Proverbs 3:6 (TLB)
6 In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.
Genesis 2:24 (TLB)
24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife in such a way that the two become one person.
John 2:1-5 (NASB)
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;
2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 And Jesus *said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

You might be thinking… What do these verses have to do with each other? And what does this have to do with prayer?

As I was studying the Bible and meditating on scripture this week, I was thinking about the institution of marriage. How interesting it is that God created man and woman, individuals with our own unique abilities and gifts. And yet, He also established in the beginning a union between man and woman in such a way that both become one person.

Is that the way you look at marriage? Was that your motivation for getting married? It seems that the primary motivation in “the world” can be quite different.

I used to think that pride was probably the biggest sin that we deal with in life, but recently I’ve realized that selfishness might be right up there. Especially when you look at how couples approach their marriage. There seems to be a strong motivation these days for people to remain as individuals, to be separate and unique, not to become one person under God.

There also appears to be a trend these days for individuals to wait later in life to marry. Nothing wrong with that as long as our motivations are in the right place. Do the youth do that so that they establish God first in their lives, so that when they marry they can come together as one to fulfill God’s will? I do see that in some, but others seem to delay because of selfish reasons.

How can we live our lives in marriage and make decisions in marriage that is honoring to God. Certainly prayer has to be a high priority. We can’t live together as one without help from the Holy Spirit. If you are married, do you constantly pray for your marriage, asking God to purify your heart in a way that is honoring to your spouse? Do you frequently pray with your spouse? If you are contemplating marriage, do you both put God first, then the other, before thinking of your individual needs? Or do individual needs take priority? Do you pray with and for each other?

I don’t think it was a coincidence that the first miracle that Jesus performed was at a wedding. Our union in marriage is to be just like our union with Christ, where two become one. And His mother’s command to the servants summarizes to me what is written in Proverbs 3:5. In everything you do, put God first.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Chris McKean

When it comes right down to it, we all like to get something for nothing. For many that live in the world today, they would prefer to have a celestial Santa Claus rather than a divine Lord and Savior.  Especially when something drastic happens in our life and we are desperate for help from God, because we realize that only He can help us.

It is disappointing then when God doesn’t immediately give us the things that we perceive as important needs. If not careful, we can get discouraged and blame God. In these situations, it is often the case that our needs are really just our wants.  We all know that this is confused thinking, but how easy it is to fall into this especially if our prayer life is limited or non-existent.

James points this out in James 4:3, where he says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” I’ve caught myself praying for situations or people because they are in a tough spot or need help, not really thinking about why I am praying for them.  My motive, I tell myself, is that I feel compassion for the other person. When down deep if I really am truthful to myself, I realize that I could easily be in the same situation and would want God to help me. With wrong motives we end up with what the Psalmist says in Psalm 66:18 “If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;”

It’s only when we recognize the wrong thinking and repent that we are able to turn ourselves away from our selfish thoughts and towards the One that matters. When we live the Godly life, seeking His will and living for God, we have the confidence expressed by the apostle John in 1 John 5:14-15
14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

But we can rejoice in the “Good News” because no matter what happens or how often we fail, how often our motives are not pure, God still loves us. His love is perfect and His grace showers over us. So we can be confident that no matter what we ask of Him, He will always give us what we need and what is good for us.

Join us this Tuesday at 7pm as we pray confidently according to His will.

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean

John 10:30 (ESV)
30 I and the Father are one.”
John 14:15-17 (ESV)
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

When you pray, who do you pray to? Is it the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit? Do you think it matters?

One analogy that has been used to give some understanding of the Trinity is the three physical states of water; solid, liquid, and vapor. All are water, but each have unique characteristics. However, they are all the same chemical compound. So it is with God. There is only one God, yet we know from scripture that He exists as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each of which has unique characteristics or personalities.

God is so complex and so mysterious and so beyond our comprehension that He has manifested Himself to us in personalities so that we can have some understanding of Him. Personalities that we can relate to and communicate with. It is unfortunate when we limit our interaction with God and not communicate to Him via the Trinity that He is.

