Prayer and A Conformed Life

11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
2 Chronicles 7:11-15


The people of Israel had reached the pinnacle of their position as the Chosen People of God. As a nation they had been birthed through Abraham, taken out of slavery through the help of Moses, taken into the promised land by Joshua, prospered under the Judges and been given a line of Kingdom through David. Now under Solomon they had completed the Temple as instructed by their God and were asking for His blessing on them and what they hoped would become His new home. And God answers their prayer with a resounding YES! But the Lord God of Israel warns them of more difficult times ahead and gives them a formula for dealing with the future: humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn to obedience to God’s ways. Then, once again, God will hear, forgive and restore the nation. As we spend time thinking about our prayer life with God we might also look at the other three aspects of God’s direction to His people.

Humbling ourselves is another way of saying that we might not always be right and that we might, at least on occasion, want to listen to what correction God might want to give us. Acknowledging that God might know more than we do and trusting His direction can be very humbling. Yesterday we introduced the possibility of fasting alongside our prayer. Denying ourselves food or other activities is another way of humbling ourselves and saying to God that He is more important than aspects of our own regular habits or desires. It is a way of putting Him before us.

The Old Testament is full of examples of the people of God seeking either God’s face (relationship with Him) or the work of His hand (His deeds on their behalf). Here Solomon is told that it is out of relationship that a continued blessing will come – not just out of the occasional rescue or obliging environment which God could produce. Again, occasional fasting combined with regular prayer can keep us focussed on our dependence on God and our desire for increased relationship with Him.

Finally, our lives need to reflect all of this spiritual discipline. If we are focussed on God, seeking a developing relationship with Him, putting Him first in our lives, denying aspects of ourselves, there should be some evidence of this in our lives. Turning from our wicked ways, or those things which displease God, should be a constant theme in our work, our family life and our relationships with friends. There should be heavenly product in our lives and we should begin to look more and more like our Father in Heaven.
Seeking a greater intimacy with God and a greater empowering in His prayer life through fasting was the testimony of the well known Evangelist Bill Bright. In his book, The Transforming Power of Fasting and Prayer, written shortly before his death just five years ago, he says:
“After forty-five years of emphasizing evangelism, discipleship, and fulfilment of the Great Commission, some may think that I have gone off on a tangent with my strong emphasis on fasting and prayer. The fact is that the best way to help individuals become evangelists for Christ is to bring them into a relationship with God in which the Holy Spirit renews them. Only fasting meets the criteria of each aspect of 2 Chronicles 7:14. When you humble yourself and pray and seek God’s face and turn from your wicked ways, something happens to you and you get excited about the Lord in a way that you do not through any other means.
“Why fasting?
“First, Christians who fast say that it sharpens and sensitizes their spiritual faculties to become more in tune with what God is doing throughout the world….
“Second, fasting results in greater intimacy with and a deeper enthusiasm for God, which in turn spills over into every other area of life. The joy of the Lord becomes much more visible to others, and the motivation to witness is greater….
“Third, fasting prepares us for a spiritual harvest. Today, people throughout the world are hungry for the gospel. I have been a believer since 1944, and I can assure you that God is doing a great and powerful work, unprecedented in this century. This is most definitely a remarkable time of harvest.”

As we seek God’s face at The Church Of The Cross, let us also humble ourselves, pray and turn towards God’s ways. Let us allow Him to draw us ever closer and to equip us for the work to which we are called as His disciples. As a special appendix to today’s devotional, below is a further excerpt from Bill Bright’s book which may help a bit with the “how to” of fasting prayer.

Mike Clarkson




FASTING: 7 BASIC STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL FASTING & PRAYER
(BILL BRIGHT)

Step 1: Set Your Objective
Why are you fasting? Is it for spiritual renewal, for guidance, for healing, for the resolution of problems, for special grace to handle a difficult situation? Ask the Holy Spirit to clarify His leading and objectives for your prayer fast. This will enable you to pray more specifically and strategically.

