Teach Me to Pray - Week #18: Prayer and Love

The fourteenth chapter of Andrew Murray's book, Teach Me to Pray, focuses on the imperative that we love others if our prayers are to be effective. Murray particularly underscores forgiving others and being a person with a disposition of forgiveness.

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Mark 11:25

"Prayer from a heart that is not right - either with God or with others - cannot prevail. Faith and love are essential to each other." (Matthew 5:23,24; 6:12; 6:15; 18:35)

"Every prayer rests upon our faith in God's pardoning grace. If God dealt with us according to our sins, not one prayer would be heard."

Over the years I have come to realize that the true follower of Jesus must become increasingly good at forgiving. I say this because the more alive I am in God, the more aware I am of my own heart and how it can shut down quickly over slight offenses that a day brings if I'm not quick to release the perceived offender from my judgment. Most days bring some kind of small, if not large, offense that I get to choose my heart response to.

To live a lifestyle of forgiving and receiving forgiveness requires the grace and power of the Spirit of Jesus. In recent years I've attempted to make a habit of fairly regularly holding my heart before the Lord and asking Him to show me if there has been anything in the past day or so that I was hurt or offended by; if He highlights something (I don't try to make things up but simply wait to see if He surfaces anything to my mind), I take the time to talk it out and process the experience with Him, being honest about how I felt when it happened. Then I consciously release the "offender" from my judgment of him/her in my heart and ask the Lord to forgive me for anything He shows me in which I sinned.

Most of the ongoing offenses of life (whether I'm the perpetrator or the recipient) don't need to be processed with the person involved because often they are unaware of what happened. But it's important to process the little offenses with the Lord so that they don't fester inside and eventually become bitterness and poison.

Just this week I was talking over a situation with the Lord and realized that when it took place, I had not been honest with Him and with myself about my emotions over the incident. My logic argued that there were good reasons for what had happened (and there really were good reasons), but that didn't change the fact that I had felt hurt by the incident. All I needed to do was to be honest with the Lord, forgive and release those I had unconsciously held responsible (even though my head said they weren't responsible), and then ask the Lord to cleanse me of unforgiveness and to expand my capacity to love and forgive quickly.

When you practice this regularly, it doesn't take a lot of time because you aren't dealing with a backlog of offenses, and you begin to be a person, like Murray says, "of a forgiving disposition." I want to get better and better at forgiving; I want to be increasingly aware by the Spirit of what I have been forgiven so that I become a "hilarious" forgiver - not simply in theory but in truth.

I'll close this by quoting a portion of this chapter that is very well put by the author:

"Our frame of mind in the hour of prayer is judged by God against the total frame of mind of our ordinary daily life of which that hour is but a...part. Not the feeling I muster up in prayer but the tone of my life during the day is God's criterion of what I really am and desire...Not only the distinct consciousness of anything wrong between my neighbor and myself, but also the ordinary current of my thinking and judging, or unloving thoughts and words I allow to pass unnoticed, can hinder my prayer. The effective prayer of faith comes from a life surrendered to the will and the love of God...Love is the only soil in which faith can put down its roots and thrive."

May the Holy Spirit teach us what true love for God and for others is.

Dear Spirit of Jesus, the One Who freely forgave me when I was His enemy and Who continues to forgive me, would You reveal the cross to me in such a way that I am increasingly empowered to love and forgive others, thereby releasing them to You and Your perfect ways. Thank You that You love to do this for Your own. In Jesus' name. Amen.

The Rewards of Fasting

The chapter we looked at last week underscored the impact of fasting on our prayers, and I want to take this week to pause, step outside of Murray's book and share some more on this critical topic of fasting. Although it has been largely neglected by the western Church, the Holy Spirit is awakening His people to this practice as we prepare for the end of the age.

I'll preface this material with an encouragement to you to take baby steps in fasting if it's not part of your life in God. We have a lot of fear related to fasting, and the fear is worse than the actual practice. If you're just beginning, I would encourage you to start with one meal a week, then increase that to two meals a week until you are fasting regularly for at least a day a week. The following is taken from the book "The Rewards of Fasting" by Mike Bickle. (Another excellent book on fasting is Mark Nysewander's "The Fasting Key".)

“Matthew 6:17-18…Saying ‘yes’ to the fasted lifestyle and positioning our hearts before a Bridegroom God in fasting is a marvelous invitation from the Lord and there are many rewards to be reaped. What we must know from the beginning of this journey, however, is that may of these rewards are at first hidden from us because they are internal rewards, related to our intimacy with God. They are centered around that which touches the heart and thus are often difficult to recognize easily or quickly.” - Mike Bickle

Five Rewards of Fasting (Bridegroom fast):
1. Fasting tenderizes and sensitizes our hearts to receive more of God. Fasting in faith tenderizes our emotions. The human heart is naturally prone to hardness and dullness toward God, and there’s no neutral ground when it comes to our heart’s posture towards God. We are either moving toward Him or away from Him; without intentionality, the heart will move away from Him. Through fasting, in time we begin to recognize that our ability to experience God’s affections and beauty is growing; increased anointing to live with the first and great commandment first in our lives comes.

