Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Guarding our Hearts for Prayer (part 1)

"The consummation of all things has drawn near. Therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the purpose of prayer." - 1 Peter 4:7
Every one who has been born again by the Spirit of God desires to have a more robust, intimate, and consistent prayer life.

When I read this text, I am reminded not only of the purpose and power of prayer, but also the preeminence and priority it ought to have in my life.

The end has come. Peter's admonition? Pray.

As simple as this may seem, we as Christ's sheep must never forget that we have an adversary who also understands just how powerful prayer is to the believer. And since he hates Christ and His people, our ancient foe "prowls to and fro" seeking ways to thwart and hinder our prayers.

The book of Revelation portrays Satan as a defeated foe who, unlike many Christians, understands that his "time is short." Though he has been definitively defeated by our strong Warrior (Col. 2:14), we must never forget that he is still - at this moment - thrashing around in his death throes.

This thrashing is much more cunning and subtle than can be seen by the naked eye.

With his dying breaths, his strategy to destroy and dismantle Christianity - at least in the affluent West - primarily consists of distracting the church from using her greatest weapon: prayer.

Think about it: if you were battling someone who had an unstoppable weapon, wouldn't it be in your best interest to find a way to prevent them from using that weapon?

This is precisely what the great liar and deceiver does to Christ's church. Whatever it takes - distraction, lukewarmness, love of the world, moralistic busyness, social justice, sin - Satan seeks to keep Christ's people from praying.

And so Peter, himself not ignorant of Satan's schemes, reminds us of our great need to be "self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers" (ESV).

The first word comes from two Greek words, "save" and "mind", and literally means "safeguard your mind."

The best way to safeguard our mind is to be continually renewing it by the Word of God (cf. Eph. 4:20-24; Col. 3:16; Phil. 4:8; Rom. 12:1-2; Psa. 119).

The second word literally means "to be sober." Again, we see the importance of having temperance in our thinking, which of course comes from immersion in the Word of God.

Just as I used to do foolish things when I was not "sober" as an unbeliever, so also do we as Christians act foolishly (e.g. with our time, talents, treasures) when we fail to act soberly in the spiritual realm by not guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Dear believer, the consummation of all things has drawn near. We are living in the last days. Oh that we might heed the Spirit's call in this text to be self-controlled and sober-minded, especially with regards to our prayer life.

When we read the Bible, we see just how important prayer is. When we are not in the Word, we quickly forget this, and begin drifting away from a vital, powerful, Spirit-enabled walk with Christ.

For the next couple of weeks, I will be working through a short section from John Flavel's gem "Keeping the Heart", focusing on 8 ways he gives for the believer to "guard their hearts" with regards to prayer.

But for now, it might be beneficial for you simply to memorize 1 Peter 4:7. It has been a great reminder to me these last few weeks of just how desperately I need to be a man of prayer, and how desperately I need to "safeguard my mind" and "be sobered" by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Christ, and for His great glory,
Pastor Ryan