gratitude

26
Aug
2023

What do you want?

Recently I ran across something I wrote years ago. It’s advice I need to take to heart still. Maybe it’s something you struggle with too.

Satisfied vs. Unsatisfied

by David Sellnow

Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/masstravel/15754047053/in/photostream/

The roots of human nature can be observed in children. They will have their hearts set on some new toy they’ve seen in a store or on TV. They beg, they whine, they moan to get their wish. Then one day – either for the joy of giving or just to end the groaning – their parents buy them the toy they desire. The child is enthralled – so happy that they’re hopping. They play with the toy all day, show it off to every friend and relative. They could not be more satisfied. But the next day, or within a few days, they’re back to asking for the next new thing. “Mom, I really want this toy!” The chant has changed. The satisfaction ended. The child is wanting again.

As I said, what is observable in children is human nature in all of us. We all yearn to be satisfied by this thing, or that thing.

  • If I could just have a Lexus (or other luxury car), I’d be happy.
  • If I could just have that new house in that upscale subdivision, then I’d be happy.
  • If I could just find a better job …
  • If I lived in a different city …
  • If I had a better body, a prettier face, a different appearance …
  • If I had more free time, more money, more vacation days …
  • If I had all these things that my heart desires, then I finally find the happiness I seek.

Wrong. The problem is not that I don’t have all the things my heart desires. The problem is a perpetually unsatisfied heart.

People change jobs, move, undergo cosmetic surgery, dissolve marriages, make many other efforts in attempts to be happier. Often they find these things are not, in fact, the answer.

Happiness begins in the heart – when the heart is touched by God’s grace and is appreciative of God’s greater gifts. Forgiveness, faith, hope, eternity – all these things mean far more than money, place of residence, wardrobe, vehicles.

So, the next time you find yourself looking for happiness, don’t take an inventory of your assets or possessions. Seek a change of heart. Ask God for a healthy attitude, appreciative of his spiritual blessings. Pray, and listen to God‘s wisdom in the matter:

Real profit comes only to those who live contentedly as God would have them live. We brought absolutely nothing with us when we entered the world and we can be sure we shall take absolutely nothing with us when we leave it. Surely then, as far as physical things are concerned, it is sufficient for us to keep our bodies fed and clothed. 

Those who set their hearts on being wealthy expose themselves to temptation. They fall into one of the world’s traps, and lay themselves open to all sorts of silly and wicked desires, which are quite capable of utterly ruining and destroying their souls. For loving money leads to all kinds of evil, and some, in the struggle to be rich, have lost their faith and caused themselves untold agonies of mind.

But you, keep clear of such things. Set your heart not on riches, but on goodness, Christ-likeness, faith, love, patience and humility. Fight the worthwhile battle of the faith, keep your grip on that life eternal to which you have been called. 

  • (1 Timothy 6:6-12, The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips.)
Posted by David Sellnow
28
Aug
2022

Humility = Service (part 1)

Thinking of others, not just of ourselves

  • The thoughts for this post and another that will follow next week stem from readings for Pentecost 12, August 28, 2022:  Proverbs 25:6-7, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, and Luke 14:1, 7-14.

If you are familiar with the TV show, The Price is Right, you know the call to bidder’s row: “Come on down! You’re the next contestant on The Price is Right!”  What would you think if someone barged down the aisle, uninvited, and insisted, “No, I am the next contestant; I should have been the first contestant; I should always be first in line”?

A more everyday example: I was driving recently on a section of city freeway that was under construction. For several miles, the right lane was marked “exit only” for each upcoming exit, causing congestion in the remaining lanes. In spite of that warning, in between each ramp, some drivers would speed down the right lane, then cut back into traffic at the last minute, not exiting.

That sort of behavior gets us mad. But let’s be honest. Isn’t such behavior something we all exhibit quite often? Are we always considerate, patient, humble, kind, looking out for others’ well-being?  Or do we do our own end-arounds, trying to bypass others, putting ourselves ahead even if it means leaving others behind?

