DSL
From the Series—OnStar Onboard
July 2, 2004This evotional concludes our series on prayer titled Onstar Onboard: Always There. Always Ready.
Several months ago I was walking home and I noticed a neighbor with a pretty frantic look on her face. She was locked out of her SUV and her little baby and toddler were inside. My first thought was to get a baseball bat, bust one of the windows, and rescue the kids (who were having the time of their lives by the way). But cooler heads prevailed. Her SUV had Onstar Onboard so she called them. I stayed with her for moral support and a few minutes later the locks popped up.
When I was a kid, if you locked your keys in the car, it was a clothes hanger! I remember spending hours bending clothes hangers trying to unlock our car. We didn’t have power locks or power windows or power trunk popper thingies. We didn’t even have an engine! We used our feet Flintstone style!
Think about how far we’ve come. A frantic mom in Washington, DC uses a wireless cell phone to call an Onstar operator thousands of miles away. That operator signals a satellite orbiting 10,900 nautical miles out in space. And the satellite sends a signal traveling at 186,000 miles per second and unlocks this SUV.
And it all depends on something invisible and intangible — a radio wave. I had a conversation with someone a few months ago and we got to talking about spiritual things. They tried to cut me short by saying they only believed in what they can touch. Of course, the great irony is that this person listens to the radio and watches television and talks on a cell phone — all of which depend on invisible radio waves. You can’t see them or touch them, but they’re real.
To say that you only believe in what you can touch is an intellectual and spiritual cop out. I believe in the power of prayer. They are invisible and intangible, but I believe that when we pray it’s almost like spiritual radio waves are broadcast and they travel faster than the speed of light or the speed of sound.
Prayer Pagers
Onstar is pretty amazing, but here is an even more amazing thought. I Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer.” I think we take it for granted, but we are never out of eyesight or earshot! I like the way one NCCer put it. “He is, has been, and will always be the only constant in my life.”
This week an NCCer sent me a pretty cool article that is worth sharing.
Ten-year-old Joe William Sheffield not only senses that people are praying for him, he can feel the vibrations. In his classroom, on the ball field, at the doctor’s office, Sheffield is frequently reminded that people across the nation — even around the world — are interceding on his behalf. And the messages flow unimpeded, even when it’s too late for a phone call or too inconvenient for e-mail.
Sheffield, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in December, keeps a special pager with him at all times. It buzzes when someone dials his number, 1-877-546-0248, indicating that a prayer has been said for his healing. If he’s undergoing a medical test and can’t bring it with him, someone in the family clings to it.
“The first time we had 11 pages, we thought it was incredible,” said Susan Sheffield, Joe William’s mother. “Now it buzzes just about every minute.” And each caller leaves the same three-number message: 7-3-3, a code that corresponds to the number of letters in each word: “Praying for you.”
So many folks called to communicate prayers that the motor burned out in their first pager. Joe William carries a new one now, but the family is holding on to the old one because “it has lots of memories.”
The Sheffields’ pastor said, “Prayer is what makes the difference. Its uncanny how in a moment of crisis, a decision or a low point — it could be 2 a.m. in the morning — it’s uncanny how God puts the intercessor and the need together.”
For what it’s worth, Joe William went in for a scan a month ago and he’s cancer free!
Ongoing Conversation
Two weeks ago I gave you two definitions of prayer. Prayer is a growing consciousness of God. And prayer is an ongoing conversation with God. I want to focus on the second definition in this evotional.
I Thessalonians 5:16 says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I think God’s will is 2/3 rds attitudinal and 1/3 rd circumstantial. I think we tend to focus on circumstances when it comes to God’s will. Should I go here to there? Do this or that? Do it now or later? We tend to focus on circumstances. And there is nothing wrong with that. But we have to remember that even if we’re clueless about circumstances we still know God’s will. This verse tells us: be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. So you already know God’s will.
DSL
Let me focus on this phrase: “pray continually.” The KJV says, “Pray without ceasing.” The word “continually” means “without interruption.”
It is the difference between dial-up and DSL. I think those of us who remember dialing up with 14K modems have this screeching noise forever etched on our brains! Those modems were frustrating because they were unbelievably slow and you had to go online and offline every time you wanted to surf the net. Then along came DSL and wi-fi and you could be online all the time.
What this passage is saying is that God doesn’t want a dial-up relationship. He wants us to be online all the time. He wants us to live in prayer mode and carry on an ongoing conversation with Him. The question is: how do we pray continually?
