poolsandpastures
Thoughts on the Gospel, Life, and Ministry
True Worship, True Birth — John 2:13-3:21
The third reading in our John in 40 Days series is John 2:13 3:21. In these famous verses, Jesus encounters the opposition of the Pharisees for the first time and receives a fateful visit from Nicodemus. Here is a video to explain this passage.
John 2:13–25
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
[13] The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [14] In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. [15] And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. [16] And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” [17] His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
[18] So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” [19] Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” [20] The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” [21] But he was speaking about the temple of his body. [22] When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Jesus Knows What Is in Man
[23] Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. [24] But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people [25] and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (ESV)
John 3:1–21
You Must Be Born Again
[1] Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2] This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” [3] Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [4] Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
[9] Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” [10] Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? [11] Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. [12] If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? [13] No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. [14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
For God So Loved the World
[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. [19] And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. [20] For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. [21] But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (ESV)
Come and See — John 1:35-2:12
The second reading in our John’s Gospel in 40 Days series is John 1:35-2:12. We’ve titled it, “Come and See” because Jesus issues an invitation to come and see, come and experience life with Him. It’s a gracious invitation and divine command to come to faith in Him. Here’s a 5-minute video explaining today’s reading, listed below.
John 1:35–51
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
[35] The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [36] and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” [37] The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [38] Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” [39] He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. [40] One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. [41] He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). [42] He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
[43] The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” [44] Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. [45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” [46] Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” [47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” [48] Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” [49] Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” [50] Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” [51] And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (ESV)
John 2:1–12
The Wedding at Cana
[1] On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. [2] Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. [3] When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [4] And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” [5] His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
[6] Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. [7] Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. [8] And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. [9] When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom [10] and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” [11] This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
[12] After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. (ESV)
The Word Revealed — John 1:1-34
The first reading in our John’s Gospel in 40 Days series is John 1:1-34. We’ve titled it, “The Word Revealed,” because John clearly tells us that God reveals Himself to us in Jesus Christ. To see Jesus is to see God. Here’s a 5-minute video to explain today’s reading, which is listed below.
The Word Became Flesh
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. [8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
[9] The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. [11] He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. [12] But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, [13] who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [15] (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) [16] For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
[19] And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” [20] He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” [21] And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” [22] So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” [23] He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
[24] (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) [25] They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” [26] John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, [27] even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” [28] These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Behold, the Lamb of God
[29] The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [30] This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ [31] I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” [32] And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. [33] I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ [34] And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (ESV)
Overcoming Anger: Embrace Humility and Trust God
My wife and I recently took a great trip to Nashville to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We walked over 10 miles, visited the sites, listened to some good music, and ate well. We were shocked to see the extent of Hurricane Helene’s devastation along the Pigeon River as we traveled the two-lane I-40 through western NC. I’m unsure how they plan to rebuild the mountainside to support the eastbound lane. Thankfully, greater minds than mine are working on it.
Somewhere between Nashville and Knoxville on our return trip, I scanned radio stations and landed on a preacher preaching on Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 5:21-26 about anger. I’m always intrigued when I come across someone preaching on the radio, so I paused for a few minutes to listen to what he had to say. He was “bringing the heat,” as they say. The part of the sermon that stuck with me (I don’t remember whole sermons either) was when he gave his explanation for why there are so many angry and bitter people in our world (and the church). He said,
“We get mad and bitter when we try to fix things we don’t like about ourselves or that have happened to us. We don’t have the power to do that, but it doesn’t stop us. We fail. We get irritated with our failure. We try to fix the things that caused our failure. We fail again. We get frustrated again. The cycle will continue, leaving us consumed by anger and bitterness. This is why there are so many bitter and angry people in our world. They’re trying to fix themselves, other people, and our society, and they can’t. It makes them mad.”
He’s right. You, like me, are probably too familiar with this cycle. You’ve been frustrated by a failure, tried to fix it yourself, realized you couldn’t, and then got mad at yourself and others or things/circumstances because nothing you try seems to resolve your problem. And, to add insult to injury, not only are you mad at yourself and everyone else, but you don’t like your angry self.
What’s the solution?
