Does God Hear Us When We Pray?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Devotionals, Discipleship2 Comments

About a year or so ago, I was working one afternoon on one of my sermons, when my computer just froze on me without any warning. If you have ever had this happen, you know your heart skips a beat; little beads of sweat emerge on your forehead, as panic starts to set in. The first reaction besides screaming, “NO!” is to start banging on the keys trying to coax the machine back to life, so you can save your work. After trying that for a while, I realized the computer wasn’t coming back to life, so I did what I really didn’t want to do — I pressed the restart button and prayed.

As I sat expecting to hear the familiar Apple startup chime, nothing happened. No chime. The computer wouldn’t come back on. The situation was much worse than I first thought. I hadn’t just lost some work; I had potentially lost my computer.

One of the first things I did was call my friend Jonathan, who works at the Mac Shack at the high school. I knew if anyone could fix my computer he could. And, you know, my thought was right; he was able to fix my computer. I had to purchase a new motherboard, which is essentially the brains of the computer, but he got it working again.

Just like I knew who to go to for my computer, I also know who to go to about things in my life, family, and community — and that is God. When things are good or bad, I know I should go to God in prayer because God answers prayer.

Why don’t we pray?

But often times we don’t go to God in prayer. Maybe we prayed in the past but didn’t receive an answer from God. After which, we slowly but surely stopped praying because we thought it was useless. In place of prayer, we began handling things on our own. After all, something was getting done, even if it wasn’t ideal.

If that is you, I can assure you God does hear your prayers and He does answer them. How do I know God hears and answers us? Not only have I experienced answered prayer in my own life, but Daniel’s experience recorded for us in Scripture also tells us God hears and answers prayer.

Daniel’s experience

In Daniel chapter 9, we see God not only hears Daniel’s prayer, but He also provides an answer. God’s answer comes through Gabriel beginning in verse 20. Let’s pick up there.

“the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.” (Da 9:20–23)

To be sure God heard Daniel’s prayer. It didn’t fall on deaf ears. Hearing Daniel, God provides an answer. Admittedly, God’s answer isn’t an easy one. It has given commentators, pastors, and scholars difficulty for centuries. Working with a seventy weeks timeframe, Gabriel tells Daniel what is going to happen in the near future and what will happen in the distant future. My intention isn’t to solve the debate. It is rather for you to see God hears and answers prayer. The seventy weeks prophecy is evidence of the fact, even if it is difficult and highly debated, it tells us that we can be sure God always hears the prayers of His children, and hearing us, He always provides an answer. He may not send an angel, but He always provides an answer.

Hearing that you may be thinking, “If that is true, why aren’t our prayers answered more often? Why do we pray, but get nothing in return?”

Several reasons our prayers may seem as if they are unanswered

(1) God’s time is not our time

I know you all have seen the Staples commercial with the “easy button”. The “easy button” is great because the moment you press it, all the hard work you had ahead of you is done. Often times, we think prayer is an “easy button”. We lift a request up to God, and poof it is supposed to be answered. But prayer isn’t an “easy button.” God isn’t Staples. He doesn’t do things according to our time, but His.

(2) Unrepentant sin is hindering our relationship with the Lord 

Confessing sin is an important practice because it is what qualifies us to ask God to answer our prayers. Unrepentant sin hinders our daily relationship with the Lord (Matt. 6:12; 1 John 1:9). It doesn’t severe our relationship, we are justified by faith in Jesus, but sin does hinder our day-to-day fellowship with God (Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Eph. 2:13; Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 1:2). So confession should be one of the first things we do when we go to the Lord in prayer. If we can’t think of any specific sins we need to confess, we should pray as David prays in Psalm 19:12: “clear me from hidden faults.” (Ps. 19:12)

Now I don’t want you to misunderstand what I am saying. We don’t need to be completely free from sin before God will answer our prayers. If that were the case, no one would have their prayers answered. However, God does delight in our obedience, and our obedience does have an impact on the effectiveness of our prayers (Ps. 15:8, 29; 66:18). So if you find that your prayer life is not as fruitful as you might expect, you may need to examine your life and repent.

