"Come to me" says Jesus

Matthew 11:28-30

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

These words from Matthew’s Gospel are wonderful in at least two ways. They are very reassuring and encouraging for each of us. They also form a great invitation to those who are yet to meet Jesus.

These words touch the complexity of everyday life. Each of us suffer from tiredness from time to time. Each of us carry various concerns through life – some of which are resolved quickly, while other issues persist. These worries can arise through: family, work, current responsibility, illness, injury, loss, conflict, finances, fear, temptation, guilt or shame.

The knowledge of someone who loves us and cares for us deeply can certainly take the edge of such burden-carrying. And the fact that Jesus loves and cares for us despite knowing all our foibles is even more significant. This knowledge of God ... this level of relationship with God ... is the encouragement that we can live within day by day, and is also the encouragement that we can live out in public – with the hope that others might find such rest and peace.

Being “yoked” to another might seem at first threatening, difficult, even rigorous. The idea behind the “yoke” was the wooden collar that ran across the shoulders of a pair of oxen (which had been hitched to a plough). This “yoke” enabled the oxen to jointly pull enormous weights, the burden being equally distributed over both the animals (thus neither one became overwhelmed). So there is actually tremendous potential in being “yoked” with a strong and wise partner.

In this case we are also “yoked” with someone who is “gentle” and “humble”, meaning that any guidance or direction given can only be in our best interests (and in the best interests of God’s good plan for humanity and all creation). That’s where I want to be – within God’s good plan for humanity and all creation – an ongoing learning experience. That is the definition of “rest” for me ... to be where God wants me to be, and doing what God wants me to be doing. Then we find life to weigh much lighter!

This sort of “rest” comes from having a relationship with Jesus – the “Prince of Peace”. As the scripture says, this is “rest” for “our souls”, so it’s not really just “rest” in the sense of sleep and ease. For in accepting and following Jesus, the “Prince of Peace”, we could actually be busier than we ever were before ... but in far more important ways. The One we are “yoked” with will take us down the path of all sorts of peace-making and justice-seeking.

Jesus did endure many pressures in his life on earth, so he does understand what we face. Not only this, Jesus can travel with us and lift us up. Jesus offers an invitation ... “Come to me”! This is an invitation for us both to receive, and to pass on to others.

Banning Rodeos Campaign

I have just joined the Animals Australia campaign to ban rodeos from Victoria. If you would like to act likewise then please contact me or just simply go to the Animals Australia website. This is not just a side issue of life or discipleship, but rather central to our calling to be responsible custodians of God's creation. It is frankly ridiculous to me that, in the enlightened times of 2012(?), we would in any way tolerate such events as these and the pain and torture they put animals through - unacceptable! Warren.

Faith, desperation & compassion (Mark 1:40-45)

An unnamed person with some form of obvious skin disease, generally in those days simply called a “leper”, came up to Jesus, fell to his knees, and begged Jesus to heal him. This sufferer had seen and heard enough about Jesus to be totally convinced of his ability to cure those in such a situation as he was in. It was just a matter of whether Jesus would choose to or not. Jesus did choose to, and this man was cleansed from his “leprosy”. And this former “leper”, despite Jesus’ words to keep this quiet, could not hold back his public rejoicing.

Apart from the obvious faith that this man had gained, two other major factors led up to this man’s healing. The first was his level of desperation. This was no doubt due to the situation that people designated as “lepers” were placed in. They were excluded from family, community and religious life – forced to live in desolate places, on their own or together with people who had been likewise deemed “lepers”, often in degrading circumstances. They were generally feared and hated because of the supposed threat they posed. In those days [and right up into the 20^th century in the case of Hansen’s disease], conditions in the “leprosy” category were believed to be very contagious.

Such “lepers” lived in utter poverty, reliant upon charity for their survival. They had no medical support. Also, they were legally obliged to yell out “unclean, unclean” if any non-sufferers accidently were about to cross their path. This would be a life of physical, mental and emotional anguish. So, when this particular “leper” approached Jesus, he was taking the risk of doing so against the law. But “leprosy” was a calamity, and he just wanted to get his life back ... circumstances had conspired to destroy any chance for him to enjoy life or be creative or have the opportunities others took for granted.

