"Cornered" article (June 2007)

"Much praying is not done because we do not plan to pray. We do not drift into spiritual life . . . We will not grow in prayer unless we plan to pray. That means, self-consciously setting aside time, to do nothing but pray" ( “A Call to Spiritual Reformation” p 19 Don Carson)

J.I. Packer wrote about his own pilgrimage in prayer and commented, "I believe that prayer is the measure of the man, spiritually, in a way that nothing else is, so that how we pray is as important a question as we can ever face" (My Path of Prayer, David Hanes, ed., Worthing, West Sussex: Henry E. Walter, 1981, p. 56).

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5: 16)

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5: 14-15)

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18)

God has increasingly impressed upon me, the deep necessity and urgency to pray. To call upon the name of the Lord; to seek His face more earnestly; to pour out my heart in praise and worship; to intercede and petition. Indeed, God hears our prayers, answers our prayers and moves in response to our prayers.

Prayers offered up to the throne room of God to intervene, to restore, to heal, to transform, to continue the work of sanctification, to save, to illuminate, to reveal, to forgive, to bind Satan, to protect, to give wisdom and understanding. They are heard by our Almighty God and loving Heavenly Father.

The more I grow in fellowship with God and His people; the more I am involved in the daily lives of others; the more I am aware of the happenings of persecuted Christians and other missionaries around the world; and the more “intensely” and “furiously” Satan shoots his fiery darts of temptations, enticements and doubts at God’s people and God’s church… the more I know that prayer is desperately and vitally important. Prayer is the key to spiritual power and “survival”.

Why should we be so dependant on prayer? It is because, in ourselves, we are limited in strength and ability; in wisdom and revelation; in power and might; in discernment and understanding. Our God is more than able to work through our prayers; in overwhelmingly difficult and seemingly impossible situations; according to His will and for His glory. He is the God who responds to the cries of His people.

“If 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” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

We are powerless when we are prayer-less. Anything we attempt to do in our lives without seeking God’s face in prayer (whether it be ministry or otherwise); is futile.

It was the habit of Jesus to spend time in prayer to His father. Jesus prayed when He was tempted; He prayed when He was tested; He prayed when He was crucified. He was dependant on the Father’s provision and perfect plan. How much more then, should frail; sinful; helpless; creatures like us, depend on the sovereign power of God, by praying to Him? God hears our prayers, when our wills are aligned to His.

Let us therefore labour in prayer for one another, for God’s church, and for all believers in Christ.

Please pray for us @north that:

· We would grow in depth and maturity in the Lord Jesus through committed prayer and consistent and faithful reading of God’s word.

· For new believers in Christ. That they may be discipled and grounded in the word and continue to remain steadfast in the Lord. That they may understand more and more the meaning and reality of putting God first in their lives.

· For those still seeking to understand the gospel and the truth of God’s word, that their hearts and minds may be enlightened by the Spirit and that they will be brought to conviction to confess Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

· For the International students, that they may continue to be willing to come to learn from the sermons and bible studies. That our interactions with them would be mutually encouraging and up-building.

· For families, that God would grant men in households the wisdom, discernment and strength, to be spiritual heads and to lead their families in godliness, grounded in the word of God.

· For new families and new comers, that they will feel welcomed into our family @north and anchor their “roots” with us

Article for "Cornered" Newsletter (April 2007)

As I sit here contemplating what I should write about this month, the “glory of God” comes to mind. Those who know me well enough, know how much I am influenced by John Piper; writer, speaker and pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minnesota, USA. Piper inspires me, by his godly life and his many writings and talks on the supremacy of God and the glory of God.

According to Piper:

“In the church, our view of God is so small instead of huge, so marginal instead of crucial, so vague instead of clear, so impotent instead of all determining, and so uninspiring instead of ravishing that the responsibility to live to the glory of God is a thought without content. The words can come out of our mouths, but ask the average Christian to tell what they know about the glory of this God that they are going to live for, and the answer will not be long.” [1]

Like Piper, I long for the glory of God to permeate in all of our lives. That His magnificent name be given due honor, praise and worship. My heart craves that we are giving God what we were created for.

“After all, man was created from the beginning in God's image that he might image forth God's glory!” [2]

Our lives would be totally transformed, if only we understood a small measure of the glory of God and caught a glimpse of God’s awesome majesty. His beauty, excellence, magnificence, purity, wisdom, goodness, mercy, grace, perfection, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, sovereignty; and the list goes on.

The glory of God is displayed in creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands” (Psalm 19:1) There are numerous passages in the bible that attest to the glory of God’s creation, and how the amazing, matchless handiwork of God, demands our total worship.

The glory of God is likewise displayed in His actions. “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Exodus 15:11)

God’s presence, His being, His character; embodies the full spectrum of holiness and glory. Whenever God revealed manifestations of His glory, lives would be shaken, stunned, overwhelmed and radically changed.

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, he was only allowed to see a “part” of God, His back. “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live”. God allowed His goodness to pass in front of Moses, but Moses was placed “in a cleft in the rock” with God’s hand covering him, while God passed by ( ref Exodus 33: 18-23) Even though Moses only had a glimpse of God’s “partial” glory, it left his face shining literally for days!

Ezekiel was thirty years old and exiled from his homeland, when God revealed His glory to him in a spectacular vision. Like John, Ezekiel could only describe what he saw in powerful symbolic terms. The description of the vision of “wings” and “wheels” seemed so “foreign” and “bizarre”. It was certainly nothing like anything he had ever seen nor experienced before. Ezekiel declared, “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord”. This powerful encounter with God left Ezekiel overwhelmed for seven days (ref Ezekiel 1-3:15).

Jesus is the ultimate display of God’s glory. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14)

Ironically, God was supremely glorified when Jesus accomplished the mission God had purposed for Him, by dying on the cross.
“Father, the time has come, glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him…I have brought you glory, by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:1-2; 4)

The question and challenge that comes to my mind as I write this is; “How important is it for me to delight in God, so much so that He is what satisfies me completely, and is therefore glorified in my life?”

Paradoxically, it seems that the way to glory also includes rejection, shame and suffering. Romans 8:18 tells us that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”. When we share in the sufferings of Christ, we will likewise share in His glory.
“In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves” (Ephesians 1:4-6)
Isn’t it an awesome privilege, to be sons and daughters of a glorious God and to accomplish the mission God has purposed for us, even before the creation of the world?

I pray that we would live passionate lives for God’s glory and kingdom! May His glory capture our hearts and minds and cause us to fall down on our knees in awe and worship of Him our whole lives.

“The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory” (Isaiah 60:19)
[1] John Piper, “A Passion for the Supremacy of God,” Spirit of Revival, March 2002, p 5
[2] John Piper, “God Created Us For His Glory” July 27th 1980