The Magnificence of Christ

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. ~Psalm 27:4

Christian, there comes a time in your life when you finally see the Lord Jesus Christ high and lifted up, the Holy of all holies, and the resplendent King of Glory. I'm not talking about some lofty "church speak", I'm talking about experience, about wisdom, and about knowledge, not about something parroted throughout various congregations. The Church has seemingly lost a high view of her Bridegroom, and this has resulted in many a believer "ho-humming" through their faith.

Lately, I've come in contact with several people via social media who claim that since we are made righteous in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21), we do not need to live righteously. To claim such is viewed as a "works based" salvation. Repentance=works. Holiness=works. I am surprised these same folks don't claim that faith=works, since we must have faith in order to be saved. But I digress.

Any astute student of Scripture knows that both repentance and holiness are all over the Bible. But even if we push these doctrines aside and say repentance and holiness are not needed, there still remains one little problem: being born again; becoming a new creation; being created in Christ Jesus; the old has gone, the new has come. 

The glaring hole here is simply this: when we believe on Christ, we are made new.

The doctrine of the cross is that we have died with Christ (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3). The life we now live is by faith in the Son of God. Therefore, our worldliness was put to death and nailed to the cross. If our sins died with Jesus, so, too, did our desire to commit them. Herein lies the point of the whole matter. When one's heart is renewed by the Holy Spirit, He grants repentance (2 Timothy 2:25). This is NOT a work of the believer, this is a work of the Spirit. Scripture calls it opening our eyes (Luke 24:45-47) to understand the depths of our sins. The Spirit's job is to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. This results in hating the things we once loved (sin) and loving the things we once hated (righteousness).

We have become citizens of Heaven. How should we who have died to sin live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2) That is not to say we don't stumble in sin. We are still in our fallen flesh. Until we are glorified and fly away, we shall always be stepping in it, for lack of a better term. But the point here is that we cease from deliberately sinning.

Now here is the point I'm trying to make. The Spirit of God is molding us into the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29). This is called sanctification. Our Christian walk should be a steady growth in godliness throughout the course of our lives.

Now, even if I've lost you, even if you don't agree with me with regards to repentance and holiness as works of the Spirit rather than works of our flesh, there's another thing to consider: our love for Christ.

When the Holy Spirit truly renews one's heart to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, an all-consuming love for Him takes root in their heart, growing ever larger and larger until their love for God eclipses and overshadows the love they have for anything else in their lives. Not many believers make it to this point in their faith, because in order to love God to this magnitude, one must seek Him and strive after Him, and long to know Him and pray and study. Longing for Christ Himself might seem foreign to some believers, but consider Mary of Bethany, who poured out her expensive perfume on His feet in unparalleled adoration. She did not come to Him for a blessing or a request. She came to Him for His own sake, and worshipped the Lord on a deep, personal level not matched by His own disciples (John 12:1-8).

Something clicks within a believer when they make Jesus Christ their Treasure. Their hearts are with Him (Luke 12:34). They gladly sell all they have to obtain that field (Matt. 13:44). They want to become like Him, and therefore, they begin to obey to His Word (John 14:23). They think on things that are good and pure (Philippians 4:8). They set their affections on things that are above (Colossians 3:2). This world and its pleasures become vanity and chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14), and they count it all as dung that they may gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).

The natural by-product of renewing your mind in this way (Romans 12:2) is that one turns from their sins (repentance) and walks as Jesus walked (holiness). These are not works by which we are saved, rather, they are the fruits of our salvation. It is the work of the Spirit in the heart of man. People who do not wish to live holy lives sold out to God are either grieving the Holy Spirit or false converts altogether. Regardless if Christ's righteousness now covers us, this is not a free license to sin. This also does not mean we can no longer sin. While it's true that our sins are covered by His sacrifice, what blood-bought believer of the Lord Jesus Christ would want to partake of activities that sent our Beloved King and magnificent GOD to the cross?

Christian, my dear brother or sister in Christ, please consider these words. Growth in Christ includes forsaking sin and increasing in holiness. Search the Scriptures to see if what I say is true. Be a Berean. Do not believe any preacher, teacher, or blogger over the Word of God. Their words blow away like chaff on the wind, but God's Word endures forever.

