If you read this blog on a regular basis, you are probably interested in increase – more of the Spirit, greater expressions of your spiritual gifts, and more kingdom power operating in your life. All those are legitimate desires if we want them in order to be more effective in representing Jesus on the earth. If you desire an increase, then you are probably praying for the increase and pursuing it through books, conferences, and hanging around men and women who operate in the gifts you want to develop. You are probably going after impartations of the gift as well. Praying for increase tracks with Paul’s injunction to “eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Cor.14:1). In order for us to receive the increase we desire, we need to make sure that we have dealt with any hindrances in our lives that may be inhibiting that increase.Let’s consider a few so that each of us can perform a spiritual CT scan to see if something needs to be dealt with.

First of all, in his extensive writings on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians, Paul discussed the need to be motivated by love and a desire to build up the body of Christ. As you read Paul’s entire letter, it’s easy to see that the church at Corinth was extremely spiritually immature. They were exercising all the spiritual gifts in impressive ways but, apparently, the motive of many was self-serving: celebrity status, power, a sense of spiritual superiority, and so forth. Paul was quick to condemn any sense of spiritual elitism in the church or self-promotion, along with divisions and confusion in the church prompted by wrong motives in the exercise of spiritual gifts.

Spiritual gifts are to be an expression of God’s love directed toward those to whom the gift is touching. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Pet. 4:10). Any other motive will hinder the exercise of the gift and God will certainly hesitate to give an increase. We should check our motives from time to time. I’m not saying that we should not experience some kind of personal fulfillment through the exercise of gifts. We should and will. But if your thoughts are constantly about others admiring your for your gifts, advancing in personal influence in your church, or experiencing financial gain though your gifts, then check your heart.

A second hindrance is found in giving into the desires of the flesh and giving those desires a higher priority than the priorities of the Spirit. Paul says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Gal. 5:16-17). Since our gifts operate as an extension of the Holy Spirit, anything in us that is in opposition to the Spirit will hinder the flow of the Spirit in our lives.

Very few of us have all of our actions, thoughts, or emotions fully submitted to Jesus. We tend to be spiritually mature in some areas of our lives while still giving in to the flesh in other areas.

Some of us operate well in mercy gifts but have no boldness to confront sin or share out faith. Some of us are great intercessors but have little compassion for the poor. Some of us have great leadership qualities while harboring a secret addiction. Others of us prophesy while our eating and health habits are out of control. Others lead amazing ministries in their church while their marriage is rotting at home. You get the picture.

Without condemning ourselves, we need to acknowledge areas of our lives in which we are not walking by the Spirit. Paul clearly says that if we walk by the Spirit we will not carry out the desire of the flesh. He doesn’t say that our fleshly desires will disappear, we just won’t give into them and their attraction will diminish overtime if our desires for the things of heaven are greater than the promptings of our flesh.

In order to surrender an unsubmitted part of our life to the Spirit, we need to acknowledge it first. The truth is that some of us are unaware of our unsubmitted parts or rationalize them as being spiritual in some way. A rude and critical person may frame those qualities as being honest and transparent. A stingy person may call his lack of generosity good stewardship of his God-given finances. A judgmental person may define that judgment as a “gift of discernment.” We can all have blind spots. David knew that so he prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps.139:23-24) Ask God to show you any unsubmitted areas and ask your friends or spouse to tell you kindly, but honestly, what they see.

Once we have discovered an area of our life that is out of step with the Spirit, then we should search to see what the Word says about our thoughts or behaviors and then repent. Having done that we need to make transformation in that part of our life a point of prayer until we know we have matured in that area. Asking a few close friends to hold us accountable for change is typically needed as well.

A third step is to check to see if some demonic influence is keeping us out of step with the Spirit and, in doing so, limiting the increase we desire. Satan certainly doesn’t want you to have more of the Spirit, be more effective with your gifts, or walk in greater spiritual power. Many of us believe that if we are in church, serving in ministries, and even serving as leaders in the kingdom, we could not possibly be under the influence of a demon.

My experience is that leaders and spiritually gifted people are often under the influence of a spirit that has subtly gained entrance through the years and that is manifesting in subtle ways. A spirit of heaviness may simply be written off as stress and fatigue – for the last eighteen months. Many leaders struggle with discouragement, frustration, anger, nagging jealousies, lust, love for money, loneliness, condemnation, and so forth. A demonic spirit may well be the source. A wise believer and a mature believer, from time to time, should have someone who is experienced in deliverance check out the possibility that a spirit is hindering his/her walk.

As we seek more, we should be wise enough to stop occasionally to determine whether there may be something in our lives that is inhibiting the increase. A hunger for more is a positive spiritual quality but it is not the only condition for receiving more. Perfection is certainly not required but ignoring glaring issues in our lives is not the way to increase. There may be something we need to submit to Jesus before we can be good stewards of more gifts or greater anointing. Blessings in Him.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3

In Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the Messiah, he refers to the people Jesus would someday heal and set free as mean and women who become “oaks of righteousness.” The figure brings to mind tall, powerful, and stately oaks that stand the test of time and withstand the strongest storms.   We all want to be that kind of believer.

This morning, in a men’s group I am part of, we began to discuss the concept of spiritual fruit in the kingdom and how certain trees and vines grow to produce more fruit. One of our men, who owns and operates his own landscape business, told us that certain trees, after germination, grow root systems for up to two years before the trunk begins to appear above the ground. Nutrients and stability come from the root system and without strength there, the tree will eventually fail. As a result, the tree gives all of its energy to growing down before it gives energy to growing up.

