Don't Quit Praying!

Jesus knows us. He knows our weaknesses and tendencies. He knows our strengths and successes. A warning from the mouth of one who knows us so well should carry much weight. So what does Jesus warn us about in times when we "lose heart"? "Men ought always to pray and not lose heart"(Luke 18:1). Don't quit praying!

Jesus tells a parable to illustrate the principle (Luke 18:2-5). A widow requests justice from a judge, who for a while refuses to act. However, the widow's persistence finally leads him to avenge her "lest by her continual coming she weary me"( Luke 18:5). We must learn the lesson well from this determined widow: don't quit praying!

Don't quit praying because God hears! Often our discouragement stems from a feeling of inadequacy in our prayer: God hasn't helped me, and I'm not even sure my prayers go higher than the ceiling. Never forget that as long as we are living as we should (1 Pet 3:12), God hears our prayers! There is no question this judge heard the widow's request-the text says he simply "would not for a while"(v. 4) do what she asked. Further, when Jesus applies this parable to our prayers to God, He asks, "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?". God always hears the cries and requests of His children! Though we may think God has forgotten about us when our prayers are not immediately answered the way we'd like, we must never lose heart! God speaks directly to such a mindset and says "men ought always to pray and not lose heart" (v. 1)! Don't quit praying; God hears!

Don't quit praying because God rewards persistence! What finally got the judge to act? "yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me" (v. 5). The continual, persistent asking of this widow got her what she desired. Can the same be said of our prayers? Her persistence made this woman more powerful and influential than the greatest of men, whom the judge had no regard for (v. 2, 4). Making the application, Jesus speaks of the elect of God "who cry out day and night to Him"(v. 7), adding that as a result God "will avenge them speedily" (v. 8). An earlier parable of Jesus tells of a man going to his friend at midnight to ask for food, and only receiving it because of his continued asking. Of that man, Jesus says, "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs" (Luke 11:8). Like the characters in these parables, God rewards persistence in prayer! Please understand that God is not saying that we can nag Him into giving us whatever our heart desires. Rather, when we genuinely need something and continually trust that He is the way to receive it, He is more likely to give it to us. If we ask for something from God once, then forget about it, do we really need it or truly trust He will provide it? Remember, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much"(James 5:16), but the occasional, haphazard prayer of a lukewarm man accomplishes little. Don't quit praying! God rewards persistence!

Don't quit praying because God desires faith! Isn't it faith that buoys us through the times when we lose heart and strengthens us to keep looking to the Father? Despite the fact that our prayers might not be answered-or answered in a way we prefer-can we keep asking and trusting? Jesus, having told the parable, laments, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"(Luke 18:8). Faith is God's desire. When cancer has taken our loved one, can we pray that God will heal someone else with cancer, truly believing He can and will? When we have failed in temptation so many times, can we ask Him for help and forgiveness, truly believing we can overcome with His help? When life is hard, when money is tight, when people are angry, when we can't see our way, do we trust and look to our God? "But without faith it is impossible to please Him"(Heb 11:6). God knows about all that life contains, but still desires us to trust Him! Take your problems to the Lord. [sic] "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you"(1 Pet 5:7). Whatever you do, don't quit praying! God wants you to believe!

Remember that stubborn widow-a character Jesus used to illustrate our stubborn devotion and trust to God. A dogged determination to appeal to our Father will be rewarded. Jesus knows us better than anyone, and His prescription is more prayer. Don't lose heart! Don't quit praying!

~ By Jacob Hudgins, submitted by Christian Basar

Why do that?

I remember reading a story that took place in the Soviet Union.  I’m not sure exactly when this happened, but essentially Communist Party people came to some peasants.  The Communist state, of course, was anti-religious, but the peasants had traditionally been quite religious for a very long time.  So these Communists started “preaching” to the peasants, saying (and I paraphrase), “Why pray to God for your crops?  It is the tractor that makes your crops prosper.”  Okay, but what happened when the tractor arrived on the farm?  The peasants came to it, praying in thanksgiving and putting crucifixes on it.  It did not work out the way the Communists might have expected!

Today, we may come across those who wonder why we do what we do as Christians.  Sure, they may respect our activities; I do not wish to paint every non-Christian with the same brush.  But they may still ask “Why?”  I would imagine that giving money to the Church is one of these things that people in the World will look at and go, “Why are they giving away their hard-earned cash?”  Well, for someone asking this kind of question, I suppose you’d first have to convince him or her of the Gospel before they’d understand why we give our money and effort to the Church.  We do it because we believe it is good to physically help the Church in its spiritual work.  And we believe it is pleasing to God when we give and serve with a cheerful heart.

