Dust's Lover.

Genesis 18:27 (Abraham) Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes…”

Why did Abraham talk like that? Why don't I?

Through my life I have always been a prideful person... really, what have I ever been truly humble about? I have acted humble, or like a servant, with the knowledge that people will see... What do I do at home? What do I really act for/live for/look for/want? Praise? Acceptance? Success? Pleasure?

Today, I am not writing this to teach, but rather to confess and commit myself to humility, and I would be humbled to have you join me. I don't have a real good intro... so I am just going to dive in:

What are we to God? How does he look at us? How ought we to relate to him?

God is infinite right? He created the earth right? Well He also created dust... Genesis 2:7 says: "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."

I am dust... dirt... ashes... (Essentially a worthless thing that we vacuum up), and God is... what? I can't grasp it. HE IS the "I AM". God knew we could not grasp Him, He Is God.

But how does this dust creation treat the I AM, God?

I remember I was watching Mr. and Mrs. Ludy speak at our home school conference this passed year. Mr. Eric Ludy talked about dethroning yourself, and letting God take the throne. (He said it much better than that :-) But at the time I was so blinded by my own pride that I didn't see how securely I was chained to that seat of power. I was living in a world blind to all that was around me. I thought I had given God the throne... I thought that I was one of those "Real Christians" who had given in to His will. But really? I used God; I needed to let God use me.

Harry Emerson Fosdick said: "God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things done."

That is how I have treated God my whole life... like a servant... like some magic wish-granter who is at my disposal.

Isaiah 29:16 Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

I have been that dirt, that clay, that pot, meant to work for him, and yet I have made him work for me. I, the dust, have thought of myself as so amazing in a sense, that I have thrown off his kingship in my life, and made that throne very dusty, and my life the whole time has had the label of “Furthering His Kingdom.” That is called hypocritical! How can you further his kingdom while dethroning Him?

What has God’s response been to my actions? God is eternal right? He had foresight to see what humans would do to him, and yet He still created us. We mocked Him, spit on Him, dethroned Him and yet, Jesus indwelled a created body so that he could serve us to the death. We willfully turn from the path of God’s way and yet, The Holy Spirit is willing to indwell us to become our helper. All for what? Why is God this way? Why is God willing to serve me? Why did he die for me? Why did he surround me with friends like all of you who are reading this? Why did is He still willing to guide my every step?

… He. LOVES... He. Loves. me…dust…

What is love? How can I comprehend what God has done for me? Why has he done it? Why has God done this for dust? What is this love, and why has He shown it to me?

I will never be able to grasp the enormity of this thing called "love" but how can I act with what I do know?

Girls, from child hood we dream of our nights coming in shining armor. We dream of being swept off our feet onto the shinning white steed. We dream of being rescued from all unhappiness by our prince. From the time we very small, we imagined being princess, and getting married to this prince and living happily after. When we get older that dream evolves, but I think that often as we get much older it disappears as a childish fantasy. But is it just a fantasy, and why do we think that way? Why do we want a rescuer? Why do we want to be married and live happily after? Why did God make this a little girl’s desire?

Could it be that God put that dream within us, because it will really happen someday? Couldn't God have made His created beings with a specific longing for what only he could give? Love, dependability, safety... We as girls want all of these, and yet we think that they are childhood fantasies? What if God has been preparing us, since we were playing dress-up, for the most amazing, spectacular, satisfying, romantic, and beautiful love story of all time!

You were created... we sinned, were condemned to death and trials and sadness. We were locked in a cell with an evil captor, scared, sad, lonely, abandon, and condemned. We were alone forgotten, worthy of death, in a just position, when... Along came the perfect dashing night! His eyes shine with love for you. He gently lifts you out of your cell, and took up your chains instead. He loved us so much that he took on our captor in a one on one battle. He fought the evil enemy, and He emerged from the dungeon victorious! He swept us up on His steed and carried us off to his castle, and...

That is where we step into the now. Right now, as teenagers and young women, we are in His castle preparing for the greatest day yet... The marriage supper of the Lamb! The day we will be united with our Savior, our Lover, our Knight. Your dream is not a childish dream, it's not even figurative... it's real! Your knight may have come over two thousand years ago, and you may not get married for another few decades, but it still is REAL. This story really is happening!!! We are in His castle, His presence, His creation, preparing ourselves. Daily we are faced with a choice.  We can choose to go back to our captor, the Devil, in the dungeon, or we can accept what our Prince did, and prepare for Him.