As a church that believes in the operation of all the spiritual gifts, it is not unusual to see new believers or believers who have just begun to experience the power of God get very excited and very focused on operating in those gifts. After all, there is nothing like being part of a miracle that God has just released into another person’s life. I think it is appropriate that new believers are hungry for the manifestations of God and want to experience more and more of his Spirit and his supernatural ways.

However, there is one caution that needs to be extended regarding the pursuit of such gifts or even the pursuit of bearing a great deal of fruit in the kingdom of God. The caution is that before we start operating abundantly in the gifts and before we start wanting to bear abundant fruit, we need to make sure that our roots go deep into the soil. Otherwise, the fruit that is produced quickly will wither just as quickly or the weight of the gifts will pull us over and uproot us in the midst of a strong storm.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he was quick to point out that they operated, as a church, in all the gifts of the Spirit. In Chapters 12-14, he began to mention those gifts specifically: prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of knowledge, supernatural wisdom, and so forth. That’s pretty heady stuff for a young church.

The real problem for Corinth is stated in Chapter 3. “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men (1 Cor.3:1-3)?

Although the church at Corinth was producing impressive fruit above ground, the root systems were still extremely shallow. The weight of their fruit or gifts was more than their foundation could support. As a result, there were jealousies, divisions, cliques, arrogance, self-promotion, and confusion in the ranks. The tree was unhealthy and beginning to topple. Ultimately, Paul pointed out in Chapter 13 that the evidence of true spirituality was not to be found first in the exercise of spiritual gifts, but in the exercise of love.

If the analogy is true, then the question becomes, how do I develop a deep root system that provides both nourishment and stability. In practical terms, digging into the Word of God each day and hearing from him is crucial. Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. We need to personally dig into the Word itself, not just books by our favorite author about the Word.

Secondly, we need to be familiar with the whole counsel of God, not just one thin slice of that pie. It’s easy to get excited about prophecy, end-times, healing, leadership, worship, or any other facet of God’s word and pursue only that, listen to sermons about only that, and hang out with others who talk about only that. The problem is that we can develop tunnel vision and stay ignorant about God’s will in all the other areas of life. We can be filled with knowledge about one narrow slice of our faith and have no wisdom, perspective, or character for the remainder of our Christian living. It’s like taking tons of vitamin C but never getting adequate amounts of all the other vitamins and minerals that you need for life. Get in the Word daily, chew on it, talk about it, and ask God about it as you read through entire books discovering God’s directives for a multitude of things.

In addition, putting down roots depends on staying in one place for a while – plugging into a church, serving there, getting to know people, and letting them speak into your life. Too many believers these days shop around…for years. They are spiritual drifters who never stay anywhere long enough to develop meaningful relationships with others. John goes so far as to tell us that if we don’t love the brothers, we can’t love God. If we don’t stay put, we can’t love the brothers – at least not in any substantial ways.

Ultimately, our roots have to go down in a relationship with Jesus. Prayer and obedience facilitate that relationship. Regular times in prayer, praise, and doing what he directs us to do – being doers of the word and not hearers only – deepens that relationship so that when the wind blows, we stand on solid ground rather than shifting sands.

My point in all this is to encourage you to seek the gifts but even more than that and before that, seek to be rooted deeply in the whole counsel of God and in a relationship to Jesus. I am convinced that God is even more concerned about the character and heart of Christ being formed in us than he is in us doing miracles in his name. There is no doubt that God desires fruit, but years of fruit bearing is only possible if your roots grow deep. Be blessed today and put energy into going deeper even before growing taller.

Healing continues to be a controversial subject in the church world. Many churches believe that healing gifts ceased to operate around the end of the first century while others believe that the Holy Spirit is in full operation today, depositing healing gifts in those who have faith for it. My church believes that God still heals through both prayers of faith and through gifts of healing as well. However, even in the most effective healing ministries around the world, some are healed while others are not. The question of “Why?” always surfaces in the face of that reality. Is it them or is it us or is it something else? Of course, we recognize that faith has a great part in healing prayer…sometimes it is the faith of those for whom we pray and sometimes it is our own faith as we pray. But then the question becomes, “How much faith is required for God to move?”

A look at the gospels gives no hard and fast formula for prayers that heal and prayers that don’t. We know that Jesus could not heal many in Nazareth because there was such little faith in the people for healing. “Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith” (Lk.6:4-6).

And yet, at other times he healed those who had very little idea, if any, of who he was. The lame man at the pool of Bethesda seemed to have no idea about the healing that was coming his way and yet he stood and walked after being an invalid for thirty-eight years (Jn.5). The man born blind, who was given sight in John 9, seems also to have had very little information about the man called Jesus. At times, Jesus responded to faith with a miracle and at other times he imparted faith through a miracle.

As we pray for people to be healed we notice that some who are healed have little understanding of healing and a minimal relationship with Jesus while other spiritually mature individuals who love Jesus and believe in his power to heal are not healed. There is still a great deal of mystery regarding healing and those who pray for it must be willing to live with that mystery. Many believers who want to see people healed,  hold back from praying because they fear their prayer will not bring healing and that the one they pray for will be damaged or offended when healing does not come. When we think that way, we are ultimately believing that our prayer is the determining factor in healing – was it bathed in enough faith, energized by enough fervency, constructed with all the “right” elements? When we reflect on the reality of healing we know it is the Holy Spirit’s decision, not ours, whether healing will flow through us to another and prayer formula’s or volume have little to do with that release. The standard biblical prayer seemed be, “Be healed in the name of Jesus.” So much for long and eloquent prayers attempting to call down God’s favor for healing.

