30 Days in the Bible, Day 19: James 1:22-25

The way we see ourselves in our mind is seldom the same way we see ourselves in the mirror. I like to think that I look very much like I did about 15 years ago, but when I look in the mirror I see my father staring back at me. The truth is I don’t have a very good idea of my appearance in my memory, and that’s probably true for most people.

The same thing happens when we look at ourselves spiritually. It’s easy to focus on what we have done that is good, while minimizing our sin. We may tend to think of ourselves as better than we really are. On the other hand, some people are so conscious of particular sins that they begin to see themselves as worthless and not deserving of forgiveness. Both of these are distorted images of who we are.

That is why James encourages Christians to constantly look into God’s Word for an accurate reflection of who we are. In the Bible, we see that we are sinners, unworthy of heaven, but that through the grace of Jesus Christ we have been made right with God. We see that we are forgiven, not because we are worthy, but because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us on the cross and gave us forgiveness through faith in Him. We are neither perfect saints nor are we hopeless sinners. Through Christ we are sinners saved by grace, united with Him and always seeking to become more like Him.

This passage can tie in with what we saw yesterday about memorizing Scripture. With God’s Word hidden in our heart, we always have a mirror available to show us who we are. It’s a little like the way many women carry around a small compact mirror to check on their hair and makeup. We can check up on our spiritual condition by holding up passages from the Bible that speak to whatever we may encounter in our lives.

By reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word, while committing more and more of it to memory, we will have an accurate picture of who we are in Christ, how we relate to our heavenly Father, and how we can live in a way that please and honors Jesus. As we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us through the Word, we will grow more like Christ, and as we grow more like Him we will be able to show Jesus to those we encounter every day.

God-sized prayers

Our church began a 30 day prayer emphasis this morning. My pastor preached on the subject, challenging us as individual Christians, families, and as a church to renew and deepen our prayer lives for the next 30 days.

He encouraged us to pray "God-sized prayers." I think this point is well-taken in our culture. We often pray little prayers: help in some circumstance of life, meeting a specific need, changing some small aspect of our character, or divine intervention in some immediate crisis. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of these prayers; we are encouraged in Scripture to bring everything before our Father in prayer. The problem is when that is all we pray about.

I freely admit to struggling with prayer. I am an "ADD pray-er" (probably because I am ADD). I admire, even envy, great prayer warriors like Martin Luther or George Muller. Yet, despite my best efforts, I cannot focus on a single prayer session for long. My mind wanders as various subjects flit through it, brought in sometimes by the very prayers I am praying. I have to conclude my prayers, get up, and come back later to regain that focus. And we all know what can happen when we walk away from a time with the Lord.

With someone like me, the urgent often crowds out the important. I pray for what is immediately on my mind, or for needs that are brought to my attention, but leave out the "routine" prayers for ongoing situations in our world. Maybe you are like that, too. How do we remain focused long enough on what is so critically important in our world when so much draws our attention away?

This is where "God-sized prayers" come in. When I sit down to pray, I want to pray in a way that shows I believe that God is an awesomely powerful God who cares about our world and about me, and who wants to answer prayer to show His power and His love. I want to pray not for what seems to be a manageable task for God, but for what seems from my human perspective to be impossible except for God. I want prayers that stretch the boundaries of faith.

This isn't to say I want to challenge God, to test Him and see if He's up to the challenge. No, I want to challenge myself, and see if I can at least have faith enough to believe God can do amazing things in our world today. Prayer doesn't stretch God, but it does stretch me. I believe one reason so many Christians struggle with faith is that we don't exercise it much. We say we believe in a powerful and loving God who cares about us and our world, but we pray like God is inconvenienced by listening to us and only answers prayers grudgingly. Worse, sometimes we pray like we believe God can't do what we ask.

We don't want to be presumptuous. One of the flaws in the theology of those who preach a prosperity gospel is the teaching that God must give us what we ask for, no matter what it is or what His will for our life is. Jesus reminds us to pray for the Father's will to be done in the Lord's Prayer, and we need to remember that when we pray. Prayer is not a demand session to get what we want, but a communication with our Heavenly Father. We do occasionally pray for things that would not bring Him glory, or even for things that would be destructive to us. Since He is our Father, He knows what we need, and what is best.

With that in mind, though, let's make our prayers bigger. I challenge you to use prayer to stretch yourself. What's a big need in your life? What's a big need in our world? What can't change unless God intervenes? Let those be your prayers. As you you pray, watch, and wait, you will see many prayers answered, but you will also see yourself stretching your faith and growing stronger in your confidence in the Lord.