I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:16-21

This is one of Paul’s great prayers and praise sessions in scripture. Paul often begins with a teaching that takes his mind to the amazing abundance of God available to his people and then those very thoughts drive him to little pockets of praise throughout his writings. But in these sections we can find spiritual realities that we need to grasp so let’s reflect on this section of his letter to the Ephesians.

Paul had already prayed for a number of things for the church in this letter. Here he prays for two more things: power in our inner man and the capacity to grasp the immensity of the love of Christ. He prays for the church at Ephesus but, by extension, I will apply his prayers to us. He begins by praying that God, out of his superabundant resources, will strengthen our inner being with power. Our inner being contains both our soul and our spirit which need the power or the force of God for strength. We ingest things for physical energy but there is also spiritual energy that sustains us. Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai in the presence of God without food or water. Something in the spiritual realm sustained him in the physical. No doubt we have a part in that. Moses’ part was to stay focused on God and to remain in his presence. Our part is similar. To stay focused on God and to stay in his presence through time in the Word, prayer, and praise. As we do, the Father imparts increasing power to our inner being and I believe even to our physical bodies indirectly.

The second thing Paul prayed in this section was for God to impart power so that we might have faith for Jesus to dwell in our hearts. This suggests that the extent to which Christ dwells in our heart is based on our faith and our faith depends on God’s power to increase it. Of course, we always have our part in this but Romans 12 says, “think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Rom.12:3).

When we come to Christ we have faith, we have the Spirit indwelling us, and we have Jesus dwelling in our hearts through the Spirit. Each of these is given in an initial measure that can be increased and should be increased as we mature in Christ. There is always more and we should always desire more. Paul’s prayer reminds us that God is the one who ultimately enables that increase. He does so when we press in for more – again with more time in prayer, in the Word, constant repentance that continues to align us with God, more obedience, etc.

Paul’s goal for us in that prayer, however, is not power for power’s sake but rather power to comprehend the vastness of Christ’s love for us. Most humans on this planet hunger for love. They look for it in all the wrong places, medicate when they can’t find it, write endless songs about it, and make movies about man’s search for someone to love him. What we are truly looking for is God’s love because it is only the love of the Father that will not fade, will not die, will not wander, and that is given unconditionally.

To truly grasp, comprehend, or get hold of the immensity of Christ’s love for us would solve our insecurities, our search for significance, our fear of abandonment, our fear of the unknown and even our loneliness. When those needs are met we have peace and the world is looking for peace. Paul’s prayer reveals that our grasp of this love must come to us through revelation, an impartation from God, and personal experiences with Jesus. Let me encourage you to pray for those very things for yourself and others who need to find Jesus or grow in him.

It’s easy to read sections of scripture like this and assume that Paul’s wish for us “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” is simply poetic language that, in reality, is unattainable for broken humans. But, Paul follows that declaration with a reminder that God operates without limitation. Nothing is too hard for him and he can do immeasurably more than anything we could ever ask or imagine.

We often live emotionally and spiritually unsatisfied lives in this world but it is not because God is unwilling or unable to satisfy us. It is usually because we are not really hungry enough to press in or because we keep trying to find the things that satisfy through our own efforts or through sources the world offers us. When those things fail to satisfy us, we blame God for not meeting our needs. Our needs are not met because we keep picking fruit from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil rather than seeking it from the hand of God. We keep drinking from polluted streams trickling from our culture rather that drinking from God, the very source of life and satisfaction.

We would do well to make Paul’s prayers for the church in Ephesus our own prayers for ourselves and for those we know who need more of God. Let me encourage you to read this great letter and discover what Paul had been praying for the church and then begin to pray those very prayers for yourself until God has given you the revelation you desire. That revelation, if written on your heart, will change your world.

But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city? (Jonah 4:11)

The above statement was God’s response to Jonah after the prophet complained about God’s mercy toward Israel’s long-time tormentor Assyria. He certainly had cause to complain from Israel’s point of view. Assyria was the dominant power in the Middle East around 700 B.C. and one of the cruelest nations in history. Assyria was the ISIS of their day. They had invaded Israel numerous times destroying cities, killing men, women, and children, and deporting many of the Jews as slaves. They were feared and hated.

It must have been mind-blowing to Jonah to get a word from the Lord commanding him to go the Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, and preach repentance so that the city could avoid the judgment of God. First of all, Jonah believed Nineveh fully deserved to be judged by the God of Israel – not just judged but obliterated. Secondly, Jonah must have felt that as soon as he was identified as a Hebrew prophet, his life would be quickly terminated. But his greatest anxiety was that God was serious about extending mercy to those in the huge stronghold of the enemy if they repented.