As girls we like to make ourselves look good... right? We instinctively want to be a shining beauty. We want to find some earthly prince and make ourselves look good in front of him. Often we forget about our real prince in the castle, about that real wedding feast, about the real joy ahead. We need to change our focus. There is a Prince out there who is watching, who loves, who cares, and we need to try and look good in front of Him. Our duty now is to make ourselves ready for isle. Really! Your duty is to get ready for eternity. To turn Jesus' head, by mimicking the Love that He has for us.

We can’t put earthly man in front of Christ. Someday, when we are ready God will bring into our lives some man that will prepare us for Christ. Our eyes must be one Christ, and someday He may deem right that another man come into our lives who will point us ever towards the real Prince.

NCFCA is probably one of the most important parts of my life. It’s my social pool, my non-home part of school J. I have friends there like I have no where else. I have learned so much from people there, I have been encouraged, but it is also a challenge for me. There are times I find myself doing things for the wrong motives, Rejecting, even subconsciously God’s leadership, dethroning Him, forgetting my eternal Prince, forgetting that I am but dust.

NCFCA is my challenge. It is the place I need to try the hardest to be dust, and remember dust’s lover. I encourage you, as many of you get ready for this KC tournament, with speeches, and debate cases, to also prepare another way. REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST. Remember your lover.

So why does Christ want to marry the church? Here is the answer: Love transforms us from dust.

Christ Loved us, and gave us the ability to Love Him and others. Love transforms us from dust to  a church. Only God by His unthinkable love can transform us into His Princess! Only God’s love can give us the ability to speak at a tournament J. Only His love lets us live!!! His Love gives us the choice to follow Him. But He is willing… to love this lump of dust. Love, turn God's head, and not the world's. Let God work through you, don't try to work through God. GET OFF THE THRONE! Really! He is the Prince after all. Accept His love in humility. Love like Christ loved us. Empty yourself for Him, as He emptied all to save you.

Philippians 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Mimic that Love. We are dust, dirt and ashes, yet He considers us useful to serve his purpose. The only way to bring ourselves out of dust is to love: to be empty. I have been compelled to consciously change the whole way that I relate to God. I want to be God’s slave after what I have realized about God’s love for me. After all, it’s either being a slave to my flesh, sin and the world, or to the amazing, loving, beautiful God.

So what does it mean for us to Love God and others?

1 Corinthians13:1-8, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵ does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, ⁶ does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸ Love never fails;"

Love is what makes us useful to Him. Love created us, Love saved us, Love still helps us, and love is now being offered to us. Take it; use it; share it. Love is part of God, God is Love. Love is what brings us up from dust. Love is what we can use to prepare for eternity. If we could Love we would be perfect... So Love! It will remind us that we are dust, it will delight our Prince.

Genesis 18:27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes…”

~ Kathryn

 

Why Did I Say That?

Words. They're so confusing, aren't they?  They can build people up, tear them down, change lives, and ruin them. They can send the right messages, send the wrong messages, and send unspoken messages by what's behind them.

And as NCFCAer's?  We use them a lot.  Tournaments are all about words..... the words we communicate to the judges, the words we tell ourselves before our rounds, the words we use when we talk to other competitors in the hallways in the hangout area, and the words we use to say good-bye.

Words are dangerous things. James compares the tongue to a rudder of a ship.... it's small, but it controls the entire direction of the ship. If the rudder doesn't follow the map, the whole ship is lost.

Words don't seem like a big deal. We use them so much, that, often, we don't even think about their full weight. But I think we've all felt the power of words, too. There are things people say that they don't even think twice about, but they enter our minds in a much different way.

I think the most confusing thing about words is that we never know how they're going to enter into another person's mind. How do we control it?  How do we know whether or not our words are going to encourage someone, or not help at all?  How do we know if a word of mutual support will strengthen someone, or cause them to think the wrong things?

It all comes down to another idea in the book of James: the words are only a result of what's on your heart. As humans, we can't guarantee that what we say will come off the right way when they reach the ears of others. We're not responsible for them; we're responsible for us. If your heart is in the right place, you can trust God to deal with the results. But where is your heart when you speak?

Words can be beautiful, and they can be deadly. I've brought people down further than I can imagine, with some of the words I've said. Words can't be made beautiful if they're of the world. The words of this world can never bring anything truly lasting, other than discouragement, pain, and distractions.

