Prayer & Faith - E.M. Bounds

Here are a few excerpts from The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer.

. . . prayer is simply faith, claiming its natural yet marvelous prerogatives – faith taking possession of its illimitable inheritance. . . when faith ceases to pray, it ceases to live.
(13)

. . . when faith is broken down, the foundations of spiritual life give way, and the entire structure of religious experience falls.

And besides this, giving diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8

Faith was the foundation on which other things were to be built. Peter does not enjoin his readers to add to works or gifts or virtues but to faith.

The faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers itself on a powerful person. Faith in Christ’s ability to do and to do greatly, is the faith which prays greatly.
(14)

Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honored; it takes God at his Word, and lets him take what time he chooses in fulfilling his purposes, and in carrying on his work. There is bound to be much delay and long days of waiting for true faith, but faith accepts the conditions – knows there will be delays in answering prayer, and regards such delays as times of testing, in the which, it is privileged to show its mettle, and the stern stuff of which it is made.

Pray on. Wait on. You cannot fail. If Christ delay, wait for him. In his own good time, he will come, and will not tarry.
(15)

Patience has its perfect work in the school of delay. In some instances, delay is of the very essence of prayer. God has to do many things, antecedent to giving the final answer – things which are essential to the lasting good of him who is requesting favor at his hands.
(16)

True prayers are born of present trials and present needs. Bread, for today, is bread enough. Bread given for today is the strongest sort of pledge that there will be bread tomorrow. Victory today, is the assurance of victory tomorrow. Our prayers need to be focused upon the present. We must trust God today, and leave the morrow entirely with him. The present is ours; the future belongs to God. Prayer is the task and duty of each recurring day – daily prayer for daily needs.

As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer. No amount of praying, done today, will suffice for tomorrow’s praying. On the other hand, no praying for tomorrow is of any great value to us today. Today’s manna is what we need; tomorrow God will see that our needs are supplied. This is the faith which God seeks to inspire. So leave tomorrow, with its cares, its needs, its troubles, in God’s hands. There is no storing tomorrow’s grace or tomorrow’s praying; neither is there any laying-up of today’s grace, to meet tomorrow’s necessities. We cannot have tomorrow’s grace, we cannot eat tomorrow’s bread, we cannot do tomorrow’s praying. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof; and, most assuredly, if we possess faith, sufficient also, will be the good.
(17)

An Excellent Article on Faith

I found a very helpful article in the recent Banner - the Christian Reformed Church's monthly publication. It's titled Faith Amid the Fog and its by Pastor Ron Vanderwell. You can read it HERE.

Synod of the Great Lakes - Convictions

Do you ever wonder about the role of denominations? I recently received a document with the following vision that is extremely encouraging to me about the direction of the Reformed Church in America, specifically the region our church is in, the Synod of the Great Lakes. I hope this encourages (and even challenges) you. See if your convictions resonate with these.

OUR CALL:
Following Christ in mission together, led by the Holy Spirit, and working with all the partners God provides, we believe that God is calling the Reformed Church in America over the next ten years to focus its efforts and resources on
- starting new congregations and
- revitalizing existing congregations,
thereby empowering fruitful and faithful ministries for the glory of God.

I. Convictions:

We believe:

A. Jesus Christ will build his church through some of us, in spite of some of us, and without some of us. (Matt. 16:18) JESUS WINS!!!

B. The church of Jesus Christ exists to fulfill the Great Commandments (Matt. 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20).

C. It is the central calling of the church to consistently place participation in God’s mission at the center of its life and ministry, and to choose God’s mission and reign before treasured traditions, popular trends, personal preferences and valued relationships.

D. Regarding faithful and fruitful ministry in the twenty-first century, our congregations have only two options: deep transformational change (Luke 5: 36-38) or slow death. In all deep change processes there will be conflict. Therefore, conflict management skills are essential to the transformation process, so that the conflict can be life-giving, not life threatening.

