Anchored

Anchored in Prayer

Our culture preaches a narrative that we are able, capable, and only limited by the imagination of our minds. We don’t have to listen too closely to the voices around us to notice the overt emphasis on self-help and human capability.

But we are more like the dependent child depicted in the prayer image than we are capable adults in control of all our circumstances and situations.

There are times in each of our lives where we realize how insignificant and weak we really are. A cancer diagnosis. Unexpected death of a loved one. Job loss. Pandemic. Work stress. Family illness. Natural disasters. Spiritual death.

If we are honest with ourselves, many things in our lives are outside our control and influence. This sense of personal helplessness is a prime opportunity to find ourselves anchored to God through prayer. This will be the fourth and final anchored post, and it culminates the underlying themes of the previous posts: Anchored in the Word, Anchored in the Gospel, and Anchored in the Church.

Why pray? Our sense of helplessness and inability is a key factor in our willingness to pray. When we are overwhelmed, uncertain, stressed, unable, or facing lack, through prayer we can find ourselves anchored to God who is in control, certain, able, and owns everything.

Prayer is a conversation. Throughout Scripture God invites his people to pray. Think about that. God wants you to bring your requests, burdens, and circumstances to him.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

If you are anything like me, you need God’s peace. So, if you are in need of God’s peace and interventions, then read on and learn some of the ways that prayer can anchor your faith.

When we pray, we are acknowledging God’s sovereignty and ability to intervene. There is nothing in this post more important than this truth. Praying reflects dependence on God. When we admit we are unable or that we lack, prayer and faith find their grounding in our spiritual lives. God is able to do far more than we can ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20). So when we pray, we can express our faith in God alone. It is from this place of dependence that God intervenes and answers,.

When we pray, we are trusting God’s wisdom. There are many things that I’ve prayed about and asked God for that I have not received. We must remember God is not a genie in a bottle. Our prayers are not wishes he is obliged to grant. Rather, God is all-knowing and all-wise. We should bring our burdens and requests to him. He is able to meet every one of them. But since he is Sovereign and in control, he knows best how to answer. We need to trust his wisdom. Remember, even Jesus requested that the Father remove the cup of the cross from him (Matt. 26:39), but submitted to the Father’s will.

When we pray, we are talking to our Father. God designed prayer to be more than a ritual or an event in a worship service. God granted us prayer as a glorious privilege. It is a conversation. Jesus teaches us to call God, Father (Matt. 6:9). Our Father in heaven knows what is best and cares to hear us and spend time with us. Prayer is a relational conversation between you and your Father who loved you enough to send Jesus to die for your privilege of prayer. This alone should motivate us to pray.

If prayer anchors our spiritual lives, then should we pray at set times or for extended periods of time like Jesus (Luke 6:12)? Should we pray for hours at a time like the spiritual giants of old (Martin Luther, Hudson Taylor, and others)? Should we whisper prayers through the day never ceasing our conversation with God (1 Thess. 5:17)? Should we fast when we pray (Matt. 6:9-18)?

Yes.

Yes. To all of the above and to many more questions we could ask about our manner and pattern of praying. Whether you pray in the morning during your quiet times, at night before bed, throughout the day in whispers, or in groups and services at church, prayer is a privilege that we should take advantage of more often than we do.

Here are a few guiding reminders that will strengthen our prayer lives:

  • Pray Scripture. One way you can be assured that you are praying what God wants is to pray phrases and sentences that God has already spoken. After all his thoughts and ways are not our own (Isaiah 55:8). My daily Bible readings often provide the content for how I talk to God. I find myself thanking God for his interventions as detailed in Scripture and bringing requests to God that connect to his work in the past. A helpful resource on this topic is Donald Whitney’s book, Praying the Bible.
  • Pray the gospel. What do I mean by this? Well the gospel teaches that we are spiritually bankrupt (Matt. 5:3) and in need of spiritual life (Eph. 2:1-10). Our need for Christ doesn’t change when we receive salvation. We do not need to be saved again, but the pattern of humility and dependence that characterized our entrance into salvation should continue to permeate our spiritual lives. When we remind ourselves in prayer of our need, our desperation, our dependence, we move to an attitude of humility, surrender, and faith that God hears. Praying gospel truths also reminds us that we can approach the Father because of the sacrifice of Christ.
  • Pray with others. Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father.” Prayer is a community privilege (Acts 4:23-31). While we cannot pray about everything on our prayer lists with everyone in the church, we can pray together with families, group members (Sunday school and discipleship groups), and close friends. Sharing prayer requests, praying together, and reflecting on answers to prayer will deepen prayer in our lives. Here’s one example. In our family devotions, we have often prayed for the sick and for protection. We also pray for the salvation of friends. Each time God strengthens, heals, and saves, we make time to thank God and praise him for answered prayer. This practice strengthens our faith.

Have you prayed today? I don’t ask to make you feel guilty if you haven’t. I ask to remind you that you can.

If you have a prayer request, I would be honored to join you in praying about it. Feel free to share in the comment section below, and I’ll pray with you about it today. If God has recently answered a prayer you’ve been praying, I would love for you to share that in the comment section as well. God’s answer to your prayer could encourage someone else!