For instance, God the Father has adopted us into His family. We are His children and we can praise Him for His creation and His many attributes. Jesus is our Savior, the one who took our sins upon Him. The Holy Spirit is our Counselor, living inside us, who knows all about us and who, if we listen to Him will sanctify us.

God provided the concept of the Trinity, so we could pray to a Person. It is important that we think of God as that, rather than an idea, spiritual concept, or principle. He wants a relationship with us as individuals and that requires that we think of Him in the same way.

When you pray, whose presence are you aware of? Speak to the Personality that is speaking to you. If you do, you will draw closer to Him. Your relationship with Him will grow and your prayers will grow deeper.

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean

Hebrews 13:15 (ESV)
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Psalm 146:1-2 (ESV)
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

It may be easy to think, when we consider the self-sufficiency of God, that our adoration of Him would make no difference. Saint Augustine put it well, when he said, “God thirsts to be thirsted after.”

And yet adoration, thanksgiving and praise is not something that comes naturally to us. It is like the relationship between a parent and a child. Asking for things come naturally to a child and as a parent we want to provide what is good for them, but oh, what it means to a father to hear words of adoration and thanks from a grateful child. So it is the same for God.

In his book, “Letters to Malcolm”, C.S. Lewis provides four reasons why we can be distracted from the adoration of God. The first is inattention; getting distracted by the blur of life. The second is the wrong kind of attention, where we get focused too much on the frustrations of life. We try to analyze rather than praise. The third is greed, where instead of reflecting on what God has provided for which we should adore Him, we instead focus on getting more. Finally, the last is conceit, where we don’t understand why others can’t see the beauty of God and instead focus on how wonderful we are because we can.

I know I have been guilty of what Lewis has described. What a blessing that God has provided words of adoration, praise and thanksgiving to us in the scriptures. As we immerse ourselves in God’s Word each day, we begin to understand what the Psalmist said in the following verses.

Psalm 34:1 (ESV)
1 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 22:23 (ESV)
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
Psalm 40:3 (ESV)
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

The prayer of adoration is a sweet aroma to God. It’s the best way I know of to transform us from knowing about God to knowing Him. For He will draw near to us and make Himself known to us as we adore Him.

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean

Acts 4:23-31 (ESV)
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Peter and John were imprisoned overnight by the chief priests, then released and told not to preach about Jesus.

They went back to their friends and immediately began to pray together – corporate prayer.

1. They first praised God
2. They then prayed scripture – from Psalm 2
3. They acknowledged that what happened to Jesus was God’s will.
4. Their petition was not something that would have been expected. They prayed for boldness, not for protection.
5. God’s answer was dramatic.

This seems to be an effective model prayer.  If we want dramatic responses from God when we pray, should we focus on what God wants to accomplish rather than how it might impact us?

John 14:6 (ESV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 18:37b (ESV)
37b “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

I reread a quote by C.S. Lewis today regarding truth. This is what he said:

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end, if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth, only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.”

Our knowledge of God comes from the truth that He has provided to us in scripture. For many, the really hard part is accepting all of the truth that He has to offer. The natural inclination is to pick and choose, you know.

The quote by Lewis highlights a common trap we can fall into. It may seem better to do things that are comfortable, telling ourselves that it is truth we are after. We can get sidetracked so easily if we don’t spend time in the scriptures each and every day. However, if we get distracted and begin seeking comfort we aren’t following Jesus.

I remember a story told years ago about someone who had shared the gospel with a friend. The friend, after careful consideration, said that he was ready to accept Jesus as his Savior, but he wasn’t ready to agree to have Him as his Lord. A Savior would be wonderful, but if Jesus became his Lord, he would have to follow and obey him. It just wasn’t something he was willing to do. He wasn’t pursuing the truth, only comfort. He would receive neither.

I struggled for six months with God’s leading regarding the prayer ministry several years ago. I told myself that prayer wasn’t on my list of spiritual gifts. Why not let someone else do this? I really wanted to sit back (be comfortable), but God wouldn’t have it.

