If anyone tries to tell you exactly how to pray, take their advice with a great big grain of freedom - i.e. don't listen unless the Holy Spirit is jumping around inside you going YES, YES, I wanna do that! (Thought I'd just start with that qualifier.)
If you have been following these posts, you'll see I'm trying to take you on a journey of dumping the old stuff, going back to the beginning - the Cross - and starting all over again to lift your expectations for who you are now in Christ - a saint, full of Love and Power because Jesus has taken over your body. We are zombies for Christ! Only these zombies don't belong to the dark side at all - we are totally full of Light, and because He is holy, we are holy. Woohoo! Can't earn that there - so as long as we give up trying to earn anything and learn to rest in His awesomeness, the Planet is ours!
Remember why you are on planet earth - ENJOYMENT in relationship with God, and the inevitable consequence is bringing a bit of Heaven to earth wherever you go.
That's where what we call 'prayer' comes in. Really what we are talking about is spending time with God to hear what He wants to do. No matter what our need is (or how urgent) the answer is in the question mate (John 5:19):
What is the Father saying? What is Heaven's perspective on this?
So in my books, prayer is whatever action you take to 'position' yourself to hear what Heaven is saying. I said last time that in prayer "we listen to what the Father is wanting to do and simply agree with Him." If there were three recommendations I could give as a basis of prayer, it would be: 1. Rest in Him 2. See what He sees 3. Speak it out.
1. We covered 'Rest is a Weapon' in post #3. Remember Jesus said in John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you...Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." If we allow ourselves to get stressed out, worried, anxious or fearful about something, this can displace our peace and makes us vulnerable to reacting to the 'something' instead of responding to Heaven. The enemy seeks to pull us out of rest, therefore step number 1 is to make sure we get back into it.
How this looks for you is completely tailored by you. You need to connect with how you are wired to answer that. For example, what causes you to rest? Is it music? Singing? Praise? Worship? Dancing? Lying prostrate? Staring at the sunrise/sunset? Being immersed in nature? Reading the Bible or speaking out verses? Kneeling in silence? Going for a walk? (Prayer-walking). Focusing on some aspect of God's being?
You'll probably need to access at least three different ways in order to be able to enter 'rest' no matter whether you're at home, work, driving in the car, or at a party. So try different things out and see which you really get a buzz out of. Prayer is not supposed to be a chore! Mix it up depending on what you sense is going to work for that time. It could be different every time! No limits! Complete freedom. (As long as it doesn't wake the baby next door).
How do you know you've entered into rest? Believe me, YOU'LL KNOW! (I mean - whispers you'll know). You will know you're ready to move on from there and get into the good stuff. And quite frankly sometimes all you'll get to do is soak in rest and THAT actually is the answer for you at that time. You'll feel the conclusion (or get interrupted if you're a mum!) and all will still be well with the world.
Number 2 next time. Homework this time: get busy and rest!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
How to Pray VI - Enjoyment!
Another wonderful book has just been devoured. Oh the wonder of the marvels of what God is up to on the planet! I highly recommend Beni Johnson's 'The Happy Intercessor'. That's my kind of title too.
So far we have looked at wanting to change, learning to rest, cleansing, and being properly saved/i.e. totally exchanged at the cross and letting Jesus run our Christianity. But I have got so caught up in getting across all the theological barriers to true relationship with God and leaving behind religion, that I have just about let the whole point I started this blog slip:
Love and Enjoyment.
See, the reason God created you was because He delighted in you, enjoyed you, and wanted you to enjoy Him too! You were created for pleasure, and as such, you have a pleasure seeking missile within you. We get into strife of course when we try to try to fill up outside of anything other than the King Himself. Short term gain = lifelong pain!
Not only that, but He made you unique and so the things that bring you great enjoyment will be unique to you. That means that other people's formula's for fulfilment in Christ aren't necessarily going to work for you. No kidding! You've probably already discovered that! The Christian life gets pretty dull if we take a look around at some of God's children 'sacrificing' for Jesus, striving and straining to make the goal, burdened and weary, dancing one minute and crashing the next. No more. No more.