That seems like a tall order. Does it mean we stop everything we’ve doing, retire to a convent or monastery and recite formal prayers 24/7? I don’t think so.
Focus
I love Calvin Miller’s definition of prayer. “Prayer is the art of focusing on God.”
I think prayer is how we stop focusing on ourselves and start focusing on God. And when we refocus on God it puts everything else into proper perspective.
When our staff was brainstorming this series and talking about prayer I remember saying something that I had never really thought about before. I said that prayer is a barometer of selfishness. I think some people pray in such selfish terms — it’s all about them. It’s me, me, me; I, I, I.
I think the goal of prayer is to shift focus. We get our eyes off of our problems and our needs and our circumstances. And we focus on God. That is how Jesus taught us to prayer. He prayed, “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” The Lord’s Prayer ends this way. “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
Let me share one of the insights I’ve learned in recent years and how it shapes the way I pray. The Westminster Catechism says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Our primary goal in prayer should not be our needs but God’s glory!
I think sometimes we get so focused on getting out of certain circumstances that we never get anything out of those circumstances. I think prayer isn’t so much to help us get out of situations. I think it helps us get through them. It helps us endure. It helps us get God’s perspective. It all has to do with focus.
Are your prayers self-centered or God-centered?
The Wizard of Oz
I think God hears and answers our prayers in proportion to their realness. You know what drove Jesus crazy — people who acted like they had it all together. He didn’t have the time of day for people who put on an act like everything was alright.
There is a story that Jesus told in Luke 18 about two men who went to the Temple to pray — one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ”The tax collector wouldn’t even look up.” He beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” Jesus said, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I think lots of Christians practice “Wizard of Oz” Christianity. If you’ve seen the movie you know that the wizard isn’t really a wizard. He’s a short, timid, diminutive old man turning dials and flipping switches behind a curtain. I think many of us live behind the curtain — we try to come across as more impressive than we really are, just like the Pharisee in Jesus’ story. We use our confident voice, but we’re full of doubt. We try to appear holy, but there is lots of lust, anger, greed and pride in our hearts. We try to look like we’ve got it all together, but we’re filled with anguish and anxiety.
I think we’ve got to pull back the curtain like this tax collector. Here is what I’m convinced of. I think we’re all more sinful than we realize. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” I think we underestimate our sinfulness. But I also think we underestimate God’s mercy. God loves us more than we realize. And I think what happens is this: we underestimate God’s mercy because we underestimate our sinfulness. We whitewash our sinfulness and end up selling God short. “Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.”
It is our weaknesses that God can use to reveal his power — II Corinthians 12:8. It is our pain and problems that God uses to glorify himself — John 9:3. And it is our brokenness and loneliness that God uses to help us minister to others — II Corinthians 1:4.
I just think God wants us to be real — honest, transparent and sincere. The Psalms aren’t nice and neat. They’re messy! And that’s why they resonate with people. Because life is messy! The bottom line is this: Jesus reserved his harshest words for those who hid behind the curtain, those who insisted on hiding their weakness and problems and brokenness.
Tongues
Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers.” I think praying in the Spirit is one key to praying without ceasing.
I think denominationalism can be a form of isolationism. We grow up in a religious subculture or ghetto. And the danger of denominationalism is this: thinking that we’ve got a corner on the truth. I think there is way too much denominational pride. And it keeps us from appreciating and learning from each other.
I’m a denominational mutt — our family attended a half dozen different churches growing up. None of those churches really talked much about the supernatural — miracles, healing, or spiritual gifts. So when we started attending an Assembly of God church when I was fourteen it was all new to me. We actually thought some of what happened was weird — people raising their hands, doing a little jig during worship, people speaking in tongues. But we kept going to the church because it was so full of life.
At some point I realized that I couldn’t just write off some of these things that people were doing. I had to see if it was biblical or not. So I started researching it. And sure enough, I discovered that raising your hands was ok. The Bible — especially the Psalms — talks a lot about body language or different postures that communicate different things. Raising your hands is a form of surrender or adoration. So I started to use my body more in worship.
I checked out the whole dance thing, and sure enough the Bible is full of examples of people dancing in worship before the Lord. I move a little when I worship, but I don’t really dance because to be perfectly honest I can’t dance! It wouldn’t really be a form of worship! It’d be a form of physical comedy! But I think, as long as it doesn’t distract and interfere with other people worshipping God, dancing can be a worshipful expression of praise.