But Christians aren't supposed to be of the world. What if our hearts were actually of God?  Wouldn't it follow that our words would be, too?

I don't know how many of you remember the Council Bluffs tournament in 2012. Maybe it was just another tournament for you, maybe it was one of your best, and maybe it was your very first. But for me, it was possibly the most discouraging tournament of my life. Having done fairly well in the 2011 season, I guess I'd let my hopes get too high for 2012. I didn't break in LD that tournament, and I was crushed. I watched as one of my best friends excelled and ended up winning the whole tournament, as I sat quietly in the audience, trying not to cry, and hating myself for being so jealous. But, after awards, as I was standing in the foyer waiting for my ride to be ready to leave, Noah Stewart came up to me, and started talking to me. I was pretty uncomfortable, since I'd never talked to him before......and it definitely didn't help that he had nine medals hanging around his neck. ;)  But as I was getting ready to leave, he said, "Hey, by the way, congrats on Regionals last year!  That was awesome!"  I guarantee you, he doesn't remember saying that. But, two years later, I still haven't forgotten. It's so amazing how God can use words!

Last week, my beautiful "Spy-girl" sent me these thoughts she had written. I think it's so important to guard our motives, and make sure our hearts are in the right place, and I think these words sum it up perfectly:

Why did I say that?

I remember learning in my college communication class that people are constantly communicating with each other - whether or not they want to. At first I didn’t believe it but now I realize that its true. When you yawn, laugh, itch, talk, ignore, and sleep you are sending messages to others. But interestingly enough the most complicated form of communication is the most direct one: words. Anyone can learn to read your body language. Most people pick up on at least a part of that body language automatically. But words, although seemingly simple, have a hidden side to them. How often have you wondered if someone “really meant it” or what they were doing when you call and they say answer “nothing much?” 

Today has involved a lot of communication with words for me. I messaged my friend to say hi, I called my cousin to figure out a time to work on homework together, I talked to me family about a million things I can’t remember, and I had an online chat conversation with a friend miles away. (Oh, the wonders of technology. Sometimes you can’t remember if you said something face to face or through a computer screen.) I did a lot of communicating today but then I stopped and asked myself this simple question: Why did I say that? I didn’t ask this because I had said something I regretted, or something completely out of character. My communication was completely ordinary. But why did I say the things I said? Its an important question to ask yourself. Because I am starting to realize that in God’s eyes its even more important why you said something than what you said. 

I can’t speak for guys, but one of the first tip offs that a girl has a crush on someone is that she will be constantly bringing that guy into everyday conversation. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about the price of chicken, your aunts birthday party, or the current oil crisis, she will find a way to bring whoever that special someone is into the conversation. Although she may think she is sneaky, it soon becomes pretty obvious what is going on. She wants to talk about this guy and she has a reason for bringing him up - but what is that reason? Is she trying to glean information about him from others? Is she hoping that flattering remark will get back to him through the grape vine? Or is she truly so obsessed with the guy that everything reminds her of him? I don’t know. I think it varies from person to person. But I do know whatever that girl’s motivation for bringing a certain someone into the conversation is: it matters. It matters because ultimately why we do things is going to determine what we do. It matters because your hidden motives of what you say, realized or unrealized, will influence the effect those words have. It matters because God looks at the heart. 

So often I will worry about if I said the right thing. Did that comment come off the way I meant it to? Is it appropriate to tell a guy that? What if they misunderstood me? But when it comes down to it what we say is not as important as why we say it. People will misunderstand you all the time. But if you are striving to honor God through your words, and your intentions are correct, you will know in your heart you didn’t do anything wrong. Do you best to communicate honestly with the right intentions and let God manage the rest. 

Think back to the last thing you said. The last message you sent. The last phone call you made. 

The important question is not what you said. The important question is:

Why did I say that?

MARVELous

I have yet to meet a person who doesn't love a good superhero movie. There's something about the idea of being able to have victory, and strength, and courage like that that draws us in. Something about knocking the enemy forces down with one kick or a quick flame out of your hand, that energizes our hearts.

I think superheroes are awesome. And, surprisingly to some, I've been able to draw a lot of parallels between the lives of some of Avengers, and Christianity. This is fun stuff. :)

The Li'l Guy

Steve Rogers was the first "Avenger". He was the li'l guy in boot camp. He was the one that nobody thought would amount to anything. He was a squirt, and his commanding officers knew he'd never be able to fight.

