Keep Listening

"Cease listening to instruction, my son,
And you will stray from the words of knowledge."

Proverbs 19:27

We live in an information age. There is Scripture and Bible commentary available locally in churches (for most in the Western world), on TV, on the Internet, on Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, in book stores, and of course, in our very own bibles. But it's very easy for knowledge and information accumulation to take the place of the real listening which the Scripture above refers to.

Several years ago when Christ had laid hold of me, I quickly fell in love with His word and fed on it voraciously. Then I entered a new phase whereby I looked forward to my Bible reading times with a pen and notebook in hand - but in a whole new way. It was so subtle I wouldn't have noticed on my own. That is to say, if the Holy Spirit hadn't brought it to my attention, I wouldn't have seen that I had made a shift towards merely enjoying the intellectual pursuit of my Bible studies. I loved seeing patterns, trends, understanding, referencing, note-taking...studying. It is not a bad thing in itself, but I had quickly shifted from being excited about getting to know God from His word, to just enjoying studying - taking very little conscious thought to the ultimate purpose of my studies. By the grace of God, I was able to repent, and make my Bible reading more intentional by asking myself what I had learned about God's ways and character. Coupled with obedience, I believe this is the beginning of sincere listening, and in straying from it we may eventually accumulate knowledge that will not profit us. After all, knowledge resides in the mind, but it does a hardened heart no good.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV

Listening and learning never ends. Now that I know that the Word of God is essential to every facet of my life, and although I have accumulated some knowledge of God's ways and His will, I must not cease from listening. Even now, if I were to choose to starve myself of the Word of God and forgo fellowship with Him, I would find deception, idolatry and other sin increasingly, and easily taking its place. The same would be true of you. That's what the Word of God says. "Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge." And many lives have illustrated its truth.

Life-sustaining, overcoming 'listening' must be rooted in an ever-increasing dependent and intimate relationship with God and His Word. Those who are listening prove it by their obedience. We must keep listening!

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;

The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

Yea, than much fine gold; 

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them Your servant is warned,

And in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 19:7-11

Causing Oneself to Stumble

In my most recent posts, I have said a little about praying from a heart that is not willing to obey God whenever His answers are contrary to our own desires (here), as well as our need to move past merely praying good intentions, to taking obedient actions and making wise decisions (here). In this post, I want to share another important caveat about the condition of our hearts when we come before God with our requests.

The overthrow and destruction of the Israel and Judah, and subsequent 70 years of Babylonian captivity (526 BC - 455 BC) was God's last resort to chasten the Northern and Southern kingdoms. The chosen people of God refused to repent from their persistent unfaithfulness against Him, even after many, many prophets were sent to call them back to God. They had long strayed far from the days of Moses and Joshua, and from the various times of revival they experienced under a few godly kings. In fact they had surpassed some of the pagan nations around them in ungodly, abominable practices. During one phase of the Babylonian captivity while Ezekiel the prophet was in exile, some of the elders of Israel approached him to inquire of the Lord on their behalf. They came and sat before him and we are not told what was their specific request but read what God began to say to Jeremiah:

"Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?"
Ezekiel 14:3

In the scripture above, the LORD revealed that the elders who had come to the prophet had set up their idols in their hearts. That is to say, they had an affectionate bent towards their idols and did not truly want to let them go. They gave their idols a place to reign, knowing that it would lead them away from God into iniquity. But then they came to the LORD as if they valued His word.

There are things that we know are wrong. There are things that are not wrong in themselves, but we know that they lead us to a slippery slope and may eventually result in compromise and sin. There are things we know our consciences are not clear about but we excuse away the pinpricks rather than seek God in His word and prayer to settle the matter with finality. All of these scenarios have to do with a heart that does not love God as it should, and hence, does not hate sin as it should. Such a heart is willing to take risks with sin, or to sin outright.

The rest of the chapter is very telling. God made it clear that when they come to Him in this condition without a true willingness to repent and obey, He would let them hear what they wanted to hear, answering them 'according to their idols'. He would allow the false prophets to mislead them. And then both the prophet and the one who inquired would be punished for their unfaithfulness to God which led them to both desire, inquire, and speak falsely.

What is the lesson for us here? We must nurture a love for the truth of God. We must be willing to obey all of the time - not only when it seems easiest or most convenient to us. When the truth of God will point out compromise or sin in our lives, we must learn to accept the humbling of correction. We cannot tolerate things that cause us to stumble into iniquity and also expect to grow in relationship with God. Furthermore, God's help and counsel come to those who are sincere in seeking Him.

