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.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Ps.91:1

In my last blog we looked at the first part of this verse that is followed by so many promises of care and protection. David begins by saying that he who dwells, stays, continues, remains sitting, or abides in the secret place of the Most High will rest. Most High is translated from the Hebrew elyon. It conveys the sense that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is above all and over all. His majesty, his power, and his wisdom surpass all others. That description is then coupled with Shaddai which is translated Almighty which reminds us that God is not only higher, more majestic and wiser than any other but also wields immeasurable power.

David begins his psalm with a reminder of who this God is in whom he trusts. It will take a God of that magnitude to deliver on the promises contained in the rest of this Psalm 91. It is always good to begin our prayers and our praise with a rehearsal of the nature of our God in whose hands were are placing our future. He who intimately remains in the shelter or hiding place of the Most High will rest in his shadow. The word translated rest means to spend the night, to abide, or to relax. IN our vernacular, we could say that he who abides in the secret place of God lives stress free and finds that peace or that stress free life in the shadow of the Almighty.

For those who hid out in the burning wilderness of the Middle East, a huge rock that cast a shadow was a welcome place. It provided comfort and protection from the heat and enemies. This verse reminds us that our God casts a big shadow. In that shadow we are sheltered from the storm, the scorching heat of midday and from the prying eyes of the enemy. Because our God is our Rock and our Strong Tower we can rest, relax, and spend time in his shadow.

David never viewed God as the one who would keep us from all battles but rather the as the one who would give us victory in the midst of battle and times of rest and renewal in between our battles. Too often we have interpreted salvation as God’s promise that we will never struggle, never face crisis and never find ourselves in a battle. God has never promised that. What he has promised is victory and deliverance in the midst of those things.

David goes on to declare, “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. (Ps.91:2-7).

Notice that David trusts in the Lords deliverance in the midst of battle and in the face of trouble. We can never learn to trust until we have to trust. If God were to keep us from all conflict and calamity we would never have need of faith or trust. I only discover if I can trust someone when I absolutely need him or her to come through for me – when I am absolutely dependent on his or her faithfulness and ability to save me from the calamity I face. We live in enemy territory for now so must expect some trouble along the way but the key is faith in God and the condition is remaining in his presence.

In the face of life threatening circumstances David makes some exalted and, perhaps, seemingly outlandish claims of God’s care and deliverance. Ten thousand fall at your right hand but you are spared. Angels will surround you and defend you. You will trample on the lion and the cobra. Are these poetic exaggerations and can we expect that kind of deliverance from our God? We will consider that question in my next blog. Until then…be blessed.

Psalm 91 has caught my eye lately and has been emphasized for me in several different contexts. Several months ago I was rereading Francis MacNutt’s classic on spiritual warfare entitled Deliverance from Evil Spirits. In that book, he mentioned that quoting or reading certain scriptures during deliverance could be effective in tormenting spirits enough that they would leave. One of the scriptures he recommended was Psalm 91.

Then during one of our latest Freedom Weekends, in which we minister deliverance to many individuals, we had a young woman with a strong spirit of witchcraft in her that had come down generationally. Our team had spent several hours commanding this spirit to come out but had not quite driven it from its stronghold. One of our team members began to read Psalm 91 over the young lady, personalizing it for her, and the reading of that scripture broke the stronghold and she was set free.

In just the past few days, I was scanning a little book on crafted prayer by Graham Cooke. In that book, Cooke mentioned that several years ago, the Lord had instructed him to study Psalm 91 for nine months – no other scripture, only that psalm so that he would get every truth in that section of scripture buried deep in his heart. Well, God hasn’t told me nine months but he has been bringing it up over and over so I want to spend a couple of blogs looking at it – for my benefit as well as yours. So let’s begin:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Ps.91:1)

The word or phrase translated “He who dwells” can mean a number of things: to sit, to sit down, to remain sitting, to dwell, to marry. The word carries the idea of both permanence and intimacy. It reminds me of scriptures that call us to “Be still and know that I am God” and of Jesus’s command to “abide or remain” in him as a branch connected to the true vine. The promises about to be revealed in Psalm 91 are not for the casual Christian or even the highly committed, super-busy Christian who is constantly in the kitchen banging the pots and pans like Martha but who rarely sits at the feet of Jesus like Mary. To know the heart of the Father (or the Son) we have to abide in his presence, to spend time speaking and listening, and to seek intimate connection.