(3) We are not asking in faith

James, in the first chapter of his epistle, writes,

“…for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (Jas 1:6–8)

So if we aren’t asking in faith, truly believing the Lord can answer our prayers, and if we aren’t willing to depend on Him, then, as James tells us, our prayer is not going to be answered. Prayer should be more than wishful thinking. It should spring from trust in a holy and personal God, who desires we depend on Him.

(4) Our prayer may not be according to the Lord’s will

God has a plan for our life and this world. What we are asking the Lord to do may not be in accordance with His plan or purpose. If that is the case, He is not going to do what we ask (1 John 5:14-15; Matt. 6:10; John 15:7).

If you think with me for a moment, just because the Lord doesn’t do what we ask, doesn’t mean He isn’t answering our prayer. In some sense, He is answering our prayer by revealing to us what we are asking isn’t according to His will, or at least it’s not at that time.

So if your prayers seem as if they are going unanswered, most likely one of the above is true: it is not God’s time, unrepentant sin is hindering your relationship with the Lord, you aren’t asking in faith, or what you are asking is not according to God’s will.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Have you stopped praying because you think God doesn’t hear you?
  2. How does knowing that God hears you affect your future prayer life?

Resources

Developed from my recent sermon The Prayer of the Saints and the Sovereignty of God

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Is just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned the true meaning of justification?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Pastoral, Quotes3 Comments

One sometimes hears the popular explanation that justification means “just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned.” The definition is a clever play on words and contains an element of truth (for the justified person, like the person who has never sinned, has no penalty to pay for sin).

But the definition is misleading in two other ways because

(1) It mentions nothing about the fact that Christ’s righteousness is reckoned to my account when I am justified; to do this, it would have to say also “just-as-if-I’d-lived-a-life-of-perfect-righteousness.”

(2) But more significantly, it cannot adequately represent the fact that I will never be in a state that is “just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned,” because I will always be conscious of the fact that I have sinned and that I am not an innocent person but a guilty person who has been forgiven. This is very different from “just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned”!

Another difference

Moreover, it is different from “just-as-if-I’d-lived-a-life-of-perfect-righteousness,” because I will forever know that I have not lived a life of perfect righteousness, but that Christ’s righteousness is given to me by God’s grace.

Our true situation is far different

Therefore both in the forgiveness of sins and in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, my situation is far different from what it would be if I had never sinned and had lived a perfectly righteous life. For all eternity, I will remember that I am a forgiven sinner and that my righteousness is not based on my own merit, but on the grace of God in the saving work of Jesus Christ. None of that rich teaching at the heart of the gospel will be understood by those who are encouraged to go through their lives thinking “justified” means “just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned.”

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you agree with Grudem’s assessment of the phrase just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned?
  2. How will this change the way you explain justification?

Resources

Wayne Grudem, Systematic, footnote 4 page 727 (headers mine)

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Apologetics: A Reasonable Defense

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, EvangelismLeave a comment

Ask most church goers what it means to do apologetics and you will most likely be met with blank stares, an explanation about how we are to apologize to others, or tales of boredom as they tried sitting through a lecture or trudging through a book full of philosophical arguments. While the study of Apologetics can take you off into heady arguments, that’s not all Apologetics is.

Apologetics?

Apologetics simple means to offer a reasonable defense. At a minimum, that requires us to tell others what we believe and why we believe it.

Be Ready Always

As Christians we are called to do just that – offer a reasonable defense for our faith. Peter makes this clear when he says,

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” (1 Pe 3:15–16)

The context in which Peter gives his command wasn’t peaceful. Christians were living in exile, experiencing ostracism for their faith, and suffering persecution. Yet Peter tells them not to fear or cower, but to be ready to offer a reasonable defense for the hope within. Christians, then, in all walks of life, locales, and cultural climates must be ready to offer a defense of their faith.

