April 20th, 2008 Jeff
“To pray in the name of Christ means to pray in the awareness that our prayers have no worthiness or efficacy apart from His atoning sacrifice and redemptive mediation. It means to appeal to the blood of Christ as the source of power for the life of prayer. It means to acknowledge our complete helplessness apart from his mediation and intercession. To pray in His name means that we recognize that our prayers cannot penetrate the tribunal of God unless they are presented to the Father by the Son, our one Savior and Redeemer.”
—Donald Bloesch, Struggle of Prayer, 36-37
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April 10th, 2008 Jeff
“The character of our praying will determine the character of our preaching. Light praying will make light preaching. Prayer makes preaching strong, gives it unction, and makes it stick.”
–E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer, p. 27
“Prayer, much prayer, is the price of preaching unction; prayer, much prayer is the one, sole condition of keeping this unction. Without unceasing prayer the unction never comes to the preacher. Without perseverance in prayer, the unction, like the manna overkept, breeds worms.” (p. 70)
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March 13th, 2008 Jeff
Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17)
“Pray without ceasing,” says Paul,
Meaning that all mean
Should lift to God their desires
At all times,
In all places,
And in all situations;
Mean too that all men
Are to expect all things from Him,
Give praise for all things to Him,
For to us God gives
Unfailing reasons to praise and pray.
Such constancy in prayer
Applies to private devotion,
But not to the public prayers
We offer in the church…
“True temples of God,” says Paul,
“Are we.” Do you wish to prayer
In God’s temple? Pray in yourself …
Because of the goal of prayer
Is to arouse and bear our hearts
To God (praising and beseeching),
The essence of prayer is set
In mind and heart; or better said;
Prayer is an emotion of the heart within,
Poured out, laid bare before God,
Searcher of hearts….
Pray you may in other places too,
But in prayer is something secret,
Lodged chiefly in the heart,
Requiring tranquility
Far from all teeming cares….
And so speaking and singing
Must be tied to the heart’s affection,
Must serve it….
The glory of God ought to shine
In the various parts of our bodies,
And especially in the tongue,
Created to sing, speak forth,
Tell, proclaim
The praise of God….
Private or public—
Tongue-prayers without the mind are not heard by God.
In fact the force and ardor
Of the mind must outstrip whatever the tongue in speaking can express.
One final word:
In private prayer
No tongue is needed,
For inner feeling will suffice
To rouse us to the best,
The silent prayer,
As Moses and Hannah knew.
—John Calvin, The Piety of John Calvin, by Ford Lewis Battles, pp. 98-100, as quoted by Don Postema, Space for God, p. 120.
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March 8th, 2008 Jeff
Wonderful King
We are here
Because of grace
Because of love
We are here
Because of You
Because of You
You fill our hearts
With more than we
Can hold inside
And so we sing
Chorus:
Beautiful Savior
Wonderful King [2x]
Bridge:
Oh, beautiful sound
The joy of Heaven here
Oh, wonderful sound
Love of Heaven now
Oh, beautiful sound
The joy of Heaven here
Oh, wonderful sound
Love of Heaven now
Oh, beautiful sound
The joy of Heaven here
Oh, wonderful sound
Oh, wonderful sound
Chorus [3x]
—
The David Crowder Band, on their Can You Hear Us? album (2002)
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March 4th, 2008 Jeff
I cannot sing this new song by the David Crowder Band without crying. This morning as I prayed for my wife and son the chorus came to mind, so I loaded it on iTunes and sobbed my heart out.
It’s called “The Glory of it All” from their latest album Remedy.
The lyrics are loaded with theology of God’s glory, His redemptive love, our worth in His light and His willingness and ability to repair all things…
(glory = weight, worth, value. I see our lives as needing to display the weight of God’s infinite worth. Everything He does displays, or will one day reveal, His infinite worth in Christ, for our good and everlasting joy.)
The Glory Of It All
At the start
He was there
He was there
In the end
He’ll be there
He’ll be there
And after all
Our hands have wrought
He fogives
Oh, the glory of it all
Is He came here
For the rescue of us all
That we may live
For the glory of it all
Oh, the glory of it all
All is lost
Find Him there
Find Him there
After night
Dawn is there
Dawn is there
And after all
Falls apart
He repairs
He repairs
Oh, He is here
With redemption from the fall
That we may live
For the glory of it all
Oh, the glory of it all
After night
Comes a light
Dawn is here
Dawn is here
It’s a new day, a new day
Oh, everything will change
Things will never be the same
We will never be the same
Oh, everything will change
Things will never be the same
We will never be the same
—
Oh the beauty and worth of the infinite God Almighty, Father, Son and Spirit!