It is my prayer that the Spirit of God will open the eyes of all who read my blog to a new and living relationship with the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Yeshua, give us all new eyes to see You seated at the right hand of God. Allow us to see a glimpse of Your glory while we yet remain on earth, so that we might redeem the time we've been given and live for You. Let us not be content to hold You captive in the dark closet our hearts, rather, I pray You break free from the superficiality that grieves You and remind us of who You are - the Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings, and God, Most High. Likewise, remind us of who we are, no longer bound by sin, but saints of God, partakers of the divine nature, and a people of Your own possession. People You have called out of darkness, and into Your marvelous light.

Help us to give you the glory due to Your Name, and remind us that holiness is an act of worship, and it is beautiful (Psalm 29:2).

In Jesus' name.
Amen.

The Paradox of the Stone

"Can God create a rock so heavy He cannot lift it?"

I'm sure you've heard this question before. You've likely also tied your brain in knots trying to find the answer. Atheists have used this paradox as a "gotcha" for believers about the omnipotence of God. If someone answers "yes", then God is not all powerful and therefore cannot be God. However, if they answer "no", God is likewise not all powerful, and therefore cannot be God.

Either answer brings you back to the same conclusion: If God is not able to create this rock, or if He's not strong enough to lift it, He cannot be omnipotent. Aside from the fact that it anthropomorphizes God and misunderstands His infinite Being, it's an interesting conundrum. 

In thinking about this question, I read some online articles from various philosopher theologians who've come to the conclusion that no, God cannot create a rock so heavy He cannot lift it, because God cannot do what is logically impossible. It's like creating a round square or a married bachelor.

But the more I got to thinking about this, the more it became clear to me to trust what Scripture has said in Matthew 19:26: "With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." This passage from Matthew is Christ's own words. In fact, Christ Himself is the key to this paradox.

Those who ask this question first have no understanding that God is triune - Father/Son/Spirit. At the incarnation, God showed that He can indeed separate Himself from Himself, as the Father was in Heaven, the Son was on earth, and His miracles came by the Holy Spirit.

We know that Jesus is the Creator, as Scripture tells us (John 1:3, John 1:10, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2). So, as Creator He created every rock in the universe. 

Let's think about God's omnipotence for a moment. It is an attribute of His nature. What would He have to do not to be able to lift a rock that He has created? He would have to empty Himself of His omnipotence; He would have to humble Himself. Philippians 2:5-7 tells us that's exactly what He did. 

God humbled Himself and became a man (Matthew 1:23).

Herein lies the key to this supposed "gotcha paradox". In the man Christ Jesus, God both humbled and emptied Himself of His omnipotence. While He walked upon the earth, there were plenty of rocks He could not lift. He both created them - and could not lift them. Therefore, Christ Himself makes the impossible possible.

And yet, through His triune nature, God the Father and God the Spirit remained absolutely all powerful. God emptied Himself in Christ, but Christ did not cease to be God. Nor did God the Father lay down His omnipotence. Since Jesus willingly took on a man's physical limitations while He lived among us, there were things He could not do in the flesh, such as lift huge, heavy rocks. 

Are there rocks on this earth that YOU cannot lift? Of course there are. (Remember, Christ was fully man - a normal, every day man. Despite His miracles wrought by the Holy Spirit, He was not a "super hero" in the flesh, as He lived daily in submission to the Father. He could only do what He saw the Father doing. John 5:19)

The Paradox of the Stone breaks down when we forget that Jesus Christ is God who became a man and willingly laid aside His omnipotence. It likewise breaks down when one forgets that God is triune and the Father and Spirit did not cease to be Almighty. 

Can God create a rock so heavy He cannot lift it? Yes, He can, and yes, He did in the man Christ Jesus. But He only did it once, and it will never happen again. Through the incarnation of Christ, the Son of God lived the sinless life that we could not in order to save His people from their sins.

So the next time someone comes at you with the "gotcha paradox" of a rock so heavy God cannot lift, they've actually touched upon one of the boundless mysteries of God. The paradox isn't about the rock at all, but about God Himself, who both laid aside His omnipotence and yet remained Almighty. Those who wish to trip up a believer about what God can and cannot do with a rock has actually opened the door to hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Perhaps the rock that needs to be moved...