Where does prayer come into this? Let me give you a picture of what it could look like: Prayer is just a side effect, if you like, of being completely enraptured with the Creator. We are, in the end, compelled to take action as we become aware of our God given authority and ability to bring the purposes of Heaven to earth. We love to do it! We are so moved by a certain passion (that will be unique to us) that we listen to what the Father is wanting to do and simply agree with Him. We know we don't have to drum up some great prayer words, but just rest in Him, see what He sees, then speak it out prophetically - how it looks from Heaven's perspective.
Once we are enjoying God and learning what our purpose is, prayer, Bible reading, evangelism, and any other 'Christian' action just become side effects of the relationship. This is the ONLY way these things are effective- when we do them because we utterly want to, are drawn to it, or know we have heard from the Holy Spirit. We LOVE to pray. Therefore we don't do it as a habit or an obligation at any time! Can you ever feel like this? YES YOU CAN! Hang in there - the Spirit of Christ is contending for you, interceding for you, drawing you to Himself in love and enjoyment.
Next post: I'll give you some practical ideas of how to pray.
So far we have looked at wanting to change, learning to rest, cleansing, and being properly saved/i.e. totally exchanged at the cross and letting Jesus run our Christianity. But I have got so caught up in getting across all the theological barriers to true relationship with God and leaving behind religion, that I have just about let the whole point I started this blog slip:
Love and Enjoyment.
See, the reason God created you was because He delighted in you, enjoyed you, and wanted you to enjoy Him too! You were created for pleasure, and as such, you have a pleasure seeking missile within you. We get into strife of course when we try to try to fill up outside of anything other than the King Himself. Short term gain = lifelong pain!
Not only that, but He made you unique and so the things that bring you great enjoyment will be unique to you. That means that other people's formula's for fulfilment in Christ aren't necessarily going to work for you. No kidding! You've probably already discovered that! The Christian life gets pretty dull if we take a look around at some of God's children 'sacrificing' for Jesus, striving and straining to make the goal, burdened and weary, dancing one minute and crashing the next. No more. No more.
Where does prayer come into this? Let me give you a picture of what it could look like: Prayer is just a side effect, if you like, of being completely enraptured with the Creator. We are, in the end, compelled to take action as we become aware of our God given authority and ability to bring the purposes of Heaven to earth. We love to do it! We are so moved by a certain passion (that will be unique to us) that we listen to what the Father is wanting to do and simply agree with Him. We know we don't have to drum up some great prayer words, but just rest in Him, see what He sees, then speak it out prophetically - how it looks from Heaven's perspective.
Once we are enjoying God and learning what our purpose is, prayer, Bible reading, evangelism, and any other 'Christian' action just become side effects of the relationship. This is the ONLY way these things are effective- when we do them because we utterly want to, are drawn to it, or know we have heard from the Holy Spirit. We LOVE to pray. Therefore we don't do it as a habit or an obligation at any time! Can you ever feel like this? YES YOU CAN! Hang in there - the Spirit of Christ is contending for you, interceding for you, drawing you to Himself in love and enjoyment.
Next post: I'll give you some practical ideas of how to pray.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
How to Pray V - Back to the Cross
Sorry about the pause in blogging; got busy (coughs). Actually I was caught up in reading 'Mystical Union' by John Crowder and really needed to finish it so I could accurately get across the RADICAL and THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING points he gets across. It's perfect timing for this Brilliant Prayer Life journey.
Last blog we ended with 'let it go' referring to all the stuff that holds you back from right relationship with God. It all ends here. Now lets just make sure you know what a scandalous gospel you have got yourself into.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal 2:20)
The rest of this blog is made up of excerpts from Crowder: (I'll be back)
Everything that hindered you from God was eradicated on the cross. Your complete merger with God took place on the cross, and thanks to that work, you are now an inseparable entity with Him...The very thing that separated you from God - sin itself - was evaporated there, as far as you are concerned.
You 'died to sin'. This means it is no longer a part of you. You are not a 'sinner saved by grace'. You are a saint. Grace transformed you from one thing into another. (check out Romans 6:2 to 5). The old self is annihilated. That means it no longer exists. Death to self is not a lifelong process that is dependent on your own efforts. I love the way Crowder puts this:
"He didn't just give you a pretty screen saver, ignoring all the viruses, porn and spyware on your hard drive. He wiped the whole hard drive out."
