Monday 26 January 2009

A Call to Spiritual Reformation ch5b

I am doing a series of posts on the book by Don Carson, "A Call to Spiritual Reformation", which I am reading slowly but steadily at the moment. You might like to join me.
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Chapter Five: A Passion for People - 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 (Second Half) (The first half was way back here.)

This chapter is based upon 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13. In the second half of this chapter, Carson examines the content of Paul's prayer and asks, "What is it exactly he is praying about?" Carson identifies four things.

1. "Paul prays with a rich thankfulness for the people of God."
One particular feature of Paul's thankfulness is that he addresses his thanks to God, who is ultimately responsible by the grace he has extended to the Thessalonians. Yet his thanks are shared openly with the people, so that they might know and be encouraged by Paul's recognition of God's work in and through them. Carson says, "So what we need, then, is a prayer life that thanks God for the people of God, and then tells the people of God what we thank God for." Can you think of one person - perhaps your husband - who you should commit to praying with thanks for the work of God in their life? For what specific signs of God's grace will you give God thanks? Carson encourages readers to commit to praying for a person or persons in our church for several months and then, after we have prayed regularly for some time, to let the person know that we are grateful to God for them.
Secondly, Paul is not just extending some weak platitude to God, rather, he is expressing heartfelt gratitude for the delight and joy that he has experienced as a result of their faith. Why has Paul experienced such joy? Because his heart is aligned with God's purposes and he eagerly and earnestly desires those things which will bring pleasure to the heart of God and glory to His name. Do you find joy in the things that the Bible says will please God? If not, how can you work on changing your attitude so that your desires should more closely align with God's will? If so, do you thank God for giving you this joy, and for changing your heart so that you are no longer enslaved by the things of this world, but instead seek to live a life that is in step with the Spirit of God within you? Galatians 5:16-26 exhorts and encourages us in living our lives by the Spirit.

2. "Paul prays that he might be able to strengthen these believers."
Carson makes the point here that, when Paul writes of praying "night and day", he isn't speaking of praying continuously through the night and into the day. Rather, Paul is referring to the regular times he has set aside to pray, each evening and morning (remember, the Jewish perspective of the 24 hour day was that it began with what we would call the sunset of the previous day). Do you have regular times which are set aside in which to pray? How well do you keep to them? I must admit, I have been very slack about praying regularly and diligently over the past month or so while we were moving home. I have been praying, but much of it has been on an "as needs" basis. Jeff and I have been praying persistently and consistently for God's protection over our children, especially Abigail, each evening as we put them to bed. But the prayers that I pray out loud, and then again in the quietness of my mind, over my children are often shorter and less detailed than the prayers that I pray when I get out of bed early and kneel at the side of my bed in the morning. Although perhaps no less heartfelt. (Does the fact that we have floorboards rather than carpet in our new bedroom have some relevance here? I suspect so!) I need to get back to this. Mind you, a lot of my early morning discipline has gone out the window with moving house and Christmas holidays. Preparation for Joshua beginning school next week (and the need to be able to get him there by 8:50am) might just be the external prod I need to work back into mornings which are more self-disciplined and oriented on beginning my day with my Father.
In this part of his Prayer, Paul is praying about the lack he is aware of in the Thessalonians' faith (attributed not to their unwillingness to respond to teaching or the Holy Spirit but to Paul's need to leave Thessalonica before he had taught them for very long). Paul doesn't stop at asking God to meet the Thessalonians' need in some unspecified way, or even asking that God would send someone to teach them. Rather, his love or them prompts him to pray that he would be able to go to them and meet their need. Carson writes, "For Paul, prayer is not a substitute for Christian service, it is part of it. And apparently he cannot long pray for believers without longing to serve them himself." He continues, "the mindset of service should belong to all of us, especially when we pray." Is there some need you have noticed in your local church recently? Have you been praying that God will meet that need? Have you considered that He might plan for you to meet the need? For inspiration, you might want to check out Isaiah's immediate and willing response to God's call in Isaiah 6: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Paul also prays that hindrances to his service will be removed. Paul is aware that the devil has hampered his work in the past (see 1 Thess 2:18) but he also knows that God is far greater, and His will shall prevail. "These hindrances do not curtail his praying but incite him to greater fervency. They are not grounds for discouragement but for renewed intercession." This has been the case in our family over the past few weeks. Jeff's appointment as Pastor of BCC and our subsequent move to a house very close to the new church building went amazingly smoothly and we could see the hand of God parting the waters - so to speak - at each stage. However, once we had settled into our new house, we noticed that Abigail was having bad dreams, nightmares really. She was upset, and we were getting grumpy with the disruption to our sleep and becoming more argumentative as a result. So this wasn't just impacting her, it was affecting us. We were at a bit of a loss as to what to do, until one night I lay with her to cuddle her to help her sleep and found myself experiencing a horrible nightmare as well. I do have bad dreams occasionally, and I have developed the habit of praying my way out of the miasma of distress they bring, using 2Cor10:4-5 as my guide. As soon as I prayed that night, the nightmare fled from my mind. Yet soon after, Abigail was having another bad dream. I prayed for her and she calmed instantly. All of a sudden, I began to suspect that Abigail's bad dreams weren't the product of her own mind, but the result of an attack on her (and us, through her) by the devil. This is what has prompted the consistency of our evening prayers for our children in the past few weeks, and we have seen that the bad dreams have vanished completely as a result. Some would put these bad dreams down to the stress of moving home; but I know that the only thing which made any difference was prayer, and the difference prayer made was immediate! God has been very good in combating this attack and keeping our precious Abigail safe since we have re-realised the necessity of praying with and for her. So please be encouraged to pray over the struggles in your life, whether they be big or small. God can handle all of them!