Too often, a lack of humility shows up in our hearts and lives. Let me describe some scenarios.  You’ll recognize what I describe–but don’t be too quick to point a finger at some neighbor or relative or coworker. Think first of ways that these descriptions also might apply to things you feel or say or do.

  • There’s a group of people at a meeting. Everyone’s input is important, because everyone is affected by the decisions made. But Mya Myview thinks her viewpoint is the most important. Everyone else must eventually agree with her, or she’s not happy. She speaks up first. She speaks up loudest. She interrupts and contradicts others when they offer their thoughts. When the decision doesn’t go her way, she storms out of the room. Mya much needs a healthy dose of humility.
  • Bob Bossy isn’t the boss, but he acts like he is. At work, he hovers over his colleagues and tells them how they should do their jobs. At home, on any project he works on with his wife, he’s going to control the planning and the process. He’ll tell her exactly what to do and how to do it–although most of the time she has as much know-how as he does, sometimes more. But he has to feel like he’s in charge. Bob can’t be humble; he’s too busy being bossy.
  • Sophie Selfie knows, she just knows, she’s the most talented person on the planet. At her high school, she expects to have a solo at every choir concert. She assumes she should get the lead role in the school play. She posts videos of herself online all the time, showing off her singing, her theatrics, her tips for hair and makeup and wardrobe that are all just perfect. She’s offended and angry that her number of followers on social media isn’t growing as fast as she deserves.  Sophie Selfie thinks humility is for lesser people than herself.
  • Roger Rightly is certain he is right with God, certain his religious studies have made him an expert on all that is true. He’s certain that others must practice religion just as he does if they want to have God’s blessing. He writes letters to the editor of the local newspaper, condemning the immorality of those who don’t live up to his standards. If someone that he deems unworthy visits his church—maybe with clothing or piercings or jewelry he thinks inappropriate, or not matching his mindset as to what families should look like or how gender norms should be—Roger makes sure they feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. His mission is to make the world line up with the lines he has drawn around religion and belief and behavior. Roger Rightly lacks mercy and doesn’t understand humility.

Likely you could share other examples–about people you’ve known …. or confessions from your own life. Humility is not natural to our spirits. One way sin has affected all our spirits is how self-absorbed and self-indulgent and self-promoting we all can be. We think highly of ourselves. We look down on others. We prioritize our own desires. We neglect others’ needs, sometimes even trample on others.

Thank God we have a Savior who didn’t think of his own place in the universe first, but put us ahead of himself.  “Christ Jesus … though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:5-9).  It is because Christ was willing to humble himself on our behalf that we have life, we have hope, we have salvation. And Christ calls us to follow him on the path of humility. Christian faith asks of us: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

God’s proverb says: “Do not put yourself forward … or stand in the place of the great; for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble” (Proverbs 25:6-7).  Rather than pushing and promoting ourselves, we do well to serve others diligently and humbly. When we do, then we may be called upon to take up roles of leadership or positions of responsibility. As Jesus emphasized, “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).  The leaders Christ seeks have hearts like servants. “The greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves” (Luke 22:26, cf. also Matthew 23:1-12).

When we practice humility, we engage in service to others. Rather than thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought, we “think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3).  We recognize that within the body of Christ, each of us has individual gifts and abilities (cf. Romans 12:4-8).  As “good stewards of the manifold grace of God,” we will “serve one another with whatever gift each of [us] has received” (1 Peter 4:10).

Humility means not pushing others around, but lending a helping hand. Humility means not insisting on my way, but listening to the thoughts and concerns of others. Humility means no inflated views of how good or right I think I am compared to others, but recognizing that only by the grace of God I am who I am (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 15:10).  When we have that perspective, we will go forward in a path of service to others, knowing that we are what God “has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10).