There is one element in healing prayer, however, that deserves our consideration. That is the element of compassion for the one who is receiving prayer. Both the Old and New Testaments reveal God as a God of compassion (mercy, pity). If you chase the word “compassion” through a concordance, the O.T. references to compassion as a quality of God far outweigh the references to compassion as a quality of men. It’s almost as if that quality is such a godly quality that it is rare to find among men.As you track the references about compassion into the New Testament, we often find it attached to Jesus.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Mt.9:35-36)

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. (Mt.14:14).

Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” (Mt.15:32)

Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. (Mt.20:34)

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean.” (Mk.1:41).

There are more references, but you get the point. God – whether Father, Son or Spirit – is often moved to act on behalf of men by the quality of compassion. The word is also translated as mercy, pity, his heart went out to someone, etc. Suffering is not an academic subject to God. His heart is truly moved when he sees the suffering of his people. On numerous occasions those who were suffering asked for mercy or pity from Jesus for healing and deliverance and he healed and delivered.

What about our prayers for suffering people who need healing, deliverance, salvation, provision, and so forth? How often do we actually pray out of duty or approach people as if they were a spiritual project? At times, in an effort to grow in the grace of healing, some of us will pray to receive a word of knowledge from God about someone he wants to heal and when we get a leading we go into the community to find the person God has directed us to and we pray for their healing – usually at places like Lowes, Wal-Mart, or Starbucks (my preferred word of knowledge). But, if I’m honest, at times I have been more concerned about my prayer, me feelings, and seeing the healing than I am the actual suffering of the person.

I have talked a lot in this blog about power flowing through us as we align ourselves with God. I am convinced that before we pray, we need to spend a minute or two aligning our hearts with the heart of God for that person. If we believe that God prompts us to pray or puts people on our hearts for prayer, then it stands to reason that as we pray he wants our hearts to match his. We need to ask the Spirit to give us the compassion of Christ for the individual for whom we are about to pray. If fervency is a quality for answered prayer, then feeling God’s concern will generate that passion for the hurting person in our hearts.

Many of us who pray for a lot of people, including strangers, can pray simply as an expression of obedience or for the Father’s approval or to grow in our willingness to take risks. None of those motives are bad in themselves but the far greater motive is love and out of love flows compassion. I’m certain that matching the Father’s heart is a great key to seeing heaven move in response to our prayers or our commands. In the midst of Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts, including healings and miracles, he drops in a whole chapter about motivations for exercising those gifts. Of course, the motivation he called for was love (1 Cor.13). Before I pray, I need to check my heart to discern my motivation for praying. If it is not love or compassion for the hurting person standing before me, I’m sure I need to realign my heart with the Father’s.

My prayer for today is, “Father give me the eyes of Jesus to see people as you see them and the heart of Jesus to feel what you feel for them. Match my heart to yours and then give me the wisdom of heaven to know how to pray for the people you love so desperately.”

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.  And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16

In the second chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he spends a great deal of times underlining our essential need for the Holy Spirit. He begins the chapter recounting the decision he made after his disappointing stint in Athens (see Acts 17). While in Athens, Paul had rolled out his most eloquent arguments and debated with the philosophers on Mars Hill with little response. I’m certain that he spent a number of hours in soul searching and asking the Spirit why his strategy had so little effect. When he came to Corinth he had settled on an entirely different approach. “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God…my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom but on God’s power” (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

In his two letters to the church at Corinth, he speaks of power at least 25 times. He always relates power to the Holy Spirit as did Jesus, who had instructed the first disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from the Holy Spirit.

There are numerous ways in which the Spirit enables us to serve God. In this text, Paul emphasizes our ability to comprehend God and his ways. First of all, he says, the Spirit gives us understanding. Paul had a miserable experience trying to reason with the “wise men” of Athens. Ultimately, what he was telling them made no sense to their intellectual leanings. Paul begins the section I quoted at the beginning of this blog by telling us that God gave us his Spirit so that we could understand the things God has given us. Spiritual understanding is critical to faith and without the Spirit, there is no spiritual understanding.

For those of us who believe, we often marvel that some of the brightest minds of our time consider the complexities of the universe and still walk away as atheists. Paul, who was a brilliant scholar himself, said, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). The word translated as “discerned” here means to make an appraisal, a judgment, or a right evaluation of something. In other words, without the Spirit of God in us, we cannot evaluate or judge truth accurately. So…don’t be surprised that university professors ridicule our faith.

It is not that spiritual things are not logical; it is just that spiritual logic is not the same as natural logic. When I was first studying to be a minister in a fellowship that did not accept the present- day ministry of the Holy Spirit, I was surrounded by very bright men who studied the scriptures daily. However, in an attempt to understand difficult passages, they applied Aristotelian logic to the scriptures. Their conclusions were inevitably legalistic. Think about it. They applied reasoning processes developed by pagan philosophers and applied them to truths of the Spirit and, I believe, consistently came away with false conclusions. If you don’t have the Spirit or don’t listen to the Spirit you cannot understand spiritual things. Spiritual logic turns natural logic on its head – the first shall be last, the least shall be greatest, the save your life you must lose it, and so on. To the man without the Spirit, those things sound naïve and foolish. To us they are cornerstone truths in the kingdom of God.