A more recent example is dealing with the deteriorating health of Cindy’s mom. Her mom won’t accept the truth of her medical conditions, because she would then have to accept and deal with the consequences of it. She would have to make some changes, accept some limitations. Instead, she disregards logic and wise counsel from health care professionals. Sometimes the consequences of accepting the truth is just more painful. I get that.

We would all prefer to avoid pain in our lives. We would rather look for the security, because the truth might mean we have to do something that is really tough. Or we might have to accept some things that we have convinced ourselves for many years is “true”, really isn’t. We see ourselves as either having or not having certain skills or abilities, but when others give us wise counsel and tell us the truth, we won’t admit it.

That’s why it is so vital for us to spend time in scripture and prayer each day, asking God to reveal the sin in our lives; those lies that have permeated us for so long that we would rather believe them than Jesus. Only when we are walking on the path that Jesus has set for us, can we know that we are following the truth.

Join me in praying to seek truth and only truth in our lives. Pray that we would not pursue comfort regardless of the consequences. In other words, pray that we would follow Jesus and only Him.

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean

Psalm 126:4-6 (ESV)
4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Israel asked for a dramatic turnaround in this Psalm. Their prayer was to restore them to the way that they were before they turned away from God.

The streams mentioned in verse 4 are those in the South of Judah. During the dry season, they are just stream beds, no water in them. However, in the rainy season, they become torrents of water. The psalmist is asking for a flood, a rapid change from God. Sometimes God answers prayer with a flood, sometimes He answers slowly after a long period of persistent prayer.

In verse 5 there is a link between the future joy to the present sorrow. The psalmist is indicating that unless we weep over our sin, unless we really understand the full measure of the sin in our lives we will not receive the full joy that God wants to provide. If we want revival, the first step is a deep understanding and acknowledgement of our sin. If I don’t think about it, I can fall into a mode where I look at myself as “not too bad” in God’s eyes. Certainly, because of the blood of Jesus we are now righteous. However, if we are truly going to be sanctified as Jesus would want, we have to deal with our sin at a fundamental level. No sugar coating. No comparison of others that we see as worse sinners. We must fully repent, in tears as the psalmist says. That is how we have to operate each and every day. That is our present condition.

Verse 6 then shows the future result of that. We will see the fruit. Only then can revival come.

When we pray, as we praise God for our relationship in Christ, we must also take a look deep within ourselves. No matter how much we “DO”, unless we are working on the sin in our lives with the help of the Holy Spirit, revival will not come.

Do you want revival? Are you ready to do what is needed? Let’s start with tears of repentance. Let’s pray about our own relationship with God, asking Him to reveal the sin in our lives.

Malachi 3:8-10 (NASB)
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!
10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

Not much has changed since the time of the prophet Malachi, where he reminds Israel of their willful disobedience of God. This was around 430 B.C and Israel had turned away from God’s commands. They were not bringing their first fruits into the temple, but rather what little they did bring was worthless in God’s sight. Most Christians today are no different. Only a small percentage bring their tithe into the church today.

Today, Malachi 3:10 is often misused in “progressive” churches that preach a prosperity message. The motivation to tithe that is taught has nothing to do with God’s love and His commandments, but rather only on the financial blessing that they are promised. Those tithes are also worthless in God’s sight.

When I hear of this, I am reminded of the Laura Story song, “Blessings”, where she sings…

“What if your blessings come through rain drops,
What if Your healing comes through tears,
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near,
What if Trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise.”

Pray with me that each of us will bring the entire tithe into Christ’s church, so we can experience the overflowing blessings that God has in store for us. May we pray that the blessing we seek is God’s will for us and not something that we want. May He give us what we need instead, even if it is rain drops or tears. For then we will be truly blessed because we will know that He is near. Pray for God’s mercies, and trust in them even if they might seems disguised to us at the time.