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February 29th, 2008 Jeff
O, for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise
The glories of my God and King
The triumphs of His grace
My gracious Master and my God
Assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name
So come on and sing out
Let our anthem grow loud
There is one great love
Jesus
Jesus, the name that charms [calms] our fears
That bids our sorrows cease
‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears
‘Tis life and health and peace
He breaks the power of cancelled sin
He sets the prisoners free
His blood can make the foulest clean
His blood availed for me
He speaks and listening to His voice
New life and dead receive
The mournful broken hearts rejoice
The humble poor believe
Glory to God and praise and love
Be ever, ever giv’n
By saints below and saints above
The church in earth and Heav’n
There are so few words
That never grow old
There are so few words
That never grow old
JESUS
—
Original hymn penned by Charles Wesley
Adapted and arranged by the David Crowder Band
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February 17th, 2008 Jeff
Prayer has two parts:
Petition and thanksgiving.
Petitioning, we lay before God
The desire of our hearts,
Thus seeking from His goodness
What serves His glory,
And then what is useful to us.
In giving thanks, we own
His benefits to us,
With praise confess them,
To His goodness alone
Attribute all our blessings …
Well0night overwhelmed
Are we by the outpouring
Of God’s blessings,
By the many, mighty miracles
Discerned wherever we look.
How then can we fail to turn
In praise and thankfulness
To God? …
Author of all blessings
God truly is;
Receive them we must
All form His hand
With continual thanksgiving.
Make proper use we cannot
Of His benefits streaming down to us
Unless we continually praise Him
And give Him thanks.
– John Calvin, The Piety of John Calvin, by Ford Lewis Battles, p. 97
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February 10th, 2008 Jeff
O Father of Jesus,
Help me to approach Thee with deepest reverence, not with presumption
not with servile fear, but with holy boldness
Thou art beyond the grasp of my understanding,
but not beyond that of my love,
Thou knowest that I love Thee supremely,
for Thou art supremely adorable, good, perfect,
My heat melts at the love of Jesus,brother, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh
married to me, dead for me, risen for me;
He is mine and I am His,
given to me as well as for me;
I am never so much mine as when I am His,
or so much lost to myself until lost in Him;
then I find my true manhood.
Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, by Arthur Bennett, p. 25.
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January 20th, 2008 Jeff
I do not consider myself an artist. Nor do I think I am very creative. I am an appreciator of art, particularly of graphic design and photographry. Certainly no expert, and probably not even a connoisseur, but definitely an admirer of a well-design logo or website, or other piece of graphic design.
My ideas for creating things usually come from seeing. I guess I borrow ideas, and then divert from them with my own flavor or twist. My creatively is borrowed creativity. Theologically I believe that all creatively is borrowed. Borrowed from God. Just that most of us do not realize it, and worse, are not explicitly grateful to Him for it. He is the great and glorious Creator of all, the One who spoke the world into being in a word. We gain our identity by being formed in His glorious image, and borrow a finite bit of His infinite ability as Creator.
That reminds me of the 26th question of the Heidelberg Catechism:
(Q) What do you believe when you say: ‘I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?’
(A) That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by His eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father.
In Him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this life of sorrow.
He is able to do so as almighty God,
and willing also as a faithful Father.
Kari and I are reading a book by Don Postema, Space for God (where I was reminded of Question 26 above), for our Prayer class this semester. One assignment is to read a chapter in the book and spend an hour reflecting on the themes and concepts. No need to hurry through it, nor even to finish the whole chapter. Simply be, and think and muse to the glory of God and the joy of our souls. It is a great and glorious thing to be happy in God. He certainly is happy in us when we hold Him (Father, Son and Spirit) as the desire of our souls and the chief Object of our affections. He is not one of many affections, as our pastor reminded us this morning, but The chief affection in our life. God is the One who deserves to be at the foremost of our thoughts and ambitions. I want to be with God and to enjoy Him eternally, and right now.