The second factor in this leper’s healing was who Jesus was. Jesus was the God of compassion. Jesus saw this man’s condition, understood his situation, and was “moved with pity”. Jesus would be deemed ‘religiously unclean’ if he touched this man (thus setting Jesus up for more ‘pharisaic’ criticism), yet Jesus considered this irrelevant (in the face of such desperate need). Jesus could also have been viewed as ‘infected’ having touched this man. Yet Jesus, without hesitation it seems, reached out his hand and indeed touched him. [Jesus could no doubt have healed him from a distance, so by touching him was actually making a point regarding intimate contact with sufferers.]

To be even willing to touch him would be of great comfort and encouragement to this man – but because his assessment was right as to who Jesus was, he received complete healing as well. Of course he then went off on his own tangent (refer verse 45) – so you could argue that this man actually didn’t go on to become a follower (or disciple) of Jesus, because he didn’t understand what Jesus was most primarily about, and did exactly the opposite of what Jesus had counselled him to do.

Yet this possible outcome did not deter Jesus. He saw desperate need, and responded from deep within himself. Jesus was ‘gutted’, and his stomach turned by what he saw, and he could act in no other way. God’s will was for this man to be liberated from his physical and spiritual oppression. What a person like this man would do with this great gift subsequently – well that was now up to him. The physical liberation we see here leads toward a social liberation that has the potential to lead to a spiritual transformation as well.

There is another Greek word used in some of the old manuscripts that are used to translate this gospel passage into English. Where we have translated “pity” in verse 41, an alternative is “anger” ... “moved with anger”. At first these (“pity” and “anger”) might seem like opposites, yet when we consider the deep emotional place both of these feelings come from, we might recognise a connection. Jesus could have been “angry” at what life had come to be like for this man – a far cry from that original created ‘goodness’. What had happened that so badly disfigured a person physically and so deeply deprived them spiritually ... the disease itself, the social ostracism – the whole stigma of the thing! “Pity” or “anger” ... the result was the same – the beautiful touch of God’s healing.

So this is the example the gospel gives us in terms of the Jesus-like response to desperate need. Not all, probably not many, will be able to express faith themselves and come forward for help. Many innocents will suffer quietly; some under the power of abuse or addiction will feel demeaned and shamed by the situation they are in; some others will express very negative anti-social behaviour. Jesus-followers will seek to help them out, just because they too are ‘gutted’ by what they see. Yet on many occasions this will certainly test our faith to the core. In most cases it seems, our efforts won’t lead to immediate miraculous healing, but our genuine and personal touch will tend to bring ‘just what the doctor ordered’.

In the 19^th century, there was an large outbreak of “Hansen’s disease” (the worst of those conditions categorised under the general term leprosy) throughout the islands of Hawaii. Eventually the government decided to set up a leper colony on the island of Molokai, in a remote section where it was nearly impossible to escape. Sufferers were rounded up and transported by boat to Molokai (sometimes even dumped into the water a couple of hundred metres out from the shore).

“Hansen’s disease” took a shocking toll on the body and mind, and at this time had no cure nor effective treatment. Therefore, we would easily understand how such a “leper” colony would become a hopeless and degrading place. These poor people, given only the barest of necessities, had basically been left to their own devices to fend for themselves, with death being the only means of escape.

To this chaotic and degraded place came a Catholic priest from Belgium – Father Damien – in May 1873. Father Damien was not sent to Molokai, he courageously volunteered. Single-handedly, for some time, Damien fulfilled a variety of needed roles on this island – he comforted the hurting, he bandaged weeping sores, he nursed the dying, protected the weak; he built houses, churches, orphanages and hospitals; he buried the dead (hundreds and hundreds of them); Damien performed the role of both priest and community leader ... all the time desperately seeking more help to come from church and government. He grew vegetables, and sought to trade them for nails, timber and medicines that were sorely lacking. Damien on occasions also swam out to try to rescue those who were struggling to swim to the island having been sent over the side of the transport boat.

Father Damien went there for a stint of a few months, but finished up staying 16 years – dying there of Hansen’s disease related ailments at the age of 49. Ultimately Damien would become Saint Damien on October 11^th 2009 (ironically exactly the same day I was ordained by the Baptist Union of Victoria). This, like other awards he gained in his own lifetime, were worthy recognitions of Damien’s work. However, when it comes to picking up one’s cross and following Jesus, Damien said that, “The Lord decorated me with his own particular cross – leprosy”, a cross Damien had to bear in serving others, and also later in his own body.

