For years when I worked in a school, the process of accreditation was an important one. Schools – even independent faith schools – cannot just please themselves; they have to be accredited (officially recognised or authorised.) Local authorities, governing bodies or official boards are in charge; premises have to be approved; examinations are accredited by national awarding bodies to ensure a fair standard is set. As an examinations’ officer, it was part of my job to ensure that everything we did could be accredited and approvde by these organisations, with the ‘General Regulations’ and ‘Instructions for Conducting Examinations’ the rule book not only for what was done but how it was done.

Accreditation is connected to standards set by external regulators. The Bible tells us that ‘Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, signs and wonders, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.’ (Acts 2:22) Jesus often spoke of His Father being the witness to His ministry, to being the One who validated what He did. Essentially, Jesus was ‘approved’ by God. In always doing the Father’s will, Jesus fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law.

Every summer during the examinations’ period, I would wait for the JCQ Inspector to come and inspect all that I was doing and give me a report that effectively allowed the school to continue to offer public examinations. The storage of examination papers, the process for recording receipt of examination papers, the way the exam room was set out and exams conducted were all checked. A higher authority accredited what I was doing. It was always satisfying to get that report with its column of ticked boxes!

Jesus’ work and ministry was, Peter says, accredited by God. We can be confident that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was accepted by God; the resurrection is proof of that. We can therefore put our whole confidence in Jesus of Nazareth and trust in HIm for our salvation.

David is one of my favourite Bible characters. We are given insight into much of David’s life from a young age through to his death, and David is seen from all angles. He wrote many of the psalms, so we gain insight into his inner life in ways we rarely have the privilege to see. We see him in action on the battlefield, but we also see his ‘ordinary’ shepherd life beforehand. We see him as a powerful king dispensing justice, but we also see his tumultuous relationships with people and the way he treated individuals. One reason I think so many people identify with David (even though few of us are shepherds or kings!) is that he is seen as an intensely human character. His flaws and failings are laid before us as visibly as his virtues and victories. David goes through so many trials which have the the stuff of the familiarity of everyday life about them. Sibling rivalry, jealousy, injustice, loyalty, love, hatred, unpopularity, scheming, political juggling, folly, rashness, impatience, impetuosity, kindness, mercy, rage, bitterness, compassion and despair are all woven into David’s life.

David’s humanity and fallibility remind us that God looks at the heart. This important principle, brought out for us at the start when Samuel meets this youngster to anoint him king over Israel, is key to understanding David. He was far from perfect and some of the sins he committed later in life (when he definitely should have known better!) are truly bewildering, but he loved God intensely and was passionate even in repentance. David knew great highs and loves in life, but through it all, he kept on returning to God. His weakness was never disputed but was not a barrier (see 2 Sam 3:39). Like Paul, he discovered that when he was weak, God was strong. (2 Cor 12:9-10)

David teaches us:

1. to keep going with God no matter what

2. to put God first always

3. to trust in God’s love, mercy and forgiveness more than in our own strength

4. to admit when we’re wrong

5. to turn to God in repentance when we mess up

6. to wait for God’s timing in everything

7. to honour God, even at our inconvenience.

Such an example inspires us in our own faltering pursuit of God.

Tonight in our ‘Little Big Church‘ we looked at the subject of sin and cleansing.

Sometimes it’s hard to see sin and we are not always aware that it is present in our lives. Sin is taking a wrong turn, doing things that God does not like, missing the mark. All of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. (Rom 3:23) Our sins ultimately make us unlean and impure:

If we confess our sins, however, God has made a way for us to be cleansed from sin:

The fact that Jesus died for us means that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, He cleanses us from everything that is impure:

God’s mercy and compassion mean that we can be forgiven of our sins and He can make us totally clean and ‘just as if we’d never sinned’ through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is good news not only for us, but also for the whole world!

