Just Sow It

This is our sunflower that reaches 10 feet.  The thing that amazes me about it is that's pretty much the size that Goliath was when David went against him in 1 Samuel 17:4.  I've put our Peanut in front of the stalk so you could compare the height.  David was still a boy so not that much bigger.  Well ... a bit bigger since Peanut is not even two yet.


But still, can you imagine that stalk a man?  If so, you'll marvel as I do at David's words in 1 Samuel 17:




⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
 ⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 



I haven't written in this blog at all in quite some time.  I was trying to fool myself in thinking that it's because my other blog consumes me (true) and that it glorifies God enough without mentioning him, just as the book of Esther does (wishful thinking).  The truth of the matter is, I have not been in the Word enough, and that was my whole point in starting this blog - to be inspired to be more in the Word by having a place to write about it.


My husband is not a full-time preacher (though I wish he could be), but as he was preparing the message for last Sunday and we were discussing it, the thing that struck me most from what he said was, "It doesn't matter how good your "soil" is, if you don't plant any seeds in it, nothing will grow."  He was referring, of course, to the Parable of the Sower, brought to life for us by having our own garden for the first time.

Matthew 13

The Parable of the Sower

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹He who has ears, let him hear."

 ¹⁸"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. ²²The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. ²³But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." 


All we did was to plant a tiny little sunflower seed, and this marvel came out of it.  We didn't do anything to make it grow, but we did have to plant the seed.

In our garden, we have chinese cucumbers that are sprawled all over the ground, climbing up the stakes, up the wall, on to the hedge and even onto the hazelnut tree nearby.  We have proud (mini) rows of corn.  We have clusters of green tomatoes ripening, big fat elephant leaves on the zucchini plant, tiny red raspberries on prickly bushes, beets with their red leaves coming out of the ground, carrots with their feathery tops.  All we did was to plant tiny seeds that, in their size, were little distinguishable one from one another.  God made wild things grow out of it.  Imagine if we plant the seeds of the Word in our heart what might grow.  

Isaiah 55:

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
       come down from heaven,
       and do not return to it
       without watering the earth
       and making it bud and flourish,
       so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
 ¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
       It will not return to me empty,
       but will accomplish what I desire
       and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Hope to see you all soon(er).

Why is the Resurrection Necessary?

My husband preached a great message on Sunday, great to me because I learned something new.  The majority of this discussion comes from that message.


In 1 Corinthians 15:12-14, it says 

The Resurrection of the Dead

 ¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.


So, why is our faith useless if there is no resurrection of the dead?  Well first of all, let's look at Isaiah 53: 2-5, which describes Jesus.



² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
       and like a root out of dry ground.
       He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
       nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
 ³ He was despised and rejected by men,
       a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
       Like one from whom men hide their faces
       he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
 ⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities
       and carried our sorrows,
       yet we considered him stricken by God,
       smitten by him, and afflicted.
 ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
       he was crushed for our iniquities;
       the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
       and by his wounds we are healed.


First of all, it's interesting to note that he was not physically beautiful like most paintings portray him to be.  People couldn't bear to look at him.  He was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.


But more to the purposes of this discussion is that he was pierced and crushed for our sins.  Actually, if you read the different accounts of the crucifixion in the four gospels, you see that he was betrayed (sold), abandoned by everyone, falsely accused, denied by his best friend, on trial before his people, on trial before the government, flogged (39 lashings with a whip made of nine leather cords with sharp objects tied into it - a punishment meant to torture as much as possible without actually killing the person), mocked, spat upon, beaten on the head again and again while wearing a crown of thorns, made to carry his cross, to which he was finally nailed, had his few belongings divided up in front of him, his divinity attacked ("come down from the cross now if you really are the Son of God," and to borrow a quote, was ever such evil belched from the mouth of hell?).  And finally to die.


Satan was trying very hard until the last minute to get him either to give up, or to sin.  If he sinned, then he would have had to die for his own sins.  But he held fast, remained without sin, and died for ours.


So why did he need to be resurrected?  I mean, our punishment was already paid for in his death.  God's law required a sacrifice of blood for sins, thus the jewish custom of sacrificing animals. 


Hebrews 9:22


²²In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.