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To be continued …

Next time:  Acknowledging our ability to be of service to others

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
30
Sep
2021

No place to lay their heads

Grateful for our homes, we will help those who are homeless


If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard. – Proverbs 21:13


I visited Portland, Oregon in mid-summer. The weather was pleasant while we were there, with daytime highs in the mid-70s, a bit below their normal average for the time of year. Prior to our visit, however, Portland had endured a record-setting heatwave with temperatures as high as 117 degrees, and thermometers climbed back into the 90s and above 100 degrees soon after our trip. During the heat of late June, the Oregon Medical Examiner’s office reported 96 deaths statewide from hyperthermia, 60 of those in Portland. Many of the deaths were older persons living alone with no air conditioning. Additionally, county leaders in the Portland metropolitan area and elsewhere in Oregon confirmed that a significant number of persons who died due to the excessive heat were homeless or inadequately housed.  Portland is one of many American cities with high rates of homelessness.  Globally, the United Nations estimates that “1.6 billion people worldwide live in inadequate housing conditions, with about 15 million forcefully evicted each year.”

I realize how fortunate I am to have a home. I may wish I had more equity in the house that I am slowly purchasing. I wish I could afford improvements and additions to the property which are beyond my means or would press my budget. But those are problems of privilege, not the crisis-level concerns of those at risk of losing their housing.  In the United States today, an estimated 2.6 million tenants are facing eviction if they don’t receive aid. Due to the pandemic, the federal government authorized a $46.5 billion eviction prevention program, but to date (eight months after Congress approved the funds), less than 17% of the rental aid has been distributed. Congress also authorized $10 billion to help the more than 2 million homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgages, but that program also has been agonizingly slow in responding to the needs that exist. In August, the federal moratorium against evictions was ended by the Supreme Court, which means the risk of more people losing their housing has increased. A state order against evictions ends today in California, which already has more homeless persons than any other state, including nearly half of the nation’s unsheltered homeless (living in tent encampments, in cars, in abandoned buildings, on the sidewalk, etc).

We may contemplate renovating our homes, upgrading to bigger or better homes, purchasing a vacation home in addition to our homestead property. Having a sizeable amount of earthly possessions is not inherently wrong; we remember that God blessed faithful forefathers such as Job and Abraham with great wealth (cf. Job 1:3, Genesis 12:1-2). However, we do well to heed also the prophet Isaiah’s warning to God’s people, that “God expected justice” but instead heard cries of injustice (Isaiah 5:7), admonishing those “who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you” (Isaiah 5:8). We recall also Jesus’ parable of the rich man who planned to build bigger barns to store all his excess goods. God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Jesus reminds us, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). 

Our days on this planet are not permanent. We are called to see ourselves as “strangers and foreigners on the earth” who are “seeking a homeland … a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:13-16). We are also called to live in community with one another as we sojourn here. In the eyes of God, an acceptable “fast” (reducing our own consumption) is “to loose the bonds of injustice … to let the oppressed go free … to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin” (Isaiah 58:6,7).

When Jesus came down and “pitched his tent among us” (John 1:14, literal translation), living our experience on this earth, he said to those who would follow him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).  Surely, our Savior has empathy toward those who have no home. Christ seeks to provide us all a home in his heavenly mansions. In the meantime, until we reach that heavenly home, let’s strive to help one another and all of our neighbors have a safe place to be in this world.

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I’ll link here several highly-rated charitable organizations aiming to reduce homelessness. There are many more you likely can find in your own area.

Transition Projects

  • Over 50 years of helping deliver life-saving and life-changing assistance to some of Portland’s most vulnerable residents
  • 100 out of 100 rating on Charity Navigator

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV)

The People Concern

  • Los Angeles area organization seeking to empower homeless persons to be housed, healthy and safe and to become active participants in the community
  • 100 out of 100 rating on Charity Navigator

HomeAid America

New Story

National Alliance to End Homelessness

Religious statement:  “Homelessness: A Renewal of Commitment” (ELCA, 1990)

Scripture quotations, except where indicated otherwise, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
20
Sep
2021

Finding Meaning in our Work

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and prosper for us the work of our hands—
O prosper the work of our hands!
(Psalm 90:17)


Finding Meaning in our Work

It’s been two weeks since the Labor Day holiday. How have your labors been since then? After every weekend or holiday, do you feel like it’s back to the daily grind? Work can have a tendency to grind us down and wear us out.  That’s somewhat the way of this world ever since the world became an imperfect place. The Lord forewarned us that working for a living would be toilsome, full of thorns and thistles. It takes sweat and effort to put bread on the table and to keep a roof over our heads (cf. Genesis 3:17-19).  

