Persecution; September 19, 2021

Posted on September 22, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 4:29-30 “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Reading this I am reminded of something I read just yesterday, that the number of Christian believers in Afghanistan is increasing with the Taliban takeover. That is certainly not what the Taliban, or really anyone else, expected! However, anyone genuinely familiar with Church history should not be surprised at all. The same thing has been happening in Iran, to the point that the Islamic government seems to be in genuine danger. We tend to look at the rise of anti-Christian forces in the US and panic, forgetting that God is looking at the whole world. God is waking up His children in the US by allowing the enemy’s activities to be exposed, and at the same time He is strengthening His children in places where the enemy seems to be in full control. We forget that, as the chorus says, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” We look at external factors, but He sees people’s hearts. We are limited to a temporal perspective, but He sees all eternity at a glance. The believers in Jerusalem set a precedent that all believers down through the ages should follow: meet opposition with faith and boldness, regardless of the immediate consequences to your own flesh. Martyrdom started with Stephen (Acts 7) and multiplied from there, to the point that John son of Zebedee is said to be the only one of the original 12 apostles to die a “natural” death. (Why do we ever think of death as unnatural? Our bodies are mortal, and we shouldn’t think otherwise.) We forget that our word, martyr, comes from the Greek martyrion, meaning “witness.” When Jesus said that we would be His witnesses when the Holy Spirit came on us, (Acts 1:8) He wasn’t excluding martyrdom! When our hope is fully and firmly in Christ, then we are witnesses whatever happens to our physical bodies.

This is something I have been aware of for a long time as objective fact, but I don’t know how well I have lived it out. I haven’t experienced much persecution for my faith personally, but I am very aware of the persecution that is going on around the world. I am never to take suffering lightly, particularly when it is that of a brother or sister in Christ, but at the same time I am never to think that suffering is the end of the story. As I quote frequently, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) Getting your head cut off, particularly slowly, with a knife, is hardly something to look forward to, but even hours of torture are momentary when compared to eternity. I am to be as bold as these believers in Jerusalem, and pray for my brothers and sisters around the world who are in the middle of persecution that they would be so as well, so that we may all be effective witnesses to the grace and power of our Lord.

Father, I’ll confess to being surprised by the report of increased believers in Afghanistan so quickly after the takeover. O me of little faith! Help me indeed trust You fully, whatever my news feeds are telling me, so that I may be a faithful, effective servant in whatever capacity You desire me to be, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Peter; September 18, 2021

Posted on September 20, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 3:16 “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.”

Peter could hardly have been accused of being subtle! Every record we have of him speaking he pulls no punches. To us today it seems almost surprising and unnecessarily harsh for him to have been so accusatory toward his hearers in the three verses just before this, but he was establishing their need for repentance, which is sadly lacking in most preaching today. “Political correctness” is certainly a tool of the devil! We don’t know exact numbers, but verse 4 of the next chapter indicates that there were a lot of conversions that day. As an American evangelist told me over 40 years ago, we can’t save anybody; our job is to help them understand they are lost. When we are so careful not to offend, that’s not likely to happen. We aren’t to offend needlessly, but all too often fear of offense muzzles the truth and even denies it. Peter was far from being a trained orator; he was an exemplar of the “ignorant country hick.” That’s why it was so astounding to the members of the Sanhedrin that he spoke as he did. (4:13) Education and training are certainly not bad, but they are no substitute for the anointing of the Holy Spirit, even though, sadly enough, they are often taken to be so. It is a travesty that some denominations require academic testing before they will license and ordain someone to preach. Peter would never have passed such testing! When we substitute human criteria for the calling of God, we are guaranteed to fail at advancing His kingdom.