...is their heart.

An Open Letter to Young, Inexperienced, or Interim Pastors

Dear Men of God,

To be a pastor is surely one of the greatest graces given to men within the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Leading a congregation in His name is no small feat. He has chosen you out of His flock to feed His flock. That knowledge alone should stop you in your tracks to stand in awe of Christ's plan for His Body through you. This isn't a calling that should be taken lightly. In fact, Scripture says men who answer this call will be judged more harshly (James 3:1).

With that truth firmly in mind, I wish to address an issue I've recognized within various churches, whether they be in my neighborhood, or whether they post sermons online. The issue has many facets, but it all boils down to a lack of godliness. These facets include:

• Integrity
• Personal holiness
• Wisdom 
• Maturity
• Perseverance
• Study
• Prayer

Many who call themselves pastors are not godly. I'm sure we could all name a few false teachers on both hands. However, I'm not speaking of false teachers, rather I'm speaking of men who stand in a place of authority who do no much more than "jumping jacks for Jesus" in front of their congregations. If you wear the title "pastor", own it. Dig in, get dirty. Crack open the ESV or the NASB and study hard. Wrestle with God as Jacob once did. Do not let Him go until He blesses you. Spend long hours in your prayer closets. Yes, I said hours.

Preaching should never be something done "on the side" or taken as a "privilege to be a leader." Preaching is hard work, dedicated work, done by men who can draw Living Water from the deep well of Scripture. It is not telling stories about your own life or how to overcome obstacles. The sum and substance of all preaching everywhere is Christ and Him crucified. If the congregation hasn't been taught about the life or teachings of Christ in your sermons, you are not preaching a sermon but giving a lecture or having a speaking engagement.

If the sermon does not revolve around the Word of God going out to the people, you have not built your house upon the rock, but upon the sand. If the congregation is not being fed on the Bread of Life that is God's holy Scripture, one must assume the man giving the sermon does not love the Lord, as the one who loves God feeds His sheep (John 21:17).

A congregation rarely rises above the spiritual maturity of the man leading them. This should light a fire under many men who care about the eternal wellbeing of those they lead. This should drive the man of God to strive after the Almighty with both hands and willing to be led down the hard, winding road. A man who cares about his flock will weep over them and hold them up before the Throne of Grace, asking the Lord for more wisdom, maturity, and a passion for Him within the hearts of His people. The man who understands this knows these people are not his, but the Lord's, and everything he does on their behalf is for the glory of God.

This high responsibility is not for the lead pastor alone, but for all pastors of the church. Associate pastors should not shirk their responsibilities to God. Those who preach when the lead pastor is out of town or away at another church should not see themselves as the "substitute teacher". There is just as much responsibility riding on the shoulders of associate pastors as there is on the main pastor. This is not a "free Sunday" to preach on what you like, but rather, the grace of God to grow you in leading His sheep. Do not squander these opportunities with fluffy sermons. 

Here's the rub in all of this. I am well aware I'm a woman, and because of the biblical mandate that a woman is not allowed to teach or have authority over a man (1 Timothy 2:12), this letter might fall on many deaf ears. If that's the case, I will still continue in prayer for your church and your congregations. However, as a sister in Christ, am I not allowed to encourage my brothers? (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Consider this letter isn't meant to teach you, rather, to implore you to fill that pulpit like the ambassador of Christ you are.

Therefore look to the men who have gone before you and have worn the same mantle that you now wear. Men like Bunyan, Knox, Owen, Edwards, Whitefield, Spurgeon, Moody, Ryle, Pink, Tozer, Lloyd-Jones, Stott. There is reverence there. A certain amount of awe. They believed God is worthy of poring over Scripture, studying the original Greek and Hebrew, and cultivating a relationship with Him that surpasses the ages. These men venerated their pulpits, and by that I mean they preached according to their adoration for the Lord Jesus Christ. They were not flippant; they climbed the steps with a righteous fear of God in their hearts.

