Making the Most Prayer 02 032714

Making the Most
of the means of grace
02

2.  Private prayer

This is not just "private" prayer - it is penetrating prayer.  It is prayer that calls upon God to show us, not just Himself, but our selves as well.  It is prayer that cuts through all the "I want," "I need," "Please give," and gets down to the, "have mercy upon me a sinner."

Most of us know the acronym ACTS
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

Now there nothing wrong with this as a reminder of the components of prayer but I think if falls short of the whole of it.  There is no explicit "letter" for seeking God's exposure of our hearts.  It's easy to run through these parts of prayer without ever seeking God's exposure of our true and hidden spiritual needs - the nitty gritty.  There is no depth demanded and I suspect (for I find it true in me) that there is no depth sought.

Prayer is, fundamentlly, a conversation - a two way conversation.  Certainly we ought go to God with the common and even mundane requests that we are aware of but to do this and only this is perhaps a great waste of a great opportunity.

Most of our private prayers could be prayed in public with little alteration.  They are shallow and halt - usually.  Private prayer, as the Puritains saw it, was deep, gut wrenching, no-holds-barred, open your soul and heart and seek to expose the deepest of corruptions kind of prayers.  They were blood-sweating prayers.  They were prayers for holiness and righteousness of life - here now - for Him.

Oh, we may get close to that when we pray the "C" (confession) but God desires so much more of and for us and we must dig deeply into prayer to touch it.  David asked God to "test," or "try" his heart to see if there was any wicked way in him.  That's "any" wicked way not just the easily seen and comfortably remembered evil ways that we are at ease acknowledging.

I think sometimes that we are too comfortble in our redemption and justification.  We wear it more tike a windbeaker than a heavy coat.  What I mean is that we are more than willing to see our easy sins and rejoice in their forgiveness but we are rarey willing go dig deep into the cold and dark recesses of our souls to find what the Puritains called "heart sins" or the sins under the sins that are uder the sins.  We fail to ask to see the utter corruption for which Christ came and suffered.

Private prayer is the time when we need to be digging deep.  We need to be seeking God's exposure of just how badly we need Christ - just how very very much we need Him.  It's the place where we drop the "I'm not so bad," approach to our sin and cry out to see exactly how "bad" we really are.

PS
Are these posts of any benefit to you?  If they are or are not I would like to hear from you. Your input and/or encouragement would be a blessing and mercy.  You can comment on the blog page of, if you want, you can email me at sheepdog.ms@gmail.com.

Bless you for your help!
Michael

Faith in Affliction Weak or Strong 032414

Faith in Affliction  Weak or Strong

"If it never proves great, yet weak faith shall save; for it interests us in Christ, and makes Him and all His benefits ours.  For it is not the strength of our faith that saves, but the truth of our faith, nor weakness of our faith that condemns, but the want of faith; for the least faith lays hold on Christ and so will save us.  Nor are we saved by the worth or quantity of our faith but by Christ - who is laid hold on bu a weak faith as well as a strong - just as a weak hand that puts meat into the mouth shall feed and nourish the body as if it were a strong hand, but by the goodness of the meat."  John Rogers, The Doctrine of Faith

In Affliction we are confronted with the strength or weakness of our faith.  Indeed I think it is more often the latter than the former.  But as Rogers writes even our mustard-seed faith is sufficient to lay hold of all that Christ provides and promises.  The difference, perhaps, is more in our sense of faith than its sufficiency.  

How often do we, in afflictions, find ourselves confronted with the laziness of our faith and consider it a sign of no or weak faith.  This is not to be done.  The exercise of our faith will indeed be commensurate with its strength or weakness but yet whether one or the other it is sufficient.

If our faith is weak, afflictions are great torments and trials and yet Christ is not stingy in His providence regardless.  It is the object of our faith that is of the greatest import and what we often confuse with a weak faith is actually a misplaced faith.

We tend to trust God to provide according to our own reason and insight and when we do not see that happening we , in our distress, consider our faith to be too weak to have its effect.  But brother and sister, by God's own Word, this cannot be.  His promises are to those who believe whether small or large.

"Lord I believe, help Thou my unbelief," should be a fundamental prayer we pray in affliction.  For we all have areas where our faith struggles to settle upon its true object and grow upon that object.

And, we must remember that our faith is a gift and gifts are given according to the desire of the giver and the need of the gifted.  That one has what they consider a "small faith" is simply an invitation to stand amazed as God grows that faith in time and space.  Indeed, once we are with Him there will be no weak of strong faith for our trust in Him will be complete.

In affliction we will find that we question the strength and veracity of our faith - or at least we seem to.  However I find among believers that it is rarely a question of whether or not God will provide but rather how and when.  This shows that we have faith in Him even if we struggle in the details.
But some believers do struggle with whether or not God will provide.  Wondrously and happily this doubt is usually based upon their view of their own worthiness to even get God's attention much less His provision.  This is "works" thinking and we all do it.  There is nothing like an affliction to kick us into the old, "I'm not worthy," or to bring to our remembrance every jot and tittle of our sins.

Well, we are not worthy -  period.  But in and through Christ we are - but only through Him.  Yes, God may indeed, through some affliction, chastise us for sin.  But this is a mercy for first it falls far far short of what any sin deserves and second it is meant to cleanse, to refine the dross out of our hearts and lives.  Yet we often fail to see the blessedness of God's heavy hand upon us and we miss praising Him for that mercy.

Trusting God in affliction is simple but it is not easy.  The world mocks, the flesh wrestles with shame and the devil accuses and taunts.  That's a tough trio to contend with.  But knowing the source should drive us to look to God more intensly and humbly and - sometimes - desperately.

But, isn't the bottom line our redemption?  Isn't that the aim of our faith as Christ who provides it is the object?  Do we want heaven of relief more?  Do we want the comfort of our salvation or the comfort of things?  Do we want the praise of men or the "well done" of Christ?

Faith in affliction looks to its object and the priorities held by that object.  Which means that our priority should be the glory of God and our ultimate home with Him.  Everything else is NOT unimportant but it is secondary if not tertiary.

Therefore let us turn to Christ in our affliction and to His Word and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in getting our priorities back in line.  Let us allow the anxiety of trials to wash over us and away from us as we call out to God in supplication and thanksgiving.

"Though I am not pleased with God's chastisement, I will be pleased with its effect.  Though I struggle to thank Him for this testing I praise Him for loving me enough to test me.  Though I am assailed with fear let me be filled with His comfort.  May I accept this affliction as a mercy and blessing from my God who is determined to transform me into the likeness of my loving Savior."  ms