From the monthly archives:

August 2005

I’ve been thinking about yesterday’s post, wondering about the appropriate response to the Holy Spirit touching the one thing I don’t really want to give up. In such a response–such a prayer–I must:

  • submit my will
  • acknowledge that I have placed this thing above God
  • confess my sin
  • repent
  • renounce the thing and its place in my life
  • plead for God’s grace

So, the rich young ruler might pray something like this:

Holy Father, I am convicted that I have placed money first and that I have not allowed You access to this area of my life. I confess that I have sinned in this, and I turn away from valuing money more than I value You. Father, I submit my money to You, and just as important, I submit my attitudes and desires to You. I know that it’s not really the money itself that is the problem–it is my heart toward it that creates separation between You and me.

Father, I renounce the love of money and declare that it will no longer have first place in my life. I declare that Jesus is Lord and Master of my life. I ask that You forgive me, and I readily receive Your love, mercy, and forgiveness. Father, I know that it is Your deep love for me that prompted the Holy Spirit to point out this issue, and I thank You that you love me enough to desire that I change. I cannot truly change without Your grace. Father, shine Your light into my life; Holy Spirit, I invite Your transforming power to penetrate into every area so that I can see all the ways that this sin has hindered my fellowship with You.

Now, you may be thinking, “Didn’t the rich young ruler just have to say, ‘Yes, Master’” and be done with it? Certainly! A prayer doesn’t have to be lengthy to be effective, and a heart-felt “Father, forgive me!” is all that is needed to receive His mercy.

But, prayer can be a way for us to work out issues, both with God and with ourselves. As I speak such a prayer to God–as I detail my sin and articulate my response and my decision–I’m not only telling God what I intend, I’m telling myself. Consider the traditional marriage vows. “I do” is enough to make you married; but we typically repeat vows that detail exactly what it is we intend to do. Speaking aloud my desire to change is a powerful tool in beginning the process of change.

In today’s Utmost reading, Chamber’s argues that, like the rich young ruler, we can be “speechless with sorrow” because we are unwilling to let go of the thing that stands between us and God. Chambers expands “Sell all that you have” like this:

“In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that.”

What I find so powerful in Chambers’ analysis of the rich young ruler is his point that the man understood exactly what Jesus was asking–and he didn’t disagree with his need to sell. He didn’t say, “Oh Jesus, you’re wrong about me; the real issue is this.” No, he recognized that Jesus had touched the very heart of the matter–his very heart–and he was unwilling to take the step.

What a terrible place to be in!

To find yourself confronted by God, knowing He is right, and wanting at some level to please Him–but unable to do it. This is an intolerable position, for you can never really go forward; every time you return to that thing, the Holy Spirit will gently remind you that it needs to be given up to God. What happens is that we come to the place where we simply avoid consideration of the issue; we wall it off and say, “You can go anywhere you like, Father, except here.

This leaves us like the double-minded man described by James, “unstable in all he does.” We become unstable, because we love God–but not enough to do what He asks in this particular area of life. The result, if we are honest, is that we become miserable.

Chambers finishes by saying that “Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus– not love for Jesus Himself.” If I am discouraged by what I hear the Spirit calling me to, then I must ask myself: do I love God, or do I love the idea of loving Him?

“stop praying”

August 16, 2005

Dan Miller’s latest newsletter sounds heretical, but he makes a great point that sometimes “waiting on the Lord” is simply an excuse for doing nothing.…

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more than we can imagine

August 4, 2005

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p>Paul is absolutely correct when he says that God “can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). In contrast, our prayers tend to be weak and insignificant. Joseph didn’t dare to ask for what he finally received.…

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obedience to the “heavenly vision”

August 1, 2005

I’ve been thinking a lot about God’s vision for my life, my vision for my life, and how those two things–hopefully–coincide. This passage from the March 11 entry of My Utmost for His Highest is a powerful reminder that ultimately, it’s all about God’s vision, not mine…

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