The promises then are for those who dwell, abide, or remain sitting in the shelter of the Most High. The word translated shelter is also an interesting word and can be translated: shelter, hiding place, covering, protection, or secret place. David calls us to dwell in a secret place or a hiding place with God that provides both protection from enemies and from the storms of life. To me, this calls us to find a place with God that is secret, personal, and unknown to others. I think he is telling us that the place to dwell with God is not in a corporate relationship but in a very personal relationship that is ultimately unknowable by others.

It is like a relationship between husband and wife. Many can know about the relationship but not know the deeper things of the marriage which remain secret to the couple – pet names, intimate moments they have shared together that are for them only, embarrassing incidents that will remain known to them but untold to others, and the deepest hopes, dreams and fears of their hearts. Those will always remain hidden or secret to all others because they are so personal that they are only to be shared with a loving and trusted spouse.

That is the kind of relationship God wants to have with each of us. Again…God is calling us to spend time with him – personal time, transparent time, talking, dreaming, hoping, and sharing our hearts with him and his heart with us. Psalm 91 make it clear that all the promises of victory and protection that follow flow out of that kind of relationship so developing that must be our first goal and we must be willing to pay the price of time and intentionality.

In my last blog I talked about the great cultural distraction of busyness. Nothing competes with an intimate relationship with the Father (or a spouse, children, friend, etc.) like busyness. That will have to be dealt with first. Then the sitting, the seeking, and the openness will feel so threatening to many of us – especially men. But that is where the promises are to be found. The question is how badly do we want all that Jesus has for us?

One more interesting implication of this first verse is the suggestion that we meet with God in a secret place. Undoubtedly David was thinking of places where he had hidden from Saul while Saul hunted him. This verse suggests that there are times when we are so snuggled up to God that Satan can’t find us or see us. That is an incredibly safe place to be. You may want to contemplate that a bit as you begin to read Psalm 91 over and over for a few days.

More from Psalm 91 in my next blog.

Remember the old saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop?” I’m not totally sure what that means but the idea is that staying busy kept you out of trouble – so stay busy. I have discovered in my own life that busy hands are also the devil’s workshop for believers.   It’s not that the “busy hands” are involved in sinful things, but rather they leave no margins for the deeper and more important things of God.

The “drug of choice” of our culture seems to be busyness and constant interaction. The more we do, the more significant we feel – productive, included, achieving, connected. Our children are most prone to the busyness and feel the pressure of it. The Midland School system had a rash of teenage suicides several years ago. Most of these young people were not abuse victims, they weren’t strung out on drugs, and they weren’t from “bad families.” Several were popular, high -achievers in their schools. Interviews later with kids at risk for suicide discovered that these elementary, junior high, and high school students felt so much pressure to perform, to be part of the “in crowd,” and to “do everything” that they were contemplating suicide rather than face a life of that kind of pressure and busyness.

Think about it. Even when adults get together its not long before they start comparing their weekly or monthly itineraries – the job, the early morning meetings, the evening meetings, the basketball, volleyball or baseball games they had to attend or travel to. Christians get the throw in all their ministry commitments on top of that. Its as if being way overbooked in your life is a badge of honor or an indicator of worth. God’s injunction to David to “Be still and know that I am God” is still quoted but is typically something we aspire to do rather than something we actually do. Even when the preacher quotes it, everyone winks in their heart knowing that he isn’t all that serious because right after the sermon he will be asking his people to commit to serving an additional night of the week in some ministry.

