I have seen
many times the resignation of Christians to 'the way things are,' either
with a broken relationship or the unbelief of a friend or family
member; a situation that has been unresolved for perhaps five, perhaps
fifty years. This attitude is surely the 'realistic' view of things. And
there are many people who die unsaved, unreconciled. But I believe that
it is a coping mechanism. It's too painful to be unresigned to the
way things are for long periods of time. It is so much easier to stop
caring that much; to stop crying out to God for the salvation of a soul.
Hope that looks unwarranted is painful. But our God is a God of miracles and He makes dead men live. Charles Spurgeon says, "Until the gate of hell is shut upon a man, we must not cease to pray for him. And if we see him hugging the very doorposts of damnation, we must go to the mercy seat and beseech the arm of grace to pluck him from his dangerous position. While there is life there is hope, and although the soul is almost smothered with despair, we must not despair for it." God works miracles through prayer--fervent, heartfelt, tear-filled prayer. Monica, mother of St Augustine provides a wonderful example of this; she never resigned herself to her son's spiritual battle. She prayed without ceasing for his salvation, and I have no doubt that her prayers accomplished much. For seventeen long years she pleaded with the Lord to save her son, and she refused to give up on the man who eventually became one of the most influential church fathers of history. Not only did she come consistently before the throne of God on behalf of her son, but she pestered a bishop relentlessly until he told her in exasperation, "Leave me be and go in peace. It cannot be that the son of these tears should be lost."
I love this prayer for unbelievers and it sums up what I want to pray so often:
"O God, the everlasting Creator of all things, remember that the souls of unbelievers were made by Thee and formed in Thine own image and likeness. Remember that Jesus, Thy Son, endured a most bitter death for their salvation. Permit not, I beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thy Son should be any longer despised by unbelievers, but do Thou graciously accept the prayers of holy men and of the Church, the Spouse of Thy most holy Son, and be mindful of Thy mercy. Forget their idolatry and unbelief, and grant that they too may some day know Him whom Thou hast sent, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Salvation, our Life and Resurrection, by whom we have been saved and delivered, to whom be glory for endless ages. Amen."
In my own life, also, I pray to be unresigned to my state of sanctification, just as Christ, shortly before his death, prayed for our sanctification; always giving thanks that I have been justified and sanctified, and longing to become daily more like Him who saved us. I pray that God would open my eyes to sin in my life. This prayer will be answered, but it won't be pretty. Once you begin to see the ugly handprint of sin all over your life, it forces you back to your knees to beg for forgiveness and help to conquer the sin you had previously been blinded to. It brings me much closer to God because of the dependence I learn when I recognize my helplessness and the power over sin of the One who lives in me.
"I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men...so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." This exhortation of Paul's in 1 Timothy touches on one of the trickiest spots in the discussion of prayer and its purpose. We know that God is sovereign, we know that He wills all men to be saved, and we know that not all men will be saved. We know that God desires us to be pure, that it grieves the Spirit of God when we sin, but we also know that we will not be perfect in this life. So what do we pray for?
I am still wrestling with this question. But I think that part of the answer is this: the act of pleading with God for holiness and righteousness-the act of asking that the lost may be found-molds our souls into conformity with God's. He desires that all should be saved, He desires that we be pure and holy, and when we ask those things of Him, it makes us more like Him, because we are desiring the same things He does. Jesus died in order that we might be freed from sin and united to Him. Another part of it is that our prayers *do* have an effect, and that is somehow consistent with the sovereignty and immutability of God.
My point is not that we should work towards our own sanctification, or in our own strength try to save other people-we are simply agents that God uses in His own way to accomplish His will. My point is that as Christians, we should not be apathetic towards things that scripture teaches us God is in no way apathetic about. There is much to do with this question that I do not understand fully-I am simply exhorting us as Christians to do what the Scriptures teach us to do, and what historic Christians have done for so many years.
Hope that looks unwarranted is painful. But our God is a God of miracles and He makes dead men live. Charles Spurgeon says, "Until the gate of hell is shut upon a man, we must not cease to pray for him. And if we see him hugging the very doorposts of damnation, we must go to the mercy seat and beseech the arm of grace to pluck him from his dangerous position. While there is life there is hope, and although the soul is almost smothered with despair, we must not despair for it." God works miracles through prayer--fervent, heartfelt, tear-filled prayer. Monica, mother of St Augustine provides a wonderful example of this; she never resigned herself to her son's spiritual battle. She prayed without ceasing for his salvation, and I have no doubt that her prayers accomplished much. For seventeen long years she pleaded with the Lord to save her son, and she refused to give up on the man who eventually became one of the most influential church fathers of history. Not only did she come consistently before the throne of God on behalf of her son, but she pestered a bishop relentlessly until he told her in exasperation, "Leave me be and go in peace. It cannot be that the son of these tears should be lost."
I love this prayer for unbelievers and it sums up what I want to pray so often:
"O God, the everlasting Creator of all things, remember that the souls of unbelievers were made by Thee and formed in Thine own image and likeness. Remember that Jesus, Thy Son, endured a most bitter death for their salvation. Permit not, I beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thy Son should be any longer despised by unbelievers, but do Thou graciously accept the prayers of holy men and of the Church, the Spouse of Thy most holy Son, and be mindful of Thy mercy. Forget their idolatry and unbelief, and grant that they too may some day know Him whom Thou hast sent, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Salvation, our Life and Resurrection, by whom we have been saved and delivered, to whom be glory for endless ages. Amen."
In my own life, also, I pray to be unresigned to my state of sanctification, just as Christ, shortly before his death, prayed for our sanctification; always giving thanks that I have been justified and sanctified, and longing to become daily more like Him who saved us. I pray that God would open my eyes to sin in my life. This prayer will be answered, but it won't be pretty. Once you begin to see the ugly handprint of sin all over your life, it forces you back to your knees to beg for forgiveness and help to conquer the sin you had previously been blinded to. It brings me much closer to God because of the dependence I learn when I recognize my helplessness and the power over sin of the One who lives in me.
"I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men...so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." This exhortation of Paul's in 1 Timothy touches on one of the trickiest spots in the discussion of prayer and its purpose. We know that God is sovereign, we know that He wills all men to be saved, and we know that not all men will be saved. We know that God desires us to be pure, that it grieves the Spirit of God when we sin, but we also know that we will not be perfect in this life. So what do we pray for?
I am still wrestling with this question. But I think that part of the answer is this: the act of pleading with God for holiness and righteousness-the act of asking that the lost may be found-molds our souls into conformity with God's. He desires that all should be saved, He desires that we be pure and holy, and when we ask those things of Him, it makes us more like Him, because we are desiring the same things He does. Jesus died in order that we might be freed from sin and united to Him. Another part of it is that our prayers *do* have an effect, and that is somehow consistent with the sovereignty and immutability of God.
My point is not that we should work towards our own sanctification, or in our own strength try to save other people-we are simply agents that God uses in His own way to accomplish His will. My point is that as Christians, we should not be apathetic towards things that scripture teaches us God is in no way apathetic about. There is much to do with this question that I do not understand fully-I am simply exhorting us as Christians to do what the Scriptures teach us to do, and what historic Christians have done for so many years.
Unresign us, Lord. Open our
hearts to feel as You do for the lost, for broken relationships; and
help us to quietly soften hearts through the pouring out of our own.
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