When one studies, prays, and makes the glory of Christ the driving force of their lives, they have an "aroma of Christ" about them (2 Corinthians 2:15). I'm sure you've run into these godly people throughout your line of work. They don't solely rely on the Sunday sermon to fill them, they go home and do their own prayer and study to bring them closer to God. 

If singular congregants do so, how much more the man of God?

Your congregations can tell the difference between a sermon that's been polished all week and one that's been phoned in on Saturday night. God should never be the recipient of our dregs. He should get our first fruits. All too often sermons seem as if they are piecemealed together, an afterthought, or they lose their focus once the pastor drifts away from Scripture. When the aroma of Christ is missing, the prayer, study, and godliness are missing as well.

If there is little Scripture in the pastor's sermon, there is little Scripture in the pastor's life.

My purpose behind writing this letter is to stir up the Church of Christ and compel the Lord's shepherds to not merely check if the sheep are in the pen, but to feed them as well. If we truly wish to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and bring glory to His name, we must give Him honor as well. We must lift Him up. We must be willing to do the homework, willing to be on our knees, willing to wrestle and sweat for the meat of the Word, not just milk only (Hebrews 5:12-14).

We need spiritual maturity in our pulpits in order to ensure spiritual maturity in the Body of Christ. When the pastor is so taken with the Lord Jesus Christ that he finds Him altogether lovely and absolutely magnificent, when he expounds on the everlasting grace of the King of Glory, when he gazes heavenward with unwavering devotion in his eyes, my brothers, that is when the Holy Spirit captivates the hearts and minds of the people of God, as that is when the Spirit of God is with you. 

Remove the veil from the eyes of your people and declare from the mountaintops the wondrous, glorious, dazzling, epic beauty of the Lord God Almighty. Light souls on fire by plumbing the depths of His boundless Word, and pray meaty prayers that compel your congregations to grow in Christlikeness. If you don't know how to do this, you have work to do. In Jesus' name.

In prayer for one and all,

~~Becka Goings

These Forty-One Years

Here we go, Lord, forty-one years on Planet Earth! I have learned a lot in all these years - I've learned that You are more faithful than I had ever dreamed, and more beautiful than the blazing sunrise. You are good and You are love - the greatest love I've ever known.

You are my strength and my song (Psalm 118:14), my very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). My sword, my shield, my rock and my fortress. You are my Best Friend, my Well-Beloved, my King of Glory, my Crown of Life (James 1:12).

Everything I am flows from You. You are the sum and substance of all that I am and all that I have. There is nothing I possess that isn't a good and perfect gift from You (James 1:17).

You are my One Constant, the One I can always count on; my Protector, my Deliverer, and my Lion of Judah.

Forty-one years is long enough to know that I don't actually know You to the full - despite it all, I only see You as a light under the door. Yet once that door is blown open - the door that no man can shut (Revelation 3:8) - I shall behold the radiating power of Your Glory with my own eyes, and it will be more than enough to fill libraries upon libraries of praise!

If, as the Apostle John says, the whole world would not be big enough to contain all the books written of You in life (John 21:25), then likewise the whole of Heaven is not big enough to expound Your eternal qualities, as even in Glory, You stoop to meet us (Psalm 113:6).

No mere "place" can ever contain an infinite, eternal God. You are more magnificent than I can ever dream. And I am one with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17). By His glory am I glorified (1 Corinthians 15:52). We shall be like Him (1 John 3:2). How wondrous your blessings that flow to Your children, that we should be called sons of the Most High God (1 John 3:1)! Such an unimaginable inheritance. I don't know much, but I know that much, and I know the God of my heart cherishes my love and would never betray it.

Thank You, Yeshua, for loving me so fiercely that I cannot, nay, will not, take my eyes off You.

I am Yours.

You are mine.

This waltz of love,

Dancing in time.

I cannot wait to dance and sing with You in the courts of Heaven, to the praise of Your glory. I am no longer afraid. Consume me within Your Holy Fire. 

My precious Jesus... 

...love me forever.

In Your name, 

~~Amen

Why Did God Choose Me?

