O LOVE BEYOND COMPARE,
Thou art good when thou givest,
when thou takest away,
when the sun shines upon me,
when night gathers over me.
Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world,
and in love didst redeem my soul;
Thou dost love me still,
in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.
Thy goodness has been with me another year,
leading me through a twisting wilderness,
in retreat helping me to advance,
when beaten back making sure headway.
Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead;
I hoist sail and draw up anchor,
With thee as the blessed pilot of my future as of my past.
I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.
If thou hast appointed storms of tribulation,
thou wilt be with me in them;
If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and tempation,
I shall not drown;
If I am to die,
I shall see thy face the sooner;
If a painful end is to be my lot,
grant me grace that my faith fail not;
If I am to be cast aside from the service I love,
I can make no stipulation;
Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or trial,
as a chosen vessel meet always for thy use.

- From The Valley of Vision

A good friend went to the hospital this afternoon with appendicitis. After about 13 hours in the emergency room, they finally carted him into surgery to remove his appendix. Another friend, who’d been with him since he’d shown was feeing anxious. So, we went for a stroll through the hospital. Before long, we found ourselves in the “healing garden”. Basically, just a well groomed area just outside the hospital which was lined with benches.

It seems to me that if they have a healing garden, they ought to be taking patients out there. Then again, maybe that’s why I’m not a doctor.

In any case, we sat down on a bench, on the the back of which was an all weather notebook attached with a steel cable. It’s a notebook intended for patients and loved ones to open and write thoughts and feelings in. A little sticker on the front also let us know that it was also a publishing resource for the KGS corporation. On the last filled out page of the notebook an anonymous writer named Tom shared these thoughts:

“The will God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.”

There’s almost no doubt in my mind that Tom got that advice from some author. But, regardless of where he found it or if he thought it up himself—for believers—the sentiment is true. In fact, it’s that very sentiment, rooted in the finished work of Christ, that allows the believer to keep moving foreword. To seek harder obedience. To love God more completely.

Because of Christ we can know without a doubt that what God requires of us will not destroy us. That is excellent news. Thank you Tom for the reminder. But back to the story of my friend in the hospital. He was slated to leave for a mission trip to India in just six days. That’s not going to happen now. I see this saying as speaking to this situation in two ways.

1.It is clear from this ailment that God has other plans.
2.God’s other plans are here.

God would not allow him to go and do something both honorable and something he desired to do, and yet perhaps that was his grace that he will not. We cannot know what might have happened if he went, but we can be sure that it is better that he doesn’t.

Isn’t the will of a sovereign, yet loving, God comforting? I think so.

Revelation 22:1-5:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

If the end times prophecies were given as an encouragement and comfort to the church as she endures through hardship, then this passage is the the consummation. When all is said is done and all that is done is finished, Jesus’ servants will see his face at last. That’s powerful imagery.

That is nourishing food to produce spiritual stamina.

“Thou incomprehensible buy prayer-hearing God,
Known, buy beyond knowledge,
revealed, but unrevealed,
my wants and welfare draw me to thee,
for thou hast never said, ‘Seek ye me in vain’. “

We are consoled to know we serve a God who is “known”, yet beyond knowing, that we see clearly, yet see almost nothing and that has promised that if we would seek, we would surely find.

A friend recently shared a quote from Matt Chandler, speaking about the church:

“What you win them with, you’ll keep them with.”

The words are an admonishment to the church, namely here in America. It’s grown large, in many ways, as a product of being “large” in its production. In fact, just moments ago a friend an I jested about using Power Point for our small group worship, but feared the group might grow too big and we might need to buy a building.

If people are coming in and sitting in our congregations because of good music, nice lighting, tasty donuts and tickling words, then the moment those begin to shift, those folks will be gone.

Donuts cannot save a soul. A person receives the Gospel because it is good news, not because of a preacher’s pearly whites. Therefore, if we want to see people follow Christ, if we want to see people renounce the world and give their lives to glory of God, then we must preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For many, the frills will have to be abandoned completely. For others, they’ll only need to be refocused.

But, in all cases, the Gospel must return to the limelight. Grace, justification, sanctification, glorification–from the pulpit.

If you’re like me, and I’m sure that at least some of you are, prayer is not something that comes easily. I don’t mean the act of opening your mouth and speaking to God, I mean the discipline to pray for things until you see them answered.