As Paul considered that truth, he put away his eloquent outlines that appealed to man’s wisdom and, instead, preached a simple gospel followed by demonstrations of the Spirit’s power. One of the great values of power in evangelism is that the power of the Spirit upsets the natural man’s paradigm – his way of understanding the world. When the rational or scientific man encounters the power of God in prophecy, healing, deliverance, raising the dead, walking on water, etc. his mindset cannot explain adequately what has happened and he experiences a paradigm shift – an openness to knew possibilities. Paul experienced that shift on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians while he was still known as Saul of Tarsus.

Even as Christians, I believe we have missed part of the implications of what Paul has told us in this text. The amazing truth he gives us is that we have the mind of Christ – the mind through which the universe was created. Too often, we limit spiritual understanding to theology rather than all understanding that comes from the mind of Christ. What if we believed that the cure to cancer was available to us because we are tapped into the mind of Christ who understands perfectly everything from the forces that created the universe to sub-atomic physics as well as the cellular structure and genetics of the human body? God cares about our health as well as our salvation. He cares about the suffering of men in this world as well as the world to come. Jesus said that his Spirit would lead us into all truth. We should be teaching ourselves and our children to ask God for spiritually creative pathways for music, art, literature, media, and architecture along with heavenly solutions to disease, world hunger, poverty, energy, and pollution. By restricting God’s truth to theology only, we have, in all likelihood, robbed the world of uncounted blessings.

The Holy Spirit is a game changer that opens us up to the very mind and heart of God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. His presence and power sets us apart from all people on earth. While some churches discourage any pursuit of the Holy Spirit and his power, we should be pursuing Him and all that He has with all of our hearts. It is the Spirit who gives us understanding and then empowers us to activate that understanding with the same power that raised Jesus from the grave. What a gift and what a privilege for those who believe in the Risen Lord. Make the most of his Spirit living in you today! Ask Him for answers to everything.

No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 54:17

For many of us, this is a familiar passage but, perhaps, one that we have not dug into very deeply. There is a two-part promise that comes to us as servants of the Lord that we often need to stand on. First of all, God promises that no (none, not any) weapon (weapon, instrument, possession, plan) forged (formed, fashioned, planned, designed) against us will prevail (prosper, cut through, force entry, succeed) if we are servants of the Lord (full time, not part time).

Since Paul tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but rather against spiritual forces of wickedness, we can say that no weapon the devil forms against us and uses through people will prevail or be victorious in the long run. He is not saying that we will not face some battles and even get some cuts and bruises. He is saying that in the long run, the plans of the enemy to destroy us will not succeed if we continue to stand with the Lord.

Secondly, he declares that God will eventually refute every accusation that comes against us. These are connected thoughts and the second may actually be a clarification of the first. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren (Rev.12:10) and not only accuses us day and night before God, but also before men. Many of the weapons formed against us come as accusations, slander, condemnation, and so forth. Sometimes we experience those assaults through the lips of people around us. At other times, we hear them in our own thoughts. They are hurtful, discouraging, and damaging. They are fiery darts from the enemy. Search the scriptures and you will see that all those who served the Lord were, eventually, accused of ungodly motives and actions by their enemies. They were accused of being blasphemers and heretics, subverting governments, and being in league with the devil just for a start.

The promise is that we will refute the accusations made against us. But how will we refute them? Do we argue, make our case, or slander back? No. We trust God to vindicate us in the eyes of those around us. Jesus did not answer his accusers and he is our model (1 Peter 2:23).
As you search the Psalms, you see David frequently asking God to vindicate him but he rarely attempted to vindicate himself. There is an old saying that you should not try to defend yourself against slander because your enemies won’t believe it and your friends don’t need it. There is a great deal of truth in that.

How, then, do we refute words spoken against us? By continuing to live a godly life regardless of how others accuse us. Jesus went as far as commanding us to love our enemies who typically reflect the devil’s character as they accuse us day and night. He commands us to love our enemies by praying for them, speaking well of them when they speak evil of us, and doing good to them (Lk.6). Those actions keep the devil from getting a foothold in our own hearts. The promise is that, eventually, the people we care about will see Christ in us and see the devil in our accusers. If we give in and join them in the mudslinging, then people will eventually see the devil in us and that will hide the devil in them because he is a much more accomplished mudslinger than we can ever be.

To me, the most important part of the Isaiah passage is that protection and vindication are our heritage in the Lord. If that promise is true for the servants of God, how much more must it be true for his children?

Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble (Jn.16:33). Weapons, plans, and strategies will be formed against us. We will experience much of that warfare in the form of accusations and condemnation. Our part is to continue to stand with God, always take the high road, and trust in the Lord for vindication. If we fall into the trap of the devil by taking up his tactics in the fight or by receiving the condemnation he is spewing, then his weapons will have prevailed in our lives. But if we trust the Lord and his promises and continue to reflect the character of God, then our faith will quench the fiery darts of the enemy.

Standing with God in the face of unfounded accusations is hard. It typically takes endurance. If there is truth in the accusation, then we need to hear it, acknowledge it, and repent. David understood this principle. After his son Absalom conspired to take David’s kingdom, David and those close to him were leaving Jerusalem. A man name Shimei accused David of treachery against Saul’s household and was pelting David with stones. Abishai, one of David’s commanders came to him and offered to separate Shemei’s head from his body. David commanded Abishai to leave the man alone. Davis thought that, perhaps, God had prompted the man to say those things for there might be some truth that David needed to hear. If there was no truth in the accusations, then David believed that God would bless him for the abuse he was receiving without retaliation (2 Sam.16). The same spirit is found in Paul’s directives in Romans 12. “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Do not repay anyone evil for evil…but overcome evil with good” (Rom.12:14-21).