You remember the story. Jonah tried to hide from God by booking passage on a ship and sailing away. But God pursued him with a storm. To prevent the ship from being sunk, Jonah was tossed overboard at his own request and was swallowed buy a great fish that God had prepared for that moment. After three days and nights in the belly of the fish he was puked up on dry land. God commanded him to go to Nineveh one more time and this time, with seaweed crusted in his beard, he obeyed. If he entered Nineveh fresh from the vomiting episode he would have been striking – smelly, disheveled, nervous, and bleached from the stomach acid of the fish. He would have looked like a man who had experienced the severe judgment of God and so might have been the poster child for avoiding such judgment.

At any rate, Jonah entered the gates of Nineveh and took several days to preach his way through it. From the king down, the city repented and God spared Nineveh from judgment. As a result, Jonah complained bitterly of God’s betrayal of Israel through the mercy He extended to the enemies of God’s people. But notice the heart of God, even toward those who had attacked his own. “But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city? “

God, especially as he is revealed in the Old Testament, has often been painted as a God of anger, judgment, and vengeance. Without doubt, God did send judgment on many nations but what we need to know is that the heart of God has no desire to judge or destroy. If you look at the details, he is incredibly long suffering and always looks for ways to avoid such judgment until he is left with no choice because of a nation’s persistent stubbornness, wickedness, and rebellion. God clearly exposes his heart in these matters when he says, “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”(Ezek.18:23)

Remember when he allowed Abraham to strike a deal for Sodom and Gomorrah that if only ten righteous people could be found there he would spare the cities. In another place, after years of rebellion, Israel was facing the judgment of God. Even then God said, “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none” (Ezek.22:30). God’s holiness required judgment against sin but his love and mercy looked for anyone who would intercede for the nation as Moses had done in the wilderness of Sinai when God had threatened to destroy Israel after their persistent rebellion and unbelief.

Here is what we need to understand. There are times when persistent rebellion, unbelief, and unrepented sin may force God to honor someone’s own choices and release judgment or discipline to bring them to repentance. He may be “forced” to discipline a believer or judge a nation but it is never his heart, his desire, or his first choice to do so. He takes no pleasure in doing so and is quick to suspend that judgment or discipline when sincere repentance is offered. Like the father of the prodigal son, he is quick to forgive and restore anyone who returns – no matter what they have done.

Many of us have been taught that God is angry, quick to punish, and almost delighted to visit hardship, sickness, loss, and tragedy on people. That is never the case. When hardship comes or when loss or tragedy hammers us, God is rarely the source.   Even when he is, the discipline has come because of our persistent choices or the choices of someone to whom we are connected.  In all other cases, those things come to us as attacks from the enemy or simply as a result of living in a fallen world but God is with us in the midst of our pain. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us (Heb.13:5) and to make all things work together for good for those who love the Lord (Rom.8:28).

Jesus and the cross are our fullest revelation of God’s heart – not just toward his people but also toward the lost. We can be sure that God is for us when everything else seems to be against us and that his heart never delights in our pain. Regardless of the PR campaign that Satan has waged against the Father for millennia, he is a loving Father, who always wants the best for his children, not a sadistic abuser. Take that confidence with you into your prayer time and into your day. Take it into your crisis and your hardship. He is working behind the scenes to bring you good! Thank him for that and be blessed in Him.

We just finished a three-day conference at out church entitled Unveiling Islam. We had two guest speakers who brought us a reality-based view of this religion that encompasses about 20% of the world’s population and represents the majority population in about 25% of all nations. One of our speakers was Stephen Mansfield who is a New York Times Best Selling Author and has a close connection to the Kurds, one of the Muslim groups fighting ISIS. Our second “speaker” was actually a missionary couple who live in the Middle East and minister to Muslim refugees from Syria.

Both of our speakers acknowledged the danger of radical Islam in the world and the need to tenaciously oppose ISIS and all the other terrorist organizations but also brought encouraging news that more Muslims are coming to Christ today than at any other time in history. For the most part, they are not being converted by anyone pointing out all the flaws of Mohammed or the Koran but through supernatural encounters with Jesus who is visiting large numbers of Muslims in dreams and visions and these men and women are giving their hearts to “the man in white.” These new believers include leaders of Mosques and members of ISIS.

On the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2), the promise was restated that in the last days God would pour his Spirit out on all men and women who would dream dreams and see visions. The promise was for those present that day and for those who were far off. The promise was primarily for those who had already come to Jesus but we are also seeing that God is using dreams and visions to draw men and women to Jesus. A closer look at the New Testament reminds us that Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9) and Cornelius (Acts 10) also had supernatural encounters with Jesus through dreams and visions before coming to faith. Others are coming because of healings in the name of Jesus and because they are asking God to speak to them… and He is.

