Devotions for a Deeper Life (Intro)
Devotions for a Deeper Life: Prayer (Part 1)
Devotions for a Deeper Life: Prayer (Part 2) – The Basis of Prayer
“Prayer is the converse of the soul with God.” – Charles Hodge
So we have seen that the gospel is the basis of our prayer life. Through Christ our communion with God is restored and thus we can commune with confidence, because Christ has secured full and free access to the Father and we are united to Christ, sharing in the benefits of His sonship. That’s the basis, now let’s explore what I’ve called the Principle of Prayer.
I define the Principle of prayer as follows: “Biblical prayer is prayer to the Father… through the mediation of the Son… In the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.”
Let’s try and unpack this a bit.
1. Prayer is to the Father.
As we consider this point we must first start by affirming 2 truths, both taught and exemplified in the Scriptures. That of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.
Here’s a few selected verses that teach these truths:
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
Meaning God is THE Sovereign King. That means He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good. He is 100% in complete control of everything! Exercising total dominion over all. None can stay His hand or thwart His plans.
Proverbs 21:2 - The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
Psalm 135:6 – Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
Ephesians 1:11 – In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will
HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY
Meaning that each man and woman has the ability to choose, believe, disobey, respond and is morally accountable to God.
Joshua 24:14-15 – “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Romans 10:9-11 - “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
SCRIPTURES THAT TEACH BOTH TRUTHS TOGETHER
Genesis 50:20 - As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Acts 2:22-23 - Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know — this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. We must affirm both, we must believe both – because the Bible teaches both. Neither truth should function to diminish or reduce the truth of the other.
When it comes to the topic of prayer, the New Testament pattern and dominant emphasis in the Scriptures is that our prayer is directed to God the Father, the Sovereign King.
We must acknowledge human responsibility: the Bible teaches us to pray (Luke 11); exhorts us to pray (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) and expects us to pray (Matthew 6:6).
As Don Carson says: “The Bible insists that we pray, urges us to pray, gives us examples of prayer. Something has gone wrong in our reasoning if our reasoning leads us away from prayer, something is amiss in our theology if our theology becomes a disincentive to pray.”
We must also acknowledge God’s sovereignty. Prayer is something that BEGINS with God. He is the source of our prayers. To understand this statement we must recognise God’s initiative and sovereignty over every aspect of our lives. In saving us, God reveals himself as Father. He also reveals His will, plan and purpose for the whole of creation. How? Through His Word he has given us. Having revealed His plans and purposes to us, in prayer he invites us and allows us to be involved in the carrying out of His will. We are involved in the business God has for the world. We are given the privilege of identifying with God’s will be asking him to do what he has already determined to do.
Prayer is thinking God’s thoughts after him and asking Him to glorify himself by undertaking that which he has planned and purposed. Our aim should be to pray in a way that is consistent with God’s revelation in Scripture.
Graeme Goldsworthy, again helps: “Prayer is not trying to persuade God to do something he otherwise would not do. It is being caught up in the purposes of God and the expression of this privilege as his dear children who know Him as Father… Prayer is not the bending of God’s will to ours, but His conforming our wills to His… Prayer is a truly human response to divine revelations and action.”
God is the Divine Initiator – in creation, in salvation and in prayer. He saves us and reveals His will to us and then invites redeemed sinners to actually ask him to do His gracious will.
I think R.C Sproul puts it simply when he writes: “The Scriptures teach both the sovereign foreordination of God and the efficacy of prayer. The two are not inconsistent with one another, for God ordains the means as well as the ends for His divine purposes. Prayer is a means God uses to bring His sovereign will to pass.”
2. Prayer is through the Son.
Much of what has already been written in the post on the basis of prayer could be repeated here, and fit under this point.
We are sinful. God is perfect and Holy. Therefore, we have no right on our own to enter into His presence. We need a mediator. Thankfully, we have such a One. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Chris Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all…” (1 Timothy 2:5). Christ’s mediatorial work gives us the confidence to freely approach God in prayer.