Satan’s primary strategy is to alienate us from God and to draw us into his camp. If we come into agreement with Satan in our heart or in our actions and remain there long, we give him a place in our lives.  When we stand with the Lord, believing that victory and vindication are part of our inheritance, then we will see the power of the enemy fade and the promises of the Father prevail. Then…no weapon formed against us shall prosper. Be blessed today by blessing those who curse you! By the way, you will probably have to ask Jesus for the grace to do so.

I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. (1 Cor.1:4-7)

In his first letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul finds himself writing to a rapidly growing church, but one that is lacking in spiritual maturity. In the beginning paragraphs of his letter, he reminds them of his time with them and how they came to know Jesus. As he does so, he also affirms the work and presence of God in the church at Corinth. In the text quoted above, Paul declared that his testimony about Christ had been confirmed in the believers there. Our testimony about Christ includes who he is, what he did, and what he will do in us and through us. Remember the words of Jesus himself that those who believe on him will do even greater things than he did.

The most vulnerable Christian is the one who has an intellectual knowledge of the truths about Jesus but no personal experience with him. Paul’s testimony about Jesus was undoubtedly confirmed by the presence of faith in the church and, most likely, through life change that these believers had seen in one another. However, the confirmation that Paul points to in this context is the experience of spiritual gifts. The reality of Jesus and his Spirit living in us is often confirmed by the power of his Spirit working though us.

In several accounts of men and women coming to faith in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit “fell on” or “filled” new believers. The normative experience of many of them was the spontaneous experience of speaking in tongues or prophesying. For others it was an uncharacteristic boldness in proclaiming the gospel, the spontaneous healing of someone they just prayed for, or the experience of driving a demon out of someone who has been afflicted. All of these are manifestations of spiritual gifts. The response of the seventy-two that Jesus sent out to preach was similar. “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Lk.10:17-20).

Jesus had preached many sermons about the kingdom of heaven and the power of that kingdom. He had demonstrated that power through miracles on numerous occasions. He had appointed twelve to be apostles but then chose seventy-two “ordinary” followers and sent them out to do what he had been doing. Imagine being one of those seventy-two who suddenly was given a directive by the Lord to go preach and to do what he had been doing – all by yourself. It would be one thing to believe that Jesus was uniquely anointed by the Father for such things; it would be quite another thing to believe that you, an ordinary follower full of questions and imperfections, could ever do the same. And yet, Jesus’ own testimony about himself was that the Father had given him authority to both exercise personally and delegate to others. I have no doubt that when those seventy-two walked away from Jesus, many carried doubt that what he had commanded them to do could be done.

And yet, they still went out with imperfect faith and risked doing what they had seen him do. I’m sure they tried to recall his words as some formula for healing or casting out a demon. I’m sure that was their initial approach because we all do the same thing as we make our first attempts at healing, deliverance, prophecy, or even evangelism. And let’s face it, we say the words more with a sense of hope than any firm expectation. And yet, Jesus came through for them. They came back rejoicing and full of faith.

In the same way, when the person standing before us is healed or set free from some spirit, something very significant happens within. Suddenly, we believe more that ever that Jesus is who he says he is, that he actually does have power and authority over the enemy, and that he is truly willing to do his supernatural work through us. At that moment, a bit of hope begins to turn into a firm expectation because the testimony we had heard many times about Jesus is suddenly confirmed through a personal experience not just an intellectual position.

In Acts 17, Paul tried the intellectual approach in Athens. He stood on Mars Hill and offered his best intellectual explanations of the gospel and the resurrection of Jesus. At the end of the day, we are told that a few men believed. His next evangelistic effort was at Corinth. Between Athens and Corinth he decided on a very different approach to evangelism. He decided that he would dispense with great intellectual arguments and oratory. He would simply preach the gospel and then demonstrate it.

After preaching, he apparently did what Jesus had always done. He talked about God’s love in Christ and the power of the cross and then confirmed his sermon by healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and casting out unclean spirits. He wasn’t just showing off or validating his apostleship, he was touching hurting people with God’s love and power. Many who had been touched by a spiritual gift received their own and through their gifts they confirmed who Jesus was for others and continued to confirm who he was for themselves. Experience is a powerful teacher.

I used to get in a hurry when I was attempting some do-it-yourself projects around the house. One night, I hurriedly and carelessly pulled a power miter saw down on my thumb. Now, if I ever get in a hurry or begin to act carelessly around a power tool that experience comes to mind and I quickly repent. I knew all the intellectual arguments for taking my time and making safety a priority. I had read the manuals and watched the DIY programs on television religiously. However, I still ignored those commandments. On the other hand, one brief, personal experience made me a lifetime believer who now rarely wanders from the truth about power miter saws. Experiences with Jesus, through the exercise of spiritual gifts, can have the same powerful effect on our belief.

In churches, where spiritual gifts are denied or minimized, faith tends to be an intellectual exercise. The testimony about Jesus will stand until a more persuasive argument against Jesus is offered or until something happens that doesn’t fit into the “crafted” understanding a person has of Jesus. I think that crisis of faith occurs for many young believers who lose their faith in college. What they were taught at home seems to be trumped by more persuasive arguments offered by impressive, unbelieving professors at the university. One intellectual argument falls to another.

However, if that same student was ever miraculously healed by Jesus, saw his mother’s cancer disappear at a prayer meeting, or his father’s drunken rage turn to love and gentleness, an intellectual argument may challenge him but will not destroy his faith because he has experienced the reality of Jesus, not just heard about it. I’m certain that no intellectual argument about the scriptures would have ever swayed Saul of Tarsus, but a supernatural experience with Jesus changed everything in a matter of minutes.

