A few weeks ago, Dave was preaching on Nehemiah and he talked about how Nehemiah prayed for God to work in Jerusalem… and how eventually he became the answer, so to speak, to his own prayers. He warned us that prayer can be a risky activity, because we may well find God stirring us to do the very things we are praying about.

Eugene Peterson has written a book on ‘the psalms as tools for prayer’ entitled ‘Answering God’. I like the ambiguity of that title: the idea that God is an answering God (how often have we heard that phrase that ‘God is a prayer-answering God‘?) and that in prayer, we also answer God. The psalms are eseentially a collection of prayers, many of which were set to music, and therefore were sung prayers. Eugene Peterson says that the psalms are tools, but ‘not tools for doing or getting, but for being or becoming’ (‘Answering God’ P 2). Prayer is not simply about ‘getting answers’ from God, but perhaps also involves becoming His answers.

As I wrestle with these thoughts and listen to songs, I realise that these songs, too, are prayers. I believe that what we sing is crucially important, because the words get inside us and become part of our lives. When we sing lyrics that are prayers, then, they effectively become our prayers. As I was listening to this song today, I reached the conclusion that this is a dangerous prayer to sing, but one which captures my heart perfectly. ‘Move me, Lord. Use me, Lord. Give me a fire that’s always burning. Show me Your glory. Open my eyes to the world I don’t see.’ It’s a prayer I don’t really know how God will answer, but I long for Him to use me and move me.

“Into the heart of the darkest places
Into the lost and the lonely spaces
Bringing the hope and the life You’ve given
I’ll move cause You move me.

We need to wake up
We need to raise up
Cause I will never stand still; Lord. keep me moving, moving.” (‘We Need’, Jeremy Camp)
‘We Need’, Jeremy Camp

The Bible study focussed on James 5:7-8 tonight: “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”

Whilst the only word I see in those verses is patient (it seems there is no escape for me from that word!), Mark looked at other aspects of these verses, namely the Lord’s coming (His parousia) and the rains mentioned (given as ‘former and latter rains’ in some older versions).

In particular, we looked at Joel 2:21-29, seeing how there were different kinds of rains: the former rains starting in October and bringing deluges to break up the soil; the latter rains in spring feeding the crops and ripening them prior to harvest. In these verses, we see the abundance and favour of God and how He is able to restore all that is barren and broken; we also see the abundance and favour of God in verses 28-29 as Joel talks about the outpouring of the Spirit. Jesus likened the Spirit to ‘streams of living water’ in John’s gospel, and we considered how God pours out blessing in abundance at the right time. Just as the former rains prepare the soil for the seed to be able to grow, so the Spirit works on our hearts to bring us to faith in Christ; the latter rains may be likened to the outpouring (or baptism) of the Spirit (see also Acts 2).

The patience required from the farmer, and from us, is not simply passivity. Paul had to remind the Thessalonians that whilst the coming of the Lord was imminent, this did not excuse them from the need to work! Similarly, our job is to sow the seed and to reap the harvest at the right times. We are entirely dependent on God to make the seed grow (and without the sunshine and rain, the farmer is powerless to harvest a good crop), but there is plenty of work to be done in His kingdom as we wait for His coming. Patience is associated with standing firm (vs 8), or as the NKJV puts it, ‘establish your hearts’. We need to be entirely surrendered to God and sure that He will do all He has promised. Joel is full of promises of what the Lord would do; some of these promises have not yet been fulfilled, but we can be sure that God is faithful to all He has promised.

Mark spoke from Hebrews 2:5-10 last night, looking at the whole question of what we see and what we do not see. He started by showing us some pictures that illustrate how different perspectives affect what you see.

On the first picture, we can see either a vase or two people; on the second, pillars or men having conversations! It’s all a matter of perspecitve. What kind of people are we? Are we optimists or pessimists? What do we concentrate on in good times, in bad times, in humdrum times? What motivates us or stops us dead in our tracks? How we look at things affects what we see. Verse 8 reminds us of things that are not yet subject to man – the weather, health, time, the economy, war, death, all these things are beyond our control. We need to understand, however, that God is in everything. As we looked at the photos of Goldthorpe around the main hall, Mark challenged us to see God in these pictures. Some saw Him in the sunset picture; others in the clock picture, since God holds our times in His hands. But ultimately, God is in all of them, for He is everywhere. No matter what situation we may find ourselves in, God is there, for He has promised never to leave us or forsake us.

With natural eyes, we may see a world spiralling out of control, but when we see Jesus, we see that God is in control. The ten spies who only looked at the giants and the problems did not enter into the Promised Land, but Caleb and Joshua saw the same things they did and believed that God was greater than the problems (Numbers 13:26-33). We need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2), throwing aside all our doubts and being confident that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6). We are able to complete the things that God wants us to do, for He writes the story of our lives and is able to help us to finish. Psalm 121 reminds us that God is watching over us. We need to see Jesus so that our perspective is transformed.