In the New Testament, Jesus tells us we should pray in his name (Cf. John 14:13-14; John 15:16; John 16:23). But what does He mean?
If you have ever sat in a room with others praying, most likely you will often have heard the phrase “…in the name of Jesus.” or something similar. What does this mean? Are those praying simply adding this phrase like some magical word? Is this phrase the “Abracadabra” of prayer?!?!
In the Ancient Near East, to speak of someone’s name was very important, because it represented that person and their character. To have a good name meant that you had a good reputation and were a person of good character.
To come in the name of someone meant that that particular person has authorised us to come on his authority, resting in their reputation and character.
So when we pray “in the name of Jesus” it is a simple acknowledgment that we approach on the basis of, and on the authorisation of someone else, resting in His reputation and character, not our own. It is also a declaration that we are seeking to pray in line with Christ’s character and will. And it is a proclamation of our faith. We are not just offering words with a vague hope, but we speak with a confidence that God will hear and answer because of our mediator.
3. Prayer is In the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit enables us to respond to the gospel, and regenerates the hearts of those who repent of their sins and place their trust in Christ. He makes the person and work of Christ real to us and unite us to Christ, and dwells within us. He does a work for us and in us.
Romans 8:26-27 teach us that the Holy Spirit takes our weak and ineffectual prayers and makes them effective. He takes our weak and feeble efforts and helps us by interceding for us according to the will of God. He is our enabling power.
Biblical prayer is to the Father, through the Son, in the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. That’s the principle of prayer. That’s gospel-centred praying!
Graeme Goldsworthy concludes: To pray [this way] is to pray according to the whole process of God’s revelation… That is why t cannot fail, for God has promised that His revealed purpose cannot fail. All prayer that is uttered in the light of the gospel, and by which we identify with God’s revealed will and purpose in the gospel, will be infallibly answered. The answer might not be exactly as we conceive it should be, but the prayer will be answered.”
The following is an article published on the New Attitude website. It was written by Jon Smith, a pastor at Covenant Life Church in Maryland, USA. We have kind permission from New Attitude to re-post the article in full here. I trust it will serve us all as we consider how to care for those in suffering, particularly at this time, Matt & Lizzie, as we weep with them at the sad loss of their son, Ben.
You can also download the comments I made from a few sundays ago from here.
===============================================================================
I will never forget those grief-stricken 4 hours – sorrowful, painful, tragic. My wife and I embraced our infant son Chase, singing to him, praying for him, and could do nothing but helplessly watch his life wither away.
Six months earlier we discovered our son Chase had a fatal birth defect. We knew, barring a significant miracle, that he was going to die, but we did not know of the unimaginable pain and suffering that his death would bring to our door – we had never really suffered the loss of anything. We were able to spend four precious but painful hours with our little boy and our last act as his earthly parents was to hold him in our arms as we sang, “It is Well With My Soul.” Chase breathed his last right before we concluded the last line of this never to be forgotten song.
My wife and I never imagined that we would lay any of our children in the grave, let alone watch them suffer and die in our arms. But, neither did we imagine the band of close friends and comforters that God would send to us in our greatest hour of need. We weren’t the only ones that held him, sang to him, and prayed for him that day in the hospital, nor were we the only one’s weeping at his departure – they were too. They walked with us, cried with us, prayed with us, and carried us for months. They were great comforters to us. They were Christ to us.
This article provides some pastoral reflections on being great comforters to the suffering, but also acts as a tribute to my closest friends, for they were the one’s that taught me many of these truths. What follows are some lessons that I have learned and will continue to learn in caring for people who are suffering. It’s not an exhaustive treatment, just a start.
Weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15b) When suffering and grief enter our door we need people who will simply grieve with us. This can be the single most helpful expression of care for your brother or sister. As much as possible, enter their experience of grief so that you can weep with them and live with them in an understanding way.
Help them run to where their supreme comfort can be found. All grievers seek comfort. And there is only One Person that can provide supreme comfort to our grieving hearts: Jesus Christ. He knows their pain and sympathizes with their weaknesses (Heb. 4.15). He will always hear and He is committed to comforting them.