An Endless Feast (Mark 6:30-44)

I had the pleasure today of taking the 5th birthday celebration service for the Village fellowship at the Tarneit Skies Retirement Village. Below is the message I gave.

Jesus wanted to have some quiet time alone with his disciples. They had all been pretty busy on God’s mission, so a little rest and reflection and refreshment would always be a good idea. So off they went in a boat over to what is described as a “deserted place”. The trouble was ... they had been seen and recognised, and we have read about the hundreds and thousands from all the towns gathering as a crowd when the boat containing Jesus and his disciples arrived.

Now other people in this situation might well have told this big crowd where to go, for they really did need their rest and recuperation – and this really was a bit of a bother. However, we now read what is a really telling comment (in verse 34) which tells us a lot about God ... “As [Jesus] went ashore, he saw a great crowd – and [Jesus] had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd”.

[If you refer to Psalm 23, you can see there many benefits that a shepherd provides for his sheep - resources, refreshment, peace, restoration, guidance, protection, comfort, safety, a sense of home ... a place of belonging, acceptance and value.]

At least two things to consider here. Jesus represents here how God feels about people who are lost, or lack direction, or who are so uncertain in their lives that they will race after every new possibility to give them some hope or purpose ... Jesus has “compassion” on them. As “sheep” need a “shepherd” to guide them and keep them from harm, human beings need a completely reliable point of reference for the conduct of their lives. This is because many are weary and fragile from the journey, and vulnerable to life’s pressures, and could easily take the wrong track.

Secondly, Jesus also is teaching us how we should feel about the “sheep” amongst us who lack a “shepherd”. As we have already considered, there are many needy people, who for a wide variety of reasons, struggle in life. The “compassion” Jesus brings, and models for us, is a deep gut reaction filled with disappointment, love, and a longing for justice and freedom. From this position of heart-felt concern, Jesus would not be able to turn the crowd away!

So enraptured by Jesus’ teaching that day were this crowd, that all of a sudden there was a realisation that the hour was late. Jesus was not inclined to agree with his disciples about sending the crowd away into surrounding villages to get some food from there. It would seem that the hospitality on offer from God had not been fully explored yet. They had received some teaching, but God’s hospitality is far broader than that – it is holistic and touches all parts of life.

This raised an obvious problem though ... an apparent lack of resources. Where would the food come from? Sometimes when faced with dramatic need, the resources we have on offer seem so few (and so limited). The disciples (refer verse 37) thought that the task was impossible! But is there a greater source we can call upon? Are our resources always to be calculated purely from what we can see and touch? When Jesus was faced with a lack of resources on the ground, the outcome was actually an ‘endless feast’!

We would know that five loaves of bread and two fish would have no chance of feeding five thousand hungry men with their wives and families. Yet when they were distributed, and everyone had enough, there were twelve full baskets left over. What had happened? Jesus had looked up to heaven in prayerful trust, blessing the loaves and fish and breaking them up in the firm hope that they would be enough, and then gave all the pieces to his disciples for distribution.

Simply put, God provides the resources to meet the needs of the crowd. Yet Jesus did utilise the personal human touch by getting the disciples to be involved in the distribution. On a global scale, we know that the poverty endured within so many nations and so many communities, is due to a lack of proper distribution and also a lack of committed consideration, rather than any lack of generosity of God. We can scarcely blame God when we have abrogated our responsibility concerning caring for the earth.

It will be the followers of Jesus who sense God’s attitude of compassion to all people everywhere, and take up their responsibility to make a positive difference. And in doing so, in total reliance upon God to bring forth a wide variety of resources through which to get the job done, we will participate in what can only be described as an ‘endless feast of blessing’. People will come to know Jesus, the One who can introduce them to Creator God, give them the Holy Spirit, and address each and every one of their needs and aspirations.

Something that started modestly five years ago, and is currently celebrating its fifth birthday, has the potential to touch at least five thousand in the years to come. For what happens here, can become of great benefit on a much broader scale across this residential community, and around the local Tarneit community, and right across all the families represented here.

Prayer as Conversation & Partnership

Prayer as Conversation

Prayer is basically a conversation ... a ‘heart-to-heart’ conversation with God. This is like a conversation with a friend, except this Friend is totally reliable and 100% faithful, which of course is way more than any human friend possibly can be. Thus our conversations with God have a real thankful attitude ... concerning what God has done for us in the past, and knowing that God will work towards best possible outcomes in the future.