I have always been blessed and encouraged to read about Peter and read what he wrote. I am amused that the first letter with his name on it is used for teaching Greek because it is so beautiful and grammatically correct, but 2nd Peter is the opposite, showing that it was written directly by him rather than being “grammar-checked” by Silas or some other trained scribe. (1 Peter 5:12) That said, 2 Peter 1:9 has been enormously helpful to me personally. We all need the “unvarnished truth” much more than we like to admit. Coming from an academic family and being a seminary graduate, my “credentials” don’t have much in common with Peter’s, so I’ve got to be careful not to rely on gifts or training, but rather on the Lord my God. My gifts and training can be useful tools, but they are worthless and even counter-productive if they aren’t totally submitted to God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the example of Peter, who had some of the biggest failures but also was used by You gloriously to bless countless generations of believers. Help me likewise take my eyes off of myself and fix them on You, to walk on water as called for and draw many into Your kingdom, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Pentecost; September 17, 2021

Posted on September 20, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The events on the day of Pentecost were momentous in every way, and here we have the response to them. That there were 3000 commitments to Jesus Christ as Lord in one day, without benefit of modern sound systems or anything of the sort, is an indication of how God had prepared the people to receive the message. It had been less than two months since the Crucifixion, and with none of our current electronic distractions to give them a “24 hour news cycle,” people were probably still talking about it, particularly with all the rumors of resurrection that were doubtless going around. The thing is, everyone has big events in their life; it’s how we respond to them that really makes the difference. The Japanese translation here gives a slightly different slant on the people’s response. Whereas the English says, “They devoted themselves…” and then goes on to list the various activities, the Japanese says, “They strictly obeyed the apostle’s teaching, had fellowship, broke bread, and prayed.” The point seems to be, their first goal was to absorb everything they could about Jesus from those who had been with Him, and the other things followed from there. The thing is, the more we know of Jesus, the more we are going to delight to be with His children and the more we are going to pray. There is discussion of exactly what is meant by “breaking bread,” whether it means celebrating Communion or simply eating together, but if the latter, it seems a little trivial to include it here. In any case their faith-encounter with Jesus consumed them, and the foundation for the Church was laid.

As a pastor, and particularly one ministering in Japan, I have always looked on Pentecost and the events following with more than a little bit of longing. Japanese people today are close to the opposite of the people in Jerusalem on Pentecost. They have no foundation in the Old Testament, certainly, and the culture itself has a very distorted concept of sin, repentance, and forgiveness. If I hadn’t been born and raised here, and particularly if God hadn’t commissioned me to serve here, I would have chosen an easier place to work! That said, I am daily reminded that nothing is impossible for God. The things that happen are generally very small, but they are reminders that God is at work. Just yesterday I was called in by the chairman of the school where I teach, wanting me to speak on “Giving” to the Rotary Club. I cautioned him that I would definitely be quoting the Bible! Also, my wife has discovered the online prayer meetings hosted by Don Moen, and when she sent a comment and he noticed it was from Japan, he recalled a vision he has had of revival sweeping Japan, from the west to the east – and Nagasaki is the westernmost prefecture in Japan! These things are little at this point, but they are reminders that God hasn’t given up on this nation, and I must not either.

Father, You have been giving various hints that my ministry is going to change, but I can only guess as to what that might mean. I pray that I would be as available as Peter and the other apostles were on the day of Pentecost, whatever, whenever, and however You want to do, so that Your name may be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Decisions; September 16, 2021

Posted on September 19, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 1:24-26 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

This frankly strikes me as strange even today, but there is a very long history of this sort of thing, even in the Bible. From Exodus 28:30 on, the Urim and Thummim are mentioned many times as a means of determining God’s will. No one is sure of the details, but apparently they were stones (or some other material) of different color that were otherwise identical, and when drawn from a pouch, sight unseen, were taken as a yes or a no from God. (We don’t even know which was which.) This is very much in that tradition, but it still feels strange, because we are used to people hashing things out and deciding on the basis of human reason. In this instance, human reason and criteria were involved in choosing the candidates, but the final selection was left up to God. I have heard various people say that Paul was actually God’s intended choice, but even given the time factor, he wasn’t a witness of Jesus’ resurrection until the dramatic encounter on the road to Damascus, and in any case he hadn’t walked the roads of Judea and Galilee with the group. I have nothing against Matthias, the man chosen here, but I wonder if the very idea of “needing to complete the number” was a strictly humanistic thing that God didn’t care about particularly. We have trouble not only in making accurate decisions, but even in knowing which decisions are important.