Tied to Our Mission

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commands His disciples to go and make more disciples. In order to be obedient to Jesus’ command, we must be able to tell others what and why we believe what we believe, which means we must spend time preparing ourselves to offer a reasonable defense.

“When we become Christians, we do not leave our mind in the parking lot. We are called to think according to the Word of God, to seek the mind of Christ and an understanding of the things set forth in sacred Scripture.” – Burk Parsons

So if your neighbor notices you are a Christian and asks what you believe, you should not only be able to answer his or her question, but you should also be able to tell them why you believe it. Hearing that means many of us need to get busy learning what we believe and why.

Suggestions to Get You Started

The first place we have to start is with God’s Word. It is the foundation of our beliefs because it is the place where God reveals who He is, who we are, what He has done and is doing, and how we are to live. There are a variety of tools to help you read through the Bible. Here is a great list.

Next, I would suggest looking into the Theology and Biblical Theology books listed on my Book Recommendation page. These will give you both an overview of the biblical storyline and a deep understanding of the theology and doctrine of God’s Word.

Lastly, take a look at the New City Catechism. It is a quick way to build your doctrinal and theological knowledge.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you know what you believe and why?
  2. Are you ready to give a defense?
  3. How will you prepare yourself?

Resources

With Gentleness and Respect by Burk Parsons TableTalk Magazine January 2016, pg 2

An Apology for Apologetics by Stephen J. Nichols TableTalk Magazine January 2016, pg 6

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Are You Prepared to Give a Defense?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Evangelism, Quotes2 Comments

In his first epistle, Peter writes,

“In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Pe 3:15).

In his commentary on 1 Peter, Dr. R.C. Sproul writes:

Our preparation is to make us ready to give a defense and a reason for the hope that is in us…If your neighbor says, “I notice that you are a Christian. What is it that you believe?” are you ready to explain not only what you believe but why you believe it? Some Christians tell those who inquire that we simply take a leap of faith with no bother about the credibility or the rational character of the truth claims of the Bible, but that response goes against the teaching of the text. The only leap of faith we are to take is out of the darkness and into the light.

When we become Christians, we do not leave our mind in the parking lot.

We are called to think according to the Word of God, to seek the mind of Christ and an understanding of the things set forth in sacred Scripture.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you prepared to talk to others about the hope within you?

Resources

Table Talk Magazine, With Gentleness and Respect, January, 2016, pg 2.

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How to Worship the Lord Daily in 2016 – Part 2

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical2 Comments

In my last post, we learned that we can worship the Lord daily by living according to His Word. Doing that, however, takes us sacrificing our will and desires for God’s. Sacrifice is where we run into a problem because as my father-in-law likes to say, “Living sacrifices have a habit of crawling off the altar”.

How Can We Die to Self, Giving Ourselves fully to God?

(1) We can and should be motivated to die to self and give ourselves fully to God because of the gospel (the mercies of God). 

The gospel tells us that we are all sinners who want nothing to do with God. We will remain in the state, until God works in our lives, creating in us a new heart with new desires. Until God works, we won’t give ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice because our inward affections, desires, and way of thinking won’t have changed. But once God renews our inward man, we are given the power to live for Him because our affections, desires, and way of thinking are brought in line with His.

Along with having the power to live for God, we should also be motivated to live for Him. Armed with the knowledge that God created a new heart in us and saved us from His wrath should spur us on to live for Him instead of self. We don’t do that in an effort to pay Him back because we never could. Instead, we live for God out of gratitude for what He has done for us.

As one author puts its,

“All Christian living and ethics are ultimately rooted in a deep gratitude for what God has done for us… [so that our] [e]very decision and every action…[is] a response to His mercy.”

(2) We can die to self and give ourselves fully to God by purposing to no longer be conformed to the world. 

In Romans 12:2 Paul writes,

“Do not be conformed to this world…” (Rom 12:2a)

The idea behind the word conform is that of a mold. Thinking about that reminds me of my son Camden’s play-doh set. Not only does it come with several containers of play-doh, but it also comes with a bunch of molds that help him make some really cool things like alligators, dolphins, monkeys, and dogs out of the play-doh.

