Introduction
You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.
Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
John 14:13-14 NLT
In reflecting on what to write for this blog, I decided that sometimes the simple topics can be the best ones. Yet at the same time they can also be the most challenging when it comes to daily Christian living. One of the things I often say and teach on is that living a Christian life is designed to be simple and not complicated. Often both Christians and non-Christians look at Christianity and can fall into the trap of over complicating what living a Christian life should look like. Meaning we as Christians sometimes make it more complicated in living a Christ like life than what it actually is. Those outside of the Christian faith wrestle with this and sometimes draw an inaccurate picture of what it means to be a Christian based off their own opinions or their experience and interaction with Christians.
The Gospel at its core is a simple message where the Creator seeks to redeem His creation from sin and he does this by giving his one and only Son Jesus who died for our sins on the cross once and for all. In John 3 we read…
For this is how God loved the world:
He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17 NLT
From this often the thoughts and questions become, “It can’t be that simple?! What’s the catch?! I need to do more right?! What can I do to show God that I love him?!” Rather than just embracing salvation in placing our faith and trust in Jesus, each of us in different ways can fall into some aspect of our Christian walk where we complicate our journey with Christ where we feel as if we need to do more or specifically think the faith practices of praying and reading Scripture daily is too simple.
This can even be evident in the most important commandment Christians are given as Jesus teaches in Mathew 22, as I wrote on this in a blog titled “Love Others“…
Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses? Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:36-40 NLT
“Love God and love others? That’s too simple!” The point I am wanting to raise here is that it is in the simple teachings, commandments, and faith practices where you will find the richest blessings in life when it comes to living ones life as a follower of Jesus. It is also the place where you will find and discover an intimate relationship with God that runs quite deep.
Two Faith Practices
In writing all of this, in this blog I want to focus on two important faith practices that should be evident in every Christians life and that is prayer and reading Scripture. For some this may be an obvious answer and for others this will be one of the hardest challenges Christians can have in their life. I share this from my personal experience in ministry over the years as I have found these essential faith practices and disciplines of praying and reading Scripture daily one of thee most difficult challenges in the church. Let me share a story with you and then I will share more on prayer and reading Scripture.
I was once mentoring a student who was struggling and going through quite a difficult time. She was stressed in struggling with some of her college studies and her family back home were also going through a difficult time which stressed her even more. Over the course of our meeting I finally asked her, “Are you praying and reading the Bible daily?” To which she responded, “I do pray when I go to bed, but I don’t read my Bible very often besides Bible study.” I then said, “Can I challenge and encourage you to start praying more regularly through out the day and reading your Bible every day?” She agreed and we discussed more what this could like in her life just as simple as praying through her day in the morning, praying walking between different classes, what time of day is it best for her to set aside time to read the Bible and what book in the Bible would be good for her to start with.
Two weeks later she walked into my office and expressed how she was doing so much better after being more mindful of her walk with Christ every day through out the day between praying and reading Scripture daily. Physically I could tell she was doing better as the dark bags beneath her eyes due to lack of sleep were gone and she seemed much lighter and had a joy that was not evident previously. Just two weeks is all it took for her mental, physical, emotional and spiritual state to become balanced and flourishing.
Prayer
Several years ago I met a man named Gregg Pruett who serves as the president of Pioneer Bible Translators. Before becoming president of PBT, he and his wife, Rebecca, along with their three children ministered as Bible translators in West Africa for over 12 years. Gregg wrote a book titled, “Extreme Prayer: The Impossible Prayers God Promises to Answer” and it is a well written book that I would highly recommend every Christian to read. In the first chapter Gregg shares his experience while living in a village in Africa waking up to the chilling wails of a mother in distress.
We found someone who could explain the women’s situation: her three-year-old son was dying. I felt so sad for this mother that I asked, “Could we see the child?” I could tell by the villagers’ faces that they had never considered that we might be able to help them. I wasn’t a doctor. I had a good book on tropical medicine, but that was the extent of my medical training. Even I didn’t know what I was thinking when I offered to help the dying boy.
They answered, “The child is out in the bush being treated by a traditional healer, but we will go out and get him.” It took a while for them to bring him back to the village, and I took advantage of the time to ponder my next move.