Praises and thanksgiving to Him who loves us so much that He only wants what is good for us.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Chris McKean

I don’t think it is a coincidence that the relationship of Jesus and the church is likened to a marriage. Marriage is a sacred union and one that God has prescribed clearly in scripture. What is interesting is that the churches of the early church suffered with the same struggles we do today. Jesus tells Pergamum and Thyatira that they have neglected congregational discipline, something that is lacking in many modern churches. As a result, marriage is not treated as a sacred union by the general population, but rather a union of convenience, one that can be abandoned as easily as a child abandons a toy that is no longer of interest.

As I thought about that, it brought chills to me thinking: What if Jesus treated His bride like so many do today? What if His love for us was dependent on how much we loved Him? What if He could walk away from us if He grew tired of our sinful ways?

I praise God that Jesus is committed to His bride. I know that marriage requires the commitment of both parties. However, I pray that men in this culture would become committed to their marriages in the same way that Jesus is to the church. I pray that even though marriage is not perfect, even in the best of marriages, men would treat that union in the same way that Jesus treats the church. He will not turn away, He will not abandon, even as we continue to sin and repent our way through sanctification. I wonder how much the divorce rate would go down, if only the men of this world would have that level of commitment.

For those of us that are married, may we pray for each other that our marriages would be a reflection of God’s perfect plan. And for those that aren’t married, may they pray that if God plans for you to remain single that He will use your singleness for the Kingdom. And if He calls you into marriage that He would begin preparing a Christian mate for you even today.  Too many people go into marriage with expectations of change in the other party.  Make sure that your future mate is one that will be like Jesus treats his bride.

We can learn much from the theologians that lived during the Reformation. The doctrinal documents that they created were a result of the dedication to the study of scripture. Actually study doesn’t even begin to describe the level of effort that these people put into what is now fundamental to the reformed church of today. As it was in the beginning of the church, false teaching has existed in all periods of the church. We can use these doctrinal documents in our study of scripture and prayer to help us discern the will of God. There is nothing wrong with leaning on the work of those that have gone before us.

Some of these are the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechism which were developed over a 5 year period in the mid 1600’s.

In the mid-1720’s the concept of Ordo Salutis was developed by reformed theologians, again based upon critical study of scripture, most particularly Romans Chapter 8.

Ordo Salutis means order of salvation, so this was an attempt to define the consecutive steps in the work of the Holy Spirit along with our responses to the Spirit.

The beauty of Ordo Salutis is that it highlights that many of the steps of salvation is purely the work of God, with only a couple of steps that require our response or willingness to work with the Holy Spirit.

The order does not imply equal time periods of salvation. Some occur over time, while others are instantaneous.

Here are seven steps:

1. Calling – Initiation of salvation by the Holy Spirit. This is a special “effectual” calling by God.
2. Regeneration – The Holy Spirit renews our hearts, i.e. we are able to hear and understand the Gospel.
3. Conversion – sometimes called the AHA moment. Conversion is a combination of faith, which is a gift from God, leading us to repentance and declaring Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This is the step that is often the beginning point of discussion regarding salvation, yet it is not.
4. Justification – This is a legal act by God declaring us righteous based upon the perfect work of Christ.
5. Adoption – This step gives us the rights and privileges as children of God, i.e. we are now able to call upon Him as “Abba” Father.
6. Sanctification – process that occurs over time where we are willing to be molded by the Holy Spirit. This has been describes as God adding small amounts of glory to us, glory added to glory as we become more Christ-like.
7. Glorification – this is the final step where we become perfect when we join Christ in heaven.

What does this have to do with prayer? Ordo Salutis emphasizes the importance of prayer particularly in those steps that require our participation, i.e. in the step of Conversion and the process of Sanctification. Our initial acceptance of what God has given us the ability to see is critical. The long process of sanctification cannot proceed as God has planned for us without study of scripture and prayer.

As we study God’s word our prayer life changes. As we learn to understand that it isn’t about our wants and needs, but rather His will, our prayers transition from things about us to Him. What I have found is that if I don’t read His word every day, I can slip back into thinking about what I want and my prayer life suffers.

Ordo Salutis shows us God’s plan for salvation, the beauty of His plan, that it is about Him and not about us, which leads us to praise Him even more.