What died? The entire fallen personality. Your old depressed self. Your old sinful self. The old fearful you was buried. The old anxious, unbelieving you took a bullet. Your poverty died with Him. Every bit of darkness and disease died with Him. Your old religiously sober self was also crucified. The boring you as well.
Whether you feel it or not, you are now one body and one spirit with Christ. Rest in that reality, and you will feel His Presence. Faith comes before the feeling. And faith is simply trust. Believe that this mystical death really took place, and you will cease to act like that dead man.
Very simply, the gospel is a revelation that you have died with Him.
If you've been taught that Christianity is a lifelong process of struggling and brokenness, I would invite you to be whole. Give up and let Jesus run your Christianity.
Maybe you've been going to church for decades, but still never heard or believed the gospel. If you thought Christianity was a do-it-yourself morality club, a clean-yourself-up process of continually seeking but never finding God- and you were never actually transformed by the glorious finished work of Christ, don't cry over those wasted years. Here's your chance...get saved!
The moment you decide to do something to be holy, you have trusted in yourself, instead of Christ, for salvation.
You need to know who you are. You are a pure, holy, child of God. There is no effort or work involved for you to be who you are. A tree does not labour or strive to be a tree. In the same way, you do not labour or strive to be holy. Holiness is simply your first and primary nature. Just be yourself.
You have to believe what you are. Sin is like a third shoe. It doesn't fit you anymore, because you don't even have that leg! If you have been wrestling with sin, you have been shadowboxing a lie. Struggling completely in vain. I am not telling you to pretend the sinful nature is not there. I am saying that it doesn't even exist. The only power that a lie has is the degree to which you believe it. To the degree that you believe you are somehow a saint/sinner mutant, you will manifest unending struggle. To the degree you believe you are completely whole, thanks to His work, you will effortlessly shine forth Christ.
It is a myth that Christians must overcome their flesh.
Don't believe the hype about how difficult temptation will be - nor how the devil will immediately come after you to make things difficult when you get saved. You crossed over from the kingdom of darkness into light. Light and darkness cannot co-exist. When Christ comes into your life, flipping on the switch means that darkness flees the room. You are now evil free. Not half good/half evil. Lift your expectations for this glorious new existence.
We'll have a look at what that looks like next time.
Last blog we ended with 'let it go' referring to all the stuff that holds you back from right relationship with God. It all ends here. Now lets just make sure you know what a scandalous gospel you have got yourself into.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal 2:20)
The rest of this blog is made up of excerpts from Crowder: (I'll be back)
Everything that hindered you from God was eradicated on the cross. Your complete merger with God took place on the cross, and thanks to that work, you are now an inseparable entity with Him...The very thing that separated you from God - sin itself - was evaporated there, as far as you are concerned.
You 'died to sin'. This means it is no longer a part of you. You are not a 'sinner saved by grace'. You are a saint. Grace transformed you from one thing into another. (check out Romans 6:2 to 5). The old self is annihilated. That means it no longer exists. Death to self is not a lifelong process that is dependent on your own efforts. I love the way Crowder puts this:
"He didn't just give you a pretty screen saver, ignoring all the viruses, porn and spyware on your hard drive. He wiped the whole hard drive out."
What died? The entire fallen personality. Your old depressed self. Your old sinful self. The old fearful you was buried. The old anxious, unbelieving you took a bullet. Your poverty died with Him. Every bit of darkness and disease died with Him. Your old religiously sober self was also crucified. The boring you as well.
Whether you feel it or not, you are now one body and one spirit with Christ. Rest in that reality, and you will feel His Presence. Faith comes before the feeling. And faith is simply trust. Believe that this mystical death really took place, and you will cease to act like that dead man.
Very simply, the gospel is a revelation that you have died with Him.
If you've been taught that Christianity is a lifelong process of struggling and brokenness, I would invite you to be whole. Give up and let Jesus run your Christianity.
