The Unlikely Apostle Pt.1 : Pray Without Ceasing

Something has been stirring in me for a while. A restlessness. A dissatisfaction with the status quo. A feeling like I’m in a rut. A feeling like my church is in a rut.

A couple weeks ago it came out that several other people have been having a similar experience. So, I began to seek God’s direction and desire for me and the people. I believe He answered, and it was not what I expected.

I believe God has called us to pray, just to pray, during our Sunday and Wednesday services for the next month. No music. No Bible study. Just prayer.

That may seem crazy to some folks. I understand. I have spent many years planning order of services. I know how desperately people want a bulletin that tells them what’s coming next. I am fully aware of how uncomfortable it gets when there’s the slightest break in the action.

We have become experts at orchestrating and executing worship services that pacify the crowds yet don’t require God’s presence.

Frankly, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of the show. I’m tired of the games. I’m tired of holding a form of godliness twice a week, yet not experiencing God’s power. I’m tired of lukewarm American Christianity. It’s corroding my soul.

I want Jesus. No, I need Jesus. I need Jesus exceedingly and abundantly more than I realize. We do too.

We say a little prayer before meals. We say a little prayer before business meetings. We say a little prayer before offerings. We memorize Scripture verses about prayer. We devote entire sermons to the subject of prayer. We have bible studies devoted to prayer. We post inspiring quotes on social media about prayer. Yet, we are far too pragmatic to actually be people of prayer.

And that is exactly what we are called to be: People of prayer who pray without ceasing.

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I’ve heard grown men that were leaders in churches joke about this verse, shrugging it off since God can’t possibly be calling us to drive down the freeway with our eyes closed. I think we tend to make light of things that terrify us. We fear what we don’t understand, and making a mockery of such things has a way of taking a bit of the edge off.

How our hearts deceive us.

Paul flat out says that God’s will for our lives is for us to pray without ceasing. Yet, we sit around at Bible studies joking about the verse so we can convince ourselves that it's okay to not do God’s will. I wonder what the chances are that Jesus was just kidding when He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter (Matthew 7:21).” Perhaps we need to take God's will seriously.

So, what does it mean to pray without ceasing?

I plead with you, by the grace with which you are clothed, to press forward in thy progress, and to exhort everyone so that they may be saved. … Give yourself to prayer without ceasing. Plead for additional understanding to what you already have. Be watchful, possessing a sleepless spirit. Speak to every man separately, as God enables you. Bear the infirmities of all, as being a perfect athlete [in the Christian life]: where the labor is great, but the reward is even greater. – Ignatius 105CE, Volume 1, p. 152 [CD-ROM]

According to Ignatius, praying without ceasing first means maintaining a desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Second, we must keep an ambassadorial mindset. Third, we should be imploring our Father for steady infillings of heavenly wisdom. Fourth, we need to remain vigilant, seeking God’s direction in all things for all people so that we can make the most of every opportunity. And finally, to pray without ceasing, Ignatius calls us to never forget the reward of living for the kingdom of heaven.

It takes prayer to become a person of prayer. And that is what I want to be. That is what I want for each person of my church. That is what I want for you.

Are you in a spiritual rut? Do you feel restless in your faith? Then join me in this quest to pray without ceasing, and let’s experience Jesus together. 

Simply Jesus Pt. 24: “A Tree Is Known By its Own Fruit”

Presidential debates are fascinating, aren’t they? The aspects that intrigue me the most are that generally, as in this election, the candidates are professing Christians. Not only are they professing Christians, but they possess vast amounts of wealth and are attempting to become arguably the most powerful person in the world.

Jesus often had many challenging things to say to the wealthy and powerful people He encountered, so it’s rather interesting to see how these professing Christians live out their professed faith in situations where the stakes are so high. Yes, I realize I keep using the word ‘professing’. Surely people with the unquenchable ambition to be the leader of the free world wouldn’t lie about their beliefs just to get votes, would they? Would they?

It’s strange, I remember George W. Bush being touted as a strong evangelical when he was first running for office. During his presidency, I remember a book of his receiving enormous publicity in certain mainline Christian stores. However, I also recall him in 2004 saying in an interview with Charles Gibson that he believed sincere Muslims and Christians both pray to the same God and will both go to heaven. He never talked like that on the campaign trail in 2000.

So how can we know the truth, especially in an age like ours when deceit is at an all time high? Jesus calls us to the fruit test.

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” – Luke 6:43-45

Whenever I’ve discussed this passage with others, a question seems to usually arise as to what ‘good fruit’ actually looks like. Ignatius, who was the Bishop of Antioch and a personal disciple of John the Apostle in the late first and early second century, made a simple, yet profound comment on the question at hand.  

The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognized by their conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession, but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end. … Let us therefore do all things as those who have Him dwelling in us, that we may be His temples, and He may be in us as our God, which indeed He is, and will manifest Himself before our faces. – Ignatius 105CE, Volume 1, p. 92-93 [CD-ROM]

According to Ignatius, our fruit is synonymous with our conduct. According to Ignatius, good fruit must be fruit that perseveres to the end. According to Ignatius, good fruit is an outflow of a good tree. If we are truly part of the Jesus tree, than our lives should bear His resemblance in our daily interactions.

The coming election has propped up two candidates who claim affiliation with Jesus, yet in conversations I’ve had about the first debate, the winner seemed to be determined by which one seemed less evil. “__________ may be the great whore of Babylon.” “Yeah, well _________ may be the Antichrist.” And of course, it's possible that those designations could be true.