E. People, including congregational leaders, experience transformation into Christ-likeness by embracing the wonder of the GOSPEL of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, “for God shows his love for us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “For by grace you are saved, through faith, not because of works, lest anyone should boast. It is a gift of God. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2: 8-10) A sign of this transformation will be increased love for God in Christ and other people, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

F. Personal transformation of congregational leaders through the GOSPEL of God’s grace in Jesus Christ precedes congregational transformation. (Romans 12:1-2)

G. Therefore, as go the congregational leaders, so goes the congregation. (Acts 6:1-7)

H. Healthy churches grow and reproduce in a variety of ways.

I. The proven strategies to reach new people for Christ are planting new congregations and renewing existing congregations. These approaches are “two sides of the same coin”, represent God’s work, and produce results for the sake of the GOSPEL. However, the data indicates that the single most effective strategy is planting churches.

Stumbling Blocks

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16:23

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!” Matthew 18:6-7

“Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” Romans 14:13

“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” 2 Corinthians 6:3-10

For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56:13

As I read these texts, I am challenged by the reality that I can be a stumbling block. People can actually trip over me and be encouraged to change course (away from God) because of me.

I was raised with an understanding of faith which meant going to church. We didn’t talk about faith. We just went to church. Now please understand I am not trying to say that what my parents did was wrong, but it was a stumbling block. They weren’t intentionally trying to confuse us; they did what they knew. It’s a stumbling block to our children to teach them that faith is about attending a church service once a week. It compartmentalizes faith and gives the false impression that faith is a part of my life not the foundation of my life.

When I don’t pray out loud with my children, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t care for the least of these, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t read the Bible, I’m a stumbling block.
When I gossip in front of others I’m a stumbling block.
When I won’t do the hard work of restoring a broken relationship, I’m a stumbling block.
When I define worship based on my preferences, I’m a stumbling block.
When I see myself primarily as a victim, I’m a stumbling block.
When I won’t let people into my life, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t intentionally seek to make disciples, I’m a stumbling block.
When I believe God owes me, I’m a stumbling block.
When I get intoxicated, I’m a stumbling block.
When I treat employees poorly, I’m a stumbling block.
When I lie in front of others, I’m a stumbling block.
When I claim faith and live by my own power, I’m a stumbling block.
When I call Jesus Lord and spend no time with Him, I’m a stumbling block.

Do you remember in Genesis 3 what the serpent did? He gently encouraged Eve to question whether God was really trustworthy. He sought to plant a seed of doubt. “Maybe God doesn’t know what He’s talking about.” “Maybe what I think and want will be better for me.” Eve tripped. Adam tripped. They both stumbled away from God and began living a life of shame, where they actually felt the need to hide from God. (We’ve become so good at hiding now. We are experts at keeping people from knowing and seeing the truth about us.)

We have the opportunity to be like the serpent in each other’s lives. The serpent used words primarily. For us, it tends to come with our actions. Just the fact that we are too often prone to say one thing and do another has become one of the greatest stumbling blocks to people coming to faith in Jesus. They look at the followers of Jesus, feel judged and see hypocrisy, and WE trip them up on the path to Jesus.

What part are you playing in the lives of others? Does your life do more to trip people up on the path to Jesus or is your life an encouragement to keep walking toward Him?

Ask the people of your life. I’m not kidding. Ask them.

“How does my life encourage you in your walk with Jesus? How does my life get in the way?”

A Question on Homosexuality

I received the following question recently and thought you’d be interested in this conversation.

Question
This is not urgent, but sometime, could you give me some insight on homosexuality? I have always believed that it is a sin and that the person has a choice, but lately several of my Christian colleagues are going over to the secular philosophy that it is genetic and therefore not a choice. What is your opinion?