That brings me back to the concept of creativity. I find that my mind is not very sharp, let alone creative, when I am short of prayer and long on a list of tasks to do. Sort of like running on empty, without fuel to go the extra mile mentally. People ask questions, but there is not clarity of thought for a good response. Also, when I am most busy I sometimes lack the awareness to pause and pray, and especially to stop (everything altogether) and allow God to be the Object of my mind and heart. It is so easy, if I do pause in the moment, to simply ask God to bless my plans, even if I use the ‘right’ words like “God, I only want what You desire … my hands are open, not holding on to what I think is best or needful….” My heart can sometimes actually be asking Him to bless what I want to do — hypocrisy. I pray my character would rail against that tendency more and more and help me to be authentic and genuine, letting my words flow for the reality of my being.
I would not say it is effortless to be in the center of God’s will (e.g., see the Apostle Paul’s life in Acts in the New Testament, or his recounting of those trials in 2 Corinthians 11; also see Hebrews 11). On the contrary, it takes the most effort to grasp Him, to love and enjoy Him — yet that is what we were created to do. As Postema reminded, in the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), Mary was working just as hard in worshiping at Jesus’ feet as Martha was busy in the kitchen.
Being spent in the middle of His will, both working and praying, while being renewed day by day according to His good pleasure and grace (2 Corinthians 4:16). In those times I am not spinning my wheels but rather digging deeper into His purpose and plan and finding my true identity. The most satisfying endeavors are the ones God assigns.
Again, that brings me back to creativity, for it is all of God’s grace that my mind is able to work at all. And as I think — and pray — daily and in each task and trial that comes my way, I am able to experience God. I cry out to Him asking if I might experience Him. And in experiencing Him He renews me and illuminates my thoughts, so I can think His thoughts after Him, tapping into some of His original creativity, borrowed for the journey.
“There is no distinction between the artist and the person who has experienced God. No experiencer of God is not an artist.” (Matthew Fox, Whee, Wee, We — All the Way Home, p. 85; quoted by Postema, Space for God, p. 21)
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January 16th, 2008 Jeff
Another semester has started at Multnomah, and Kari and I are stoked to be able to do this Spring term together. We share two courses on our schedules, one on Conflict Transformation, meeting at the end of the day on Mondays. The other one is Prayer, first thing Monday morning. We already sensed in the days leading up to classes that there had been a marked difference in our prayer life, a deeper love for God and sense of His listening to our prayers. I do not chiefly prayer because I am duty-bound (you must pray!), but more so because my heart and mind is in love with God. We could call this affections-oriented religion, which really is not ‘religion’ in the sense we might all use it. It is not my external, outward duty to pray or go to church or do good works, or love the poor and need. Those activities must arise out of an inward transformation that God has done. God works on my affections, my desires and motives, and leads me along the path of His good pleasure. God changes His people form the inside-out. “Religion” as we most all use it, cannot do that. Only the good news of Jesus, the Gospel of God’s grace can do that. And I never outgrow my need for the Gospel.
One aspect of our Prayer class is to choose a specific amount of time one shall pray each week, as a goal. And then creatively set up exercises (which can be altered as we proceed) for deliberate and purposefully participation with God the Father, Son and Spirit in prayer. I get to enjoy Them!
One small goal I would like to have is to each day spend a bit of time reading and praying through the Valley of Vision. It is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions organized around themes. Each has the tone submission and humility and gratitude, truths my heart longs for!
The opening prayer poem is aptly titled, “The Valley of Vision.” Here is what I prayed this morning after Kari and I enjoyed praying over the various needs around us and desires in our minds.
LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK and LOWLY,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in thee heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;
Let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.
Of course, we cannot literally see the best from a valley floor, but rather from a mountain top. But we cannot see God as clearly, nor draw near to Him, if all is well and He is far from our minds. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6). Our needs and issues of life ought to bring us to humble dependence and to show us that His (Thy) care is the best and most needful. I want to learn by the sort of paradoxes described above, those that the Triune God is right in there in the center with me. They are seemingly incompatible but proven by daily experience by thousands that the way up truly is truly attained by dropping down on our knees, and to have a broken heart is to have a healed one. I have seen men stand most tall when they pour out their souls to God and repent of their prideful ways. Truly, the repenting soul, admitting weakness and defeat, is the victorious soul. The valley is the place of vision.
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