3. "Paul prays that there might be an overflow of love among these believers."
A week ago we heard a sermon at Denmark Baptist based on Philemon vv4-18. Paul's letter to Philemon shows clearly that faith fulfils itself in love, especially love for the saints of God: other Christians. He also makes it clear that one natural and necessary expression of Christian love is forgiveness. Here in his prayer for the Thessalonians, Paul is dwelling on the same topic. He has given thanks for them and prayed that their faith might be built up, and now he addresses himself to the way they demonstrate that faith pracitcally: asking that their love may increase and overflow for each other (ie, the other Christians) and everyone else (ie, non-believers). Carson explains, "The enlargement Paul here envisages is not in numbers, but in spirit, strength, perspective, heart... Christian love, mature, deep, and unqualified, is a rare commodity. When it is displayed, it speaks volumes to a society that gorges itself in self-interest, lust, mutual-admiration pacts, even while it knows very little of love." Carson encourages us to follow Paul's example and pray for others in love, and pray for love to be shown by ourselves and others. Which of your relationships do you need to bathe in prayer so that you are enabled by God's grace to act in a more loving manner than you have in the past? In what ways, other than prayer, can your love for this person be fostered in Christ?

4. "Paul prays that these believers will be so strengthened in heart that they will be blameless and holy when the end comes."
Here, Paul's prayer turns to the future. As he prays that the Thessalonians' faith is built up and their subsequent love for each other grows, he naturally considers what will follow: by God's grace they will grow in sanctification, becoming more holy. Their lives will more and more reflect the fact that they are God's chosen people, and that their lives are being lived according to His purposes, rather than worldly aspirations. He prays that they may be "blameless". It is only through their justification through the atoning death of Jesus Christ that this may be fully achieved, and that has already been accomplished. However, Paul is praying that their lives may in a greater measure reflect the status which has already been won for them. He is praying that their lives as Christians may, each day, be lived more and more in accordance with God's will, in obedience to His word, in a manner which brings glory to the LORD's name. Because if this were not to happen their lives would become stagnant pools where no eternal life would flourish - they would gradually "fall away" from the faith. Just as a billabong needs fresh water from the rains, or, no longer connected to the main river, it will dry out and die, we must be continually restored by the ongoing work of God's Holy Spirit in our hearts. Salvation is achieved in the moment we turn in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. But it is also an ongoing experience. Paul wrote to the Philippians, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Paul is praying here that the Thessalonians will also "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [you] heavenward in Christ Jesus." Because Paul knows that the final Day of Judgement will certainly come. "When we pray for people, we must do so knowing that these people, and we ourselves, are inevitably moving toward the last day, ... because people like you and me are the ones who must give account to God on the last day." Will you join me in praying this prayer?
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Next time: The Content of a Challenging Prayer - Colossians 1:9-14

[Cover image from koorong.]

9 comments:

Deborah said...

Wow - this post reminded me of the Ephesians series that I am reading through. Every time I get through a new chapter I have something new to be thankful to God for. I am really loving it.

Sorry to hear about Abigail and her dreams. One nightmare would be dismissable, but anything more than that and I tend to think definitely attack - not sure if you've come to this or not, but I'd also be praying over the room, against spiritual strongholds ( because you never know who has lived in there before type of thing ). Keep praying. Amen.

Thank you for your kind words on my blog. I really appreciated them.

Sharon said...

Yes Deborah, that was on my mind about the room thing. Especially as she was waking up and saying things such as, "I don't want to sleep in the girl's room" and when it got to the point where she was saying she preferred to sleep on the carpet on the floor, rather than in her own bed. And also because I was sleeping fine in my own room and only had the nightmare when I went and slept in her bed, which was a very weird thing to experience. I guess I can be a bit sceptical about this sort of thing being spiritual attack - but when she slept so much better from the instant we began praying over her, but would have another nightmare if we just comforted her ourselves without praying, we just knew that we were right in our suspicions.
~ Sharon

Mrs. Edwards said...

I'm glad to hear that you are experiencing at least a measure of victory over the nightmares through prayer. It has been on my mind to pray for here. Toby has had a few incidents lately where he has awakened in the night crying "the monsters are in the corner" or "the darkness is reaching out to grab me." I finally found that when his sister in the room next door rolled up to the wall in her sleep, knocking against the wall, the noise scared him. It seemed that he didn't understand that his corner is the other side of her bedroom wall. Still, no amount of prayer or persuasion calmed him. We've moved the dog's bed next to Toby's and he feels much safer now! :) In his case, I chalk it up to developmental maturing--he's old enough to imagine new dangers and be afraid of them.

I have missed more of my morning quiet times--or at least have had them cut shorter--this month for some reason. I know some circumstances have made it harder to get up early, but I also feel like I'm in a bit of a spiritual dry spell. I keep praying, Lord, I know I need to not rely on feelings but on what I know to be true, but please let me feel Your Presence and Your glory...In the meantime, I need to be sure to be obedient to my morning coffee with the Lord. Thanks for this reminder about the importance of a regular, scheduled prayer time.

Sharon said...

Oh Amy, I so feel for you. I know how hard it is to get back into the richness of deeper Bible study and longer, deeper prayer. It always seems like the longer you leave it the harder it gets!

I will definitely be praying for you with this in mind.

But one suggestion. Maybe for a month or two you could swap the read through the Bible plan you use and instead try reading through an entire epistle once a day for a week or more at a time. I did this with Galatians, as you know, and now I am doing the same with Ephesians. I found that there was more richness to my Bible study when I did this, as I re-read the same words each day and I began to notice which words were important in the particular letter (words like slave, son and Spirit in Galatians) and then I began to focus on what these particular verses were saying. I also began two lists which I hope will grow:

The first is just on normal paper. I copied out every single verse which answers the question, "For what am I saved?" Some of the answers I found were to do with God's eternal purpose and some were more to do with how this was accomplished. As I wrote each verse, I was greatly encouraged in my love for (and trust in) God.

The second list is actually on a collection of index cards. When I noted a characteristic of Christian living in the letter (eg "show love", "zealous" etc) I wrote that at the top of an index card and then in the lines below copied the verse(s) which told me about that aspect of Christian behaviour. I am planning to - in the long run - use these in considering how I discipline my children, to make sure I am bringing them up to behave in a godly manner rather than in what I think is a godly manner but is really just something cultural. But in the mean time, and probably for the rest of my life as well, these verses are a spur to me in testing and challenging my own behaviour according to God's standards, not my own.

Many of these verses I have copied out may become future memory verses, but actually I would rather just set myself the task of memorising whole chapters and even entire epistles as a personal goal. The more I can recall these verses, the more I can meditate on them throughout the day, and the more the Holy Spirit brings them to mind just when I need to remember them! So they are a great encouragement to me in this.

This is getting long and I need to go and do some stuff, but as I do it, I will pray for you.

Your friend in Christ even from across the globe!
Sharon

Mrs. Edwards said...

Sharon,
Thank you for these great suggestions. I've been floundering a bit this month in part because I've been thinking of not doing the through-the-Bible plan this year but unsure of what to replace it with. My mom is doing a through-the-Bible in three years plan that goes slower and therefore gives more time for meditation. But, I prefer to read more than one chapter often, particularly if it is a short selection. So I really love your idea of reading a longer passage, such as an epistle, over repeatedly and mining for the applications. I'm going to do it!

Also, when you mentioned Scripture memory it was the proverbial kick-in-the-pants for me, but I think I'll post on my blog about what I'm doing about that!

Thanks so much for your prayers. I saw this before my "coffee with the Lord" this morning and it encouraged me greatly. I then had a wonderful time with the Lord.

Sharon said...

Amy,

I am so glad that God is already answering my prayers for you!

I have especially been praying Paul's words for the Ephesians (3:14-19). That you, "being rooted and established in love, may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

My ideas for a different method of personal Bible Study were adapted from the BSF seminar "Resources for Study and Serving", which I attended at the end of last year. I learnt so much at that seminar, it was wonderfully helpful to me.

~ Sharon

Mrs. Edwards said...

Are you memorizing Ephesians? I came back to this post to see if I saw where you mentioned what your memorizing right now and I'm not seeing it right off...

Sharon said...

I have commented on your blog with the answer to this Amy, but for those who are interested I am committing to memorising the first chapter of Ephesians and then either more of Ephesians or some/all of Psalm 119.

~ Sharon

argsmommy said...

I've set aside tonight to get caught up on your blog! : )

Wonderful post with great applications. January has been a tough month for my prayer life as well, and I don't have a good excuse like moving.

Oh, and I confess -- I had to look up the the word billabong! Now that I know what it means, it is a great illustration. : )

Thank you also for your helpful comments on my blog about the co-op thing. I really appreciate your wisdom.

Kellie