Anchored in the Church

In today’s post, we are going to reflect on our need for the church community. This is post number three on the topic of being anchored. We have addressed being Anchored in the Word and Anchored in the Gospel the previous two weeks.

This post is informed by the observation that when God saved sinners, he also ordained the church into existence. God’s program of salvation and relationship with mankind does occur individually, but it is is not isolated. The means for spreading the gospel, worshiping God, and serving others is the church. The church is the people of God living in community.

The Greek word, ecclesia, is the word translated church in our English Bibles. It specifically means “called out” or “the called out ones.” The universal church is made up of every believer on planet earth and represents God’s people throughout history. But while the Bible speaks of the universal church, the most common reference to church in the Bible relates to the local church, or to a specific body of believers gathered around God’s mission for worship and fellowship.

To be sure the experience of church has looked different during this Covid-19 pandemic. Attendance, interactions, programs, classes, services, and relationships have all been affected. But the mission and necessity of the church has not been changed.

Our mission at Wilkesboro Baptist Church is to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus by worshiping, learning, serving and replicating.

Since the church’s founding after the resurrection of Christ, the church has survived persecution, marginalization, heresy, and countless debates and divisions. It is safe to say that the universal church is thriving as are many local congregations.

In his first general epistle, Peter described the church using metaphors and illustrations:

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 Peter 2:4-10, emphasis mine.

As the church, our identity is what God says about us. We are his, and God is building us up into his dwelling place. God has made us royal priests to serve his people and purposes. God has called us from among the nations to reflect his glory and goodness to others.

As Daniel Doriani observed in his commentary on 1 Peter, “In the old covenant, God set his people apart from the nations. In the new covenant, he sets us apart as we live among the nations.” God wants his church to reflect his mercy and goodness to each other and to the peoples around us.

The bottom line. We need each other. We need the church.

This past week I entered our Wednesday evening worship service preparing to preach. This is the service we record and stream on Sunday mornings. But I was not really in a good place, mentally or spiritually, as I walked into the service. We had recently had a repair done at my house that took up a great portion of my week. I was unable to get some things done that I needed to finish. And before the service I heard some distressing news. But something changed when I gathered with the believers to worship. The songs we sang emphasized God’s glory and intervention among his people. Our corporate worship and the leadership of our worship team moved me. I teared up. Sang. Wept. Praised. Prayed. Confessed. In that moment, I needed the ministry of our worship team and the ministry of congregational worship.

The other week, I wrote about just trying to get through. This past week I had this experience again.

I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my life that I’ve prayed for daylight. There have been times that I’ve prayed just to make it through the storm. There have been times that I’ve prayed to get by to the next day.

Anchored in the Word

Sometimes, God answers our prayers to get through with each other. Sometimes, God anchors us in relationship with one another. Sometimes, God holds onto us through the ministry of the church.

More times than I can count, God has strengthened, encouraged, supported, helped, and motivated me through the ministry of believers in his church. We need to be anchored in the church.

  • To be anchored in the church, we need to be part of the church. I’m not specifically talking about church membership. To be a part of the church, we need to repent of our sins and trust Jesus for salvation. Becoming a follower Jesus is our introduction into the life of the church. If you are a follower of Jesus, then you are a part of God’s church.
  • To be anchored in the church, we need to be connected to the church. Relationships matter. If you don’t believe me, consider the fallout from the isolation and separation during this pandemic. We need the benefit that comes with counting on one another in dependence and relationship.
  • To be anchored in the church, we need to serve one another. Just in the last week, I recognized my need for the ministry of someone else. Not only do we need relationship with fellow believers, but we need the gifts and service of others. Your church needs you. And you need the ministry of others in your church.
  • To be anchored in the church, we need to defend the unity of the church. In 1 Peter 2:1, Peter wrote: “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” Peter identified these community-destroying vices, and told his readers to rid themselves of behaviors and attitudes that damage the church. We have an obligation to defend the church’s unity.

Being in the church offers encouragement, accountability, service, and support. In this era of isolation and uncertainty, we need the church more than ever. Here are some application points for anchoring yourself in the life of your local church.

Attend, watch, participate. I realize not everyone can attend church right now. Masks, social distancing, pandemic spread, vulnurable health conditions are all reasons for staying home. But if you stay home, watch your church’s service online. Participate in the worship of your church. Sing. Pray. Praise. Take notes. Be a part of your church even if you are apart from your gatherings.

Call, encourage, communicate. While we may not all be able to be as present as we’d like to be, we can still remain in contact with one another. Don’t wait on someone to call you. Pick up your phone and think of someone who may be more lonely than you are. Give them a call. Send them a text. Minister to them. Serving someone else by caring for them is part of our church’s mission.

Pray, support, give. Distance does not affect one’s ability to pray for the needs and situations in the church. One way to remain connected is to pray for your pastoral staff, church leaders, and those sick in the church. Our prayers, support, and giving are ways to invest in the life of the church. Investment in the church leads to being anchored in the church.

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash