I have heard that the average Christian spends less than thirty seconds a day in prayer and the average pastor less than three minutes. Shocked? Don’t be. Stop and think about how much time you spent in prayer today – apart from blessing your food or a superficial nod to God. We do not pray as we ought – I don’t think any of us would argue that. Sadly, it shows up in our lives, families, churches, and ministries. As a whole, we are a powerless people, having drifted far from our God.

Here is my challenge to you for 2014: Take ten minutes, three times a day, and pray. That’s not much, but probably significantly more than what you are presently doing. We are busy with a thousand other things that together won’t amount to what might be accomplished in prayer. Regular and fervent prayer was the pattern of Christ and the New Testament Church (Mark 1:35, Acts 2:42). This needs to be revived.

David, the man after God’s own heart, said, “Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud, and he will hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17). David purposed in his heart and set a pattern in his life for prayer. Daniel did the same, “…he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously” (Daniel 6:10).

Ten minutes, alone with God, three times a day. Friend, that is my challenge to you for 2014. Think what God might do in us, and in his church.

“Finding God’s will,” or “getting an answer.” Is that really your pursuit? For many of us prayer becomes our means to an end and the end is only selfishly getting something from God, not communing with Him. Prayer should be the constant, intimate communion with God. “Asking” is a natural part of that communion—but only a part. Where is the praise, the worship, the confession, the enjoyment of living in His presence and communing with Him? Quit spending so much time seeking the “thing” from God and seek Him alone—the joy of constant communion and fellowship with Him. Day by day you will find yourself full of joy, in His will, and with every need supplied.

“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4 NIV)

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11 NIV)

“Lord give me eyes to see things as you see them.” This has been the first of my five requests (see previous post). If I don’t see things the way God sees them then it will be almost impossible to lead a life or ministry that is pleasing to Him.

Now, truthfully, none of us think we have a distorted view of anything. We believe we see things as they are, but that cannot be true. We are not God; eternal, perfect, omniscient, omnipresent. Our particular view will be clouded and distorted by many things; human nature, predispositions, experiences, cultural upbringing, and how we have been taught by people who are made of the same stuff. We all have prejudices and live with people that have them too.

How then do we come to see things as God sees them? First, we must see God as He is. That will take place as we see HIm in the person of His Son, revealed in His Word by His Spirit. When I have a right view of God, I will have a right view of myself and of my circumstances. Only then will be able to understand what pleases Him. Paul expressed it this way in Ephesians 5:10, “Finding out (discerning) what pleases the Lord.”

I think too many of us think we have it all figured out.  Then we pour all of our energy into “doing the will of God” – while all along God had something else in mind. Our present ministry may be good, noble, and seemingly productive…but not what God had intended. It would be an awful thing to finish your life and then realize that it looked nothing like God desired.

I am reminded of two biblical accounts:

1. First, a blind servant and Elisha. In 2 Kings 6:15-17, we read, “When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ He said, ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”  Reality was the same for both men, but not their ability to see it. Being able to see it makes all the difference in how we respond.
2. Second, blind disciples and Jesus. In John 4:31-35, we read, “Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another “has anyone brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.”

These disciples, as spiritual as they were, did not see what Jesus was seeing.

Are you blind too? These people were busy, active, and engaged in ministry, but they did not see things as God was seeing them. How often does that happen to us? Have you really ever stopped to think about it – or just assumed you are always right about everything?

That is why I pray a prayer like this every day:

Help me, Lord, to see things as you see them, to see you through the person of your Son, as revealed in your Word, and taught to me by your Spirit. Help me also to see people as you see them. Clear away the clouds and distortions of reality that I may have. Help me to see your will, not mine. Help me to be humble enough to admit it when I have been wrong or when I have held on to beliefs, attitudes, and opinions that are not yours. Help me to see your will. Help me to see how things should be in my life and in the ministry you have entrusted to me.

About five years ago I was going through my normal process of evaluation, recalibration, and goal setting for the coming year, when it dawned on me…what if I am not getting it right? What if I am not seeing things as God sees them, and what if I am setting goals and following through with things that are not of Him?  Is that possible?

Over the next several months I began praying the following prayer:

1. Lord give me eyes to see things as you see them.
2. Give me wisdom to navigate from where I am to where I need to be.
3. Give me boldness and grace to do the right things in the right way.
4. Provide for my needs—in and according to your will.
5. May you receive all glory, honor, and praise in everything, and may I be hidden in the cross of Christ.

I have been praying this prayer for almost five years now. I feel the passion for these things growing with a greater longing to see God answer in clear and unmistakable ways – ways that are so far beyond human imagination or strength.

As I look back over life and ministry, I have found that God’s greatest work has most often followed long seasons of desperate prayer—as if God must take me through another valley of crying out in helplessness before I see an answer. Most of the time I have focused on the need for a change in circumstances, but there is always another, more important work going on; God is changing me. I am starting to realize that this process will not be done until I stand before him.

Over the next few weeks I would like to talk about the importance of this particular prayer and how it continues to shape my life in the will of God.

Have you ever considered that your greatest contribution to the cause of Christ just might be the time you spend in intercessory prayer for your children and others we consider to be part of this “next generation”?

Diane and I are in that “empty nest” phase of life and there are a lot of things we are learning from it. Energies once given to chasing down the pitter patter of little feet and waiting up for teens to get home from an activity are now channeled in prayer. Of course we have always “known” that the “greatest work is on our knees”, but we have not known it like we do now. Things we have always known… we now more fully realize. More