Step 2: Make Your Commitment
Pray about the kind of fast you should undertake. Jesus implied that all of His followers should fast. For Him it was a matter of when His followers should fast, not if they should do it. Before you fast, decide the following up front:
- How long you will fast – one meal, one day, a week, several weeks
- The type of fast God wants you to undertake
- What physical or social activities you will restrict
- How much time each you will devote to prayer and God’s word

Step 3: Prepare Yourself Spiritually
The very foundation of fasting and prayer is repentance. Unconfessed sin will hinder your prayers. Confession, forgiveness and restitution are a beginning. Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Meditate on the attributes of God. Do not underestimate spiritual opposition. Satan sometimes intensifies the natural battle between body and spirit.

Step 4: Prepare Yourself Physically
Fasting requires reasonable precautions. Consult your physician first, especially if you take prescription medication or have a chronic ailment. Prepare your body. Eat smaller meals before starting a fast.

Step 5: Put Yourself On A Schedule
For maximum spiritual benefit, set aside ample time to be alone with the Lord. Listen for His leading. The more time you spend with Him, the more meaningful your fast will be.

Step 6: End Your Fast Gradually
Begin eating gradually. Do not eat solid foods immediately after your fast. Suddenly reintroducing solid food to your stomach and digestive tract will likely have negative, even dangerous consequences. Try several smaller meals or snacks each day.

Step 7: Expect Results
If you sincerely humble yourself before the Lord, repent, pray, and seek God’s face; if you constantly meditate on His word, you will experience a heightened awareness of His presence. You will feel mentally, spiritually, and physically refreshed. You will see answers to your prayers.

Prayer and Fasting

1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' 14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
16 "When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matt 6:1-18

If one were to ask most people in the world what they could quote from the Bible, probably the most frequently mentioned text, by Christians as well as others, would be what we now know as “The Lord’s Prayer”. Matthew includes this as one of Jesus’ teachings, following the Beatitudes, in what we now refer to as “The Sermon on the Mount.” Although we often see this prayer out of the context of this teaching, here it is clearly included as one of a series of what we might today call Spiritual Disciplines: Forgiveness, Giving to the needy, Fasting and Simple Living.

This is not the only place that the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting are linked. Jesus prayed and fasted in the wilderness. The Pharisees accused Jesus and his disciples of failing to pray and fast when they ought. Jesus explained that the driving out of evil spirits in a demonized boy could only be done through prayer and fasting. Moses the lawgiver, David the King, Elijah the Prophet and Daniel the faithful governor all are recorded as fasting and praying. Hannah in the Old Testament and Anna in the New Testament both employed prayer and fasting as a regular spiritual discipline. Fasting and prayer were regular aspects of life for the Desert Fathers, many of the early Saints and the reformers Luther, Calvin and Knox.

In the passage above we see Jesus’ assumption that his disciples will both pray and fast and his warning that these are not meant to be badges of spiritual accomplishment or produce admiration from others, but rather are one way in which we can grow closer to God. If prayer is the method by which we are empowered to carry out much of God’s work, its occasional accompaniment with fasting is what empowers our prayer. But what is fasting and what does it achieve? Elmer Towns in his book, Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough, explains: “It’s important to note that religious practices such as fasting are less important than doing God’s will. As Micah 6:8 points out, what the Lord truly requires of us is devotion to Himself: ‘To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.’ Fasting is not an end in itself; it is a means by which we can worship the Lord and submit ourselves in humility to Him. We don’t make God love us any more than He already does if we fast, or if we fast longer. As Galatians states, ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage’ (5:1). The goal of any discipline is freedom. If the result is not greater freedom, something is wrong.”

The act of fasting is withholding voluntarily something from ourselves. This might be food or drink, an activity in which we would under other circumstances engage, or a pleasure which might otherwise find ourselves enjoying. In short, we deny ourselves something. The purpose of this is to humble ourselves before God. But fasting without God is merely self-denial or asceticism. The power comes when we do this together with Him. If we couple the discipline with our prayer (relationship building) with God, then the denial becomes a giving over of ourselves to our Lord for His purposes. Our fasting then serves to remind us of our own weakness and dependency on God. It might give us the time or opportunity to add something of God’s purpose to our lives – like more time to study or giving to the needy. It can be a further joining of our souls to His Spirit. This can be true whether we deny ourselves totally as in the abstaining from eating for a prolonged period or partially as in refraining from certain foods or practices for a short time.

