Devoted to outward focused Prayer

Colossians 4:2-3  Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 

The apostle Paul prayed a great deal for Christians he had never met! He agonised over their welfare -do we care that much?

Since August my life has been heavily focused on my new job which started on the 1^st of September as minister of Open Door Baptist church, Harris Street, Peterborough. The church has about 30 members and has been without a minister for three years.  Like many new jobs during the first few months I have been very busy getting to grips with my new responsibilities. The primary focus initially was for my wife (associate pastor) and I to establish a rhythm of prayer at church. Tuesday to Friday for 30 minutes each morning we go to church to pray and have invited any church members who are free to join us. We have tried to make sure our prayers have an outward focus. Tuesday we pray for a country overseas –the part of Peterborough we live in is very multi cultural so we pray for different people groups who live in the local area. On Wednesday we normally prayer walk in the neighbourhood of the church, on Thursday we pray for other churches and Friday we pray for the needs of our own church. Many churches, no doubt spend more time in prayer but this is the start we feel is appropriate for us in addition to the regular weekly church prayer meeting.  Am I devoted to prayer? What does devotion look like? Devoted football fans give up a great deal of time and money to follow their team, little or nothing is more important than following their team.  Let us ask our Father to help us show our love for him by our prayer life.  

Called to live in Freedom

Galatians 5:13 (NLT)  For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

God’s design and purpose is for us to live in freedom. This means freedom from fear, worry and anxiety; freedom from compulsive and addictive behaviour. It means freedom from selfishness and false expectations either our own or those of others. It means living a life free of control –we choose not to be master of our own lives or allow anyone else such control. Instead we habitually choose to submit our will to God. We listen attentively to the voice of the Holy Spirit and choose to obey believing God wants us to fly.  This freedom is not about being subject to our feelings but about choosing to trust God and serve others in love.  Let us use our freedom to serve wholeheartedly.

Father help us to live in increasing degrees of freedom, serving others with joy.

Cheap Grace

Luke 19:22-23

“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?

’Over the last few years I have become increasingly concerned that God is being presented, preached about and spoken of in evangelical churches in a way which gives a dangerously distorted view of who he really is. God’s wonderful love and forgiveness are rightly proclaimed but what about his holiness, his glory, his awesome power? There are other aspects of his character that many seem almost ashamed of such as his jealousy and his anger. If Jesus had presented God purely in terms of a loving and forgiving father then I believe we might be forgiven for believing God’s other attributes are of minor importance. But in Luke God is depicted as a ‘hard man’ who demands fruitfulness. He expects us to be productive rather than waste our lives. Jesus too demanded a lot from his disciples. He told one to give up his possessions, another not  to say goodbye to his family and all of us to take up our cross daily. In other words how we live and spend our time matters to God big time. Why? Because God has created us to be 'busy' about doing His work. In terms of mission those around us need to see the difference God makes to our lives.

Things Fall Apart

1 Corinthians 13:4 & 7 Love is patient, love is kind...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  

The other day I got a desperate phone call from my wife who was lying in the road a mile from our house crying and in great pain. I could not understand much of what she said but I knew it was serious. She had had a bizarre bicycle accident –the handle bars had come off as she cycled! The resulting fall broke both her elbows. With very little use in her arms Carol has had to suffer the indignity of her husband cleaning her teeth, dressing and feeding her etc. as well as putting up with sleeping sitting up and bouts of severe pain. Why Lord did this happen? This did not seem like good timing as we are preparing to take a team back to West Africa this summer and have much to do. But we give thanks. It has been an opportunity to patiently serve my wife whole heartedly and has brought us closer despite the inevitable challenges. We have also very much appreciated the prayers and good wishes of many and some funny messages like the following:

I saw a circus act long ago in which the front wheel came off... and the frame - until the performer was riding a unicycle. Just as well you're doing everything for Carol just now, it allows you to keep an eye on her - I think she may have been planning to run away to join the circus! (or not?!)

The bike fell apart and Carol’s body has been battered but our lives are based on the unshakable  rock of the universe, the one who truly does love and protect us. The accident could have been far worse, no others were involved the bones will mend.  God is good. 

One thing is missing in our Christian lives!

John 15:5 Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing...when you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

Many Western evangelical Christians know their Bible well, particularly the older generations and on the whole they have heard and have had opportunity to read good sound teaching and yet most churches have stagnated or only grown at the expense of other churches. What is the problem? I suggest it is a failure to obey. I knew basically how to live a good ‘Christian’ life when I was 21 my fundamental need was not more Bible teaching but strong encouragement to put what I knew to be right into practice. God has been speaking to me recently about pride, about fasting and about living more simply amongst other things. My biggest need is to focus on how to apply what God is saying to my life without neglecting to feed on the word. In this way we can produce much fruit –Jesus here is primarily referring to fruit in terms of unbelievers being impacted through us.

Father help me to live according to your word.