Tag: prayer

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Christian Living

Unconfessed Sin. Unintentional Sin. Unknown Sin. Is this a big deal?

Is it possible we could sin and not know it? Possible to have unconfessed sin in our lives? And if so, what would that mean? As we read God’s Word, we find that He is serious about sin. And because He is, we sometimes get worried about our own possibility of some sin we may be unaware of.

a photo of a person with a cartoon sad face - pointing to our fear about unconfessed sinLet’s start by thinking about unintentional sin. Sins that I committed that I didn’t mean to, and maybe didn’t even know about. Does God care? Well in that somewhat difficult third book of the Bible – Leviticus – we discover that God gives instructions on this issue. In Leviticus 4:2, God says, “When anyone sins unintentionally…”

The passage points out that it is possible to sin unintentionally and that we can even sin without knowing we have done so. That is because God’s will does not change, even when we are unaware of it. But this is also true in our own families. Parents have wishes that their kids might not know about, and kids could violate those wishes unintentionally. We can do the same with God’s commands.

But to help the people not be overly concerned about it, God tells them that if they sin unintentionally, but later realize it, that they were simply to make amends through the proper offering at the moment they realized their error. That’s good news. God isn’t looking for ways to punish us. He’s looking for ways to forgive us!

I’m glad He pointed out to them that if they discovered unintentional or unconfessed sin, there was a way to deal with it. In the same way, if I didn’t know I had hurt your feelings, but later discover the truth that you were upset with me about something I’d done, the right thing for me to do is to apologize to you the moment I realize my error. We should do the same with God.

This section of Leviticus also reminds us that ignorance is no excuse. For capable, intelligent adults, if we violate the Word of God even in ignorance, our guilt remains. But before we say “that’s not fair,” we can look at how things work the same way in our world.

Just because I’m unaware of a rule doesn’t mean I can’t be punished for it. If you fail to pay attention to the Speed Limit sign, you can still get pulled over and get a ticket when you exceed that number. Your ignorance of the speed limit does not change the fact that you are guilty of breaking the speed limit.speed limit 25mph sign - reminding us that ignorance of the limit will not keep you from getting a ticket

God expects us to know how to live in a way that pleases and honors Him. He has given us the Bible to help us. God the Holy Spirit resides within us to guide us. And we are responsible to repent of our specific sins once we become aware of them.

So don’t let this frighten you as if you might be condemned for unconfessed sin. Don’t let this lead you into thinking that God is looking for any opportunity to pounce on you with condemnation. Providing a way to deal with these sins through an offering points out that God desires to forgive more than to punish!

These commands point out that God gave His people ways to reconnect with Him anytime they realized they had sinned, even if the sin was in the past. God doesn’t want us living in fear of Him. God loves you and wants you to have a deep relationship with Him, and He does all He can to keep our relationship with Him strong and healthy.

Remember – Jesus died on the cross for all your sin – past, present, and future! God has taken care of the ultimate penalty for our sins through the death of Jesus. So if you have made Jesus Lord and Savior, then your unconfessed sin does not condemn you in any way.

Take a moment to thank God that Jesus’ death on the cross took care of atoning for all of your sins – past, present, and future. And thank Him that by confessing Jesus as Lord of your life, that He has become your Rescuer, Redeemer, and Savior.

And if, when you read God’s Word and listen to the Holy Spirit, He points out any attitudes, thoughts, or behaviors that you previously didn’t realize were sins, commit to repairing any damage done by those sins, and work toward refraining from those sins in the future. Remember that all of God’s commands are for your good – to bring blessing into your life. He isn’t a divine ogre looking to squash us, He is a loving Father looking to forgive us and bless us!the word forgiveness spelled out in the sand

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Categories
Prayer

Transparency – Where Do You Need the Most Prayer Right Now?

In my previous post, I mentioned to you that our Disciple-Groups started with personal prayer needs and that doing so required transparency on our part.
image of man kneeling in prayer - reminding us also of our need for transparency
Even so, sometimes we don’t quite know where to start. Therefore, we use the following guide to help us share personal prayer needs.