There is something in our fallen nature that wants to work. Maybe it gives us the illusion of self-sufficiency or gives us a reason not to do any introspection or evaluation of our lives. God didn’t have to command his people (for the most part) to work, but to take a day off from work every week. Obviously the Sabbath was created to honor the Lord but also to bless God’s people. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. We need the rest. We need the margins in our lives.

How many times do we turn down a “divine appointment” to speak into someone’s life, to disciple someone, to share our faith with a friend at the office, to have a hurting friend come stay at our house for a few days, etc. because we know that to do so would demand time and relationship capital that we don’t have because we are already “all booked up?” I fear we often miss the most important things (myself included) because we have no holy margins in our lives for significant time with God or for those little detours he wants us to take to touch a life, to plant a seed, or to water what someone else has already done.

I’m afraid that someday we’ll meet Jesus and point out all the hard work we did for him and everything we built in his name. He’ll smile and tell us how much he appreciated our efforts. He might even tell us that what we built was impressive…however, it just wasn’t what he wanted us to build because we got so little direct input from him. We can be like a builder who builds an amazing house for a client without having any real conversations about what they are looking for or without consulting them in the process to see if he is on track with their vision and desires. That’s a pretty risky way to build a house. I’ve known builders who were just too busy to have those ongoing meetings with their clients and in the end there were always some problems. If we are too busy to meet, we can be like that as builders of God’s house on the earth.

I’ve always been impressed with the focus of Jesus on a few primary things in his life that always took precedent over everything else. He kept his small group to twelve. Bigger isn’t always better. He turned down invitations to hold month long healing conferences even when he was trending. He often stole away to spend quiet time with the Father when there was so much that “still needed to be done, and he had time to take detours on his way to some town because the Father showed him someone who needed a touch on the way. If Jesus had operated on highly scheduled agendas, I think he would have had far less impact on the world and would have walked in much less power than he did.

Jesus, Paul, and the other great men of the New Testament seemed to live by God’s agenda for their lives rather than the world’s agenda, cultural norms, or even by all the demands of the church. In review, their lives seem sort of ragged and even ill planned, at times, but look at the impact.

The world will not relent. Satan will not relent. Everywhere you turn someone will ask for your time and it will all be good things. We need to establish some holy margins, a Sabbath principle, in our lives so that we have time for God and time for those little detours that bear so much fruit. We’ll need to pray and will have to decide to stop living at a crazy, spirit killing pace. We’ll have to prune some things, but pruning always produces more fruit in the end. We’ll have to be a “bad guy” to our kids to trim their schedules but our lives cannot be driven by cultural norms but should be driven by kingdom norms. By definition, Christians must be counter-cultural. If we are like the culture then we loose our power to change the culture. God will have to show you which parts to trim but my guess is that we all need to trim some things to create margins for us to hear and obey God. Anyway…think about it…if you can find the time. Blessings.

Remember the old saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop?” I’m not totally sure what that means but I think the idea is that staying busy keeps you out of trouble – so stay busy. I have discovered in my own life that busy hands can also be the devil’s workshop for believers.   It’s not that the “busy hands” are involved in sinful things, but rather they leave no margins for the deeper and more important things of God. It’s amazing how many believers do not have time for the things of God because of so many commitments to “other good things.”

As I survey my own life and the lives of many other believers I know, the “drug of choice” of our culture seems to be busyness and constant connection. The more we do, the more significant we feel – productive, included, achieving, connected. Our children are most prone to the busyness and feel the pressure of it. The Midland school system had a rash of teenage suicides a few years ago that left everyone breathless. Most of these young people were not abuse victims, they weren’t strung out on drugs, and they weren’t from “bad families.” Several were popular, high -achievers in their schools. Interviews later with kids at risk for suicide revealed that these elementary, junior high, and high school students felt so much pressure to perform, to be part of the “in crowd,” and to “do everything” that they were contemplating suicide rather than face a life of that kind of pressure and busyness.

