I am working through a lot of issues related to prayer this week, and will post a few quotes and a couple conclusions of my own later.
In prayer there is not only an outgoing of the soul to God, in acts of faith, love and confidence, but there is an actual communication from God to the soul. Prayer is a holy converse - a fellowship with God. One hour spent in prayer will accomplish more good than many employed in study or labor.
- Archibald Alexander, Practical Truths
Fervourless prayer has no heart in it; it is an empty thing, an unfit vessel. Heart, soul, and life, must find place in all real praying. Heaven must be made to feel the force of this crying unto God.
Paul was a notable example of the man who possessed a fervent spirit of prayer. His petitioning was all-consuming, centered immovably upon the object of his desire, and the God who was able to meet it.
Prayers must be red hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effectual and that availeth. Coldness of spirit hinders praying; prayer cannot live in a wintry atmosphere. Chilly surroundings freeze out petitioning; and dry up the springs of supplication. It takes fire to make prayers go. Warmth of soul creates an atmosphere favourable to prayer, because it is favourable to fervency. By flame, prayer ascends to heaven. Yet fire is not fuss, nor heat, noise. Heat is intensity — something that glows and burns. Heaven is a mighty poor market for ice.
God wants warm-hearted servants. The Holy Spirit comes as a fire, to dwell in us; we are to be baptized, with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Fervency is warmth of soul. A phlegmatic [apathetic, complacent] temperament is abhorrent to vital experience. If our religion does not set us on fire, it is because we have frozen hearts. God dwells in a flame; the Holy Ghost descends in fire. To be absorbed in God’s will, to be so greatly in earnest about doing it that our whole being takes fire, is the qualifying condition of the man who would engage in effectual prayer.
Our Lord warns us against feeble praying. “Men ought always to pray,” He declares, “and not to faint.” That means, that we are to possess sufficient fervency to carry us through the severe and long periods of pleading prayer. Fire makes one alert and vigilant, and brings him off, more than conqueror. The atmosphere about us is too heavily charged with resisting forces for limp or languid prayers to make headway. It takes heat, and fervency and meteoric fire, to push through, to the upper heavens, where God dwells with His saints, in light.
Many of the great Bible characters were notable examples of fervency of spirit when seeking God. The Psalmist declares with great earnestness:
“My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all times.”
What strong desires of heart are here! What earnest soul longings for the Word of the living God!
An even greater fervency is expressed by him in another place:
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”
That is the word of a man who lived in a state of grace, which had been deeply and supernaturally wrought in his soul.
Fervency before God counts in the hour of prayer, and finds a speedy and rich reward at His hands. The Psalmist gives us this statement of what God had done for the king, as his heart turned toward his Lord:
“Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips.”
At another time, he thus expresses himself directly to God in preferring his request:
“Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee.”
What a cheering thought! Our inward groanings, our secret desires, our heart-longings, are not hidden from the eyes of Him with whom we have to deal in prayer.
…
Fervency has its seat in the heart, not in the brain, nor in the intellectual faculties of the mind. Fervency therefore, is not an expression of the intellect. Fervency of spirit is something far transcending poetical fancy or sentimental imagery. It is something else besides mere preference, the contrasting of like with dislike. Fervency is the throb and gesture of the emotional nature.
It is not in our power, perhaps, to create fervency of spirit at will, but we can pray God to implant it. It is ours, then, to nourish and cherish it, to guard it against extinction, to prevent its abatement or decline. The process of personal salvation is not only to pray, to express our desires to God, but to acquire a fervent spirit and seek, by all proper means, to cultivate it. It is never out of place to pray God to beget within us, and to keep alive the spirit of fervent prayer.
Fervency has to do with God, just as prayer has to do with Him. Desire has always an objective. If we desire at all, we desire something. The degree of fervency with which we fashion our spiritual desires, will always serve to determine the earnestness of our praying.
from E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer
This spring marked the first time in 13 years where I wasn’t classified as either obese or overweight. I’m now in the high end of the “normal” range. It hasn’t happened quickly for me. It took a year for me to loose 40 lbs through smarter eating and running. It’s a pretty comprehensive lifestyle change, and one that, though hard, has not been unpleasant. I happened to find something that worked well for me, was cheap and simple, and produced results. Look, even my ginormous head has decreased in size!
