Tag Archives: prayer

July 11, 2011 · 6:57 am

Enough Is Enough…Or Is It?

The effects of sin are numerous, and are ugly, horrible, yet very serious realities that we must face everyday. Thankfully, our gracious and merciful God provided us redpetion for our sinful nature through the blood of his son, Jesus Christ.

And yet, the effects of the choices of sin seem to become even more magnified when a believer, a follower of Christ, one who has professed a personal faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, is the perpetrator.

Sadly, I face this situation now with someone I know, someone I care about.

When a fellow believer, or someone from your family, or someone who is a friend, or from your church, or in your community chooses to follow a path that is contrary to the discipleship and teachings of Christ, the Bible is very clear on how we should handle that situation.

Matthew 18:15-20 states:
¹⁵ “If your brother or sistersins,go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’¹⁷ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will beloosed in heaven.
¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

But when it comes right down to it and it’s time to confront that person in Christian love, just how should we handle it?

There’s a fine line between a group of Christians confronting (in Biblical love) another about sin, and a group of Christians attacking someone else for personal choices they don’t agree with. A very fine line.

And what if the person who is confronted doesn’t want to listen? What if that person rejects all forms of care and concern because he or she knows that their choices are wrong, and therefore doesn’t want to listen to convicting words?

Then it’s time for the next step. Then it’s time to call in the leadership of the church. And if that doesn’t work, then we face the difficult task of treating them as we would a “pagan or tax collector.”

If you’ve ever had to face this difficult task, then you know how frustrating it can be to have to look at someone you care about, someone you call friend, and have to turn away, knowing that they are blatantly choosing sin over the truth they know so well.

My Biblical side knows that Christ himself sanctioned these steps of discipline to remind the believer that Christ’s sacrifice provides the means necessary to be in the presence of God, to be in the fellowship of believers. But my human side wants to punch that believer in the face because they know better– because they are hurting not only themselves, but those around them; the people who care about them most. Is this a wrong reaction? Is this human anger or righteous anger?

What if confronting this person, even in Christian love, drives them further away from Truth?

What if expelling them from your fellowship of faith turns them off from returning to the church forever?

What if you have to stand by and watch them destroy everything that has been good because of their bad choices?

Are these questions that should concern us as followers of Christ, or is it completely the responsibility of the believer to walk away from their choices of blatant sin and return to Truth?

And personally, how should we as individuals treat this person? When I see this person, do I shake hands or offer up that face-punch I want to deliver so badly? (Yeah, yeah. I know that’s not righteous anger.)

The difficulty lies in my own nature and desire to have this person “see” what they are doing by saying, “Hey. Enough is enough. Knock it off. You’re hurting those who love you most.”

I realize that someone cannot truly be helped unless they want help. I realize that every person has to make their own decisions and choices. And I realize that our prayers will be answered, for God is sovereign. For now I’ve decided that prayer is the most powerful weapon I have to fight the sin that so tightly grips my friend, whether they want my help or not.

That’s the cool thing about prayer– no one can stop you from praying for them.

Share with me: I’ve presented many questions in this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions, especially if you’ve faced a similar situation.

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Filed under The Christian Walk

Tagged as bible, discpline, Jesus, prayer, sin

June 19, 2011 · 2:13 pm

What I’ve Gotten from My Dad – So Far

Happy Father’s Day! In honoring my own wonderful Daddy, I want to share with you the things he’s given me in my life – so far.

– My blue eyes.
– My love of history. We like to bore the rest of the family to tears discussing historical events & religion. It’s awesome. Family dinners are a blast (well, not so much for the non-history lovers).
– A sense of duty- my dad served our country in the Army for over 20 years.
– A sense of patriotism. He loves this country more than anyone I know, and still gets choked up when he talks about those who’ve sacrificed their lives serving it.
– A wicked sense of humor. At first glance, he appears to be a quiet, reserved man, but he has the most hilarious sense of humor that appears when one least expects it. I’ll never forget one particular night (maybe 15 years ago or more) when he made me laugh until I cried. “Thank you, Air Force.” He’s made me laugh until I’ve cried a lot of times since.
– Driving lessons. With white knuckles and a sweating brow, he taught me to drive. I still hear his voice in my head when I’m on the road- he’s usually telling me that I’m following too closely.
– Security- I used to hate it when I was a kid and he’d walk with his hand on the back of my neck. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized that there are a bazillion security risks you take with your kids daily, and I now often walk with my hand on the back of my son’s neck.
– Integrity- my daddy has more integrity in his little finger than most people have in their entire bodies. He taught me that doing the right thing is more important than being right.
– A love of fishing.
– How to pray- my daddy uses every opportunity to pray for those whom he loves. It’s inspiring.
– The love of our Savior- he has always been a great example of Christ’s unconditional love. What a blessing to me and to my own children.
– Car maintenance. My daddy takes exceptional care of his vehicles. I’m embarrassed when he sees the inside of my car trashed out.
– A sense of service. My daddy is the kind of man who will drop whatever he’s doing and help you with anything. Whether it’s changing a tire or giving you the shirt off his back, he’s always willing to help.
– Faith- throughout many ups and downs in his life, never once has my dad doubted the love and faithfulness of the God he serves wholeheartedly.

