who's really speaking?

The reason many of us miss the miracles is that we aren’t looking and listening. The easy part of prayer is talking. It’s much harder listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. It’s much harder looking for the answers. But two-thirds of praying hard is listening and looking.
Zondervan, (2011-12-13). The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears (Kindle Locations 1659-1661). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Praying hard starts with listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. And if you are faithful in the small things and obey those little promptings, then God can use you to do big things.
(Kindle Locations 1735-1736).

"The still small voice of the Holy Spirit". So, anyone out there, please, can you show where the Bible says that the Holy Spirit speaks to us in a "still small voice"?

I know, I know, you may point to Elijah. And I can point out that, contrary to what seems to be popular view of that passage, nothing in that passage supports the contention. God spoke in what some translations of the passage call "a still small voice", but the point is that God spoke in an audible voice to the prophet. Elijah heard with his ears a real voice, not something inside himself.

But this is so popular now. There are so many teachings out there about how to "hear the voice of God", or the voice of the Spirit, or however it may be phrased. Sit in a circle, sit in silence, straining with your 'spiritual ears' to hear some kind of rather faint and indistinct inner voice. Stop being so busy and try to get impressions and leadings. Look around and see what message the Spirit is giving you through the license plate numbers in the cars around you.

But I have to wonder...if the Bible says nothing about the Holy Spirit speaking to us in some kind of still small inner voice, and it doesn't, then what or who are we listening to when we try to hear this still small inner voice.

Because if one thing is becoming clear, it's that these "listen to the still small inner voice" types of people are simply looney. Ok, maybe not all, but it certainly seems an unhealthy majority of them are, especially the popular ones, the leaders, the ones who appear on television and talk about hearing God's voice telling the listeners to send their money to the person on television, or making claims about seeing someone who's watching and that God is healing them of something or another.

It's quite well known that modern-day prophets are notoriously inaccurate. One could expect more accuracy from the carnival palm reader or crystal ball gazer. The charismatic types have not been able to hide this fact, and so instead they have concocted excuses--being inaccurate is a good sign, God doesn't mind such inaccuracies and even expects them, and you people out there should submit to these prophets even though they can't absolutely guarantee that they are accurate. It's one of the biggest crocks out there.

So, is God lying? Is God giving them bad prophecies? Or, is it that they are not really hearing God speak? Does God really speak in a such an obscure, indistinct manner that people can so easily misunderstand HIm? But if they are hearing something speak, then what? What is speaking to them?

Charismatics, Pentacostals, all the "spiritual gifts" types of churches, have been an unmitigated embarrassment. There is no nicer way of saying it. When people like Robert Tilden and Jim Bakker were accepted without being rebuked until they openly fell (their false teachings were obvious even before then), when people like Benny Hinn and Creflo Dollar and T.D. Jakes are still accepted today, when the airwaves of so-called "Christian" TV and radio stations are filled with money-mongerers, false teachers, false gospels, inane and sacchrine music, all designed simply to make peole feel good and to give money, all because these people display certain 'spiritual gifts', then something is bad wrong. When things like the idiocy at Toronto and Pensacola are accepted without rebuke, when obviously fake healers like Todd Bentley are encouraged and promoted, then charismatics have more of a need to cry in repentence then brag about any real spiritual gifts they may or may not have.

I'm not one who goes so far as to say that God cannot use things like dreams to direct us, I see no reason from the Bible to say that it cannot happen and there are examples I can think of. But there is a lot of nonsense out there about how God supposedly speaks to us. For example...

http://burn24-7.com/2011/2011-a-year-of-incense/
The Lord birthed one word in my spirit during our annual corporate fast last December: Transition. Many of us kept seeing 11:11 everywhere and would hear confirmations of this from the mouths of prophets and leaders across the world. Although there is a constant and daily transition for every living believer from “glory to glory” (2 Cor 3:18), I felt like 2011 would be a year of significance as God aligns and shifts us into a place for an outpouring in the season ahead. We experienced this reality in our Burn 24-7 family from physical moves (new homes, cities, nations) for many of our leaders to a change in jobs to much more! Globally this word took root as entire regions of the world were literally transitioned and shifted overnight (ie. Middle East)!

We also helped launch the “Global Day of Worship” on November 11th (11/11/11) where we trumpeted every major city on the earth to host 24 hours of syncopated and unending worship to God!

http://burnhillcountry.com/11-11-11
The Lord has been impressing prophetic voices all over the world with the numbers 11-11. In response, a Global Day of Worship has been mobilized for 11/11/11. BURN Hill Country, along with other BURN furnaces and worshipers from around the world will be participating in this day!

We will begin at 11:11pm on Thursday, November 10, 2011. We will worship for at least a full 24 hours through November 11, 2011.

(I wonder if they contacted Greenwich to make sure that their clocks were set exactly right so they could certain to start exactly at 11:11PM? Or would it hurt the prophetic impact to have started at the wrong time because your clocks were a bit fast or slow).

So, because a bunch of people kept seeing 11s around in the year 2011, they thought God was telling them something? Oh, actually, 11-11. Yeah, like so many people weren't thinking it would be cool to do something cool on 11-11-11. So, I guess 11-11-11 was like the spiritual version of Y2K--a great non-event. It's been a few months, and wow--nothing's really happened. I do remember some movie being released on that day, Immortals I think it was, but that was about it. And from what I've heard, it wasn't even all that great of movie. Though I do wonder if some 'prophet' gave some 'word' about the 'prophetic significance' of a movie called Immortals being released on that date. I think that would be justification enough to not take them seriously.

It's time to stop abiding this nonsense. The fruit of this tree has done beyond being merely rotten, and has become putrid. It's time to stop practicing unbiblical practices, like these attempts to hear a still small inner voice. You're not hearing the Holy Spirit when you do that, if you hear any spirit at all it isn't a holy one. Mark Batterson, and the many others who teach this, are misleading you.

sickening misapplication

During those desperate days, they went to visit their pastor for counsel and encouragement. While praying for them, the pastor received a promise from God. He jotted Isaiah 59:21 on a sticky note and handed it to them.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants — from this time on and forever,” says the LORD.

The pastor shut his Bible and said, “I guess that settles it. Your child will talk.”

Zondervan, (2011-12-13). The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears (Kindle Locations 1311-1317). Zondervan. Kindle Edition, Mark Batterson

What this pastor did was sickening.

Isaiah 59
11We roar all like bears, and moan sore
like doves: we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far
off from us. 12For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our
sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our
iniquities, we know them: 13transgressing and denying Jehovah, and
turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14And justice is
turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is
fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. 15Yea, truth is lacking;
and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw
it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
16And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no
intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him; and his
righteousness, it upheld him. 17And he put on righteousness as a
breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on
garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.
18According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his
adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay
recompense. 19So shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and
his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream,
which the breath of Jehovah driveth. 20And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah. 21And
as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: my Spirit that is
upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart
out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth
of thy seed’s seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.

Batterson in his book explains that the couple have a son who while very young stopped communicating, no reason is given in the book. Such a thing understandably was upsetting to the parents, and as the excerpt says they went to their pastor for help.

And this what that pastor gave them, an out-of-context verse to give them false hope.

For the past ten years, their prayers have been hyperlinked to that promise. In that moment, John and Heidi said “a wall came crashing down” and “a promise came rushing in.” It was the most naturally supernatural moment of their lives. Has it been clear sailing since then? No. Have they experienced disappointments? Yes. But that promise is circled in their Bible. “God gave us a promise, and no matter how many times we have to keep circling, it’s settled.”
(Kindle Locations 1317-1321)

As someone who has fought his own speech problems over the years, even though it was never as bad a situation as it seems this child suffers from, I can't think of many things more cruel than to take a biblical verse like this out of context, and use it to give false hope and comfort.

Shall we take that verse, go to a speech therapy center, and tell it to the people there, or the parents of the children in those places? Shall we go the parents of a child that is severely mentally handicapped, one barely able to communicate at all, and tell them that by this verse their child will talk normally someday?

Can you see now how what this pastor did was not comfort, but cruelty?

the village--new place, same nonsense

I guess I'm a bit behind on things, but it looks like Emergent Village has moved, insofar as a basically virtual nonentity can be said to move. Perhaps there are still hangers-on at the old site, but there's a new one up now, too.

Ok, so, but as they say, the more things change...

Mary, Joseph, and Mysticism: by Bruce Epperly

Many years ago, during my days as a university chaplain, I led a weekly prayer and meditation group. We practiced centering prayer, Quaker silence, visualizations, and lectio divina.

Well, there's a whole mess of mess right there.

First, I'll say that you should go here, The Inventor of Centering Prayer Teaches Us What It is For, to learn what this is all about.

Next, read this by Thomas Keating, one of the guys who started the practice of centering prayer. The is the quote from the web page, "Father Thomas says, "If you don't want to become God, you've missed the boat. If you're too humble to think you can become God, if you think you are not worthy, that is a false humility, because it's not yours to decide." It's God's choice. According to Father Thomas, it is your duty to become God. Centering Prayer and contemplation are the only modern methods that we have to listen to God, to perceive God, and to see the world as God sees it. Listen in as Father Thomas offers you the invitation to become God."

