“Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’
When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’” – Luke 17:11-19
What kinds of situations cause you to pray?
I remember when my son, Eli, was born. Unfortunately, due to some complications in the pregnancy, Eli was scheduled to be born a little before his due date.
On Sunday night before bed, our whole family gathered together and prayed for a safe delivery. Then on Monday morning, Melissa and I got up and headed to the hospital. On the way, we spent some time praying for Eli, Melissa, and the Doctors and nurses.
After Melissa was taken into the O.R., I waited outside the O.R. for several minutes. I spent most of the time praying. While in the O.R. during the C-section, more prayers were offered. We were praying for a safe delivery and for the health of Eli and Melissa.
Then Eli was born. He was healthy.
I texted Melissa and my family. I took some pictures of Eli and sent them out. I posted the stats of the baby. Then we headed to recovery and I went down and got family members to bring them up to the room. It was all very exciting!
A little while later I had to head back to our house to deal with some things. As I was driving home it dawned on me. I had texted people, posted pictures, and visited with family, but I hadn’t stopped to pray and thank God for the safe delivery and healthy mommy and baby.
Praying in the bad and the GOOD times. Prayer often comes easily and frequently when we are concerned about something or facing a difficult time. However, in times of joy and prosperity, sometimes our prayers become few and far between.
It reminds me of when 10 lepers saw Jesus and cried out to Him to heal them. He did. Nine went off to show the priests they were clean. One turned around and thanked Jesus. Jesus responded,
“Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?“
May we always remember to be the one who goes back and thanks to Jesus.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for the many blessings you have given me. Help me to come to you in prayer at all times, whether I’m struggling through something or doing well. May I always remember to say thank you.
Praying With Jesus - The Not So Super Secret Way To Get Anything You Want!!!...If...
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” – John 14:13-14
Have you ever asked God for something in prayer and not gotten it?
I love giving things to my daughter. I like giving her toys and making her favorite foods. However, I also know that I need to limit these things for her own sake, so she doesn’t become spoiled or have health issues. If I offered her pizza and ice cream every day 3 meals a day, she’d probably be OK with that (Hey, I’d like to join her in that), but I don’t do that because I know it isn’t really showing her love.
God loves giving us things, too; but are there limits there as well?
You may have come across our Bible verses for today before and wondered what Jesus meant or maybe you thought you’d hit the jackpot.
“Wait, What? I can just ask for anything I want and as long as I say, ‘In Jesus Name’ I’ll get it?!”
Score!
Some people (even famous preachers) have suggested that Jesus is saying that if we believe in Him we can simply ask Him for anything and, as long as we add “in Jesus name” to the end of the prayer, Jesus will give it to us. “Name it and claim it.” But is that really what Jesus is saying? If we go back one verse we find Jesus saying this:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” -John 14:12
Jesus isn’t giving a secret magic phrase to get whatever we want.
What if we ask for something which, in the end, would harm us or lead us away from Him? What if we ask for God to harm someone else who angered us? God isn’t our personal genie, nor does He want to give us things that would harm us or others.
However, What Jesus is saying is that as we believe and follow Him, He is there with us. He will provide for us. As we live and act in His name (as His people) “do[ing] the works [He] had been doing,” we can ask Him to help and to provide for us, and He will give that help and providence.
Sometimes we feel like we shouldn’t ask God for help.
After all, He’s already done so much for us, and we really don’t deserve it. And when we do ask for things, we try to make them “reasonable” or keep them small.
Jesus is telling us that we shouldn’t be shy in asking God to help in all aspects of our lives and our ministry according to His good and loving will. In fact, He will give much more than we ask that it may bring glory to the Father.
Prayer is incredibly powerful both in what God promises to do and in what it does to us. I want to encourage you in your prayer life. So, over the next few devotions, we’re going to explore prayer. I hope you’ll join us each day.
Dear Jesus,
I can’t do this without You. Please be with me today. Please guide me and lead me. Please forgive me and keep me from sin. Remind me of Your promises. Work in me to bring You honor and glory today through my words and actions that others may Glorify Your Name. May Thy will be done. I pray this as one marked in Your name.
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” – Matthew 28:18-20
The past Sunday we talked about the importance of sharing the Gospel with others. There are several aspects involved in doing this, including…
Prayer
Meeting People
Caring for People
Having Spiritual Conversations with People
This is not a command for just some special people in the church, it’s for all of us. So, I talked about two things we call all be doing to help us to be doing this in our lives. I wanted to follow up with you on those two things both as a reminder, but also so you would have the details where you could use them.