My point is that change in this area is possible, if gradual. I am still in process and know that I have a long way to go. But I also know I will be in the best shape of my life in my late 30’s and 40’s. Man, that’s something to look forward to!
Though I’m now a runner, I am still pretty weak in many ways. There has been no cross-training or core exercises at all over the past year, and it’s time for me to incorporate that into my life in order to be healthier and become a better runner.
Part of my cross-training will be the Hundred Push Up Challenge. It’s a six week program designed to get anyone to the point where they are strong enough to pump out 100 proper push-ups. I took the initial test today. Turns out I can only do… 10. I know that’s pretty bad, but it didn’t make me feel bad… until. I gave my four year old son the test, and he could rock out 12 legit push ups! He told me he could do 12, I said I thought he could only do 3 or 4. Turns out he knows more and can do more than me.
So, on Monday the program kicks off. I have to say, just including the Hundred Push Up Challenge makes me excited to get to work on this new aspect of healthier living. I can’t wait to kick my 4 yr old’s butt! Though he wants to do the program with me, and if that happens I’ll probably trail him to the end.
This was from last Sunday. After church the fam spent the day together, lunch, walking through town, Starbucks (here) the park, Home Group and finally home. A great day and the kids had a blast. So here’s our son, Elias, downing his hot chocolate, and Katherine holding Madeline at my “second office.”
I signed up with Twitter over a year ago, but didn’t start using it until April 26th, 2008 at 4:40pm. Twitter is huge right now, and even with its more frequent down time lately, it doesn’t seem to be discouraging people from jumping on board. But a lot of people who aren’t using ask me, “Why bother? What’s the benefit? Isn’t it just one more thing for me to do?” My answer is typically, “It’s fun, can be entertaining/encouraging, and not really.”
Twitter works like a mini blog that only serves to tell people what you are doing/thinking about at the moment. “Tweets” (posts) are limited to 140 characters. So you get a few sentences to share your thoughts. So, what’s the big deal? Like I said, many (not all) find it fun to share the small parts of their lives with others. And at least for me it isn’t time consuming. Once you’re connected to Twitter with your cell phone updates take about 60 seconds and can include a photo. In my limited experience so far, I have found Twitter to be both fun and encouraging. How?
1. It let’s people into your world.
That church members and friends can peek into my day and see where I am, what I am doing or what I am thinking about (if I choose to say) is a good thing. From the discovery of 20 year old tees in the attic, to talking Jesus and politics at the cigar shop, I hear that people appreciate it.
2. It can facilitate in the immediate dissemination of information.
On the day Jen was delivering our third child I kept the world updated via Twitter. Well, not the world, but many parts of it. Her family in Germany and people from church were particularly happy to follow the live updates. For the record, Jen was all for it and the “tweeting” did not get in the way of the experience itself.
Ed Stetzer is using Twitter to keep people informed about who’s wearing what at the SBC. He’s like a male version of Joan Rivers on the red carpet. AND, he’s keeping us informed with all the actions being taken by the Convention.
3. It allows you to get immediate feedback.
People often post quarries via Twitter. Michael Hyatt once asked about the best services to check a website in various browsers. He got a lot of feedback and found what he needed.
4. It can be educational and encouraging.
Following a million people on Twitter will result in you missing some good posts. But only following four people will probably leave you scratching your head about the usefulness of Twitter as well. If you follow the right people you can have more than a fun 5 minutes of distraction when you read through the updates. You can learn something, be inspired or find encouragement. I follow a few runners, some friends, a number of pastors and a few true gurus/experts. In sharing their experiences and thoughts in 140 characters or less each time I often encounter words that really do matter. Even in what may seem like trivia, there can be instruction.
So I Twitter. For now. Maybe it’ll last a few more months. Maybe longer. But for now - it’s profitable and fun. More could be said about Twitter: as accountability/motivation, as community group tool, and more. But I’d be interested in hearing about your experience. If you use it - why? What has your experience been?
Earlier this week I took my daughter on an early morning date with Daddy. We went to a local diner, and while there she watched the demolition of a building across the street for a while. This is a candid shot from that moment. This morning I am taking Elias to the same place. Maybe I’ll get another photo!