Centering prayer, then, is a continuation of the temptation of Satan in the Garden--that you should become like God. Centering prayer is evil and blasphemy, and should be avoided.

There is no better example of this active mysticism than Mary and Joseph’s responses to God’s invitation to be partners in the incarnation.

Funny, but in the biblical accounts, there is a very distinct lack of mention that Mary and Joseph practiced any things like centering prayer or other supposed spiritual practices or mystical whoop-de-doo.

We don’t know how Mary was chosen to bear this special child. Was she the first one that the angel asked? Had others been overwhelmed or resistant, knowing the personal and social cost of an unplanned pregnancy? Did Mary exemplify certain character traits worthy of divine interest? I don’t know the answer although I think all three options have some plausibility. God’s call to Mary and us is always personal and contextual, time bound but with everlasting consequences. Our response always bears our own individual signature and creativity.

Another example of reading into what the text says.

Luke 1
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed[b] to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”[c] 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”[d]

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[e] will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant[f] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

So, see anywhere that says the angel got it wrong before? Or, let's be honest, that God got it wrong? Does it say that Mary was better than anyone else? About the only virtue she could be said to have had was that she was still sexually pure, a virgin. The passage says nothing about her being especially virtuous. She was, in fact, just like the rest of us--a sinner, in need of a Savior. The passage mentions nothing about her supposed worthiness, but she had none, it was by God's grace that she was favored to bear the Christ-child. just as it was by God's grace the He chose the exiled Moses to free his people from Egypt, chose the boy David to become king of His people Israel, and so on. It was not a matter of worth.

Well, back to the announcement to Mary. When the angel came, she was inquisitive and surprised. In words later echoed by the Beatles, Mary responds, “Let it be.” In other words, I am open to following God’s vision, embracing it in my own flesh and blood. She is no passive clay manipulated by the unilateral potter. She joins agency and receptivity as she opens to God’s movements in the birth of her child. She is an active mystic – encountering divinity and then choosing to follow God’s vision in her life. She chooses incarnation, the holiness of birthing, for herself, Joseph, and the coming child. But, it is clear that “she chooses.”

Look at the passage above. The angel declares what is going to happen. He askes no question, he seeks no permission. That Mary was willing for the child to be born of her is evident and commendable of her, but there is no hint in the passage that she chose it.

Mary is perplexed, and so is Joseph. The exact details of this child’s birth are less important than the responses of the actors involved. As many biblical scholars assert, unusual births are common in the annals of great spiritual and military leaders. They are somehow set apart by the divine for a special mission and this begins at conception. This fact does not nullify the Christian affirmation of the virgin birth, but it invites us to ask whether or not the virgin birth is essential to the story. Is the incarnation about supernatural interventions or the natural holiness of flesh and blood and the world in which God’s quest for healing and salvation take place?

So, while this guy doesn't necessarily deny the virgin conception and birth of Christ, he's attitude is "No big deal". If Mary had slept with a real guy and gotten pregnant, no big deal, either, I suppose.

The 'holiness of natural flesh and blood'? Remember what Keating said, and see how that view is polluting this EV writers views. The supernatural, things like the virgin birth, are downplayed, to the elevation of the natural.

First, we can experience God in life-transforming ways. God is not aloof, but present in cells, souls, and communities. A one-dimensional faith – defining everything according the tenets of the modern world view – robs life of beauty, wonder, and amazement. The incarnation raises all life to revelation; each moment – even tragic moments – as a potential theophany. Sleepers awake! God is with us!

So, the incarnation of Jesus become about God being somehow accessible by mystical exercises. Yikes. All life is revelation? Yeah, not in the Bible.

Second, God comes to us through many ways – personal visitations (Fatima, Medjugorje), visionary experiences, dreams, intuitions, synchronous encounters).

Apparently, though, not through His Word. Any strange and bizarre experience is ok, but looking at the biblical text and studying it, apparently that's optional.

Third, divine encounters enhance rather than diminish freedom and creativity. Graceful visitations invite us to greater agency. God wants us to be companions in healing the earth, whether in the process of conception, child-bearing, and our ongoing care for the safety of our children and all children.

Oh, yes, the emphasis on creativity. I'm almost to the point of thinking the creativity is the real god of postmodernism.

Where does the Bible say that God wants us to be companions in healing the earth? Is that what the Great Commission was about?