Our missionary couple told us that their main approach to Bible study is to simply read a passage and then ask the Muslims to ask God what it means. That is a revolutionary approach for Muslims who have rarely studied the Koran (the majority of Muslims in the world cannot read) but have simply been told by the leaders of their mosques what the Koran says (or supposedly says). When these Muslims ask God to speak, he does, and it is changing their hearts and lives.

Remember that most followers of Islam in the Middle East are descendants of Ishmael, the first son of Abraham, born through Hagar who was Sarah’s handmaid.   Although Hagar was driven into the wilderness by Sarah’s jealousy, God did not forsake her nor her son Ishmael. Two verses tell us a great deal about Ismael and his descendants. The first says, “The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers” (Gen.16:11-22). The second verse tells us, “And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year” (Gen.17:18-22).

Interestingly, God made Ishmael into a great nation and told us that he would live in hostility toward all his brothers or, at least, his half-brothers who would be the sons of Isaac – the Jews. Although there has been almost constant warfare between Israel and the descendants of Ishmael from which Islam has sprung, God still has purposes for the 1.2 billion people who are born into that faith. Most have not chosen Islam. They were simply born into it and have never had an option. Yet, on the Day of Pentecost their ancestors were in the crowd hearing Peter’s sermon. I believe that God is preparing a great harvest among the Muslims, if for no other reason, because these are the sons of Abraham (through Hagar) and through the centuries God has done many things on behalf of the patriarchs. But the harvest is coming as well because God loves these men and women.

The harvest is beginning through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit and, as our church stood and prayed for the Muslim world last night that God might continue to release his Spirit and that the “man in white” might become famous among all Muslims, I hope you will pray for the supernatural move of God in the Muslim world as well. I believe it is a prayer God greatly desires to hear.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Eph.1:17-19

Ephesians is one of those New Testament letters that holds such a wealth of insight and encouragement that never runs dry for the one who keeps asking God to show him or her more. The few verses quoted above are significant keys to gaining all that God has for us so I thought we might reflect on them this morning.

Paul had a special relationship with the church at Ephesus (see Acts 19-20) and was clearly proud of how they had grown in their faith and love. He told them that he always gave thanks for them in his prayers and then said that he kept asking God to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might know him (God) better. From Genesis to Revelation the goal of God has been to accurately reveal himself to his people because to know him is to love him. And yet the failure of many has been to form opinions about God, who he is, and how he works with no real personal revelation of him.

Paul is clear that we can’t know God without wisdom and revelation that comes from the Holy Spirit. Man’s attempt to know God and explain him without this revelation has been catastrophic. It has led to all kinds of false worship that includes the worship of demons. It has led to a worldwide religion that claims that the heart of God is set on slaughtering all those who do not submit immediately. It has led to all kinds of beliefs that God is cruel, uncaring, and detached from the real struggles of mankind. We could go on but each of these distorted views of God comes from those who don’t know him well on a personal level and who don’t understand his purposes.

Paul says that to know him better requires revelation from the Spirit. The flesh always sees God as restrictive and demanding in the same way that children often view their parents that way even though the restrictions and the rules are in the best interest of the child. Children always long for a permissive parent who always lets the child do as he or she pleases without restriction or discipline. Many adults want a permissive God.   Only through the Spirit do we begin to understand the goodness of God’s commands and even his discipline. By revelation we begin to see the activities of God and by wisdom we begin to see their goodness. By revelation we begin to see the heart of God and by wisdom we begin to understand his heart. Left to our own intellect we will miss the mark of knowing an understanding him.

Paul prayed for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that the Ephesians might know God better. There are two general words in the Greek for “know.” One is gnosis and the other is epignosis. Paul uses the second one here because it denotes experiential knowledge rather than academic knowledge. Without wisdom and revelation our knowledge of God is merely theoretical. With wisdom and revelation we begin to experience God personally and know him in truth not just in theory.

Paul mentioned that he kept on praying for those things on behalf of the church. The implication is that we need to keep on asking for wisdom and revelation from the Spirit if we want to know God in a deeper and more accurate way. Most revelation and wisdom are progressive. God gives us a bit at a time as we can assimilate it so one download doesn’t do it. Sometimes believers get a basic understanding of God but their understanding levels out there and never grows. That is like a child’s view of his or her parents never changing as he or she grows older. The greatest treasure God offers is himself and to truly know him is the greatest prize. We need to keep asking for God to show us more of himself and he is clearly pleased to do so.

The second thing Paul prayed for was that the eyes of their hearts might be enlightened so that they could fully comprehend several things. Again, this enlightenment is the work of the Holy Spirit who reveals the things of God to the deepest part of our thinking and feeling – the heart. Paul prayed that the believers at Ephesus would come to know the hope to which they were called, the riches of their inheritance and the power of God available to those who believe.

