Passing Life's Tests

We all experience times of frustration, anxiety, pain, loneliness, and desperation. Sometimes those feelings are consequences of our own actions, and other times they are not.

All of life's experiences, both positive and negative, are God's way of molding us according to his will. As God says in Jeremiah 9:7 (ESV),

I will refine them and test them,
    for what else can I do, because of my people?

It might make us uncomfortable to realize that God constantly refines and tests us, including by subjecting us to various trials, but who are we to question his will?

How, then, do we pass these tests of life? The answer appears many places in the Bible, including Psalm 145:18-19 (ESV),

The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also hears their cry and saves them.

That's it! The answer is not complicated. Simply, we must give our lives to God and submit to his will. So in our prayers today, let us humbly ask God to forgive our sins, and let us dedicate this day to him.

Advice from Hebrews

The book of Hebrews contains many important spiritual points. For example, in 2:1 (ESV), the author speaks to people who, while they might be called believers, have let their faith grow stale:

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

We all fall into the trap of letting our faith grow stale. To me, this passage from Hebrews says that we must work diligently at our faith. Read the Bible, contemplate on its message, ask God for guidance, etc. Our faith must be active.

And the best path to active faith: Pray Without Ceasing!

Psalm 119

I once heard Charles Stanley say that, when we kneel down to pray and we don't know what to say, that's a good sign that we need to stay on our knees and keep praying!

In similar spirit, when I find myself struggling to pray, I often turn to Psalm 119. Clocking in at 176 verses, Psalm 119 is well-known as the longest chapter in the Bible. (For example, in the audio Bible that I have loaded on my MP3 player, Psalm 119 is almost 18 minutes long.)

Now, regarding Psalm 119, I find that its length, itself, is an attribute, because it forces me to focus on spiritual matters for longer than I otherwise might. But length, along, is not what makes Psalm 119 so special. Rather, Psalm 119, from beginning to end, is one of the most beautiful prayers in the entire Bible. A constant theme throughout the psalm is the joy that comes from complete trust in God, and the overwhelming delight in obeying his commandments.

As a small example, verse 10 (ESV) reads,

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

What a beautiful, one-line prayer. And Psalm 119 is full of such verses!

So as a useful prayer tool, spend time with Psalm 119. Whether reading it or listening to it, Psalm 119 forces us to remain focused in prayer for 15-20 minutes. And afterward, you'll feel spiritually renewed!

The Ten Commandments

Several times, I have quoted Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV),

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

I like this verse, because it boils our job down to a simply, easy-to-recall statement. But if we dive deeper, what are his "commandments"? Of course, the Bible is full of instructions on how we should conduct our lives, and I believe that an active prayer life involves constant study of the Bible.

But if you seek a condensed set of instructions, head right for the Ten Commandments, which appear in Exodus 20:1-17. (They also appear in Deuteronomy 5:4-21.)

Make Exodus 20:1-17 a regular part of your Bible reading, but as you go through the commandments, recall that Jesus advised us to interpret the Ten Commandments as liberally as possible. For example, the 5th commandment says, "You shall not murder." OK, easy enough. Just don't murder anyone.

But in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that, in addition to the strict definition of murder, we also are guilty of murder if we are angry at someone, or if we insult someone, or if we utter anything bad about anyone. (See Matthew 5:21-22). By this definition, all of us are guilty of murder!

The point is that we should interpret each of the Ten Commandments as liberally as we possibly can. Read the Commandments again and again. And then,

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

What to be proud of

It's easy to take pride in earthly possessions, accomplishments, and social standings. But the very first commandment tells us not to let those things come before God in our lives. Indeed,  Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV) tells us that, if we must boast, don't boast about earthly things. Rather, boast about God.

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight.

I've posted previously about how the book of Habakkuk presents a similar message. And I also posted about how David got himself in hot water by boasting about his earthly possessions.

As we pray this weekend, let's try to place God where he belongs: above everything else!

Acknowledge Sin

Walking in faith does not mean that we never sin. In fact, God understands that, due to human nature, we occasionally will sin. But what really angers him in when we show no shame or remorse for our sins. This theme appears throughout the Bible, including in Jeremiah 6:15 (ESV),

Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
    No, they were not at all ashamed;
    they did not know how to blush.

We must recognize sin, and when we sin, we must repent and show genuine remorse. As God says in Jeremiah 3:12-13 (ESV),

I will not look on you in anger,
    for I am merciful;
I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt,
    that you rebelled against the Lord your God

God's grace is am amazing gift! But to receive that gift, we must "acknowledge our guilt." We should search our lives and acknowledge times that we've disobeyed his commandments. Because, as written in Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV),

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Food that Truly Satisfies

Each day, we face forks in the road. At each fork, one path pleases God, and the other doesn't.

First, we should recognize those times that we choose the wrong path, and we should ask God for forgiveness for those times. (And repent quickly! Don't wait for God to grab your attention through some kind of punishment!)

Once we repent, we should ask ourselves a tough question: Why do we sometimes choose the path that doesn't please God? God asks us this very question in Isaiah 55:2 (ESV),

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.

The first two lines of this verse ask us: Why do we disobey God? Are we openly rebelling against God? Or are we just spiritually lazy? Does disobeying God provide us with temporary enjoyment?

Whatever the reason, figuring out why we sin is an important part of removing sin from our lives.

The next two lines of the passage command us to leave sin. Seek God. He is the "rich food" that truly satisfies. Seeking God provides more than just temporary enjoyment--it provides eternal satisfaction!

We are not Clever

As we become older, we accumulate knowledge, whether through life's experiences or through formal education. Although intellectually satisfying, a downside of accumulating knowledge is that we can become convinced of our cleverness. But as written in Proverbs 3:5 (ESV),

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.

Paul explores this topic further. In 1 Corinthians 1:25 (ESV), he writes

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Not only are we not clever, but our attempts to become clever inevitably backfire. As Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 2:9 (ESV),

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him.

That is, we cannot possibly understand God's ultimate plan! These passages imply that our prayers need not be complicated philosophical exercises. Rather, we should humbly acknowledge God's greatness and offer our lives to him.