Can You Pray Without Ceasing?

Can You Pray Without Ceasing?

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing

   I have been fortunate in that I am in love with a special person.  I remember the first few months dating her.  We were only together a couple of hours a day, but she was in my thoughts every waking hour.  It was impossible to be with her every moment of every day, but she was still with me in my mind and in my heart every moment of every day.   I found my thoughts drifting even while at work, wondering what she was doing at that moment.  I thought up things I could do or say to please her.  When something good happened, I wished she was there to share it with me.  And when we were together and something good happened, it was so much better because she was there.

   If you have been this lucky in your life, try to think back to when you were courting and see if this was true for you.  That special person was all you wanted and all you desired.  Everything else that happened in your life was just a distraction, keeping you from what you really wanted – to be together with that special person.

   Now do you have a better understanding of what Paul was getting at in this passage?  We cannot actively pray every second of every day any more than we could have been with that person every moment.  But it is possible to love Jesus Christ so much that we carry Him in our thoughts and our hearts wherever we go, just as our thoughts were on that special person when we were apart.  In this verse Paul is talking about prayer as an attitude.  We love Jesus and so our thoughts drift to Him even when we’re doing something else.

   Much like my love started out like a flame that grew and warmed even more over the years, so our love for Jesus should grow and become more intense over the years.  The danger is that people let their love grow cold and become indifferent which threatens their relationship.  This can happen in our relationship with Jesus as well.  We can start out on fire in love with Christ but then other cares get between us and our fervor fades and we stop praying and stop reading our Bibles. 

   Just as we need to work on our relationship with our special person, we need to work on our relationship with Jesus.  We need to place Jesus in the center of our lives and our thoughts and we will find ourselves living with this constant attitude of prayer.  And as we fall more in love with Jesus, the joy we gain will eclipse anything we have ever known before. 

Stephen Cram                                                                    April 28, 2013                          

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.

Fruitful Worship VS Barren Criticism

Fruitful Worship VS Barren Criticism

2 Samuel 6:20 – 21

20 But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids as one of the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!” 

21 So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the Lord. 

   This was a good day.  The Ark of the Covenant had been sitting at a man’s farm for years, but David arranged to have it brought back to the Tabernacle.  This was the second try, and David made sure everything was done according the Scriptures.  David was so full of joy that he set aside his kingly robes and wore a plain linen ephod and in his joy he danced before the Lord. 

   2 Samuel 6:16 says that she despised him in her heart when she saw him in the procession, and in verse 20 she lashed out at him: "How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"

   Michal was David’s first wife and daughter of Saul, the first king of Israel.  We do not know why her heart was so full of bitterness, but here she confronts David about dancing in public.  Now I doubt David was wearing a robe that revealed too much to the women in the crowd.  I have a hard time picturing David “flashing” the young women that day.  A plain ephod was just an ordinary, common man’s robe, not a robe with a miniskirt as some have described it.  1 Chronicles 15:27 says he wore the same type of robe the Levites and the singers wore.  Michal makes it sound like he was dancing in his Fruit-of-the-Looms. 
   I think Michal’s complaint was that David the King had set aside his kingly robe and his kingly dignity and danced in public.  Here she, as Queen, had to watch her husband, the King, dance with abandon IN PUBLIC!  David had laid aside his royal robes and dressed as a common man in the procession.  Michal looked down from her window and saw David dressed like everyone else and dancing.  She let her bitterness well up in her heart and she lashed out at David. 

   But when David heard those biting words of sarcastic criticism, he didn't let it ruin his day.  He answered her, "It was before the Lord."  David’s heart was full of joy and let his joy show and danced for the Lord God.  He was not dancing to honor Michal, he was not dancing for the crowd, he was dancing to worship God.

   When we worship God for His sake, some people won't like it.  If there is a root of bitterness in them they will not feel the joy of worshipping God.  David did not let Michal’s criticism ruin his worship and we should not let criticism ruin our worship. 

   I am not saying that everything should be allowed in public worship.  I remember a woman who took her guitar and began singing while the pastor was still preaching.  This was disruptive and she should not have done that at that time.  At another church a woman had a flag about 3’ by 4’ and kept waving it during the sermon.  David’s reason to worship in public does not justify this type of interruption during the preaching of the Word.   David’s dancing wasn’t inappropriate to the setting or context. Someone who acts inappropriately at a meeting can’t simply justify it by saying, "It was before the Lord."
   Sadly, Michal’s bitterness caused a rift between herself and David and she never had children.  I imagine David set her up with her own rooms in the palace and she spent the rest of her life alone with her bittern thought.  This is a physical result of having a bitter heart.  She was physically barren where many bitter people live barren lives.  They have no close relationships either with God or with people.  Hebrews 12:15 warns us:

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
   If you have a bitter root growing in your heart, deal with quickly and get it out of your life.  Better to dance before the Lord than to look down from the windows of our bitter hearts and criticize others for their worship. 

Stephen Cram                          April 21, 2013                   Colossians 2:8

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.