Like everyone else, I deal with decisions constantly. I had to decide what to wear this morning! I have come to the awareness that God indeed cares about every one of our decisions, since He even keeps track of the number of hairs on our head. (Luke 12:7) However, not all decisions are of equal importance, just as it doesn’t matter particularly if I have a few hairs more or less. The problem is, I often fail to recognize the relative importance of my decisions. Going on to a different dorm after the first girl I was interested in wasn’t there turned out to be an extremely important decision, way back in 1969, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. The longer I live and the more I learn, the more I realize I really don’t know anything! Casting lots might or might not be the way to go about it, but I need to seek God’s will all the time, in decisions big and small. The bigger the decision, in my perspective, the greater the stress. However, as I just illustrated, I often have no idea how big decisions really are. I’m back to what the Lord told me several years ago: I need to rest, relax, and rejoice. He is more interested in my decisions than I am, and if my heart is fixed on Him, He will guide me.

Father, thank You for this reassuring reminder. Thank You for the many, many ways You have guided me over the years. Help me indeed keep my heart fixed on You so that I will recognize and follow Your guidance in every instance, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Perception; September 15, 2021

Posted on September 19, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

It is interesting to try to imagine the atmosphere in this prayer meeting. They were obeying what Jesus had said that Luke recorded at the very end of his first book: “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) However, what was most different, I think, from previous gatherings was that Jesus’ mother and brothers were with them. My guess is that Jesus had appeared to the members of His genetic family individually after His resurrection the way He did for Peter. (Luke 24:34) What a shock that must have been! To know, without a shadow of a doubt, that your weird older brother, whom you thought had really flipped out, was actually the Son of God! I have a feeling that their previous attitude had a lot to do with something He said at the point He announced the start of His ministry: “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” (Luke 4:24) They were used to thinking they knew Him better than anybody, but now they were with a group of men whom He had chosen and trained, and those men knew Him better and deeper than they did. They certainly adjusted, however, and James eventually became the leader of the Church in Jerusalem, and Jude wrote one of the letters included in the New Testament, never calling Jesus his big brother but rather calling Him “Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Jude 1:25) We too tend to think of people from a strictly human perspective, rather than as God sees them. It’s like Paul said, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” (2 Corinth­ians 5:16) We all need God to correct our perspective on people, even on ourselves. It won’t be until we are before God’s throne that we will be able to know ourselves and others with full accuracy, (1 Corinthians 13:12) but until that point we need to keep allowing the Holy Spirit to “correct our vision,” so to speak, so that we will see things more and more as our Father does.

I’ve certainly had this issue! I have both been conceited and had inferiority complexes about myself, and I have looked at others through a “fleshly filter” all too often. I have had people I thought were dear friends disappoint severely, and I have had people of whom I thought very little turn out to be God’s instruments. I need to remember that God sees all of our faults but loves us anyway, and also that all of our “good points” are no better than filthy rags before Him. (Isaiah 64:6) I am to walk in God’s grace that requires repentance, repenting of my own sins and allowing others to repent of theirs. I wonder how Jesus’ brothers felt about how they had sometimes treated Him? I think we all tend to feel that our perception of things is accurate, but that is manifestly not always true. I need to walk in genuine humility, allowing God to show me what is real, about people, about myself, and about the world around me, so that I will respond as He wants me to, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder. It’s an interesting Word for my birthday! The world sees me as a “senior adult,” but in Your eyes I’m still just a kid! Help me indeed see myself and others as You do, to be Your agent of grace, blessing, and salvation itself, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Assignments; September 14, 2021

