Prayer is more simple than you think

If you’re anything like me, you’re wondering “how do I pray?” I’m by no means eloquent. I’m not like everyone else in the pop corn circle of prayer at the end of small group every week. I don’t sound like them. I don’t have those words… So, how do I pray?

The enemy loves to freak us out when it comes to this subject. Prayer is one of the most powerful things we can do. We get the chance to speak directly to God. And for that, the devil does everything and anything to stop it. So he over complicates it: you don’t know enough scripture, you have no anointing, no power, you’ll sound stupid. Such lies.

Prayer is actually very, very simple. Take for example the prophet Elijah. Here is a man who just spent the past 3 and a half years praying for it not to rain on the earth – and it hasn’t. Now, he’s going to pray for it to rain…

“And Elijah said to Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.” 1 Kings 18:41-45

“he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees…” Elijah put himself into the most humble posture before the Lord. The position of your heart before the Lord as you pray is more important than any beautifully illustrated and grammatically correct set of words. God is not impressed by how well you know English…or any other language for that matter. God judges the heart, and this kind of posture is what matters.

“Go up now, look toward the sea…” Elijah was praying in expectation. He had faith that the Lord was going to answer his prayer. So much so that he put action into his prayer. Go, check, search, look. Not just praying and doing nothing. But praying and actively seeking the answer. So many people pray for things and wait for the answer to just slam them between the eyes. Sure God can and will most certainly do that at times. But that doesn’t show much heart, faith, or care on that individual’s part. No. God seems to be impressed by the one who prays and then seeks.

“and he said go, seven times…” SEVEN TIMES. Elijah. One of the most powerful prophets. This man stood before the Lord. He never tasted death, being carried away into Heaven by chariots of fire. At this mans word fire would come down from Heaven. Through his prayer, God brought a child back from the dead. Elijah. He had to say “go again” seven times, before he got an answer from God. Diligent and unyielding. He wasn’t going to stop until he received the answer. He diligently prayed for whatever it was that he was seeking. He prayed for it over, and over, and over, and over again. Did that feel annoying to read? That was only 4 only’s. He went 7 times. It got repetitive. Most likely tiring. It doesn’t say how long this whole process took. How long did he pray before he sent his servant the first time? How long did he pray between each time before that? My guess is that this was no short 5 minute prayer time. Elijah spent a lot of time in diligent prayer.

In this passage, did we get to see what Elijah was saying? Nope. My theory is that it really didn’t matter…how he worded his request, where to put certain emphasis, making sure he properly opened and closed the prayer (i.e. Dear Lord and Amen).

I think what God saw was the posture of his heart, his active seeking, and his diligently unyielding pursuit. This is prayer. So simple.

Seeking the Face of God

What does it mean to seek God’s face? We’re always told to seek God’s face and not just His hand. Well that’s a great point but just how do we go about seeking His face?

Seeking someone’s face is like seeking their attention. If there’s someone you want to notice you…what do you do? Simple, you do the things that you know they like. You talk about the things that they’ll want to talk about. Seeking the attention of God is no different. Do those things that are well pleasing in His sight, and you will have His attention:

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” 2 Chronicles 16:9

But there’s much more to the face than attention. The face is the #1 marker for the identification of a person. If you know exactly what someone’s face looks like, you’ll always be able to identify that person. No matter the circumstance, even if they change their hair and put on make-up… You can always see the person. So from this we know that seeking the face of God isn’t just His attention, it’s learning who His is and what identifies Him.

So what does the face of God look like?

Well that’s a question for the ages. Nevertheless searching through proverbs I noticed Solomon describing Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge, in a very specific and curious way.

“The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the earth; by Understanding hath He established the heavens. By His Knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.” Proverbs 3:19-20

When I read this I felt like these were more than just descriptions of how God created everything. They’re descriptions of what Wisdom is, what Understanding is, and what Knowledge is. If you take each sentence as a comparison, you see this:

Wisdom is compared to the earth; the earth is: physical, substance, seen.

Understanding is compared to the heavens; the heavens are: not physical, unseen, no literal substance.

Knowledge is compared to water/water cycle; the water cycle is: separating water from water, purifying and cleaning water.