At the same time, though, work remains a blessing, a way for us to serve God and others, one of the avenues through which we find meaning in our day-to-day existence.  

A friend full of the Spirit and wisdom loaned me a couple of books to read. They’re older books, but with timeless lessons in them: The Search for Meaning (1994) and The Search for Meaning in the Workplace (1996).  For all working people out there, I’d like to share some thoughts on finding meaning in our work, and will quote quite a bit from the two books mentioned. For references to the books, SFM indicates The Search for Meaning and MIW indicates The Search for Meaning in the Workplace.

It is an illusion of our society that “the accumulation of wealth and material possessions can provide meaning to life. The less meaning there is in one’s life, the easier it is to be seduced into the materialistic work hard, play hard, be happy syndrome” (SFM p.86-87).

Even everyday tasks can be meaningful if we treat them as such. “Why can’t washing the dishes or doing the laundry become acts of artistry? Why can’t we strive for purposefulness and efficiency in all of our actions, regardless of their seeming insignificant? All acts of daily life can be rendered meaningful when they are performed with care and attention” (SFM p.199). As the church reformer John Calvin said, “No task will be so sordid and base, provided you obey your calling in it, that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God’s sight” (MIW p.42).  

The thought of work as a calling, a vocation, was a theme also in the teaching of Martin Luther, another key church reformer.  Our vocation in life does not so much refer to a specific job or position or career, but to our call to serve others by our lives and our labors. As Luther wrote, “I will therefore give myself as a Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ offered himself to me. … As our heavenly Father has in Christ freely come to our aid, we also ought freely to help our neighbor through our body and its works, and each one should become, as it were, a Christ to the other” (Martin Luther, Freedom of the Christian, Luther’s Works vol.31). Or, as W.E.B. Du Bois stated, “The return from your work must be the satisfaction that work brings you and the world’s need of that work” (MIW p.74). We find meaning in our work by knowing that the work we are doing is helping others, serving others, advancing the well-being of others.

Meaningful work on behalf of our neighbors in the community “provides us with energy, fills our hearts with joy, and makes us feel alive. In order to make work meaningful, it must be an integral part of life, not just that part of the day when we leave our ‘real’ life to make the money we need to support what we refer to as spare time, that is, time when we are ‘spared’ from work. Life, like time, is an integrated whole. It is not meant to be segmented into work time, spare time, and sleep time. There is no such thing as spare time, there is only life, and it is impossible to separate our work from our life” (MIW p.180-181).

As priest and author Matthew Fox has summarized: “Our work is meant to be a grace. It is a blessing and a gift, even a surprise and an act of unconditional love, toward the community—and not just the present community that may or may not compensate us for our work, but the community to come, the generations that follow our work” (MIW p.209).

As we get up and get busy with our tasks each day—whether paid work or as volunteers, whether in the community or in our homes—may we find much meaning in what we do. All our work is tied to our partnership with one another in community, a commitment to “to the care and nurturing of each other’s mind, body, heart, and soul” (SFM p.128).

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What gain have the workers from their toil? … There is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
(Ecclesiastes 3:9,12,13)


Authors of The Search for Meaning and The Search for Meaning in the Workplace: Thomas H. Naylor, William H. Willimon, Magdalena Naylor, and Rolf V. Osterberg. 

Scripture quotations, except where indicated otherwise, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
18
Jan
2020

Held together by our work

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on September 24, 2019.

Held together by our work

by David Sellnow

Earlier this month, over the Labor Day weekend, I enjoyed some time away from work. In doing so, I was mindful of the work done by others that made my holiday possible. Mechanics had oiled and lubricated my vehicle. Road crews had built and maintained the highways that I traveled. Police patrolled and kept roadways safe. Convenience store clerks made the journey more convenient.  Hotel staff members provided a clean, comfortable place to spend the night. Cooks and servers put delicious meals on the table in front of me.

