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
Fervent Prayer: What do you want?
Work Glorifies God
Later this weekend I will post my summary thoughts on “The Christian and Work,” which really reflects the Reformed understanding of vocation. For now, here are some good words from Alister McGrath.
God calls his people, not just to faith, but to express that faith in quite definite areas of life. Whereas monastic spirituality regarded vocation as a calling out of the world into the desert or the monastery, Luther and Calvin regarded vocation as a calling into the everyday world. The idea of a calling or vocation is first and foremost about being called by God, to serve Him within his world. Work was thus seen as an activity by which Christians could deepen their faith, leading it on to new qualities of commitment to God. Activity within the world, motivated, informed, and sanctioned by Christian faith, was the supreme means by which the believer could demonstrate his or her commitment and thankfulness to God. To do anything for God, and to do it well, was the fundamental hallmark of authentic Christian faith. Diligence and dedication in one’s everyday life are, Calvin thought, a proper response to God.
… The work of believers is thus seen to possess a significance that goes far beyond the visible results of that work. It is the person working, as much as the resulting work, that is significant to God. There is no distinction between spiritual and temporal, sacred and secular work. All human work, however lowly, is capable of glorifying God. Work is, quite simply, an act of praise-a potentially productive act of praise. Work glorifies God, it serves the common good, and it is something through which human creativity can express itself. The last two, it must be stressed, are embraced by the first. As Calvin’s English follower William Perkins put it, “The true end of our lives is to do service to God in serving of man.”
- Alister McGrath, Calvin and the Christian Calling in First Things
Work as Good Works
I am preaching a short series titled Re:thinking the Christian Life, and this Sunday’s topic is “work.” I have finished the bulk of my exegesis and am now reading a lot of material on the protestant work ethic, and the “reformational” concept of vocation.
The quality of our work reflects on our Creator. If we believe that our work glorifies God, then “quality control” will be come internal. This concern with quality before God is clear in Luke 10:7 ‘The worker is worthy of his wages.,” which echoes Leviticus 19:13 and Deut 24:14-15. Work, then, is an obvious way of showing good works. C.S. Lewis tells it this way: “When our Lord provided a poor wedding party with an extra glass of wine all around, he was doing good works. But also good work; it was a wine really worth drinking.”
- from Alan Maben’s article, God Glorified in our Calling
Modern Reformation, vol. 2 num. 5
Thoughts on Pride
Andrew Fuller said that there is nothing in personal holiness that makes us more like Jesus than humility, and there is nothing in sin that makes us more like Satan than pride. The bible says pride always precedes disgrace and destruction. God hates pride. The sin of pride is believed by many theologians to be the fountain of all other sins, and even the greatest sin there is. We recognize it when we see it, but what exactly is pride? In his book, Humility, C.J. Mahaney explains that, “Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence on him.”
This is a fantastic and devastating definition. Fantastic in its precision, and devastating in its implications. Though we may not think of our own sinful pride in terms of usurping God’s authority, in practice this is exactly what we do. Pride is an unrealistic view of ourselves that makes too much of our own righteousness while ignoring our own sinfulness, neediness before God, and commonality with all men. Our pride makes little of God and our neighbors while making so much of ourselves that we live life, make our decisions, and see our world in light of our own interests and desires.
In his sermon on The Prevention and Cure of Spiritual Pride Richard Mayo explains that the “pregnancy” of pride is a great danger. He says, “It is a big-bellied sin; most of the sins that are in the world are the offspring and issue of pride.” He gives a number of example. Here is a summary of most of them.
Pride gives birth to:
- Covetousness - because you believe you deserve something more than others.
- Ungodly ambition - because you believe that you are most qualified, and the idea of someone else being preferred over you is an insult to your perceived worth.
- Boasting - because everyone should know who you are and what you have accomplished.
- Contention - because in picking fights you feel a sense of superiority over those who may (or may not) be in error.
- Unthankfulness - because you deserve everything you get!
- Selfishness - because others do not!
- Self-deceit - because it’s easier to believe you are something, when in fact you are nothing.
- A judgmental attitude - because you believe the errors of others are much more serious than your own.
- Gossip - because you look so much better when telling others how awful someone else is. Mayo said that the proud “endeavor to build their own praise upon the ruins of others’ reputation.”
- Complaining - because God should have consulted you before orchestrating the events of your day/life.
- Hypocrisy - because you must hide the truth, your own failures, in order to avoid shame and accumulate praise.
There are many others, but this is enough to show, I think, that pride is not only dangerous, but present in us all in one way or another. Thoughts on fighting against the sin of pride coming later this week.
