God to answer his prayer they would be “strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” He also knew that God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:14–21). Through prayer, we discover that what seems impossible can be had. We just need to pray.

I suppose in my life the greatest needs are freedom from anxiety and worry, and the wisdom to know how to tackle my responsibilities. For this, the Lord makes specific promises . . .

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)

Nothing could be plainer, but both needs require prayer. These are not gifts that fall from the sky without my heart turning toward God and asking for them, even making them a priority over whatever else I might think I need or that I hope God will give me.

Solomon became king of Israel at a fairly young age. He was uncertain of how to rule and did not try to bluff his way through the challenges of this task, nor did he assume he could figure it out. Instead, he had his priorities right; he went to God with a humble request for wisdom.

God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” (2 Chronicles 1:11–12)

Compared to the challenges of being a king, my challenges are much smaller. However, my assignments this week seem large to me. I’ve some butterflies in my tummy just thinking about them, never mind anything else that might pop up.

God knows I need these reminders . . . I don’t need to be anxious and fretting about thesis statements and exams. I don’t need to worry about anything else either. He tells me to pray (with thanksgiving) and He will give me an outlandish peace. He also tells me to ask for wisdom and He will generously provide it so that I know what to do and how to do it.

As Hughes says regarding these specific requests, “Prayer is a lift up with no let down” because for peace and wisdom, God promises specific answers, and with those answers, He will go beyond anything I can ask or imagine.

Waiting and working

After a long week of busyness and a couple of toss and turn nights, I woke this morning feeling like eight hours sleep was not enough. However, I got up and opened Selwyn Hughes’ devotional guide. The feature verses for today end with these lines, so familiar and like warm oil on my heart . . .

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28–31)

But this is not about being renewed so I can be at leisure. It is about praying for renewal so I can do whatever God nudges me to do, even to be part of the answer to my own prayers.

Prayer brings peace to anxious hearts, but James, one of the most practical books of the Bible, says that faith is basically useless if it does not result in action . . .

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? (James 2:14–16)

Sometimes the action is not about doing things for others, but doing some personal house-cleaning. I know I’m of little use to God if my life is cluttered with sin and selfishness. For that, God says, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

If I wonder what needs to be done, I only have to look around me to see a multitude of human need. The morning news is filled with opportunities to be useful to those in need. Some of them are outlined in these lines from Jesus . . .

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:31–40)

Today’s devotional reading also included a fragment of a poem, author unknown. I found it on the Internet. It is a discussion between two farmers, both pray, but one has better crops than the other. The poet is someone named Morris, and I’ve copied the last few lines below . . .

"It's well to pray both night and morn,

As every farmer knows;

But the place to pray for plentiful corn

Is right between the rows."

"You must use your hands while praying, though,

If an answer you would get;

For prayer-worn knees and a rusty hoe

Never raised a big crop yet."

"An' so I believe, my good old friend,

if you mean to win the day;

From sowing clean to the harvest end

You must hoe as well as pray."

— Morris

Christians call this ‘putting show leather’ to your prayers. Instead of feeling tired about the day ahead, I need to get my shoes on, praying in the process and obeying those nudges to get busy.

(To read the entire poem, go here)

Big prayers . . .

Most days I go outside to pray and walk. During that time, I get some of my best ideas. Some of them are solutions to problems. Others are direction for the day or clear indication what to do about issues on my heart.

God is like that with prayer. He speaks and I’m learning to listen. However, His promptings are sometimes unexpected. Consider Paul. Right after his conversion, logically he would link up with mature Christians to be mentored, but that was not the case . . .

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. (Galatians 1:15–17)

The Bible says very little about what happened to this great Christian leader while he was in Arabia, except that it was not a short visit. Obviously God urged him to go there, and met him in that unusual location to give the instruction he needed for the task he’d been called to do.

In the Old Testament, one of Joshua’s prayers resulted in a creative and controversial event that must have shocked this man even as he said it . . .

At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:12–14)

A few scientists think they have proven this true (many think otherwise), but the validity of amazing answers to prayer isn’t about proof. Instead, this is more about the answer to these questions: “How big is your God?” Can’t He do whatever He wants to do?

Jesus said that faith in prayer gives us power. He told one person that “All things are possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23) For me, that means being open to God when I pray. Does He seem to suggest that I pray outlandish requests? I’m pragmatic, hard to convince, and yet not totally skeptical. When I pray, sometimes God puts odd thoughts in my mind, thoughts like, “Why pray for only those few cult members when you know I can change the lives of their entire membership?”

Praying such huge prayers does not mean that I have to be a super saint. The Bible says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” (James 5:17–18)

The Bible is clear about this; praying ‘big’ prayers has little to do with who I am and a great deal to do with the size and power of my God.