A Prayer about God Working in Hard Providences and Pain

Scotty Smith posted on October 17, 2012 06:53

A Prayer about God Working in Hard Providences and Pain
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Jer. 29:11
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28
     Heavenly Father, there’s simply no other god as merciful, gracious, and engaged as you. Your forbearance is immeasurable; your kindness is inexhaustible; your plans are irrepressible—though, sometimes, it doesn’t seem this way to us.
     When your people received these words of encouragement from Jeremiah, they were in exile in Babylon—cut off from their homeland and all hope. How could they not feel bereft, bewildered, even betrayed by you? And there are times when our circumstances seem to say you don’t really care and aren’t really present…
     Yet we know, by the truth and promises of your Word, that when you lead us into difficult seasons, it’s not to punish us but to prosper us; when you send hardships, it’s not to bring us harm but to give us hope; when you discipline us, it’s not to send us into the “doghouse” of your displeasure but to guarantee the wonder of our future.
     It’s comforting to remember that you always know exactly what you are doing with your people, and everything else in the world. You know the plans you have for us—individually and corporately. There’s no happenstance in heaven. You don’t make up things as you go along. You’re not a God who reacts out of irritation, but one who always acts out of great affection. There are no coincidences, just providences. “Stuff” doesn’t just happen; sovereignty is always happening.
     Father, this way of thinking would be utter madness if you never sent Jesus—a big-time spitting into the wind; the spin of all spins; delusional at best, demonic at worst. But Jesus is the “yes” to every promise you have made. His life, death, and resurrection have secured for us the riches of the gospel, a living hope and a most glorious future. Apart from Jesus there is only unimaginable hopelessness; but, because of Jesus, we have joy unspeakable.
     So bring the truth, grace, and power of this gospel into our current situations, into our personal stories of pain, into the brokenness our local churches, and into the needs of our communities.
Turn our sighs into songs, our cynicism into servanthood, and our grumblings into the rumblings of a kingdom that has come and is coming in fullness. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ triumphant and compassionate name.

Search Me, O God

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)

What tangles us up in temptations and gets us into serious trouble has less to do with the world out there than the world inside of us. We fail and fall because of our own hearts, and since the problem is internal and universal we see the damage done in all people.

I say that you can hardly turn to a single character, among the holy men described in the Bible, who did not, to his own horror and dismay, fall at one time or another. Noah planted a vineyard, and was one day found drunken. David committed adultery with the wife of Uriah. Peter denied his Lord thrice. What does this prove? It proves beyond a question that the most excellent of the earth have found that the root of all their sinfulness is within them; they never boasted of the purity or goodness of their hearts, they have all placed upon record the truth that, although Satan does much and the world does much, still after all the great enemy is always within us!
- J.C. Ryle, A Bad Heart

From the heart “flow the springs of life,” Solomon tells us. This is why he also says it is paramount that we “keep it.” If we do not take care of our hearts disaster awaits. A life of external discipline may give the appearance of strength, but it will not bear the fruit of faith. The heart, when left unchecked, can become the very thing that sinks us.

The heart is ready to be destroyed by its own passion, just as a ship is ready to be overturned by its sail. The heart sometimes sinks in sorrow, swells with anger, and abounds excessively with carnal joy. Passion transports beyond the bounds of reason; it is a kind of temporary madness which possesses a person. Lay the bit of restraint upon your passions—or your heart will run wild in sin; take heed of inflaming your spirits. Cut off all occasions that may awaken this fury. Take away the fuel which feeds this fire! When this viper of passion begins to gather heat, pray it down. Luther said that prayer takes down the swelling of the soul—and abates the heat of inordinate affections. How dangerous these fiery passions are! In a passion, Moses spoke unadvisedly with his lips (Psalm 106:33). A man in a rage is like a ship in a tempest—which has neither pilot, sails, or oars to help—but is exposed to the waves and the rocks. How many have lost their souls in such a storm!
- Thomas Watson, The Spiritual Watch

How do we “restrain” our passions, take away the fuel which feed the fire, and “pray down” this unrighteous heat in our hearts? I’m eager to talk about all of this at this weekend’s Porterbrook Kansas Gospel Immersion Seminar. For now let me just point you to my favorite work on the subject. John Flavel’s Keeping the Heart. You can read it online for free, or purchase a hard copy from WTSBook