But think about what else our giving does.  A few months ago, we had a giving opportunity through the Church in order to help Middle Eastern refugees in Europe and to help European congregations cope with the sheer numbers of people coming in.  I do not know how much money was raised for that ministry, but however much it was, I am confident it was put to good use.  That’s a ministry with, may I say “tangible,” visible results.  Because of this, how could anyone, spiritual or non-spiritual, argue against helping such an effort?  And that goes for any other ministry we may support as a congregation.  In my view, with our giving and our prayers for that giving, God can work His will through it all, no matter how much or little we may be able to contribute.

~ Christian  Basar

Scars

The human body’s capacity to heal amazes me.   I find it crazy how flesh and bone can rebuild to fix an injury or wound.  I can’t explain the science, but I don’t need to understand it to see how powerful the body’s healing process is.  Unfortunately, as fascinating and complete as healing can be, it does not always heal everything.  We still carry scars from past injuries.  I have a scar on my left hand from an “axe”-ident last summer.  Another on my right wrist was from a Costco cookie container – seriously.  Plastic is deadly.  And, though I think it has pretty much fully healed, my left eyelid got scratched when my glasses were broken.  If you play soccer, wear contacts.

And then there are the so-called “spiritual wounds” we all carry.  We get these when we have been lustful, proud, told lies, or when we’ve done any other bad thing.  Not only do these wounds mark ourselves, but they hurt others, too.  We don’t see these scars on our bodies, but we sure feel them.  They torture our consciences and break our relationship with God.

But, as a hymn tells us, “there was One Who was willing to die in my [our] stead.”  The Son of God went to the Cross and died for our forgiveness.  We can read about this in Isaiah chapter 53, an Old Testament passage that tells us a lot about Christ’s role in our salvation.  Verses 4-5 say “Surely He [Christ] has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed.”

The New Testament book of Hebrews continues with this line of thought.  In Hebrews 10 we read about how Christ became the final sacrifice – the only one necessary for our salvation.  Then, starting at verse 19: “Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Communion, or the Lord's Supper, of which we partake of every Sunday, is a testimony to Jesus' sacrifice.  As we participate in it, we are to remember Christ and His earthly Body, which was broken and wounded.  And we remember His Blood which washes us clean from those “spiritual blemishes” I mentioned earlier.  We will fall short of God’s standard, even after we become Christians.  But remember always that there was One willing to take your sins upon Himself, healing you and forgiving you.

~ Christian Basar

Church or God?

A friend of mine posted a good, thought-provoking photo on his Facebook page a little while ago.  It is in Russian, but I will post it and explain what it says.

On the left, one person is going to the door saying "To God."  On the right, a multitude are going to the door saying "To Church" or "To the Church."  (You can see the original photo and a small snippet at this link)  The devotional essentially says this: "God is near us, and He had heard us [our prayers, etc.]; we must open the correct door in order to truly get to the Divine.  But will we open the correct door?"

I agree with this article to a large extent.  However, I must first qualify my response to it.  I do believe that the Church ("big 'C'") is vitally important.  It is, after all, the Body of Christ and those within it have been added to Christ, apart from Whom no one can be saved.  Those in the Church are Christians, and those outside of the Church are not Christians.  See Acts 2:37-41, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Colossians 1:18, and Ephesians 4:1-16 for Biblical evidence of these ideas.  And for people inside the Church, we are still expected to live Godly lives, worship God in spirit and in truth, be there for each other, help others come to know Christ, etc.  You know, those "Church activities." ;)

However, one can "go to church" (note the "small 'c'") and forget God.  It can be easy for us to go to a church building, sing some songs, have fellowship, and give money to the weekly contribution out of habit, without always appreciating what we are doing.  We can easily fall into the trap of doing "church activities" because "We do it all the time," "God will be upset if we don't," or "I grew up doing this."  This is not what being part of the Church should be about.

Yes, proper worship, living, and service is important to the Christian life, as is being part of the Church.  But to truly experience the "Divine," as the above article suggests, let us focus on also building a healthy relationship with God.  Let us draw near to Him with all prayers and requests and let us have hearts ready to do His will.  Going with God involves far more than just "going to church" on Sunday; it is a lifestyle and a relationship with the Lord.

~ Christian Basar