Hope keeps us going in dark places because hope expects the light to shine at any moment. Hope prompts us to grab hold of the promises of God with expectancy for our future. The riches that we have in Christ are everything that Jesus has purchased for us with his blood. The more we understand what is available to us the more we can access those “riches” for life on planet earth and for the expansion of the kingdom of God. Those riches may include some material wealth but that would be toward the bottom of the list. More importantly those riches include love, joy, peace, purpose, belonging, wisdom, spiritual gifts, eternal life and so forth. There are many ultra-rich people who would give it all up to possess those things because those things are what they thought wealth and power would get them. In their disappointment they simply keep chasing more wealth and power hoping that more will eventually get them what we all have freely in Christ.

Thirdly, Paul wanted the church and us to grasp how much power rests in the hands of the Lord who is more than willing to exercise it on our behalf. There is no need to feel afraid, powerless, helpless, and insecure for our Father has unlimited power and resources to release on our behalf. We are not victims nor orphans but sons and daughters of the Most High God. Knowing that truth in your heart lets you sleep at night no matter what.

Getting hold of those truths and planting them deep in your heart is the key that unlocks the peace and provision of heaven but it comes through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation…so ask for it and keep asking because there is no end to what God has for us in himself.

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place. Judges 7:1-8

This is part of the story of Gideon whom God raised up as a judge to deliver Israel from the oppression of Midian. Many of us desire to see God move in powerful, supernatural ways. We long to see miracles, healings, demons driven out, and whole families and nations radically saved and we want to be part of all of that. I need to be reminded from time to time that God is still willing to move in those ways but he typically won’t move when we don’t put ourselves at risk. What I mean by “putting ourselves at risk” is that we allow God to put us in positions so that if he doesn’t show up and do what only he can do, then nothing is going and to happen and we risk failure, embarrassment, loss, and maybe more.

Gideon faced an expansive force of Midianites. Initially, he had 32,000 men ready to go into battle. Even then they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. But God was determined to turn Israel’s hearts back to him through an act of supernatural deliverance so that Israel would have no doubt that it was God who gave them the victory. After two “siftings,” Gideon was left with only three hundred men. The remaining 300 faced impossible odds and that is the perfect place to see God move.

The three hundred were never asked to face the enemy in a direct confrontation with swords and slings but they were asked to walk in faith and to act in seemingly foolish ways that still put them at risk. They were each issued a torch, a jar under which they might hide the torch, and a trumpet – not the high-tech armor and rocket launchers they had hoped for. Then they were asked to move silently to the enemy camp in the middle of the night, surround the camp, and at Gideon’s signal they were to break the jars, flash the torches, blow the trumpets, and shout “For the Lord and Gideon.” Sounds like a great plan to defeat tens of thousands of hardened Midianite troops doesn’t it? If God is not in this plan, Gideon and his 300 will shortly be toast. But as the jars break, the trumpets sound, the torches light up the night, and the men shout, the enemy believes that their camp has been overrun and in the dark the Midianite soldiers begin to kill whatever is moving in the shadows – which turns out to be one another. Then they flee in the night with Gideon in pursuit.

If you recall, Gideon was no military man, nor was he a great man of faith in the beginning. As you read the surrounding chapters of this event you will see that God gave Gideon experiences that built his faith to the point that he was willing to risk – an encounter with an angel, a ram’s fleece set out in the dew on two consecutive mornings for confirmation that Gideon was actually hearing God, an over-heard conversation between Midianite soldiers to confirm that God’s Spirit had already implanted fear and panic in their hearts before the pivotal battle. God did not ask for perfect faith nor did he ask for faith that wasn’t based on previous experiences with God’s faithfulness, but in the end Gideon still had to place himself (and his men) at risk to see the mighty hand of God at work.

I believe God still wants us to put ourselves in positions where if he doesn’t show up we will at least look foolish until we no longer mind looking foolish for God at some point because obedience becomes its own reward. Most of us won’t have to face a horde of Midianites, but if we want to begin to see the miracles of God we will have to pray for healing with no excuses and no disclaimers about “if it be thy will.” We will have to pray over strangers at Sam’s Club, the mall, and between latte’s at Starbucks.   We will have to share our faith at convenience stores and with risky relatives and neighbors to see what God will do. We may have to give more than we can afford and commit to things that we know are of God but that we can’t see how we will be able to raise the money. We may have to take mission trips to dangerous or at least very dirty parts of the world to see God move in supernatural ways that only God can do so that only God can get the glory.