By Grace You Can from Joethorn.net

I find that some Christians have a good understanding of the extent of our human depravity, but an underdeveloped view of God’s vivifying grace. Many seem to believe that because sin continues to cling to and corrupt all our works this side of the resurrection that even as believers we remain fruitless in godliness–incapable of obeying God. But man’s total depravity doesn’t leave us pessimistic in piety because God’s sovereign grace in salvation gives us life, overcomes our weaknesses, and produces a transformed character. By grace we can obey God. I was reading Sibbes today (as we all should), and he said it better than I can.
Beloved, it is part of the new covenant, that whatsoever our duty is, we shall have ability to perform it by the Spirit of Christ; for all the gracious promises of the gospel are not only promises upon condition, and so a covenant, but likewise the covenant of grace is a testament and a will (a will is made without conditions; a covenant with conditions), that as he hath made a covenant what he would have us to do , so his testament is, that we shall have grace to do so; he will put his Spirit into us, and circumcise our hearts, or else, beloved, there would be no more strength of the covenant of grace than there was of that of nature in Adam. Why did Adam fall? He had not the Spirit to uphold him, nor had the promise of it to keep him that he should not fall. Therefore the covenant of works was frustrate. If God should not make good our part as well as his, we should not be saved. Therefore, now in the covenant of grace we may boldly go to God and Christ; and allege unto him, when any duty is pressed upon us, and when we are about to perform any duty, and find want of strength, ‘Lord, thou knowest I have no strength of myself, I am a barren wilderness; but thou hast entered into a covenant of grace with me, which requirest, Lord, in the use of means that thou hast ordained; in attending upon thee, and looking up to thee, I desire that thou wouldst give me strength to submit to thee, to live and die to thee, to direct my course as I should.’ This should be the course of a Christian, and not to set upon things in his own strength; but when duty is discovered, look to the promise of grace and of the Spirit, and put them into suit, and allege them to Christ in the use of sanctified means, as reading, hearing, holy conference, and the like; and he will enable us to do that that is our duty.
Therefore a man may know who is indeed under Christ’s government by this, for he that is actually under Christ’s government and acknowledgeth him to be his Lord, he hath ability to live and die to him in some comfortable measure; to deny himself, to go out of himself, to live and to die to the glory of God. The Spirit of God hath given him this victory and triumph over his own heart.
- Richard Sibbes, Christ’s Exaltation Purchased by His Humiliation: The Second Serm

Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping - Bakingdom

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This prayer is so powerful and so thought provoking. We are to forgive! It is as plain and as simple as that! There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. We are to forgive. Not hold this against them the rest of our lives or theirs. UNFORGIVENESS hurts US more than anyone else... and it certainly does not set an example for other Christians!!!! All I can say is WOW... and pray! A Prayer about Old Pain and the Journey of Forgiving Scotty Smith posted on October 04, 2012 05:28 Then Peter came up and said to him [Jesus], “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” Matt. 18:21–22 Jesus, I come to you right now with joy in my heart and knots in my gut. The joy is about the exhaustive forgiveness I have in you. The knots are about the costly implications of that same forgiveness. As I pray for myself, I pray for others with the same struggle to love well in broken stories that just won’t seem to go away. How long does it take for the hurt to heal, Jesus? When will I be completely free—no longer having a beautiful day sabotaged by an unresolved conflict? Running into an old friend, with whom I’ve shared a lot of life and no small heartache, reminded me that everything’s not right yet. That run-in was kind of like bumping a previously broken shin into the corner of a low-sitting coffee table. I winced with pain, thought less than loving things, and simmered for a couple of hours. That’s not the way of grace, but it was my way, nonetheless. Jesus, I thought I’d already forgiven him from my heart. I thought I was already healed. I thought I’d dealt with this thing a long time ago. That’s just not the case. Out of sight might be out of mind, but it’s not out of the memory band of betrayal and loss. So I come to you today for seventy-times-seven grace. I’m being held hostage by my own unforgiveness. Certainly the gospel is big enough and powerful enough to set me free. So I humble myself before you, Jesus. I may never enjoy the gift of my friend’s repentance, at least this side of heaven, but there’s no justification for me tying my repentance to his. I’m to forgive him as you’ve forgiven me, Jesus. It’s as simple and as costly as that. No, I’m not to be a doormat, but I am to be a doorway to the miracle of reconciliation. By the work of the Holy Spirit, I ask you to show me what that will entail in these next several weeks. Some broken relationships are less complex than this one. Some are no-brainers in terms of applying the gospel. But this one’s different. Jesus, you’ve promised me all the wisdom I need, and I’ll take it. But I also ask you for a great measure of determination, strength, and follow-through. Low-sitting coffee tables can morph into coiled rattlesnakes in time, and the venom of unforgiveness is just too toxic to ignore. Untie the knots in my gut with your liberating hands. So very Amen I pray, in your redeeming and restoring name. Scotty Smith Founding Pastor Christ Community Church 801 Highgrove Circle Franklin, TN 37069 It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9 .