Think about it. Even when adults get together it’s not long before they start comparing their weekly or monthly itineraries – the job, the early morning meetings, the workouts, the evening meetings, the basketball, volleyball, and the baseball games they had to attend or travel to. Christians get to throw in all their ministry commitments on top of that. It’s as if being way overbooked in your life is a badge of honor or an indicator of significance. God’s injunction to David to “Be still and know that I am God” is still quoted but is typically something we aspire to do rather than something we actually do. Even when the preacher quotes it, everyone winks in their heart knowing that he isn’t all that serious because right after the sermon he will be asking his people to commit to serving an additional night of the week in some ministry.

There is something in our fallen nature that wants to work. Maybe it gives us the illusion of self-sufficiency or gives us a reason not to do any introspection or evaluation of our lives. For the most part, God didn’t have to command his people to work, but to take a day off from work every week. Obviously the Sabbath was created to honor the Lord but also to bless God’s people. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. We need the rest. We need the margins in our lives.

How many times do we turn down a “divine appointment” to speak into someone’s life, to disciple someone, to share our faith with a friend at the office, to have a hurting friend come stay at our house for a few days, etc. because we know that to do so would demand time and relationship capital that we don’t have because we are already “all booked up?” I fear we often miss the most important things (myself included) because we have no holy margins in our lives for significant time with God or for those little detours he wants us to take to touch a life, to plant a seed, or to water what someone else has already done. I’m afraid that someday we’ll meet Jesus and point out all the hard work we did for him and everything we built in his name. He’ll smile and tell us how much he appreciated our efforts. He might even tell us that what we built was impressive…however, it just wasn’t what he wanted us to build because we got so little direct input from him. We can be like a builder who builds an amazing house for a client without having any real conversations about what they are looking for or without consulting them in the process to see if he is on track with their vision and desires. That’s a pretty risky way to build a house. I’ve known builders who were just too busy to have those ongoing meetings with their clients and in the end there were always some problems. If we are too busy to meet, we can be like that as builders of God’s house on the earth.

I’ve always been impressed with the focus of Jesus on a few primary things in his life that always took precedent over everything else. He kept his small group to twelve. Bigger isn’t always better. He turned down invitations to hold month long healing conferences even when he was trending. He often stole away to spend quiet time with the Father when there was so much that “still needed to be done,” and he had time to take detours on his way to some town because the Father showed him someone who needed a touch on the way. If Jesus had operated on highly scheduled agendas, I think he would have had far less impact on the world and would have walked in much less power than he did.

Jesus, Paul, and the other great men of the New Testament seemed to live by God’s agenda for their lives rather than the world’s agenda, cultural norms, or even by all the demands of the church. In review, their lives seem sort of ragged and even ill-planned, at times, but look at the impact.

The world will not relent. Satan will not relent. Everywhere you turn someone will ask for your time and it will all be good things. We need to establish some holy margins, a Sabbath principle, in our lives so that we have time for God and time for those little detours that bear so much fruit. We’ll need to pray and will have to decide to stop living at a crazy, spirit-killing pace. We’ll have to prune some things, but pruning always produces more fruit in the end. We’ll have to be the “bad guy” to our kids to trim their schedules but our lives cannot be defined or driven by cultural norms.

By definition, Christians must be counter-cultural. If we are like the culture then we loose our power to change the culture. God will have to show you which parts to trim but my guess is that we all need to trim some things to create margins for us to hear and obey God. Anyway…think about it…if you can find the time. Blessings.

In my last blog I quoted extensively from Dr. Caroline Leaf’s recent book, Switch On Your Brain (Baker Books), from a chapter in which she talked about the myth of genetic determinism in our choices. In another section, she raised an interesting question about the intergenerational dysfunctions (or sin) in families.

There has always been a challenging scripture in Exodus that this may speak to. “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Ex.20:5-6, emphasis added).

