By David Hobbs
People ask, “What can I do in order to pray for an hour? I run out of requests and things to thank Him for after the first 5 minutes; now what?” Other people want to know what I mean when I talk about intimacy with God.
Have you ever had a time where you felt especially close to God, like He was right there? Mike Harris had such an experience in Out of the Fire on that fire up in Idaho (The Big One, p. 355). All of us who are born again have had those special experiences, which I call “being in His Presence.” That concept, my friend, is the key to a satisfying, productive and vibrant prayer life—Praying in His Presence! (When Mike prayed in His Presence, the wind reversed and the fire stopped!)
Consider these Scriptures: 1) Psalm 16:11 (NKJV)—“In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” 2) Exodus 33:14 (NIV)--God speaking to Moses when Moses asked who God would send with them to take them to the Promised Land. “The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’” 3) Deut. 4:37 (NIV)—“[God] brought you [the nation of Israel] out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength.” 4) Psalm 21:6 (NIV)—“Surely you [God] have granted him [the king] eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.” 5) Psalm 51:11 (NIV)—“Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
Though in one sense God is everywhere all the time, yet the Bible still speaks of His Presence manifesting itself in particular places at particular times. It’s like God has cameras running everywhere all the time—He always knows what is happening everywhere and it’s all being recorded, but that doesn’t mean that God’s will is being done everywhere. We know from Scripture that Satan is the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11), and it’s Satan’s will, not God’s, being done throughout much of the earth (that’s why we’re to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven). But when God’s Presence shows up, that’s like God showing up in person with all of His power and glory. When God’s Presence shows up, demons have to flee (Psalm 114:7 [NIV]—“Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord.”), and the wicked too (Psalm 5:5 [NIV]—“The arrogant cannot stand in your presence.”
And it’s God’s very Presence that we want to experience when we pray. Otherwise how can you be intimate with someone who is not there? The American church’s mentality in prayer is that God is watching and listening to us as we pray, but like with the recording camera. It’s all being recorded and played back for Him in heaven, but meanwhile we experience nothing on our end and have no idea how He is responding, whether we have His ear or not. Beloved, that’s not God’s perfect will for us. Sure there are times when we have to pray in faith, but the norm is to pray in His Presence.
“Sounds great,” you might say, “but how exactly do I do that? God rarely shows up in my life like that. If I had to wait for those times, I’d hardly ever pray!”
The answer is simple—when we pray, we are to pray-in the Presence of the Lord; we can cause His Presence to manifest, then when His presence is there, we can let the Holy Spirit lead us in our prayer time and do and say exactly what He wants. Then it’s not us praying, but Him praying through us—Christ in you the hope of glory! The whole secret of prayer is to first get into the Presence of the Lord, and then be led of the Spirit.
(Next, “How do I get into the Presence of the Lord?)
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
What Is Prayer?
By David Hobbs
To most of the American Christian world, prayer consists of “presenting our requests and petitions to God.” In other words, asking for stuff. “Dear God, please heal my puppy. Oh and save Aunt Alma. And please get me a better job where they don’t laugh at me all the time because I’m a Christian. And I pray my wife would love me more and not spend so much money at the beauty parlor. And I pray dear God! Make her a better driver so she don’t bang up this car like the last one.” On it goes until we finally run down and quit, without feeling we’ve actually accomplished anything, and not really sure that anyone is listening or even cares.
Oh but then there’s also Intercessory Prayer, we mustn’t forget that. Intercessory prayer is all of the above but at a much louder volume. And it usually involves the missionaries too. Lord I pray that you save Aunt Alma, and bless the missionaries in Taiwan and Ubekestan! To this add some cries and groanings and dreadful grimaces and brother you’ve got it.
The Bible does tell us to make our requests known to God, and that we "have not because we ask not," but that’s not all prayer is. That’s just “prayer getting started.”
The Gospels speak of Jesus going out and spending all night praying to God (Luke 6:12). What was He doing out there all night? Coming up with one request after another for the entire night? Apparently one thing that was happening was that God was instructing Jesus who to pick as the 12 disciples, because the first thing He did coming down from the mountain was just that. And the next thing He did was deliver His main teaching that in Matthew we call the “Sermon on the Mount.” So He must have been doing a lot of receiving from God rather than just making requests. So God was speaking to Jesus as well as Jesus speaking to the Father.