In spite of the biblical model, many churches still push back against teachings that the Holy Spirit still gives supernatural gifts that often are expressions of power – healing, deliverance, prophetic words, words of knowledge, wisdom, tongues, and so forth. When questioned, they will quickly point to the abuse of such gifts or the potential of deception in the exercise of those gifts. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul acknowledged that some abuse and deception was being practiced in the church there. However, rather than shutting down the exercise of such gifts or denying their validity, he taught them the mature exercise of such gifts and instructed them to pray for even more.

The very nature of Christ is expressed through spiritual gifts so that who he is and what he promises is confirmed through those gifts. To deny them or minimize them robs the church of that confirmation through personal, life-changing experiences with Jesus. It prevents unbelievers from having those personal encounters as well. In I Corinthians 12-14, Paul tells the church three times to eagerly or earnestly desire spiritual gifts. It seems that we should also eagerly desire the gifts since they build up the church and strengthen our faith and relationship with Jesus as well. If you hunger for a spiritual gift – go for it. Ask the Father for it. He loves to give good gifts to his children!

We are told that by Jesus, that Satan is a thief who comes to kill, steal, and destroy (Jn.10:10). With that in mind, there seems to be historic periods when Satan is more active or, at least, more successful in his trade than at other times. If Adam handed the keys over to Satan through his sin, then it follows that an increase in sin increases the authority of the enemy to be about his business. I believe that is because the hand of God typically restrains the enemy but people and nations often force God to remove his hand of protection.

The Book of Job gives us some insight into that principle. In the beginning of Job, Satan comes before the Lord and the Lord points out his servant Job as a model of righteousness in the earth. Satan replied, ““Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face” (Job 1:10-11). Satan’s complaint was that God had placed a protective barrier around Job, his family, and his possessions. Why did he need a protective hedge? He needed the hedge because Satan is always poised to kill, steal and destroy – especially anything that is good or godly. Satan’s accusation was essentially that God only received praise from his people because they were always blessed. Take away the blessing, he argued, and your “servants” will not find you so worthy of praise. God needed a champion and Job was selected. God then set limits on what Satan could touch. The implication is that Satan would have gladly visited Job with total disaster long before this moment if God had not restrained him.

We see another version of this principle in Ezekiel. “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. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord” (Ezek.22:30-31). This is a moment when the rebellion of Israel had brought God to the brink of judgment on the nation. His love looked for some way to avoid judgment while his righteousness demanded it. He said that he had looked for someone who would stand between him and Israel like Moses did in the wilderness as he aked for mercy for a rebellious nation. The plea would have been enough to at least justify putting off the judgment since “mercy triumphs over judgment.” Mournfully, God said that he could find no one who would truly intercede for the nation so judgment would have to come.

My belief is that Satan is always at the door, desiring to unleash suffering and destruction and is limited only by God’s edicts restraining him. When people or nations demand judgment by their own persistent godlessness and rebellion in the face of God’s pleas for them to return to him, God eventually can find no just cause for mercy. He then simply lifts his hand of restraint and Satan has his way.

As a person, family, or nation persists and increases in sin, I believe God has to honor our choices and so he begins to lift the restraint like slowly opening a floodgate and letting more and more water through until the gate is fully open and massive destruction occurs downstream. In this case, the floodgate lets in more and more demonic powers and we see more and more evidence of evil, destruction, natural disasters, violence, and tragedy. Even God’s people are caught up in the flood of increasing judgment. We see that principle in the book of Daniel when he and his three righteous friends are deported to Babylon along with many other Jews. They also lost their homes and their families and had to endure the forced march to a foreign nation. There they continued to be under attack by Satan who subjected them to persecution for their faith. Though God sustained them, they still experienced suffering because of the sins of their nation and their leaders.

As our nation and leaders continue to call evil things good and good things evil; as they continue to forbid the presence of God in our schools and government buildings: and as they persecute followers of Christ while deferring to Islam and the homosexual agenda, the flood gates of judgment will continue to open more and more. The demonic will be given greater presence and their presence will be manifested in greater spikes of tragedy, violence, illness, floods, storms, attacks, and perversity in the nation. The question then becomes, is there anything believers can do about it?

There are several things we can do. First of all, stand in the gap and pray for your family, community, church, and nation. Pray for God’s mercy and forgiveness for the nation and for his Spirit to work righteousness in this country or in the life of an individual for whom you are praying.

When its time to vote, vote for the candidate who will most likely steer the country toward biblical values or who will less likely steer us away from biblical values. The choice may not be clear and there may not be a faithful believer in the mix, but even a nominal believer or a non-believer who is not hostile toward the gospel is a better choice than those who clearly and aggressively support ungodly values. Many Christians may refuse to vote for anyone who is not a sincere Christian but that plays into the hands of the devil. Sometimes, our vote does not usher in righteous leadership but less evil leadership. That is still a better choice that handing the nation or a community over to those who actively war against the gospel.

Secondly, do your part to increase righteousness in the land and push back against the devil. Begin with increasing righteousness in your own life. Living in an ungodly culture dulls our senses to the sin and lethargy in our own lives. Measure your life by biblical standards rather than cultural standards and make adjustments where needed. Actively pray for the church and against the devil. Pray for God to pour out his Spirit on the church in America for a move of unprecedented power, love, evangelism, and a boldness to once again be the conscience of the nation.