Posted on September 15, 2021 by jgarrott

John 18:11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

John doesn’t record Jesus’ agonized prayer about this “cup,” but at the time he wrote that was already circulating through all three of the other Gospels. John wanted to make very clear that Jesus consciously accepted His assignment, even knowing the agony it involved. We all receive various assignments in life, some of which might delight us and some much less so. Sometimes we receive assignments for which we are woefully inadequate, but if we will depend on God, He will accomplish them through us. The thing is, we aren’t put on the earth just to exist. As Paul put it, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) Some people are very aware of their calling, feeling driven to fulfill it, but the majority of people are much less so. Sometimes that calling, those good works, seem big and important, and sometimes they might seem inconsequential to us or to others. However, our perspective is extremely limited. I’ve always liked the illustration of someone making a hand-knotted tapestry. From the perspective of the one tying the knots, it’s a tangled mess, hard to recognize as a distinct image of anything. However, from the other side it’s a beautiful picture of a scene or a person or something else. When we’re busy “tying the knots,” it can be very hard to imagine the beauty that God sees. Jesus’ flogging and crucifixion were the ugliest of ugly, but from the other side, they were the absolutely glorious victory over the devil and the redemption of all who would believe. Jesus had the advantage of knowing the purpose of His assignment, and we don’t necessarily have that. However, if we will be faithful to “tie the knots,” the resulting “tapestry” will have a beauty beyond our current imagination.

I’ve experienced this and I’ve seen it in others. I’ve been eager to accept some assignments, only to discover how difficult they were. I’ve been reluctant to accept other assignments, only to discover how rewarding they were. And some things I haven’t even recognized as having been assignments until after they were done! The point is to remain open and obedient, whatever the Lord has for me to do. This morning, His assignment was to sleep an hour later than I usually do! That’s not exactly a hard assignment, but I’m convinced it was part of His plan for me. With a birthday coming up tomorrow, it’s a time of reflection over what assignments I have completed, and which are still in progress. I know that my ultimate assignment is to grow to be like my Lord, and that will only be completed when I am before His throne. In the mean time, I am to keep speaking the truth in love, (Ephesians 4:15) comforting others with the comfort I have received, (2 Corinthians 1:4) and allowing God’s Spirit to flow through me (John 7:38) for the blessing of many and for His glory.

Father, thank You for Your various assignments. I’ve certainly done better with some than with others! Help me not be anxious but simply faithful, applying all that You supply to the task at hand, so that Your plans may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You, Praise God!

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Identifying with Christ; September 13, 2021

Posted on September 15, 2021 by jgarrott

John 17:14-15 “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

It’s not at all that this passage was unfamiliar to me, but I find myself blown out of the water right now as I read. The degree to which Jesus identified with His disciples, placing them on the same level as Himself, is absolutely astounding. Even though they were still dense, not grasping much of what He was telling them, He still says here, “They are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” That is an incredible statement! And then in verse 20 He explicitly included all the spiritual generations of believers who would come after, having believed because of the apostles’ message – and that includes all believers today. That said, we need to remember that Jesus didn’t have an easy time of it. It was a matter of a few hours at most until He was arrested, abused horribly, and then crucified. We can certainly not demand better! Just last night I watched a video report of the persecution that is going on today in India. The “untouchables,” the people at the very bottom of the caste system, are coming to Christ because in Him they discover they have value, they are loved, but they are being attacked even by the government, because being at the very bottom of the pyramid they in effect support everything above them, and when they get out of the caste system by faith, the whole rest of the system collapses. American Christians don’t know how good they have it, even with the current hostility toward Biblical positions on life, marriage, and morality. That’s why Jesus prayed for us all that we would be protected from the evil one. We must not forget that we have an enemy, and that our eventual victory may go through as much suffering as that of Jesus. At the same time we must remember, as Paul reminds us, that “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) Jesus was fully human, just as we are, but here He is saying that, again as Paul said, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:20) When we identify with the world, we do so to our own loss.