Oh, well, the Village has moved, but it's taken the whackiness with it. If the sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result, then shouldn't the failure of the original Village have told these guys something?

One last thing. Read this guy's article in full, see how he spends more time reading what he wants to read into the text of the conception of Jesus, and see how his method is not really all that much different than what Mark Batterson does in The Circle Maker. And see what that book is such a wreck.

they had jaw-clenching faith?

Sometimes you have to get out of your routine so God can speak to you in a nonroutine ways. I knew that I couldn’t just preach a sermon that weekend; I needed a word from the Lord. And God gave me one. During one of the teaching sessions, God gave me a promise to stand on and I put every ounce of my weight on Exodus 14:13 – 14:

“Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

What would be the hardest thing to do with the Egyptian army charging straight at you at full speed? The hardest thing to do is precisely what God told them to do: stand still. God doesn’t just play chicken; He also plays flinch. When we find ourselves in this kind of situation, we want to do something, anything. We have a nervous energy that wants to solve the problem as quickly as possible. But God tells them to do nothing but pray. The closer the Egyptian army got, the more intense their prayers became. They clenched their jaws. They stood their holy ground. They prayed like they had never prayed before.

Zondervan, (2011-12-13). The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears (Kindle Locations 1912-1921). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Mark Batterson

Here, let's look at the account in question.

Exodus 14
1And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of
Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol
and the sea, before Baal-zephon: over against it shall ye encamp by the
sea. 3And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in
the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. 4And I will harden Pharaoh’s
heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon
Pharaoh, and upon all his host: and the Egyptians shall know that I am
Jehovah. And they did so. 5And it was told the king of Egypt that the
people were fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed
towards the people, and they said, What is this we have done, that we
have let Israel go from serving us? 6And he made ready his chariot, and
took his people with him: 7and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and
all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. 8And Jehovah
hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the
children of Israel: for the children of Israel went out with a high hand.
9And the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of
Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping
by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal-zephon.

10And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes,
and, behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were sore
afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah. 11And they said
unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us
away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to
bring us forth out of Egypt? 12Is not this the word that we spake unto
thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For
it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the
wilderness. 13And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still,
and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you to-day: for
the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more
for ever. 14Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

15And Jehovah said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak
unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. 16And lift thou up thy
rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children
of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. 17And I, behold,
I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them:
and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his
chariots, and upon his horsemen. 18And the Egyptians shall know that I
am Jehovah, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his
chariots, and upon his horsemen. 19And the angel of God, who went
before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of
cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them: 20and it came
between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the
cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one came not
near the other all the night.

21And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Jehovah caused the
sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry
land, and the waters were divided. 22And the children of Israel went into
the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto
them on their right hand, and on their left. 23And the Egyptians pursued,
and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his
chariots, and his horsemen. 24And it came to pass in the morning watch,
that Jehovah looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians through the
pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians.
25And he took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so
that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for Jehovah
fighteth for them against the Egyptians. 26And Jehovah said unto Moses,
Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon
the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27And
Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its
strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and
Jehovah overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28And the
waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the
host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea; there remained not so
much as one of them. 29But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in
the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right
hand, and on their left. 30Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the
hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the
sea-shore. 31And Israel saw the great work which Jehovah did upon the
Egyptians, and the people feared Jehovah: and they believed in Jehovah,
and in his servant Moses.

So, please read that scriptural excerpt, and if you can, show me where it says that "The closer the Egyptian army got, the more intense their (the people of Israel's) prayers became. They clenched their jaws. They stood their holy ground. They prayed like they had never prayed before."

Now, it does say in v. 10 that "the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah", but when you look at the next few verses, it was likely not them crying out in faith. They weren't clenching their jaws, standing their ground (holy or otherwise, and likely otherwise in this case), and while I'm not sure if they had ever prayed like that before, maybe it could be said that it was among the first in a long line of complainings that the Books of Moses record that they did.

In other words, God didn't do anything here because of them. If anything, He worked His miracles in spite of them. They were the ones complaining, saying it would have been better to have stayed as slaves in Egypt. Moses stretched out his hand, and God parted the waters of the sea and dried up the land. Outside of complaining, the only thing the people did was to cross through on the dry ground God had supplied for them.

In more other words, Batterson is misrepresenting things in this account. It does not say that the people prayed, except maybe to complain of their lot. It does not say that their prayers became more intense as the Egyptians approached, except maybe in the whining index. It does not say that they clenched their jaws, but opened them in laments of impending doom. It does not say that they stood their holy ground, but that God provided them dry ground to walk upon. It does not say that they prayed like never before.