When we keep it safe we won’t see much of the supernatural because it won’t be needed. If I had been Gideon I would have been believing God for thousands of Israeli troops to show up unexpectedly with armor that had miraculously come in the mail that day. But God wanted to display his glory not Gideon’s and that only happens when we face the impossible because only then do we know without a doubt that God just did something amazing for us and through us. Just a reminder to me and, perhaps, to you that if I want to see God more than I must risk more. Be blessed and have a risky day.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor.2:14

This blog is essentially dedicated to expressions of power in the life of the church and the preaching of the gospel. When we think of “power evangelism” we think of men and women coming to Christ after a dramatic healing, prophetic word, or deliverance. Those are certainly legitimate expressions of power and usually accompanied the preaching of the gospel throughout the New Testament. But there is also another kind of power that needs to be displayed in the day to day grind of bringing someone we know and love to the cross when he or she seems to be almost inoculated against belief.

In Paul’s statement above, he clearly states that a man without the Spirit cannot understand the things that come from the Spirit. He doesn’t say that the man without the Spirit is stubborn or chooses not to understand; he says that man cannot understand. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul adds to that thought. “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor.4:3-4). So Paul tells us that without the operation of the Spirit a man cannot even understand spiritual things because the devil has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.

Before a man or woman can truly come to the Lord, he or she must experience a paradigm shift in their view of the world, of themselves, or of God. That shift in thinking is called repentance. Dutch Sheets makes an interesting observation about this shift in a person’s worldview. “The perspective of unbelievers is distorted. People run from the pursuit of a God who is desiring to save them from destruction. Those of us who know him realize we love God because he first loved us. When sinners, however, hear of a loving God who wants only their best and died to provide it, they often see instead only the promise of loss and a lack of fulfillment” (Intercessory Prayer, p.171).

For some, the shift in perspective about God comes through a dramatic moment of healing, near death experiences, or some other encounter with Jesus that, like Saul on the way to Damascus,   jars the individual into a different view of Jesus. But what about all the rest? Two things need to happen. First of all, the veil or their distorted view of God needs to be removed and a revelation of Jesus needs to penetrate the heart of the unbeliever. When we talk people into a salvation prayer there is often no revelation and, therefore, no real change of mind – no genuine repentance – so their walk with the Lord is short-lived.

Power evangelism needs to be exercised in many cases through powerful prayers specifically targeting the strongholds (false beliefs and distorted views including pride, self-sufficiency, fear, distrust, unworthiness, etc.) of those we are trying to reach. Arguments, pressure, guilt, fear, and even logical presentations of the gospel will rarely bring about a lifting of the veil and the revelation needed for true repentance. The answer is found in God’s divine weapons spoken of in 2 Corinthians 10. These weapons have divine power to bring down strongholds, silence the enemy, and direct the power of the Spirit to release revelation and faith.

There are times when our prayers need to look like spiritual warfare in which we command and bind the enemy in a person’s life, call on angels to keep the enemy at bay, declare God’s word over that person, ask the Spirit to hover over that individual to release revelation and birth faith, and ask Jesus to orchestrate encounters that will bring about a change of mind and heart. That is where the work and the wrestling need to be done rather than in the natural realm where we tend to use pressure and persuasion. There is tremendous power in prayer and battles for souls are fought and won in that realm because our struggle is not against flesh and blood. That kind of prayer is also power evangelism.

Before sharing our faith, we usually need to till the soil of a person’s heart so that the word might take root. That tilling will be done through powerful and persistent prayers that bring the resources of heaven to bear on that person and his or her heart. Often we have prayed for God to save someone but have not truly entered into the battle ourselves with our persistent and specific prayers. Remember, God will do more things with us than for us. Join in and see what God does for those you are trying to reach.

When his disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, he began with a relatively revolutionary idea – Our Father in heaven. For the most part, Jewish theological thought viewed God as the one whose name should not be spoken and whose presence in the Holy of Holies was as dangerous as it was glorious. He was seen as the Holy Judge of all the earth and the destroyer of the enemies of Israel. He was the thunder and flame on Sinai and the earthquake swallowing up the sons of Korah.

But Jesus spoke to the Father in familiar and intimate terms and encouraged every believer to do the same. That must have been a difficult paradigm shift for many. It still is. One of the great hindrances to receiving the promises and the power of the Holy Spirit is our view of God. When we ask God for healing, deliverance, favor, provision, and protection we often ask with a minimal expectation – more of a hope than a confident request. That presents a real dilemma when we know that whatever we ask for, believing that we have received it, will be ours (see Mark 11:24).  We hope he will answer our petitions, but we are not always confident that he will and that is a formula for few answered prayers.

Many of us have a difficult time believing that our Heavenly Father is willing, able, and eager to bless us, heal us, and deliver us from the power of the enemy. We still view him as a God who keeps careful records and who weighs our good moments against our bad to see if we have earned enough points to merit an answered prayer. We see him as a Father whose love is conditional, who is beyond understanding, and who may well visit pain and suffering on us to “perfect our spirituality.