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A Prayer for Grace to Accept Disruption and Change Scotty Smith posted on September 30, 2012 05:07 A Prayer for Grace to Accept Disruption and Change Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heb. 13:8 Dear Lord Jesus, I really don’t like change. I like newness, excitement and adventure, but when it’s all said and done, I love to come home to the normal and the predictable. My passion for the known and familiar goes deep—maybe too deep. Grant me grace to accept change, because there’s so much change going on everywhere I look. Another freshly planted “For Sale” sign confirms old friends are moving away. A favorite tree, whose leaves gave the relief of shade and a vibrant tapestry of fall color, is taken down by a storm. The regular voice of a beloved pastor is taken away by his call to another pulpit. The restaurant which served great food, rich conversation, and the ambiance of welcome had to close. Friends divorce, pets die, jobs are lost. I don’t like it, Jesus. Change is disruptive. Precious things don’t become vintage things overnight. How thankful we are that there’s one part of our lives that will never change, and that’s you, Lord Jesus. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. That certainly doesn’t make you predictable, and, even less so, manageable. But it does mean that we can trust you without any reservations whatsoever. In fact, it’s only in knowing you that change is put into perspective. The most fundamental change we should always welcome is becoming like you, Jesus, and that process is the most disruptive and painful change we will ever go through. Yet with the knowledge that one Day we’ll be as lovely and as loving as you, we gladly surrender to the painful and liberating work of the gospel in our lives. Lord, may it hurt so good, if growth will reveal your grace and glory in my life. Likewise, Jesus, the better we know you, the more we come alive to your promise to make all things new. Change has no sovereignty. Only you are Lord. Nothing is random in this world. Nothing catches you off guard. The scary becomes the sacred when we’re wearing the lens of the gospel. Jesus, help each of us see and accept changes as part of a far better story than we could ever hope to write. You are making all things new, right now—right before our very eyes, if we have eyes to see and a heart to accept. Because of your life, death, and resurrection, we’re heading towards a place, family, and eternity in which it will all make sense and everything will be the way it’s supposed to be. Hasten that magnificent Day! Until then, Jesus, may we love you with abandon, serve you without question, and order our lives after your transforming purposes. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and matchless name. Scotty Smith Founding Pastor Christ Community Church 801 Highgrove Circle Franklin, TN 37069 It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

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A Prayer about the Orphan in us...

A Prayer about the Orphan in Us... in Me Scotty Smith posted on October 01, 2012 05:25 A Prayer about the Orphan in Us… in Me I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Gal. 4:4–7 Dear Lord Jesus, I praise, worship and adore you for a promise made, and a promised kept. You promised not to leave us in an orphan-like state—you promised to send the Spirit of adoption into our hearts and you did. You love us with a filial affection far beyond all imaging. Great is your faithfulness. Great is your generosity. Great is your grace and glory! But there are moments, days, even much longer stretches when I begin to think, feel, and live as though I am still very much orphan—as though I don’t really have a heavenly Father who loves me deeply and is involved in every detail of my life—as though you never actually send you Spirit of adoption into my heart, by which I cry, “Abba, Father!” When I get sucked back into this temporary state of unbelief and gospel-forgetfulness, my spirit shrinks and my fears enlarge. My peace says, “Goodbye,” and my control issues return with a vengeance. I get defensive and I go on the offensive. Instead of having a love for the lost, I get lost in my fretting and plotting. In short, I’m no fun to be around. I wish there was a button I could push or a switch I could throw and all of a sudden “snap out of it.” There’s no such shortcut, but there is gospel and repentant faith, which is better by far. So I begin today by preaching the gospel to my heart—the gospel that we believers need as much as non-believers—the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation, at every stage in our journey to the new heaven and new earth. Jesus, you haven’t left us as orphans. You fulfilled the all demands of the law for me that I might know the full delights of the children of God. You’ve made this rebellious enemy of God a beloved son of the Father. The saints in heaven are more happy than me, but they are not more secure; they know the Father better than me but they aren’t known by the Father any better than me. Not a hair can fall from my head nor can a breath be taken from my lungs apart from his sovereign purposes. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Lord Jesus, you never have and never will abandon me. Right now, I abandon myself to you and to the resources of the gospel, the Spirit of adoption and the hope of my inheritance. I take my eyes off myself and set my gaze, heart and affections on you. Free me to love others today as you so lavishly love me. So very Amen I pray in your gracious and glorious name. Scotty Smith Founding Pastor Christ Community Church 801 Highgrove Circle Franklin, TN 37069 It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

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