I have found the following quote from David Powlison to be extremely helpful in this aim:
“So often the initial reaction to painful suffering is Why me? Why this? Why now? Why?…[Then] He comes for you, in the flesh, in Christ, into suffering, on your behalf. He does not offer advice and perspective from afar; He steps into your significant suffering. He will see you through, and work with you the whole way…. This reality changes the questions that rise up in your heart. That inward-turning “why me?” quiets down, lifts its eyes, and begins to look around.
“You turn outward and new, wonderful questions form. Why You? Why You? Why would You enter this world of evils? Why would You go through loss, weakness, hardship, sorrow, and death? Why would You do this for me, of all people? But You did. You did this for the joy set before You. You did this for love. You did this showing the glory of God in the face of Christ. As that deeper question sinks home, you become joyously sane. The universe is no longer supremely about you. Yet you are not irrelevant. God’s story makes you just the right size. Everything counts, but the scale changes to something that makes much more sense. You face hard times. But you have already received something better which can never be taken away. And that better something will continue to work out the whole journey long…
Finally, you are prepared to pose—and to mean—almost unimaginable questions: Why not me? Why not this? Why not now?”
—David Powlison
We must care, counsel and pray with people with a view to deepen and clarify their experiential knowledge of Jesus. We must help them draw vast comfort from God through the Word of God. At the very deepest level, men and women must learn, like Job, that Christ is great and it is amazing grace that enables us to know and experience his loving and comforting nearness, even when we don’t have all of the answers.
Help them speak with honest emotion. The Bible is brutally honest about the sorrows of life in this fallen world. The Psalms invite sufferers to bring their grief to the One who cares more for them than anyone ever could or would. We can find such examples in Psalm 134, 22, 38, 42, 61, 73, and 88 to name a few. Maybe you know someone who is angry because of the suffering in their life, or entangled in a web of self-pity, or even envious for the “good life” that other people seem to have. Encourage them to speak honestly with God. He isn’t surprised by their questions nor will he turn them away. God welcomes their honesty and understands their dark moments of pain. He enters these moments to show His steadfast love, comforting mercy, and amazing grace. He will not leave them in their confusion or sin, but will gently lead them to Calvary to see the one that bore their grief and carried their sorrow.
Choose your words carefully. Immediately after the loss of a loved one or news of a fatal disease comforting words are needed, but choose them carefully and apply James 1:19 in being quick to listen and slow to speak. One of the most important things that you can communicate is your commitment to care for them. You could say something like, “I am standing with you,” or “I am grieving with you.”
Understand that asking, “How are you doing?” is one of the most difficult questions for a sufferer to answer. Try instead asking questions that lead them to what we discussed in #2, “Where are you seeing God at work in this trial?” or “What Scriptures have comforted you during this time?”
Let them initiate the doctrinal questions. Often, when we experience trials and suffering of any kind new questions emerge in our minds and we need the help of God and others to find the answers. However, I would encourage us all to let our friends initiate these questions. Especially when it comes to God’s sovereignty – let them bring this up. It can seem uncaring to a friend to bring up God’s sovereignty in the midst of suffering—as if a broad acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty will stop the grieving.
We need to be aware of the spiritual condition of our friends when they ask the “why” questions. Some asking “why?” don’t want an answer, they want to be comforted. When a friend asks a question similar to this a helpful response could be something like, “I can’t give you all the answers to ‘why?’ but you may draw comfort from the fact that the one who loves you and died for you asked a similar question: ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’”
Lastly, in the midst of suffering, expressions of practical care are many times more meaningful than weighty doctrinal conversations. Making dinner, going to a movie, offering a small gift, or even something like playing basketball can be far more comforting than an exposition of Romans 8:28.
Don’t ignore them or the death. Let’s be honest. Many of us don’t have a clue how to care for people that are suffering. So many times we ignore it becausewe think that not saying anything at all is better than saying something stupid. I understand this way of thinking but this can often make them feel as if they are bearing the burden alone or make them feel distant in your relationship. Rather, ask them things like, “How did ________ life impact you?” or “What are some of your favorite memories of _________?” Or simply acknowledge that you don’t know how to best care for them and simply ask them what would best. One of the most helpful questions that my friends asked me was, “have we said anything or done anything that was more tempting than caring?”