So we pray, hoping for the best but not really expecting it. When we are sick we pray for healing but wonder if God actually wants us to be ill so that our faith in suffering glorifies him, purifies our soul, or has a purpose beyond our understanding. When we live with emotional pain and brokenness from our own bad choices we may see God as the Father who sternly remarks, “You made your bed, now you can lie in it.” Myriads of believers simply view their Heavenly Father as a distant replica of an earthly father who made promises he couldn’t keep, whose primary emotion was anger, or who was loving one day while distant and unpredictable the next.

When we have a mixed view of our Heavenly Father it is difficult to pray with faith or to pray at all. But prayer is the very thing that opens the valve so that the promises and the power of heaven can flow to us and through us. If we view God as distant, angry, or conditional then we will not pray at all (there’s no point in asking) or we will pray as if we have to convince, coerce, or nag God into blessing us.

So how do we understand this God who seems angry and vengeful in the Old Testament but is called “Abba” in the New Testament? John goes so far as to say that God is love and God is light. The key is Jesus. No matter how we understand the Old Testament or what kind of father we had on earth, Jesus clearly stated that when we have seen him we have seen the Father in heaven (see Jn.14:9).  If you want to know how much you are loved by the Father, look at the cross. If you want to know how God will deal with your sinful past, look at the Samaritan woman of John 4 and the woman caught in adultery in John 8. Ask yourself how many times Jesus turned down people who came to him for healing and how he dealt with Peter after Peter denied and abandoned Jesus in his hour of suffering.

According to Hebrews, Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory (the part of God’s goodness we can see) and the exact representation of the Father’s being (Heb. 1:3). When you see the heart of Jesus toward the broken and the suffering you see the heart of the Father. When you see the compassion of Christ toward the spiritually clueless you see the Father. When you see the anger and frustration of Jesus toward those who would deny the healing of God for the sick or who would drive sinners away rather than embrace them, you have seen the Father as well. The cross has allowed the love of God to overpower the judgment of God. And God is glad.

When you pray for the power of heaven to be released on your behalf, remember that the heart of the Father toward you is the same as the heart of Jesus. As loving fathers and mothers, we are not always so different from our heavenly Father. I always want the best for my children. When they were young and tumbled off their bikes, I ran to pick them up and bandaged their wounds. When they were afraid I comforted them. When they were confused I taught them. When they were in danger I protected them. When they laughed I laughed with them and when they did wrong I corrected them. All those things were motivated by love and, like most parents, I would have died to save my children.

Our heavenly Father did just that and is much more the loving Father and Mother than we could ever hope to be. When you pray, you can be certain that your Father in heaven is hearing and acting on your behalf. We can’t always know why we don’t see some prayers answered. There are mysteries yet to be understood. But we can always know the heart of our Heavenly Father toward us. If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. If you have seen the cross you have seen his heart for you. Reflect on Jesus and his heart before you offer your next prayer. God is soooooooo for you!

Confession. Perseverance in prayer is not my long suit. The definition of perseverance is “to remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement.” I don’t think I’m alone in this. I don’t mind obstacles if I can see them or identify them but I think the hard part is continuing to pray for something when you don’t clearly see the obstacle or are not seeing any evidence of change or progress.

After a while, the enemy starts messing with your head – suggesting that what you are praying for must not be God’s will since he is apparently not answering your prayer. If it’s not God’s will then you should simply accept that reality and stop praying. Sometimes he discourages you by telling you that your faith is insufficient or that something is wrong with you that God won’t hear your prayers so you might as well forget whatever it is you have been asking for. His goal is to get us to abandon the very need or desire that we have been praying into.

But think about it. If God were not going to answer that prayer, why would Satan bother with discouragement? Wouldn’t he rather us continue to expend our time and energy on something that will never come to pass than to refocus on prayers that God will answer? The fact that Satan would move in to discourage that prayer is evidence that his plans are threatened by your persistent requests and that, in the spiritual realm, he is seeing evidence that God is moving in response to your prayers.

I like Dutch Sheet’s take on the need for and reasons behind persistent prayer. In his book Intercessory Prayer he says, “The disciples had enough power flowing in their ministry to deal with most demons and diseases, but they came up against one that required more faith and power – and they didn’t have enough to overcome that one. Again, the obvious implication is that different measurable levels (of power in the spiritual realm) are needed to accomplish different things….When the prophet Elijah came to the widow’s son who had died, he spread himself out on the corpse face to face and prayed three times (see 1 Kings 17:21). Why did it take three times? Because the man of God wasn’t where he needed to be spiritually? Because he didn’t have enough faith? Because he didn’t do it right the first two times? We are not told the reason nor is it insinuated that any of those things are true. I believe that he was releasing a little more life out of his…spirit each time” (p.216). Sheets goes on to remind us that even after God told Elijah it was about to rain after a three and a half year drought, Elijah still had to pray seven times before a cloud showed up.