In coming days we will continue to consider what the Bible has to say about fasting and prayer. But whether or not you choose to accompany your prayer with fasting at this time, can I suggest that you join with Linda and me in asking God for His mercy and compassion for each other.

Mike Clarkson

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare

32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom. Luke 12:32

12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. Matthew 11:12


Over the past several weeks we have seen how God has called us to prayer in order that, through consistent and intimate communion with us He can make us more like Him. He can minister to us, can place His Spirit and His Kingdom values in us, can guide us and enjoy our company. We have also seen how our time in prayer can achieve the purposes of expanding the Kingdom of God that He is seeking. Through prayer we become partners with the Living God in the work of the Kingdom. This may be through praying for the welfare of others or on behalf of specific tasks and results.

Intercessory prayer is sometimes also called Spiritual Warfare. For the more peace-loving of us this may seem strange or even distressing. “I thought that Jesus came to bring peace and that we were to be people of peace,” we might well think. In this we would not be wrong – but, if we are to be effective in our prayers we need also to understand that we do not simply seek to build God’s work in a vacuum. The Bible tells us that we have an enemy. Peter describes this enemy whom we sometimes call Satan or the devil: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1 Peter 8:8,9

Luke records Jesus’ reassurance above, that God intends for us to have His whole world. We saw the same promise earlier in Genesis. But we also hear through the words of Jesus recorded by Matthew that we may need to fight in order to obtain the Kingdom which has been promised us. That fight is part of what our prayer lives are all about. We struggle through prayer to allow God to make us all that He intends for us. We battle on behalf of others who may not be able to enter into such warfare on their own or may need additional help. We add our voices to God’s intentions to bring about His victories on this earth. This was the model that Jesus himself presented to us.

In his book, Born For Battle, R Arthur Matthews explains:
“It has been said that ‘the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.’ The essential principles that brought about the defeat of Napoleon were developed on the football field. Had there been no football-field discipline, there could have been very different results at Waterloo. It might appear to border on impudence to transfer the thought and say that the battle of the Cross was won on the praying field of Gethsemane, but I am serious. If not actually in terms of encounter with the enemy, then from the point of vital principle, it was most certainly so.
“The Soldier of the Cross had taught His disciples the need to pray, ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ The obvious inference is that God has limited certain of His activities to responding to the prayers of His people. Unless they pray, He will not act. Heaven may will something to happen, but heaven waits and encourages earth’s initiative to desire that will, and then pray that it happens.
“The Cross of Jesus Christ represents the one focal point in history at which the redemptive work of God for man focused and culminated in one infinite, massive act. Gethsemane represents the vital principle which makes it possible for that redemptive work to be successfully consummated on earth.”

In other words, our prayer not only prepares us for the battle in which we are engaged every day, it also places ammunition in God’s hands for Him to be able to use in His own time and place to further the work of His Kingdom. In this way we are the sheep of His pasture but we are also the soldiers of His army! As you pray today, ask God for the one thing He would want you to pray that would help His cause and would make best use of your time in this battle.

Mike Clarkson

Prayer – The Work of the Kingdom

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they replied.
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no-one knows about this." 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.
32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
34 But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matt 9:27-38

Martin Luther, when once asked what his plans for the following day were, answered, “Work, work, from early until late. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Martin Luther understood that the work of the Kingdom of God begins with intercessory prayer and is only completed through such prayer. In fact, it can well be said that the primary work of the Kingdom of God is prayer – all other is the outworking or result of this time spent apart with God.

Matthew’s account above of part of one of Jesus’ days is fascinating. It contains healing, deliverance, teaching, miracles, meeting new people, travel, persecution and misunderstanding. But Jesus’ instruction to his disciples is to pray (ask the Lord of the Harvest). The subject matter of that prayer is not strength, wisdom, healing power, protection from adversity; but rather for more people to help with the work. As this passage appears immediately before the sending out of the Twelve, apparently Jesus knows that as they pray, they themselves will be enlisted in this work and they will be empowered to do it. The prayer not only prepares the work and the worker, the prayer is also the work itself.