The sacrifice was made, and we are forgiven.  So again, why did he need to be resurrected?  Sure, it's faith-building.  Sure, he sets the path for us to follow so we can all be resurrected and spend eternity with God.  But why is our faith useless if he were not resurrected?


Here's why.


Romans 4:25


²⁵He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.


What does it mean to be justified?  Well, when we justify ourselves we try to clear our name.  It means to be cleared "just as if I had not sinned."


You know, in Revelations 12:10 it says,


 ¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
   "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
      and the authority of his Christ.
   For the accuser of our brothers,
      who accuses them before our God day and night,
      has been hurled down.


So Satan accuses us day and night (ever feel like that?).  And in heaven (before Satan gets crushed under our feet) he's going to stand next to us before God and accuse us of all our sins.  And we will say, "Yes, but Jesus died for those sins."  Then Satan will say, "But you killed the Son of God.  You killed Jesus."  And we will say, "What are you talking about?  He's right there.  He's not dead!"


So we not only needed Jesus to die for us in order to be forgiven of our sins, we needed him to be resurrected for us to be cleared of our guilt for his death.

Changing Churches

* To my friend whom this is about, bear with me as I continue to sort through my feelings on this matter and don't get frustrated with me, please.  I'll understand eventually.


We go to a great church.  At the moment, there is no obvious sin that needs repenting of (which for me is the most important criteria, considering our minister growing up was sleeping with one of the married women).  People love each other and are in each other's lives.  We try to get together regularly to read the Bible and pray (which is more or less successful, given our busy lives as mothers at the moment).  However, a friend of mine left the church to go to another one because ours was too dull - not enough inspiration, not enough life in the room, not enough talk of the Spirit.


Last Sunday we had a visitor who is a psychologist, a faithful Christian for many years, and about to become a grandfather.  I've heard him speak before and trusted his view on the matter so I asked him if my preoccupation with people leaving our church was normal, or .... something to be repented of .... or - why does it bother me so much and is that wrong?


His response made sense to me.  He said that it's not wrong to be upset that people leave.  What kind of family would we be if it didn't matter whether people came or left?  And sometimes people do leave for the wrong reasons.  If the only thing we're looking for is inspiration, then we're missing a very big part of what church is about.  (I am not saying this is the case with my friend).  He personally believes that church is most effective in small groups, although he currently goes to a church with 2000 members.  He said when you go to a church that size, you can almost only look at whether or not you're inspired by the message, but when you go to a house church, you don't really think about being inspired, you think about the family.


But all in all, he said not to miss the big picture.  It's not like I think that friends who leave are less spiritual than those who stay, are any less saved, are going to be any less nourished than they would be going to the same church as I do.  But he said that God sees things differently, a bigger picture - he sees his people in families everywhere and moving from one group to another doesn't shake him because it's overall the same family.


This was helpful, although to be honest, it's not because I suddenly saw the big picture.  I have some more growing to do for that.  It's because I was able to put a finger on why it bothers me so much that people leave.  For me, a church is only about the family.  To me, the inspiration comes from loving one another differently than the people in the world do.


In John 13, Jesus says,
³⁴"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."


Hebrews 10 says,


²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.


This is how people are impacted by Christ - when they see this being lived out in the church and the lives of the disciples.  Awhile back, I knew some friends who stopped going to our church and started church-hopping. At the time it was not so they could find the right one for them (perhaps that has changed), it was so they could take a little from each place.  I expressed in so many words that I thought it was selfish.  Part of our being in one body is so that we can give to it, not just take from it.  Jesus didn't say to look for inspiration wherever you can, he said to love one another as he loved us.  This implies commitment.


Colossians 3:

¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
 ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


How can we do this if we are not invested in one church, one body of believers?  


Granted, my friend expressed that she didn't really see that in our church anymore - the speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  To her credit, she is seeking a body of believers where that is the case.  That's fair enough.  But for me, in my staunch, loyal family point of view, we don't abandon our family to find that - we inspire our family to be that.  I cannot say whether she or I are right, but I know God can work in both strongly-felt beliefs.

As Philippians 3 says,

 ¹⁵All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶Only let us live up to what we have already attained."