Maybe you've been going to church for decades, but still never heard or believed the gospel. If you thought Christianity was a do-it-yourself morality club, a clean-yourself-up process of continually seeking but never finding God- and you were never actually transformed by the glorious finished work of Christ, don't cry over those wasted years. Here's your chance...get saved!
The moment you decide to do something to be holy, you have trusted in yourself, instead of Christ, for salvation.
You need to know who you are. You are a pure, holy, child of God. There is no effort or work involved for you to be who you are. A tree does not labour or strive to be a tree. In the same way, you do not labour or strive to be holy. Holiness is simply your first and primary nature. Just be yourself.
You have to believe what you are. Sin is like a third shoe. It doesn't fit you anymore, because you don't even have that leg! If you have been wrestling with sin, you have been shadowboxing a lie. Struggling completely in vain. I am not telling you to pretend the sinful nature is not there. I am saying that it doesn't even exist. The only power that a lie has is the degree to which you believe it. To the degree that you believe you are somehow a saint/sinner mutant, you will manifest unending struggle. To the degree you believe you are completely whole, thanks to His work, you will effortlessly shine forth Christ.
It is a myth that Christians must overcome their flesh.
Don't believe the hype about how difficult temptation will be - nor how the devil will immediately come after you to make things difficult when you get saved. You crossed over from the kingdom of darkness into light. Light and darkness cannot co-exist. When Christ comes into your life, flipping on the switch means that darkness flees the room. You are now evil free. Not half good/half evil. Lift your expectations for this glorious new existence.
We'll have a look at what that looks like next time.
Monday, June 6, 2011
How to Pray IV - Wash Up
Wow okay, so the last blog was really long as I read it again! Back to small bites. But I hope you caught the way to start a new prayer life in all of that: learn to rest in God, that's how we access hearing from God eventually. To live in Christ means to be where He's at: and presently He is in heaven having done all His work, at rest and interceding for us.
You may be struggling with this rest thing and getting into a head space of meditation/intimacy/peace/chillin'/soaking in His Presence. So I had better mention a very important thing for those starting out or restarting out. You ain't gonna like it. You need the greatest courage for this. But we can't advance without it....... Good hygiene.
WHAAAAT?!
Sorry what I really mean is a decent wash. Okay that sounds worse. Spiritual speak?...you need to humble yourself and ask God to forgive and wash away ANYTHING that might be getting in the way of connecting with Him. Even if you can't think of a darn thing. (How 'bout - coarse language? That'll get most of us. Did I say 'darn'? Dagnabit!). Here's an exercise that might help:
Assignment: Get on your own with some time up your sleeve and kneel (on a cushion) or lie flat on the floor. Speak these words aloud: "Heavenly Father, wash over me now and remove any sin, shame, fear, doubt or grudge that I may have against you. I cancel any debt of unforgiveness hanging over my life. I cancel any permission I may have given to any unclean or ungodly spirit, and revoke any curse spoken over my life either by myself or others. I break the hold of disappointment, discouragement, and unmet dreams. Thank you Lord for washing these things away by the precious blood of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen."
You may find if you spend some time just listening, that specific things come to mind, and if so just speak out your own 'words of washing'. Now, let it all go (no use hanging on to any of that stuff!).
You may be struggling with this rest thing and getting into a head space of meditation/intimacy/peace/chillin'/soaking in His Presence. So I had better mention a very important thing for those starting out or restarting out. You ain't gonna like it. You need the greatest courage for this. But we can't advance without it....... Good hygiene.
WHAAAAT?!
Sorry what I really mean is a decent wash. Okay that sounds worse. Spiritual speak?...you need to humble yourself and ask God to forgive and wash away ANYTHING that might be getting in the way of connecting with Him. Even if you can't think of a darn thing. (How 'bout - coarse language? That'll get most of us. Did I say 'darn'? Dagnabit!). Here's an exercise that might help:
Assignment: Get on your own with some time up your sleeve and kneel (on a cushion) or lie flat on the floor. Speak these words aloud: "Heavenly Father, wash over me now and remove any sin, shame, fear, doubt or grudge that I may have against you. I cancel any debt of unforgiveness hanging over my life. I cancel any permission I may have given to any unclean or ungodly spirit, and revoke any curse spoken over my life either by myself or others. I break the hold of disappointment, discouragement, and unmet dreams. Thank you Lord for washing these things away by the precious blood of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen."