First, we must set our pride aside. That’s hard because it requires us to admit and accept that we aren’t perfect and that we are powerless to make significant change in these difficult moments. We think that acknowledging our weaknesses will enslave us to the forces of the world working against us. However, it frees us from the burden of trying to fix our problems on our own, enabling us to trust in God’s ability to heal and change our hearts and lives. Second, we must trust our Lord to receive us as we are and to fix our problems. The most freeing part of the gospel, in my opinion, is the reality that Jesus welcomes us with all our imperfections and failures. Trusting him to do it, however, is excruciatingly hard. We are determined to “fix ourselves up” before giving ourselves to him, but that’s as unnecessary as it is impossible. We must learn to release more and more of ourselves to Jesus daily. Third, we must do what we can to improve our situations, make amends, and put ourselves in the best position to glorify God in everything we do. While we can’t fix ourselves or others, we can certainly take steps to improve our lives, make amends to those we’ve offended, alleviate burdens, and make good decisions (Matt. 5:23-26). God expects us to take responsibility for the things we change while leaving the results to him.
Prayerfully, these thoughts will help you this week as you navigate through our broken, fallen, and imperfect world. Set your pride aside, trust the Lord, and take the steps necessary to improve yourself, your life, and the lives of others.
Have a great day, and glorify God in everything you do!
Praying More Robustly
I am making plans for our congreation’s upcoming Wednesday night fellowship dinners and bible lessons. Our children and youth will continue working through the various catechisms of the Church, and our adults will study prayer. To help me organize our lessons on prayer, I’ve enlisted the help of Prof Donald Whitney from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO. He wrote a small volume on prayer titled, Praying the Bible, to address a common “problem” in Christian prayers — “saying the same old things while praying for the same old things.” To him, praying like that makes prayer boring.
He explained the predicament like this.
“[D]ue to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, you believe in prayer and you really want to pray. But when you try to pray, it just feels like, well, like something’s wrong. Then perhaps you hear a sermon on prayer, or you hear a testimony about answered prayer, or you read a book on prayer, and for a while you go back to prayer, recommitted and rejuvenated, but basically still saying the same old things, just with a bit more spiritual ‘oomph’ behind it. Very soon, though, the new enthusiasm evaporates, and you find that saying the same old things about the same old things is as boring as before, only now you feel guiltier than ever because you had been so resolved that things would be different this time” (21).
Before I move on, I need to make two comments about that paragraph. First, it summarizes exactly how I have felt at times in my prayer life, and I’m not proud about it. Second, the paragraph’s description of prayer as boring and my identification with it makes me uncomfortable because it forces me to confront how I’ve felt about an essential spiritual discipline at times in my life. You may have experienced this problem yourself.
What is the remedy?
Whitney says we need to learn to pray the prayers of the Bible to counteract our boredom problem. Specifically, he points to the Psalms as a place to turn to help give expression to our hearts’ desires and our thoughts about God. He’s right. The Psalms were written as songs to be sung in worship — whether private or corporate — and as prayers to be prayed when we don’t know how to pray. We’ll study this more in depth during our Wednesday evening lessons.
Another place to turn for help in prayer is the prayers of the saints who’ve gone before us. They are a treasure trove of wonderful prayers for us to consider. Here’s an example from the Book of Common Prayer. It is a prayer “For All Sorts and Conditions of Men,” which is one of those same old things about which we often pray the same old way.
“O God, the creator and preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for thy holy Church universal; that if it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally, we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those who are in any way afflicted or distressed, in mind, body, or estate; that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.”
Isn’t that a beautiful prayer? It’s far from boring.
Below are three links to good resources full of solid prayers to help you as you learn to pray more fervently. Check them out.
The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions.
Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship
The Book of Common Prayer (1662)
Have a great day!
In Christ,
Clint
Under His Wings and Revivals
What’s up, everyone?
Sunday, our congregation sang the hymn Under His Wings during worship as we prepared to read and hear from Psalm 91. Many in our congregation know this beautiful old hymn as #188 from the old Bible Songs songbook, compiled in December 1930 by the Executive Board of the General Synod. Its purpose was to enable the Church to sing “the songs of inspiration in the best possible metrical and musical renderings.” The songs of inspiration are the psalms, for they are the songs God inspired through His Holy Spirit that His people have sung in worship from King David’s day onward.
Under His Wings was written by Ira D Sankey in the late 19th century. Sankey was born in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania on August 28, 1840. He came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when he was 19 at a revival meeting. After a stint in the Union Army during the War Between the States, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service and led the choir in his local congregation. By 1870, he was president of his local YMCA, which allowed him to attend the YMCA’s national conference that year. There he met famed evangelist Dwight L. Moody, who convinced Sankey to leave his government job to join him for his evangelistic crusades. From 1872 until he died in 1908, he committed himself to the cause of Christ and the evangelization of the lost.