And then I started checking out the tongues thing and sure enough I discovered that the Bible has a lot to say about it. I sort of wondered why I hadn’t heard of it or experienced it before so I was somewhat skeptical and critical at first. But the more I read the more I realized that what I thought was abnormal was actually a normative part of the ancient Christian experience.
The ancient church had its flaws and foibles just like the postmodern church, but I realized that the spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12 were a vital part of their experience — things like healing and a word of knowledge, prophecy, tongues and discernment. I realized that maybe I was trying to do too much in my own strength and wisdom. Maybe I ought to try relying more on God and let him empower me and enable me to be what he was calling me to become. It was probably a four year process for me from start to finish. This going to sound really strange to those who have never experienced it or don’t have a mental category for it, but when everything was said and done I was praying in tongues.
Paul talks about praying in tongues in I Corinthians 14. Here is his take. He makes a distinction between praying in the spirit and praying with our minds. He says, “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind.” Paul took a both/and approach.
I heard a cute story a few years ago that helps explains praying in the spirit. A grandfather walked by his granddaughter’s room and she was praying the alphabet — literally. He heard her say, “Dear God, a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p.” She went through the whole alphabet and said, “Amen.” He asked her about it and she said, “I didn’t know what to pray so I figured I’d let God put the letters together however he saw fit.” That is a picture of praying in the spirit. The spirit inspires and enables you to pray in a language you don’t understand with your intellect. It is the Spirit of God praying in you and through you.
On a personal note, I really appreciate praying in the Spirit when I’m confused or overwhelmed. When I don’t know what to pray for I pray in the spirit.
There are lots of misconceptions and misunderstandings that swirl around tongues. I have seen lots of abuse and misuse of the gifts. I’ve seen lots of people go off the deep end. But I don’t think abuse and misuse preclude use. I don’t think we write off spiritual gifts because some people abuse or misuse them. I think we lay down clear biblical guidelines so that we practice them the way they were designed to be used. The bottom line is this: I want and need everything God has for me. And as long as we keep an open mind and open heart God will gift us the way He wants.
Praying Through
In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story about a persistent wido. It says that Jesus told them the story “to show them that they should always pray and never give up.”
I’m not sure what your church background is like, but in some of the church circles I grew up in this was called “praying through.” You keep praying till you feel a release in your spirit or your prayer is actually answered.
I think some prayers are yearlong or lifelong prayers. A few months ago I started praying that I’d see Acts 2:41 once in my lifetime. I want to see a spiritual renewal and revival on the scale of Acts. I’ve been praying that I’d see Acts 2:41 once in my lifetime for several months now. I honestly don’t think it’s the kind of prayer that will be answered next month or next year. I think it is a lifelong prayer. I’m praying and believing that someday I would be part of many people coming to Christ at the same time in the same place.
I think sometimes we need to keep believing, seeking, praying and interceding. And if we don’t give up we’ll see amazing things.
In the 1950’s, Argentina was a spiritual wasteland. According to Dr. Edward Miller, a missionary who spent four decades in Argentina, there were only 600 spirit-filled believers in the entire country. In his book, Cry for me Argentina, he describes the origins of the great revival that has taken place in Argentina and South America.
It all started at the Argentine Bible Institute when fifty students developed a heavy prayer burden for the nation of Argentina. Dr. Miller said that he had never seen people weep so hard and so long in prayer. Day after day they wept and prayed. After hours of prayer, students would literally be standing in their own puddle of tears.
On the fiftieth day of continuance intercession, there was a prophetic word, “Weep no more, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed over the prince of Argentina.”
Eighteen months later, hundreds of thousands of Argentines were flocking to crusades at soccer stadiums. The largest stadiums — seating 180,000 people — weren’t large enough to handle the crowds. And it all started with fifty students at the Argentine Bible Institute who got a prayer burden and were willing to pray through.
Dr. Miller came to this conclusion, “If God can get enough people in an area to reject the rulership and the dominion of Satan, if enough of His people will reject Satan’s dominion in the right way — with humility, with brokenness, and in repentant intercession, then God will slap an eviction notice on the doorway of the ruling demonic power of that area. And when he does, then there is a light and glory that begins to come.”
That may seem like an over-spiritualization. And I’ll be the first to admit that we over-spiritualize a lot of things. But we also under-spiritualize a lot of things.
Ephesians 6:12 says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”