You may find if you spend some time just listening, that specific things come to mind, and if so just speak out your own 'words of washing'. Now, let it all go (no use hanging on to any of that stuff!).
Sunday, May 29, 2011
How to Pray III - Rest Up
Welcome again folks. Okay so far we have established that we need to let go of the stuff not serving us well, and actually want to replace it with something/advance. (I hope you made those lists - journalling can be a powerful reminder of how far we have come, always encouraging.)
In this post, I am going to lay a ground work of scripture and theory you are going to need for the journey ahead. (I know some of you are allergic to theory. Let's call it theology. No, that's worse!) So it might be a bit long, sorry, but very essential before we move on. I'm also going to give you the number 1 lesson in prayer. So hang in there.
A third step that is essential to begin with is a reminder that as believers we are to take more notice of the unseen world than in what's in front of us. Time for a scripture quote: 2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Never forget that often we are not dealing with the physical world, but the spiritual. There are things going on behind the scenes (almost ALWAYS activated by words) that are affecting the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual natures of those around us, and ourselves, either for good or for evil. That's it in a nutshell. I'll put some links on the end of this post so you can read more for yourself if needed.
And that brings us to lesson number 1 in prayer. If you remember nothing else I hope you hang onto this in the future. For me it was the most releasing thing to realise God wanted me to do this above everything else when we were together. Drum roll please...
Rest.
Yes, you read it correctly, I said REST! But not in big shouting capital letters like that of course, I mean rest...with nothing added to it, no catches, no prerequisites, no performance measurement. Let me explain.
You see, Rest is a weapon. The enemy cannot penetrate the armour of a person at rest in God. According to Graeme Cooke, 'to stay (and calmly stand your ground) when everyone around you is running takes supreme confidence in who God is for you. These warriors carry an assurance of God's heart toward them. They know it is not about how strong we are, but how powerful the Lord is in our lives! To know beyond any shadow of a doubt that God is bigger, and therefore you cannot lose - that's the faith that moves mountains.'
If we are not consciously partnering with God, who are we in alliance with? We may think the answer is 'no-one', but there is an enemy waiting ready to pounce on any ground that you give him. The secret to not letting this happen is making sure we are partnering with God, and the key is in resting in Him. Wow! Simple. But how?
Jesus calls this partnering a yoke. Not a very PC concept, but here it is: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
As Cooke puts it :'There is a place set aside for us in the Spirit where we can make the enemy tired. We can make him weary, discouraged, deflated, and intimidated by our intimacy and rest in Jesus.'
Rest instead of weariness is a huge gift from Jesus. John 14:27 reiterates "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Just a note here that Jesus is not saying nothing bad will ever happen to you - the victory of Jesus does not shield us from the intrusion and impact of adversity and warfare. Nor does it mean we will not suffer or even lose our life in the service of God. (Read 2 Corinthians 6:4-10)
Now, a spot of theology before we continue. God is in Heaven, right? And Jesus, having come to earth as a man, (being restricted to human form while He was here), by His death overcame the world, disarmed the ruling powers (Colossians 2:15) and now is seated in heaven in the place of supreme authority with everything being subject to Him (Ephesians 1:21-23). The Holy Spirit is the one sent to earth to be with us. (John 16:12-15) It's important to remember these things when you are praying.
And here is some fantastic news - Jesus is also interceding for us from Heaven: "Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Romans 8:34. So we can never complain that 'no-one is praying for us'! (Thanks Pastor James for that one).
When He had done everything He needed to do, Jesus said "It is finished", and entered into His rest. Hebrews 4:9-10 says "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his." Jesus is now in a rest phase, interceding for us. So when we live 'in Christ', we are partnering with Him in rest and intercession. He already knows what to pray for us. We don't have to spend precious time and energy listing off our problems. He'd rather we learn to access His peace.