But Steve had a strong heart. He didn't have the body of a fighter, but he had the spirit of one. He had courage, kindness, integrity and emotional stamina. He was knocked down by people twice his size, and his response was a simple: "I could do this all day!"

Nobody thought Steve could amount to anything. But one scientist believed differently. Steve was a li'l guy. REALLY little. His helmet didn't even fit. But this scientist didn't look through the typical eyes of the world. It reminds me of the story of David in:

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Saul, the former king, was tall and strong. David, on the other hand, was the li'l guy. He was so insignificant from a worldy standpoint, his father hadn't even bothered to bring him out to show Samuel. He was too young to fight when his brothers went off to war with Saul against the Philistines.....and the helmet didn't fit him, either. But God looked at the heart. And only David was brave enough to stand against the uncircumcised Philistine who dared to blaspheme the armies of the living God.

Steve Rogers wasn't always a little guy. This scientist eventually convinced one of Steve's officers to let him enter an experiment, in which whatever was inside you got a lot bigger. Not only did Steve's heart get bigger, but so did his body. He, like David, was made strong.....to give.

But neither David nor Steve were given a chance at greatness right away. Instead of going out and fighting Nazis, Steve got to become "CAPTAIN AMERICA" and stir up fundraisers for the troops. David had proven his valor in battle. He had single-handedly stood up and defeated the giant that an entire army had shied away from. And his new job was?  The king's harp-player.

Eventually, though, both of these men's potentials were discovered....and heroes were made.

In your own strength.....

What happened to Captain America was pretty cool. Step into a machine, inject a little chemical, go through a little pain, and......... surprise!  The perfect recipe for a war hero!!

Decades later, Bruce Banner decided this was what he deserved, too. So he tried to imitate this scientific masterpiece in his own strength. The result was............well...........far from desirable. :)

For three hours in The Incredible Hulk, Bruce fights to rid himself of this monster he created. He's being hunted by the US army, so they can protect the public from this massive green monster that Bruce becomes whenever he gets angry.

David was a great king. And he had a massive empire. He was able to do great things for God. And his grandson, Rehoboam, wanted that, too. There was just one little problem.......he wanted to do it without God. In his own strength, he tried to rebuild and expand the kingdom of David and Solomon. But it was all in his own strength. Unlike David, he wasn't a man after God's heart. God's heart couldn't matter less in his life. He tried to do it on his own, and the result was........ An Abomination.

"If you try to imitate in your own strength, you will become a miserable replica. But if you let the power of God overtake you?  Suddenly, it all works." 
                                                                                                                     ~Eric Ludy

The Impenetrable Heart

*Drum roll*......................IRONMAN.

If you've seen any of the IronMan movies, you'll know that Tony Stark isn't exactly the most upstanding guy on the block. But the story of his heart is pretty cool.

When Tony Stark goes to an American base to display his latest weapon, things don't exactly go as-planned. After he's almost killed by Afghanistan soldiers, Tony receives a new object on his chest from a brilliant German scientist. His chest is filled with shrapnel from the encounter, and he can't remove it on his own. That shrapnel is constantly trying to get into his heart, and overtake it. There's really only one thing that's keeping him alive: A heart of light.

This new heart was created to replace the old one. To do what it always wanted to, but never could. I love this image of the heart....mostly because, it reminds me of my heart.

My heart was attacked by destruction before it even started beating. My chest is full of a shrapnel that I can't remove on my own. And every day, that shrapnel tries to get to my heart. To kill me.

And every day, I let it.

That shrapnel enters my heart because I say it can. I give it access. I don't always want to. But in my own strength, I can't stop.

Which is why you have to stop trying to imitate in your own strength.

There's a heart of light out there. One that can do everything that your old, sinner's heart couldn't. One that can keep the shrapnel away from the sacred, and protect it. One that can give life to a dead heart, and defend it. One that can turn it outwards, and let it start seeing the broken world around it......one that can open your eyes to the shrapnel flinging itself at the world, instead of just the shrapnel inside you.

On this side of the cross, that heart of Light is available.

I say it's time for the real heroes to stand up and grab a hold of it.

The Calling: A reflection on my heart

Think.

A simple word, the spark of a greater

thing. It leads me to speak,

but only after I have counted out the words

which I will use. And then to act,

for what is thought without an ultimate goal?



But what is my goal?

An end towards which I strive … I think.

But do I truly strive if I never act?