I have always puzzled somewhat about the meaning of “punishing the children to third and fourth generation” – especially when God says in another place, “The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him…The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son” (Ezek.18:18-20). So…in light of this passage what does Exodus 20 mean?

I have always understood Exodus 20 to mean that the consequences of the Father’s sins will effect the children through four generations if they are not dealt with spiritually. For instance, unrepented sin by a father (especially idolatry) might give Satan a legal right to afflict a family and that right will continue through four generations unless it is dealt with by the children acknowledging and renouncing those sins and serving God. Also, we know that unrepented sins establish behavioral patterns in families that can be passed on from generation to generation.

In her recent book, Dr. Leaf says, “Science has demonstrated how the thought networks pass through the sperm and the ova via DNA to the next four generations” (p.57). That got my attention. She went on to describe the scientific explanation for that but essentially science is discovering that the thought patterns we choose to follow are written in our very DNA like a program on a computer chip. Those may be uploaded into the mind of the next four generations as genetic tendencies or predispositions that can be turned on and become operative if the mind of that generation comes into agreement with the predisposition. Leaf says, “the sins of the parents create a predisposition not a destiny” (p.59). Free will is always at play.

That agreement turns on the program and so the program may be duplicated, along with the consequences, generation after generation. That “genetic expression” can pass on, at a DNA level, both positive and negative results. However our mind (thought patterns that we choose) can turn on that genetic tendency or turn it off. We have power over the genes, not the genes over us. She sums it up this way, “Our choices (the epigenetic signals) alter the expression of genes (the epigenetic markers) which can then be passed on to our children and grandchildren, ready to predispose them before they are even conceived. So our bad choices become their predispositions.”

This reality does not negate the spiritual dimension but adds a dimension to it and gives us even more reason to make good choices – not just for us but also for generations to come. This presents an additional dimension of cursing ourselves and our children when we ignore the truths of God’s word about guarding our hearts, taking every thought captive to Christ, and being those who speak blessings rather than curses. The thought patterns we choose that are contrary to the word of God get written into our very DNA and effect us spiritually, emotionally and physically in very negative ways. Aligning our thoughts and words to God’s truth, however, writes blessings into our very DNA and can be passed on to generations. Think and speak the good things of God today.

I wanted to give you a little culture correction moment as our culture continually pressures us to turn our backs on biblical truths in the name of Science. I want to share a lengthy quote from Dr. Caroline Leaf, a top neuroscience researcher who, along with many others, is doing cutting edge research on the brain.

We have been living under a myth called the gene myth, which locates the ultimate power over health and mental well-being in the untouchable realm of genes, relegating them to the level of gods. This myth has bound the mental and physical health as well as the peace and happiness of too many people for too long. Almost daily, another headline pops up with the highly fashionable concept of a gene for this or a gene for that. You are an alcoholic or depressed or battle with learning disabilities or whatever. Genes may create an environment within us in which a problem may grow, a predisposition, but they do not produce the problem; we produce it through our choices …

Genes have been made out to be responsible for feelings, spirituality, beliefs, even things like the enjoyment of music – all human behavior, to the extent of determining human affairs, human relation ships, and social problems. In fact, genetic predisposition has become entrenched in popular culture to the extent that phrases like ‘she has good genes’ and ‘he was born that way’ are commonplace. This thinking removes choice and accountability from the equation and is scientifically and spiritually inaccurate. You control your genes, your genes do not control you. Genes may determine physical characteristics but not psychological phenomena.

Outstanding research has been done by Dr. Gail Ironson…at the University of Miami. She found that the most significant factor that made a difference in healing for those with HIV was their choice to believe in a benevolent and loving God. Her study ran over four years…those who did not believe God loved them lost T-cells (powerful cells that attack diseases) three times faster, their viral load increased three times faster, and their stress levels were higher, with damaging amounts of cortisol flowing.