According to Scripture, the names of God's children were written in the Lamb's Book of Life since before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). All over Scripture, we're given the doctrine that we're predestined and chosen to become believers (Romans 8:29-30, Ephesians 1:5, 1:11, 1 Peter 2:4, 2:9). Some people believe God knew who would choose Him and thus wrote down their names before they ever came to be. Others believe God made a choice in eternity past of who would believe. One view is passive while the other is active.

Regardless of which belief is actually what happened in the Throne Room of God, the fact remains that God knew who would believe, and thus He wrote down their names in His Book. This post is not to argue Arminianism over Calvinism or vice versa, rather, I wanted to bring a pondering of mine to the fore.

I've heard it said time and again from many theologians that God chose us independently of who we are. In other words, there was nothing inherent within a believer that compelled God to choose one person over another, other than it was His own good will to do so. Other theologians claim there are a certain "number" of Gentile believers that must come to believe and when that number is reached, Christ will return (Luke 21:24). The first view is consistent with those who believe God chooses us, and the second view is consistent with those who believe God simply knew who we were and penned us in His Book.

I have an issue with both of these views.

Both views don't take into account God's eternal omniscience - not merely in eternity past, but also eternity future. In thinking about this issue during prayer time, I realized that I can only be written in the Lamb's Book because I have been redeemed. God fore-wrote my name in the Book because He knew (chose) that I would be redeemed. Therefore, it is the culmination of Romans 8:30, the Golden Chain, if you will, that those He foreknew ...He glorified. Am I glorified now? No. But it is a done-deal - one day, I WILL be glorified, as surely as there's a God who wrote my name in Heaven.

So what does that mean? It means that when God wrote my name in His Book, it was likely not my sinful frame He penned, rather my glorious countenance. I believe this because I know God is sovereign. He does nothing "just because He can." Everything works according to the pleasure of His will. He didn't merely choose to write my name down because of some grand, ethereal, unknown reason, or that He simply knew I would choose Him. No, He determined Christ should have me according to who I would become.

To say this another way, we know that we are the Body of Christ. What makes us think we are no longer the Body of Christ in Heaven? Down here, we are a hand, a foot, an eye, an ear. We have an earthly purpose and we are given works which He has prepared for us beforehand (Ephesians 2:10). So not only were we ourselves predestined, so too were our works in His name. The same Scripture quoted above also mentions that we are God's workmanship/handiwork/masterpiece, depending on which translation you read.

That is not "mankind" as a whole, as many mistakenly believe, but those who believe on Christ. Those who believe are His masterpiece - created in Christ Jesus. We are His workmanship - we are GOD'S work, so that no man can boast. This is the main reason why salvation is on the finished work of Christ and not our own doing because we are God's work - His masterpiece.

Now, let's keep the end goal of God in sight here. God can see everything before Him. There's nothing He does not know. His mind is not like ours, He knows all. When He wrote my name down in the Lamb's Book of Life, He wasn't randomly picking and choosing. Nor was He merely jotting down those who would believe. He had a design in mind - God is the Grand Designer, after all - and He is working toward a very specific end.

Because the Bride, the Church, is the Body of Christ, we do not cease to be His Body once we're in Glory. The works He has prepared for us to do on earth prepare us for the works that are to come on that Golden Shore. While it's true we won't need to preach to the lost in Heaven, I do believe we shall continue to glorify God in the vein in which we glorified Him on earth. Do you sing to Him? You shall sing in His choirs. Do you preach sermons? You shall continue to expound on His greatness to the brethren. As for me, I love to write to the glory of God. One of my hopes is that I shall one day inherit a vast library lined with shelves of empty books so that I may pen great sonnets and praises to be read in His Heavenly Court.

The point being, we are still His Body in Heaven. Perhaps with a different focus toward His magnificence rather than bringing in the lost, but it will be our delight to glorify Him before our brethren. We will not cease being "ourselves". God glorifies and perfects us in Christ, but it is still you and it is still me on the other side of the Veil.

This is why I say God has not merely "jotted believers down" in that most Important Tome, nor has He simply plucked our names randomly from the ether because it "pleased Him to do so." The Father has an end in mind - to give a people to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just any people, but a specific people for which He has a specific plan. Therefore, God has predestined craftsmen, artisans, evangelists, singers, prayer warriors, pastors, and yes, even writers for Christ's own glory.

