Praying Scripture

Perfectly timed with my sermon on prayer from yesterday, Tim Challies posted this reflection on praying Scripture.

I don't think there's a better way to ensure that we are "praying in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18) than to pray God's Word back to Him.

The Good Life

Last week I tweeted:

My biggest battle each day is to embrace the fact that conformity to Jesus - not comfort and ease - is truly the good life.

This has been a profound insight for me lately, occupying a good bit of my thinking and praying. If you're ever inclined to pray for me, I'd certainly value your taking this "tweet" and turning it into a prayer.

Praying with Eyes Open

A few times that I've watched Matt Chandler preach, I've noticed that he often (or maybe always) prays with his eyes open. So as he's preparing to pray at the beginning or end of his sermon, rather than shut his eyes he is looking at his congregation as he prays.

This struck me as a bit odd, but I wonder if it should. Does anyone else regularly pray with your eyes open? What do you think of this practice? Are there any biblical statements about shutting our eyes when we pray?

Ten Ways to Pray for Moms

I posted these three years ago on the Seeking Him blog, but since that is deceased now I thought I'd re-post it here (thanks to my friend Erin for giving these requests to me):

1. to be gospel centered- without the hope of Jesus cleansing us from our sin, reconciling us to God and spending an eternity in heaven, all of our work will be in vain
2. to memorize and meditate on the promises of God throughout the day so that we are focused on the One who gives all things for His glory and our good
3. for the fruit of the Spirit in all we do so that our children may see the hope of Jesus
4. for a soul at rest in the Lord so when struggle comes the peace of God still transcends
5. for a heart so satisfied in God that every word, facial expression and tone reflects a knowledge of the great grace we have been granted and extends that grace to others
6. for a knowledge of God’s person and the Scriptures so we may easily instruct our children in the every day occurrences of life
7. for the high standards of God’s Word in parenting our children so we do not fall into simply settling for half-hearted obedience from our children
8. for strength to persevere when they days and nights are long, knowing that we will reap a harvest in due time
9. for a great love and respect for our husbands so that our children know they are in third place in our lives and their dad is the leader of the home
10. for a contentment in the place God has us and a thankfulness that does not wish time away or hope to be somewhere else, but delights in the gift of being a wife and a mother

Moms, what would you add to this list?

When God's Answer is Different from Your Petition

A good quote from Tim Keller thanks to my friend Phil Henry:

"When God answers our prayers differently than we ask, he gives what we would have asked for had we known everything he knows."

Your Prayer Life

Thanks to JT for posting this convicting challenge from @johnwbryson:

If Jesus answered all your prayers from the last 30 days, would anything change in THE World or just YOUR world.

John Piper's Upcoming Leave

I was profoundly affected by the humility in this letter from John Piper written to his church. He will be taking a leave of absence from May 1st through December 31st:

As you may have already heard in the sermon from March 27-28, the elders graciously approved on March 22 a leave of absence that will take me away from Bethlehem from May 1 through December 31, 2010. We thought it might be helpful to put an explanation in a letter to go along with the sermon.

I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, I love my Lord, my wife, my five children and their families first and foremost; and I love my work of preaching and writing and leading Bethlehem. I hope the Lord gives me at least five more years as the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem.

But on the other hand, I see several species of pride in my soul that, while they may not rise to the level of disqualifying me for ministry, grieve me, and have taken a toll on my relationship with Noël and others who are dear to me...

Read the whole thing.

I imagine this was a very hard letter to write, but I pray that I'd be able to be this honest with my congregation. If you think of it, keep the Pipers in prayer.

A Lesson in Perseverance

This might be the best post from Abraham Piper I've ever read:

I tried for hours this morning to access the internet, though it wasn’t responding.

I don’t do that with God. Do you?

What Produces Prayer

This morning I had the (unexpected) privilege of preaching on prayer, which reminded me of this quote from Matt Chandler:

When the illusion of control disappears we become men and women of prayer.

He should know; he's currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for a malignant brain tumor. Of course I pray that it doesn't take that for me to learn this lesson, but what a valuable lesson it is to know.

