Posts Tagged ‘prayer’

Glorify God … but glorify me too please

Posted on Thursday April 26th, 2012 at 3:49 pm by

It struck me again today just how wretched I am and how Satan plays us. Here’s what happened.

I went to the downtown area with a Myanmar friend to do some shopping this morning. As I usually do, I hailed a taxi for the return trip home. We haggle for and agree on a price and then we’re on our way. My friend and the driver talk in Myanmar for a while, and I realise that part of what they’re talking about is me. I ask my friend what they’re saying and this begins some broken translation between the driver and me, with my poor friend trying to keep up as mouthpiece for us both.

The driver was extremely friendly and talkative and animated, though he was also a little strange. He had some peculiar mannerisms, twitches, and noises, but these all seemed to add to his character. I was noticing these in the midst of our conversation too, so I didn’t think too much of it.

We began talking the usual stuff, like where I’m from, what I’m doing, and the conversation moved to him and how old he was (73), how many children he had (6, all sons), how long he’d been driving taxis, and so on. Interspersed in his conversation were comments to me like, “You’re a good man”, or “I can see you love everybody”, and “You have a very kind nature”. There were a few others, but you get the drift.

Eventually the conversation died down and I sat there thinking, “If I could speak the language better I’d be able to explain to him that I’m not that great, but He who lives in me is” (also, we were only a couple of minutes from home and I didn’t really have the time to begin sharing the gospel through a translator). But the other thought that came into my head was, “I’m wretched, sure, but I am actually a nice guy and I do love all these people.” At that moment, the driver had more twitches and strange movements, nothing too demonstrative, but noticeable, and I wondered if maybe he was possessed. I’m not blessed with the gift to discern such things, but assumed he probably wasn’t. But I asked myself that if he was, what would Satan want to say to me through him. And then it occurred to me that maybe it had already been said. Whether Satan had spoken or not is immaterial, but what happened in me was not. I had been praised and my ego had been nicely stroked. In the midst of me just being me I had been made much of. Someone had said what my deceitful and desperately sick heart (Jer. 17:9) had thought of itself all along. I realised that if Satan wanted to get to me he could do it subtly and gently with these kinds of praises of man. I’d been blind-sided, subtly but significantly.

In this culture, these kind words of praise seems to happen a lot. It comes from church folks who are grateful for a sermon or some encouragement, from Bible college students who appreciate a lesson, from friends who might be treated to a meal or simply be included in something the Westerners are doing, and from people in the street who are touched by a smile and draw that out to mean you must be a kind and wonderful person. And it feels great.

Them saying it, and me letting them say it, isn’t the issue and neither are a sin. But it’s what I do with it that reveals the old man within that’s not yet dead. If my heart was right then there wouldn’t be a problem and I wouldn’t be writing this post, but my heart isn’t right. It enjoys the approval and praise of man too much.

I’m reminded of a warning Pastor John Piper gave to a conference of pastors (sorry, can’t find the original to cite). He asked of the pastors something along the lines of, “Do you finish a sermon and then look for some positive feedback as the congregation file past you at the door? Do you hope that God will be glorified by what you preached, but also secretly hope that the people will reserve some of that glory for you?” It struck me at the time and does again now.

If you were to ask me what I want most of all from being here in Myanmar, I’d quickly and easily say, “God to be glorified.” But after today’s taxi ride I’m checking myself again for that old man within who might want some of the glory to stick to me.

I’m a wretch of a sinner whose journey of sanctification is certainly a slow work in progress. Now before you more liberal-thinking Christians tell me that I’m not a sinner, but just a a saint who sins, take a look at the evidence and stop kidding yourselves and playing with words. We’re all of us sinners. We’re all of us lawbreakers. The difference we need to focus on is that though we sin and break the law numerous times a day, we’ve been chosen by a loving God who has made us believe that Christ is “he” (John 8:24). We’re no longer bound to the punishment we deserve, for our punishment was bound to Christ when he was bound to the cross. I’m a sinner, and a wretched one, but because of what God has done in Christ, I stand forgiven. So I’m a sinner and a saint.

But I digress. Can I ask that you’d pray for me as I go about the Lord’s work here? Please pray that I’d be so filled with the concern for God to be glorified that I’d not have time to want to take any of His glory upon myself.