Can it be that I do nothing greater

than constantly spew out words

which have no meaning, every time I speak?



And when I speak,

I’m sure they do not guess that this could be my goal -

to impress the judges with my words.

Little do they think

that this is not much greater

than an act.



I don’t want to keep up this lonely act.

How I wish I could do something more than speak,

that I would push myself to something greater,

and find myself a better goal.

But instead I only think,

and sometimes put my thoughts into words.



Inside my head, there are so many words.

How much easier it is to talk than act,

and how much simpler to think

than to speak.

But God has given me a goal,

and I know he will give me strength to become greater.



In search of something greater,

by God’s grace, my words

will be used to further His own goal,

and lead me to commit the act

which I have been so eager to speak

about to others. Maybe now I’ve truly learned to think.



How much greater it is to act once I

have paused to think, and considered how the

words I speak will further God’s glorious goal.



By Magali Laporte

Victorious

It's winning.

It's massive awards. 

It's nationals. 

It's walking across the stage in front of hundreds of people, the Hall of Fame, writing for the nation's biggest Sourcebooks, bringing home a giant silver cup, and being ranked among the nation's top competitors. 

..........And then what?

The next year hits. Two weeks later, everyone's enjoying their summer vacations, and no one remembers how awesomely you placed. You go back to qualifiers. You scare some people, maybe. You fight to get back to nationals. You fight to place again. You fight to bring home another cup. 

And then?  That one sits there right next to last year's to gather dust in your bedroom. 

And we call it?  Victory. 

We graduate. We turn to the next page in our life book. And way too many of us leave without making an impact. We may leave with our beautiful silver trophies, and we may leave our fingerprint on the hall of fame, but how often do people leave NCFCA, and leave fingerprints on people's hearts?

When the Son of God came to earth, His goal wasn't to impress people, or gain glory for Himself. He came to touch hearts. To save hearts. He wasn't there for Him. He was there for life. 

As most of you know, nationals has always had a very special place in my heart. It's always, ALWAYS been my goal to advance to outrounds and walk across the stage at that final showdown. And, for three years, I have been exactly one round away from making it. Every year, it's been a 3-3. But when I started TP, I was motivated to fight my hardest to make it to a national level and advance. My partner, Sarah, and I worked our tails off, printing evidence, writing cases and buying sourcebooks. We were going to be ready.

And, two weeks ago, my mom got a phone call from Mrs. Zitter. The date for the national championship this year is a little earlier than most of us had expected....especially for the Zitters. In fact, Sarah would be touring Europe that week with her choir, and wouldn't make it. 

Nationals in debate is completely out of the picture, for the whole year. 

I remember sitting down at my desk that day, and looking at the piles of sourcebooks scattered on my floor next to a neatly arranged row of file boxes. I'd competed in speech every year, but debate at nationals had always been where the focus was. Now?  No matter how hard Sarah and I worked, we couldn't go to nationals. We couldn't walk across the stage. We couldn't bring home a trophy. I couldn't break. I couldn't even go 3-3.

And that's when God put the question in my mind: Why are you doing this?  Or, more specifically Who are you doing this for?

Some of you might have seen this post that appeared on G+ that day:

__________________________________________________________________

 Hannah David

Shared privately  -  Jan 3, 2014

 #God

If you're an NCFCA student, and you're reading this right now, could you do me a quick favor?

Sit down and ask yourself why you even bother to do debate.

I thought for 3 years I knew. But when priorities change? When plans don't go "as-planned"? Suddenly, you've gotta question whether you're really doing this "to address life issues from a Biblical worldview in a manner that glorifies GOD"......or if this is really more just for YOU.

Why do you show up to tournaments?  Cuz trophes gather dust. Even the big ones. Even my friend's shiny 4th-place National Championship cup. And people forget all the amazing things you did, and tournaments you won.

Don't lie to yourself...... is this actually "to glorify God"?  Or is that just a nifty little phrase you use as a Christian?

'Cuz tournament season's coming fast, y'all.  

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How does your life define "Victory"?  How do your goals define it?  How do you define it?

It is man-made trophies, non-lasting fame, and walking across a stage for two and half seconds of glory?  Maybe it's having that one guy over at the other table in the hangout room talk to you, or being seen as beautiful.  For each of us, it's something different. But how many of us define "victory" as living to the fullest for Jesus Christ?

How many of us are going to leave NCFCA without leaving our fingerprints on anyone's hearts?  How many of us are going to be so focused on breaking that we don't even see the pain of those who don't advance?