We should not be nervous about praying, for God will never be critical of the words we use nor the number of times we hesitate trying to frame our thoughts. God will actually interact with the processing going on in our minds, leading us to new understanding of the various issues and concerns that are being expressed in our prayers. Thus we should not be afraid of periods of silence for this allows God room to do the speaking, and us the listening.

When involved in public prayer, it may be the spoken prayers of others that bring the illumination we are looking for. It may just be God’s Spirit speaking through another that brings the answer we are looking for. In public prayer we can listen to one another and build on the prayers of each other, which, if nothing else, will bring a great feeling of solidarity to the heart of the problem being faced. Let’s be expectant of such new insight!

Our prayer conversations will also be framed in an attitude of faith ... faith that God can work wonders. Often though, God’s response will require us to also take various practical steps of faith ourselves. God chooses to use us as a channel of God’s blessing to others. This is where prayer is not just a conversation but also a partnership.

Prayer as Partnership

Prayer is about connecting with what God wants to do here in the world ... that is why the model prayer says, “Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Prayer is not just a wish-list, it is about engaging in God’s big picture of renewing our neighbourhoods. If we don’t sense God responding to our micro-issues, perhaps we should think about how much of our praying actually embraces the big issues.

Such praying connects us to participating in the bringing about of God’s best. Isaiah chapter 58 lifts up God’s vision of defeating oppression and injustice. This is a vision of seeing the hungry fed, the homeless housed, the naked clothed, and families reunited. But ultimately this is a vision of a partnership of a proactive people embracing the will of God in the everyday life of their neighbourhoods.

As we step out in faith, God will go before us and behind us, and as we call out to God in prayer for help, surely we will be answered. The light that dwells in us will be revealed, and there will be a healing effect unleashed around us. In this way there will be a true representation of God’s presence and desire to re-create. The welfare of our community, and we might add our own personal well-being, depends upon our prayerful and faithful activity toward our neighbours.

We need those streams of living water to refresh parched and fragile places (Isaiah 58:11). There are certain aspects of community that need to be rebuilt, as well as establishing new and firm foundations for the generations to come. As verse 12 suggests, the true seeker of God stands in the “breach”, i.e. in the place of humanity’s brokenness, ready to bring whatever repair and restoration is necessary.

True community life and true Kingdom life require streets to live in where people are free to pursue all the best that life has to give, especially in the spiritual realm. [Note that the text refers to “streets” not individual “houses” if you get my point.] So, as Henri Nouwen writes: Prayer is the way to become and remain a part of Jesus’ mission to draw all people to the intimacy of God’s love.

"Faith in the public eye" - based on Mark 2:1-12

Four guys – one on each corner of a stretcher. Their friend was paralysed. Other people as well were likely to have come along in support of this poor man on the stretcher. We have no idea how he came to be paralysed like that, but we do know that it would mean being in the most desperate of circumstances in the society of the day.

The four ‘stretcher-bearers’ and the other supporters had heard about Jesus, like so many had, as Jesus had been healing and speaking all very publicly. What they had heard about Jesus must have convinced them that this was the answer to their friend’s situation, or at least, it was certainly worth a try. So, when they heard where Jesus was situated, they went, carrying their friend, to try to meet with this Jesus.

But when they saw the crowd, and how difficult the whole thing would be, they gave up and went home! No they didn’t!! This may have been what many would have done, but not these faithful ones.

We see in Jesus’ actions that follow, that these four ‘stretcher-bearers’ and the other supporters were acknowledged for their faith, for we read, “When Jesus saw their faith, [Jesus] said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (v.5). Whatever they had thought about in terms of Jesus’ identity when they had wanted to bring their friend to him, Jesus made it clear that they had done precisely the right thing ... for they had brought their friend right into the presence of God. And being in the close presence of God, transformation was certain and imminent. When people are brought close to God, change is just about to happen.

Only God could forgive sins – so if Jesus was declaring forgiveness, he was God (unless he was a lunatic). So, Jesus, when challenged, would prove himself. [In these times people believed that it was sin that brought about disability, so for Jesus to later remove the disability was to prove the reality of his forgiveness of sin. Only God could provide the whole package of both spiritual and physical liberation.] For those who could not recognise Jesus for who he really was, Jesus said to the paralysed man ... “stand up, take your mat and go to your home”. Surely the faith of those who had brought him was well-placed – such faith was right there and then publicly vindicated.