We're not going to have all of our answers here on earth, but we have to live up to the best of our understanding.  It goes on to say:

²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Chapter 4 ¹Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

The person I spoke to in order to get some perspective on the issue, said in the end that sometimes we simply have to say, "I'm sorry we won't be seeing you anymore on Sundays, but when else can we hang out?"  


Since losing my friendship is not even an option, that seems like the best approach.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Young Lady is great at prayer.  She says things like, "God, you're so pretty and big.  You're so smart and wonderful.  And I love you."


Big Boy is less eloquent, "Thank you God ..... in Jesus' name, Amen!"  (This spoken with a giggle).  But occasionally he's a barometer for his parents' spiritual lives, like the time he prayed (at night) (in his bed) "God, please give us a great parking spot.  In Jesus' name, Amen!"  


Mr. Welcome confessed later with a gulp that he had better up his prayer life if that is all Big Boy is retaining.  More recently, after getting a scare, Big Boy prayed, "Jesus, I want you to come here in our lives."  He pronounces "here" with a guttural "H," compliments of our Arabic friends, with whom we spent a lot of time before they moved to England.


When I was little, I remember praying that Jesus would come sleep on my pillow, and I even moved over to make room for him.  That was before I forgot all about God, and that's "forgot" with a capital "F."


But sometimes I think he saved me just for who that little girl was, before things got all jaded.  At the moment when I was at my lowest with everything stripped away (intensive drinking getting me into trouble, the house I grew up in sold in my parent's divorce, my brother's suicide, a car accident that should have killed me, but instead left me with a crippling depression, and one too many international moves to try and escape everything I was feeling ....)


Psalm 18



 ⁴ The cords of death entangled me;
       the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
 ⁵ The cords of the grave ^[b] coiled around me;
       the snares of death confronted me.


In my early faith, I remember standing at the window in my room, looking across the rooftops of Paris, and simply saying, "God."  At that moment, the sun broke through the clouds and danced across every rooftop in my view, warming my heart and bringing a joyful grin to my face.


 ⁶ In my distress I called to the LORD;
       I cried to my God for help.
       From his temple he heard my voice;
       my cry came before him, into his ears.


And then he saved me - so swiftly, so obviously.  In my early faith, every prayer was answered, every reassurance that He was there was given me.



⁷ The earth trembled and quaked,
       and the foundations of the mountains shook;
       they trembled because he was angry.
 ⁸ Smoke rose from his nostrils;
       consuming fire came from his mouth,
       burning coals blazed out of it.
 ⁹ He parted the heavens and came down;
       dark clouds were under his feet.
 ¹⁰ He mounted the cherubim and flew;
       he soared on the wings of the wind.
 ¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
       the dark rain clouds of the sky.
 ¹² Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
       with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
 ¹³ The LORD thundered from heaven;
       the voice of the Most High resounded. ^[c]
 14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies ,
       great bolts of lightning and routed them.
 ¹⁵ The valleys of the sea were exposed
       and the foundations of the earth laid bare
       at your rebuke, O LORD,
       at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
 ¹⁶ He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
       he drew me out of deep waters.
 ¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
       from my foes, who were too strong for me.
 ¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
       but the LORD was my support.
 ¹⁹ He brought me out into a spacious place;
       he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Like the most protective of parents, he doesn't like to see his children attacked - He brought me to a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

I have to remember, in my often jaded view as an older Christian, who is often weary of life and effort ...


... that he still delights in me.

Battle for Faith

When I wake up, the world is not full of promise anymore.  It's full of duty, of finding ways to escape boredom - or work, of finding ways to pass the time until television at night, and then bed.  It's worse when I don't have anything good to escape to.  I have no good book to read, no engagement I'm excited about attending, no little project that fills me with joy.

I don't think it's a lack of hobbies that keeps me uninspired, nor is it a lack of friends.   It's a lack of motivation to own my life, and to keep busy doing good.

Yesterday we had a little house church and my husband prepared a short message on Micah 6.

The LORD's Case Against Israel

 ¹ Listen to what the LORD says:
       "Stand up, plead your case before the mountains;
       let the hills hear what you have to say. ² Hear, O mountains, the LORD's accusation;
       listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
       For the LORD has a case against his people;
       he is lodging a charge against Israel.
  ³ "My people, what have I done to you?
       How have I burdened you? Answer me.
  ⁴ I brought you up out of Egypt
       and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
       I sent Moses to lead you,
       also Aaron and Miriam.
  ⁵ My people, remember
       what Balak king of Moab counseled
       and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
       Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
       that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD."