I'll be the first to admit that this was me last tournament season. I was so focused on myself. I didn't even try to be there for those that didn't break when I advanced to meet my goals, and I cried when I was that person at Regionals. My eyes were on trophies, on winning, on impressing, and on myself. And I had the nerve to do it all under a Christian label.

This year, my goals are different: I want to focus on Christ. I want to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith who, for the joy set before Him, willingly endured the cross, scorning its shame. I want people to look at me, and see the love of Jesus. I don't want them to see me. I don't want them to see my trophies. I don't want them to see my colorful outfit, or impressive evidence cards. I want them to see a victorious life, being poured out to the fullest, for the Lover of my Soul.

I want to be ready for Him to break me. If I can touch someone more fully by not advancing to the next round, so be it. I want to live out the life He died to give me.

Join me?

Wrestling to the Break of Day

When Amy Carmichael was a temporary missionary in Japan, the organization she affiliated with regularly held small worship conferences for the surrounding villagers. Usually, there was a small turnout, and the energy and resources poured in to sharing Jesus in this way only resulted in a few being saved. One meeting, however, Amy felt God strongly speaking to her heart to pray that nine souls would be found that week at the conference. She asked her fellow workers at the mission to join her in prayer, but they refused. No meeting had ever touched anywhere near nine souls that deeply, and they were sure this conference would be no exception. Besides, if they did decide to pray, and God didn't give them what they asked, it would "defile His name". But Amy was sure God had called her to pray for nine souls, and proceeded to do so, even if she was praying alone. And, that conference, God gave her the exact number she had asked......nine people came to Christ that night. 

Prayer is one of the strongest (if not the strongest) weapons in the arsenal of God. It turns average people into warriors. It takes hold of heaven and pulls it down to earth. It changes the world.

At some point in time, I think each one of us has told someone "I'll pray for you". But how many of us have actually acted on those words?  A lot of times, "praying for someone" consists of nothing more than a quick afterthought of:  God, please help Amanda on her test. Amen.

For most of us, prayer isn't a part of our daily routine. We thank God for our food, and we say a quick prayer maybe in the morning or at night, but how often, during the day, do we just sit down and listen to Him, or talk to Him?

Prayer is vital to a truly functioning Christian life. Paul commands his audience to "pray without ceasing." And he meant it. Every minute of every day....pray.

If you want to get close to Jesus?  Stay plugged in.

Today, I want to focus specifically on what I think we as American Christians lack the most: Wrestling Prayer.

Eric Ludy, in his message "As in the Ancient Days", refers to the story in Mark 2:1-11. In this miraculous healing, the friends of the paralytic couldn't get to Jesus. They were separated by crowds of people and roof tiles. But that didn't stop them. Their friend needed healing. So?  They pulled off the roof tiles, and lowered their friend to the feet of Jesus. Today, there are more roof tiles separating Jesus Christ from this world. God's calling to His people?  Pull down the roof tiles. Tear down the pieces separating the world from God. Pull down the roof tiles so part of heaven can come down to earth. Pulling down the roof tiles is a process known as prayer.

In Genesis 32:22-31, Jacob finds himself alone at night, wrestling with God Himself. Halfway through, his hip was literally disjointed from its socket. But Jacob was relentless. "I will not let you go unless you bless me."  This was just verses before Jacob went back to his homeland to face his brother, Esau, who had threatened him with death. Jacob knew he couldn't go in his own strength to face Esau. "I will not let go....you're all I have. Please go with me."  God's response?  "Your name will be called Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome."

God rewards relentlessly persistent prayers. He calls us to wrestle in prayer until the break of day, and not let go until He has given us what we ask. Christians are commanded to inexorably pull down the roof tiles and bring their needs to the feet of Jesus.

And God loves bold prayers. When Jesus was on earth, it was obvious throughout His ministry that He loved children. He even said specifically that: "The kingdom of heaven belongs to them." He calls us to have a child-like faith. The problem with "mature" humans is that they stop to consider impossibilities. Like Amy Carmichael's fellow missionaries, they don't want to pray for the impossible, because they may not get an answer. But, as Leslie Ludy writes on the subject, if we are truly asking, in faith, for something that aligns with God's will, we can be sure that He will answer us.