When Rebecca and I were finally brought to the boy, he was lying on the earthen floor of a grass-roofed hut belonging to one of his relatives in the village. His breathing was labored, and his pupils, wide like inky wells, did not respond to my flashlight. The words “pupils fixed and dilated,” which I’d heard countless times on TV hospital dramas, echoed in my memory. Hopelessness crept into me as I realized that his mother was right; her son might not live long.
In hushed tones, Rebecca and I talked with the local pastor about what medical procedure might save the boy. “It can’t be meningitis because we don’t have any medicine for that,” I mused, applying dubious diagnostics. “It could be cerebral malaria, but I don’t know how to get an unconscious child to take the malaria tablets.”
At some point I suggested, “We should pray for the kid. After all, we are missionaries.”
At the simple mention of prayer, I saw the boy blink, and his eyes began to wander around the room focusing here and there. I thought to myself, We had better hurry up and pray because I think God is healing him! By the time we had finished praying, the boy’s breathing was normal, and we were able to give him a dose of malaria medicine. Later that night, the family laughed festively over their little boy, whom they had given up for dead just hours before. We tried to give him the second dose of medicine that night, but he fought us like a rabid bobcat. His strength in combat proved to everyone present that he was fully recovered. Today he’s nearly a grown man, and he still attends the village church.
In that dark hut a permanent little light blinked on inside my soul: God is real, and he wants me to rely on him first, not as a last resort. That’s when I began to learn not to pray about my strategies, but to make prayer the strategy.
- Gregg Pruett: Extreme Prayer: The Impossible Prayer God Promises to Answer
Wow, what a powerful experience of prayer and healing! The last paragraph stands out to me the most as I hope it would for many others as well in that how true it can be that we make God our last resort. When trials and struggles come our way the first thing we tend to do is try to figure out the situation ourselves, then call family and perhaps friends as well and pray to God about it if we remember to. Prayer should be the very first thing we do! Do we place our trust and dependence first and foremost upon God in coming before him in prayer or is He just the back up plan if the other options fail?
I remember when my wife Mikaela was quite sick in February after doing everything I could to take care of her and praying over her multiple times a day and eventually having to call the ambulance. Watching her being driven away in an ambulance and not being able to be with her because of Covid-19 rules left me feeling powerless on the bottom steps as the ambulance left my sight. I walked into our apartment, sat down at our kitchen table, and began to spend time in prayer with God while trying to hold back the tears. Because in my state of feeling powerless, God is all powerful and with His strong arm mountains shake and raging storms become calm.
The faith practice of prayer can be done in many ways and many books have been written on prayer alone. When it comes to prayer life my first and foremost goal is to make prayer a daily routine and entwining it in my life throughout the day. Such as in the morning after waking up, getting ready for the day, after reading my morning Scripture, for lunch, dinner, spending time in prayer before going to bed, and then praying with my wife before going to sleep. Praying can happen while driving to work or walking between your different classes. If I read an email or Facebook post that shares a prayer request, I stop right then and there and pray. To me, it does me no good to comment on a Facebook post saying “Praying!” and then continue scrolling through my news feed without actually stopping to pray. There is a difference between observing someone in need and helping someone in need. Do we observe in faith or act in faith? Ideally these two go together that when we observe someone in need it should lead us to act in faith in helping fulfill their need.
In Acts 3:1-10 I love the faith experience that is observed and acted upon by Peter and John as I believe I have shared about this in a previous blog. In an effort to not go down a rabbit hole, in this passage Peter and John are on the way to the Temple and a man lame from birth was being carried in where I assuming he begged regularly. As Peter and John are about to enter he ask them for money and…
Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
Then Peter took the lame man by the right and and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them. - Acts 3:4-8 NLT
Peter and John didn’t just ignore the need of the lame beggar and enter into the Temple. They observed the need and then they acted on the need where Peter prays “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” Wow! Was this faith experience complicated? No. As followers of Christ they saw a need and they acted on it. Faith made simple just as Jesus intended. Do you remember the Scripture that I began this blog with?
You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.
Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
John 14:13-14 NLT
There is power in the name of Jesus! Gregg Pruett writes…
What is the significance of praying in Jesus’ name? In the Bible, a person’s name represents his or her nature. Praying in Jesus’ name doesn’t mean asking for a Ferrari and tacking on the magic words “in Jesus name.” It means presenting requests that resonate with Jesus’ character, praying “for his name’s sake” prayers that advance his plans for the earth - in other words, proclaiming the King of God - oriented prayers.
Jesus’ name comes from the Hebrew root word meaning “to save.” Praying in Jesus’ name literally means praying about obeying Jesus’ command to bring his salvation to each person and to the ends of the earth. Prayers in Jesus’ name center on the desire to see people far from God coming to know, love, follow, and obey Jesus. - Gregg Pruett
This morning I concluded Book Four of Psalms being chapter 106. The last verse of Book Four in chapter 106 reads, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 106:48 NLT). The Hebrew word ‘amen means “It is true.” So every time we pray in the name of Jesus and close the prayer by uttering the words “Amen!” We as the body of Christ are declaring “It is true!” That is the power of prayer!
So let me ask, why would we not want prayer to be a part of our daily life? The faith practice of prayer is like a muscle and it needs to be exercised daily. A daily prayer life means drawing closer to God in coming to know and understand more of God’s character and His will in your life.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT
Scripture
When I was a young boy, after finishing 2nd grade my parents decided to home school my sister and I and we were home schooled all the way through high school. One of the things my mom did was after having breakfast, the three of us would read a chapter in the Bible together. I can’t recall how many years we did this for, but I probably wasn’t the biggest fan of it growing up as a young boy as I didn’t understand what all was going on in the verses I read. However, as a teenager I had a high respect for God’s Word and it was something that my mom instilled in me that reading Scripture is important.
I believe this helped me with the different challenges I faced as a youth growing up and has immensely helped me to this day. Reading God’s Word helps me to understand my place and purpose in life as a young man in how I am called to bless others. It did take me sometime to get in the regular practice of reading Scripture daily in the sense of having a devotional time in Sscripture. Scripture is powerful and has the ability to have everlasting effects in our lives whether young or old.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT
This passage is one that you may have heard many times before, but I like to emphasize this passage because it is so simple, it is not complicated when you unpack these two verses.
1. Scripture is God breathed, it comes directly from the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
2. Scripture is useful in teaching us what is true.
3. Scripture makes us realize what is wrong in our lives.
4. Scripture corrects us when we are wrong and in its place it teaches us to do what is right.
5. Scripture is used by God to prepare and equip us, his people to do every good work.
The kicker about verses 16-17 is that these verses elaborate on verse 15 which reads, “You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.” Verses 16-17 explain Scripture’s effectiveness, its source, and the ways that it gives wisdom to live out our salvation. Better yet, Paul (the author of 2 Timothy) is speaking of the Old Testament in these verses since the New Testament had not been written yet. However, his statement applies to all Scripture including the New Testament.
Scripture is true, reliable, authoritative, permanent, and powerful because it comes from God himself. Its message is coherent, and it is consistent in its testimony about Jesus Christ. Thus it has the power to bring salvation and elicit faith. It must not be abused, as the false teachers had been doing, but must be taught properly. As a consequence of inspiration, all Scripture is useful. Both the OT and the NT are together our guide and teacher in life. - Illustrated NLT Study Bible
In Proverbs 4:7 it reads, “Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.” What better place to get wisdom and develop good judgement than reading God’s own Word being the Scriptures.
So let me ask, why would we not want reading Scripture to be a part of our daily life? The faith practice of reading Scripture is like a muscle and it needs to be exercised daily. A daily Scripture life means drawing closer to God in coming to know and understand more of God’s character and His will in your life.
I hope this leaves you with some time in reflection whether you are a Christian or hold a different religious belief and find yourself here reading this blog. I do want to stress to those of us who are Christians that the two faith practices of praying and reading Scripture daily should be a foundational part of our every day walk with Christ Jesus. This doesn’t mean we have to be overly religious about this or think “I didn’t read my Bible today, I sinned!” No, no, no, praying and reading Scripture is an invitation from God for you to come to know Him more. You have the free will to learn more about Him just as the invitation to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. He is a loving Father and is there for you whenever you need Him or don’t realize you need Him. Following Christ is meant to be simple and the two simple faith practices of praying and reading Scripture are truth of that. Blessings