Pray for those who are suffering. God himself is the one that “comforts the downcast” (2 Cor 7:6); He is the “God of all comfort” (2 Cor 1:3). In the deepest of sufferings, many find it almost impossible to pray. Should not the rest of us carry their burden by interceding for them?
There have been times I have seen suffering people transformed, in answer to specific, believing prayer. God is the God of comfort and he will provide this – often through his people. So let us ask, remembering that he loves to bind up the broken hearted and give good things to his children. Let us ask that God would equip and empower us to imitate Jesus as we care for the sick and the suffering.
promo video for NA2008
Check out NA2008 Website for further details.
Devotions for a Deeper Life (Intro)
Devotions for a Deeper Life: Prayer (Part 1)
What do we mean when we talk about ‘prayer’ and ‘praying’?
The answer is so obvious, isn’t it? Why waste the time covering this ground? Well, let’s assume nothing and make sure we are all on the same page. Let’s examine the Basis of Prayer.
Firstly, prayer is not about some sort of mystical technique, but about a relationship. Prayer is the primary means by which God allows us to interact with Him on a personal basis. It is a lifeline of communication with God, the avenue He has designed for us to approach and commune with our heavenly Father.
Put simply, Wayne Grudem defines it as follows: “Prayer is personal communication from us to God.”
Prayer is the amazing privilege His people have of speaking directly to Almighty God, the exalted Lord of the Universe. Prayer is an expression of our relationship with our heavenly Father; an expression of our gratitude to Him for what He has done for us and for others; an expression of our humble dependence upon Him for life and breath and everything; and an expression of our trust in Him.
But, what is the basis of this amazing privilege that we have of speaking with Almighty God?
Let’s go back to the beginning, to Genesis where God created all things by His word. In the opening chapters of the Bible we read how God created man and woman in His own image, and how he communicates to those created in His image through words. He speaks with them and gives them a framework to understand who He is, themselves and the world in which they live (See Genesis 1:28-30; 2:16-17; 3:9ff)
While the Bible doesn’t record any words of Adam and Eve speaking to God until after the fall, I think we can assume that Adam and Eve had a relationship with God and communicated together, one to another.
Elsewhere in the Scriptures we are told that God designed His people for His own possession, for a relationship with Him. Not out of some need or lack within himself, but to reveal His glory (Isaiah 43:7); and, surely, communication formed a central part of that relationship.
Think about your own relationships, husbands and wives, parents to sons and daughters, friends – how deep would those relationships be, and how would they function if you could not communicate together?
Then in Genesis 3:1-24 we read how the Serpent came, lying to Adam and Eve, tempting them to disobey, and the devastating result of that disobedience: Physical toil and hardship (vv.16-19); Physical death (v.19); access to relationship and communion with God denied (v.24).
The apostle Paul then informs us, in Romans 5, that the result of Adam’s sin come to me. I have a sinful nature, but compound the problem through my own sinful words, thoughts, actions, deeds and motives. Consequently, I have violated God’s justice, aroused His wrath and stirred up His enmity and I am spiritually dead, under the dominion of sin and deserving of His eternal, righteous punishment.
And all of humanity is in the same boat. Each one of us stands condemned before God’s law, fully liable to its curse and punishment.
But, Genesis 3:15 gives us insight into God’s grace toward His creation and a hint of His divine rescue plan. The rest of the Scriptures unpack this promise – the promise of a serpent crusher – culminating in revealing Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the only solution. Through his death on the cross, Jesus Christ fully satisfied the justice of God, offering up His life in my stead, taking upon himself the punishment I deserved for sin.
As 2 Corinthians 5:21 highlights, “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God charged our sin on Christ. He bore my burden, guilt, curse and punishment at his crucifixion. Our trespasses and sins are reckoned to Christ and we receive his righteousness.