Graeme Cooke says 'Jesus is supremely unworried. Peace enables us to lead an untroubled life - that is, when trouble comes we are not fazed by it.' Here's the great thing about peace - we don't have to understand everything in detail in order to be at peace. It rules in our hearts, not our minds (Colossians 3:15). Peace does not come through settled thinking, but it can be displaced by an anxious, fearful mindset. Our 'heart' in this case is the inner man of our Spirit, our secret place where God lives within. We have to develop this secret place, and learn to access it more often, obviously.
Let's get back to the partnership/yoke thing: A yoke is a partnership relationship that enables us to fully cooperate with Christ in the matter of rest. A young ox is yoked with a mature ox so that it can be discipled in the role. The Spirit of Christ pulls us into rest and intercession (hearing what we need to hear from the heart of God for the situation). The enemy seeks to pull us out of rest by getting us to act too quickly to events. This is reacting to the situation rather than responding to the Lord.
Assignment: The best thing you can do in prayer is 'Be still and know that I AM'. Practically speaking, get into a place by yourself where you can be quiet and free to listen. Adopt a posture of attentiveness - whatever is comfortable for you. For me it is on my knees - long story. Find what it is for you. IF you can, have some favourite restful worship or instrumental music in the background (I'll tell you why in a later post). For a start just say 'Heavenly Father, here I am', and wait until you sense what to say next. Ask Him to wash over you with His rest and forgiveness if you are really stuck. Then just soak.
5 mins of this is worth more than 30mins of petition. Do this for 5 mins first thing every morning (or whenever works best for this) for a week just to start the good habit. He'll honour it. Then we'll tackle the saboteurs. God bless.
For Derek Prince' teaching on the spiritual world:
http://www.dpm.co.nz/upload/WebTL.pdf
In this post, I am going to lay a ground work of scripture and theory you are going to need for the journey ahead. (I know some of you are allergic to theory. Let's call it theology. No, that's worse!) So it might be a bit long, sorry, but very essential before we move on. I'm also going to give you the number 1 lesson in prayer. So hang in there.
A third step that is essential to begin with is a reminder that as believers we are to take more notice of the unseen world than in what's in front of us. Time for a scripture quote: 2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Never forget that often we are not dealing with the physical world, but the spiritual. There are things going on behind the scenes (almost ALWAYS activated by words) that are affecting the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual natures of those around us, and ourselves, either for good or for evil. That's it in a nutshell. I'll put some links on the end of this post so you can read more for yourself if needed.
And that brings us to lesson number 1 in prayer. If you remember nothing else I hope you hang onto this in the future. For me it was the most releasing thing to realise God wanted me to do this above everything else when we were together. Drum roll please...
Rest.
Yes, you read it correctly, I said REST! But not in big shouting capital letters like that of course, I mean rest...with nothing added to it, no catches, no prerequisites, no performance measurement. Let me explain.
You see, Rest is a weapon. The enemy cannot penetrate the armour of a person at rest in God. According to Graeme Cooke, 'to stay (and calmly stand your ground) when everyone around you is running takes supreme confidence in who God is for you. These warriors carry an assurance of God's heart toward them. They know it is not about how strong we are, but how powerful the Lord is in our lives! To know beyond any shadow of a doubt that God is bigger, and therefore you cannot lose - that's the faith that moves mountains.'
If we are not consciously partnering with God, who are we in alliance with? We may think the answer is 'no-one', but there is an enemy waiting ready to pounce on any ground that you give him. The secret to not letting this happen is making sure we are partnering with God, and the key is in resting in Him. Wow! Simple. But how?
Jesus calls this partnering a yoke. Not a very PC concept, but here it is: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
As Cooke puts it :'There is a place set aside for us in the Spirit where we can make the enemy tired. We can make him weary, discouraged, deflated, and intimidated by our intimacy and rest in Jesus.'
Rest instead of weariness is a huge gift from Jesus. John 14:27 reiterates "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Just a note here that Jesus is not saying nothing bad will ever happen to you - the victory of Jesus does not shield us from the intrusion and impact of adversity and warfare. Nor does it mean we will not suffer or even lose our life in the service of God. (Read 2 Corinthians 6:4-10)
Now, a spot of theology before we continue. God is in Heaven, right? And Jesus, having come to earth as a man, (being restricted to human form while He was here), by His death overcame the world, disarmed the ruling powers (Colossians 2:15) and now is seated in heaven in the place of supreme authority with everything being subject to Him (Ephesians 1:21-23). The Holy Spirit is the one sent to earth to be with us. (John 16:12-15) It's important to remember these things when you are praying.