We could flesh this out more, but in the end we would see that prayer is communing with God--spending time with God--much as you would spend time with a best friend, your spouse, or a beloved parent. Think of how those times go: you spend some time talking, some time listening, some time waiting for the other to speak, and some time just hanging out. I spend time listening to my wife rattle on because I love her and I want to know what she’s been doing what’s on her heart. I rattle on to her sometimes because something has happened that has me excited and I want her to know about it. We usually get business out of the way early on—requests, scheduling, things to buy at the store, etc. because that’s the least important and least exciting part of our relationship. Get the drippy faucet and kids needing new shoes out of the way before you start progressing to the next level of intimacy where your heart beats faster!
God wants to spend time with us in the same way. He wants to know what we need, but doesn’t want us to rattle off our wish list and then leave Him for something more enjoyable, like the TV or our big-boy toys. That breaks His heart. He wants to spend time with us, just like we want to spend time with those we truly love, which in some cases might even be our faithful dog. But what if old Fido, after receiving our petting and a treat, turned tail and went out and played wrestle with the cat, or learned how to throw the ball against the side of the house and chase it himself, having a great time entertaining himself, and only came back and showed affection to us at mealtime? We’d want to get a new dog! But isn’t that the way we treat God?
Prayer is about spending time with God. But spending time doing what? How about spending time doing things He likes, like thanking Him for all He does for us, showing appreciation for His mercy and goodness, singing songs of worship to Him, asking Him to change our hearts so we can love Him more, confess our hard hearts and usual indifference to Him, acknowledge our shortcomings and ask for His grace. Then spend some time waiting in His Presence, listening to what He might be speaking in your thoughts (God often communicates with us by putting thoughts in our minds, rather than by an identifiable voice. If a thought is a lot smarter than we are, it might well be from Him!).
The key ingredient is time, spending time with Him. That means that during this time we will not allow our mind to think about anything else: not our job, our plans, our family, rehearsing the day’s events, worries about bills. . . nothing but about Him! That is the most difficult part—controlling the mind—but the mind can be trained and controlled with perseverance. And oh what a joy when we begin to reap the benefits of being in His presence! There is nothing like it. And gradually everything else in life will pale before the joy that comes from being with Him. “I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God He calls me ‘friend’.” We sing the song. But are we willing to do what it takes to make it happen?
To most of the American Christian world, prayer consists of “presenting our requests and petitions to God.” In other words, asking for stuff. “Dear God, please heal my puppy. Oh and save Aunt Alma. And please get me a better job where they don’t laugh at me all the time because I’m a Christian. And I pray my wife would love me more and not spend so much money at the beauty parlor. And I pray dear God! Make her a better driver so she don’t bang up this car like the last one.” On it goes until we finally run down and quit, without feeling we’ve actually accomplished anything, and not really sure that anyone is listening or even cares.
Oh but then there’s also Intercessory Prayer, we mustn’t forget that. Intercessory prayer is all of the above but at a much louder volume. And it usually involves the missionaries too. Lord I pray that you save Aunt Alma, and bless the missionaries in Taiwan and Ubekestan! To this add some cries and groanings and dreadful grimaces and brother you’ve got it.
The Bible does tell us to make our requests known to God, and that we "have not because we ask not," but that’s not all prayer is. That’s just “prayer getting started.”
The Gospels speak of Jesus going out and spending all night praying to God (Luke 6:12). What was He doing out there all night? Coming up with one request after another for the entire night? Apparently one thing that was happening was that God was instructing Jesus who to pick as the 12 disciples, because the first thing He did coming down from the mountain was just that. And the next thing He did was deliver His main teaching that in Matthew we call the “Sermon on the Mount.” So He must have been doing a lot of receiving from God rather than just making requests. So God was speaking to Jesus as well as Jesus speaking to the Father.