Elijah prayed for drought, and no rain fell upon the land for years. When he prayed again, the rain clouds came. Hannah prayed for a son, and Samuel was born. The church in Acts prayed for Peter while he was imprisoned, and an angel came to release him. Hudson Taylor's mother prayed for six hours one night that her wayward son would find Christ, and the next day, Hudson had abandoned his life for the sake of Jesus. Lillian Trasher prayed for food for her starving Egyptian orphanage that was facing foreclosure, and was answered with an entire shipload of supplies.

Why don't we hear things like that in our modern day?  I think we often approach those amazing stories in the Bible as things of the past, but our God doesn't change. And He is still able to work these miracles today. The problem isn't Him...... it's us.

When was the last time you came before God with an "impossible" request?  And how hard did you wrestle for it?  Did you wrestle at all?

Prayer is hard. When Elijah prayed for rain in 1 Kings, he sent his servant to look for rain six separate times. Each time, there were no clouds. But Elijah trusted God, and continued to wrestle in prayer and kick doubt in the jaw. And on the 7th time, his servant saw the rain cloud.

Wrestling prayer is incredible. It's world-altering. It's miraculous. And it's still possible. The Bible collectively gives us several pointers on how to start.

Know Your God

This one may seem obvious, but it's amazing how much we simplify God!  Stay amazed at who He is. Pursue His word. Seek Him. Stay plugged in. Prayer is impossible if we don't intimately know who we're praying to. Prayer is the act of a spiritual warrior. When David's men fought for him, they gave him their all because they loved him. In the cave of Adullum, three of them ran out into a mob of fighting Philistines just to get him a cup of cold water. This isn't just a fight, it's intimately close to your King's heart. Embrace that closeness. Let Him lead you. Know the One you're fighting for, and know Him intimately.

Listen

God knows the roof tiles that He needs you to pull down. Listen to God. Know where He has set His eyes in this world, and fight for His purposes. He will show you what you need to be seeing.

Have the Faith of a Five-Year-Old

Don't stop to consider the impossibilities. When God lays something on your heart, it's your job to pull down the roof tiles and leave the rest in His hands. Trust your King. Take up the Shield of Faith. Jesus Himself promised that, when you ask in His name, you will be answered. If you're pulling down the roof tiles he showed you, you can be confident that your wrestling will not be in vain.

Wrestle Relentlessly

God is not eager to award half-hearted prayers. You may have a dislocated joint. You may be in pain. You may feel distant from God, and you may not feel like praying. None of that matters. You wrestle anyways. Be relentless. Be bold in your requests. Don't let the roof tiles go. Don't let go until He answers. There may be a lot of roof tiles to pull down. But if He showed you He wanted you to pull them down?  Your job is to follow relentlessly, and not give in to your flesh.

I used to pray every night for awhile in my comfortable bed. I would curl up under the covers and talk to God an hour after everyone else had gone to bed. I would "listen" to Him......for five minutes, before comfort took over and I laid down to go to sleep. Last Thursday, God placed a pressing desire to hear from Him in my heart. So, I took up my usual prayer position and waited for His voice. It came...but it wasn't what I was expecting. "Get up. Get on your floor, I have something to show you."  Reluctantly, I peeled myself out of my bed and sat down on my cold carpet. It wasn't comfortable. My flesh was whining loudly, and telling me to get back into bed before I froze. I reminded my flesh that I was not living in Minnesota, and would survive sitting up a little while. And it was uncomfortable. But God was true to His word.... He had something beautiful to show me. And I was able to truly wrestle for the first time in a long time over the roof tiles he had laid on my heart.

Bring a Bathroom-Buddy

Good old kindergarten rule. :) Never head out by yourself. Find an accountability partner, who can challenge you to be relentless in your prayers. God doesn't command you to do this by yourself.

Real prayer is beautiful. Take it from someone who's had a teensy-tiny taste of the spectacular power of wrestling prayer... this is something you CANNOT miss.

Assignment for this week: Find the roof tiles God needs you to pull down. And then get busy.

The Armor of God

I'm sure almost all of us have read Ephesians 6, and heard of the Armor of God. Maybe you've been inspired by it, and wanted to take it up, or maybe it's just a nice idea that your mind tends to skim over, or try to reason with. But what we find in here is absolutely amazing!  Take a look:

Ephesians 6:1-20

That in and of itself is spectacular if you think about it.............God is willing to arm us with everything we need for Life and Godliness!  But it gets even more spectacular when you look at Isaiah 59. 