            The rest of the chapter (through to the next two chapters) proceeds to describe in detail (and in order) these three things. The next verse begins Wisdom…

“My son, let not them depart from thine EYES: keep sound wisdom and discreation:” Proverbs 3:21

Wisdom is something you can see.

The rest of the chapter Solomon goes through proverbs on how one should act. They’re all actions, using many physical characteristics for emphasis. Such words as walk, foot, and EYES. Wisdom is something you live out, it’s what you see and what you do. It’s physical.

At the end of Proverbs chapter 3, Solomon wraps up Wisdom and begins describing Understanding in chapter 4:

“The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools”

Proverbs 3:35

“HEAR, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know Understanding.”

Proverbs 4:1

Understanding is something you can hear.

The rest of chapter 4, Solomon teaches on hearing commandments; sound doctrine – and listening to them. He talks about following instruction and teaching. He says to think/ponder your own way. The key words of this chapter are: Hear, instruction, remember, ponder, and listen.

            These are not physical things; they cannot be seen. You cannot see hearing, or touch instruction and listening.

            In the beginning of chapter 5 Solomon begins to describe Knowledge. However, this one starts out different…

            “My son, ATTEND unto my Wisdom, and bow thine EAR to my Understanding: that though mayest regard discretion, and that thy LIPS may keep knowledge.” Proverbs 5:1-2

Knowledge is something you speak.

            So from this first verse we see that Knowledge is the bringing together of both Wisdom and Understanding. It’s like Solomon is saying, alright…now act Wisely and listen to Understanding that you might be able to speak Knowledge. 

              So if you’re living in this certain way and thinking in this certain way, then you’ll speak in this certain way. Knowledge is the end result of being full of Wisdom and Understanding. Think about the water cycle, it’s not possible without both earth and sky.

In the rest of this chapter, words and speech continue to be discussed. Solomon also speaks about water sources. We’re told here to maintain our own cistern and well (source for personal drinking), and to not allow strangers to use our source of water (to keep it pure). This is likened to the water cycle. This is a separation of waters and a purifying of water. The key words in this chapter are: LIPS and water.

So after noticing all of this, I was of course full of excitement over the revelation of what Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge really are. Thinking out loud I said to myself…so Wisdom are like EYES, Understanding like EARS, and Knowledge like LIPS. Then I thought, whoa, it’s a face! Is this supposed to be our face? No…that’s not it…let’s go back to the first 2 verses that started this:

“The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the earth; by Understanding hath He established the heavens. By His Knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.” Proverbs 3:19-20

It’s by His Eyes, His Ears, and His Lips. It’s His face.

God’s eyes are Wisdom. His ears are Understanding. His Lips are Knowledge.

Seek these three things and you will be seeking the face of God.

Wading/Waiting in the Waters for God

The cares of this world are often like a storming current, wanting to push you back and forth with every wave of fear or discontentment. Situations arise that move you to anger and consume your mind with frustration. Allowing these situations to overcome you result in irrational and careless behavior. They are the ways of this world, constantly enticing you to live in your flesh. There’s a song by the band Loud Harp, called the fire and the flood, which God spoke to me through the other day. The lyric was this “Wade in the waters, God is going to trouble the waters.” This troubling of the waters is not referring to any kind of turmoil or trial. It’s a move of situations, a move of circumstances. Picture it: you’re slowing walking through a lake, water splashing against your waist. The water has a slight resistance to it; moving takes more work, more energy. It pushes against you, gently encouraging you to let go and follow its current instead. To wade through water, to wade through the cares of this world, the flesh and all the struggles it brings, requires patience, strength, and endurance. Sometimes the temptation to succumb to the pressure of this water is overwhelming. But even in these moments, when the current is pulling you harder than you can stand, God is going to come and trouble the waters. He will disturb the current of this world that is coming against you. He will surround you with peace and strengthen you to stand. It’s a combination of wading and waiting for God. Waiting on God to trouble the waters will result in you moving into a perfect posture. It will result in you moving into that place and position that God wants you in: But you must wade, and not succumb.