Learn how to engage in spiritual warfare. The real battle for an individual, a family, or a nation will be won or lost in the spiritual realm. Aggressive prayers and declarations of God’s truth and promises push back the enemy and liberate hearts and souls. Share your faith with others. That is also spiritual warfare. The most powerful way to defeat the enemy is to take away his soldiers – not by killing them but by making them soldiers of the Cross.

America is experiencing more and more turmoil, economic chaos, and decline because the church stopped evangelizing those around us and because the church withdrew from the realm of secular leadership. We turned leadership over to unbelievers and we are paying the price. All of that can be reversed if the church will exercise her authority over the devil and if believers will step up and lead again beginning with city councils, school boards, state governments and so forth. It may seem overwhelming but nothing is impossible with God. God gave believers stewardship of this nation founded on biblical truths and principles and through the years we turned it over to those who do not fear or regard God.

Israel often did the same thing but there were generations who once again responded to God and God once again blessed the nation with peace and prosperity. I am certain the prayers of a few sparked those revivals of faith and we can do the same. Jesus declared that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church but that promise pictures an aggressive church pushing Satan and his servants back into the hole from which they came. It’s time to do just that. Our children’s future depends on our prayers and actions today. Be blessed in Him.

Poor theology breeds false expectations. False expectations lead to disappointment with God and that disappointment often leads to offense. I continue to run into believers who hold the assumption that God promised his people a “trouble-free life” if they are just doing the right things. So, if trouble comes while they are attending church, tithing, teaching Sunday school, and trying to live a moral life, they often feel betrayed by God. They often take up an offense towards the Father that sometimes lasts for years or a lifetime. They feel justified in rejecting God because, in their minds, he rejected them by breaking a promise – but it was a promise he never made.

It is critical that we are clear about life on planet earth. Think about every great man or woman of faith in the Bible. Without exception, in the Old Testament or New, they each faced hardships during some season of their life and most had numerous seasons of hardship. Consider Hezekiah. “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook…In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them…This is what the king of Assyria says:…Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?    Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (2 Kings 18:5-7, 13, 32-35).

Scripture says that Hezekiah had a heart for God and served him faithfully in extraordinary ways. God was clearly please with him and yet in his fourteenth year as king, the armies of Assyria marched against him. Assyria was the dominant world power of the time and clearly out- numbered and out-classed Israel militarily. In the natural, Hezekiah could not stand against Assyria. Trouble had come to this man of God in an overwhelming way. Ultimately, God delivered Hezekiah and Jerusalem from the Assyrians when an angel of the Lord moved through the Assyrian camp at night and 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died mysteriously. In the morning, the remainder of the great army went home. But Hezekiah had to face his own fears, the political ramifications of a vast army camped around your city, the fears of his own people and the great probability of defeat and death within a few days.

There are numerous stories of God’s people being attacked by armies, falsely accused by political enemies, betrayed for money, facing famine, arrested by police, beaten and sometimes killed. Every apostle, except John died a martyr’s death and he died in exile. The letters to the seven churches of Asia in the beginning of the book of Revelation reveal persecution, imprisonment, and even death for other believers. Jesus himself told all his followers that in this world they would have trouble (Jn.16:33) and that persecution would always find the righteous in a world hostile to the things of God.

In addition, we live in a fallen world where the sin of man brought a curse on the natural world so that it does not operate as God designed it to operate before Adam sinned. As a result, floods, earthquakes, famines, blizzards, and tornadoes sometimes ravage the earth. On occasion, God uses those for judgment against nations he has warned time and again, but usually they just happen. Because of a fallen world and our fallen natures, disease crops up along with genetic abnormalities. Sometimes, those who serve God with all their hearts have to deal with what is common to man. God promises that in heaven we will face none of those things, but in this world we can get caught in a storm or have children with birth defects just like everyone else.

The difference for us is that then trouble comes we can call on the Lord. Sometimes he rescues us from the trouble just as it appears on the horizon. At other times, he simply helps us ride out the storm. Paul tells us, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Cor.1:3-4). This is a revealing verse because it tells us that we experience the comfort of God in the midst of our troubles. If we were not in trouble, we would not experience his comfort and could not point others to his comfort in the midst of their troubles.

The revelation here is that we would never experience much of the nature of God and who he is for us unless we face trouble and hardship. We would never know him as the God who provides unless we faced a season of lack. We would never know him as our shield and high tower unless we were under attack. We would never know him as our healer unless we needed healing and the restorer of life unless we had lost everything. We would never know him as our vindicator unless we had been falsely accused. I’m not saying that God sends trouble so that we can experience him, but he doesn’t always insulate us from the effects of a fallen world and a fallen race. Facing hardship makes us stronger and gives us a revelation of who God is for us that we would never know otherwise.

When trouble comes, too many believers simply blame God for not protecting them from the same things that the world faces rather than looking for God’s provision and deliverance in the midst of trouble. If God had kept the apostles from facing a life-threatening storm on the Sea of Galilee, they would never had known the power of Christ to silence the storm nor would they have ever had a hint that he had given them the same authority.

Let’s face it, who needs faith when everything always goes your way? Who would ever struggle with their theology of suffering if no suffering ever came to believers? Who would ever grow in intercessory prayer if troubles never lingered? The truth is that hardship is a much greater catalyst for growth than ease. As you study the lives of God’s people, even when they were faithful, seasons of hardship and trouble came their way. God sprinkled in seasons of peace and plenty but difficult times came to all. We should not be surprised, then, that they come to us as well – even when we have been serving God with all of our hearts. When they come we have not been betrayed or forgotten by God. He is there for us and we then have the adventure of seeing how God will see us through each struggle.