The reason I’m sharing them with you, is that these are not just good for giving others information on how to pray for you, but it can also give you guidance on how to pray for yourself. Read through them one time, and then go back through them praying for each one that applies to your life.

For which of these items do you need the most prayer right now?
     a. Your relationship with God?
             i. Personal Daily Bible Reading
             ii. Personal Prayer Life
             iii. Personal Purity

     b. Your relationship with your spouse?
             i. Face-to-Face Time together
             ii. Prayer/devotional time together (other than meals & family devotions)

     c. Your relationship with your children?
             i. Prayer/devotional time together (other than meals)
             ii. Walking and talking time together

     d. Your relationship with your coworkers?
             i. Workplace Pastor Role
             ii. Planting Seeds of the Gospel to those who work around you

We also ask that each person will share how God is leading them, and the following questions can help provide you ways to answer. These can provide you with additional guidance on how to pray for yourself, and how to ask others to pray for you.How would you answer each one?
     a. What good habit or character trait do you feel God wants to form in your life?
        And how have you taken specific steps to develop that habit?
     b. How are you leading your family to be closer to the Lord?
     c. As a “workplace pastor,” how are you leading your coworkers to be closer to the Lord?
     d. What is God presently telling you to do & what are you doing about it?
     e. How have you turned a conversation toward Christ since our last meeting?
     f. How has the Bible shaped the way you think and live since our last meeting?
     g. What opportunities did God give you to serve others since our last meeting?
     h. How have you received a specific answer to a prayer since our last meeting?

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Categories
Prayer

Sharing Personal Prayer Needs with Others is Important

In my previous post, I shared the commitments of our FBC Newton Discipleship-Groups. Along with those commitments, what actually happens when the group meets? One important aspect is sharing personal prayer needs.

By Personal Prayer Needs, we mean prayer requests that you have for yourself or for your immediate family (as in the people who live in the house with you). Most of us are good at sharing the prayer needs of other people around us, but we are seldom transparent about what we need prayer for the most in our own lives. Being honest and transparent in this way takes trust. That trust is more easy to develop in a small D-group than in a Sunday School class of 12 people.

We believe that prayer is effective at changing lives, and so we ask for Personal Prayer Needs and then we take the time to pray together for one another.

Are you sharing personal prayer needs with anyone in your life? Or do you keep all of those to yourself?

praying hands symbolizing the need for prayer, but also encouraging personal prayer needs being shared with others
Who Can You Get To Join You In Praying For Your Personal Prayer Needs?

In conjunction with these prayer needs, we then ask for each person to share what God has been teaching them through their Bible reading. This is where we share what we have written down that God has been teaching us. This could be something challenging, helpful, interesting, or difficult from your Bible reading. Again, these are also often a form of prayer needs, as someone might say, “As I was reading this passage about controlling the tongue, God pointed out to me to watch how I talk to my wife. I have been pretty harsh lately.” This becomes an additional transparent prayer need that we can pray for as a group.

As we read God’s Word, we ask each person to ask: “What applications can I find in the passage to help me live for Christ more consistently?”

One way you can do this is to use C.A.S.E. to find application points. As you read the Bible, look for:

    C – Commands to obey
    A – Attitudes to change
    S – Sins to avoid or confess
    E – Examples to follow

Then we pray to end our meeting, asking God to help us apply something specific that we have discussed/discovered in our meeting.

As I wrote previously, I will say again: You need this in your life!
You need to be discipled by others and you need to be discipling others.
That is the calling on your life to “Go and make disciples” that Jesus commanded of you.

Are you reading your Bible with a view toward how to apply it to your life? The Bible gives us clear application of how to live in a way to bring glory to our great God.

Who do you have in your life that you are able to share personal prayer needs with? Who do you know is truly committed to praying for you? Who can you ask to pray for you regarding the applications you are gaining from your Bible reading? There are people out there who are willing to be in a group with you to do this. If you aren’t sure who they are, begin praying now that God will point them out to you, and then invite those two or three people to start a group with you.

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Categories
Prayer

Developing a Significant Prayer Life is Essential

How will we ever get to the point where we realize that our lives are more about relationships with God and with others, and not so much about work and money and news and politics? Through “Significant Time in Prayer and Bible Study.” What do I mean by significant prayer life?

