Having spoken in the last two weeks about the relational nature of prayer, which involves a recognition of the nature and character of God, Broughton Knox moves on to examine the nature of prayer itself. Is it surprising to find that prayer consists of requests?
So much of the Bible is redundant.
In John 1:1, we read these words:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This is not new information. Nor is this, in the following two verses:
I hate unanswered prayer. This is not just because I want what I pray for—although that would be nice!—but because my unbelieving heart takes unanswered prayer as an opportunity to doubt God. Here are some examples:
I pray for my son's only close friend, whom we've lost contact with, to call. He doesn't.
I pray that I'll be able to find my car keys so I can get the kids to school on time. They're late.
I pray that my husband will get over his illness; after all, he needs to teach the Bible and care for our family. He stays sick.
I pray that my excited, expectant three-year-old will see a kangaroo on the way home. There's no wildlife to be seen.
I pray that my mood will lift. I stay discouraged.
These are all trivial prayers, and I could give you much bigger examples. But, oddly, I find it easier to trust God with the bigger things. It's the small prayers that trip me up.
I played and refereed soccer as a kid, but I prefer to watch Rugby League. So apart from the World Cup, I don't watch much soccer these days.
That means I was unaware of the full extent of Alex Ferguson's achievements as Manager of Manchester United, until I noticed that their 0-0 draw with Arsenal last week to win the English Premier League had seen their club draw equal with Liverpool as record holders for the greatest number of titles.
Under Ferguson's stewardship, Man U have won eleven English Championships. Eleven! In addition, there were two European Champions Leagues, and five FA Cups among 25 trophies in all. Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history.
But what's any of that got to do with ministry?
According my trusty Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, the following are synonyms for ‘pedant’: dogmatist, purist, formalist, quibbler, hair-splitter, casuist, sophist and nitpicker. Given that theologians study dogmatics, doesn't that tend them towards pedantry? And if so, how could I say in my last post that church planters need to be theologians in order to contextualize the gospel?
Theologians are as risk-averse as actuaries, so how can they contextualize the gospel successfully?
Grimmo's post on changes to the words of Wesley's famous hymn put me in mind of another equally significant change to an equally famous hymn.
In the first verse of ‘Rock of Ages’, we are used to singing:
Be of sin the double cure: cleanse me from its guilt and power.
But this is not what Augustus Toplady wrote.
Broughton Knox was famous among his students for his ability to summarize Christian doctrine succinctly. In this second part of a seven-part series, he speaks of the way that prayer involves a deep recognition of the nature and character of God.
The coincidence of approaching summer holidays (we're in the northern hemisphere!), living in a ‘lifestyle-focused’ culture, and reading Nehemiah has got me thinking about the topic of rest. It's not a particularly recent thought for me, or for humanity in general; since ancient times, rest has been a great concern for people—perhaps another indication that we are indeed created in the image of our creator, who is himself a God who rests (Gen 2:2).
I've just wandered upstairs to my desk, leaving the teenagers in front of a new inter-generational quiz show that pits the Baby Boomers against Gen X and Gen Y. It seems like harmless enough fun. Hey look, 3D movies were big in the 50s! Roller blading was the 90s! Who can do the robot?
But the programme brought back to the surface a subversive thought that I've been harbouring for some time. Is it just me, or does anyone else out there suspect that the broad generalizations that are flung around about the supposed characteristics of Gen X and Gen Y are basically vacuous?
For some reason (now lost in the fog that descends regularly on my neural pathways), I was reading the words of Wesley's ‘O for a thousand tongues’ the other day. I don't remember why I was reading, but I do remember being struck by what I read: “Jesus, the name that calms our fears ...” I was sure that it wasn't quite right. Sure enough, it wasn't; Wesley actually penned “Jesus, the name that charms our fears”.
I thought to myself, there's a church planting lesson in that.
Luke Isham on Preaching hell from the Bible
Hugh Bryant-Parsons on 'Missional Lifestyle': Education
Jean Williams on Top 10 Tips for Sleep Deprived Prayer
Taking ‘crazy’ one step closer to ‘can do’ (2 comments)
Preaching hell from the Bible (1 comment)
The God of the nobody (0 comments)
Preaching hell from the Bible by Gordon Cheng (1 comment). Hell is a sphere of separation and deprivation, of pain and punishment, of darkness and destruction, and of disintegration and perishing. … more
The God of the nobody by Jean Williams (0 comments). This is the sixth post in Jean's series on women in the Bible. (Read the first, second, more
Can you feel it? by Rachel Macdonald (0 comments). In the September issue of The Briefing, Tony Payne writes about the role of emotions in being a … more
10 in 2 by Ben Pfahlert (6 comments). In January 2010 I set myself a goal that has transformed my diary, my thinking, my reading and the … more
Taking ‘crazy’ one step closer to ‘can do’ by Guest blogger (2 comments). Guest blogger Mikey Lynch, one of the directors of The Geneva Push, talks about the network's approach to … more
Top 10 Tips for Sleep Deprived Prayer by Jennie Baddeley (5 comments). There are so many reasons for losing sleep it's not really worth listing them. You're either getting enough sleep or you're … more
Stress-throwers and stress-absorbers by Jean Williams (0 comments). Are you a stress-thrower or a stress-absorber? A stress-thrower blames things on others and expresses stress in anger; a … more
‘Missional Lifestyle’: Education by Nicole Starling (12 comments). This is the fifth in Nicole's series on ‘missional lifestyle’. Read parts 1, 2, 3 … more
Why do we pray for others? by Scott Newling (1 comment). Learning to pray for others is one of the first things we learn as Christians: we see it commended … more
Forgiveness and repentance (part 8): Does God only forgive us when we repent? (ii) by Mark Baddeley (17 comments). (Read parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.) Does … more
Paul is one of the Staff Editors at Matthias Media. He is married to Cathy and has three fantastic kids. He loves student ministry, reading, writing music and playing the saxophone, and is looking forward to meeting Jesus face to face.