We once lost a potential church member when, at the close of a service and I was issuing an invitation to commitment to Christ, I said, “Take my hand as though you were taking Jesus’ hand.” She thought I was claiming to be Christ! That was certainly not the case, but at the same time, believers indeed represent Christ. One of my spiritual children has recently been told, “You are like a Buddha,” meaning that his character was so good as to seem “other-worldly.” I too need to be that way, not to draw people to myself but to the Lord whom they see through me. I could easily name countless things that would seem to disqualify me from that, but that would be placing the focus on me instead of on my Lord. I stumble all too often, but I must remember that I am no more of the world than Jesus was while He walked the earth, and so live like it.

Father, thank You for this Word this morning. Thank You for all You did in the service yesterday, with several non-Christians present, and evidence that they were touched by Your presence. I do pray that each of them would come to repentance and faith for salvation, and that in the process the current believers would be encouraged and come alive as Your disciples, Your representatives, drawing many into Your family for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Praying for the World; September 12, 2021

Posted on September 14, 2021 by jgarrott

John 17:9 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.”

This verse in English has always bothered me a bit. It feels like when God told Jeremiah not to pray for the Jews. (Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14) However, the Japanese makes it a little easier to take. It says, “I request for them.” Etymologically, “pray” does mean “request,” as we have to remember any time we read Shakespeare, but we generally attach very specific feelings to the word today. That said, I think we need to learn something here. What we are to pray in relation to the world is that God’s rule and reign be established and His will be done. (Matthew 6:9-13) If we aren’t careful, prayer can devolve into love for the world itself. In his first letter, John made it very clear what our attitude should be. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) That’s not to say we shouldn’t enjoy, even “love,” nature, but we need to remember that everything physical is temporary. People get all worked up about “climate change,” when everything about the physical universe is changing. We are accountable to God for what we do with the physical things around us, but they in no way approach the value of a human soul. In praying for people who are not yet in God’s family, and even for those who are, I like a prayer my mother often prayed: “Keep them from unnecessary pain.” Sometimes pain is indeed necessary to grab our attention and force us to turn to God. The thing is, we aren’t infinite, and we are to focus our prayers under the direction of the Holy Spirit. If we try to pray too broadly, we run the risk of loving mankind while despising individuals. When even Jesus focused on those closest to Him, we are not wrong to do the same.

Often as a pastor I want the believers to lift their eyes and pray for more than “I-my-me-mine.” I get newsletters that seek to keep me updated on persecution around the world, and right now you can’t turn on the news or the Internet without being bombarded with situations that cry out for prayer. However, I must be careful that I myself don’t fail to pray for those close to me, being distracted by those far away. I am greatly bothered by those who try to “guilt trip” people into supporting various causes, but I am not to allow that to turn me off to genuine need. Again I am back to needing the Holy Spirit to guide me. As Paul said, we don’t know how or for what to pray! (Romans 8:26-27) I am not to be uptight about it, but pray freely, earnestly, and often, however He directs.

Father, thank You for this Word. I really do feel overwhelmed at times at all the things to pray for, and I tend to retreat into not praying. Keep me from that! Help me be effective as Your instrument to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) through proclaiming Your will, Your Word, in prayer, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Peace; September 11, 2021

Posted on September 13, 2021 by jgarrott

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

I thought I would be able to write on a different verse from this section, but this verse is too powerful a magnet for my soul! I have quoted it countless times, in messages, counseling, and conversations with both believers and nonbelievers. It is still apropos today! The world is more than full of things that steal our peace, and it has been that way ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Most people spend their lives searching for peace, and many never find it at all. We try to anesthetize ourselves with various things, creating a temporary, false “peace,” but true inner peace comes only through Jesus Christ. There is a worship song, He Is Our Peace, (that is actually better in the Japanese translation) based on Ephesians 2:14, that sings about this. Paul also famously wrote to the Philippians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) As Jesus says so clearly in the second half of this verse, trouble, which triggers anxiety, is part of the human condition. However, if we are anchored in Him, who has already won the victory, we can have peace and boldness regardless of our circumstances.