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Balak and Balaam, you can find it in Numbers 22-24.  Balak was the king of Moab and he had heard that whoever the prophet Balaam blessed or cursed, so it would be done to them.  So he commanded him to curse the Israelites and promised him a large sum of money in return.  But every time Balaam went to curse the Israelites, the Lord caused him to bless them instead.  (It infuriated the king, and Balaam, who was no innocent, also got rebuked by a donkey).


The point is, God cannot help but bless his people.  In all the ways that I grumble against him - Mr. Welcome has to travel too much, he didn't get the promotion with the big raise, Peanut didn't get a spot in the nursery, the workers are not finished with our house, I don't have my driver's license here, etc. - I have to wonder why I bother grumbling because God cannot help but to bless me.  It wastes my time and insults my God.


And instead of just wiping us out when He has a case to bring against us, He actually reasons with us.  "My people, what have I done to you?  How have I burdened you?  Answer me."


I remember what my life was like before I was brought out of Egypt.  I was loud, boastful, drunk, prideful, controlling, immoral.  The list goes on.  The only thing I was not, was dishonest, and I knew I couldn't stand before God.


Micah goes on:



 ⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD
       and bow down before the exalted God?
       Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
       with calves a year old?
  ⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
       with ten thousand rivers of oil?
       Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
       the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
  ⁸ He has showed you, O man, what is good.
       And what does the LORD require of you?
       To act justly and to love mercy
       and to walk humbly with your God.

What do I have to do to get forgiveness, either for the way I used to live or for my current lack of gratitude?  A sacrifice of fasts?  Give everything I own to the poor?  Beat my body?  Do I need to sacrifice my first born son?  It's unthinkable.


No.  God already did that.   His blessings might not be all the material things I hope for, but he already gave me what I needed most - forgiveness for my sins and eternal life with him.


If I'm struggling to find joy in the everyday, it's probably because I am dissatisfied with God in some way.  I am grumbling because my life is not as fun as I'd like it to be, or because I have the same struggles as I've always had.  But today, let me face the day with a new attitude.


Act justly. Love mercy.  Walk humbly with my God.

A Message on Prayer

We had an incredible message on prayer Sunday, by a man named Fred Faller who is an engineer from our church in Boston.  I'll relay what I noted down of his message, using his 1st person.

Mark 9:14-29

The Healing of a Boy with an Evil Spirit

 ¹⁴When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. ¹⁵As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. ¹⁶"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.
 ¹⁷A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
 ¹⁹"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
 ²⁰So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
 ²¹Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"
   "From childhood," he answered. ²²"It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
 ²³" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
 ²⁴Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
 ²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
 ²⁶The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
 ²⁸After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
 ²⁹He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."


The purpose of the message is to render prayer more important in our hearts.  It's to help you in your prayer life.  Every time in history that a revival occurs in the people of God, it starts with prayer - with them turning back to prayer.  There's no secret to it, it just requires a desire to begin.


I've been a Christian for 31 years and I've found that it's as hard to get a Christian to pray as it is to help a non-Christian to become a Christian.  (I didn't believe this statement at the beginning of his message, but I did at the end).  It's especially hard for men.  I don't know if it's because they have a harder time asking for help, or if it's because women are more aware that they're not in control of their lives.


Re-read the gospels with the view that every time a man had a conversation with Jesus, that it was a form of prayer - that they are talking to God.  It's eye-opening.


Now this man in Mark went everywhere to find Jesus.  They didn't have cars, and Jerusalem was big.  Even the Pharisees had to bribe someone eventually to give up Jesus because they couldn't find him in their city.  So this man looked all over and found some disciples of Jesus.  He wouldn't have done that if he didn't believe.


Sometimes as a Christian, as a disciple, you expect change to come, but the demons are still there.  You can go for years and still be chased by the same demons - the same struggles.  We can even go to others for help ... but in this passage, the disciples could not draw out the demons.