In his 1978 song, Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful, Keith Green wrote:

I want to take your word and shine it all around.
But first help me to just, live it Lord.
And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown.
For my reward is giving glory to you.

That’s what I’m after. That’s what I want my heart to want. Please pray that I’d not need or look for the approval of man, but only ever be interested in working to please an audience of one.

Thank you, and grace be with you,
Martin

 

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What C.T. Studd calls “Despicable Pharisaism”

Posted on Thursday September 29th, 2011 at 5:50 am by

The Evidence Bible is a resource put together by Living Waters, a ministry headed up by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. You can learn more about the Evidence Bible here, and Living Waters here. Over the coming weeks I’ll be writing more on the Living Waters ministry, but for today I wanted to steal copy their post from the “Daily Evidence” website.

This hits hard and I’ll admit it hits me between the eyes as much as anyone. I’ve always struggled to be a fervent pray-er. That’s not to say I don’t pray, but I certainly don’t pray enough and don’t have a fire in my belly for prayer. It’s a topic I have to revisit often to rekindle the flames, and today’s post stoked and poked me considerably. I hope you find it encouraging too.


Matt. 21:22 “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Robert Speer said, “The evangelization of the world depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for workers; deeper far, than the need for money; deep down at the bottom of our spiritual lives is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, worldwide prayer. Missions have progressed slowly abroad because piety and prayer have been slow at home.”

Robert Speer is right; prayer is evidence of our utter dependence on God. Without Him we can do nothing. However, never forget that Jesus said there was a lack of laborers in His time, and there is a lack of laborers in our time (see Matthew 9:37). It is easier to pray for this world than to preach the gospel to them. So make sure that you don’t substitute the sacrifice of prayer for the obedience of evangelism; to do so is to play the hypocrite.

“We Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the game. Prayer is good; but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism…To your knees, man! And to your Bible! Decide at once! Don’t hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God. Quit consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying, and cowardly excuses. Enlist!” C. T. Studd

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Ponder Your Destiny

Posted on Friday August 6th, 2010 at 12:00 pm by

John Piper's book Don't Waste Your LifeThis is the seventh in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The final post will appear next Friday. If you enjoyed reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).


No, you don’t have to be a missionary to admire and advance the great purposes of God to be known and praised and enjoyed among all peoples. But if you want to be most fully satisfied with God as he triumphs in the history of redemption, you can’t go on with business as usual—doing your work, making your money, giving your tithe, eating, sleeping, playing, and going to church. Instead you need to stop and go away for a few days with a Bible and notepad; and pray and think about how your particular time and place in life fits into the great purpose of God to make the nations glad in him. How will you join the great global purpose of God expressed in Psalm 67:4, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy”?1

 

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1 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 177.

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The Day of Missions is Not Over

Posted on Friday July 23rd, 2010 at 12:00 pm by

John Piper's book Don't Waste Your LifeThis is the fifth in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The remaining posts will appear each Friday for the next 3 weeks. If you enjoy reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).


So “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38), and ask him if you should be one. Expect this prayer to change you. When Jesus told his disciples to pray it, the next thing that happened was that he appointed twelve to be his apostles and sent them out. Pray for harvesters, and you may become one. God often wakens desire, and gives gifts, and opens doors when we are praying and pondering real possibilities and real needs.1

 

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1 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 176.

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Prayer calendar

Posted on Sunday January 25th, 2009 at 1:08 pm by

On behalf of those in Myanmar, and from me, thanks for your support and prayers. I know the Lord is working through your faithfulness.

If you’d like my 29-day prayer calendar you can download a PDF version here [196kb]. Print both pages on one sheet, back and front (i.e. double-sided), and then fold it in half and in half again so there are 4 sections.

If you’d like a stack of these then please order some from me – they’re FREE. Just use the Contact Martin page and they’ll be in the mail next-day.

[ If you need a PDF reader I suggest Foxit or Acrobat ]

Some great places to put your new calendar:

  • Inside your Bible – but remember it’s there
  • On your corkboard or whiteboard
  • On your bathroom mirror – pray while you brush, shave, wash, etc.
  • On the back of your toilet door – it’s a great place to pray
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