Update: I am getting emails about this post, so let me make a couple things clear. 1) The points are Mayo’s, the explanations are mine. 2) I am only aware of one place where you can find this sermon, and that is in the 6 volume collection of Puritan Sermons published by Roberts.
6 Dangers to Avoid in Family Worship
When you become convinced that family worship is something you want to practice in your home, and you start down that path, there are dangers to avoid. Dangers that many who do family worship tend to fall into. Here are six you should be careful to avoid. The first three are internal dangers the parents face personally, the latter 3 are external dangers that can develop in your practice of family worship.
1. A Proud Heart.
When we are convinced of the importance of something like family worship and begin practicing it with consistency, it is easy to become satisfied with our own performance while condemning other who do not measure up. It is unfortunate that we take credit for the grace of God at work in our lives through the development of discipline. Pride is always waiting for the opportunity to attach itself to our hearts and lives, replacing the gospel’s comfort of our consciences with false assurance built on performance.
How do we avoid this danger? Remember: Your family worship is not good enough. It does not impress God, and he graciously uses it for the sanctification of his children. Focus on what you need to do for your family, not on others, and encourage others through a gracious example.
2. A Legalistic Approach.
Legalism is the child of pride. It tends to manifest itself in one of two ways: a) in the belief that God accepts us based on our performance, b) pushing extra-biblical law as if it were God’s will and standard. While I do believe that family worship is something God expects his people to practice, I am equally convinced that this can take on a number of different forms. But even when we can agree on this point legalism may creep into our practice of family worship in a more subtle and deadly way - through the instruction itself.
Teaching our children the Scripture should be a journey through the history of redemption emphasizing the law/gospel presentation of God’s grace to fallen humanity. But we often default to teaching our children little more than moralisms when walking through the Bible. The point of each story can become good little boys will be like Joseph, or Daniel, or Jesus, and that we should not be like Jonah or Judas. Empty moralistic teaching that is disconnected from the gospel emphasis of the whole of the Bible not only leaves our children with a misunderstanding of the Scripture, but of the nature of salvation itself. What do you emphasize when teaching your kids - the gospel hope or works righteousness?
We can avoid the danger of legalism by keeping the gospel central for ourselves and our children as the means by which we know God and ourselves. By helping your family to see the gospel’s connection to every story and teaching in Scripture.
3. A Hypocritical Life.
Hypocrisy is the friend of legalism. It may sound strange but a public discipline like family worship can lead to hypocrisy if we are not careful. Our children will hear our words. They will listen to our teaching, and before much of it takes root, they will have the opportunity to see if we really believe what we teach. Our lives will testify either for or against us. So if we teach of Christ’s forgiveness, the need to forgive, and that “unless you forgive, you will not be forgiven,” but then are observed by our children harboring hatred or holding a grudge they will see that we are hypocrites. This clear absence of integrity will rob us of influence and the ability to teach with authority. I am not suggesting that we can live without such sin in our lives, my point has to do more with confession and honesty in the midst of family worship.
Most people do not work at being hypocrites. It tends to come about through good intentions. As we teach our children the commands of Jesus we want them to see the beauty of holiness and the value of biblical virtue. We want them to embrace Jesus’ teaching. But this requires us to be truthful with our children, not only about the who and what of the Bible, but concerning ourselves. They must hear from us that we, like they, fail to meet God’s standards, and are in desperate need of the gospel ourselves. I must not pretend to be someone else during family worship, because the dad my kids know is the dad I am everywhere else.
How do we avoid the danger of hypocrisy in family worship? Be being honest with our kids about our own struggles and keeping the gospel central, and exalted above the law.
4. A Sterile Lecture.
It is obvious to all that children do not enjoy dry lectures. Most adults don’t either. The good news is that the good news is not boring. The history of redemption and the gospel is found in an exciting narrative and is inherently practical/experiential. It is common for people to fall into the cold lecture format when beginning family worship because it is a new and strange discipline. Our ignorance of the discipline and the inherent awkwardness of starting it lends itself to a stiff presentation.
You can avoid the sterile lecture by using age appropriate Bibles/guides, and learning to express the proper emotions during each reading. Look for opportunities when teaching to express joy, sorrow, sobriety or amazement.
5. A Rigid Format.
Every family is different and has it’s own culture. Some are more formal while others are more relaxed. But when talking about family worship I encourage families, in general, to avoid an overly rigid format. We are tempted to create a very stiff format and feel to family worship because we are convinced of its importance and priority. Family worship is serious business and we don’t want to take it lightly, but it is not performance. think a healthy family worship ethos will have a casual and yet serious atmosphere.