The implication is that that our prayers partner with God to release the power of the Holy Spirit into situations that, for reasons we will not always know, require more power than others. Some strongholds are stronger than others. Like a fortified city, some walls are higher, thicker, or denser than others and may require more bombardment than others to bring it down. Our prayers are the bombardment of heaven against enemy strongholds. In ancient times, some cities fell in days while others only fell after years of being under siege. Our prayers lay siege to areas under the enemies control or influence.

The key is to believe that every prayer makes a difference and that every prayer releases the power of heaven against a stronghold. Some come down immediately, others fall after a few months, and many will surrender only after years of prayer. We should be encouraged by Paul’s admonition in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” We usually apply that law to sin, but it also applies to righteousness and to prayer. The promise is that when you sow in prayer, there will inevitably be a harvest of what you have been sowing. It is a law of the spiritual realm reflected in the agricultural realm. Paul goes on to say, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal.6:9).

In many things we pray for, persistence will be required. Not because what we are praying is not God’s will, or that we are not where we need to be spiritually, or because God does not regard our prayers – but because we are fighting against an enemy who has been digging-in to some situations for generations. It will take more power, more bombardment, more long-term warfare than other situations. But each prayer that is aligned with the heart and purposes of God releases more power into a life, a need, or a crisis and in due time there will be a reaping or a harvest of answered prayer. So…wherever the enemy has discouraged you in prayer, remember he has done so because he is threatened. Keep praying and shelling the enemy as you persist!

Okay. I have to weigh in on the Bruce Jenner debacle. The disturbing thing for me is not his choice to “make the change,” because there are many broken and wounded people in the world who make incredibly bad decisions. The disturbing thing is the conversations about it in the media and the complete absence of any discussion about God and his standards regarding Jenner’s decision.

When God’s standards are nowhere to be seen or heard in the public debate, we are on the brink of something catastrophic. The Old Testament is full of descriptions of wicked, foolish, and prideful men who say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge” (Ps.73:11)? There were many seasons in the history of Israel that the political and cultural leaders marginalized God and considered him irrelevant to the nation. Historically, God will allow himself to be seen as irrelevant for a while but then his “relevance” will come flooding in as judgment in an effort to turn hearts and minds back to him. The old saying that “there are no atheists in foxholes” also applies to national catastrophes when everyone suddenly feels afraid, uncertain, and extremely vulnerable.

Bruce Jenner is just another symptom of a culture trying hard to divest itself of notions about God because notions about God hold up standards and the possibility of accountability that many cultures have found restrictive. What we are seeing today is a kind of moral anarchy where every man has his own personal standard of right and wrong with no objective, absolute standard to guide him. Israel fell into that condition on occasion. “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). In other words, man was morally lawless except for what he determined in his own fallen nature was in his best interest. God and his Word were considered irrelevant.

That perspective is very dangerous in the lives of men but even more so of governments. As soon as any system of government decides that God is irrelevant, then that government also will determine that either there is no God or, if there is, he does not hold nations accountable nor bring them to judgment. Think about it. If leaders do not believe that God will judge them or the nation for sin and wickedness what is left to restrain them? Our government (along with “we the people”) pushed God out of our schools, then decided that the Ten Commandments had a bad influence in government buildings, then we decided that God could be tolerated as long as he was confined to churches but he had no business influencing the state. Then, some of our leaders, who reject the law of God have also rejected the restraints of the Constitution and have even redefined marriage, morality, the sanctity of a human life, and the nature of men and women. When government attempts to replace God with itself then government simply views itself as God. Required worship of the state and total submission to it is not far behind.

So what are we to do? There was a time and it was the intent of our founding fathers that the pulpits of the nation were the conscience of America. The expectation or at least the hope of those men who framed the Republic was that the church would stay strong in America, educate America’s people in the standards and commandments of God, and speak out against sin and wickedness as the conscience of a nation. The church has been strangely silent of late. Some speak out, but not nearly enough. We have cowered under the assault of political correctness and have been silent and even complicit as our nation has begun to call evil good and good evil.   Mr. Jenner is simply a symptom of our silence and our failure to evangelize and educate our own families and neighbors. It’s not too late for America but we seem to be in a barrel headed for the brink of Niagara Falls where few survive the plunge.