2. Fasting enlarges our capacity for a righteous and focused life. Through fasting our desires begin to change. We know from Scripture that Jesus loves righteousness and hates wickedness (Psa. 45 says that’s why He is such a glad Person!), and He wants to impart this same passion to us. By nature fallen humans love sin and hate righteousness; through fasting our emotional chemistry is gradually changed and our desires change. Over time we realize how passionate we are for holiness, and being strengthened in righteousness causes us to become immovable and steady. The monastics practiced what they called “holy detachment” from lesser things/loves in order to focus on first love. This doesn’t mean not doing the lesser duties of life but doing them with a burning and lovesick heart.

3. Fasting illuminates the mind with revelation. The Bridegroom fast sharpens the mind and enhances the amount of revelation we can receive from God; and our understanding of life begins to transcend some of the common-held values of our culture (even Church culture), freeing us from pettiness that bogs us down. Some “deep things” (I Cor. 2:7-10) that God wants to reveal to His own:
a. Deep love and affection – Eph 3:18-19;Rom. 2:4
b. Deep displeasure – Ps 2:5;Isa 63:5-6
c. Deep judgments – complex in purpose and nature. (Ps 36:6; Rom 11:33)
d. Deep thoughts – hidden plans of the mystery of God. (Ps 92:5; Rom 11:33;
1 Cor 2:7-8; Eph 3:9; Col 1:26; Luke 19:42)
e. Deep wisdom – administration of His plans. (Rom 11:33;Col 2:3)
f. Deep knowledge – possesses vast information. (Rom11:33)
g. Deep secrets – hidden manna. (Dan 2:22;Deut. 29:29;Prov 3:32)

4. Fasting strengthens a sense of our spiritual identity. Within the human heart is a deep cry to know who we are and that we matter to someone. There is a yearning to know and to feel the reality of our identity as sons or daughters of the Father in heaven and as the Bride of the Son. The bridegroom fast strengthens us in this identity. Without this revelation, we flounder around focused on ourselves, wondering if we’re doing it all right or what God and people are thinking of us – very self-conscious. No one can live differently from this without divine power at work in him/her. Our true and full identity as God’s beloved child comes only through the ongoing revelation of His unconditional love and affections for us.

5. Fasting equips our bodies and enhances our physical health and spiritual intimacy. We commonly think of intimacy with God as purely spiritual with no relationship to our physical body, but this is not true. Spirit, soul, and body are intricately woven together in the human frame, so what we do with our body impacts our spiritual life. Food often becomes a false god to us, so fasting is God’s grace-filled gift for helping dethrone it. Fasting also helps us avoid over-indulging in legitimate physical appetites so that the life of the Spirit in us is not quenched. “Bad diets, bodies filled with toxins and poisons, poor exercise and excessive overworking without a Sabbath rest all rob us of our physical strength. Part of being wholehearted toward God is cooperating with His physical principles. Doing so gives us strength to engage in fasting and prayer.” I Peter 4:7

Lord, here we are, weak but genuine in our love for you...we long to know you. Thank you for this simple way of drawing near to You, the absent Bridegroom, through fasting. I ask you to give us grace to fast as we see the Day approaching; give us desire to seek after you in prayer and fasting so that our inner life is strengthened and established in Your love. Thank You that You hear our cry and are eager to help us! In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Teach Me to Pray - Week #17: The Cure of Unbelief

"Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not cast it out?' So Jesus said to them, 'Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed...nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.'" Matthew 17:19-21 (NKJV)

In this chapter Andrew Murray says that the cause of failure in the spiritual world is lack of faith or unbelief. Murray goes on to say that, according to Jesus' teaching, the cure for unbelief is two-fold: prayer and fasting.

"...He teaches two lessons of deep importance about prayer. First, faith needs a life of prayer in which to grow and remain strong. Second, prayer sometimes needs to be combined with fasting for its perfect development."

Faith only grows as it feeds on God Himself and prayer is the means by which we feed on the divine life. "It is the adoring worship of God, the waiting on Him and for Him, the deep silence of soul that yields to God to reveal himself, that the capacity for knowing and trusting God will be developed."

In western Christianity the idea of "much prayer" is foreign. With the increase of technology, the pace of life has accelerated with pressures on every side, and so we attempt to have a relationship with God without spending much time at it. Our model of feeding on His life is more like a drive-thru fast food eatery than a sit-down restaurant. "But what the Master says and what the experience of His people has confirmed is that people of strong faith are people of much prayer...Faith needs prayer for its full growth."