Isaiah 59:14-17

Look some of those words......righteousness as a breastplate, the helmet of salvation.....sound familiar? Ephesians 6 doesn't just describe armor from God... it's literally the armor OF God. God is giving His people direct access to His personal arsenal.

Its power described in Isaiah 59 is supernatural!  Honesty could not enter, justice and righteousness stood far off, truth could not be found, and whoever shunned evil was immediately targeted for destruction. It sounds pretty impossible. But God still stepped in. In His own strength, He saved His people. He turned injustice on its head, and restored righteousness. He conquered destruction.

And?  Paul says that power belongs to us, too, in Christ. In other words.....if you are truly in Jesus, you have His victory.

Why don't we as Christians live this way?  We have free access to this arsenal. Why in the world don't we use it?

Maybe one of the answers can be found in the climax of time, when these weapons were put on the display to their fullest extent by God's own son. When He single-handedly took on the authorities and power of this dark world and the forces of evil in the heavenly realms, and defeated them. In this amazing scene, portrayed in all four gospels, Jesus stood His ground, with the belt of truth buckled around His waist. Despite having every reason to doubt, He trusted that what His father had planned for Him was not a mistake. God's word is fact, not a suggestion or opinion. He was sinless, with the breastplate of His own righteousness in place. His feet were ready to fearlessly walk the Via Dolorosa and fulfill the gospel of peace. He extinguished the mockery and flaming arrows surrounding Him with faith that His father knew what He was doing. He donned the helmet of salvation, so that He could bring it to the world, and fulfilled the word of God.

This scene was the cross itself.

I think this highlights an important aspect of the Armor of God: using it is no easy call. In fact, it is almost guaranteed to hurt at some point. Because God has an Enemy. And when we take up God's armor?  We go into direct combat with that Enemy. And that means we're going to be under attack.

It all comes down to what I think are Satan's two greatest weapons against the church of Christ: Fear and Apathy.

Some of us are afraid to take up this armor. We're afraid to follow wherever God might take us, and we're afraid to carry our crosses. We've convinced ourselves that when justice stands afar off, and honesty cannot enter, that we can't enter, either. But God proved otherwise. If you are in Christ?  You have His victory. Period. It doesn't matter who you are, how weak you are, or what you've done. All you have to do is get into Christ Jesus, and you are equipped with His power over sin and death.

Most of us are probably on the other side of that, though. We're too apathetic to even want to fight Satan. We're so comfortable in our own lives and situations that the fact that there's an Enemy out to destroy the world isn't really a major concern. We're so far removed from the battle that we can't even see it. We're falling right into Satan's trap. He doesn't want us to care. Because if you do care, as a Christian?  If you really, really care enough to take up the full armor of God, get into Christ Jesus spiritually, and never leave?  You have the power of Jesus Christ. The power that defeated death, and the power that defeated Satan.

Let's take a look more specifically at what's in this supernatural arsenal:

The Belt of Truth

Your God is Truth. He's fact. He can't change. No matter what Satan says, no matter what doubts he tries to place in your mind, God is still there. He is Truth.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

You've made mistakes. More than you can count. You have sinned against the living God of the universe Himself, and you deserve hell. But He died to save you, and give you His righteousness. There is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ. You are no longer a slave to sin and death. You don't have to live that way anymore.

Feet Fitted with Readiness

You are living on a battlefield, and there are millions of lost, dying souls who don't know Truth. God has a plan for you - your job is to be ready to go. Wherever it is. In God's strength, you can have the courage and readiness to follow wherever He calls you.

Shield of Faith

Satan is going to attack you. And some of those attacks are going to be BIG. Some of you have already felt the weight of those attacks, and may have even questioned God's goodness. You can't see God, and you can't touch Him. But He is still Truth. (If you want to have a conversation on how we know God is real, I would love to engage in that with you, just email me!)  In God's strength, you can carry this shield immovably, and the Enemy will have no access to your heart.

The Sword of the Spirit

You only have two offensive weapons; this is one of them. When Jesus was subject to temptation, He quoted scripture. Although this may not seem powerful, this is one of your strongest weapons. The gospel of Christ can change lives. This immovable book has survived the test of time for thousands of years, and has the power to save.

Prayer

This is your second offensive weapon, and if we're honest, it probably seems like one of the weakest. But that's only if you haven't witnessed the power of world-altering, wrestling prayer.  This topic is so deep and powerful, and is too much to get into with just a few sentences. More next week!