These ‘stretcher-bearers’ and helpers had clearly recognised the difficulties and suffering being endured by this paralysed man. They would also understand the limitations that would make seeking help on his own nearly impossible. We don’t know how well any one of them actually knew him, but they certainly acted as his good friend and neighbour. They were likely to have had their eyes and ears open for any opportunity to offer and provide some assistance to this man.

But when they got to the house where Jesus was, what did these compassionate people have to cope with? Huge crowds blocking the entrance, possibly shouting out at them to “wait their turn”. They could have been yelling out “make way, make way, for our paralysed friend” and been totally ignored. Maybe there were some little internal stirrings of doubt coming into their minds about turning back – was this really all worth it? Yet they decisively moved past any such misgivings. They headed for the steps on the side of the building, climbing up to the flat roof above.

Risking all sorts of admonishment they dug through the roof made of thatch and mud, making a large enough opening for the stretcher to fit through. Then they managed to work out a way of lowering their friend down to where Jesus was (probably with the use of rope/s). Now we might think they were rude and destructive, but we might also consider they were committed and resolute. Sometimes the ends do justify the means.

What do we think of their approach???

·        They saw an opportunity to meet a tragic need and went for it (and could not be dissuaded)

·        They provided a great example of friendship, compassion and selflessness (in a very counter-cultural way)

·        They worked together as a team (possibly where any less than four could not have done the job – but where there was four working together, this attracted other helpers to go along with them)

·        They showed that they believed in something great beyond themselves (i.e. living faith)

·        This resulted in a public display of Jesus being able to bring both spiritual and physical freedom (to one on the margins of society)

What sort of activity should our faith lead us to???

Normally Jesus would have responded to the faith of the person themselves, but in this incident it was different. The paralysed man may have himself expressed faith in Jesus in being willing to go along with this bold plan. But it was essentially the faith of the paralysed man’s friends that made the difference. Likewise, it is our faith, on the ground and in the public eye, that can make a difference.

We might not be able to easily recognise the difference our faith makes, but we can know for sure that it does. It could be that it seems that our faith is being ignored or even rejected, and we could let this deter us. Yet the very integrity of this faith, especially as it is connected with our various acts of compassion, kindness and helpfulness, will be noticed by some, and have its (super)natural impact.

What is required of Jesus-followers is to apply their faith to the people needs and issues that are present to us. Effectiveness likely begins through friendship and neighbourliness, and seeing into what areas this leads us.

When the previously paralysed man indeed stood up, picked up his mat and walked away right before all the gathered crowd, we read (in v.12) that everyone was “amazed” and “glorified God”, also saying, “We have never seen anything like this”! As if to say, ‘Wow – something different, new and exciting has come to our humdrum life’! It is when we involve our ‘faith-filled’ selves in the mission of God that such a stir can be created (which leads to all sorts of transformations).

Barriers to Prayer

As Philippians 4:6 reminds us, we should be praying to God. Rather than worrying or procrastinating, and with thanksgiving on our heart (thus being positively expectant of good responses), we should let our requests be made known to God. But is it always as easy as this?

Introductory Questions

What gets in the way of your praying?

Why is your prayer life (at times) unsatisfying or seemingly ineffective?

Why do we find it so hard to pray?

Why do we lose interest so quickly?

Why does prayer sometimes seem pointless?

Might there be barriers, possibly of our own making, that are disrupting our prayer??

Our prayer life could be compared to our car – if all the parts (that make up the car) are not in good working order (and if they haven’t been serviced recently), then when we turn on the engine and press the accelerator and try to take off ... we just won’t get the result we want!

Barriers

(1)    Inadequate Faith

To get the most out of prayer, we have to believe that God not only hears our prayers, but that God also can act in response to our prayers. We read in Acts 12, that even though the church community were praying fervently to God for Peter, when Peter arrived at their front door, they found it very difficult to believe that Peter had been enabled to escape. While God still honoured their commitment to pray, there remains the lesson about our level of expectation. If we don’t have high expectations concerning the outcome of our prayers, then it is less likely that we will pray, and also less likely that we will stick with the task of praying.