That brief travelogue represents just a small part of our economy – our interwoven fabric of persons working for and with one another cooperatively. We typically think of the term “economy” in purely monetary terms. The word, however, comes from ancient roots meaning “management of the household.”  Our shared economy is not merely money changing hands and profit being made. We live together in an arrangement, in a society, in a large “household” as a human family.  And in that interdependent arrangement, each worker is valuable and every job is important.

The Bible describes the church as a body of adjoined parts, all needing each other (1 Corinthians 12:12-17).  Something similar could be said of our relationships in human society as a whole. Every member of society has a role of service and importance on behalf of others. If the supposedly least or lowest jobs aren’t being performed, everybody would feel it and be hurt by it. Imagine your next road trip with no gas stations open for business. Or imagine your neighborhood with no garbage collection week after week.  The most basic of jobs are, in many ways, the most essential for keeping society functioning.

A money-minded economy tends to elevate and virtually worship those at the top of the money pile—whose wealth may stem from inheritance or investments more than from income from work. But it is work itself—laboring to meet the needs of others—that truly keeps the human household well-ordered as an “economy.”  Work is dignified and meaningful, a gift of God for us in our lives on earth. From the beginning, God gave us work to do as managers of the created world. And God describes work—all persons’ work—as noble and worthwhile. “There is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot” (Ecclesiastes 3:22 NRSV).

Say a prayer of thanks for all the work that others do which benefits you. And offer thanks, too, for any job that you have—whatever that job may be. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV). Every job is a blessing and an opportunity. And each person’s work is vital to the life of well-being of one another.  We are held together by the many forms of work that people do. We rely on one another and live together as a community.

Posted by David Sellnow
18
Jan
2020

Still Standing

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on March 31, 2019.

Still standing

by David Sellnow

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Don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
… I’m still standing – yeah yeah yeah

“I’m Still Standing” – Elton John / Bernie Taupin

Too Low for Zero (1983) – Rocket Record Company (UK) / Geffen Records (USA)

***************

It’s customary to begin a devotional thought with verses from the Bible.  So I suppose starting with a Bernie Taupin lyric from an Elton John song is rather unconventional.  But the chorus of that song has been running through my head a lot lately.  The theme started a couple weeks ago.  As I was exiting the post office, I held the door for an older gentleman, somewhat hobbled, who was on his way in. “Have a good day,” I said to him.

“I always have a good day – I’m still standing up!” he replied, with a big, broad smile.

Not many days later, a sermon I heard mentioned the same sentiment.  “I’m up and I’m moving – I’m okay!”  The pastor had heard that thought expressed by a person of faith during life’s hard times.  It is the way that faith looks at life, constantly trusting a God whose everlasting arms are underneath us, holding us up (cf. Deuteronomy 33:27).

To be honest, though, thoughts of faith like that are unnatural for us.  We tend to have in mind an ideal image of life, of what we want life to be.  More accurately, we concoct an idol of how we expect life should be.  We worship that idol; we yearn for that ideal.  But even a non-biblical thinker such as Plato, the Greek philosopher, recognized the flaw in such thinking.  There is no “ideal” in the earthly realm.  Life in this world is imperfect, mortal, characterized by struggle.  Plato envisioned that perfect things could exist only in a higher realm.  He wasn’t wrong.  Through the testimony of Scripture, we know that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).  But we also know “that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).  And the true God calls upon us to keep ourselves from idols (1 John 5:21) – idols such as imagining that life on this earth should always be full of easiness for us.

The truth is that “through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom” (Acts 14:22).

The truth is that if we’re so much as standing up, it is because the Lord has given us the strength to be on our feet.  It is he who brings us up out of the pit, out of the miry clay.  He sets our feet on a rock and gives us a firm place to stand (cf. Psalm 40:2).

So our confession of faith will always be this:  “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our God.  They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright” (Psalm 20:7-8).