Saul, the first King of Israel, experienced this as well. Unfortunately when the water become violent and the current stiffened like a wall against him, he let go and let the water move him as it wished. Saul had only been King for 2 years when the Philistines came up against Israel to Michmash. The Philistine’s army had, “people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude.” 1 Samuel 13:5 All of Israel was distressed; some hid themselves in caves, others fled to neighboring kingdoms. Even the soldiers that followed Saul toward the battle trembled. The waters began to quicken.

Samuel, the prophet, told Saul to wait in Gilgal for 7 days until he arrived. Samuel would then offer a sacrifice to the Lord before they went into battle against the Philistines. As we see, “he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.” 1 Samuel 13:8

So he waited the 7 days as he was told. This is good. The current was pushing against him, yet he resisted – for a time. But when 7 days were up, he became frantic. Scripture states that the people began to leave him. His own soldiers were abandoning the fight in fear. Samuel still hadn’t come. The waters thrashed against Saul; all hope seemed lost.

This is the moment of choice. The moment where character is determined. Are you going to sink your feet into the mud and be a wall against the current itself, trusting that God is going to come? Or are you going to succumb, let go, and let the waters of this world carry you wherever it chooses?

Saul chose option number 2.

He gave up and allowed the water to overpower him. It beat around him, consuming him. The current of fear and panic rushed into his heart and mind. He took matters into his own hands. He brought out the offerings and sacrificed to the Lord, himself. But… “as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came” 1 Samuel 13:10

Saul thought he had done a good thing. After all, he waited the time allotted, but Samuel didn’t come. So he just made the sacrifice to the Lord himself. What’s wrong with that? Sacrificing to the Lord is always a good thing, yeah? Well, not necessarily… For just a little later Samuel speaks these words to Saul, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22

The Lord wanted Saul to wait; even when all hope seemed lost. The Lord seeks a heart with such devotion. He wanted to change Saul’s circumstance Himself. He wanted to see him stand strong against the waters of this world, having faith in Him. God wanted to come and make His own way of peace through water for Saul; to bring him into a position where He could establish his kingdom in Israel forever. But now that chance was gone.

 “Samuel said to Saul, thou has done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.” 1 Samuel 13:13-14

Saul’s impatience and disobedience exposed a lack of trust and hope in God. He allowed himself to be moved by the waters, thinking this would bring him into a position he thought best. But he ended up moving into a place where God could no longer bless him. He resisted not the world and its pulling temptations, but rather gave himself to them.

God wants to bless you. He wants to give you every good thing. But sometimes it requires simply wading through the waters of this world. Sure, you’re probably not up against quite the same pressure Saul was…thousands of men waiting to kill him and his own soldiers abandoning him. But the concept is the same nonetheless. You feel like the appointed time has come, and God still hasn’t shown up. The waters have rose up against you and the current is pulling you under. Hope seems like a far thing. But it’s in this moment that God is staring right at you, watching how you’re going to react. This is what trust means: that even in these moments, you look up toward Him and smile. For you know that He is going to come and trouble the waters. The cares of this world, that try to ensnare us, will tremble before Him. He will come and reveal His way through every situation; a way with a current of peace, that will carry you to the place where He will establish and bless you forever.

  

His Strength for His Way

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9

The Lord is eagerly searching for people with hearts wholly reliant on His strength; for hearts that lean on Him, that trust and walk in His way. His ways can sometimes appear intimidating or simply too difficult. But that couldn't be further from the truth. His yoke is indeed easy and His burden, light: for the heart that leans and follows, He will give His strength to. 

This lesson was learned the hard way by King David when he first attempted to transport the Ark of the covenant from Kirjathjearim to Jerusalem. By comparing this first attempt with the second (successful) one, we see the blessing and strength that is given when one chooses to walk in the Lord's commandments over their own ways. 

Lessons learned in Hunting: Victory comes from the Lord

                     

Numb hands; stiff arms. Cold air hits the lungs, slowly. Quiet. Eyes fixed. Wait. What was that? No. Nothing. Breathe out. Hand drifts back off the slide. Steel like ice. Anything can happen in this moment, or nothing at all. Hours of preparation, of silence and stillness, they count for nothing unless something comes..

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How close to God do you want to be?

