Monday, September 24, 2018

Spiritual Formation (Prayer Life Part 3 Unanswered)

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“So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. (Isaiah 1:15)

Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. (Jeremiah 11:11)

            Above are quotes from two of the major prophets[1] where the God of Israel specifically says that although people pray to Him, He will not listen.  During Isaiah’s time, he continually called the Southern Kingdom of Judah to repentance, to forsake the false gods that people where worshiping and to return to faithfulness to the Mosaic covenant.  And although there were some instances of revival between Isaiah’s time and Jeremiah’s time, the nation still followed other gods and broke the covenant with the God of Israel.  Sins and infidelity disconnect people from God.

            One Proverb of Solomon says that God is not with the wicked or lawless and that their prayers He will not listen to (15:29).  These passages seem to express that unconfessed sins and an unrepentant attitude keep God from listening to prayer.  Judge for yourself: two of the most common metaphors in scripture for the relationship between God and His people are the marriage relationship and a father and child relationship (Is. 45:5, Revelation 21:2, and Deuteronomy 32:6, Ephesians 4:6).  Imagine a father/child relationship where the children never obey their father.  Imagine a marital relationship where one spouse is always unfaithful to the other.  These images are how God describes the people throughout the prophets (Is. 1:21, Jer. 3:9).  Moreover, understand the Biblical imagery of the unfaithful one; they commit adultery and then pretend that they have done nothing wrong (Prov. 30:20).  Which separates more, the actual act of adultery or having no guilt or repentance after?  So, consider if an unanswered prayer goes unanswered due to unconfessed or unrepented sins.  God is merciful and ready to forgive (1 John 1:9).  But remember how Satan was described when under the disguise of a snake, he was called crafty, this could be because he is crafty with how sins can snare and trap us.  We’ve already explored other reasons that prayers go unanswered, and next week we have more to explore, but this area of a follower’s life should be examined if their prayer life seems unfruitful.

Struggling in prayer


Written by Pastor Ozzy

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1995. Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible. LaHabra: The Lockman Foundation.




[1] Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and often Daniel are considered the major prophets because of the amount they wrote and not because they are more important than the other twelve.

Monday, September 17, 2018

Spiritual Formation (Prayer Life Part 2 Unanswered)

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It's been forty days and forty nights
Down the road of many trials
And I pray it's only for a season
'Cause in the wilderness and in the flood
You're the one I'm thinking of
And I know You've brought me for a reason (Third Day 2003)


[Jesus] fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible, Matthew 26:39)


            The film The Passion of the Christ starts with Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, his face drenched with sweat as He prays.  Depending on how the synoptic gospels (Matt, Mark & Luke) are harmonized, Jesus has predicted His death and resurrection at least three times before the Gethsemane episode [First M16:21-26, M8:31-37, L9:22-25; second M17:22-23, M9:30-32, L9:43b-45, third M20:17-19, M10:32-34, L18:31-34].  Despite this, we are confronted with an emotional and vulnerable Jesus praying in the garden.  One could get lost in the mystery of the incarnation; but one thing is clear, God the Son is pouring out His heart before God the Father.  Theologians have debated what the cup is; is it the cross and its pain, the separation and isolation, both of these things and more? Whatever it is, one thing is absolutely clear: Jesus wants this “cup” to pass from Him without drinking it.  Yet, His prayer does not end with His want, but with His submission.  “… not as I will, but as You [Father] will.”

            Stop.  Wait.  Don’t go past this event too quickly.  Jesus, the Jesus that healed the blind, the sick, and the lame.  Jesus, the Jesus that turned water into wine, walked on the sea and drove out demons by His words.  Jesus, the Jesus that withstood all the tests and tempting of Satan himself in the wilderness and won.  This Jesus, who knows the Father and has seen the Father and could at once call 60,000 angelic beings to His will (Matt. 26:53), ends His prayer by submitting to the Father’s will.

            This cannot be missed; the Son knew His mission.  He said, “… I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30 NASB).  Therefore, His prayer in Gethsemane follows this pattern.  However, remember what was pointed out above.  Despite having predicted His resurrection, He is praying that the “cup” could pass Him by.  The Gethsemane episode is filled with conflict and we see Jesus in turmoil.  We know how the story goes; but it does not lessen the tension that happened in the garden.  The Son is pleading with the Father, He is praying, “Is it possible that there could be a plan B?”  However, the Son accepts the will of the Father and submits.

            Sometimes it’s good to be reminded of purpose.  The purpose of Spiritual Formation is to allow Christ to be formed within us (Galatians 4:19).  Concerning this Gethsemane episode see what Paul writes:
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 NASB).

This then is our example for our prayers.

Prayers hindered by sins

Written by Pastor Ozzy

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1995. Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible. LaHabra: The Lockman Foundation.
2003."40 Days." Come Together.


