by Chad Lewis on December 1, 2009
As I have been on an illness sabbatical, God has been teaching me tons and dealing gently with my heart. I’ve been blessed reflecting on the following prayer so I wanted to throw it on the blog for others to see and reflect upon.
A Soldier’s Prayer
I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn to humbly obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do better better things…
I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty, that I might be wise…
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need for God…
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things…
I got nothing that I asked for– but everything that I had hoped for,
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed!
(Written by an anonymous soldier)
by Chad Lewis on June 25, 2009
I came across the Jonathan Edwards quotation yesterday and wanted to share it.
Edwards writes of his experience with God at some point,
The appearance of everything was altered… Prayer seemed natural to me as breath by which the inward burnings of my heart had vent.
What a beautiful picture! Though prayer does not always flow so freely from us, it is the invitation of our God to talk to Him and to listen to Him. It is God’s invitation to truly “be” with Him. I know when I am able, by His grace, to see Him more clearly, the appearance of this world and my circumstances change. I am able to view things more clearly and my prayers do flow more easily. I must remember that God is good, I am His, and He is in control. I don’t have anything to prove in prayer so I can come resting in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Open access is now ours through Jesus.
God, may you light our hearts on fire to truly know You and burn for you. Amen.
by Chad Lewis on November 11, 2008
As our body gathered again for our monthly prayer service, our focus this morning was on the section of the Lord’s Prayer, “give us today our daily bread.” One of my fellow pastors, Robert Cheong, led us with the following thoughts this morning.
First, Robert reminded us that we depend on God for physical provisions. He said, “We take for granted so many aspects of our daily routine – the air we breathe, going to bed and waking up in the morning, walking, eating, and as a result, we forget to ask the Lord for the most basic physical provisions.” Even though God knows what we need before we ask Him, He delights in us realizing our need and bringing it before Him. This is another act of daily dependence upon Him and it reminds us that we are not only dependent in physical matter but also spiritual matters. As Jesus said in John 15, ” “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Do we really believe this truth? Our lives will show it if we do.
Secondly, Robert reminded all of us this morning that we need to depend on God for all of life. He said, “So we must not only ask the Lord for our daily physical bread, but we must also ask, ‘Give us today Christ and His gospel!’”
To close, Robert gave us the following to meditate on. It is a way to use “give us today our daily bread” within the entire Lord’s prayer. Let this be your prayer today.
**Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name-Lord, give us this day the grace to believe You are good, great, gracious, and glorious.
**Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven-Lord, give us this day the grace to seek Your kingdom and righteousness, as we believe that our basic needs will be given to us as well.
**Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors-Lord, give us this day the grace to forgive and love others as Christ has forgiven and loved us.
**And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one-Lord, give us this day the grace of your presence and power to fight this fight of faith as we battle unbelief.
by Chad Lewis on October 16, 2008
As I continue to meditate on the Lord’s Prayer and use it as a structure for my prayer life, my heart continues to be awakened to the awesome privilege it is to have the God of the Universe capture my heart and give me nourishment for each day to live.
“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven”
We long for the day when we will be able to live in the fullest expression of God’s kingdom when Jesus comes again, but what do we do in the mean time? Many helpful books have been written on this subject. If you are a reader, Russell Moore’s book The Kingdom of Christ: The New Evangelical Perspective might be one that you want to pick up. But what can you pick up from God’s Word yourself?
A few of our pastors and staff were able to hang out with Harold Best this week. He defined prayer as “getting in God’s face with His Word.” We all thought this was a beautiful definition.
Do you think Paul prayed for things that were within God’s will? That would be a definite “yes.” If you look at Colossians 1:9-14, we see Paul praying for the following things for the Christians at Colossae.
–That God would give them complete knowledge of His will
–And to give them spiritual wisdom and understanding.
–The result would be that they would live in a way that would always honor and please the Lord
–Producing every kind of good fruit
–All the while, that they would grow as they learned to know God better and better.
–That they would be strengthened with all God’s glorious power (so that…)
–They would have all the endurance and patience they need.
–That they would be filled with joy…
–Always thanking the Father.
The remaining part of the passage reminds them what they have to be thankful for.
So if you are having problems praying God’s will for yourself and others, just pull out one of Paul’s prayers and maybe focus on one or two thoughts. In doing this, you will know that you are praying God’s will for yourself and others.