God favors no man. Jesus said “seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) This offer is extended to anyone. God wants you to be as close to Him as possible, but He will not force you. He makes it entirely our choice. The only person that can stop you from being close/closer to God, is you. It’s not your family, your job, or your friends that keep you from God. In James it says “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his OWN desires and enticed.” (James 1:14) Did you know that even the devil himself cannot keep you from God? Again, in James it says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) He has to flee. This means he has no power over you, unless you give it to him. The only thing that he can do to you, is give you opportunities for you to stop yourself.

So that means, you will be as close to God as YOU want to be. Nothing, and no one can stop you! But you have to stop settling for less first!

There’s a song that’s flooded our Christian radio stations recently… This song gives the delusion of beauty but is in fact nothing more than a lie. It’s that new Casting Crowns song. You know, the one that’s main chorus line is “Can’t we just be broken together?” Now let’s try saying this line another way and see if we can see the deception - Can’t we just give up trying to be whole? Can’t we just settle for our infirmities, for our broken heart, for our distance from God? Can’t we just settle for pain, and sorrow? Hm...would you agree that these lines are basically saying the same thing? Because I certainly think so. What kind of message is this to the public? More curious is how this song was even approved for being aired on the radio as actually having a “good message”. This song saddens me, but I think it perfectly encapsulates the problem with the Church in America today. The Church has settled for being broken. They’ve stopped trying, stopped fighting, and have settled for settling.

This isn’t what God wants for us though! He doesn’t want us to be broken! Jesus didn’t come to die and rise from the dead so we could just sit around and “be broken together.” He came to make us whole! He came to heal! Jesus came to “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” (Isaiah 61:1) To give us life abundant. (John 10:10) To heal and redeem us.

Let’s think of this rationally. If you believe the lie “can’t we just be broken together” then that’s all you’ll probably ever be. Broken. Because the first step to being made whole is rejecting the brokenness, and wanting to be made whole. We’ve all heard the expression, "the first step is admitting you have a problem". Well likewise the first step is deciding you don’t want to have the problem anymore.

In the Gospels we see the story about Bartimaeus. He was a blind beggar who never would have been healed of his blindness if he accepted this lie. If he said, well I’m blind and there’s nothing I can do about it. If he had settled for his blindness, he never would have cried out to Jesus and he never would have received his healing. But Bartimaeus did NOT accept his brokenness. He KNEW Jesus was the healer, he KNEW Jesus came to mend and restore, he KNEW Jesus would make him whole. Bartimaeus rejected the liars who told him to keep quiet and he cried out all the more. Therefore Bartimaeus received healing.

When we reject our brokenness, our infirmities, our pain and sorrow; and cry out to Jesus knowing that He is our healer: we will be healed. BUT, the first step is rejecting the lie that says we can’t be healed. Rejecting the lie that say’s “let’s just be broken.” Rejecting the lie that says we can’t be as on fire for God as someone like Billy Graham or Beth Moore. You think Billy Graham would ever have become the man he is today if he looked at people like Peter or Paul and said to himself, Whoa, now I can’t have an anointing like them…I can’t be as close to God as they were. NO! Billy Graham became the man he did, because he knew God shows no partiality, because he knew if he gave all to God, that God would give all to him. He rejected every lie that said he couldn’t, and every lie that said God couldn’t.

You can be as close to God as you want to be. You can be healed of anything you want to be. But it takes effort. It takes great work, and great surrender, and great sacrifice.

There are levels of closeness to Jesus, and therefore levels of reward: Reward being more of God, who is “thy exceeding great reward.” (Genesis 15:1) So the more you give of yourself, the more of Him you’ll receive.

The first level (and furthest away from Jesus) is The Multitude – The ones that go to God whenever they’re hungry; whenever they have a need. Then they leave. These people do not rest in Jesus’s presence. They hear Him speak, get some food, and then go home (that’s where they rest). This is what’s wrong with America today, the Church has settled for being the multitude. They’ve settled for being broken. They’ve settled for not being on fire for God; for not resting in His presence. A key difference between the multitude and the rest of the levels of closeness to Jesus is also obedience. When Jesus asks them to do something, they don’t do it (ex. the rich young ruler that Christ told to sell as his belongings and follow Him). Disobedience and never resting in His presence caused the multitude to never receive understanding “hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Matthew 13:13)

The Second level to Jesus can be seen in The 70 Disciples –The ones that spend more time in His presence. This type of people make it their goal to be like Christ. Simply put, they received the title of disciple and that’s what the term means. They were literally in a tutorship on how to live like Jesus. They also both wanted to be and were used by God. They went on mission trips, spread the gospel, and loved in the name of Jesus. We also see that the 70 disciples were obedient to Jesus. When He asked them to do something, they did it. But the difference between this level and the closer levels is that these do not rest in His presence all the time. The 70 did not follow Jesus everywhere. They weren’t with Him at all times.

