Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)My gut reaction when I read this scripture is, “What?!!? Pray without ceasing? How am I supposed to do that?”
Because let’s face it, life is busy. We’ve got meetings to attend, kids pretending to be monkeys climbing all over us, yards that are beginning to resemble rainforests, school projects to complete, and a million other things going on. How in the world are we supposed to do all these things and also pray without ceasing? I tend to compartmentalize my prayer life. It’s the thing I do in the morning while I read my Bible and when I really need God’s help with something. But that’s not praying without ceasing. How am I supposed to pray without ceasing while in the middle of a pastoral meeting? That could look kind of weird if you ask me. “Stephen, what do you think about this?” “Huh? Oh sorry, I was just praying without ceasing. Could you start over and I’ll try to pray and listen at the same time.” Recently I read some helpful words regarding this scripture. The great theologian Charles Hodge said: I think that in my childhood I came nearer to conforming to the apostle’s injunction: “Pray without ceasing,” than in any other period of my life. As far back as I can remember, I had the habit of thanking God for everything I received, and asking him for everything I wanted. If I lost a book, or any of my play things, I prayed that I might find it. I prayed walking along the streets, in school and out of school, whether playing or studying. I did not do this in obedience to any prescribed rule. It seemed natural. I thought of God as an everywhere—present Being, full of kindness and love, who would not be offended if children talked to Him. I knew he cared for sparrows. I was as cheerful and happy as the birds and acted as they did. I love the childlike dependence on God expressed in this quote. When he lost one of his play things, he prayed. When he received something, he thanked God. He simply knew that God would not be offended if his children talked to him. I want to be more like that. When I sit down to enjoy a cup of coffee, I want to give thanks. When I lose something, I want to ask for help to find it. When I feel like my kids are driving me crazy, I want to plead with God for patience. I want prayer to be woven in and out of my life and sprinkled throughout my day. God is my Father. He won’t be offended when I ask him for things and he will be delighted when I thank him for things. What about you? What are some practical ways to pray without ceasing? by Stephen Altrogge
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Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, ESV)
The primary ministry of Jesus as he trod upon this earth was to lead people to the Father. Jesus Christ was the only way for people to know the Father -- No one has ever seen God; the only God (Jesus), who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:18, ESV). It is through the Son that we may behold the splendor of the Father. Though there be no light for us but in the beams, yet we may by beams see the sun, which is the fountain of it. Though all our refreshment actually lie in the streams, yet by them we are led up unto the fountain. Jesus Christ, in respect of the love of the Father, is but the beam, the stream; wherein though actually all our light, our refreshment lies, yet by him we are led to the fountain, the sun of eternal love itself. Would believers exercise themselves herein, they would find it a matter of no small spiritual improvement in the walking with God. (John Owen, Communion with God, p. 23). May we be led into the brightness of God the Father today as we behold the words and works of His only beloved Son. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. (Judges 2:10, ESV)
This has got to be one of the saddest verses in all of the Old Testament. They didn't know about Moses' bold fight against slavery in Egypt They didn't know about the 10 plagues God used to chip away at Pharaoh's resistance They didn't know that God had miraculously parted the Red Sea so his people could escape the Egyptians They didn't know that God guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and one of fire at night They didn't know that God gave their fathers water out of a rock in the middle of the desert They didn't know provided manna daily for the people to eat They didn't know that God gave their courageous parents victory over their enemies in the Promised Land They didn't know that God's laws were given out of compassion and a desire for an ongoing relationship with his people Whose fault was it that the next generation didn't know the works of the Lord? Who was supposed to tell them? Was it the priests? The Levites? The Prophets? Look at this verse, written before the one above: “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children (Deuteronomy 4:9, ESV) It was the fault of the parents. They failed to recount God's glorious deeds to their children, therefore the next generation "did not know the Lord." None of us can control whether or not our children will embrace the faith we do, but allowing them to carry on without knowing the one who is so precious to us is a travesty of life-altering proportions. Let us make sure that they know. When Stakwell Yurenimo, a Samburu in northern Kenya, did well on his eighthgrade exams, the Kenyan government informed him that he had qualified to go to a high school that they would choose. They also chose his roommate, a young man named Paul, who was a member of the enemy tribe, the Turkana. Stakwell determined in his mind that there was no way he would room with a Turkana. In fact, part of his culture demanded that in order to be respected as a man, he needed to kill a Turkana.