If you’re still standing—or even if you’re flat on your back, but still partaking in life—rejoice and be glad in that day.  As Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Ecclesiastes reminds us:  “Relish life … each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive” (Ecclesiastes 9:7-9, The Message).  Our God took away the sin of the world in a single day by giving his One and Only, Jesus Christ, into death for us. And then Christ stood up again after giving himself over to death.  Christ’s victorious standing up again (resurrection) gives us reason to stay standing even in life’s darkest days …  and gives us promise that even after we have been laid low, we will stand with our Lord again in eternity.

I’m still standing.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bible quotations from World English Bible (WEB) except where indicated.

Posted by David Sellnow
10
Jan
2020

Prayer Q & A

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on September 2, 2017.

Thoughts on Prayer

by Ashley Renstrom

What is Prayer?

“You are in my prayers.” “I’ll be praying for you.” Christians often share those words with others, but what do they really mean? What is prayer? Prayer is a Christian’s way of communicating with God. It is conversation with him, the communion of a believer’s heart with God. Prayer is the work of the Holy Spirit in Christians. The Holy Spirit works through the Bible; that is the means by which he fills us with God’s grace and enables us to pray.

Prayer is not just rambling words, as Jesus reminded us when he said, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Matthew 6:7). Prayer involves our words and our heart. King David wrote, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight” (Psalm 19:14). In prayer, we want to align our hearts with God.

Prayer is not magic. It does not make demands. Prayer is not a guarantee against suffering. It is not an opportunity for us to show off. Prayer is not a last resort. Instead, prayer is talking to the one true God. Prayer is a wonderful privilege, a blessing earned by Jesus and granted to believers.

Why Do Christians Pray?
Prayer is an amazing privilege, a blessing earned by Jesus and granted to believers. Prayer occurs when a believer talks to God with heart and mind. We know what prayer is, but why do we pray?

One reason Christians pray is to spend quality time with our heavenly Father. Here on earth, we talk with people on a daily basis. As we communicate with them, we understand them better and build a relationship with them. The same is true with our heavenly Father. We have the opportunity to talk with him daily about anything and everything, spending quality time with him and growing closer to him.

We also pray because God directs us to pray to him. He tells us to call on him in the day of trouble (Psalm 50:15), and to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Christians pray because God promises to hear and answer our prayers (Psalm 91:15). We pray to God to give thanks to him, to praise him, and tell him our thoughts, worries, and troubles. God loves to hear our prayers (Proverbs 15:8), and desires for us to talk to him each and every day.

What Can Our Prayers Include?
Joseph Scriven was an Irish poet who lived in the 1800s. He suffered many tragedies and trials in his life, including the deaths of two fiancées and bouts of depression. After the death of his first fiancée, Scriven emigrated from Ireland to Canada. While in Canada, he received word that his mother had fallen severely ill. He wrote a poem to comfort her. In that poem he wrote, “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.” That poem was later set to music and is known as the hymn, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.” Joseph Scriven nailed it on the head: we can pray to God about anything and everything.

An acronym frequently used to help people focus their prayers is ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

  • Adoration is all about praise. In a prayer of adoration we get to express our love for God and praise his power and majesty.
  • We need to come before God in confession each and every day. We sin daily and fall short of God’s perfection. So we confess our sinfulness and specific sins, ask for forgiveness, and thank the Lord for his unending mercy and grace. Each time we confess to God, we trust that he forgives us. We also ask for help to turn away from future temptations.
  • Prayers of thankfulness give God glory. There is much we are thankful for! We can thank him for all of the earthly blessings he bestows upon us, but do not want to forget thanks for our spiritual blessings as well. Thank Jesus for dying on the cross for you. Thank the Holy Spirit for the faith he has worked in you.
  • Prayers of supplication can be for ourselves and for others. No prayer is too big or too small. We pray in accordance with God’s will for desires for ourselves and others in this world. No matter what we are praying about or praying for, we pray in the name of Jesus and pray according to God’s will, for he knows best.
What’s The Answer, God?
God delights in our prayers and he hears all of them. He is never too busy to listen. We don’t have to leave a message on the answering machine and wait for him to listen and respond. He listens to our prayers the moment we begin speaking to him.

