Waiting on God to hear your prayers

Psalm 40:1-4 (NLT)

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see what He has done and be amazed.  They will put their trust in the Lord. Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols. 

There are so many passages in the Bible that teach on the virtue of waiting for the Lord (e.g. Psalm 27:14, Psalm 37:7, Psalm 62:1, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:25-26, Luke 12:36, and Acts 1:4 and many others).

John Wooden, the famous basketball coach, and, more importantly, wise teacher, wrote these words of wisdom: “It’s what you learn after doing it all that counts.”  To me, being patient in life, allowing life to teach you, learning from your mistakes (another Wooden wisdom quote:  “If you are not making mistakes then you are not doing anything.  A doer makes mistakes.”), and never giving up all contribute to you reaching a point in your life where you will have “a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God”.  This is what really counts for eternity.

True patience is not a human characteristic.  That’s why it is one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).  Yet true patience is absolutely essential in developing true faith.  Waiting on the Lord is something that you learn; no one is immediately good at being patient and waiting on the Lord.  Waiting is a spiritual discipline and takes time to develop.

The word “patience” in the Bible really means “to suffer”.  Waiting patiently involves some aspect of suffering because anytime you have to be patient, it is a suffering experience.  Waiting during a traffic jam, waiting to hear news about someone or something important to you, waiting during some kind of healing process, waiting for an arrival that is delayed, and, indeed, waiting on God to answer a prayer----all are suffering experiences to some degree.

Here’s what Andrew Murray says about waiting patiently on God---you need to concentrate and read several times to be inspired by this:         

“In waiting on God it is of infinite consequence that we not only submit, because we are compelled to, but because we lovingly and joyfully consent to be in the hands of our blessed Father. Patience then becomes our highest blessedness and our highest grace. It honors God, and gives Him time to have His way with us. It is the highest expression of our faith in His goodness and faithfulness. It brings the soul perfect rest in the assurance that God is carrying on His work. It is the token of our full consent that God should deal with us in such a way and time as He thinks best. True patience is the losing of our self-will in His perfect will. Such patience is needed for the true and full waiting on God. Such patience is the growth and fruit of our first lessons in the school of waiting. To many a one it will appear strange how difficult it is truly to wait upon God. The great stillness of soul before God that sinks into its own helplessness and waits for Him to reveal Himself; the deep humility that is afraid to let our will or our strength work nothing except as God works to will and to do; the meekness that is content to be and to know nothing except as God gives His light; the entire resignation of the will that only wants to be a vessel in which His holy will can move and mold: all these elements of perfect patience are not found at once.”

As the Psalmist writes and as you might feel as you allow Murray’s words to sink into your mind and heart, oh the joys that result in waiting on God, in putting your trust in Him rather than allowing your human impatience to control your life.  May these words give you renewed hope and peace as you deal with something in your life right now that requires you to wait patiently for the Lord to help you.  Your patience will pay off and what you learn through your willingness to be faithful while waiting will have eternal value.

“Patience with others is love, patience with self is hope, patience with God is faith”—Adel Bestavros

Crying out to God

Psalm 77:1-9 (NLT)

I cry out to God; yes, I shout.  Oh, that God would listen to me!  When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord.  All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for His help.  You don’t let me sleep.  I am too distressed even to pray!  I think of the good old days, long since ended, when my nights were filled with joyful songs.  I search my soul and ponder the difference now.  Has the Lord rejected me forever?  Will He never again be kind to me?  Is His unfailing love gone forever?  Have His promises permanently failed?  Has God forgotten to be gracious?  Has He slammed the door on His compassion?

Haven’t you felt like speaking (even yelling) at God like this psalmist does in this passage?  In fact, this passage teaches that it is acceptable to question God, baring your soul to Him even if it means ventilating your frustrations at Him.  Haven’t you been frustrated with God---maybe you are right now—that you don’t see Him helping you, don’t see your prayers being answered, don’t sense that He even cares about you anymore? 