Dr. Ironson summarizes her research by saying, “If you believe God loves you, it’s an enormously protective factor, even more protective than scoring low for depression or high for optimism. A view of a benevolent God is protective. But scoring high on the personalized statement ‘God loves me’ is even stronger.” (Dr. Caroline Leaf, Switch on Your Brain, p.51-52).

The newest research is showing that what we choose to believe and say, altars even our genes and DNA. Renewing our mind with the word of God (Rom.12:12) and coming into alignment with what he says  about us and who we are is even more transforming than many of us ever thought – not just at a spiritual or emotional level but even at the core of who we are physically.

It turns out that mind (what we choose to think and act on) has substance that, like the tongue, truly has the power of life or death. Contrary to culture, the newest science is confirming God’s Word at every turn – not making it irrelevant but more relevant that ever. By the way, Dr. Leaf is a strong believer in Jesus as well as being a brilliant researcher.

On a personal note I want to apologize for missing my last two regular blogs. My goal is to post a blog each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but I got to enjoy the inside view of hospital room for five days last week and finally said goodbye to a gall bladder that had been with me for decades. The skies look exceptionally blue and the sun exceptionally bright after being in a hospital room for nearly a week. I few more days at home and then I can get back to the office and a couple of weeks after that I can start playing bad golf again.  My apologies, however, for missing those blogs. The upside is that I’ve had some time to pick up some new reading and I hope that the surgery also cured my slice.

I’ve been looking at a little book or booklet by Graham Cooke entitled “Crafted Prayer.” I like Cooke because he challenges my programmed thinking on things and then I usually end up agreeing with him. In this book he gives us a definition of prayer that is almost counter-intuitive for most believers. How would you define prayer? Most of us have defined prayer as taking a laundry list of needs and concerns to the Father, lifting them up with passion and persistence, and then trying to persuade God to see things our way. Of course, we always throw in a “ Thy Will Be Done” in order to keep from sounding selfish or presumptuous.

Cooke defines it this way: “Prayer is finding out what God wants to do and asking him to do it.” My automatic response to that is, “Well, why ask him to do what he wants to do because he will probably do what he wants to do anyway! I pray to get God to do what I want to do!” That’s honest but the truth comes out that I’m praying to get God to do things my way rather than joining him in what he wants to do.

Remember when Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does” (Jn.5:19-20). That sounds a lot like Cooke’s definition of prayer. His approach is to pray about a situation by asking the Father what he wants to do and then waiting to hear or sense what it is the Father has already determined to do. Then as we pray into that, our prayers release the power and will of the Father into the situation. Remember that our Father wants to do things with us and not just for us.

In addition, it is sometimes important not just to know what God wants to do but how he wants to do it. Naaman, the leper, came to Elisha in search of healing (2 Kings 5). It wasn’t enough for those who loved Naaman to know that God was willing to heal him but they needed to know how God wanted to go about that. In Naaman’s case, seven big dips in the Jordan did the trick. Think of how often Jesus healed people in unique ways: mud on the eyes, spit in the eyes, spit in the ears, in the midst of crowds, leading people to private places, with a word or with a touch. Jesus did not use formulas but healing seemed to be crafted to the needs of the person or to the needs of those near the person. I don’t know that Jesus always knew the “why of the Father” but he knew the what and the how.

The power of Cooke’s definition is that it fits what Jesus modeled for us. It forces us to believe that God is already aware of every issue and already has a solution that is in the best interest of his children. Once we hear from the Lord about what he wants to do, then we know with certainty that we are praying according to his will. Then the only question is when will God pull the trigger on the answer that we are totally assured of.

This approach to prayer challenges us but consider it. If you want to pursue the concept I would encourage you to get Cooke’s book from Brilliant Books at $7.00. Be blessed in Him today and for a start simply ask the Father what he wants you to pray about, wait on the Lord, and then pray for whatever comes to mind that is consistent with the written Word.

See how it feels.