The 10:02 Challenge
The 10:02 Challenge is a simple challenge, but one which is both effective (because prayer is effective) and helps us to obey Jesus.
“And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” – Luke 10:2
The concept of the challenge is this. In Luke 10:2, Jesus told His disciples there are lots of people out there ready to hear the Gospel (the harvest is plentiful), but there aren’t many people to send out to share the Gospel (the laborers are few). So, we should pray earnestly that God would send more laborers, more people out to share the Gospel.
Set an alarm on your phone or some other device for 10:02 (morning, evening, or both). When the alarm goes off, stop what you are doing and pray that God would send people to share the Gospel and that many would hear the Gospel and believe.
Just so I’m being completely open with you…just know, you likely may be one of the workers God sends out into the field. Jesus told His disciples to pray this right before He sent them out to do it.
BlessEveryHome.com
BlessEveryHome.com is a simple way to start praying for your neighbors as well as to start being intentional about meeting your neighbors and having spiritual conversations with them. Here’s a brief overview:
I hope you will join me in this effort. I have signed up and started praying for my neighbors and am going out and talking with my neighbors. You can, too.
“And (I Believe) in Jesus Christ, His (the Father’s) only Son…”
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
How important is a person’s identity?
At Faith, a while back, we had a sermon series on identity. Discovering how to find our identity and then what God reveals about who we are is life-changing. Identity gives purpose, confidence, a better ability to form relationships with people, and much more. You can watch the sermon series here on YouTube, if you’d like.
In this part of the Apostles’ Creed, we talk about who Jesus is, His identity.
We don’t just say we believe in Jesus, we identify Him according to what He has revealed to us through the Bible. Jesus is the Son of God.
Much has been said and written about Jesus, some correct and some incorrect. In fact, each of the ecumenical* creeds addresses more and more of who Jesus is in order to correct some of the incorrect ideas about Jesus (*ecumenical means that they are widely accepted by various Christian groups/denominations).
The Nicene Creed expands on what it means that Jesus is the Son of God, saying,
“And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made;”
Jesus is the only Son of God. He didn’t have any brothers or sisters from the Father as some have claimed, though He did have earthly siblings from Mary and Joseph. He is begotten, not made. And He is one substance with the Father, meaning He is God and He and the Father are one.
The word, “begotten,” is a little strange to us. We don’t really use it much outside of church. It speaks to the uniqueness of Jesus and His relationship with the Father. He is not a creation of God, He is one with the Father and Spirit. Also, He is the only one like Him. This distinguishes us, who the Bible also calls sons and daughters of God, from Jesus. We are adopted sons and daughters.
The Athanasian Creed takes this even further as it works to explain the Trinity nature of God (3 in 1). I’m not going to go through the Athanasian Creed here because it’s long, but you can download and read a copy here, if you’d like.
This may all seem a bit trivial like it’s a bunch of theological jargon that doesn’t really pertain to your life, but it’s actually important. We live in a society where there are many different religions. Many people say they believe in “God,” but the identity of that God matters. How God describes Himself in the Bible is different from the Islamic or Hindu beliefs of God.
Even within groups who claim to be “Christian”, people have come up with some different ideas of who Jesus is.
Is Jesus truly God?
Is He human?
Was He a created being who ascended to some near-god status?
Did He have a brother from God?
Do we eventually become like Jesus?
We aren’t actually free to answer these questions however we want. There are true and false answers to these questions. When we allow the Bible to inform us on who Jesus is, we discover His true identity, the person Jesus revealed Himself to be. That is who we believe in.
Dear Jesus,
You are the only begotten Son of God. Help us to know You as You truly are. Help us to accept You and You have described Yourself. Help us to believe in You.
“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” – James 4:14-15
What are your plans for today?
Are you willing to change them?
A man was hiking through the woods one day. He had decided it was a great day to walk down to an old pond he had frequented in his younger years. As he was walking, he crossed paths with another person. She suggested taking a different path. She told him she had lived in the area for decades, hiking the woods several times a week, and that she knew of a beautiful waterfall he could see if he took the other path.
What would you do?
Would you decide to stay on your current path or try the new one?
What if, instead of directing you to a waterfall, she had warned that the pond had mostly dried up and several venomous snakes had taken up residence there?
Would you change course?
Making Plans We all make plans. We have things we want to accomplish and we make plans to be sure we accomplish them. In our passage for today, God has something to say about our planning.
Before we get to what God is saying, let’s clear up something He isn’t saying. Some people have used this passage to say we should never plan anything. We should just go with the spiritual flow if you will, and see what happens. That’s not what this telling us. First, notice that the conclusion is to say,
‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.“
That still implies planning. It’s just planning that looks to God both when we plan and as we carry out those plans to seek God’s will. There are plenty of Bible passages that speak to the wisdom of planning.