Charles Spurgeon captured this “great exchange” well when he said: “The Lord God laid upon Jesus, who voluntarily undertook it, all the weight of human sin. Instead of its resting on the sinner, who did commit it, it was made to rest of Christ, who did not commit it; while the righteousness which Jesus wrought out was placed to the account of the guilty, who had not worked it out, so that the guilty are treated as righteous. Those who by nature are guilty are regarded as righteous, while the one who by nature knew no sin whatsoever, was treated as guilty.”
And John Calvin succinctly adds: “In Christ every part of our salvation is complete. As all mankind are, in the sight of God, lost sinners, we hold that Christ is their only righteousness, since, by His obedience he has wiped off our transgressions, by His sacrifice appeased divine anger, by His blood washed away our sins, by His cross borne our curse, and by His death made satisfaction for us. We maintain that in this way man is reconciled in Christ to God the Father, by no merit of his own, by no value of works, but by gratuitous mercy.“
That’s the good news of the gospel! You might now be thinking, “Hey, I thought this was a post about prayer?”. Well, everything flows from, to and through the finished work of Jesus Christ. And prayer is rooted in the gospel. In fact, the gospel is THE basis of prayer. Because it is only through the gospel that our reconciliation and restored relationship with God the Father happens. It is through the gospel that we have access to the throne of grace.
The gospel is the basis of prayer and a wonderful motivation for prayer. What Jesus has accomplished has tremendous implications for our prayer life. Let me explain with two thoughts.
1. In Christ our communion with God is restored.
Galatians 3:26-27 reads: for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ.
Paul teaches that those who have trusted in Jesus Christ and in his work of salvation are now united with Him. For one thing, that means that when God looks upon us his sees his One and Only perfectly acceptable Son.
Galatians 4:6-7 continues the theme, highlighting our adoption into God’s family. He is our Father, our relationship with Him, once broken and destroyed, is now reconciled and restored.
Graeme Goldsworthy helps us understand this further when he writes: “Through faith in Jesus as our Saviour we are given the same status that he has as the perfectly acceptable human before God. He is the Son of God, and we need to remember that our union with him by faith means we share that status.”
Through Christ, in union with Christ, we are restored to sonship. That has knock on implications for our prayers… Our prayers, through our union with Christ enjoy the same acceptance as his prayers. Jesus has justified our prayers. In other words, He provides the basis of full acceptance that allows us to draw near in wonderful freedom and prayer to God.
2. In Christ we can commune with God in confidence.
Justification (acceptance and right standing with God), which is what we experience as the result of Christ’s finished work, means that God looks on us and regards us with the same acceptance with which he regards Jesus.
Romans 8:15-17 speaks of us now being heirs with Christ, therefore our prayers, through our union with Christ are acceptable to God and thus, we can now pray with great confidence. In Christ we are God’s children and our prayers are heard by our heavenly Father.
In John 11:41:42, Jesus prays for his dead friend Lazarus: “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said. ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
Jesus prays and the Father ALWAYS hears. Thus, when we pray we can be confident that he will ALWAYS hear us, as we share in Christ’s sonship.
Therefore…
Hebrews 4:14-16: “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 10:19-22: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Devotions for a Deeper Life (Intro)
Imagine you were on a judging panel, “Prayer Idol” or “The Prayer-Factor” and you had to decide on history’s greatest answered prayer, who would you pick from these 5 contestants: Elijah, calling down fire on the altar in his “dual” with the prophets of Baal? Moses, as he lead the people to the edge of the Red Sea in the Exodus, and saw God open up the waters, as the Egyptians chased them down? Perhaps David, before he went out to fight the giant Goliath? Or Jesus, as he prayed for his dead friend Lazarus to be raised to life again? Or the apostle Paul, freed from jail by a supernatural earthquake?
Prayer – it’s one of those things that, we’d all agree, was a great privilege that belongs to the people of God, but that many of us would admit was extremely difficult to engage in. As difficult as picking a winner in “Prayer-Factor”.