Chandler Update

Here is the most recent update from Matt Chandler. He will begin radiation and chemotherapy next week. Some prayer requests:

• My doctors
• That God might glorify Himself in amazing ways through all of this
• The Village Church and our elders
• Complete healing
• Healthy appetite
• Protection from side effects of radiation
• Protection from side effects of chemotherapy
• Peace for my family…specifically my children and their salvation
  • Audrey 7 yrs. old
  • Reid 4 yrs. old
  • Norah 6 ½ months

Christ is All,
Matt Chandler

Keep Praying for the Chandlers

I trust many of you have seen this already, but it's certainly no harm in being reminded of this more than once. Continue to pray for Matt Chandler and his family:

On Tuesday, Dr. Barnett informed Matt and Lauren that the findings of the pathology report revealed a malignant brain tumor that was not encapsulated. The surgery to remove the tumor, the doctor said, was an extremely positive first step; however, because of the nature of the tumor, he was not able to remove all of it.

Matt, who is being released from the hospital today, is meeting with a neuro-oncologist this week to outline the next steps of the recovery process. There is a range of treatment possibilities but the exact course of action has not yet been determined. He will continue outpatient rehab.

You can read the rest of the update here. On his Twitter account, Chandler posted this:

Path report is 2ndary at best...good report doesn't mean much, bad report doesn't mean anything...my days r numbered and nt by ths report

I am incredibly grateful for this man's testimony. I pray that I will be able to suffer like him.

Pray big prayers, Christians

From a hymn by John Newton:

Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.

"Yet I will rejoice in the LORD..."

If you ever wonder what to pray for me, ask God to make Habakkuk 3:17-18 a reality in my soul. May I count all to be rubbish, if only I have Christ.

A Living Embodiment of the Last Post

Matt Chandler is one man who is, by God's grace, doing a marvelous job of embodying the three truths Justin Buzzard commended for our constant reflection.

On Thanksgiving morning Chandler suffered a seizure, collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. Today he is having a five-hour brain surgery to remove a large portion of his right frontal lobe. Chandler writes:

The last seven days have been some of the most interesting of my life. I have felt anxiety, fear, sadness and a deep and unmovable joy simultaneously and in deeper ways than I have felt before. I am grateful for this heightened sense of things. Today at 10:45 a.m. CST I will have a good portion of my right frontal lobe removed. I head into that surgery with a heart that is filled with gratitude and hope.

He goes on to mention ten things he's grateful for. I praise God for Matt's courage and steadfastness during this time. What an example of resting in God's sovereign, wise, goodness.

Remember to keep the Chandler family in prayer.

Prayer Request

In my preaching, I try to be transparent, making it clear that I'm far from perfect and have many struggles.

I want my blogging to be the same. It wouldn't be "real" if I just got online and posted some engaging quotes or ideas for you to consider. So if you'd be willing to pray for me, I'd value you're praying these words from Psalm 94 in my behalf:

"When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul."

Back to blogging tomorrow...

Prayer Needed

From the To Every Tribe twitter feed:

please join in us pray for David Sitton's brother Jim & his wife Muriel who lost thier daughter (6) & 3 other family members last night.

Read a news report of the tragic killings here.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

(Via Michael McKinley)

From The Valley of Vision. This is a Thanksgiving Day favorite...

O My God,

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow.

When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.

I bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, for sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou hast given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing senses to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.

I love thee above the powers of language to express, for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.

Praying faster than the speed of light

A question for those who've read Paul Miller's A Praying Life:

How do you linger over a prayer card (I don't know any Ernies, this is a sample card) for only a few seconds? What exactly does that kind of prayer look like?

I love the idea of prayer cards, and am building my stack of them. But I can't figure out how Miller spends only a few seconds on one and prays meaningfully.

Let me know what you think...

Prayer & the Gospel

There were many things I enjoyed about Paul Miller's A Praying Life; one of those things was the connection that Miller made between prayer and the Gospel. Here's one of my favorite quotes:

Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking that something is wrong with us. God looks at the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers.

If, like me, you desire a more enthusiastic, disciplined and joyful prayer life, Miller's book is an excellent read.

Praying for the Spirit

On Sunday, my sermon focused largely on understanding and treasuring the work of the Holy Spirit. It was an opportune time for such a sermon, as it came two days before the first Tuesday of the month (today, that is), when we have our monthly prayer meeting in which we pray for personal and corporate spiritual renewal.

Yesterday morning in my devotions, I read these words of Jesus in Luke 11:

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

What a great truth to be reminded of in preparing to pray for the more of the Spirit! And the parable that Jesus told immediately before these words indicates why it's important to pray for the Spirit over and over:

“Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs."

"Yet because of his impudence..." I think those are the key words. In light of this, I think gathering once each month to pray for the empowering work of the Spirit in our lives is certainly not too much praying!