What do we do about inadequate faith? We should continually remind ourselves about how God has been faithful to us and to others in the past. We should listen to the witness of the Scriptures about how God has positively and creatively interacted with humanity. We can read books and hear stories about God’s remarkable activity within lives and communities. And we can be courageous, leave our comfort zones, and follow God’s leading into new areas of service or ministry or witness; finding God to be with us always just as it was promised.

Another aspect of ‘inadequate faith’ would be the very passive prayer, where we expect God to do everything, and we are not prepared to even dip a toe in the water. Often God’s answer to our prayer can only come as we get on the move, and find that place where God is already active and working. There are certain times where God expects us to not just be pray-ers, but also to be actively part of the solution. This might include those little character adjustments, where we need to take some simple steps forward.

(2)    “Unanswered” Prayer

Many of us can be dissuaded from engaging in prayer because of a sense of previous prayers having gone unanswered. However, in the cold light of day, we may come to realise that our prayers were indeed answered, just in a different way to what we expected, and more to the point, in a different way to what we wanted. The “no” that was actually for our own good and the good of others, was God’s answer, in preference to the “yes” which would have led us down the wrong track. Other answers are still emerging over time ... it’s just that we’ve lost patience. Some positive responses from God are right there to see and embrace, it’s just that they look so much different than we imagined – and we could be simply just looking in the wrong place.

One of the biggest unanswered prayers in history, or so it seemed, was the people of Israel’s call for a Messiah – one that would liberate them from their oppression. The reality is that God answered in the most effective and remarkable of ways by sending Jesus, who not only could liberate one people group but all people groups. This would just require a new way of looking at life, and seeing that the evil that causes oppression comes from deep within, and that it’s what abides within a person that needs to be dealt with if the world is going to be truly set to rights.

Sometimes it can be the resolute refusal of other people to cooperate with good and Godly purposes that can block God’s best work for a time. Sometimes there is just the plain reality that our living environment on earth is subject to all sorts of instability, various diseases, poor human decision-making, and wicked violence – all leading to tragic outcomes. Sometimes we can be overly fixated on relatively small matters while God has to attend to the very biggest of pictures (only really known to God). This reminds us that part of faith is to continue to trust God through times of uncertainty, pain, confusion and disappointment.

(3)    Prayerlessness

Often prayer also takes a back seat when we cannot seem to be still enough for long enough. I think this is the problem that Jesus detected in Martha (Luke 10:38-42). It was not wrong for Martha to be busy in providing hospitality for Jesus and the others, but Jesus had detected that this was something that was so habitual for Martha, that she was in great danger of missing the special moments in life – like taking the opportunity of sitting at Jesus’ feet and enjoying his visit and listening intently to what he had to say (exactly what Martha’s sister Mary did).

Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing”. Then if Luke’s readers read on into chapter 11, they will find out more about that one thing! I, for one, have had to learn to think less about my ever-present ‘to-do list’, and more about what God might want to teach me, or how God might want to lead me through a particular day.

In James chapter 4 and verse 2 we read, “You do not have, because you do not ask”. Rather than allowing feelings of despondency to build unhealthily, and rather than continuing to feel bereft of what we need, we should make the time to take the most appropriate course of action – to bring the matter before God in prayer.

(4)    Unconfessed Sin

God wants to forgive us when we sin. Yet God does want us first to reflect and be regretful and sincerely repent (i.e. change our ways). This is called confession – it’s getting something off our chest so that it doesn’t affect us anymore. Confession changes a negative dynamic into a positive release. However non-confession refuses God’s offer of forgiveness, and thus tends toward inhibiting our relationship with God. Isaiah captured this dynamic perfectly when he wrote:

See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, 
And your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear (59:1-2).

So, our prayer-life would continue to struggle while we turn a blind eye to our shortcomings or don’t take any remedial action against our bad behaviour. It would be somewhat presumptuous of us to expect answers while knowingly tolerating or ignoring our sinfulness.

The guilt and sometimes shame that we carry can be so very destructive, as we let it hang over us and bear down upon us. This is why James uses such strong and urgent language (in chapter 4) about dealing with any sinfulness – “Cleanse your hands ... purify your hearts (thus encompassing both the outer and inner life); then ... lament, mourn and weep” (v.8-9).

(5)    Relational Conflict

God considers the quality of our relationships with other people to be highly important. Our love for our neighbour shows the integrity and sincerity of our love for God. There is little point praying for certain good outcomes, while we are perverting God’s Kingdom by acting harshly or selfishly toward others. Paul in Romans wrote:

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all (12:18).