Walk In Step With Your Prayer Requests

God expects us to be very practical. There is no way to be authentic in our faith if we are not also practical. We are to read God's word and do it. God's will for our lives unfolds, and answers to prayer requests (in agreement with God's will) are granted, as we remain on a course of obedience and faith. In the previous post I talked about the danger of praying from a hypocritical heart that will not obey or accept God's leading. In this instance I want to point out something that even sincere believers may need to be reminded about, particularly when asking God for help with various issues in life: Move past merely praying good intentions, to making wise decisions and being obedient. I like to think of this as walking in step with the prayer requests we bring to God. A few illustrations are below.

If you are praying for God's help, deliverance, intervention etc. because:

• you are struggling with unnecessary shopping/overspending - THEN you must resist window/online shopping, shop with a list, ditch your credit cards for a while, purposefully give more to spreading the gospel or helping others
• you need a closer walk with Him - THEN you must also set aside time for earnest prayer and reading and meditating in Scripture (there is NO other way)
• you need to overcome struggles with making an idol out of the desire for a relationship, unhealthy emotional attachments, sinful fantasy/lust etc. - THEN you cannot spend time filling yourself with the content of romance novels, watching romance movies, listening to 'love songs'; you must diligently flee sexually explicit materials, participating in improper interactions or communication with others that will wear down your defenses
• you have prayed in faith and you are waiting on God to act in some issue - THEN wait patiently and do not try to 'help' Him; become preoccupied with God Himself and not your requests by spending more time nurturing your relationship with Him

Those were just a few examples of what I mean by walking in step with your prayer requests. This is not a formula, and success will only come as you receive God's enabling grace. And yes, you will receive grace to submit, grace to resist, grace to flee, grace to wait quietly - but you must be an obedient doer of what you know to do. Commit to cooperating with the Holy Spirit because God will supply you with the grace, for obedience and walking in wisdom, with regard to the matter you are earnestly bringing before Him.

Prayer From A Hypocrite's Heart

It's possible for people to make requests of God for direction, to even ask others to pray for them, and yet have no intention of obeying the Lord when His answers come. This is a frightening reality with one such example recorded in Jeremiah chapters 42-43. You really should read it! One would think that the dire straits that these captains and leaders found themselves in, as well the solemnity with which they approached the prophet to request he interceded for them, would indicate sincerity. In fact, read their great proclamation:

So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the LORD your God sends us by you. Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”
Jeremiah 42:5-6

Jeremiah interceded and God (who had known what Jeremiah did not know) answered their petition after ten days. You see, these men had just made an impressive show with no willingness to obey in their heart. In fact, if you have read the chapters indicated, you would have seen that they merely hoped that they would get God to approve their own plan. When Jeremiah responded with a contrary answer from the Lord they quickly became violent and accused him of plotting their downfall. God revealed their hearts to Jeremiah, and when he spoke of the disobedience of these leaders, notice that he used the past tense knowing full well that they would not accept the guidance of the Lord - despite the earnestness with which their request had been presented:

"For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and according to all that the LORD your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, or anything which He has sent you by me.
Jeremiah 42:20-21

What is the lesson here for us? When seeking God for direction on any matter, we must be sure that we are willing to obey His leading. In this way, God will never have reason to say to us, "You were hypocrites in your hearts." It is best that we first ask Him to work in our hearts, so that our own will or natural reasoning loses it's strength over us. Ask the Lord to give us greater sight of how trustworthy He is, and a desire, and heart committed to doing His will. When we understand that God is a Good Shepherd who loves to lead us in the right way, with the wisdom and power to also keep us while we travel His path, we will more easily submit to His plan, and even long for it.

This is what the LORD says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look; 

ask for the ancient paths, 

ask where the good way is, and walk in it, 

and you will find rest for your souls..."

Jeremiah 6:16

Ingredients of Effective Prayer (9)

This is the 13th post in a series on Praying Effectively. We talked about what effective prayers are and in the most recent post we learned that being able to pray effectively requires that we be in right relationships with others before God. If you are just joining me, please see the end for a special note before continuing!


(9). Unity and Agreement.

This point is also related to the one that precedes it. Someone bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit and being conformed to the image of Christ should be in agreement with God, His word, and His people. Doing anything in agreement is powerful, even bad things. Praying in unity and agreement is definitely no exception. This does not merely refer to praying in the same physical location, or even just about praying about the same thing or saying the same words. It is agreeing together with a right underlying attitude of love, humility and esteem for others - just because you all belong to the body of Jesus Christ - as well as corporately agreeing together to pursue God’s will.

Ephesians 4:1-6, ESV
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Unified prayer has powerful results. The NT writers absolutely valued it, often requesting prayer and testifying of the deliverances they received because the saints had been praying.

Acts 12:5-11, ESV
So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly." And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, "Dress yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."