And here is some fantastic news - Jesus is also interceding for us from Heaven: "Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Romans 8:34. So we can never complain that 'no-one is praying for us'! (Thanks Pastor James for that one).
When He had done everything He needed to do, Jesus said "It is finished", and entered into His rest. Hebrews 4:9-10 says "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his." Jesus is now in a rest phase, interceding for us. So when we live 'in Christ', we are partnering with Him in rest and intercession. He already knows what to pray for us. We don't have to spend precious time and energy listing off our problems. He'd rather we learn to access His peace.
Graeme Cooke says 'Jesus is supremely unworried. Peace enables us to lead an untroubled life - that is, when trouble comes we are not fazed by it.' Here's the great thing about peace - we don't have to understand everything in detail in order to be at peace. It rules in our hearts, not our minds (Colossians 3:15). Peace does not come through settled thinking, but it can be displaced by an anxious, fearful mindset. Our 'heart' in this case is the inner man of our Spirit, our secret place where God lives within. We have to develop this secret place, and learn to access it more often, obviously.
Let's get back to the partnership/yoke thing: A yoke is a partnership relationship that enables us to fully cooperate with Christ in the matter of rest. A young ox is yoked with a mature ox so that it can be discipled in the role. The Spirit of Christ pulls us into rest and intercession (hearing what we need to hear from the heart of God for the situation). The enemy seeks to pull us out of rest by getting us to act too quickly to events. This is reacting to the situation rather than responding to the Lord.
Assignment: The best thing you can do in prayer is 'Be still and know that I AM'. Practically speaking, get into a place by yourself where you can be quiet and free to listen. Adopt a posture of attentiveness - whatever is comfortable for you. For me it is on my knees - long story. Find what it is for you. IF you can, have some favourite restful worship or instrumental music in the background (I'll tell you why in a later post). For a start just say 'Heavenly Father, here I am', and wait until you sense what to say next. Ask Him to wash over you with His rest and forgiveness if you are really stuck. Then just soak.
5 mins of this is worth more than 30mins of petition. Do this for 5 mins first thing every morning (or whenever works best for this) for a week just to start the good habit. He'll honour it. Then we'll tackle the saboteurs. God bless.
For Derek Prince' teaching on the spiritual world:
http://www.dpm.co.nz/upload/WebTL.pdf
Monday, May 23, 2011
How to Pray II - Make the change
The other day I went to feed the cats as usual, rounded the corner of the laundry and was greeted with a swarm of black. Ants went scattering as I picked up the now definitely empty containers to clean, evacuated the cats, and sprayed away. I followed the trail around the corner and into the kitchen, where they had come up right under the pantry.
I was fairly relieved to find they hadn't even entered the pantry at all, after fearing what I might find in there. No, in fact the 'trail blazer' ant who made the original cat food find, had popped up from under the house, instinctively followed the walls until he came across something edible, raced back to the nest and bingo, a whole industrious following happened.
The ants had no idea that sitting right above their heads was an absolute smorgasbord of human food, even an open dish of honey! Why am I telling you this little tale?
Some of you will have guessed I am going to make an analogy with prayer, (like all good preachers?) and even what it is: Are we settling for catfood, following what is traditional or shown to us by others when it comes to our relationship with God? Or are we prepared to stretch ourselves a bit to work our way upwards, towards stuff designed for human consumption and provided in abundance? It might take a bit more effort in the first place, but the quality of the results is waaaay better, and better still, if anyone else follows you they'll thank you in the end!
I've already suggested the first thing we need to do is be prepared to let go of 'old stuff', worldviews that may not be serving us well (and now, catfood!). But the other thing you need in order to have a significant life change is to get/develop/desire a hunger for the real thing.