In His wisdom, He knew Heaven should be filled with books of His praise to be read before the Throne of Grace, and therefore He determined that I should be created, that I should find Him most magnificent, and He gave me to Christ to ensure His plan would come to pass. He gave me to Jesus so that Christ would ever praise the Father; He gave Christ to me so that I would do the same (John 17:22-26).

If I'm right, God has given us work to do on earth AND in Heaven, which would be consistent with God's will according to the Lord's Prayer. Every trial, every joy, every situation in our lives is preparing us for a greater weight of glory that is yet to come (2 Corinthians 4:17).  I don't know about you, but that excites me. Our eternal life in Heaven is going to be glorious!

For now, I have work to do which God has created beforehand, for me to walk in them. This earthly work is not yet finished, and thus I remain in this flesh. Until I fly away, I will fill empty books with His praise here as a foretaste of the books I have yet to write in the Library of Heaven.

God is not finished molding me into the person He wrote into His Book of Life. But one day I shall become what He always foreknew. I shall one day be glorified into the image of His Son and my salvation shall be complete. I am not yet His perfected Bride who dwells in light amid the halls of Heaven, but even now, in this body of dust, Yeshua has given me the breathtaking privilege through the power of prayer to approach my King and read aloud for His Courts a new song of praise from the pen of this ready writer.

"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." ~~1 Corinthians 10:31 

Praise the Lord.

The Love of the King

Long before the universe was spoken into light
long before the day was separated from the night
The Creator God foreknew it all and said, "I have a plan
for that wicked, sinful, selfish being known to Me as "man".

"For I love him and his offspring more than he'll ever know
yet when he dies he'll have no peace, to Hell his soul will go.
Therefore I must step in and save him, for I want him here with Me
But the price of peace is high--I must be nailed upon a tree."

So God the Father sent the world His one and only Son
To teach us how to live and to show what must be done.
But the rabbis and the priests had Him hung upon a cross,
and the men the Son had loved surely thought that all was lost.

But Yeshua HaMashiach, having the keys to hell and death,
returned to His lifeless body and took another breath.
In that moment Satan screamed, for Redemption had been won
As all Power and Authority had been given to God's Son.

Now the sinful, selfish man was covered by God's Grace
And he had no need for fear to look upon God's face.
But even though God's Grace is a gift He gives for free,
the sinful selfish man must claim, "Christ is the way for me."

He must cast aside his wicked ways; repent of all his sin
God wants for him a holy life, seeking only Him.
Now man's soul is bound for Glory, yet by faith, not his own might
God counts him blameless, holy, pure, on the finished work of Christ.

This is the mystery that confounds us, the very Love of God,
that our King stepped from His Throne, and among our flesh He trod.
And His Church faithfully follows Him, with no hate or lust or pride
Because the King is now our Bridegroom, and we, His spotless Bride.

All of Heaven is preparing for the Wedding that is to come
And God the Father will decide when all is said and done.
Then Christ once more will stand from upon His golden Throne,
To gather His lilies, those He loves, and bring His Bride on Home.

© 2015 by Becka Goings

Do Not Forsake Your Prayer Closet

Today I'm writing a sober blog to address an issue that seems to be running rampant in today's church: neglect of the prayer closet. For those who may not know or have never heard the term, a "prayer closet" is slang Christians use which refers to our private prayer time with the Lord Jesus Christ. In days of old, people used to have a specific room (or closet) to cloister themselves into so as not to be disturbed when they pray. Most people no longer have an actual "closet" to go into and pray, but the term has stuck to refer to any time you're with the Lord in private prayer.

I have blogged about prayer before and I have even written a book on how to pray. Not that I'm an expert on the subject, but I know from experience the warning signs of a vapid prayer life. Considering the recent breach of a certain website which promoted adultery to unhappily married folk, many pastors and public figures were revealed in the scandal. Not only that, but in a different scandal, a well-known pastor had to step down from his pastorate and disband a flourishing ministry due to an affair he had in retaliation for his wife's own affair.

Brethren, what are we doing?

What are we doing?!

