Praying J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom Chapter 5: Prayer Checkup Search me, O God, and know my heart Try me and know my thoughts. (Psalm 139.23) Friends and Fellowship McLean Bible Church Paul Dorosh August 2, 2014 Objectives Understand and apply key scripture passages related to prayer Pray more Adoration (praise), confession, thanksgiving, supplication (requests) More regular devotions (for example, reading through the Psalms regularly) 2 Praying 1: The God We Pray To 2: The Path and the By-Paths 3: Brooding (Meditating on God s Word) 4: Praising 5: Prayer Checkup 6: Asking 7: Complaining 8: Hanging on 9: Joining in 10: With My Whole Heart 3 The Lord s Prayer Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Mt. 6:9-13 4 Praying : Chapter 5 (Prayer Checkup) A Summary of the Book So Far Self-examination vs. introspection God the Physician God checks up on our faith, repentance, love, humility, wisdom and focus Psalm 139 Small group discussion Psalm 139: Search me, O God Mistaken identity Read Packer and Nystrom, p. 122 par. 3 to p. 123, par. 1., line 5.our thoughts go forward to heaven So far God s I.D. (Who are we praying to?) Christian living as a hike (walk) Bible-based meditation God-exalting, self-deflating, soulexpanding activity of praise 5 6 1
Regular Spiritual Checkups But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; For it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:15 You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Self-Examination vs. Introspection Self-examination is a fundamentally healthy process, leading into repentance, where mere introspection can leave us just feeling sorry for ourselves Introspection, without intent to change, is basically unhealthy p. 125, par.1 Read Packer and Nystrom, p. 125, par. 2 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. For the paradoxical truth is that we [examine ourselves] precisely by asking God to do it 7 8 Revelation 3:17,19 James 1:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. Godly Sorrow Brings Repentance Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but world sorrow brings death. 2 Cor. 7:8a, 9-10 9 10 he will be blessed in what he does. God Checks Up on Our Faith Read Packer and Nystrom, p. 126, par. 2 Do we really know what we should know about God? Do we trust in Christ as we should? Do we claim God s promises in our prayers? Does our faith bring us peace of heart, -- peace with God through forgiveness? -- peace with circumstances through leaning on the Lord? --peace with people because we love them? 11 God Checks Up on Our Faith If you trust Me with Eternity, but snatch the moments away If you trust Me with tomorrow's cares, but bear the ones today If you know no peace, can find no release and live just for what people say Then there s something wrong, you can't trust for long that way (Meditation by Linda Rich, 1971) 12 2
God Checks Up on Our Repentance Repentance is more than a matter of regret and remorse for what has gone wrong; it is a matter of mounting resistance to the impulse to go wrong again. It is a change of life that we are constantly seeking to make; a matter essentially of the will rather than the feelings. A life of repentance is, in reality, a life of selfdenial. p. 126, par. 3 13 Saying No to Our Carnal Self We have to say no to our carnal self, that is, our inner selfhood that has been shaped by sin into the mold of an ugly, self-serving egocentricity. p. 127, par. 1 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away Mt. 5:29-30 14 God Checks Up on Our Love Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. God Checks Up on Our Love (2) As a test, bring to mind your last attempts to pray. Approximately what percentage of that prayer had to do with your own well-being as compared with glory of God and the welfare of others? Packer and Nystrom, p. 128, par. 1 Mt. 22:26-39 15 16 God Checks Up on Our Humility Pride is the passion always to be and to feel yourself to be number one in power and importance. pride is still there in our hearts engendering self-aggrandizement so that pleasing God as a life goal is excluded To be puffed up with pride at our own achievements is to be very sick in one s soul. God Checks Up on Our Humility (2) Read Packer and Nystrom, p. 129, par. 2. What then is humility? It is honest realism and realistic honesty. Whereas pride is all parading, play-acting and pretending, humility is rooted in facing facts God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. James 4:7 1 Pet. 5:6 Prov. 3:34 Packer and Nystrom, p. 128, par. 2 17 18 3
God Checks Up on Our Wisdom Wisdom in the Bible is essentially a matter of knowing the way through life: knowing what to aim at and how to get there, knowing what life itself is like and how to cope with it. First and foremost, wisdom is a matter of knowing what God is like and how to relate to him. p. 131, par. 3 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (wisdom) Prov. 3:7a 19 God Checks Up on Our Focus Read Packer and Nystrom, p. 132, par. 2 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil. 3:10-11 Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:12b 20 Psalm 139: 1-4 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. Psalm 139: 5-6 You hem me in --- behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 21 22 Psalm 139:7-10 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, If I settle on the far side of the sea, Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 23 Psalm 139:11-12 If I say, Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 24 4
Psalm 139:13-14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:15-16 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 25 26 Psalm 139:17-18 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand, When I am awake, I am still with You. Psalm 139:19-22 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your name. Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against You? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 27 28 Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 29 Small Group Discussion: Psalm 139 1. How is God s omniscience (his knowledge of everything) described? When is His omniscience a comfort? Are there times when it is causes problems? (v. 1-6) 2. Why would the psalmist (David) ever want to flee from God s presence? Describe a time when you have been comforted by the realization that God is everywhere. (v. 7-12) 3. What is the reason that David praises God? How well does God know David (and us)? (v. 13-18) 30 5
Small Group Discussion: Psalm 139 4. How does David feel about God s enemies? (Packer suggests that we should think about Satan and his fallen angels when we consider this verse.) (v. 19-22) 5. Given the context of the rest of the psalm, what reasons does David have to ask God to Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.? (Consider God s qualifications and David s own frailty.) (v. 23-24) 31 Spiritual Checkup How does God search us? Read Packer and Nystrom, p. 142, par. 2 How often should we ask for [a spiritual checkup ]? The authors suggest: Once a week at a preset time (the Puritans opted for Saturday night), is a good routine for God s checkup of our behavior and our heart p. 143, par. 3 32 Mistaken Identity One of the realities of spiritual life that we do not always recognize is that there is a great deal of make-believe about us. Again and again we think that we are being honest with ourselves and with God when, in fact, make-believe is as far as we ve got. p. 144 Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. Read Packer and Nystrom, p. 144, par. 2 Some practical suggestions: p. 144, par. 3 33 34 Psalm 32:3-4 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD --- And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah Selah 35 36 6
Psalm 32:6-7 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to You while You may be found; Surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble And surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:8-9 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Selah 37 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him. 38 Homework(!) Get a spiritual checkup. Read Chapter 6: Asking 39 7