Until I realized that Sankey authored Under His Wings, I thought it was odd that I sang the hymn in the Church I attended before moving to Pisgah ARP Church at age 11. I also thought it was strange that it was one of my grandmother’s favorite hymns because she was a “died in the wool” Baptist and a lifelong member of Unity Baptist Church. There was no standing tradition of singing the psalms in her congregation. But, it makes sense given that Ira Sankey wrote the hymn’s words upon his reflection on Psalm 91. His goal was to compose, sing, and popularize music that connected with the congregation, capturing their hearts and empowering their voices. He wanted the people to enjoy singing the hymns of praise to the Lord. One historian wrote that “Sankey chose hymns with accessible tunes that were easy to learn and insisted that the accompanying music be played softly, to emphasize the message of the words.” I think he achieved his goal with Under His Wings. Don’t you?
Stories like this one always buoy my spirit as they illustrate the providence and the grace of God at work in the history of His Church. We still sing this wonderful rendition of Psalm 91 some 130 years after Sankey wrote it. The God under whose wings Sankey found refuge is the same God under whose wings we find shleter. The Psalm’s original singers found their shelter there as well. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He works through His Church and we are blessed to inherit her legacy. May we embrace our heritage in the Lord.
Have a great day!
What Is The Church Supposed to Do?
This is my favorite time of year. Late February to the end of May in South Carolina is the season of which dreams are made! Beautiful sunshine, warmer weather, and flowers starting to bloom. In the words of Psalm 19, God is showing off his glory right now!
As we discussed Sunday, Acts 2:42-47 gives us a remarkable description of how the earliest Christians built their church on the Lord Jesus in such a way as to have a tremendous impact in their world. The description we find there also sheds light on their congregational and ministry priorities and activities. They devoted themselves to “the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (vs. 42), and they involved themselves in ministries of mercy, generosity, and outreach.
If we were to break each of those congregational priorities and activities found in Acts 2:42-47 down in detail, it would take pages upon pages to complete. And, that is NOT my desire! I want to remind us of what we called, on Sunday, the early church’s essential components of congregational life. These are the things that we must emulated if we are to be faithful and effective in the 21st century. The Bible and our culture demands a church that is focused on worship, community, service and outreach.
1. Worship — The Christian church is a worshipping family of faith. Therefore, along with the early church, our desire is to worship our Savior in such a way that is intellectually and emotionally stimulating. We are devoted to the apostles’ teaching, and so, we gather to hear God’s Word preached, sing Psalms and hymns, and offer ourselves as one in our prayers. Our worship extends to every aspect of our lives, for we are created to worship God.
2. Nurture — The Christian church is a family. God refers to the church as his family on several occasions in the Bible. Therefore, we seek to follow the early church’s example of building one another up in love by encouraging one another’s spiritual growth through fellowship, faithful stewardship, gracious generosity, christian nurture and education. We want to encourage, equip, and inspire all our brothers and sisters in Christ, young and old, to be growing and faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, reflecting him in the world.
3. Service — The Christian church is called to respond to the needs and brokenness in the world. This response isn’t to be overly planned or programmed; it is to be spontaneous, personal and organic. The early church simply responded to needs within and without their congregation. They did it generously and joyfully. So should we. We are to share God’s love by loving and caring for others in a way that brings them to Christ and allows them to flourish spiritually and personally.
4. Outreach — The Christian church is a sharing community of faith. We share the hope of our salvation with others. We let it ooze from our veins. We witness to the glory of Christ by words and deeds. Acts doesn’t specifically tell us of outreach/evangelistic programs that the early church used, but it does tell us that they had “favor with all the people,” and that “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (vs. 47). There is only one way to be saved — believe in Jesus — and there is only one way to hear of Jesus — someone telling the gospel story. Therefore, we share his love, grace and mercy with all people in all places.
The earliest Christians lived and breathed in times that were very similar to ours. They were certainly no strangers to the ideas of societal relativism and cultural narcissism. They also suffered from another deadly “ism,” syncretism, which wreaked havoc on their spiritual and religious climate. Yet, they found their balance and we are to learn from them. May we commit to being a faithful congregation that worships our God, nurtures one another in the faith, serves Christ, each other, and those of our world, and witnesses the glorious salvation that Christ gives through his grace and love.
Keep God’s Word Close to You
On a recent Sunday morning, our congregation studied Daniel’s prayer of confession on behalf of the ancient Judeans after Darius the Mede had conquered the Babylonians. It’s a beautiful prayer that really helps us understand the main components that any prayer of confession should contain. There is an acknowledgment of sin, an acceptance of responsibility, a plea for mercy, and a statement of dependence upon God for his mercy.