2 Corinthians 1:9-11, ESV
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

In the times since then, all of the Church’s historic revivals that I am aware of can be traced back to praying saints who earnestly sought God. Just one example is the Azusa Street Revival at the turn of the 20th century that brought an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our last day generation. It had its beginnings when a group of believers got together in agreement to pray, as in Acts chapter 1 when the Holy Spirit was first poured out.

Acts 1:14, ESV
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Even when we pray alone, we should also be praying in agreement with the word of God and His Spirit who helps us to pray. This is our confidence in prayer - things will work together for good when we love God and seek His will and purpose above all else.

Romans 8:26-28, ESV
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.


[All emphasis is mine]

[This is the 13th post in a series on the subject of prayer. In the previous installment we looked at the importance of being in right relationship with others before God, if prayers are to be effective.  
These posts are interspersed among other blog topics so for the easy identification of related posts, look for the label 'praying effectively - series' in the sidebar. If you are just now joining in I recommend that you read the first post where I shared my reason for doing this series. I hope to share practical keys and insight into praying effectively, in bite-size blog posts which you can easily follow.]

The Way He Looks At Me

I've been to a few weddings now, and an unforgettable one very recently. I think most people will agree that the highlight of the ceremony is the bride's entrance and walk down the aisle to meet the groom. But as in the last weddings I attended, I find myself anticipating almost as much, the groom's expression as his soon-to-be-wife approaches...Actually I miss much of the bride's march down the aisle because I find myself staying tuned to the groom's expression. It thrills my heart...the range of dumbfounded, overwhelmed, even teary-eyed or solemn-in-awe expressions as he sees his bride-to-be headed straight for a lifetime covenant with him, before God.

I have been listening to More Than Ashes sung by by Tim Reimherr of Merchant Band and it makes me think of this captivating scenario, especially when I get to the middle marker (you've got to listen if you don't already know it!)

I have yet to become someone's bride but I'm looking forward to that God-ordained moment, even as I grasp the significance of what that groom's look means to his bride. She puts her all into presenting herself to him, and for him, in that moment. Her reward begins at seeing the approval and pleasure in her groom's eyes. 

Jesus Christ is the Lamb and His blood-bought Saints are His chosen bride. His heart is full for us even now but there is going to be a wedding.  I guarantee you that no earthly wedding, no earthly love, no earthly groom will have ever looked at His bride with more pleasure and awe as He will look at us on that Day. Now that's something worth getting ready for and the Day is fast approaching!

"Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

Revelation 19:7

All An Intercessor Can Do...

An intercessor stands before God to make requests, petitions, and to speak good for another (Jer. 18:20). The intercessor's ministry is a powerful and fruitful one because of the mercy and compassion of the Lord, but the intercessor soon learns that in themselves they are powerless and unable to 'save' another person.

Before I continue with my little thought for today, I cannot help but share some eye-opening Hebrew word study that will make the importance and intensity of intercession stand out to you in a profound way. Please note that the study below includes some key picture images of the ancient Hebrew letters which I am not able to paste here. If you would like to receive the orginal Word doc. file please email me and request it at caribbean[dot]shulamite[at]yahoo[dot]com.

By: Kathy Nichols
Ancient Hebrew Research Center
Biblical Hebrew E-Magazine
December, 2005, Issue #022

The second word usually translated intercession is the child root “paga”. You will recognise the (peh) which is the picture of a mouth from last months article. The first new picture form in this word is the picture of a foot which means to walk, gather, carry etc. It has the “g” sound. Paga means a chance meeting or encounter, or to place as a meeting. This could be an impingement, which figuratively means to attack with persistent requests. It can be persistently, even to the point of annoyance! When we read this, we are immediately drawn to the parables and sayings of Jesus concerning asking, seeking and knocking. No doubt God loves us to impinge on His wonderful grace to enable those we pray for to fulfill the role they were intended for. An unripe fig becoming ripe! In actual fact the parent root of “paga” the word pag means “Unable to fulfill the role intended for. An unripe fig!” The third picture added to this parent root is the picture of an eye which means experience, to see, to know and understand. In prayer we desire to ask for those who are living unfulfilled lives without the Lord, or lives with affliction and inability, because we have experienced and know what God can do for them. Having received this experience from such a benevolent and kind creator should challenge us to walk as close to Him as we can. This will enable God to touch our hearts in prayer to experience at times how other people feel and also how He Himself feels. This is an immense honour.

Is 53:12 “ while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders.”

Is 59:15b,16a “..Adonai saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice; He saw there was no one, and was amazed that that no one interceded. Therefore His own arm brought him salvation…”

Here the words for intercession are “paga”.