The Work Goes On

The Work Goes On

Acts 1: 1-4 New Living Translation
1 In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach
2 until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit.
3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

   The opening words of the book of Acts gives us insight into what Jesus was doing for the forty days after Easter until He ascended back to Heaven.  He talked to them about the Kingdom of God.  I wish we had these words but the Holy Spirit chose not to record them.
   The author tells us that his first book, we presume it was the Gospel of Luke, told all that Jesus began to do and to teach.  Here, we see the end of His time on earth and He is still teaching His followers.  But His ascending back to Heaven was not the end of His ministry, it was only the beginning.
   In His earthly ministry, He only could inter-react with a few hundred people.  With the aid of the Holy Spirit and through the work of His followers, the Gospel has been taught for over two millennia and to literally billions of people.  Think of this!  You are a link in a great chain of faithful witnesses stretching back to the Disciples.  In that same chain are names like Peter and James and John, Paul and Priscilla and Aquila and Barnabas and Silas and Timothy.  Think of the evangelists of modern times who preached in tents and stadiums.  You are linked to them all.
   You have wonderful and deep roots in the church.  You are spiritual descendants of true heroes who offered and, in many cases, gave up their lives for the Gospel.  There is a lot bad happening in the world around us, but we still have a mission field to work and the Gospel message to teach.  The Gospel is needed as much today as it ever has been in history.  For everyone who is in any way spiritually aware, Jesus is still teaching and still doing.  We ourselves are testimony to the power of the Gospel.  We learned of our sin and we asked the Lord for forgiveness and prayed to Him to save us as a result of someone’s prayers and faithfulness in witnessing.  I have never met a Christian who spontaneously “popped” into existence.  We all are the products of someone presenting the Gospel to us.
   So I urge you, O Christian, get out of your laz-y-boy and shut off the TV and go share your testimony with someone.

Stephen Cram                            April 14, 2013                  
I have a Bible study posted online on ustream.com.  http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/31176739  Its long but, I hope, not too boring.
(I’m the gray-haired guy on the left; the guy on the right is our Pastor, Jon Rhinehart.)

Colossians 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.

Finding Favor With God

Finding Favor With God

Exodus 33:13 
“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

   Moses found himself wandering in the wilderness for forty years, not because of anything he had done wrong, but because of the majority of the people and a bad decision they had made.  He follows the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.  He answers questions and deals with problems seven days a week from morning to night.  I have dealt with pressures in life but not anything like what Moses lived with!  Dealing with the pressure of life was hard, and here Moses decides he needs a refreshing in his soul.
   I always find it intriguing how the heroes of the faith are the ones who pray this type of prayer.  David, the man God said was after His own heart, prayed for renewal in his heart.  Paul, given the work of missionary to the world, prays for grace and for more faith.  Moses, the one who had to have answers to every question, asks for better knowledge of God’s ways.
   We need to pray one of these prayers from time to time.  In the week leading up to Easter I was reminded over and over of what Christ has done for us and the huge price He paid for us.  So I am not in any doubt about where I stand in His eyes.  He loves me and I am saved and promised eternal life.  But it is a good thing to take a moment and ask God for renewal.  Renewing our connection with God is always a good idea.
   The guys mentioned above knew where their strength came from.  They knew where their wisdom came from.  They also knew what happens when we strike out in our own strength.  Each had seen how impulsive decisions had brought them into bad situations where they had to plead with God to get them out of their mistakes.
   I had to learn that it was better to walk with God then to demand He walk with me.  “Oh Lord!  I know You hear me!  Go before me and open doors for me and protect me wherever I go!”   I’ve learned that it’s safer to pray, “Lead me where You want me to go.”  I had this come home to me a few months ago.  My wife and I went to a small church near our house one Sunday to visit.  We had heard a little about this small church, most of it bad, and went to visit because there was a new pastor.  That night, as I began to pray for the pastor of the church where we were members, I saw the face of this new pastor.  I tried to pray for the Sunday school teachers of our church and what I saw were the empty pews of the little church we visited.  This happened again Monday and it happened again Tuesday.  By Wednesday night I was thinking God was trying to tell me something.  I could not pray for my pastor because every time I tried I saw the face of this other pastor.  I spoke to my wife and she revealed it was happening to her also.  Our pastor graciously released us and we went to the small church.  I was quickly convinced we are where God wants us.  We let God lead us where He wanted us to go rather than give Him the benefit of my wisdom and tell Him where I should go.
   Nothing should be more important in your Christian walk than keeping a good connection with God.  Everything you do depends on His strength and His grace and His mercy.  Blessings in your life flow from Him and prayers are answered by His power.  So praying regularly and meditating on His Word makes sense, right?
   I get nervous praying the first part of Moses’ prayer – “if You are pleased with me…- because I know no good thing lives in me.  Easter made God’s throne open to me so I need to remember that I can pray to God without hesitation.  God has invited me right into His living room and wants me to say what’s on my heart.  When I pray I tell Him my hopes and my fears and my needs and my wants and I have confidence that He hears me.  We have an awesome God!
 
Stephen Cram                            April 7, 2013                     Colossians 2:8

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.