Mindful of God

The Christian life is a life that is lived mindful of God. The crux and catalyst for sin is frequently described in the Bible as thoughtlessness or forgetfulness of God (Judges 8:34; 1 Samuel 12:9; Jeremiah 2:32; et al.). Godly living, on the other hand, is prompted and motivated by a chronic remembrance of the presence of God (Deuteronomy 8:18; Proverbs 5:21; Hebrews 4:13; 1 Peter 2:19; et al.). For us as Christians, the call to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and to “be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12) provides us with a practical discipline through which we make ourselves aware of the informed, active, and involved omnipresence of God. By contrast, looking around at the bustling people of this world who give little or no thought to their Maker ought to give us a chilling and sorrowful pause. The God to whom all will give an account is entirely disregarded and forgotten by so many. “As in the days of Noah”, Jesus said, so it will be that in the last times people will be “eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage” all without thought of their Creator – his demands, his desires, his mercies, or his provisions (Luke 17:27). Such a simple observation from people who are mindful of God should provoke us to intercessory prayer and evangelism. May God use you and I this week to open the eyes of a sleeping world.

For more sermons and devotionals on Tolerance, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org.

Praying Well

We may imagine it an easy thing to pray a simple prayer. But it turns out to be an incredible challenge to pray often and pray well. Even so, God calls his people to a kind of continual and thoughtful communication that saturates every area of life. We are told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), which will obviously necessitate an outlook that never forgets that we live each hour in God’s presence. It requires that we consciously affirm his attendance in all the activities of our day. It will take a level of mental and spiritual discipline to turn our thoughts and our words to our ever-present Help in all the tasks we are given to do. Likewise, any success at focused and undistracted prayer will require a kind of spiritual tenacity that is able to say “no” to other people and other things so that we can truly pour out our hearts to God (Matthew 26:36-46). Good and effective praying will also rely on a conscious shift from the trivial to the profound, from temporal things to things that will matter a thousand years from now. So be reminded of the importance of good praying. And don’t be surprised if it doesn’t come easy. Give yourself to prayer and know that these efforts foster a divine intimacy and a connection that far exceeds all the effort and sacrifice that prayer requires.

Responding to Trials

Modern Christians tend to misplace a good portion of their compassion. Often when they learn of someone who is struggling or hurting, regardless of the reason, they are quick to offer their blessings, support and encouragement. This kind of indiscriminate sympathy is far from what we see in the pages of the New Testament. The apostles maintained a careful distinction between “suffering for doing good” and “suffering for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:13-17). The former is commended and Christians are called to offer their prayers and their reassuring help (1 Peter 2:19-20). The latter calls for correction and usually prompted a godly rebuke (1 Peter 4:14-17). When we fail to make this distinction we risk being supportive of the unrepentant, thus encouraging insensitive consciences and hardened hearts toward God (Hebrews 12:5-6). Or it could be that our aimless affirmations will unwittingly contribute to “mocking God” by glossing over the important relationship between “sowing and reaping” (Galatians 6:7). So when the connection between suffering and sin is obvious, we should pray and exhort the repentant sufferer to affirm God’s holiness, and with David sing: “I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75). We all have much to learn from our self-inflicted trials. May we be quick to repent and learn our lessons so that we can make a full recovery and move on to walking even more closely with Christ.

Prayer

We live in a “noisy” world. It seems that every waking hour is filled with an onslaught of clamoring sights and sounds that relentlessly bombard our eyes and ears. Around the clock, something is always vying for our attention. New Testament times weren’t as different as you might think, particularly for Jesus. Luke records that he had to “withdraw to desolate places” to engage in undistracted times of prayer (Luke 5:16; Luke 6:12; cf. Mark 1:35). If this was Christ’s necessary practice, we would be foolish to think that we could ever garner the spiritual strength and emboldened faith that we need without fighting for those guarded respites of secluded prayer. We cannot afford not to invest in these times of solitude, pouring out our hearts and petitions to God, especially when the world’s “noise” is often so hostile to our faith (1 John 2:16-17; Psalm 62:8). Prayer is the indispensible means by which we acquire and maintain our strength and spiritual vitality (Hebrews 4:15-16). So find a desolate place and extend your times of prayer this week. Make prayer a priority, knowing that those quiet moments of communion with God will reap the essential resources that you need to live for Christ in the 21st century.

Praying

Reading through the Psalms can yield enlightening insights regarding what constitutes a godly prayer life. As we read these lines from God’s inspired Psalter we might expect lofty and refined theological ideas encased in polished and pietistic lyrics. Instead, we often encounter the raw emotions of frustrated saints and the unvarnished honesty of disgruntled followers of Yahweh. That is not only the pattern of their prayers; it is the exhortation regarding prayer from the Psalms. “Pour out your hearts before him; God is a refuge for us” David sings (Psalm 62:8). But lest you think this is permission to dump your negative thoughts on God and leave, or turn your prayer life into one gripe session after the next, you need to carefully notice how these raw emotions find their resolve within the prayers themselves. Psalm 73 is a classic example. The frustrations of Asaph are honest and bitter. After enviously observing the advancement of those who compromise and the promotion of those who arrogantly cheat, he exclaims “in vain have I kept my heart clean” (Psalm 73:13). But note that it is in prayer that Asaph also finds perspective and the abolition of his “foolish” feelings (Psalm 73:22). And after lingering in prayer he concludes: “it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge” (Psalm 73:28). So be honest with God. Pour out your heart to our compassionate King. But don’t leave quickly. Ponder his character, his truth and his promises. Linger in prayer and see how God can radically change your heart and mind.