The molds are easy to use, so easy that even Camden can use them. All he has to do is roll out the play-doh, push the molds through, and wa-la he has one of the animals.

Just like it’s easy for Camden to mold his play-doh into one of the sets many shapes, it is easy for the world to roll us out and mold us into itself. Christians, however, are  to avoid being conformed to the world because its values and goals are antithetical to God’s.

While conforming to the world is something we must avoid, it is also something we have to be careful with. On the one hand, we are naturally nonconformists who don’t conform for nonconformities sake. But we can’t just be blanket nonconformists so that if the world wears lipstick, we don’t. Or if the world goes to the movies, we don’t. Or if the world plays sports, we don’t. And so on and so forth.

But on the other hand, because we are conformists by nature we must be careful we are not conforming to the world’s sinful patterns. So then, we must not run to either extreme. Instead, we must balance on the beam between conformity and nonconformity, which we do by purposing to no longer be conformed to the world, and by being transformed by the renewal of our minds so that we know the will of God.

(3) We can die to self and give ourselves fully to God by being transformed by the renewal of minds.

Starting in the middle of Romans 12:2, Paul says,

“but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2b-c)

Paul is explicit. He tells us that our minds must be renewed so that we can know and test what is the will of God. There is only one problem. We can’t renew our minds on our own. We first need God to work in our lives because our minds are fallen. They have a spirit all their own — a viewpoint, a mindset, a bent. Thankfully God doesn’t leave us in that state. He works in our lives renewing our minds through the work of the Holy Spirit, who both changes us from the outside-in and the inside-out.

From the outside-in He changes us by presenting God’s Word to us. By drawing us into prayer, and into relationships with other godly Christians. As well as by leading us to hear the Word preached and to meditate on Christ.

He also changes us from the inside-out, which is necessary because without this type of change we wouldn’t accept the truth of God.

You ever wonder why someone can grow up in a Christian home, attend church every week, have godly mentors, and even read the Bible cover to cover, but then reject God as soon as they move off to college? It’s because their hearts haven’t been changed by the Holy Spirit to accept the things of God. If our hearts aren’t changed, we can hear all the preaching we want, meet with godly people, and read God’s Word cover to cover, but we won’t accept God’s truth, nor will we apply it to our lives, which is why it is so crucial we be changed first from the inside-out.

Once the Holy Spirit has wrought a change in our heart, we should work as well.  We work alongside the Spirit by reading God’s Word, attending weekly worship services, going to the Lord is prayer, meeting with godly Christians, memorizing Scripture, and reading Christian books and commentaries that help us understand and apply God’s Word. In these ways and others, we work alongside the Spirit to renew our minds, which means we must put a premium on doing these things.

As we do all these things our minds are renewed so that we are able to discern what the will of God is and live by it. Living by the will of God means that we are giving ourselves as living sacrifices, and we are worshipping God.

Conclusion

So if we want to worship God every day, we need to purpose to give ourselves as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God, which we do by:

  • Meditating on the gospel, preaching it to ourselves daily.
  • Purposing not to be conformed to the world around us.
  • Working alongside the Spirit so that we are transformed by the renewal of our mind and are able to test what is the will of God.

So now that you know how, I challenge you to be resolved to worship God daily. To give yourselves “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Question for Reflection

  1. How are you doing living as a living sacrifice so far this year?

Resources

Post developed from the sermon How Can You Worship God Daily In 2016?

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How to Worship the Lord Daily in 2016 – Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical4 Comments

If there is one thing we all share in common, it is that we all make New Year’s resolutions. We make these resolutions as a way to motivate ourselves to start working out, eating better, spending more time with family, take a vacation, read a book or whatever else you may come up with.

Many of us make resolutions every year. If we are honest, almost every year we fail to keep them. Of course, we have good intentions, but by about March our intentions are thrown out the window and we settle back into life as usual. This year, however, I want you to try and do something different. Instead of settling back into life, as usual, I want you to try to keep one New Year’s Resolution. The resolution I want you to try to keep is to worship the Lord daily in 2016.