The only excuse I can find is that these men and others like them are neglecting their personal prayer time with God. A person with a solid prayer life is equipped to avoid sin and flee temptation. It is not always easy, and we do sometimes stumble. But cheating on your wife isn't a "stumble". Cussing after stubbing your toe is a stumble into sin. Lying about stealing office supplies is a stumble into sin. But signing up on an affair website isn't a "stumble". It's the long drop into the darkened pit after tripping over every rock on the way there. It's not a momentary lapse, rather it's the end of a very sinister secret, the one you've been hiding from your kids, your wife, and all your brethren.

We cannot blame it on lack of godly knowledge, as those caught red-handed are very well-read and theologically sound men. Two of them come from very influential Christian families. We cannot blame it on no one to talk to and be accountable toward, as some of these men were leaders and chairs of very prolific ministries. At the end of the day, we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. Without Christ, none of us have any hope of which to speak.

And that's my point.

When left on its own, the sin nature overtakes one's heart like a fast-growing weed. Its thorns choke out the good fruit until only rotten fruit remains. The only defense we have, Church, is THE WORD OF GOD AND PRAYER. These are the only things that keep the sin nature at bay. Through the Word of God, we obtain counsel from the Lord Himself, and by prayer, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to resist evil so the enemy will flee from us.

Let me share with you an excerpt from my book The Prayer Project:

Coming into God’s presence, for me, is like a balm from this crazy life. The gouges the world carves from my heart are smoothed over by the Potter’s hand. The peace that passes understanding washes over me, and the Living Water of Christ sustains me. When I’m in the presence of God, there’s nothing I want more than to stay right where I am. I want to know more of Him, seek more knowledge, gain more wisdom, glean new insights. I want the Lord to teach me His ways, and it is not only His pleasure, but His will, to do so.

When the Holy Spirit begins to sanctify us and take us out of the vanity of this world, what we realize is Christ is the only Treasure worth having. He might grant us a few unspoken thoughts or prayers, but that is because He loves us. The true fruit of unspoken prayer is when God grants us the grace to realize Heaven isn’t Heaven because it’s an eternal utopia; Heaven is Heaven because Christ is there.

For the sanctified believer, Heaven is Christ Himself.

And if that is true, then we can have a taste of Heaven here on earth.

Within this excerpt, I touch on the fact that a meaty prayer life springs from the deep passion one has for Jesus Christ. The more we pray to Him, the more precious He becomes to us, until He is our All-in-all, until we realize we have no one in Heaven but Him, and there is nothing on earth we desire besides Him (Psalm 73:25). When we take our eyes off our fellowship with the Lord, we begin to drift away from Him. Maybe not drastically, but gradually, until before we know it, we can no longer see our Anchor in the Sea of Adversity.

Here's another quote from The Prayer Project about prayer itself:

It’s almost like the water cycle of earth, if you think about it. The Holy Spirit lifts our prayers up to the Father, which He then returns to us as Living Water raining down and refreshing our hearts for Christ. Within that Living Water are spiritual blessings from God, and He grants the things we want of Him – more wisdom, more knowledge, more insights. Before you know it, your heart has become a vast garden, seeded, cultivated, and pruned by the Spirit, overflowing with fruit.

One of my favorite themes from the Bible is the garden. We see it everywhere. From the Garden of Eden, to the Garden of the Beloved in Song of Solomon, to the Garden of Gethsemane. It is no coincidence this theme reoccurs again and again. Song of Songs is my favorite book of the Bible. Charles Spurgeon once said this book is the Holy of Holies of Scripture. I agree with him. The entire book is a metaphor of Christ and His Church, and the garden is a picture of His spouse’s heart. The only way to be fruitful for God is if your heart is His garden (Songs 4:16).

Prayer begins the work of breaking up our fallow ground (Jeremiah 4:3). We pray to know our God, we pray to know our Scripture, we pray to shape ourselves, and...our heart is then seeded to grow fruit for the Lord. The Holy Spirit moves in us to sanctify our lives to resemble the life of Christ.