I encourage you to begin to pray in earnest for this nation and the Lord’s church in this nation. Pray that God would pour out a Spirit of boldness, holiness, humility, power, and evangelism on his church that she might once again become the conscience and the standard of a nation. Also pray that God will raise up men and women of faith and integrity and place them in positions of leadership and influence while removing those from positions of power and influence who have no regard for God…in government, education, and the media. We also must become the conscience of a nation again as individuals who unapologetically share our faith and values over coffee as well as in City Council and School board meetings.

God has solutions for Mr. Jenner’s confusion. I wonder if anyone ever told him about those solutions with genuine love and concern? Please pray daily for the church in America and the elections that are on the horizon.   I think I can hear the roar of the Falls.

In this Psalm, David makes some astounding claims regarding God’s protection for those who maintain an intimate relationship with him. In the current spiritual environment of America these claims would seem outlandish, boastful, and even presumptuous. Listen to what David says: He (God) will save you from the fowler’s snare, from deadly pestilence, from any terror that stalks at night, from arrows aimed at you, from stumbling, and from lions and cobras. He says that even though a thousand may fall at your side or ten thousand and your right hand, you will be kept safe from disaster, disease, and attacks. David declares that God will even assign angels to protect you in the midst of danger and crisis. For the most part, our culture – even today’s Christian culture – does not seem to view God and his personal involvement in our lives in the same way David viewed it.

Perhaps, our first thought is that David is using the literary device of hyperbole or exaggeration to make his point. But lets think about it. How many literal, biblical accounts are there of God providing miraculous protection for those in battle: the Red Sea crossing, the Jericho campaign, Joshua leading Israel in numerous battles against their enemies in the promised land (when Israel was faithful), Gideon’s unlikely but overwhelming victories, David taking down Goliath, Samson killing a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, David’s multiple miraculous escapes from Saul, one angel taking out 185,000 Assyrian soldiers camped around Jerusalem, Elijah taking on 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mt. Carmel, and hundreds of other accounts where the supernatural power of God protected his people in battle and gave them victory.   But does God still do that?

I have a friend who served in Vietnam and during the war his platoon was ordered to move into a village. On the outskirts of the village, a small shed came under fire as a possible outpost for enemy snipers. My friend said that they fired numerous rockets at the shed that kept inexplicably veering off and so they overran the shed, kicked open the door and found a Christian mother and her children hiding there, huddled in prayer. If you ask my friend he will tell you that Psalm 91 still paints possibilities for today.

We could continue to talk about angelic warnings and deliverance for God’s people from all kinds of threats throughout scripture including shutting the mouths of lions and protecting men from the flames in the book of Daniel. We could talk about the venomous serpent that attached itself to Paul’s arm without injury in the book of Acts. The truth is, from Genesis to Revelation there are numerous accounts of God’s intervention in the lives of men and women that parallel the claims of David in Psalm 91.

Some of that supernatural intervention simply flows out of God’s grace but one statement made by Jesus also sets a condition on some of that intervention. “Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith, let it be done to you” (Mt.9:29). In other words, to the extent that we expect the intervention of God, we will receive it. David echoes that thought in Psalm 91. “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust” (Ps.91:2). The rest of the Psalm is really a confirmation of David’s faith and a declaration that because of the love and care that flowed from the Father toward David, God would certainly protect him from his enemies, from plague, and even from wild animals.

I don’t believe David was born with that certainty but his history with God began to write that certainty on his heart. Before facing Goliath, David reflected on moments when, as a shepherd boy, God had delivered him from a lion and a bear. Upon reflection, David realized that he had not overcome those threats through his own brilliance and strength but that God had supernaturally intervened to save him. Part of our problem is the absence of reflection and meditation in our lives. Long days and nights alone in secluded pastures provided David with a lifestyle that encouraged reflection, introspection, and an ongoing conversation with the Father – since there was no one else to talk to. We might do well to intentionally seek out evenings or occasional days of solitude with the Father ourselves to intentionally reflect on his character and to look back to map his hand and his faithfulness in our lives.

It is important to notice that David declared God’s faithfulness and protection over his life on a regular basis. In doing so, he wrote that truth more deeply on his heart each time he spoke it or wrote it. As we begin to align our thoughts and hearts with God, we should also declare, write, and memorize the Word of God as it declares the truth we need to write on our heart. As we do so, the paradigm of God’s love, care, and faithfulness will begin to function as the lens through which we view life allowing us to see God’s care and protection daily in both big and small ways which, in turn will strengthen our faith. Intentional thinking, speaking, and acting are the keys to faith and faith is the key to unlock the promises of God. Let me encourage you to personalize Psalm 91 placing your name in the text, meditating on its application to your life, and memorizing all or sections of it so that faith in a day of uncertainty can stand on the same promises on which David stood. Be blessed.