Hearing me ask you to do that, probably leads some of you to think, “Does this mean that I have to go to church every day now?” No, you don’t have to attend church every day. In fact, you don’t need to come to church at all in order to worship God daily. Now, that doesn’t mean you can stop showing up to your church on Sundays. While we don’t need a daily church service to worship God, it is still a necessary and commanded part of our life together.

However, for those who do attend church weekly, we must recognize there is still 6 days and 23 hours left in which we are to worship God. How are we going to worship God during that time? In order to worship God the rest of the week, we have to change our idea of what worship is. It has to change from what takes place inside the four walls of a church building once or twice week, to what we do all day every day. But how do we do that?

How do we get to a place where we are worshipping God every day?

I believe the answer is found in Romans 12:1

There Paul says,

“I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1b-c)

It’s here that Paul tells us that we must die to self in order to worship God daily. We are to die to self, giving our lives to God because He has given His life for us. Notice in what Paul grounds his appeal. He says, “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,” (Rom. 12:1a)

As many of you know, when you see a “therefore” you are supposed to ask what is it there for? In this case, it is there to point us back to all that Paul has written so far. We don’t have time to explore all of Romans but suffice me to say that prior to chapter 12, Paul expounds for us the gospel in detail.

The gospel, or good news, as presented to us in Romans tells us that we all are sinners who have rebelled against God. Because of our rebellion God has given us over to our sin, as well as He is planning to visit His wrath on us one day. There is nothing we can do on our own to escape that day. Because we are incapable, God does the unimaginable, He sends His Son to be our substitute, to take our punishment for us. Then, because we won’t turn to Him on our own, God gives us the faith we need to believe in Jesus. Those who believe experience salvation —Freedom from sin, satan, death, and God’s wrath. As well as they have the promise of eternal life. That’s the gospel — the mercies of God — as it is presented to us in Romans.

In light of the gospel, we must offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. That is what Paul tells us next. Right there in the middle of verse 1, Paul tells us “to present [ourself] as a living sacrifice,” (Rom. 12:1b). His word choice — “sacrifice” — is significant. It not only tells us what we are to do, but it paints a picture of what is expected of us. What God expects is for us to be wholeheartedly devoted to Him. Think about a sacrifice, say a lamb. Half the lamb isn’t brought, chopped in half, and burnt on the altar. Instead, the entire lamb is brought, killed, and offered to God as a sacrifice. Once it is given to the priest to be sacrificed it can’t be taken back. That is what must happen with us. We must purpose to give our ourselves over to God in wholehearted devotion. We can’t just give ourselves one day and take it back the next so that we are living for God on, say Sunday, and for self the rest of the week. We must give ourselves completely and fully to God each and every day.

Giving ourselves fully to God means that we turn our actions, thoughts, and plans over to Him. Literally everything about us must be given over to God so that we are allowing Him to guide and lead us in every aspect of our lives. Commenting on the idea of giving ourselves fully to God, R. C. Sproul says,

“God does not ask us to bring in our livestock and burn it on the altar; he asks us to give ourselves, to put ourselves alive on the altar. To be a Christian means to live a life of sacrifice, a life of presentation, making a gift of ourselves to God. Some people think that all it takes to be a Christian is to scribble a cheque or to give a few hours of service here and there on special projects for the church. But that’s not what believers are called to. My life is to be set apart and consecrated to God. That is what is acceptable to him; that is what delights him; that is what pleases him; that is the appropriate response to him and for him.” –  R. C. Sproul, The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 195.

When we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, we are worshipping God. Look at what Paul says in the last part of the verse, “Which is your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1d). Paul’s last phrase tells us that by allowing God to direct our entire lives, we are worshipping Him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Question for Reflection

  1. Have you given your entire life over to God or are you still holding part of it from Him?

Resources

Post developed from the sermon How Can You Worship God Daily In 2016?

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