While praying the other day, I formed a mental picture of two young princes. One prince was eager to take up the sword, lusted after the throne, and scoffed at other rulers. The other prince relished the wisdom of his teachers, humbly knew his place, and valiantly took up the sword when the moment was right.

Which one would we prefer to be? The humble, valiant protagonist always wins the heart of the audience, but rarely are we actually that protagonist.

I’ve never been one to often tell people, “You deserve this!” It’s not because I think people should never be rewarded or take a break. It’s because I know the corners we cut, the dark thoughts and attitudes we harbor, and the not-so-proud moments that come even with hard work or achievement.

However, we often act like we do deserve certain things. Security, comfort, hope, and happiness are just a few of the things my heart often longs for. When I don’t get them, the inner turmoil I experience can look very similar to my 3-year old’s response to not getting another cupcake (as if that would have satisfied her deepest needs).

The term ‘needy’ has a decidedly negative connotation in our contemporary culture.  The descriptor ‘just so needy!’ is a derogatory phrase for a person whose life exhibits excessive dependency and weakness.  This negative association with the term ‘needy’ stems from the way we in the West place such high value on self-sufficiency and individual responsibility.  Former Harvard philosopher John Rawls described the entire moral vision of the early Modern era as characterized by individual “autonomy and responsibility.”  This rigorously individualistic spirit continues to this day.

When we think about the things we long to see for the Kingdom of God in our communities, our nation, and the world, we probably think first about prayer.  And that’s a good thing!  However, while we are right to prioritize prayer, there’s a chance we’re prioritizing it too highly.  ‘What?’  You say, ‘Prioritize prayer too highly?  What we need to do is pray more!’ 

Now, I completely agree that we should be praying more.  My comment about prioritizing prayer too highly has nothing to do with quantities of prayer.   So what do I mean by “prioritizing prayer too highly,” and how in the world could this kind of talk serve to increase prayer?   I believe that if we would prioritize and esteem God’s promises higher than our prayers, our prayers would actually become more frequent and fervent.

In my previous devotional, I argued that the two “hinge” passages in Hebrews (4:14-16 and 10:19-25) together encapsulate the spirituality of this inspired sermon.  Three central tasks are enumerated in these verses.  First, we consider Jesus.  Second, we draw near to God through Jesus.  Third, we hold fast our confession of faith in Jesus.  Mind.  Heart.  Practice.

This balanced paradigm is critical to implement in your own relationship with God, as most Christians tend to belong to one (or two) of three “personality types” with respect to their preferred, intuitive form of “spirituality.”  All three of these personality types (and their respective spiritual “strategies”) are good and necessary, but, when one becomes so predominant as to take our focus away from others, they can become truncated and distorted.

Many well-meaning Christians often feel somewhat paralyzed when they contemplate what it would look like to begin to take their faith more seriously, particularly with respect to daily spiritual disciplines.  What should I actually do? What should my mind be focused on?  What ought the aspirations of my heart be directed toward?  How do regular devotional times transition naturally into the life of discipleship the rest of the day?  The author of Hebrews offers a vision of following Jesus that is filled with both clarity and conviction.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” - Romans 6:1-2

Prior to this point in the book of Romans, Paul has been preoccupied with setting forth an accurate view of the Gospel. In chapters 1-4, Paul labors to show that justification before God is based solely upon God’s grace and is accessed only through faith in Christ.

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 2:4-5

The failure to grasp clearly our God-given identity and purpose is a formidable foe, one with the capacity to hinder and hamstring consistent growth and faithfulness. Therefore, as believers, we must understand our corporate identity.

For today’s devotional, I would like to share with you about the secret of prayer.  In Matthew 6:1-6, Jesus talks about the importance of praying in secret.  Dr. Leonard Ravenhill once said, “The secret of praying is praying in secret.”  What was Jesus referring to?  He was referring to the issue of sincerity.  God wants you to come to Him with a sincere heart.  In the Bronx, we would say, “You have to come real.”  Come real before God.

Please enjoy this devotional video, or stream/download an audio version below, or scroll down to continue reading.



https://soundcloud.com/christianunion/a-praying-in-secret-fernando

Jesus gave a model of prayer in Matthew 6, because the disciples wanted to know how to really pray.  The Lord’s Prayer was not meant to be simply memorized and recited. It was meant to be to a guideline and outline on how to pray.