Garry continued his series on 2 Peter 1 this morning, looking at perseverance. This is defined as ‘steadfastneess, constancy, endurance, a patient waiting for, not being swerved from a deliberate purpose’ (or, as Eugene Peterson translates it in the Message, ‘passionate patience’, not at all the stoic, passive attitude we often associate with the word!)

1) Persevering problem
Why do we find it so difficult to wait? Obviously, we are impatient people who want things now and live in a society which values instant gratification. But the underlying problem as to why we find perseverance so difficult is that we define ourselves more in terms of what we do than in terms of who we are. We find being harder than doing. Losing a job or facing retirement can seem utterly daunting to us because we feel worthless without an external activity to define us. We need to accept that who we are is more important than what we do.

Sometimes God makes us wait so that we can understand the value of being. He defined Himself to Moses as ‘I AM’ – not just the God who did things, but the God who is there.

2) Persevering perspective
God’s perspective is often very different to our own. There are numerous verses (Eccl 8:6, Rom 5:6, Gal 4:4, Eph 1:9-10 and 1 Tim 6:14-15) which remind us that there is a propoer time and procedure for every matter. God has never been late, the saying goes, but has missed countless opportunities to be early! God has set right times, appropriate times, in place. We have to persevere in trusting God that He will work all things out ‘at the right time’. We need to carry on in the path He set our feet on until we hear otherwise (Deut 5:32, Prov 4:27, Is 30:21). Sometimes, rather like with a SatNav, we have to ‘zoom out’ of the close-up picture to see the bigger picture. God is working all things together for good in His time.

3) Persevering produced
No matter how much perseverance we have, we can always use more! Rom 5:3 urges us to ‘glory in our suffering because suffering produces perseverance.’ James reminds us that the testing of our faith produces perseverance (James 1:3-4). We do not like to view suffering in such a positive light but often want to flee from it. Nonetheless, we have to face the fact that suffering develops us and we can learn some things only through experience as God imparts patience to us (Col 1:11). All Scripture is there to encourage us (Rom 15:4), but so often, it is not until we have experienced something for ourselves that we learn the lessons God has for us.

4) Persevering produces
Luke 8:9-15 reminds us that the good soil produces a good crop by perseverance. Waiting (apparently doing nothing) is what produces the crop. Growth often results from the passage of time; it cannot be rushed. It requires wisdom to know when to do (action) and when to be (waiting).

5) Persevering possesses
The ultimate goal of perseverance is the possession of eternal life (Luke 21:10-19, Rom 2:6-7). If we persistently do good, we will find that God rewards us. Rom 8:25 reminds us that often we have to wait patiently before we can possess and Gal 6:9 tells us that at the proper time (that phrase again!), we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. We need to persevere in all we do (including prayer), so that we actually go on to possess all God has promised. Heb 10:36 reminds us that when we have done the will of God, we will receive what He has promised.

6) Persevering pictured
Did you know that God wants us all to be models? No, not the supermodel variety, but people who model Christ to others (see 2 Cor 6:3-4, 2 Tim 4:10, 1 Cor 11:1). We are to encourage one another daily to persevere and to model perseverance for people so that they can see how to live (and how to die). When you see a good example, it leads you on and spurs you on. Let’s persevere in the things of God and rest assured that He is working in our waiting.

Future hope has always fuelled present action. Paul told the Romans, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) To the Corinthian church, he said, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:17-18) Contrary to the belief that ‘Christians are so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good’, Christians have always sought to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, conscious of the great debt they owe God and eager to please Him in every way they can. Nonetheless, the anticipation of Paradise has always been part of the equation. We are not living for this life alone. “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor 15:19). There is far more to come.

The song ‘Paradise’ on Jeremy Camp’s new album looks ahead to the future hope we have.

“Can’t wait to walk along Your side
And feel the beauty of Your love
And the fullness of Your grace now

Can’t wait to look into Your face
And see the majesty and glory
That makes the Earth shake.”

The anticipation of what is ahead protects us from the attractions of the world, which seem so dazzling at times, but which are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us:

“Don’t let this life take hold of my desires
And I won’t give up the fight

Cause one day I will be with You in paradise, paradise
But until that day, I will surrender all my life, all my life
We’ll sing Hallelujah, Hallelujah, every knee will bow and say
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we’ll bring glory to Your name.” (‘Paradise’, Jeremy Camp)
‘Paradise’, Jeremy Camp

Funnily enough, since the map project started, maps have been cropping up everywhere, it seems! A book I am reading (‘The Road Less Traveled’, by Scott Peck) talked about life being like a series of maps and just as maps become outdated over time as new roads and buildings are constructed, so too our lives are not static and we cannot assume that things will always stay the same but have to adapt and grow. (“If our maps are to be accurate, we have to continually revise them. The world itself is constantly changing.”)

Then I was struck by how the Bible talks about itself as being like a map to guide us on life’s journey. The Message version of Psalm 119 in particular makes this very clear:
“You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by GOD. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set.” (Ps 119:1-3)

“God charts the road you take.” (Ps 1:6)

It seems that maps have plenty to teach us! May we not only use the prayer map to pray for the streets of Goldthorpe, but may we also allow God’s Word to be the map that directs and guides our lives.