How do we balance the serious and casual aspects of family worship? Maintain a flexible structure. It’s valuable to have a routine, but don’t be afraid to change it up when you think it’s necessary. And respond graciously to interruptions. You will be interrupted. Especially in the beginning. The phone will ring, your youngest will throw up, the dog will start barking, and in the beginning your children are likely to ask a lot of questions that are not relevant to what you’re doing. A gracious response will encourage your kids to ask more questions later on that are relevant. If you are stressing about family worship, others are likely to as well.
6. A Tiring Length.
People often have the best intentions, and put a lot of effort into preparing for family worship. Unfortunately it can become a rather lengthly discipline for the family. I remember when my wife and I began reading on the subject we were really excited. My natural thought was that family worship will probably wind up lasting 30 minutes. But was that enough? I read treatises, books and sermons on the subject but could not find a reference to the time frame of the habit - until I read The Family Altar in the back of the book, The Bible and the Closet by Thomas Watson and Samuel Lee. Here 10-20 minutes was said to be an appropriate time frame. Getting that little piece of advice from a few hundred years ago was most encouraging and liberating.
While we spend about 10 minutes in family worship with our kids at their current ages (3 and 6), this time will grow with our children. I think it’s better to leave them wanting more, then to overload them with.
I have found that having a plan, and giving my family the best stuff prevents me from letting the time get away from me.
5 Reasons to have Family Worship
and when you rise.”
Deut. 6:6, 7
I’ve talked a little about family worship/devotions in the past, and interviewed Tom Ascol on the subject. As our new church develops unique ministry emphases family continues to remain at the top of the list in a number of different ways. One of the simplest things we are doing is encouraging families to discover or strengthen their practice of family worship. Here are a few good reasons your family should be practicing this ancient discipline.
1. It’s your job to train your children, not your church’s.
God gives you, the parents, the responsibility and privilege of discipling your children. Have you thought about it that way before? You are tasked with teaching your children to be the disciples of Jesus. Simply handing them over to the church for instruction, and assuming that is enough, is lazy and dangerous. It is lazy because it is a refusal to participate in one of our most important roles as parents, and dangerous because we are dealing with children whose lives hang in the balance. I want fathers to see themselves as the pastors of their families. I want parents to see their families as their most important ministry; far more important than anything else they are involved in. What I tend to find is parents who will spend hours preparing for and executing ministries in the church while giving little time and less thought to family worship.
2. It teaches parents how to talk to their kids about spiritual things.
For many parents, especially new parents, talking to children about spiritual things does not come naturally. It can be awkward. Regularly gathering with your whole family to read and discuss Scripture will help you develop your communication skills, and help you better understand the truth as well. C. Ben Mitchell once suggested to me that if I cannot explain the truth to a child, I might not understand that truth very well myself.
3. It provides a regular context in which spiritual conversations take place.
Not only will this force you to learn how to speak to your children, but it will give you regular opportunity to do so. Let me tell you what I have observed. Families that do not regularly gather for family worship have little opportunity for real, spiritual conversations with the kids. But those who do regularly gather for family worship not only have that time to discuss things, but wind up having other, more spontaneous conversations about spiritual things as well.
4. It allows parents to guide theological development.
Your kids are theologians - right now. They have beliefs about God and probably articulate those beliefs if you listen carefully. Their theology will continue to develop over time, and their best hope for good theology is the passionate, clearly articulated, Scriptural teaching of their parents. Let me also remind you that your kids are watching you, to see if the things you teach them are the things you really believe. And when they discover that what you said about God being sovereign and good impacts the way you receive suffering and affliction, their theology will begin to blossom.
5. It prepares kids for corporate worship.
Family worship is a great aid in getting your kids ready for corporate worship. It teaches them the importance and value of sitting still, listening, and truly engaging corporate worship. They learn that the Bible is holy, and worth paying attention to. They learn songs, and will enjoy singing them in church after learning them in the home. It also demonstrates the value of corporate worship itself, preventing them from thinking about worship as something private. The dominant thinking on worship that I encounter in the evangelical church today is that worship is almost exclusively a very personal/private encounter with Christ. Family worship can lead our kids to see that while worship is always personal, and we should find time to get alone with God, it is meant to be expressed and experienced in community.
Start small, be regular, make it fun, keep it simple, and lead your family in worshiping Jesus Christ for the glory of God, and the good of your home.