We could flesh this out more, but in the end we would see that prayer is communing with God--spending time with God--much as you would spend time with a best friend, your spouse, or a beloved parent. Think of how those times go: you spend some time talking, some time listening, some time waiting for the other to speak, and some time just hanging out. I spend time listening to my wife rattle on because I love her and I want to know what she’s been doing what’s on her heart. I rattle on to her sometimes because something has happened that has me excited and I want her to know about it. We usually get business out of the way early on—requests, scheduling, things to buy at the store, etc. because that’s the least important and least exciting part of our relationship. Get the drippy faucet and kids needing new shoes out of the way before you start progressing to the next level of intimacy where your heart beats faster!
God wants to spend time with us in the same way. He wants to know what we need, but doesn’t want us to rattle off our wish list and then leave Him for something more enjoyable, like the TV or our big-boy toys. That breaks His heart. He wants to spend time with us, just like we want to spend time with those we truly love, which in some cases might even be our faithful dog. But what if old Fido, after receiving our petting and a treat, turned tail and went out and played wrestle with the cat, or learned how to throw the ball against the side of the house and chase it himself, having a great time entertaining himself, and only came back and showed affection to us at mealtime? We’d want to get a new dog! But isn’t that the way we treat God?
Prayer is about spending time with God. But spending time doing what? How about spending time doing things He likes, like thanking Him for all He does for us, showing appreciation for His mercy and goodness, singing songs of worship to Him, asking Him to change our hearts so we can love Him more, confess our hard hearts and usual indifference to Him, acknowledge our shortcomings and ask for His grace. Then spend some time waiting in His Presence, listening to what He might be speaking in your thoughts (God often communicates with us by putting thoughts in our minds, rather than by an identifiable voice. If a thought is a lot smarter than we are, it might well be from Him!).
The key ingredient is time, spending time with Him. That means that during this time we will not allow our mind to think about anything else: not our job, our plans, our family, rehearsing the day’s events, worries about bills. . . nothing but about Him! That is the most difficult part—controlling the mind—but the mind can be trained and controlled with perseverance. And oh what a joy when we begin to reap the benefits of being in His presence! There is nothing like it. And gradually everything else in life will pale before the joy that comes from being with Him. “I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God He calls me ‘friend’.” We sing the song. But are we willing to do what it takes to make it happen?
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Tradeshow Intercession
By David Hobbs
[Before reading this post, read the last 2 posts in the order written and it will be in context. All three stories happened within days of each other.]
The Christian Booksellers Tradeshow in Atlanta (July, 2007) was a massive event. It took place in one building of the World Congress Center, which in itself is a huge facility, filling floors of meeting rooms, auditoriums, etc. But the epicenter was the main exhibit hall in the lowest basement, a cavernous room with 9 acres of exhibits containing over 400 exhibitors in 3 categories: Book and Bible, Gifts, and Music.
The first day was a blur of activity. I found the booth of the Christian Small Publisher’s Association, my group, and met the others from the group who had come to exhibit, a brave band of unknown souls up against the Zondervans and Thomas Nelsons of the Christian publishing world.
And then came the book signings, of which I was the first. We pulled a little table out into the aisle, where I sat with a stack of my books. Others in the group went out into the teeming throngs handing out catalogs of our books and inviting book buyers to come to the table to get a free, autographed copy of my book. Soon I was signing and passing out books as fast as I could write for the better part of an hour. Then my hour was up, and it was my turn to go out in the crowds and hustle for other signing authors. Thus the day flew by, with hardly time to eat.
By Tuesday, that part of my responsibility was over, and I was free to walk the aisles and check out the exhibits. I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount and variety of what was available: printed books by the thousands, audio books, online books, companies that would print books one at a time, foreign printers from India, Mexico, and South Korea, brokers who would find a printer for you, ghost writers, illustrators, companies that sold curriculum for Sunday School, children’s church, youth ministries and adult classes, companies that would turn your printed book into an audio book, companies that would translate your book into Spanish, or Russian, or East Timorian—it went on and on. And then there was the gift section, a seemingly endless array of candles, jewelry, knick knacks, banners, paintings, choir robes, posters, chairs, vestments, church calendars, coffee cups, greeting cards, offering envelopes, communion servers and . . .