So, what is this passage saying? How do we plan?
Humble Yourself – Realize that as much as you think you know, you don’t know as much as God and you can’t see into the future. God can.
Pray When You Plan – Realizing that you don’t know everything, ask the one who does to guide you as you plan. Pray before you plan, while you plan, and after you plan.
Pray As You Put Your Plan Into Action – As you start to put your plans into action, stay in prayer. Ask God to bless your efforts and for wisdom to know if you need to change anything.
Be Willing To Change Course – Sometimes we don’t really listen to God as we plan well and God needs to correct us. However, it’s not necessarily that you didn’t listen. Sometimes God doesn’t reveal the whole plan all at once. Sometimes we need to be moved down the path we expect in order to find another path we didn’t know about, but to which God was leading us.
Thank And Praise God For Guiding You – Don’t forget God at the end of the plan. Pray again, thanking Him, and ask Him to continue to lead you.
Sometimes God leads up step by step.
I’ve had several times, where I thought I knew the full plan, but realized soon into the plan that God had guided me to the first part, but I had filled in the rest. So, after the first step or two, God sent something to change my path. Maybe it was a person I didn’t expect to meet that led to a conversation or some different way of doing something which I couldn’t have even conceived of earlier.
The point is, don’t be so committed to the plan, that you aren’t open to God’s leading while you enact the plan. He may have something amazing in store if you are willing to follow.
Heavenly Father,
Guide me as I plan my days. Then, open my eyes to see where You lead me as I walk. Help me to be flexible enough to take a detour when you lead me to it. Bless my efforts that I may follow Your will, You would be glorified, and others would be blessed through me.
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” – Romans 8:26-27
Have you ever had someone say something to you that just left you speechless?
It happens to me now more than ever since I have kids. Sometimes it’s something that makes me think,
“I’m sorry, did you just dare to say that to me?”
Other times, it’s something that makes me think,
“Where did you learn such wisdom?”
Of course, there are also the times when I’m thinking,
“Did I drop this child at some point because that made no sense?”
Life gives us those speechless moments, too. Sometimes they are horrifying moments, other times they are awe-inspiring, and sometimes they are bewildering.
Prayer in the Speechless Times In those times when we want to pray but are at a loss for words, what do we do?
Pray without words.
You can say something like,
“God, I am so overwhelmed right now that I don’t know what to say, but You know my heart.”
Then, just sit quietly with God. Let the Spirit do the praying for you. The Spirit knows the Father’s heart and He knows our heart better than we know it, ourselves. Trust that the Spirit is interceding for you. While we may not know what’s being uttered, I’d bet it’s better than anything we could have come up with anyway.
Holy Spirit,
You know me better than I know myself. Intercede for me in those moments when I don’t know what to pray. Then fill me with Your presence, overflowing with Your peace, comfort, and love.
“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4
What would you like to ask God for?
My daughter has a loft bed. The other day my son asked me if he could jump off that loft bed. He wasn’t asking if he could jump off into my arms. He had already done that. He wanted to jump all the way to the ground.
I told him, “No.”
I’m just that kind of mean father that I wouldn’t let my son jump off a platform that is nearly 6 ft high only to land on the hard floor. You may not think that was cruel, but he did. He got mad at me.
Whatever You Ask In My Name There’s one concept in the Bible that trips a lot of Christians.
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” – John 14:13
The first time many Christians read this, they think they just rubbed Aladdin’s lamp.
“Seriously, I can ask for anything and as long as I say, ‘…in Jesus’ name’ I get it? Awesome!!”
Um…not quite. How good of a father would God be if He gave us whatever we asked, whether it was good or not? Not a very good father. Surely, God is a better father than I am and even I know that.
But I Want It! Yet, we, like my son, don’t like that God may not say, “Yes.” We know what’s best, right? Not really. We are sinful and not all that wise. God, on the other hand, is completely sinless, holy, righteous, all-knowing, and the very definition of wisdom.
When the Bible says that if we ask anything, “in my name,” it doesn’t mean to tack “in Jesus’ name I pray,” to the end of the prayer. It means that if we ask what God wants to give, He will give it. This meaning is even more evident in our passage from Psalm 37, today.
“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4
If you want what God wants, He will give it to you.
On the one hand, you may say,
“Well, duh! If God already wants to give it to me, of course, He will give it to me.”