Daddy, you’ve taught me many other things, and I’m certain that I’ll learn even more from you. Thank you for being a wonderful father and grandfather. I love you so much. And thank you for letting me use your chest as a table for my tea parties when I was little.

Readers- what lessons have you learned from your father or what special memories do you have with your dad?

Prayer, Praise, & Dirty Little Secrets

It’s prayer request time in your Sunday school class or Bible study group. People take turns sharing while you listen quietly, trying not to zone out and think about the movie you saw last night or the growing to-do list that you’d really rather be working on than sitting and listening to people whine about their problems.

Aunt Edna has cancer. She needs healing.

Billy Bob was in a car accident. Praise that he survived with only a scratch.
Sheila and her husband are leaving for a two week cruise in the Mediterranean. They need traveling mercies.
Dave lost his job and needs a new one.
Priscilla’s friend at work has a daughter whose step-son knows a boy who knocked out a tooth at a baseball game. Pray for him.
And Jessica has an unspoken.

I’m not making light of these prayer requests because I am a very firm believer in the power of prayer, and that no prayer request, when made with a genuine heart that seeks after God’s will, could ever be unworthy. However, let’s be honest. All of us have listened to others share prayer requests that are a little…questionable. Does Sheila actually expect you to pray for traveling mercies, or was she looking for a reason to boast about her upcoming vacation? Does Priscilla actually expect you to pray for a person she doesn’t even know, or was she just looking for a reason so share something with the group?

And what is up with an “unspoken”? How many of us hear that word in prayer circles and immediately begin imagining the worst? Since Jessica requested prayer for an unspoken, that probably means that she just found out she’s pregnant, she lost her job, and her husband left her- all yesterday- and she doesn’t want to talk about it. But you will.

In the spirit of “praying” for one another, we often feel the need to discuss the problems of others with our brothers and sisters in Christ, in the effort to make sure we’re all “praying” for them, of course. “Did you hear about Wanda and Geraldo? Let me tell you all the details I have about their outrageous behavior. Wait- you’re gonna pray for them, right??”

There is a very thin line between discussing the problems of others with our brothers and sisters in Christ in an effort to make sure everyone is “praying” and just flat out gossping. Recently I was speaking with a young woman at church and she made the comment, “I just wish everyone would stop talking about it and start praying.” I suddenly felt like my friends and I were stuck in a production of The Music Man and we were the hens from Pick-a-Little/Talk-a-Little. It was a very convicting moment.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

When someone shares a prayer request within the comfort of a group, whether it is your Sunday school class, your Bible study group, or maybe just over coffee with you, there is an unspoken, yet expected air of confidentiality. Sure, maybe they are announcing it to others, but unless they are specifically asking for it to be shared, it’s probably best that we don’t.

How many of us have said, “I’ll pray for you!” and then don’t do it? I know that in the South, where I live, “I’ll pray for you!” is one of those phrases thrown around commonly with, “bless her heart,” and “God love ‘im.” “I’ll pray for you” are powerful words–they come with an automatic assumption of expectations. Those words bring hope to others, and help them to believe that they are not alone.

Prayer is powerful. It works. Scripture tells us how to pray and just how powerful it is. What a comfort it is to go to someone and say, “Will you pray?” and know with 100% certainty that they will do so. What a comfort it is to know that you are not alone in your struggle or event, and that others are lifting you up to the Lord. You don’t have to be a prayer warrior or a master at intercessory prayer to lift someone up. So if you say you’re going to pray for someone- Do It.

On more than one occasion I’ve prayed, “Lord, I know I told someone I’d pray for them today but I can’t remember for the life of me what they needed prayer for. Thank goodness you know, Lord, so I lift that prayer request up to you now.” And I am thankful that He knows all of our prayers, praises, and dirty little secrets.

Want a good laugh? Funnyman Tim Hawkins has some good stuff on what we pray and how we do it.