We cannot rely on prayers of rote or prayers before and after the sermon. We cannot rely on prayers to bless our meals or prayers for others. We cannot rely on tradition and people praying for us. WE MUST PRAY OURSELVES. We must go into our room and close the door (Matthew 6:6). We must earnestly seek Him (Matthew 6:33). We must come to Him with a childlike heart (Mark 10:15). We must have a RELATIONSHIP with the Lord of Glory. He cannot be your best Friend if you never speak to Him. As I said in my book mentioned above, "If you spend no personal time with God, you cannot say you know Him personally."

We are too caught in "doing things" for the Lord, that we've lost sight of spending time with the Lord. What's the first thing Christ did every single day? Wandered off to be by Himself with God. He didn't have scrolls tucked under His arm, He wasn't claiming that His study time was "spending time with God". No, He just went out to a quiet place, sat on a stone, and PRAYED. Not repetitious rote like the Pharisees, not tradition like the scribes, but like a child - the Son to the Father. And if we're all adopted children of God (Romans 8:15, Ephesians 1:5), then we must do the same. Christ is our example in all things - even our prayer lives.

When we look back over the history of the church, those men who had a special "unction" from the Lord were stoic men of prayer. Their ministry couldn't have succeeded in any other way. It had to be built upon the private prayers of these men, weeping and rejoicing in their prayer closets - and not just for the good of their people and the world, but for God to come and make His abode with them, to equip them and use them for His glory. To make them holy as He is holy. To cultivate their prayer life until their entire being was saturated in tearful, joyful doxology.

And here is where the beauty of private prayer can be seen -- obedience! To obey is better than sacrifice. It matters not how much you DO for the Lord Jesus Christ, what matters is do you OBEY? It is the obedient heart that God the Father and Christ the Son come in to make their abode (John 14:23).  We must be DOERS of the WORD not just hearers only, lest we forget what we look like (James 1:22-24).

This is especially true for pastors and public figures (James 3:1).

Pastors, do you pray for your congregation? I mean earnestly, with tears of desperation over the state of their souls?

Husbands, do you pray over your wives and children? Do you lift your families before the Throne of Grace and pray for their sanctification?

Wives, do you pray for your husbands and for your children? Do you actively ask God for His peace and His grace over their lives and in their hearts?

Brethren, do you pray for your pastors and for your church, that it will thrive and flourish and that God will use your preacher mightily for His Glory?

Do you pray for yourselves, that God would move in your own lives to mold you into a Christian who truly abides in the Vine? Have you ever asked Him to cultivate a deep love in your heart for His Word or sat and chatted with Him beneath a starry sky? Have you ever thanked Him for your blessings and made praise as natural to your life as breathing?

We have forgotten to pray without ceasing. Or perhaps it is in tossing up a nugget of prayer every now and again that we have convinced ourselves we parade the banner of "praying without ceasing" while neglecting the wisdom and meditation of praying long in our closets. What made men like the Puritans and Edwards and Spurgeon such bright stars within the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why did the fragrance of Christ cling so closely to these esteemed men?

I think the little book Valley of Vision magnificently answers that question. It was their prayer lives, brethren.

The Father who saw them in the secret place rewarded them openly (Matthew 6:6).

We must find the grace within our hearts to forgive those who have fallen deeply into sin. I weep over these men and pray for them myself, that God will restore them into a more intimate fellowship with Himself and His Church. But we must remember that a man falls in private long before he falls in public. Do not become so busy in your ministries that you have no time to spend with God Almighty. With no fresh supply from above, how then can your heart become an ever-flowing fountain (John 7:38)?

Never forsake your prayer closet. By doing so, you not only deprive yourself of heavenly refreshment, but those who look to you for guidance as well. If there is no fresh water flowing into your supply, then your heart is a rancid, brackish pool of black standing water. If there was more private prayer in the Church of Jesus Christ, perhaps there would be less scandal, less adultery, less porn, less divorce, less bondage to sin. How can we who died to sin still live in it (Romans 6:2)?

Draw near to God, my brothers and sisters, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 4:8).

Come to Him, sinner. O, come to Him in prayer! And never again will you thirst for anything other than Christ and Him Crucified (John 4:13-14, 1 Corinthians 2:2). Come and give Him the glory due His name, and worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness (Psalm 29:2).