Some people struggle with prayer, wondering about the meaning of it and the part it should play in the Christian life. Probably most of us, struggle with the practicalities – the how, when, where, what?
Perhaps you can identify with one or more of the following thoughts: “I sometimes feel my prayers don’t go past the ceiling”; or “Why ask God for things that he knows we need anyway?”; or What’s the point of praying if everything is determined before hand? Do my prayers really make a difference?”; or “I can’t keep my mind from wandering when I try and pray.”; or “My prayers seem like a lot of repetition and lack life.”
I think at the root of all these statements is a lack of understanding of how prayer is possible and what really goes on when we pray. In my experience, much of the teaching I have heard on prayer seeks to exhort and encourage the listener to be more faithful, more consistent.
Now, I want to encourage faithful, consistent, meaningful prayer (and I hope these posts contribute to achieving that goal) but before we get to the where, when, and how of prayer, I think it might be helpful for us to take a step back and establish some of the principles behind this thing called “prayer”.
Graeme Goldsworthy writes in his book ‘Prayer and the Knowledge of God’: “I believe that a lot of what is said and written about prayer tackles the problem from the wrong end. Unfortunately, many Christians are imbued with the spirit of our age and want a quick fix. The culture of fast food and instant everything permeates our thinking when dealing with problems… Good practice requires good understanding of what it is we are practicing. Far better that we try to understand what the Bible is teaching us about the nature of prayer and how it is intended to function. Far, far better that we spend some time thinking about the theology of prayer… before worrying about the practicalities of our own prayer lives. As with most things, sound practice involves a sound theoretical basis, that is, the theological principles revealed in Scripture.”
So over the next few posts, I’m not intending to offer a comprehensive theology on prayer (there is much more that could be said), but want to touch on the basis, principle, pattern and practicalities of prayer. My hope is that we will avoid guilt and condemnation over failures in our prayer life, and that God would use these posts to teach us, convict us, encourage us, and motivate us to gain a biblical understanding of prayer and deepening our relationship with Him through our practice of prayer.
Remember just a couple of weeks ago? New year, new year’s resolutions? In the sermon of January 6th, we looked at an admirable new year’s resolution… to be more like Christ in 2008 than we were in 2007. To pursue godliness and grow in Christ-like character.
But how?
One of the application points of the message that morning, was for us to pursue God throughout the week in our spiritual devotions – a time ear-marked by us, amidst our busy schedules, to meet with God.
The road to godliness and increasing maturity and Christ-like-ness passes through the practices of the Spiritual Disciplines. Spiritual disciplines, what do you mean? They are those things – those personal disciplines that we undertake, like prayer, reading our bibles, and Scripture memorisation – that promote spiritual growth. They are a God-given means we are to use in the Spirit-filled pursuit of godliness.
In 1 Timothy 4:7, Paul writes to Timothy, “Train yourself for godliness.” Godliness increases as we train ourselves. Devotions are a key aspect of a deepening life with God. God has given us the spiritual disciplines as a means of receiving His grace to grow in godliness. As we place ourselves in them to seek communion with Christ, His grace flows to us and we are changed.
V. Raymond Edman, wrote in his book ‘The Disciplines of Life’: “Ours is an undisciplined age. The old disciplines are breaking down…Above all, the discipline of divine grace is derided as legalism or is entirely unknown to a generation that is largely illiterate in the Scriptures. We need the rugged strength of Christian character that can only come from discipline.”
As Donald Whitney writes in his brilliant book ‘Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life’: “The gold of godliness isn’t found on the surface of Christianity. It has to be dug from the depths with the tools of the Disciplines.”
As I was thinking about this new year’s resolution – to become more like Christ in 2008 than I was in 2007 – and meditating on Paul’s words to Timothy, I thought it might be useful to post some thoughts that may help us all cultivate deeper communion with Christ.
So over the next few days, we are going to take some time to consider our devotional times, and the practices of our spiritual disciplines.
We shall begin with prayer.
Registered Charity: Grace Trust (Bristol)
Charity Number: 1094803
All Content © 2011