When challenged by Jesus' words, "If you can?  Everything is possible for him who believes." (italics mine), he prayed for help in overcoming his unbelief.  This is the simplest prayer we can offer up.  After all that effort, this man was still doubting.  Sometimes I'll realize as I'm praying that at the very deepest level, I don't believe.  And that's when I need to pray for help to overcome my unbelief.  When he prayed this prayer, Jesus acts.


Jesus didn't correct their technique and say the way they prayed was wrong.  He simply said that some things can only come out by prayer.


What's interesting is that Jesus didn't pray in the instance before healing the boy, and that was because he prayed all the time.  He prayed in the morning, throughout the day - all the time.  When the time came where he needed it, the power was already there to cast out the demons.  In baptism, we're promised only two things - forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  God initiates a relationship with us, but we're still a baby and prayer is something learned.


When I was about 18 years as a Christian, 42 years old at the time, I was running from demon to demon.  I had just come out of the ministry and I had been hurt by a lot of things (had also hurt people).  There were unresolved issues and I was a mess.  At the time I was discipling (giving spiritual guidance to) a brother and he used to work the night shift.  When he was done, he would go to a park and pray for 2 hours before going home to sleep.  He challenged me on my prayer life, that I needed to pray more.  I told him I did pray, but he said it was not enough.  I felt frustrated, like I couldn't do what he wanted me to do.


At the same time, I was having back problems and had to see a chiropractor regularly.  I asked him if there was anything I could do to correct the problem on my own, and he said to walk for an hour each morning, carrying nothing, and swinging my arms gently.  I was an engineer and spent each day sitting in my car or sitting in my office.  I started to do that, but it got very boring.  At the same time that all this was happening, I read this book "Answers to Prayer" by this guy in England who wrote about a lifetime of answered prayers that he had offered up.  


So I decided to use that hour to pray to God.  And I realized that I could complete all the things I wanted to pray about in 15 minutes or so.  That meant that I started praying for all sorts of things I never thought to pray about before.  I started praying for all the people I felt hurt by, and I got this strong feeling that I needed to call them.  So that night (feeling a little foolish) I would call someone I hadn't spoken to in 5 years and say, "do you remember when this happened?" and they almost never did.  I realized that they hadn't meant to hurt me and I started healing from all these things I had been carrying around with me.  When I had tried to take all my demons to the disciples, they couldn't heal me - it was only when I took them to Jesus did I start to see healing.


And my life was being transformed in ways I hadn't counted on.  My wife and daughter started getting along better - they had been fighting before and would want me to mediate the minute I walked through the door, but I never knew what to do.  My life changed dramatically in every area.  God always wants what's best for us, and he wants a relationship with us that goes beyond baptism.

Luke 18:1-8

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

 ¹Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ²He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' ⁴"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "
 ⁶And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"


In Luke 11, the disciples as Jesus to teach them to pray.  It's interesting that they don't ask him to teach them how to pray.  That's because there's really no proper technique for having a relationship with God.  It takes desire and actually starting to talk to him.


Jesus is saying here that it's worth it to pray.  The investment is a good one.  If the unjust judge is going to answer the widow's prayer just because she is bold, how much more God who wants what's best for us.


Matthew 6:5-8

Prayer
 ⁵"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I used to think that if God already knows what I need before I ask him, why bother praying?  But prayer is not about informing God what I need, it's about a relationship.  Look, if my child comes to me and asks me for a sandwich, of course I'm going to give it to him!  But it completely different if my son comes to me and says, "will you take a walk with me?  I want to tell you about my life."  That is such special time between you and God, where you share your heart with him and He's able to answer you more specifically as you express your desires more deeply.

In Matthew 7:23, Jesus never said that the followers didn't drive out demons or prophesy - he never said they didn't do those things.  He said the problem is - I never knew you. We can know so much in the Bible, but not take time to know our God.

Philippians 3:7-11

 ⁷But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.


This man was even in prison for his faith - he had been beaten, flogged, starved several times, but all his acts are meaningless to him.  After all these years as an apostle, he still considers it most important to know Christ.


We live by what we believe.  If the gas gage is low on our car, we stop and get gas because we believe that it will be mightily inconvenient to run out of gas.  We expect certain things based on our experience and beliefs, and so we act on them.


Do you believe in prayer?