The Third level can be seen in The 12 Apostles – The ones that rested in Jesus’s presence at all times. These were the ones that were always with Jesus. They followed him anywhere He went. They woke up in the morning and there was Jesus. All day long, they communed with Him. To be able to do this the 12 left everything. They left their jobs and their families. Their love for Christ exceeded their love for anyone else. This level of closeness required their entire life. It was all they were. And what do we see the 12 receive above the other levels? Jesus explained the parables to them. They received the reward of revelations and understanding. These received a greater amount of Godly wisdom. These also received the reward of witnessing all of Jesus’s miracles, and were used to work miracles through themselves.

The Fourth level can be seen in The Three  – Peter, James, and John. These three apostles are often set apart by Jesus in the gospels. Jesus often chose them to be witnesses to some of the most amazing miracles and revelations. Jesus chose only them out of all his apostles to come into the room when He raised the little 12-year-old girl from the dead. (Luke 8:51) He again chose only them out of everyone else to witness Him transform on the mount, and to see Moses and Elijah, and to hear the very voice of God Himself. (Matthew 17) These three received a greater revelation and understanding than the rest of the 12. They also were able to witness greater miracles than anyone else. – Why? What did these three do that set them apart to receive such a great reward? – Starting with James and John, we see how they wanted to call fire from Heaven to consume a town in Samaria that had just rejected Jesus. (Luke 9:54) – Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing; this is true. However, underneath the overkill, what was their heart? It was to defend their master and to stand for Jesus. Then we see Peter: he cuts off the ear of one of the soldiers who came to take Jesus in the Garden (Matthew 26:51; John 18:26) He went too far, but his heart was to defend Jesus. Now this is just one of many differences that can be seen between these three and the rest of the 12. For times sake, I’m only pointing out this one. So what can we learn from it? A key difference between this level and the lower ones is a defensive heart for Jesus. Put it this way: when you hear someone say something that’s not true about Jesus, are you quick to defend? Or do you say nothing and let the lie continue?

Finally, the Fifth and closest level to Jesus (and my personal favorite) can be seen in The One – John, the one “whom Jesus loved.” (John 13:23) John (the apostle and one of The Three) was closer to Jesus’s heart than anyone else. At the last supper, we see how John rested. Read: John 13: 21-29 He rested with his head on the chest of Jesus. Now when you rest your head on someone’s chest, you hear their heart beat. I’m sure you’ve experienced this – the heartbeat is so loud that it practically drowns out every other noise. And this is where John rested. All the other 12 were in Jesus’s presence too (they were all in the same room), but only John rested on His chest. He wasn’t satisfied with just being in the room. He wanted to be as close to Jesus’s heart as he could. He wanted to hear His heart beat, and let every other sound in the world fade away. This is how John loves Jesus. And because John loved the most, he received the most.

At the last supper, when Jesus tells everyone that His betrayer is one of them, Peter asks John to ask Jesus who it is. Peter, who, “on this rock I will build My church,” dared not even ask. He knew though, that whatever John asks Jesus, Jesus will give it to him. This is a reward of such a close relationship; of such surrender and love for God. Because John’s heart was so close to Jesus, he rested in the sound of His heart. So John asked, and Jesus told him. John is also the one that wrote the book of Revelation. He is the one that was chosen to witness how God is going to unfold the end times, in perfect detail. John was also given understanding of the things that he saw. He received more revelation and understanding, and witnessed the greatest miracles and mysteries than anyone else - above the multitude, the 70, the 12, and the 3.

Why? – Because he gave more. He surrendered more. He loved more.

You can be the multitude, the 70, the 12, the 3, or the 1. It’s entirely up to you. God wants each and everyone one of us to be the 1. But it requires on our part the greatest level of surrender: everything.