It’s been said that when we’re bumped we spill what we’re filled with. During the debate, we witnessed two professing Christians being repeatedly bumped and spilling gallons of poison into the audience and our living rooms. Unfortunately, similar copycat spills are being committed by their followers with every passing day.

So what are you filled with? In this heated political season, when you’re bumped, what spills out of you? Is it healthy or poisonous?

If what spills is poisonous, if the fruit is rotten, then perhaps we should evaluate where our trust is actually placed. Does God or government have our hearts?

It is so tempting to put our confidence in government. After all, it seems like the most pragmatic thing to do. However, even the best worldly governments in their best days bear little resemblance to the kingdom of heaven. So as things get less and less godly in the weeks ahead, may we heed the wise counsel of the psalmist:

Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. ... How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. – Psalm 146:3,5

Ignatius’ Advice for Christians in the Last Days in 105CE

The end of all things is near. From now onwards, then, we must bear ourselves with humility, and tremble at God’s patience for fear it should turn into judgment upon us. Let us either flee from His future wrath, or else embrace His present grace; no matter which, so long as we are found in Jesus Christ with our true life before us. Apart from Him, nothing else should have any value in your eyes. …

Do your best, then, to meet more often to give thanks and glory to God. When you meet frequently, the powers of Satan are confounded, and in the face of your corporate faith his maleficence crumbles. Nothing can better a state of peaceful accord, from which every trace of spiritual or earthly hostility has been banished. …

Nothing is hidden from the Lord; even our most secret thoughts are ever present to Him. Whatever we do, then, let it be done as though He Himself were dwelling within us, we being as it were His temples and He within us as their God. For in fact, that is literally the case; and in proportion as we rightly love Him, so it will become clear to our eyes.

Ignatius on Jesus Being the Savior of the World in 105CE

Some most worthless persons are in the habit of carrying about the name [of Jesus Christ] in wicked deceitfulness. They practice things unworthy of God and hold opinions contrary to the doctrine of Christ, to their own destruction. … For “they are dumb dogs, that cannot bark,” raving mad, and biting secretly, against whom you must be on your guard, since they labor under an incurable disease. But our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son. …

Let not then any one deceive you, as indeed you are not deceived; for you are wholly devoted to God. For when there is no evil desire within you, which might defile and torment you, then you live in accordance with the will of God, and are [the servants] of Christ. … They that are carnal cannot do those things which are spiritual, nor they that are spiritual the things which are carnal; even as faith cannot do the works of unbelief, nor unbelief the works of faith. But you, being full of the Holy Spirit, do nothing according to the flesh, but all things according to the Spirit. You are complete in Christ Jesus, “who is the Savior of all men, specially of them that believe.” …

And pray without ceasing in behalf of other men; for there is hope of repentance, that they may attain to God. For “cannot he that falls arise again, and he that goes astray return?” Permit them, then, to be instructed by you. Be therefore the ministers of God, and the mouth of Christ. … Conquer their harsh temper by gentleness, their passion by meekness. For “blessed are the meek;” and Moses was meek above all men; and David was exceeding meek. Wherefore Paul exhorts as follows: “The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle towards all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves.”

Do not seek to avenge yourselves on those that injure you. … Let us make them brethren by our kindness. For say to those that hate you, “You are our brethren,” that the name of the Lord may be glorified. And let us imitate the Lord, “who, when He was reviled, reviled not again;” when He was crucified, He answered not; “when He suffered, He threatened not;” but prayed for His enemies, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” If any one, the more he is injured, displays the more patience, blessed is he. If any one is defrauded, if any one is despised for the name of the Lord, he truly is the servant of Christ. 

Ignatius on Philippians 4:13 in His Letter to Smyrna around 105CE

I give you these instructions, beloved, assured that you also hold the same opinions [as I do]. But I guard you beforehand from these beasts in the shape of men, from whom you must not only turn away, but even flee from. Only you must pray for them, if by any means they may be brought to repentance. For if the Lord were in the body in appearance only, and were crucified in appearance only, then am I also bound in appearance only. And why have I also surrendered myself to death, to fire, to the sword, to the wild beasts? But, [in fact,] I endure all things for Christ, not in appearance only, but in reality, that I may suffer together with Him, while He Himself inwardly strengthens me; for of myself I have no such ability.

Some have ignorantly denied Him, and advocate falsehood rather than the truth. These persons neither have the prophecies persuaded, nor the law of Moses, nor the Gospel even to this day, nor the sufferings we have individually endured. For they think also the same thing regarding us. For what does it profit, if any one commends me, but blasphemes my Lord, not owning Him to be God incarnate? He that does not confess this, has in fact altogether denied Him, being enveloped in death. I have not, however, thought good to write the names of such persons, inasmuch as they are unbelievers; and far be it from me to make any mention of them, until they repent.

Let no man deceive himself. Unless he believes that Christ Jesus has lived in the flesh, and shall confess His cross and passion, and the blood which He shed for the salvation of the world, he shall not obtain eternal life, whether he be a king, or a priest, or a ruler, or a private person, a master or a servant, a man or a woman. “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” Let no man’s place, or dignity, or riches, puff him up; and let no man’s low condition or poverty humiliate him. For the chief points are faith towards God, hope towards Christ, the enjoyment of those good things for which we look, and love towards God and our neighbor. For, “You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself.”

And the Lord says, “This is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.” And again, “A new commandment give I unto you, that you love one another.” … Do you, therefore, notice those who preach other doctrines, how they affirm that the Father of Christ cannot be known, and how they exhibit enmity and deceit in their dealings with one another. They have no regard for love; they despise the good things we expect hereafter; they regard present things as if they were durable; they ridicule him that is in affliction; they laugh at him that is in bonds.