I didn’t have the opportunity to cover everything about Daniel 9:1-19 that I wanted to in the sermon since my emphasis was primarily on Daniel’s prayer of confession. So, I’ll comment on the first two verses of Daniel 9 now. They’re intriguing.
“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans — in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years” (Daniel 9:1-2).
Besides giving us a historical setting, these verses give us insight into Daniel’s spiritual life and commitment to God’s Word. There had been a transition of leadership in Babylon. The Medes now reigned in the place of the Babylonians. Because of his sensitivity to God’s will and plan for all things, Daniel knew the significance of this transition.
You may remember that in chapter 2 he interpreted Nebuchadnezar’s dream of a statue with a golden head, abdomen of silver, thighs of bronze, and feet of clay and iron. This dream, according to the LORD, depicted the succession of kingdoms which would rule the region over the next 1000+ years. The Babylonian kingdom would give way to the Medo-Persian Empire. The Medes would surrender to the Greeks, and the Greeks would succumb to the Romans.
Chapter 9 is set in the first year of the transition from the Babylonian Empire to that of the Medo-Persians. Daniel knew something big was happening. So, he studied Jeremiah’s prophecy because he knew that God had revealed his plans for Judah’s captivity through Jeremiah. When doing so, he revisited that God-ordained timeline with which he was already familiar. Then, he did the math. The seventy years were nearing completion.
The point I want to make is that Daniel never gave up on the Word of God. He kept it close to his heart. He knew what God had revealed regarding His purpose and plan for His people. He knew God, for God’s Word was never far from him. I wonder if it was Jeremiah’s prophecy that he was reading in view of the window that led to his being thrown into the lion’s den.
God’s Word is a gift to us. It is His self-revelation to us. It tells us exactly who He is, what He is like, and what He desires from us. It tells us His plans for His glory and our good. We should be like Daniel and keep it close to us. We should keep it in our hearts. We should keep it in our minds. Like Daniel, we will find comfort and wisdom for living every day from it.
Devote yourself to learning God’s Word and studying the Scriptures. You’ll not regret it!
The Prayer God Will Always Answer
During our adult Sunday School class this past Sunday, our congregation studied Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:1-13. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray by his example and his words.
Luke referred to Jesus’s normal practice of praying alone more than all the other gospel writers. After one of his private times of prayer, Jesus’s disciples ask him to teach them to pray. Interestingly, they don’t ask him to teach them to pray as he prays. Rather, they ask him to teach them to pray like John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray. I think they did this for two reasons. First, they knew Jesus had a unique relationship with His Heavenly Father that they couldn’t mimic. Second, they wanted practical lessons on how they are to pray. They wanted to pray but didn’t feel confident doing it because they believed that they didn’t know how to do it. So, Jesus taught them.
The most intriguing part of Jesus’s instruction on prayer as Luke records it is verse 13 where Jesus says, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
To understand the first clause of this conditional statement — If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children…, we have to understand that Jesus is referring to two illustrations he used in verses 11 and 12. There he taught, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” No human father, who has the good of his son or his daughter in mind, would give his son or his daughter something harmful instead of something good. If they need a fish to eat, he’s not going to give them a snake. If they need an egg, he’s not going to give them a scorpion. Being good to your children is intuitive and expected even for sinful men and women. Jesus’s point is simple: if this is true for us, how much truer is it for our Heavenly Father who is inherently and perfectly good?
Jesus takes this spiritual truth and applies it in a specific way at the end of this verse by teaching that our Heavenly Father will not withhold His Holy Spirit from those who ask for Him. Our temptation when reading Jesus’s teaching on prayer, often, is to think God is binding himself to give us everything we ever ask for from him. For instance, Jesus says in Luke 11:9-10 that we will receive that for which we ask, that we will find that which we seek, and the doors upon which we knock will be opened. Is Jesus saying that we will get everything for which we long? No, he is not. God is far wiser than we are and has better plans for us than we could ever imagine. Sometimes he must tell us no for our own good.
What did Jesus mean, then, since he clearly taught that “everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door will be opened?” The answer is found in the promise that Father will never withhold His Spirit from those who ask him. Our greatest need in this life is to have the anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit as we seek to fulfill God’s call to be faithful to Him in our lives. Thankfully, our Father will always meet that need. He will never withhold the Holy Spirit from us, and He will guide us in our prayers. He will enlighten us to our real needs and teach us to prioritize our requests to God as we pray. The more we grow in our relationship with God in Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our prayers will specifically target our actual needs, which we know God is sure to meet. So, maturing in the faith means we leave behind the broad, materialistic, and human-centric prayers of our youth and learn to make specific, spiritually alive, and God-honoring requests of our good and gracious God. That’s the beauty of Jesus’s model prayer.