O’Hallesby in his classic book on prayer says, “Prayer is the most important work in the Kingdom of God. It is our Lord’s will that we should enter into this work as soon as we have been won for God. We should by our prayer enter into the work which has been begun by our Christian parents [or predecessors] and for which they have sacrificed, suffered, striven and prayed. We should enter and build upon their work, first and foremost by means of prayer.” Dr A. J. Gordon adds: “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”

One way of interceding is to spend the first few minutes of your prayer time asking God to show you what He is doing. This might be His plans for your life, it might be a vision for the The Church Of The Cross, it might be God’s purposes for a particular person or nation. Once you can see the shape of God’s will, then devote the rest of your prayer time towards asking God to accomplish aspects of that plan. Pray for the people involved, for the resources necessary for the environment in which it is to take place and against any interference which might seem possible. In this way you will be engaged with the Master Architect in the building of His Kingdom on earth.

Mike Clarkson

Moses The Mighty Intercessor

11 But Moses sought the favour of the LORD his God. "O LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance for ever.'" 14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. Ex 32:11-14


Dutch Sheets in his book on Intercessory Prayer defines it as, “An extension of the ministry of Jesus through His body, the Church, whereby we mediate between God and humanity for the purpose of reconciling the world to Him, or between Satan and humanity for the purpose of enforcing the victory of Calvary.” In other words, we stand in the middle – or in the gap – between the forces of the Supernatural and the world for the benefit of humanity.

Moses was well versed in this type of activity. Four times he interceded on behalf of Pharaoh and the people of Egypt to relieve them from God’s wrath. He stood between the people of Israel and God’s wrath at the rebellion of Korah (Numbers 16:20-22), pleaded for mercy for Miriam in her pride and rebellion (Numbers 12:9-14), sought on behalf of the dispossessed people of Israel to protect them (from Pharoah’s army at the Red Sea), provide for them (manna and water) and guide them (the pillar of fire and cloud of smoke). All of this he did through entreaty to his God.

But perhaps the clearest example of a life lived in close proximity to his God and on behalf of his people is the passage above. Having spent 40 days in the presence of the living God, Moses is now in a position to apply that relationship in hopes that God will show mercy rather than justice to a wilful and disobedient people. He reminds God of His past great love for His people Israel, His promises to them, the extent to which His reputation has been given over to them and His future intentions regarding them. His pleading is successful and, golden calves notwithstanding, the Law is provided once again to God’s people for their edification.

But how do we act as a prayer advocate for others before a Holy God? Ken Gardiner in his book “Standing in the Gap” explains:

“We, today, are God’s people in the world, but we have access to the storehouse of every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Our intercessory prayer is essential to God. He is only waiting, but He is waiting, for His own to cry to Him and He will open that storehouse and pour out all we seek.

“I constantly use my imagination and I have always pictured myself when I pray, as coming before the throne and facing God, so to speak: looking towards him. This attitude is surely right when we make our confession or bow before Him in adoration, praise and thanksgiving. It also has a place, initially, with regard to intercession. We need to come before Him as we present our petitions and share with Him as we seek to discover His will. However, once we are in a position of understanding what His will is and believing we have received our petition then, to use picture language, we have to turn so that we stand alongside God and face the object of our prayers. From this position we proclaim or command that what we have requested be fulfilled, made real, on earth.”

When our prayer begins to be for others, we begin to take onto ourselves the same attitude that Jesus showed throughout His ministry. He knew what the Father wanted for His people and so Jesus stood before God all the time asking that God would bless and help him bless those around Him. But we do this knowing that as we are praying for others, so Jesus is praying for us at the right hand of the Father and the Holy Spirit is directing our prayers all the while. In this way we become one with the Holy Trinity and God’s Kingdom is built in us and through us.

Mike Clarkson