The Way to Pray

When we pray, Hallowed be Thy Name, this is what we mean.

The motive is this, "Oh! that God could be glorified, that Jesus might see the reward of his sufferings! Oh! that sinners might be saved, so that God might have new tongues to praise him, new hearts to love him! Oh! that sin were put an end to, that the holiness, righteousness, mercy, and power of God might be magnified!" This is the way to pray; when thy prayers seek God’s glory, it is God’s glory to answer thy prayers.

C.H. Spurgeon
When Spurgeon died, 60,000 people came to his viewing and even the pubs closed on the day of his funeral. Not bad for a cigar-smoking Baptist preacher.

Quote: CrossGlobal Link: "Mission Moment" 9/27/11
Stat: Mark Galli, 131 Christians Everyone Should Know

The End Product of True Evangelism

This little book is changing my life. The Indwelling Life of Christ: All of Him in All of Me by Major Ian Thomas. Chapter 27 - all two pages of it - gets at the core of the purpose behind our evangelization.

The end product of evangelism is not just to get you out of hell and into heaven, but to get God out of heaven and into you, so that Christ living in your heart might bring God out again into the open where He can be seen. This is what brings glory to God.

This happens when we are prepared to identify ourselves with Christ in His death and to share His resurrection Life: You acknowledge as a redeemed sinner that Jesus, risen from the dead, has come to reinvade humanity so that you can place all that you are at His disposal. Others who look at you will see Him behaving, just as people looked at Jesus and saw the Father behaving.

This is the gospel.

What then is the ultimate end product of our obeying this gospel and entering into the good of that which has been provided for us in Christ to restore us to our true function as human beings?

God has predestined us "to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). Therefore, when you are finally evangelized and people look at you, they should see the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what God has always had in mind of us, from the eternal ages of the past.

That is why Jesus is the end product of evangelism - His Life indwelling you is exactly what God had in mind when He sent His Son to redeem you and to reconcile you to a holy God. He sent us His Son not just to get you and me out of hell and into heaven, but to get the God of heaven into you and me, so that Christ living in our hearts might be our hope of bringing God again into the open where He can be seen, to His glory!

We identify ourselves with Him, saying as Paul did in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ," and we share His resurrection, just as Paul went on to explain in the same verse, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me"--not I but Christ. Paul is saying, "I am a redeemed sinner, and the risen Jesus has come to reinvade my humanity so that He can serve with my hands, walk with my feet, speak with my lips, see with my eyes, hear with my ears, think with my mind, and love with my heart, so that to me, to live now is Christ. It is my privilege as a forgiven sinner to place my humanity at His disposal so that others looking at me will see Him behaving, just as those who looked at Jesus saw His Father behaving."

This is the gospel as we need to understand it, because the Lord Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21)--sending us on the same terms and for the same purpose.

He is the Sender, as we are the sent ones, and for this reason the only authority you and I can legitimately exercise in any area of life is the authority that derives from our submission to His authority.

So, how are you today?

One of the benefits of having participated in the Renovation Center is that I have personally learned and been impacted by the other guys. One thing I have learned and use is called SASHET.

I for one, and maybe it's a guy thing, am not the most adroit when it comes to checking in with other about how I am really doing. Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's just not sure how I am doing.

Here is what SASHET stands for:

·         Sad

·         Angry

·         Scared

·         Happy

·         Excited

·         Tender (feelings toward another, perhaps who is struggling)

Here how it works. Each person takes a moment to silently reflect on which of the six SASHET emotions they can identify with and why. Then in 90 seconds or less, each person checks in with the group by sharing the emotion they are feeling and why.

While my boys rolled their eyes the first couple of times we did this as a family, they now have gotten to the point where they actually ask to do it at the dinner table. I have learned things about them that I didn’t know before.

Try it! It will be a good dinner conversation, meeting starter and community builder. And most importantly, you give yourself a chance to authentically connect with others.