Other Prayers of Paul:
Philippians 1:9-11
Ephesians 1:15-23
Ephesians 3:14-21
Romans 15:14-33
Another recommended book is D.A. Carson’s A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers. I am currently being blessed in a big way by this book.
by Chad Lewis on September 17, 2008
As I continue to reflect on the Lord’s Prayer, I would like to take a look at the second phrase of the prayer, “Hallowed Be Your Name.”
Before we ever ask for anything from God, it is a helpful practice to remember who we are talking to. We must remember that this is our Father who adopted us. He rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us into His family.
Then we set His Name apart and remember Who He is and this brings about worship. This also brings about confidence. Names were a big deal back in Bible times. God often changed people’s names when He was doing a new work in their lives. Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Cephas to Peter. When you know someone’s Name, you know something about them. When we look at the Names of God, we know more about Who He is and what He does.
Knowing who God is informs our prayers. Knowing Who God is gives us greater confidence and faith in our asking and it sets our hearts to make much of God.
I imagine it is like we have our requests in our hands directly in front of our eyes. If we begin our prayers in this posture, our requests seem huge and overwhelming because they are all that we see. But, if we spend some time remembering Who God is and what He has done and what He promises to do, we have a better perspective on reality.
If you hold a coin up to your eye, it will look huge. But if you set it on the ground, you will see how big it really is in relation to other things. Our concerns, though they may be overwhelming, are nothing compared to the size and strength of our God.
So what are some Names of God that you need to meditate on today? Provider, Healer, Savior, Emanuel “God is with us”, Shalom “God our peace”, Creator, Savior, and the list goes on and on.
So, after we remember God is our Father, and after we adore Him for aspects of Who He is, we can seek to center ourselves on His Kingdom and His will and pray for that to come. All the while, remembering Who He is. Then we come with boldness and confidence asking for our needs to be taken care of and we pray for others in need. After all of this, we remember how we have wronged God and remember that we must forgive. Then we pray to be kept safe from temptation and the evil one.
I will seek to go deeper into the other aspects of this prayer in the weeks ahead. Spend some time today remembering, “He is the Lord. He is to be honored, obeyed and worshiped before all and in all we do. Ponder who He is and adore His majesty, holiness, sovereignty, goodness and beauty.”
by Chad Lewis on August 27, 2008
As we gathered last week in the early hours to pray as a family of believers, we heard one of our pastors teach for 10 minutes on the Lord’s Prayer. As pastors, we took between 10 and 15 people each and led our groups through the movements of the Lord’s prayer.
As I led my group, my heart was moved by the beauty of how this prayer proceeds and how Jesus in His graciousness gave it as an example. The thing is, I’ve used this model many times before, but something new was impressed on my heart. I would like to spend the next several weeks walking through the progression of the prayer in this blog.
The first statement in the prayer is, “Our Father in heaven…” What struck me anew was the thought that we are to remember before we ever come to God with our needs. God does command that we bring our concerns before Him, but before we do that, isn’t it needed that we remember who we are praying to?
So we say, “Our Father” and we remember who it is that we are praying to. We remember that we once were not a people and now we are a people of God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9). We once were members of the domain of darkness and now God has not only rescued us, He has made us beloved children! He is our Father and He cares for us more than we could ever dream or imagine. He has plans for His children and He is always good and He always knows what is best.
As we enter our times of prayer, we need to remember who God is and what He has done. He is the caring Father and He calls us to boldly come into His presence (Hebrews 4:14-16). The rest of our prayer will flow from the realization that God is our Father and that He hears our prayers.
by Chad Lewis on July 18, 2008
My thoughts are going 90 to nothing this morning so I opened up one of my prayer books to meditate on other people’s prayers. I will often turn to Valley of Vision and meditate on some Puritan prayers, but today, I opened another prayer book.
I came upon a prayer from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He wrote the following prayer while awaiting execution in a Nazi prison. Bonhoeffer’s life is worth investigating if you like a good biography, but know that he wrote this prayer not knowing if he would be released or executed. In the end, he was put to death not long before WWII ended. Here is his prayer.
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me…
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me so to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.
Wherever we are today and whatever our state, we must realize and believe that God hears our prayers. He knows that we are feeble and weak. He knows we are made of dust. He knows that our days are numbered here on this earth.
What does God want from us? What does He demand? He asks us to believe. He asks us to trust that He is good, right and perfect and that His ways are always best. He asks us to cast our anxieties upon Him because He cares for us.
So where do you start? Begin with honesty. I have often prayed, “Lord, I don’t desire You right now. But I do desire to desire You. Please help me!” This might be the place you start today.