You probably hear of that person who faithfully prayed for so-and-so for 10 years until finally the Lord answered the prayer and saved them, or healed their cancer, or reunited their marriage, or whatever. If you’re like me, you’ve probably looked on those people with a sense of wonder, curious about how exactly they’ve been so faithful, but at the same time thinking in the back of your mind that it’s just isn’t going to be you.

Personally, that is my experience. Or, at least it was as a younger believer. Early on, it became clear from reading the Word and Church history that prayer was profoundly important. I respected people that prayed and who were, in part at least, identified as “a person of prayer”. I knew that it was virtuous, it was important, and that God answered prayers. But, never could I grasp the action in the ways that some seemed to be able to.

I went through many different seasons of prayer practice, all of which would be beneficial, but eventually fade.

There were times when I would pray, almost exclusively in groups. There were times when I attempted to focus on constant prayer–praying during every day activities. There were times when I would attempt to spend very extended periods of time in prayer (This one was profoundly affecting, but it wasn’t too long before burning out). There were also times when I would try and put my prayer life in my car, or other moving exercises–like taking walks.

All of these faded out. Sometimes I would try and combine them, mix them, or do them exclusively. I would try and keep prayer journals, or lists. Still, it always faded out.

But, in all of these experiences, I think that I’ve begun to pin point the (practical) corner stones of a fruitful prayer life. (Please remember, I’m speaking in a practical sense. There are spiritual foundations that must be in place before a believer can hope to see real, faithful and fruitful progress in their prayer life.)

1. Consistence

In all areas of our lives we plan ahead. When we want to get in shape, we plan time to be at the gym. When we want to excel in school, we plan time to study. I don’t think a person’s prayer life is much different in that respect. So, consistence is a major key. You’ll never get in shape if you only go to the gym when you feel like it and when you happen to have the time. So it is with our prayer lives. So consistency is absolutely foundational.

Time daily should be designated for prayer. The decision to pray should not be made based on the moment’s desire to pray (although, I believe that desire will come) or not to pray, but based on the decision and commitment made to the Lord. Therefore, there will be times of prayer that feel hollow, or mechanical, but this is necessary, I believe, as it softens the heart and paves the way for more natural prayer in the future. But likewise, there will also be wonderful, heart gushing times of prayer as well.

2. Persistence

Say you got a job 30 minutes away. The first day of your job, you got in your car and started driving, not knowing exactly where you’re office is or how to get there. You might have a general idea, but nothing concrete. You end up driving around for a few hours until you eventually stumble on it. The next day, you do the same thing. Uncertain of where you’re going, you spend a long time driving around until eventually you show up. Every morning, you go through the same thing, over and over again. At this rate, you’re going to burn out. Constantly forgetting where you’re going and forgetting how to get there will take a toll on you.

Prayer, I think, is a lot like that. We should approach prayer with a plan. Know what you’re going to pray for, know who you’re going to pray for. Plan for it. Don’t get burned out trying to navigate through all the different things in the world you could possibly pray for. Know what you’re going to be praying for, plan to pray and be persistent in those prayers. Don’t be chained to only those prayers, but be chained to them, none the less.

My Strategy

Although these are some of the keys saints have approached prayer with for hundreds of years, there are lots of ways these things can flesh out in a persons life, I think. Thanks to a good friend’s suggestion, this is what I’ve been doing:

I bought a white board. I divided the white board up into 7 days. Each day I have written the things I pray for daily. Then, spread out over all seven days are the different concerns of my life and the lives of friends, family and the church. Then, when a new concern arises, I can quickly add it to the plan for a day, a week or longer. In this way, I have a plan for approaching prayer. I do not forget different people’s concerns, nor do I become overwhelmed with more prayer than I can handle at one time.

This method also offers some personal accountability. Each day of the week, I can mark whether or not I prayed that day, in order to help build consistency. So far, it’s proving effective.

Here is a snapshot of my board:

Some things on the board are erased each week, some are never erased. This method forces me to devote specific time to prayer, but keeps me focus and on track, without preventing me from going beyond what’s there.

If you’re seeking a prayer method, you might consider cloning mine or using and modifying it to best suite you. White board supplies will run you about $20 – $30 if you can find them new, but significantly less if you can find them at a garage sale.

So, don’t let yourself make excuses for not praying. Let’s make it a truly regular part of our lives!

I pray this along with the puritan who penned it, many years ago:

O source of all good,
What shall I render to you for the gift of gifts,
your own dear Son?
Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart,
he united them in indissoluble unity,
the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me!
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind!
Let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father!
Place me with ox, donkey, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin!
Let me with Simeon clasp the newborn child to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his!
In him you have given me so much that heaven can give no more.