Most of us are happy to spit out the catfood. Now, do we really want something to replace it? 'Cause it would be easier to ignore the whole trailblazing thing and go back to being an infant ant that just gets carried around, fed and stroked, you get the picture. It actually costs something to get out there and look for better kai. (If you're like me you get sooo sick of hearing - "it's gonna cost you!") So, I'll put out a teaser and let you know, the cost is actually pretty much a buzz in itself, so not as hard as it sounds. The point is, you still need to WANT it first.
Assignment: This week, try writing down some of the stuff that comes to you that hasn't been working in your life. At the same time, a list of reasons why you really need to advance in your relationship with God, or effectiveness in prayer. There is power in writing things down, so go for it! You may be surprised at what the Holy Spirit brings to mind.
I was fairly relieved to find they hadn't even entered the pantry at all, after fearing what I might find in there. No, in fact the 'trail blazer' ant who made the original cat food find, had popped up from under the house, instinctively followed the walls until he came across something edible, raced back to the nest and bingo, a whole industrious following happened.
The ants had no idea that sitting right above their heads was an absolute smorgasbord of human food, even an open dish of honey! Why am I telling you this little tale?
Some of you will have guessed I am going to make an analogy with prayer, (like all good preachers?) and even what it is: Are we settling for catfood, following what is traditional or shown to us by others when it comes to our relationship with God? Or are we prepared to stretch ourselves a bit to work our way upwards, towards stuff designed for human consumption and provided in abundance? It might take a bit more effort in the first place, but the quality of the results is waaaay better, and better still, if anyone else follows you they'll thank you in the end!
I've already suggested the first thing we need to do is be prepared to let go of 'old stuff', worldviews that may not be serving us well (and now, catfood!). But the other thing you need in order to have a significant life change is to get/develop/desire a hunger for the real thing.
Most of us are happy to spit out the catfood. Now, do we really want something to replace it? 'Cause it would be easier to ignore the whole trailblazing thing and go back to being an infant ant that just gets carried around, fed and stroked, you get the picture. It actually costs something to get out there and look for better kai. (If you're like me you get sooo sick of hearing - "it's gonna cost you!") So, I'll put out a teaser and let you know, the cost is actually pretty much a buzz in itself, so not as hard as it sounds. The point is, you still need to WANT it first.
Assignment: This week, try writing down some of the stuff that comes to you that hasn't been working in your life. At the same time, a list of reasons why you really need to advance in your relationship with God, or effectiveness in prayer. There is power in writing things down, so go for it! You may be surprised at what the Holy Spirit brings to mind.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
How to Pray #1 - Deconstruction
Welcome! Brave aren't I? Well it has taken a long time to muster up the courage to tackle this area of prayer in the public domain. But after 40 odd years of being in the above boat (refer blog introduction) I can truly say I am standing on the land and the scenery is amazing! No longer tossed about in the sea of confusion, or languishing in a flat horizon of nothing but water, I am where Adam (and Eve) were designed to be - in charge of planet earth. Oooh, that sounds a bit dramatic, but it is entirely possible to actually feel optimistic to live in victory more often than defeat. Yay!
So if you don't mind, when I get a chance to blog away at this I will. Step one for us all is to be prepared to deconstruct. If prayer isn't working for you, or if your relationship with the Creator is a distant or haphazard one, keeping on doing the same thing will give the same results. What we need is HONESTY, TRUTH, REALITY, and being prepared to discard some views that may even seem 'right.' A lot of the stuff we inherit along the way, from well-meaning people, is ultimately unhelpful. Or sometimes we have just interpreted it wrong in the first place.
Are you ready to let go of what isn't working?
That's a GREAT start. In fact, it could be 75% of the solution.
So if you don't mind, when I get a chance to blog away at this I will. Step one for us all is to be prepared to deconstruct. If prayer isn't working for you, or if your relationship with the Creator is a distant or haphazard one, keeping on doing the same thing will give the same results. What we need is HONESTY, TRUTH, REALITY, and being prepared to discard some views that may even seem 'right.' A lot of the stuff we inherit along the way, from well-meaning people, is ultimately unhelpful. Or sometimes we have just interpreted it wrong in the first place.
Are you ready to let go of what isn't working?
That's a GREAT start. In fact, it could be 75% of the solution.
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