One definition of the word significant is: substantial; relatively large in amount.
Is that how you would characterize your Prayer and Bible Study time?

In his book How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life, Dr. Gregory Frizzell’s rightly states:
a man with arms stretched out in worship as part of significant prayer

“No one’s relationship with Christ will ever rise above the level of his or her praying. Put simply, if your prayer life is inconsistent and weak, so will be your relationship with God…. Brief, inconsistent prayer times never produce powerful Spirit-filled believers. Furthermore, brief inconsistent prayer never has and never will bring a Great Spiritual Awakening. In America, we have made a “god” out of the ideas of convenience and ease. We want to give God a brief minute or two and try to fit Him into our busy schedules if it is convenient. The God of the Universe deserves and requires far more than this to release His full power on our lives. If Jesus and the early church spent much time in prayer, what makes us think we can do less? If every generation which saw a sweeping Great Awakening spent much time in prayer, why would we think God has changed His requirement for today? God’s requirements have not changed and they never will. Unfortunately, what has changed is our definition of what constitutes a powerful prayer life. A three or four minute daily devotion is not what is meant by a powerful prayer life.”

I would think that “significant prayer time” means at least 30 minutes in uninterrupted time with God – reading His Word to hear from Him and offering back our prayers in response. Now if our immediate reaction is: “I can’t commit to 30 minutes of time with God,” then that means we still have a long way to go in understanding the meaning of life and the heart of God. We make significant time for other things. When will we set aside a significant amount of time for God?

Pray that God would transform you into a person that desires to spend significant time with Him.

Categories
Missions

Prayers for Missions from Missionaries.

I ran across these prayers for missions from some who have gone before us as they prayed about their desire to be used by God in His plan to save those who are lost:

portrait of john hyde and praying hands as a representative of these missionaries who had bold prayers for missions
“Praying” John Hyde

“O Lord, give me souls, or take my soul!” –George Whitefield, famous English evangelist in the 1700s.
“Lord, to Thee I dedicate myself, oh accept of me, and let me be Thine forever. Lord, I desire nothing else, I desire nothing more.” –David Brainerd, missionary to North American Indians in the 18th century.
“Give what Thou wilt, and how much Thou wilt, and when Thou wilt. Set me where Thou wilt and deal with me in all things as Thou wilt.” –Thomas à Kempis, 1379–1471.
“Use me then, my Savior, for whatever purpose and in whatever way Thou may require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel, fill it with Thy grace.” –Dwight L. Moody in the 1800s.
“Here let me burn out for God.” –Henry Martyn, a missionary, as he knelt on the ground in India in 18th century.
“Father, give me these souls, or I die.” –John Hyde, missionary to India, 19th century.

Are your prayers similar to these in any way?

So many of us pray in the following way for missions: “God send them. God use them. God speak to them.”
Yet these great missionaries and evangelists all said: “God use me, God send me, God speak to me, God help me lead people to You.”

We need to start praying to God about our direct involvement in missions. It doesn’t mean you have to go around the world, it just means we need to open our eyes to opportunities to be on mission around us. (Though, if you are truly open to God’s calling, He might just call you to the other side of the world!)

If the Bible is a missionary book, the people of the Book are charged with being a missionary people.

Let me conclude with an encounter after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. One of my church members was working with a Christian organization to provide grants for rebuilding. During one interview, a man came in and shared this with my friend Charles. He said:

My entire life, I have been so bad to God. But since Katrina, He has been so good to me. Volunteers are rebuilding my house, God has provided for my needs through church people from other parts of our country, and I have a restored relationship with God. All of the loss and devastation that happened to me through Katrina was worth it for me to have a right relationship with God.

Isn’t that what we want to hear as the result of our involvement with other people – that someone who was Lost is now Found? God has called you to a difficult task, but He has a plan for using you to make a difference in peoples’ lives right where you work and live. Let us not worry so much about how God might bless our lives, but let us consider how we might bless our Lord, our Savior, as we obey His calling to share Him with others.

There’s one thing you cannot do about missions: get rid of your responsibility.