Not only does God always hear all of our prayers, he also answers all of them. God may answer our prayers in a few different ways. He might say, “No, that’s not good for you. I love you too much and have a better plan.” When our prayers are not answered in the way we want, it does not mean that God did not hear the request. It does not mean that God did not answer your prayer. When he doesn’t answer in the way we want, he is answering in the way that is best for us. It is not always easy to understand in this life. However, we have his promise that he will always do what is best for us.

Another answer God gives to prayer is, “Wait, and keep talking and listen to me.” While we wait, God draws us closer to him and strengthens our faith. A psalmist wrote, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope” (Psalm 130:5). In this day in age, people want instant answers to everything. However, God does not follow our timeline. God has his own timeline, and it is the best. While we wait, we wait patiently, leaning on his word.

God may also answer a prayer with, “Yes, here it is right now,” or “Yes, here is what you asked plus a little more.” God answers our prayers with answers that are best for our welfare. He loves us and takes care of us spiritually and physically. God knows what he is doing. Jeremiah wrote, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

We see God’s answers in our lives and hear his answers when we read his Word. It is important for us to stay connected to God through his Word and listen to him. It becomes easier to accept God’s will in answering our prayers when we remember that he “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). God loves us, and we can trust him to answer our prayers according to what he knows is best for us—because his way is perfect.
Posted by David Sellnow
24
Dec
2019

Thankful for a promise we can’t comprehend

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on November 26, 2014.

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Finding Comfort in Predestination

by MacCartney Mendolla

Predestination (or election) is a topic that Christians become squeamish about. However, the doctrine of predestination gives comfort to the believers because it assures them of their eternal life in Christ. Sometimes we want to put this doctrine on the back burner because it causes confusion, intimidation, and may cause hurt feelings. We don’t like thinking that our God wouldn’t select some for eternity in heaven. Our own human reason makes us feel uneasy about the doctrine of election because we like to think God chooses everyone to be saved.  Paul described the doctrine of election in this way:  God “chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (Ephesians 1:4-6).  These thoughts can make us uncomfortable because selection occurred before creation. Before we could even breathe or sin, God chose us. Our own human logic believes that if God created some to be elected then he had to have chosen some to damned. However, this is not the case. God wants everyone to be saved (as stated in 1 Timothy 2:4).

The doctrine of election also makes us uncomfortable because we don’t know if we have been selected, for that is veiled from our eyes. We cannot see the “list” of those selected. But we do have the Bible and it is God’s truthful Word.  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).  Although we cannot see back into eternity and know who is elected, we can find comfort in our lives now and notice what God is doing for us and what he promises to do for us in the future. We also receive his Word by hearing, listening, and reading it. God has taught us to trust him.  And we do trust his promises, for God never breaks a promise.  This is the promise of God we hang onto:  “Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

God elected some, but the Bible does not say he chose any person to be damned to hell. However, people can willfully reject God’s grace in Christ and not receive the inheritance of heaven, which is given to us through faith.  God’s election is not something by mere chance; rather, it is by God’s undeserved love for us. Jesus said to his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).  God chose us and there is nothing we could have done to become one of the chosen.  It is by grace that we believe in Jesus as our Savior and because of grace we will be in heaven.  Election is the starting point of our salvation and also a promise from God that we embrace by faith. The doctrine of election goes along with justification, sanctification, and salvation.

People all too often believe that they must do something to be saved. The truth is, no matter how many good deeds we do, they will never get us into heaven. All of us fall short of heavenly standards of being absolutely holy and blameless. If it were up to works for salvation, grace wouldn’t be needed from God.  Paul affirmed this truth:  God “has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9).  Because of Jesus’ redeeming work we can stand “holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4) already now and finally on judgment day. Jesus has already paid for our sins. Through him we believe in him and all he has done for us.

Christians, take comfort and reassurance in the doctrine of predestination. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith-and this not from ourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works—so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Take this gift given to us and believe in Christ Jesus our Lord who has saved us and gives us eternal life through him. Continue to grow in the faith and knowledge of our loving God. Look forward to our eternity in heaven.

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“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings” (Psalm 17:8).

Posted by Electric Gospel