“Wow,” I thought, “all this because of one Man.” The thought that this was all because of Jesus made me wonder, “What would Jesus think if He were here wandering these aisles with me?” And then I remembered that He was indeed wandering these aisles with me because He was in me. I immediately went inside my spirit and started checking to see if I could get a read from Him. It didn’t look good. “What if Jesus were walking these aisles in the flesh, as Jesus? How would the people respond?” I thought for a minute. “Hmm. Well if He wasn’t wearing nice clothes and didn’t have money to spend on their wares, they wouldn’t give him the time of day. They wouldn’t care a whit about His teaching. These people aren’t here to get the answers to life’s problems; they’re here to make money! This is not about Truth, or lost souls, or redeeming the earth from the curse, or establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth; this is about business!”
The sad truth of this reality brought me down from the euphoria I had been feeling from the high of meeting people and getting my book out into the big world. But I soon got caught up in the whirlwind of activity again, looking for contacts, talking to people, networking, etc. and forgot about it.
Later, back at my hotel room, I was like a kid after way too many sugary treats, who had been running around at a birthday party past his bedtime. My body was exhausted but my mind was spinning a mile a minute. I tried to pray, but after making an attempt for awhile, I found myself working the Suduko puzzle from the USA Today newspaper left under my door that morning. “What the. . . !” I couldn’t even remember making a conscious decision to do that. I tried to pray again, but it was no use; my mind was off in a million directions and all my body wanted to do was sleep.
I gave up and lay down in bed, pulling the covers over me and letting go into the bliss of dreamland. As I lay there waiting for unconsciousness to overtake me, my mind wandered over the events of the day. I remembered that “What-if-Jesus-were-here-moment” and in my mind’s eye saw the exhibit hall as if from a crow’s nest perched above it with the multitudes thronging the aisles below.
That mental picture was a trigger! In an instant it all came back. The power of God hit me: I snapped awake, bolted up in bed, swung my legs over the edge to the floor and began interceding. All the tiredness and lack of focus vanished as if they had never been. I was seeing it from God’s perspective and my heart was breaking. All that He had done in sending Jesus to redeem lost man, all that it had cost Him, all that it had cost heaven for the Son of God to be tortured, rejected, humiliated, and finally crucified; from sweating the great drops of blood and the loud cries of agony in the garden to that tortured cry on the cross, “My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?!”—all that, for US, and we turn it into nothing more than a way to make money! I was crying now, my body wracked in great sobs. I kept saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” It seemed like the ultimate rejection and humiliation, greater than what they did to Jesus on the cross. They didn’t know any better then [“Father forgive them, they know not what they do”], but we know exactly who Jesus was, why He came and what he accomplished. We know all about Him driving the money changers and sellers of doves out of the temple because they had turned His Father’s house into a place of merchandise. And yet we hadn’t learned a thing, just kept thoughtlessly repeating the same mistakes in our day.
I fell back on the bed, my body convulsing in agony. My words had turned to gasping cries. The tears were streaming from my eyes and my nose was making a mess. I staggered into the bathroom for tissues, blew my nose, and flopped down once more on the bed while the convulsions gradually subsided and the mind-wracking thoughts and visions ceased.
Finally a great peace settled over me and I was lying in the arms of Jesus, resting from the torrent of emotion. I couldn’t change what they were doing to Him. But through prayer, through the intimacy of the Spirit, I could share the sorrow with Him, and that seemed to be enough.
[Before reading this post, read the last 2 posts in the order written and it will be in context. All three stories happened within days of each other.]
The Christian Booksellers Tradeshow in Atlanta (July, 2007) was a massive event. It took place in one building of the World Congress Center, which in itself is a huge facility, filling floors of meeting rooms, auditoriums, etc. But the epicenter was the main exhibit hall in the lowest basement, a cavernous room with 9 acres of exhibits containing over 400 exhibitors in 3 categories: Book and Bible, Gifts, and Music.
The first day was a blur of activity. I found the booth of the Christian Small Publisher’s Association, my group, and met the others from the group who had come to exhibit, a brave band of unknown souls up against the Zondervans and Thomas Nelsons of the Christian publishing world.
And then came the book signings, of which I was the first. We pulled a little table out into the aisle, where I sat with a stack of my books. Others in the group went out into the teeming throngs handing out catalogs of our books and inviting book buyers to come to the table to get a free, autographed copy of my book. Soon I was signing and passing out books as fast as I could write for the better part of an hour. Then my hour was up, and it was my turn to go out in the crowds and hustle for other signing authors. Thus the day flew by, with hardly time to eat.