Stakwell poured water on Paul’s bed every night, so that his roommate was forced to sleep somewhere else. Paul did not react in anger, but slept on the ground without complaint. This went on for several months. Meanwhile, there was friction on the soccer field as well. Stakwell was an excellent midfielder. Paul was the team’s star forward, a striker with considerable skill. But the team kept losing because Stakwell would not pass the ball to his roommate. The coach finally confronted Stakwell, who told the coach that there was nothing he could do. “You will just have to put one of us on another team,” he said. That’s what the coach did, and the first time the two teams played each other, Stakwell threw himself into Paul, trying his best to kill him. He broke Paul’s leg and knocked out several teeth. Because it was an intentional penalty, Stakwell was expelled from school and sent home a hero to his fellow Samburu tribesmen for injuring a hated Turkana. He did not care about being expelled, but then the school told Stakwell that he would have to repay Paul for all of his medical expenses. Stakwell, a Samburu shepherd, faced an insurmountable debt. That’s when his life changed. Paul came to Stakwell offering forgiveness. He did not want to be paid back. Paul explained that all the time his roommate was persecuting him, he did not retaliate, “not because I am weak, but because I am a Christian. When you were pouring water on my bed and forcing me to sleep on the ground, I was praying for you,” Paul said. Stakwell’s heart was broken by this demonstration of the Gospel. He became a Christian, and after finishing high school and attending Bible School, he began to work to bring reconciliation between the two warring tribes, the Samburu and the Turkana. With the help of New Directions International, Stakwell opened a sports camp in the Kurungu, Kenya, region. He brings hundreds of young people together three times a year for friendly competition. More than a dozen tribes are represented at the camps, and the ministry is changing the climate of the region. Stakwell told us as we visited with him, “There has not been one killing in the past two years between the Samburu and the Turkana.” There is even a Turkana village now in the Samburu region, something that would have been unheard of just a few years ago.” Being at the camp with Stakwell and his family (including seven children they rescued from abandonment) gave our mission team a picture in living color of what is only possible through the power of God. For he “has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Stakwell Yurenimo, the Samburu warrior once committed to destroy the Turkana, was broken by the forgiveness shown to him by a Turkana follower of Jesus Christ. Now, he lives to help others find that forgiveness as well. by Mark Fox The word thaumazo is a Greek term (the language of the New Testament) meaning, “astounded, surprised, astonished, amazed, marvel.” I know, what a boring way to begin a post, but please stay with me.
The word is most frequently used to describe people’s response to Jesus, his miracles and his words in the four Gospels. When he does something supernatural, they are flabbergasted. They cannot believe what they have just seen and heard (e.g. Matthew 8:27 and 9:33). Amazement would describe our response to him as well had we been in the sandals of a first-century Palestinian. But does it amaze you that the Bible tells us that Jesus was amazed? Thaumazo is used to describe his response on two occasions: one, heartbreaking, and the other, wonderfully refreshing. When Jesus visited his hometown in Mark 6, it would be an understatement to say he was met with a chilly response. In fact it was so icy that he determined it was useless to perform miracles there (verse 5). Then we are told: And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. (Mark 6:6, ESV) Jesus was astounded at the level of their unbelief. The people who had watched him grow up and who knew him better than anyone refused to believe that he was the Son of God. They rejected him at a deeper level than anyone up to this point in his ministry. Another scene. A foreigner – a Roman centurion – not only believed that Jesus could heal his servant, but that Jesus did not even need to be in the presence of the sick man to speak a healing word. Jesus’ response to the man’s faith: When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Luke 7:9, ESV) Jesus had seen faith before, what was the big deal with the centurion’s belief? Jesus was blown away that this man, who had not grown up hearing about the God of the Bible and the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah like the Jewish people, could have such a profound faith. No hesitation. No miracle-demanding. Simple faith. And Jesus marveled. |
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