First off my father, who is a pastor, has been preaching on prayer. Prayer is an amazing thing. I've have, as recently as Tuesday of this week, experienced prayer answered and pretty quickly I might add. This is not always the case. You can pray for years about something before God answers it and it normally is not exactly what you were expecting, sometimes better, sometimes no. Anyway, back to dad. His series on prayer has been eye opening and challenging and I've loved it ever so much.
One of the sermons was on praying without ceasing, at least that is what stuck out to me. Now I pray. I pray over my food, over my kids before they go to bed, when I read my bible, and if someone needs prayer I will pray for them, but without ceasing? No, I don't do that. Well... I didn't. BUT something clicked while dad was preaching. Something deep and revealing and true. I WANT to pray. It's easy to pray without ceasing. Why? Because God will lead you in small prayers for various people or the same people throughout the day. I'm not perfect at it yet, but I'm praying I get better and I know I will. Why? This is the kind of prayer God likes to answer pretty quick because we are asking Him to give us a greater desire to communicate with HIM. THAT'S what He wants. He wants us to want and yern and desire to talk to Him. Because He loves us.
So, Leigha, what does all this have to do with what God showed you about the church in the US? A whole lot! We don't pray unselfish prayers for others like we should. We don't practice or preach the fruit of the Spirit like we should. We pray for our finances and our kids and our kids college or for a better job or all the mundane things in our lives that are good for us to pray for, but don't really improve our lives as Christians. Our growth has been stunted and we ain't gettin any better. THEN we see how the world is living and we shake our heads and our fingers at them and say "No, no, no. You can't do that." And they stick their tongues out at us and respond, "Whatever. I do what I want."
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5: 12-13 "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked man from among you.'"
In Matthew 7:1-2 it CLEARLY states, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." and in verse 6 is says, "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." (PLEASE NOTE: Jesus spoke in metaphors that were well understood in the day. I am not calling non-Christians 'dogs' or 'pigs' it is meant to say do not take things of value and put them were they are not valued)
Matthew 7:6 really jumped out at me. I treasure and value the word of God and His truth. I try very hard to live by the values and statutes given to us by Christ while he was on earth and the instruction given to us in the Bible. I fail... wow... I really fail, but I'm saved not perfect. Anyway, we can not, I repeat, CAN NOT hold those who are not Christian's to the same standard we are SUPPOSED to be holding ourselves to. To that 'enth' as Christians we should not be judging our brothers and sisters in Christ unless we are weighing their actions against the truth of God. THEN we need to get on our knees and say, "Lord, so and so seems to be struggling with this. Provide a way for them to have victory over it in Jesus name" Do so in LOVE (the first fruit of the Spirit) so that they can beat it back with a stick and GROW, God will direct them to help if and when they need it. As for non-Christians, we should be praying simply that they may come to see the love Christ has for them and for them to choose to follow Him and become a Christian (we can pray for other things as well, but this should be our primary prayer). GOD DOES NOT SEND PEOPLE TO HELL!!! HE WANTS US ALL TO BE WITH HIM IN HEAVAN! HELL WAS CREATED TO PUNISH SATAN AND HIS DEMONS, NOT HUMANS. We can address the rest that goes along with that later. It just needs saying.
Here is where it all gets tied into a neat little bow. As Christians we have preached against sin and judged others and so judged ourselves. God will measure it against us. We have been living the same way as those 'outside' the church and not repented and have so judged ourselves. God WILL measure it against us. WE are at fault. NOT non-Christians. WE have sinned against THEM. WHAAAAA?
Yes, WE have sinned against THEM. We preach and preach and preach and for what? NOTHING. They've heard it. They hate us. Our religious fervor is just like Shakespeare wrote...
...a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing. — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)
People don't want a religion that points out all their bad faults and then condemns them if they don't accept it and writes them off. How pompous are we? We are all the same. Blackened selfish sinners with no hope and no help unless Christ is allowed to enter and clean it up. We have to show people the fruits of the Spirit in our daily lives the ones talked about in Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law."
Pass the word. Jesus wants you to have love and joy and peace, he wants you to experience patience and kindness, and faithfulness, and he wants to give you self control. He wants to love you and bring you into paradise to spend eternity where there is no pain or tears. He wants to start relieving that pain while you are still on earth. How bout it? Think you might be interested in that? I was. It's turned out to be the best thing ever. I don't regret it.
I can't be silent, please don't you be silent.
Leigha
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