“Father, hollowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive our sins.
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
May you all be blessed in Christ and may God be pleased to pour His Spirit out upon you as you ask for Him. May he also teach you to pray in the same manner that Jesus taught His disciples while on earth.
A Prayerful Response to an All Too Familiar Reality
This post was originally sent to the members of Chester ARP Church as a pastoral letter written in response to the tragic school shooting in Nashville, TN on March 27, 2023.
Like most of you, I watched the news in horror Monday evening as the reports came streaming in from the most recent school shooting in our country. Sadly, these kinds of reports have become all too familiar to us.
I remember standing in the lobby of Burgaw Hall on the NC State Campus as the news from Columbine High School was reported in 1999. I was shocked that someone would open fire in a school. But that was then. In the 24 years since Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 15 of their classmates and injured another 24, we have seen over 350 more active shooter situations on our K-12 school and college campuses. That is staggering.
Thankfully, most of those situations have not ended in mass casualties. However, that does not mean that the collective numbers of those shooters’ victims are insignificant. One report following the May 2022 incident at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX indicated that at that time 554 children, educators, and school staff had been victims of gun violence on school grounds since 1999. The same report went on to say that 311,000 students have been exposed to gun violence in its various forms while at school during the same time frame. There have been an additional 23 people killed or injured while on school grounds in 2023 alone. This is simply unacceptable for a civilized nation. We have a problem.
Admittedly, the news from the Covenant School hits me differently. The Covenant School is a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Nashville, TN. One of the children killed Monday is the 9-year-old daughter of the congregation’s lead pastor, Chad Scruggs. I’m sure you are already connecting the dots. I am a pastor whose kids attend a Christian school. One of mine is also 9. Patti and I can’t begin to imagine the pain and confusion that Pastor Scruggs and his family are enduring today.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is a sister denomination of the ARP with whom we have an extremely close relationship. I have spoken with several ministers in the PCA since Monday and they are all hurting for the families who lost loved ones in the tragic shooting and for the Covenant congregation as well. You can certainly imagine how we would rally to the aid of our brothers and sisters if this had happened to an ARP congregation. In the community of God, we can rally to the good people of Covenant Presbyterian’s aid in prayer as well.
Inevitably, there will be many solutions offered to our ongoing crisis with gun violence. I do not profess to have any of those. I do not understand the ins and outs of policing, school safety policy, or what may or may not be reasonable gun control legislation. I will leave those discussions to the people who are equipped to evaluate our current cultural and legislative moment and make decisions moving forward. I will, however, commit myself to praying for the families of these most recent victims of gun violence as well as the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who are impacted by gun violence regularly. I read one telling statistic yesterday that claims that 59% of Americans have experienced gun violence (including suicide by firearm) or know someone closely who has experienced it. That’s 6 out of every 10 of you reading this letter!
God promises to hear our prayers and answer them. He heals the broken-hearted and comforts the grieving. He also moves among the nations to establish righteousness and justice among men. We must pray to that end.
Join me, if you will, in bringing the following requests before our God.
- That He will comfort and heal the victims of gun violence and their families who may be mourning the loss of a loved one.
- That He would protect our children, their teachers, and other school staff members while they attend school each day.
- That He will provide clarity for school administrators who are constantly reevaluating their preparedness in the case of an active shooter incident.
- That He will grant courage to the brave men and women of law enforcement and other first responding agencies as they work on their readiness to respond when called upon in these situations. (Thankfully, he already answered it in Nashville.)
- That He will revive our society’s sense of the sanctity of human life. Human life is priceless and must be protected by all.
- That He will bestow wisdom on our legislators and their advisors as they consider potential actions that may or may not be necessary for us to move forward.
- That He will send his Spirit of revival into the hearts of men, women, and children and draw us to himself in his grace through Christ, our Lord.
As we pray, we should also be willing to take practical steps to improve the safety of our communities and schools. Let’s secure our weapons, practice proper gun safety and teach our children and grandchildren to do the same, advocate for good mental health, and collaborate with people from different backgrounds and perspectives to address our ongoing crisis with gun violence. The number one cause for death among our children should not be “death by firearm.”
May our Lord be pleased to hear our prayers, protect our children, and heal our land.
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