By Tuesday, that part of my responsibility was over, and I was free to walk the aisles and check out the exhibits. I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount and variety of what was available: printed books by the thousands, audio books, online books, companies that would print books one at a time, foreign printers from India, Mexico, and South Korea, brokers who would find a printer for you, ghost writers, illustrators, companies that sold curriculum for Sunday School, children’s church, youth ministries and adult classes, companies that would turn your printed book into an audio book, companies that would translate your book into Spanish, or Russian, or East Timorian—it went on and on. And then there was the gift section, a seemingly endless array of candles, jewelry, knick knacks, banners, paintings, choir robes, posters, chairs, vestments, church calendars, coffee cups, greeting cards, offering envelopes, communion servers and . . .
“Wow,” I thought, “all this because of one Man.” The thought that this was all because of Jesus made me wonder, “What would Jesus think if He were here wandering these aisles with me?” And then I remembered that He was indeed wandering these aisles with me because He was in me. I immediately went inside my spirit and started checking to see if I could get a read from Him. It didn’t look good. “What if Jesus were walking these aisles in the flesh, as Jesus? How would the people respond?” I thought for a minute. “Hmm. Well if He wasn’t wearing nice clothes and didn’t have money to spend on their wares, they wouldn’t give him the time of day. They wouldn’t care a whit about His teaching. These people aren’t here to get the answers to life’s problems; they’re here to make money! This is not about Truth, or lost souls, or redeeming the earth from the curse, or establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth; this is about business!”
The sad truth of this reality brought me down from the euphoria I had been feeling from the high of meeting people and getting my book out into the big world. But I soon got caught up in the whirlwind of activity again, looking for contacts, talking to people, networking, etc. and forgot about it.
Later, back at my hotel room, I was like a kid after way too many sugary treats, who had been running around at a birthday party past his bedtime. My body was exhausted but my mind was spinning a mile a minute. I tried to pray, but after making an attempt for awhile, I found myself working the Suduko puzzle from the USA Today newspaper left under my door that morning. “What the. . . !” I couldn’t even remember making a conscious decision to do that. I tried to pray again, but it was no use; my mind was off in a million directions and all my body wanted to do was sleep.
I gave up and lay down in bed, pulling the covers over me and letting go into the bliss of dreamland. As I lay there waiting for unconsciousness to overtake me, my mind wandered over the events of the day. I remembered that “What-if-Jesus-were-here-moment” and in my mind’s eye saw the exhibit hall as if from a crow’s nest perched above it with the multitudes thronging the aisles below.
That mental picture was a trigger! In an instant it all came back. The power of God hit me: I snapped awake, bolted up in bed, swung my legs over the edge to the floor and began interceding. All the tiredness and lack of focus vanished as if they had never been. I was seeing it from God’s perspective and my heart was breaking. All that He had done in sending Jesus to redeem lost man, all that it had cost Him, all that it had cost heaven for the Son of God to be tortured, rejected, humiliated, and finally crucified; from sweating the great drops of blood and the loud cries of agony in the garden to that tortured cry on the cross, “My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?!”—all that, for US, and we turn it into nothing more than a way to make money! I was crying now, my body wracked in great sobs. I kept saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” It seemed like the ultimate rejection and humiliation, greater than what they did to Jesus on the cross. They didn’t know any better then [“Father forgive them, they know not what they do”], but we know exactly who Jesus was, why He came and what he accomplished. We know all about Him driving the money changers and sellers of doves out of the temple because they had turned His Father’s house into a place of merchandise. And yet we hadn’t learned a thing, just kept thoughtlessly repeating the same mistakes in our day.
I fell back on the bed, my body convulsing in agony. My words had turned to gasping cries. The tears were streaming from my eyes and my nose was making a mess. I staggered into the bathroom for tissues, blew my nose, and flopped down once more on the bed while the convulsions gradually subsided and the mind-wracking thoughts and visions ceased.
Finally a great peace settled over me and I was lying in the arms of Jesus, resting from the torrent of emotion. I couldn’t change what they were doing to Him. But through prayer, through the intimacy of the Spirit, I could share the sorrow with Him, and that seemed to be enough.
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