When we trust God in the storm, we will not only learn great things about him but about ourselves as well. I think of the Lord of the Rings and the life of Hobbits who lived in a comfortable, country setting and never wanted anything or anyone to disrupt their peace or their pleasant routines. But those few who were forced to face dragons and orcs, discovered things they would have never found in any other way. God allows struggles to do the same work in us. When trouble comes, we don’t have to ask where God is because he is because he is always with us. We only need to ask what he would have us do so that we can see what he will do. That is the great adventure of faith.

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   Acts 1:4-8

One of the constant themes of this blog is available power in the kingdom of God. During his three years of pubic ministry, Jesus operated in power and displayed that power through healing, deliverance, raising the dead, and other miracles. When he sent his apostles and disciples out to preach, he also gave them power and authority to heal and perform miracles.   While Jesus was physically on the earth his followers were operating out of the overflow of his life and ministry and under the umbrella of his authority. As he prepared to ascend back to the Father, he clearly indicated that the same power would still be available through the Holy Spirit.

Followers of Jesus still operate under his authority because he has all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18). But Jesus clearly stated that power would come from a source present on the earth and that would be his Spirit. The question asked of him by his followers pertained to restoring the kingdom to Israel. Jesus gave no details of that restoration but simply told them not to leave Jerusalem until they had received power through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Only them could they be adequate witnesses for the risen Lord.

That mandate reveals that adequate representation of Jesus on the earth must not only consist of words that faithfully proclaim the gospel, but must also consist of power to demonstrate the gospel. If the followers of Jesus needed to operate in power and authority (miracles) in the months immediately following the ascension of Jesus when eye witnesses of his miracles still abounded and those miracles were still fresh in the minds of those they were preaching to, how much more necessary is that demonstration 2000 years later after governments, philosophers, and educators have tried their best to destroy or discredit the Bible as a reliable record or to write Jesus off as a myth? Healing and deliverance lends immediate credibility to both Jesus and the Word of God in a world of skeptics. Even long time believers jump to an entirely different level of faith when they witness or experience authentic power in the kingdom of God.

Paul, himself spoke of that power on many occasions. To the church at Corinth he said. “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor.2:4-5) and, “But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Cor. 4:19-20).

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul also declared, “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. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph.1:18-21).

Dozens of other scriptures could be sighted, proving that power is a central issue in the kingdom of God. The same power that raised Jesus from that dead is available to be exercised on our behalf and even to work within us for strength and energy to serve as well as to empower spiritual gifts. If followers of Jesus needed authority and power to fulfill their mission in the first century, then those who follow Jesus today need the same authority and power unless the mission has been changed…and no serious believer thinks that the mission has been altered.

The question then becomes, how do we receive power and authority for the mission today? Authority is ours already because we have been commissioned by Jesus to do his work…Go into all the world and make disciples. Power comes as it did to the first disciples on Pentecost – through encounters with the Holy Spirit. Those encounters come through prayer and fasting as we ask for the Spirit to fill us and refill us. They come through impartations as we ask Spirit-filled men and women to impart some gift to us by the laying on of hands. Power comes as we commit ourselves to pray in tongues for extended periods because to pray in tongues is to encounter the Spirit as we are built up in the Spirit (Jude 20). Even more than that, we may receive power when we step into opportunities for ministry that require power – praying for healing, evangelism, deliverance, and so forth. Power is essential to our calling but rarely comes without us pursuing a greater and greater experience of the Holy Spirit. In the same way that electricity is available in our homes, it does not flow until we plug into the source. “Plugging in” is our part. Releasing power to undergird our authority is his part.

Many churches today believe in the power of God to save, but for little else. In fact, those churches will discourage or even forbid the pursuit of spiritual power through miraculous gifts and encounters with the Spirit. The result has been a powerless church that offers much but delivers little more than the world can deliver and, at times, offers less. When we are sick do we call the elders or the doctor first? When we are emotionally wounded do we ask Jesus to heal our broken heart or do we seek out psychiatric professionals first who have been trained and certified by the world? When we suffer with depression, do we go to the church for prayer and deliverance first or do we seek out the newest drug therapies?

Often, today’s churches send their members to the world for answers because they have none. They have none because they do not operate in the power of the kingdom.   To seek spiritual power, in order to fulfill our assignments on the earth, is not about pride or arrogance – it is a biblical prayer and mandate. I want to encourage you not to shy away from the power of God but to pursue it even as you pursue Jesus. You will be blessed in doing so and will be a source of blessing for others.

This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

Matthew 6:9-13

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 most. 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 qualified expectation. We hope he will answer our petitions, but many of us have no confidence at all that he will.

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 moments 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 often feels like pain and suffering are ultimately in our best interest. Too often, we simply lay the template of our earthly father over our Heavenly Father and expect the same inconsistencies or even anger.  If you had a great father, your prayers are facilitated by your experience. If you had an angry or absent father, your prayers will be laced with doubt until you truly know your Heavenly Father.

So many of us pray, hoping for the best but not really expecting it. Many of us have no problem believing that God will act on behalf of everyone else in the room but struggle to have faith that he will answer ours. We know our imperfections and feel that we don’t meet the standard on God’s measuring stick for answered prayers.

When we are sick, we may 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, whose love was conditional, 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. They key is Jesus. No matter how we understand the Old Testament or what kind of father we had on earth, Jesus clearly stated that he is the way to understand the Father. “Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”(Jn.14:9). The heart of Jesus toward the weak, broken, and shameful is the heart of the Father.

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 him three times 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 have yet to 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. And in this Easter season, you see your absolute hope in an empty tomb. All from the Father for you. Blessings today in Him.