People who experience natural disasters and others who witness such disasters on TV ask questions like these.  Anyone who has experienced a major disaster in your life (personal tragedy, loss of job, unfair treatment, sudden illness, any other calamity) starts asking questions like these.  Has the Lord rejected me?  Has his compassion vanished?  Indeed, there are six probing and desperate questions asked in this passage.  Why God, why?  Why have You allowed these tragic events to happen?  Why life-destroying tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorist bombs, massive accidents, cancer? 

Christians are not exempt from suffering.  Always remember that Jesus suffered while on earth.  People cannot preach that knowing Jesus prevents suffering.  Knowing Jesus enables Him to share your suffering because He knows what you are going through (Heb 2:18, I Peter 2:21-25).

When you are suffering, you have every right to complain about it with respect to asking these kinds of questions to God.  God, where are You?  Where is Your compassion?   Have You forgotten me?  God, are Your promises untrue?   You can even experience times where you cannot pray at all.  The point is that these questions and reactions are normal so you should not feel guilty when you question God and when you have these same reactions as the psalmist wrote. 

So, what’s the answer, what’s the bottom line?  If you read on in Psalm 77, note what is written starting in verse 10:  “Then I thought, to this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out His right hand. I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago.  I will consider all Your works and meditate on all Your mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?  You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your power among the peoples”.   The psalmist has a lot of questions about God, but then writes that all he can do is “return to the basics” and remind himself of God’s past mercies and miracles and acts of love.   We don’t have answers to “why suffering?”, but we can always remember many past evidences of God answering prayer and performing miracles not only in our lives but also in the lives of millions of others.  There’s a lot that you don’t know and cannot explain, but there’s also a lot that you do know and can believe about God and His actions on behalf of mankind over the millennia.  What it comes down to it, it boils down to hope---hope in God and what He can do in His time and will (Psalm 42:11, Rom 15:13, II Thess 2:16-17).

The experience of what is expressed in the psalms so well relate to everyone’s experiences.  May Psalm 77 give you comfort, give you permission to speak your mind to God, keep you from feeling guilty when you need to ask God these kinds of questions, and give you hope through studying His Word that He really is there, really is faithful and really will come to your aid to answer your prayers for relief and grace and mercy and peace.  Because of your faith and dedication to the Lord in the year to come, may He grant you what the psalmist writes in Psalm 1:1-3----

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” 

Giving first what belongs to God

Exodus 23:19 (NKJV)

The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

Proverbs 3:9 (NASB)

Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce.

Did you know that according to Scripture, if you do not tithe, you are not only robbing God of what is rightfully His, but you also are robbing yourself and your family of all that God wants to give you?  Robert Morris, senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, TX, authored a 2002 book entitled, The Blessed Life (Regal Books) that became a national bestseller because of its claim that  understanding and applying the principles of giving according to God’s Word will bring you not only guaranteed financial results, but also change every area of your life including your marriage, family, health, and relationships (sorry for the long sentence!). 

I heard pastor Morris preach recently at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Phoenix, AZ.  He basically preached from his book’s chapter 2 “God Must Be First”.  I must admit that I have never been so moved about the meaning and importance of the tithe as I was after hearing this sermon. 

Exodus chapters preceding chapter 23 describe the sufferings of Israel in Egypt, the rise of Moses to deliver Israel from Egyptian slavery, the actual escape and journey from the Red Sea to Sinai, the Ten Commandments and other laws of God.  God through Moses gave the Israelites their freedom and then in chapters 19-24 provided His instructions on how they must conduct their lives as freed people.   Pastor Morris in his sermon said that there were two main reasons for all the laws written in the Old Testament.  First, laws were given by God to keep people from hurting one another.  Second, laws were established so that mankind would be convinced of their need for Jesus as no one other than Jesus could be perfect as God’s laws required. 

As to tithing, Exodus 23:19 says that you shall bring the first of the firstfruits of your land into the house of your God.  Several words need to be more clearly defined/understood

·     Firstfruits—Firstfruits are the first portion of a harvest that is given to God. God provided the harvest in the first place so the first portion belonged to Him.  This is a commandment of God to the entire nation of Israel that they honor God first before they use any other part of the harvest.  It is interesting that God spoke of this requirement before the Israelites had the land (Promised Land) from which to harvest their crops.  In the New Testament, Paul referred to Jesus as the firstfruit of the dead (I Cor 15:20).  God gave to us His firstfruits, His only begotten Son.