My Response
I believe the Bible is clear when it comes to homosexual behavior. It is sin. The more difficult question has to do with homosexual orientation. I believe people can have a predisposition toward members of the same sex, but I would see this in the same category as the predispositions we all have toward certain sinful behaviors. I am drawn to certain sinful practices more so than others. Whether that has to do with how I was raised or how my nature has been tainted because of sin, it is still sin if I choose to give in to these inclinations. However, having the inclinations toward same sex relationships is not sin. It is temptation. The voice inside of us that encourages homosexual behavior is not the voice of God because God never contradicts what He’s said in His Word.

The Church has done a pathetic job of really loving the homosexual community. We’ve been good at judging and excluding and even condemning. I hope that changes. I hope that the Church has a “room for all” perspective. I don’t mean we affirm or accept sinful practices as if we just turn and look the other way. But too often we start by trying to change people’s behavior instead of loving them to Jesus. What the homosexual community needs more than anything else is to see Jesus tangibly lived out by His Church THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS not statements of condemnation or anger.

Jesus is the agent of change. There is no transformation for any of us away from our sinful inclinations without the power of the HS at work within us. We’ve often lived under the false assumption that the church exists for those who have overcome the sin in their lives and now they are ready and welcome in the church. That is not the picture of church I see in the NT. The Church definitely needs to be a place of support and encouragement for fellow followers, but the Church also needs to be a place where people can explore Jesus, see how He’s working in others, and experience Him through His followers. If people can only come once they’ve rid their life of sin (impossible for all of us anyway), our churches will never have the kingdom impact God desires.

Children Matter

“Let the children come to me.” Jesus

“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” Jesus

“The real integration of children into our lives is happening all across the world – just not very much in Western society. Here we have forgotten that there is really no higher calling than to raise a child. We tend to do a lot for our children but not nearly enough with our children.”
Wes Stafford, Too Small to Ignore, p. 33

Definition of failure: “to succeed at something that doesn’t really matter.” Stafford, p. 93

I’m becoming more and more aware of how often I succeed at things that really don’t matter. Stafford calls that failure. I’m having a hard time arguing with that perspective.

Hardly anyone would disagree with the statement that children matter. It is never a ‘failure’ to invest in the life of a child. We would all affirm the importance of children and the priority they ought to be in our lives, churches, and communities. Children matter.

God has helped affirmed their importance and stated some things that really turned our understanding upside down. He said things like, “unless you become like this child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” or “you need to have faith like a child.”

For me, the rubber meets the road in the midst of the daily requests I receive from John for my attention. Whether its Uno or Frisbee golf or playing a computer game or reading, John always has a plan for my life. I’m often torn. I often don’t want to do what he wants me to do. I also have a plan in my head for my own life. I have ideas about the things that I want to do. John rarely if ever wants to buy into my plan, and sadly, my plan often involves doing something on my own.

To succeed at something that doesn’t really matter is failure. So often my plans fit into this category. I’m definitely drawn to them. They keep my attention and entertain me, but they almost always don’t matter.

John matters – more so than most of the rest of my life – but in the day to day life it is tempting to lose sight of living this out. It is easy to say that John matters and that being a parent is one of the highest callings I have, but the proof is shown in how I live. Do I live out how much he matters? Do I invest in him not only in the games we play but in the conversations we have? Am I “training him up in the way he should go”? Am I modeling a commitment to prayer, God’s Word, caring for others, being a godly husband, serving, listening, etc.? I know that is a lot to consider, but it matters. This is the stuff that really matters.

John’s not going to remember how many times he beat me in Uno or how many fish we caught or how many books we read or all that we talked about. But he will remember whether or not his dad spent time with him. He will become the man that he’ll become due in a large part based on the dad he had. And he will also form ideas, impressions, values, beliefs, etc. based significantly on the ideas, values, beliefs, and impressions of his dad.

I can’t lose sight of the gift I have in John. It’s not just about doing my part so that he turns out well, it’s enjoying the gift it is to be a part of his life. There is more joy to be found here than in the multitude of others plans I create for myself that really have no eternal significance.

Every child (yours and mine and those in between) matters.