What we too often forget is that God is both completely wise and good. God won’t give us something harmful and God knows what’s best. Jesus said it this way,
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” – Matthew 7:11
Allow me to translate.
“If Pastor Kurt, who is an evil sinner, knows how to give his kids good gifts, don’t you think your Father in Heaven who isn’t an evil sinner will give even better gifts?”
The point, therefore, of these passages are really the following:
We should align our desires with God’s. We should seek to want what God wants because God is good and wise.
God can ALWAYS give what He wants to give. I may want to give my kids the best, but I can’t always do so both because I don’t always know what that is and because my resources are limited. God always knows what’s best and He has unlimited resources and power to give whatever He wants.
So, in the end, these verses are more about submission and trust. We submit to God’s wisdom and goodness, and we trust that He can and will do what is best.
That’s one of the secrets of prayer.
Prayer is really more about submitting ourselves to God than about asking for what we want.
Heavenly Father,
You truly are a good father. I know You are wiser than I am and You are always good. Help me to trust in Your wisdom and goodness. As I ask for what I think is good, let me always have the humility and trust to follow my requests with, “…but Thy will be done.”
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
Have you ever asked God to remove a struggle or problem in your life?
What happened?
That’s exactly what Paul is writing about 2 Corinthians 12:9. He had a problem and he asked God to take it away.
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:7-8
God’s answer, “My grace is sufficient for you,” may seem harsh to us. It may have felt like a gut-punch to Paul. Here he was pleading with God and God says no.
We Aren’t God What we have to realize, though, is that God knows more than us and is wiser than we are. We know that what we are dealing with is difficult and hurts. We think,
“Surely, taking away this thing that makes me feel so terrible must be good.”
What if it isn’t? What if taking that struggle away from you will result in much worse happening? What if it would result in you becoming more distant from God or even falling away?
My kids don’t like getting vaccination shots. They hurt and my children can’t “see” what would happen to them if they got one of the diseases the vaccines will help prevent. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I don’t want to get a shot!” or “Please don’t make me go to the doctor!”
Yet, I do make them go and get the shots. It’s not because I don’t care or dislike them. Quite the contrary. It’s because I love my children. I love them enough to let them suffer when that suffering is for their good.
God is good and God loves you.
Much more than I love my children, God loves you. Much wiser than I may be to get my kids vaccinated, God’s wisdom works in your life, but it’s a hard truth to hear.
God loves you enough to allow you to suffer.
God doesn’t just not answer Paul or even give the simple answer, “No.” He tells Him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” This is important. He is showing Paul that He did, indeed, hear Paul’s prayer and He is answering. He also explains that what Paul is going through is ultimately for good.
Suffering to Joy God doesn’t always answer us with a “yes,” but He always hears our prayers and He always answers. The answer may be “yes,” “no,” or “wait,” but there is always an answer and that answer is always good and perfect. When we realize God is working for good even in our suffering, our suffering can bring joy.
We can say along with Paul,
“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Heavenly Father,
There are things in my life I would rather not have to endure right now. I ask You to remove them. However, I trust that You are good, You are wise, and You love me. So, I say, “Thank you,” no matter what Your answer. If Your answer is “no” or “wait,” give me the patience and strength to endure and help me to trust You that this is best, even the point of grateful and joyous for your work in my suffering.
This week is Christmas. Because of this, we are doing a few things differently for our Thursday prayers.
The Time of the Prayers: Since our time of prayer would normally be right when a lot of people will be attending Christmas Eve worship, we are simply going to post the video of the prayers on Thursday morning instead of having a live-stream in the evening. You can start the video and join the prayers whenever you would like.
Prayer Requests: We will also still be including your prayer requests. Please submit your prayer requests through our Contact Us form by noon on Wednesday.
This week is Thanksgiving. Because of this, we are doing a few things differently for our Thursday prayers, including having “Thank You, God” videos and changing the time of the prayers.
“Thank You, God” Videos: We thought it would be great if we included a montage of people thanking God. I would like to ask you, yes you, to create a short thanking God for whatever you would like. Then send me that video and I will include it in the Thanksgiving Prayer Video. The videos need to submitted by noon on Wednesday. Send your video to Pastor Kurt’s email, which is Kurt at the church’s website address.
The Time of the Prayers: Since our time of prayer would normally be right when a lot of people will be celebrating Thanksgiving, we are simply going to post the video of the prayers on Thursday morning instead of having a live-stream in the evening. You can start the video and join the prayers whenever you would like.
Prayer Requests: We will also still be having our normal prayers which will include your prayer requests. Please submit your prayer requests through our Contact Us form by noon on Wednesday.