·     First--What belongs to God is the first of the firstfruits.  Where this applies to us today is that the first of the firstfruits that you make belongs to God.  It does not belong to you.  By not bringing to God what belongs to Him, you are robbing Him (Malachi 3:8)

·     Land—In Old Testament times, land was the source of crops and, thus, was the source of crops, food, and wealth for the Israelites.  Land can still mean that today, but for most people, land today is whatever job or source you have that generates wealth for you.  Land represents the source of your income. 

·     Bring—You do not give the first of your firstfruits to God, but you bring to Him what already belongs to Him.

·     House—Wherever you worship, this is the house of the Lord you God.  Basically, you tithe to your church, and then you give what’s left to other charities and organizations. 

 

We must tithe because everything we have comes from the Lord and the first 10% belongs to Him.  We do not give this amount, we bring this amount before Him at our place of worship.  Tithing is not only honoring the Lord (Prov 3:9), but it is also declaring your thanksgiving that He delivered you from being a slave to sin (Romans 6).  Tithing is like other Old Testament laws like not committing adultery or murder that are still applicable in life even through we are now under the grace of God through Christ.  Plus, according to pastor Morris, all tithers give testimonies that they are blessed as a result of their tithing.  Tithing demonstrates your faith and opens opportunities for God to bless you and your loved ones because you put Him first in your life. 

As I wrote initially, I am very challenged and inspired by Pastor Morris’ message on the principles of and blessings from tithing and I have rededicated my life to practice tithing.  How about you?

Precious time

II Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The older we get, the more precious time becomes.  Yet, why do we continue to focus so much on aspects and things of life that are temporal rather than things that are eternal?  Paul contrasts the temporal (things seen) versus the eternal (things unseen).  I know my life, and perhaps yours too, has been consumed so far with the temporal—secular work and career, social life, exercise, TV, pursuing success from a worldly standpoint.  Yet our lives can end at any moment.  You and I both know people who were fine one day, dead the next.  With the time remaining in our lives, especially the older we are, we must transition to a life consumed with eternal perspective.

How do you do this?  Short of joining a monastery (maybe some folks should?) perhaps the best approach is to become more and more aware of how you are spending your precious time.  Are you purposefully taking more time to do more studying, praying, helping and serving others, encouraging others, seeking God however you can, and spend far less time pursuing the temporal things (e.g. working long hours, watching excessive TV, wasting time on selfish pursuits).

We are to “fix our eyes on what is unseen”.  That is a very difficult challenge for any human being.  It does not happen overnight.  It’s a process that starts modestly, just doing something different than the normal routine.  Perhaps fixing our eyes on the unseen is as simple as thinking about God as we enjoy a sunrise or sunset, gazing upon a beautiful flower, thinking about the order and beauty of nature around us, and/or meditating on certain Psalms that describe God’s nature (e.g. Psalm 65, 104, or 139).   Unseen things are matters of faith (Heb 11:1), taking steps of faith that you likely won't see results this side of heaven.  Investing time in serving and helping others without seeing benefits in return.  Storing treasures in heavens through selfless acts.  Putting others first.  Spending more time in Bible study and prayer and serving/encouraging others than what you spend watching TV or other temporal activity.  Maintaining a positive spirit despite whatever suffering you are experiencing, including whatever the aging process might be doing to you.  

Do you know how long eternity is compared to our temporal lives?  There is a 1000 cubic foot rock on a small island in the South Pacific.  Every 1000 years a bird lands upon that rock and sharpens its beak upon the rock for a few minutes.  When that huge rock is completely gone after infinitesimal beak sharpenings, a moment of eternity shall have passed.

Think about the priority of the temporal against the priority of the eternal.  How can you start investing more of your time and effort on the unseen things of life?  II Cor 5:7 says that you are to live by faith, not by sight.  There will always be circumstances of your life that you will never be able to explain, but you are to live by faith.  The things that matter for eternity are unseen things of faith and that's what should be the focus of your life's priorities as a disciple of Christ.  What can/should you do/be doing to make the most of your time left on this earth?