So what Isaiah is pointing out is that God desired to bring about justice, but there was no intercessor – no-one willing to impinge on Him and because of the terrible state of the land, and no-one praying, God was appalled and disappointed.

A fascinating use of “paga” is found in Isaiah 53:6 ..the Lord laid (paga) on him the iniquity of us all.” The word is meaning our sins “fell” on Jesus, (so we could become what He intended). If one reads through all the verses using “paga” a good number of them are about “falling on” someone and the person dying, so there is great intensity in this word.

Intercession is a critical task and God seeks for intercessors that He may show His mercy and compassion to those who are headed for destruction or being spiritually attacked. Many more lives than we know have been changed and impacted by the personal intercession of family and friends, church prayer groups and the like. Many times the intercessor may not see the changes prayed for take place but they receive the answer by faith and lay the burden of a matter down.

When praying for the souls of people we are praying for hearts and wills that may resist but this is a difficult area to understand. God has given man free will to make choices between life and death; and He can also turn the hearts of men. Most certainly He is able to orchestrate circumstances to deal with the hindering blindness or pride of a person that may be resisting His mercy.

Needless to say, intercessors soon learn that to pray is all they can really do for they are not able to bring the change they are hopeful about. Some people we pray for are deluded and deceived by their sins, believing they are in right standing with God or that He will overlook their disobedience under their 'special' circumstances. They hear God's call to repentance and believe it is for someone else (see Jer. 2:35).

Other people will not turn to God and do not want to change even when they hear God's call to repentance and His promise of forgiveness. These are usually hardened hearts who have often been rebuked and invited to turn to God. No one can know of the instance in which God will give them over to the sins that they love. Having forfeited and scoffed at the patient mercy of the Lord, these will eventually come to the place where God may say as He did to Jeremiah concerning the people of Israel and Judah, "Do not pray for them because I will not hear"[See Jeremiah 5:1-3;18:11-12; 7:16].

All an intercessor can do in those difficult cases is to:
~ obey the heart cry of the Spirit of God that compels them to pray for another
"And I sought a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord." Ezekiel 22:30-31

~ weep for the unrepentant
"If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be taken captive." Jeremiah 13:17

~ move on in God's plan
"And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” 1 Samuel 15:35,16:1

Only God Can Change Man

Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?

Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.

Jeremiah 13:23

Perhaps parents learn before anyone else just how impossible it is to change their children and to rid them of their rebelliousness or disobedience. Maybe wives struggling with difficult marriages because of their husband's disconnectedness or addictions know best that they cannot be good enough in their own roles to change the men they married. Or just maybe if we've gotten honest insight enough to look at ourselves, we've faced the hidden things of our heart - desires and attitudes that should have no place in ourselves - and know that we cannot make permanent change only some successful periods of white-knuckling.

You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,

Who remembers You in Your ways.

You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—

In these ways we continue;

And we need to be saved.

Isaiah 64:5

Maybe as you read this you are thinking of sin issues that need to be annihilated, maybe you are just facing some things you'd like to change or improve. The key is settling it with yourself that you cannot change any heart (your own or someone else's) and therefore setting your face steadfastly towards the LORD. If you really believe that you have no power to change the heart of man, then you must cry out, give God no rest and wait until He acts on your behalf. What this will look like in your individual case will differ. Maybe, as I needed to do for a period of time in my earlier walk, you will need to spend extended periods of time reading the word of God, praying desperate prayers and fasting like there was no tomorrow. Or maybe you will need to spend some time in deep intercession for someone else, making supplication based on the will of God and letting that person go to Him. God can change the heart and He delights to do it to the praise of His glorious grace (Isa. 61:3; Eph. 1:6). Call upon Him, pour yourself out before Him, and put all your trust in Him.

But now, O LORD,

You are our Father;

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all we are the work of Your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

Navigating Trials

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1:2-7

For a long time I read the popular passage from the book of James (shown above) as two separate thoughts that just happened to be written close together: one about trials, and the other about wisdom. Recently I've come to see that they are related because, in fact, we need the wisdom of God when we are undergoing trials. To begin with, we will need the wisdom of God to understand what the source of our trial is and to choose the correct response. Without the wisdom of God we may expend energy and time fighting the wrong battle, or using the wrong strategy and simply allowing ourselves to become weary with little to no progress.

In this new year, you and I are sure to fall into new trials - and we are perhaps still going through ongoing trials. Go through the trials with the knowledge that God uses them to test and build an increasingly resilient faith in Him. This faith will make you bold on the Day of Christ's appearing and will not be regretted. Only remember this open invitation to ask and receive God's wisdom. It may make all the difference.

O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.

2 Chronicles 20:12