Any more, a “news feed” is more like an “anxiety feed.” Today is the 20th anniversary of the largest terrorist attack in history, and the events of the past few months have certainly not engendered any sort of peace, either. I find that I skim over much of the news that comes in, because if I dwell on it it’s too depressing. The saddest thing is that it’s people doing things to people, totally blinded and deceived by the devil. And the minute someone points that out, someone else will say, “What makes you so certain you’re right?” There is an all-out assault on truth itself, to the point that even basic biology is denied, and that makes for lots of “trouble.” I am not to ignore the junk, but neither am I to focus on it. My focus must be on Jesus Christ my Lord, because only in Him can I have the peace, and the victory, that I desire. I have no idea what all I will have to go through in this world, but that is ultimately of no consequence. As again Paul wrote, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Father, thank You for this very timely reminder. Even passages that are deeply ingrained in me can bring fresh blessing! I do pray for the many who are commemorating the World Trade Center attack, and I pray that Your kingdom, that is, Your rule and reign, would be established on this earth as Your will is done, by Your children first and by all of creation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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In Jesus’ Name; September 10, 2021

Posted on September 13, 2021 by jgarrott

John 16:24 “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

This verse (along with a few others) is the theological foundation for the almost universal practice of tacking “In Jesus’ name, amen” onto just about any prayer. However, in the majority of cases it has become strictly rote, with no thought or understanding to it, and as such becomes essentially meaningless. It’s kind of like typing a complex computer password and forgetting to capitalize some of the letters. It’s all there, but it doesn’t work. Asking in Jesus’ name isn’t complex, but it isn’t automatic and it isn’t necessarily easy, even. A good example is when Peter and John encountered the man begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple in Jerusalem. Peter famously healed him by saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6) He was able to do that because he was operating in the Spirit of Jesus. There have been many examples just as dramatic as that down through the centuries, and they haven’t always included the specific words, “In Jesus’ name.” Using the words as window dressing doesn’t cut it. There are countless prayers that use those words but essentially have nothing to do with Jesus! We need to line our hearts and our words up with the heart and Spirit of Jesus to use His name effectively.

I of course was raised with the practice of adding “In Jesus’ name, amen,” to my prayers, and despite my parents’ generally excellent faith and understanding of the Bible, didn’t receive particularly good teaching on the subject. As I have commented before, prayer was as natural as breathing in our house, but I wasn’t taught about it. In the many years since, I have learned a lot about prayer both from various teachers and especially from doing it. I’m personally a fan of what is called “conversational prayer,” that sounds to an observer like you’re simply talking to someone who doesn’t happen to be in eyesight. In such cases, “In Jesus’ name” rarely enters the picture. When I am praying out loud in a group setting I often say, “In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Praying in Jesus’ name definitely requires submission to His Lordship! I find that is the key thing I need to be careful about in my praying, so I don’t go tacking His name onto a casual or fleshly wish-list. That said, Jesus explicitly told us to ask so that our joy would be complete. It is indeed a gloriously joyful thing to experience answered prayer! As I am trying to teach the believers here, growth in prayer comes most of all through praying, not through “dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s. It is very appropriate that we combine two Scriptures in one song we sing frequently: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” and “Ask and it shall be given unto you.” Asking doesn’t do a whole lot of good if we aren’t seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness.

Well, Father, the message You’ve given me for Sunday isn’t on prayer, but here You’ve given me another one that is! Thank You. I do pray that I would be effective in raising up a body of believers who truly know You and talk with You and praise You and serve You as You desire, for the sake of Your kingdom and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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