Monday, September 10, 2018

Spiritual Formation (Prayer Life Part 1 Unanswered)

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You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. (Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible, James 4:3)

You say God give me a choice, you say Lord I say, Christ,
I don't believe in Peter Pan, Frankenstein or Superman (Queen 1978)


            How has prayer been explained to you?  There is a scene in the movie Europa Europa, in a Soviet orphanage, the communists intend to prove to the kids that God does not exist (Hofschneider 1990).  They tell the kids to pray to God for candy, and no candy comes.  However, they then drop candy on the kids and tell them the candy is from Stalin.  Is this a good explanation of prayer?  Asking God for things you want and then He gives you what you asked for?  In an argument form it would look like this:

            p1. If God exists, you can make requests to him.
            p2. If you make requests, he is obligated to fulfill your request.
            p3. A request unfulfilled means he does not exist.
            c. Prayer requests go unfulfilled; therefore, God does not exist.

However, as can be seen in the above passage from the book of James, within the Biblical religion, God is not obligated to fulfill certain requests.  Therefore, from a Biblical perspective, p.2 is a false dilemma.  Since p.2 can be falsified, unfulfilled prayer requests are insufficient in disproving the existence of God.  Moreover, this explanation of prayer also displays an inadequate understanding of the subject.

            Many of us begin to learn about God at a young age, the same time we are exposed to stories about Peter Pan, Frankenstein, and Superman.  Many people think there is even a verse that extols child like faith; however, in context, Jesus is talking about giving up ambitions for power in Matthew 18.  Paul, on the other hand, instructs Christians to become mature in their thinking (1 Cor. 14:20).  Therefore, how can we understand unfulfilled prayers?


            Again, James gives one reason that prayers may go unfulfilled, that the request is made with selfish motives and for only the purpose of pleasures.  Are Jesus’ followers to resemble Him or should they resemble Veruca Salt?  She was that spoiled little girl that following her own desires, fell down the garbage shoot in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory (Cole 1971).  Selfish motives are only one Biblical explanation for unfulfilled prayer requests, and perhaps many of us can call mind to requests that were not selfish but were unfulfilled.  What do we do with those?  That gives us a topic for further exploration next week.

Jesus's unfulfilled prayer

Written by Pastor Ozzy

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1971. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Directed by Mel Stuart. Performed by Julie Dawn Cole.
1990. Europa Europa. Directed by Agnieszka Holland. Performed by Marco Hofschneider.
1995. Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible. LaHabra: The Lockman Foundation.
Queen. 1978. "Bicycle Race." Jazz. Comp. Freddie Mercury.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Spiritual Formation (Prayer Life Introduction)

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“When you pray…”  Matthew 6:9 [emphases added]

… devoted to prayer…” (Rom. 12:12)

Stop and think about prayer.  How would you define prayer or how would you explain praying?  In the above passage from Matthew, Jesus said, “When you pray,” which seems to imply that prayer is a part of the Christian walk.  Moreover, Paul instructed Roman Christians to be devoted to prayer.  It bears repeating that this blog is not intended to be a guilt trip; however, like going to the doctor, it is best, to be honest about your diet, exercise level, and other activities that may affect your health.  Therefore, ask yourself and answer only yourself, how is your prayer life?  Does “devoted to prayer” describe you?

Years ago, there was a movie, a line of Union troops and Confederate troops were in a stalemate.  Near the battlefield was a hill and on top were commanders of the Union army.  From their position, they could view the entire battlefield, something that was impossible from behind each sides line.  Imagine if one side had today’s technology, such as cell phones and Bluetooth earpieces.  The commanders could speak directly to the troops and tell them what they see, and the soldiers could reply.  It’s important to remember that we are in a battle here on earth, though it is not against other people (Eph. 6:12).  However, we genuinely have an enemy (John 10:10), and he does seek to make you ineffective or attack you (1 Pet. 5:8).  Therefore, using the battlefield and communication, as an illustration, is an appropriate way to think about prayer.

Going back to your answer above, how is your prayer life?  If you can honestly say, it’s great, nothing could be better; then perhaps this series is not for you.  However, if your prayer life is not in the shape you’d like it to be in, then this could be a very fitting series.  What is one of the greatest hindrances to a vibrant and active prayer life?  Could it be, prayers that go unanswered?

Before going further, let us be honest.  To say that, “All prayers are answered, but perhaps God said no or wait,” is at best a pious attempt to explain unanswered prayers and at worst is skirting the issue.  Reality is, sometimes we’ve prayed for people to get better and they’ve died.  We’ve prayed for one thing, and the opposite has happened.  Perhaps the helpless optimist tells us, we pray for God to heal them and now they are at peace and healed; however, you must admit, sounds more like sleight of hand, than actually answered prayers.

Therefore, we are now going to press on and look for a sufficient answer to why our prayers go unanswered.  Join us.

Written by Pastor Ozzy


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