Included here would be our spouses, family members, friends, work colleagues, neighbours, all the people at church; then I’ll take this further to all the people who could potentially be a part of our church community, and even the whole retail, trade and service industries. We can’t control how other people speak or act; but we can control how we respond, and remain responsible for the words we use and the actions we take on all occasions.

Where conflict arises, as much as we can, we should seek restoration and reconciliation. How can we properly look toward God seeking the best for ourselves, while holding ill-feelings toward others! Such efforts toward restoration may take some effort and extended time, but this is what God requires of us. As long as we are doing the best we can in this area, God will not only hear our prayers, but certainly also aid this reconciliation process.

The worst soul-destroying emotion is bitterness – this eats you up inside, and starts to pervert all your relationships. We have to work on such areas as blaming others and holding grudges through seeking new understanding and applying forgiveness. We read in the ‘Lord’s prayer’ how our forgiveness is dependent on our willingness to forgive others (Matthew 6:12). God wants to connect with that other person (who has previously offended us) just as much as he wants to heal our particular hurts.

One rider here – even Paul concedes in the earlier verse from Romans that it may not be possible to find peace with certain others – this has been seen in the area of repeated abuse. Sometimes we will need to separate ourselves from someone for our own protection as they have proven unwilling to change.

(6)    Uncaring Attitudes

In the same way as for relational conflict, we shouldn’t expect much success with prayer while we persist with attitudes that have not become conformed to the Jesus way of compassion and care. If we don’t really care about the plight of others, especially the least fortunate, then prayers focussed on our needs and agendas would seem rather thoughtless, even arrogant. Proverbs 21:13 reads:

If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard.

It is hypocrisy to cry out to God for our own needs, while at the same time ignoring the needs of another ... need (that even in a small way) we could personally do something about. We should also be moved with concern when there are large-scale international tragedies. This is about embracing feelings of human solidarity – when one person is hurting, the whole human community hurts with them. This is also about accepting that all human beings have been created in the image of God. In the face of all the injustice, cruelty, violence and greed that exists, wanting God to do all the work in the world, while we prefer to remain passive, places ‘blockades’ around our prayers.

We have to note that it is often very tiresome coping with and helping other people, especially those people who seem so very needy. However ‘compassion fatigue’ is something we should never give in to!

(7)    Resistance to Change

This would be resistance to change both on a personal and societal level. We understand the way Jesus wants us to live, and the way the Kingdom of God operates, but we are just not willing, for whatever reason, to adopt the appropriate decision-making and new behaviour patterns. The most common reason we resist, is because we are actually comfortable with the way we are – the status-quo has served me well – and we don’t want the boat we are sailing in to be rocked. Such a person will pray, but, being set in their ways, will then go on to act as if they hadn’t prayed at all.

In James chapter 1, we read about a person who is “double-minded” ... a person who is in ‘two minds’ – this double-minded person, “must not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:8). A “double-minded” person is quite keen on the notion of belief or faith, and the benefits that this might bring to them; but is unwilling to make this faith central in their lives, allowing other agendas and priorities to be in that central place.

This often plays out as follows (the first part we speak, and the second part we just think):

Ø  Dear God, I would like to be more like Jesus, but not if that means ...

Ø  Dear God, I would like to get to know Frank better, but don’t let him discover too much about me

Ø  Dear God, please bring more people to church, but not Fred or Joan and definitely not anyone who is going to be difficult

Ø  Dear God, I would like to get more involved, but not if it’s going to take up too much of my spare time.

Also, we can tend toward putting conditions on our willingness to follow God’s leading:

Ø  Dear God, I will go there, as long as this won’t happen

Ø  Dear God, I am prepared to do that, as long as you do this for me.

This is all a far cry from the model prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10)! James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures”.

Now is the Time to Pray

So, indeed, let us pray!!!

Now that we have prayed, we can experience the peace of God which surpasses all understanding (Phil.4:7). This peace will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. We know that no matter how God answers our prayers and however long this takes to become apparent, we are safe in the knowledge that the risen Jesus walks with us and the Holy Spirit surrounds us – we are under God’s protective custody! Our needs may still be there in the short-term, but now they do not have the same capacity to make us anxious. Thanks be to God!