Secondly, "...prayer needs to be combined with fasting for its perfect development...Prayer is like one hand grasping the invisible; fasting is like the other letting go of the visible. In nothing is man more connected with the world of sense than in his need of food and his enjoyment of it. It was the fruit, good for food, with which man was tempted and fell in Paradise."

Fasting is a means of strengthening the "inner man" to be able to persevere in prayer and to empower one to "pray much." We don't naturally have strength to pray much, and much prayer is needed in order to see the will of the Father accomplished, especially in cases of the stubborn resistance of evil.

Murray finishes the chapter by reiterating that "prayer is reaching out after God and the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is of the seen and temporal...Without such voluntary separation - even from what is lawful - no one will attain full power in prayer."

Fasting is a huge topic that deserves much more attention in the western Church; the Spirit of God is bringing it to the forefront in these days, and it will become common practice for all God's people as we near the end of the age. There are a couple of outstanding books on this topic that have helped me immensely in the subject of fasting: "The Key to Fasting" by Mark Nysewander, and "The Rewards of Fasting" by Mike Bickle.

May the Lord grant us the grace to fast and pray in increasing measure in these critical days of human history. God bless you this week!

Teach Me to Pray - Week #16: The Secret of Believing Prayer

"'Have faith in God', Jesus answered. 'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'" Mark 11:22-24

Anyone who takes Jesus seriously has probably questioned how we can ever attain the faith that is certain of receiving all that it asks. Murray points out that it only comes through knowing the One Who makes the promise: "...Before He gave that wonderful promise to His disciples (Mark 11), He told where faith in the answer to prayer begins and always receives its strength. Have faith in God...The power to believe a promise depends entirely on faith in the one who made the promise. Trust in the person generates trust in his word. Only when we live with God in a personal, loving relationship where God Himself is everything to us, only when our whole being is continually opened up and exposed to the mighty working of His holy presence within, is a capacity developed to believe that He gives whatsoever we ask."

In this chapter Murray teaches that faith is the "eye" and "ear" of the heart; we must see and hear God in order for faith to grow. To see Him is to meditate on His beauty and power, His nature and character, allowing the truth of who He is and how He feels and thinks about me and those I pray for penetrate me deeply. To hear Him is to dialogue with Him, listening to what He wants to speak and whisper to me. "I must hear the person who gives me the promise. The very tone of his voice gives me courage to believe. I must see him. In the light of his eye and countenance, all fear as to my right to take (from Him) fades away."

I believe that the true Church at the end of the age will be a people of believing prayer because we will know our God, what He's really like. One of the reasons the Holy Spirit is raising up a prayer movement that is saturated with worship is that through Scripture-based and prophetic worship, God's people will become educated about the true nature and character of the One we love and serve. Without knowing the true Jesus, we can't hope to pray in faith, and the Holy Spirit is orchestrating a movement across the earth that is proclaiming truth about God and inviting believers into the intimate knowledge of God.

I'm discovering that the more concentration I give to ministering to God in worship and His Word, the more faith is rising in my intercession. Knowing well the One to whom I make my requests gives me increasing confidence that He will answer and give me what I ask. Capacity to believe increases as I grow in knowing Him intimately, and worship that is based on the Word is one of the most effective ways of getting to know Him and focusing on Him. (Obedience to Him is part of true worship.)

"Faith is simply surrender. By faith I yield myself to the living God because of what I hear and learn about Him. His glory and love fill my heart and master my life. Faith is fellowship. I give myself up to the influence of the friend who has made me a promise, and I become linked to him by it. When we enter into this living fellowship with God himself in a faith that always sees and hears Him, it becomes easy and natural to believe His promise as it relates to prayer. Faith in the promise is the fruit of faith in the one who promised...

"Let faith look to God more than toward the thing promised...the cure of a weak faith is only found by revitalizing our whole spiritual life through close fellowship with God...See Him as the God of love, whose delight is to bless and impart himself to us. In faith make God your own; then the promise will be yours also."

"Let faith look to God more than toward the thing promised..." Could it be that the Lord waits on the answer to our requests for us to reach the place of wanting Him more than we want what we're asking for???

Murray ends this chapter by alerting us to the fact that although the Bible is full of promises, we must hear them personally quickened to us by the Spirit of God Himself in order to have spiritual power. And so we need to take the time to wait before Him and listen for His voice in His Word.

"Lord Jesus, increase my faith. Teach me to take time to wait and worship in Your holy presence until my faith takes in all there is in my God for me." Holy Spirit, open the eyes and ears of my heart to see and hear the living and true God. You, Lord, are my Reward and my Life; grant me increasing capacity to receive Your love and truth whereby my faith will grow and take hold of all that I ask. Thank You that You want this infinitely more than I want it, and so I pray with confidence that You will do this. In Jesus' holy name. Amen.