Tag Archives: discipline

The Danger of Praying for Holiness

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“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
(Hebrews 12:6)

Have you ever felt that your prayers were going unanswered?  We come to the Lord, as he has taught us, praying that we might grow in holiness, that we might be more loving, that we might trust in Him, and yet everything in and around us seems to be working against this prayer.  Is God not listening?  Is God not answering?

Recently I’ve come across this hymn by John Newton (most noted for Amazing Grace):

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

This is the anguish of unanswered prayer, or so it would seem.  We read in the next stanza how we often look at prayer.  We come to God with right intentions, we want to overcome our sin, to find rest and peace – and we want God’s power to conquer and kill sin within us.  Give me holiness, give it now!

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

What we find, what Newton teaches in the hymn, is that God often uses means and methods that we would never consider to answer our prayers and to bring us to holiness in Him.  When we would be free from sin, when we begin the journey to mortify sin in our lives, that’s when it seems that sin rears its ugly head even more.  Sin and its power in us assaults us, lays us low, until we cry out to God, “Will you pursue me to death?!”

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

Often this is the way that God answers our prayers for grace and faith, using our inward trials to break our dependence on the joys of this world, and to teach us to find our all in Him.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

When you engage in the war on sin, don’t give up when you find how deeply entrenched the enemy has become.  As you drive the enemy (whom Christ has defeated) from his stronghold – he will kick and scream.  He will accuse and curse.

But even this is from the hand of God.  Don’t kick against the goads, don’t chaff under the Father’s discipline.  As Hebrews 12 teaches, “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.  In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood… For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives… For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

These inward trials, this putting to death of the old life, weaning from the world, from self, from pride is painful – but it is necessary.  If you want to be more like Christ, you will, by necessity, become less like your old self.  The old orientation, the old desire – those things that came natural and easy – they are being replaced with the transforming power of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.

SDG

Here is a link to listen:

Be Diligent

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“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these things,
be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”
(2 Peter 3:14)

I guess I’m one of those guys who has to learn something the hard way.  And then, once I’ve learned it, I’ll forget and have to learn it again.

Last year around this time I was writing about the joys of running, how disciplining the body and the soul go hand in hand, and of the many blessings that come from both.

Then winter in NW Iowa set it.

To call my running from December through April sporadic would suggest that there was a modicum of effort made on my part, and that would be an overstatement.  40 miles over 4 months.  It’s embarrassing to even write it out.

Oh, I had plenty of excuses – the cold, the snow, the busy-ness – you name it.  But in the end, an excuse is just that, and it doesn’t make things any better.  Someone once said, “If you really want to do it, you do it. There are no excuses.”  So there.

Should I also confess that as the discipline of running slipped, so did all other disciplines?

Oh, I’ve maintained my scripture reading plan.  I’ve been reading books left and right.  I’ve been praying, preaching, visiting, and ministering with and for others.  But it’s been a while since I’ve made the time to meditate on God’s Word, preach to myself, and allow my Spirit to be ministered to.  I’ve been doing all of this out of my own strength, and I have proven that I am not strong enough.

Like a runner who’s lost conditioning and let the muscles atrophy, my heart has become sluggish, the flame of passion for Christ is only smoldering rather than burning bright, the fruit of the Gospel is being choked out by the desires and the cares of this world.

Then I read this morning the passage above: “Be Diligent!”  Diligence is something that is great if you are already doing it, but seemingly impossible if you don’t.  Like being organized.  “Be diligent,” Peter writes, “to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”

Now, I could write several pages about the things I/we ought to do to exercise this due diligence in the Christian life, and that would be appropriate.  Things like prayer, worship, meditation and memorization of God’s Word, avoiding gossip and other negative influences, holding fast to those things that are commendable and uplifting… all of these are worthwhile and essential in the kind of diligence that Peter is calling for.

I could also write about the motivation that Peter gives for this diligence; the fact that Jesus is returning like “a thief in the night” and we want to be found ready and waiting when he comes.  There were those in Peter’s day, and they’re still around today, who deny Christ’s eminent return, and therefore have fallen away from the commandments of Christ, thinking that His delay will ensure their safety.  Peter writes that this mentality will lead to their destruction, and that we should “take care that [we] are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose [our] own stability, but [are to] grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Those would be fine points of discussion, but when you are heading out on the road to diligence and discipline, the best place to start is at the very beginning.  If I were to throw on the tasks of discipline all at once, it would be overwhelming, and would lead to frustration, despair, and resignation.  If I were to focus solely on the motivation, the warning of Christ’s return, one might be driven and consumed with fear – and Yoda taught us all that “fear is the path to the darkside.”

The foundation of our diligence, however, is not in the motivation, nor is it in the act of discipline.  The foundation of our diligence, our zeal before the Lord, is in His gracious gift.  Peter writes earlier in the letter,

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4).

It is only because His divine power has given us life, given us godliness, given us the knowledge of Him, given us His secure promises, that we could ever hope to partake in His holiness in peace (the essence of divine nature), escaping from sinful desires.  Our diligence doesn’t come from some self-driven zeal for the Lord, but comes from trusting in His grace, relying on His Holy Spirit, holding fast to His Word, counting on His promises.

Be diligent in righteousness.  Do the things you know you need to do as you eagerly await His appearing so that you may grow in grace and knowledge.  But let God’s grace and goodness in Christ be the foundation of your diligence.

To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

SDG