Please enjoy this devotional video, or stream/download an audio version below, or scroll down to continue reading.



https://soundcloud.com/christianunion/a-jesus-model-of-prayer

There are six parts to the Lord’s Prayer: Praise, Petition, Provision, Pardon, Power, and Praise.
 

“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”  -2 Timothy 2:20-21

Working at one of the top schools in the world, I am constantly surrounded by incredibly gifted and hyper-competent people. For many of the students in this environment, their exceptional competence in their studies and extracurricular pursuits is central to their self-identity and their sense of self-worth.  Being in an environment with so much giftedness can make people highly competitive or seriously discouraged.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  – 1 Corinthians 13:12

When I was a teenager, my church went through a curriculum by Dr. Henry Blackaby called Experiencing God.  I still remember vividly the cover of that course packet with a portrait of Moses as he looked back over his shoulder toward the burning bush where he received his calling from God.  

Jesus loves food and drink. He begins His public ministry by miraculously crafting fine wine for a local wedding in Cana. He describes His kingdom as a wedding feast with an open invitation (Matthew 22:1-14). He even defends the fact that His disciples don’t fast while He is still with them (Matthew 9:15).

It is no surprise, then, that at a final feast with His disciples, Jesus gives us one final marker to remember Him with: eating bread and drinking wine. In this feasting, we remember our Lord, His coming, and His salvific sacrifice for us. And in this feasting we also point to the feast on the mountain of Zion that awaits the nations, “a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine” (Isaiah 25:6).

I recently spent a week in a small village in Uganda. Manicured huts, but no running water pipes or electrical posts, lined the red dirt road. My teammates and I spent several hours a day with families in the village, and as we did we learned how many parents and children were coping amidst the hard losses of HIV/AIDS. I kept pondering the motto of one of the local ministries: “Hope does not disappoint.” When people do not hope, or rather, when they do not hope in the thing worth hoping in, they grow sick. Families in this village, though, were testifying to how hoping in God has changed their perspectives--and their lives. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” - Galatians 6:2

My daughter, Ellie, is not old enough to form the interrogative sentences that begin with, “Why?”  However, I am looking forward to the natural onslaught of such questions that come when the mind of a child is developing. It is very normal for a parent to become overwhelmingly tired of the question, “Why?” when we seem to have reached the bottom of our knowledge. So we resort to the usually unsatisfactory answer, “Because I say so.” When we come to such a burdensome command from Paul, we must be like the child who digs so deep that it tests the depth of Scriptures’ wisdom. Asking, “Why?” uncovers that this command didn’t float down from Heaven without purpose or reason behind it. We don’t hear God say, “In the beginning, I told you so.” Asking, “Why?” takes us deeper, into the very nature of God.

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted…for if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” - Galatians 6:1

What did you expect from your career, job search, marriage, marriage after kids, singleness, dating, homes, friendship, and Christianity? Expectations shape most of our experience in life. Some of our expectations can be spot on, while others can be completely off. I expect to have my demands for world-class, authentic Neapolitan pizza satisfied while in New Haven – spot on. I never expected to start the inevitable balding process at age 28 – completely wrong on that one. Like my balding head, most of our expectations will be challenged and changed in our lifetimes. Our expectations of what it means to be a Christian should be the same: continually challenged and undergoing change.

The author of Hebrews says, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:9–11).

The author of Hebrews says, “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). Revelation envisions this Zion truly as the City of God since there will be:

“[N]o temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” - Revelation 21:22–27

For me, one of the most compelling reasons to pray is that prayer unveils reality. It presents things as they really are. This is especially important for me as I minister at Princeton where it is hard to ignore the precocious brilliance and exceptional achievements of students and faculty. Why would I want to ignore such things? Quite literally, Princeton changes the world, and many times, for the better. Not only does this invite me to respect this campus, but love it. I praise the Lord for its storied tradition and stewardship of God-given gifts.

Please enjoy this devotional video, or stream/download an audio version below, or scroll down to continue reading.



https://soundcloud.com/christianunion/a-pull-back-the-curtain-protim

However, to stop there would be to settle for an impoverished view of Princeton. Although “Old Nassau” is a place to love, it is also a place to hate. There is ugliness behind its aesthetics, injustice behind its intellect, and manifold pain behind its celebrated reputation. You just need to see it. Drawing near to God in prayer allows me to do just that.