One of the things Paul tells us about prayer is the need to stay alert. Prayer can be hard work; in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus entered into a time of prayer, a time of fellowship, a time of communion with His Father, but He also asked the other disciples to ‘stay here and keep watch with me.’ (Matt 26:38) When He returned to them, He found them sleeping and said, ‘“Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”’ (Matt 26:40-41)

The Bible exhorts us in many places to wake up and not be asleep (see 1 Thess 5:6-8, Is 52:1, Eph 5:14, Rev 3:2). When I used to invigilate exams, there was a need to stay alert. An invigilator is required to ‘keep watch’ over candidates, but in the peace and quiet of an exam room, with the sun shining through windows, this can be a difficult thing to do. The invigilator has to stay alert and cannot afford to slumber. In the same way, we can’t afford to be sleeping when we should be praying. We need to be disciplined and committed, setting aside time to pray because we know this is our lifeline to God. This may mean getting up a little earlier than ideally we’d like to… spending some time at lunchtime in prayer instead of just reading a newspaper or chatting to colleagues… saving some time at the end of the day for God. It’s surprising how hard it can be to concentrate when we start to pray, but we can overcome this lethargy by taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10;5)

.God’s word and prayer are two of the greatest blessings God gives us and also two of the greatest weapons we have. He doesn’t leave us in battles without the right equipment; He gives us everything we need to overcome. The blessings actually become the means to win the battle! As we stay alert, depend on God’s word and rely on prayer, we are enabled to become victorious in the spiritual battles of life.

We’ve been looking for some time at the blessings found in the book of Ephesians and today looked at the blessing of prayer (Eph 6:18-20). The armour of God gives us all we need to be protected in the battles of life and the sword of the Spirit and prayer are the spiritual weapons God has given us to be overcomers in these battles. We don’t always view prayer as a blessing, however, often feeling that it is a duty and that it is impossible to pray continually, as we are commanded to do. (1 Thess 5:17) Prayer can very easily become a burden to us, another thing to tick off on a ‘to do’ list that grows ever longer the older we get.

In truth, God never commands us to do something without giving us the resources to do that thing! Praying continually does not mean we do nothing except pray – Paul was a tentmaker and missionary and clearly did lots of things as well as pray! We have to learn to pray in the Spirit, not only having specific times for prayer but also being continually in connection with God. Prayer is like a rope connecting us to God as the climber is connected to the rock or mountain. We can pray with all kinds of prayers and requests; there is no ‘right’ way to pray. Prayer can involve speaking outloud; it can involve praying in silence. It can incorporate praying in other languages as the Spirit gives these to us; it can involve singing. We can pray with groans. We can pray in the morning (Ps 5:3); we can pray in the evening (Matt 14:23); we can pray morning, noon and night (Ps 55:17). What matters is that we are praying on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. (Eph 6:18)

Often, we are reluctant to pray because we feel we don’t know what to pray for or who to pray for. Paul covers these things too! He urges us to pray for God’s people and in many places in his letters shows us how we can pray (see Col 1:9-12, Eph 1:19-21, Eph 3:16-19). We can pray these prayers for other people! Paul asked for prayer for himself to fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. This is a great prayer to pray, not only for our leaders and preachers but for each one of us, for we are all called to be witnesses to Jesus.

As we pray in this way, we find we will never run out of inspiration, for God’s word acts as fuel for our prayers and that the Spirit of God will blow fresh wind into our prayer lives so we can learn to overcome and live in communion with God.

Every time we meet with God, we have an opportunity to hear and to heed Him.

God is a God who loves to speak with us. Samuel learnt to hear God from an early age (1 Sam 3:1-14). One of the names of Jesus is ‘the Word’ (John 1:1-3) and the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that God speaks in many different ways but primarily now through Jesus. (Heb 1:1-3) The problem very often isn’t with God speaking, but with our hearing.

So often, we are so busy that we fail to listen properly. Our lives are cluttered with so many things that we do not hear God speaking. Listening to God requires a slowing down, a deliberate intention to listen to God’s voice and a training of our ears. Just as a mother is alert to the sounds which signify a baby rousing from sleep, so we need to be alert, listening for the gentle whisper of God’s Spirit.

Hearing is not enough of itself, however. We need also to heed God. To heed is to pay attention, to give consideration to. It’s not enough to let God’s words wash over us. We have to ‘pay the most careful attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.’ (Heb 2:1) Ps 107:43 says, ‘Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.’ Wisdom comes through heeding instruction (Prov 13:1); whoever heeds correction is honoured. (Prov 13:18). If we want to prosper, have understanding and be wise, then we have to learn to heed as well as to hear (see also Prov 15:5, Prov 15:31, Prov 16:20, Provb 28:4).

Hearing and heeding go together and lead to the next crucial stage: obedience  (see 1 Sam 15:22). As we hear God speak, heed His words through meditation and contemplation, we can move on to action. God speaks so that by obedience our lives can be realigned with Him and we can become wise. Take note!