Nothing God did was in response to their prayers or faith, because they didn't pray, and they had no faith. God was the one who told Moses to move the people to a place where Pharoah would decide to pursue them. God was the one who hardened Pharoah's heart, so that he decided to follow Israel. God was the one who put the angel between the camps to protect Israel. God was the one who told Moses to lift his hands, and God was the one who sent the wind that parted the water and dried up the land. God was the one who caused problem among the Egyptians, then told Moses to lift his hands again so that the waters came together again and killed the Egyptians.

As v. 30 says, "Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians."

What is remarkable in this account is that the people did nothing to help themselves, even their prayers seemed to have been merely complaints. It was God who saved them, they themselves did nothing to save themselves.

Batterson simply doesn't impress me as one who so much reads what's written as much as he reads into what is written what he wants to be there. Oh, he may take a pen and circle phrases or verses all over his Bible, but he doesn't seem to understand content or context. Here, he simply completely reads into this account the jaw-clenching faith of Israel, which is completely absent in the account itself.

become a yoda of prayer?

It is a habit to be cultivated. It is a discipline to be developed. It is a skill to be practiced. And while I don’t want to reduce praying hard to time logged, if you want to achieve mastery, it might take ten thousand hours. This I know for sure: the bigger the dream the harder you will have to pray.
Zondervan, (2011-12-13). The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears (Kindle Locations 1209-1211). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Mark Batterson

In this section or subsection, as it looks to be only a couple or three pages if it were in print, Batterson writes some things about people mastering things like playing a musical instrument, writing, some athletic things, and so one. He writes that the thing the people who master these things have in common is that they have put in over ten thousand hours of practice.

So, to understand what Batterson is saying in the paragraph above, you have to keep that in mind--he is likening prayer to a natural endeavor, one that can be practiced and mastered.

Sickening, isn't it.

What, for example, constitutes prayer "mastery"? To look at Jesus' parable of the prayers of the Pharaisee and the publican, the Pharisee had no doubt logged in many hours of prayer. It was a part of the job. The publican, being rather a social outcast due to his occupation, likely didn't pray all that much, certainly not as much as the person whose job was religious leadership. Yet, it was the prayer of the publican, who simply begged God for mercy, that was acceptable, and the publican who left justified.

I'm not sure where the Bible says that God keeps some kind of a clock, and when we've reached 10,000 hours God levels up our prayers, and we get a "Prayer Master Jedi" plaque to put on the wall, or maybe a black belt in prayer. And we can look with kindly condescension on those who have only put in about, oh, 1,734 hours. They're trying, they'll get there, while we get busy going up to 50,000 hours and leveling up even further.

For most of my life, it seems I've heard about these people who have been called "prayer warriors". I've come to where I'm no longer convinced there are such people. Oh, there may be people whose prayer rhetoric gives the impression of being authoritative, that they come off like God is or should be listening especially closely to them. But simply because someone can sound like that doesn't mean that their prayers have a special line to God, that they can get God to answer their prayers when He doesn't seem to be listening to anyone else you ask for prayer.

Nor is there such a thing as prayer "mastery". All of us who believe begin in the same place, repenting of our sins, and we continue to do that until the time we die. We all thank God for His blessings, we all bring our petitions to Him.

needless circles

The earth has circled the sun more than two thousand times since the day Honi drew his circle in the sand, but God is still looking for circle makers.
Mark Batterson, Zondervan, (2011-12-13). The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears (Kindle Locations 80-81). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

This is one of those statements that, biblically, makes no sense. The story of Honi's drawing a circles in the ground and praying while standing in it does not appear in the Bible at all. Honi seems to have lived in the time between the Testaments, and the stories about him seem to have a mythical element to them; for example, there is the story about falling asleep and waking up 70 years later. The story about him praying the circle also has a mythical flavor to it, as it has him having to correct God about the rain, as God seemed to having a klutzy day 'cause he kept making it rain either too softer or way too hard.

So, the idea that "...God is still looking for circle makers" seems rather strange, because there is no notion in the Bible that God ever looked for circle makers in the first place. The practice of drawing circles either while prayer or to pray within is nowhere commanded in Scripture, either Old Testament or New. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, there is no mention that they should kneel to ground and somehow ascribe a circle around themselves. When Paul went to a city to preach the Gospel, there is no mention of him awakening early each morning and hiking around the city as if such a practice should have somehow grown the church in that city and made his efforts at evangelism that much more effective.

And the timeless truth secreted within this ancient legend is as true now as it was then: Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren’t impossible to you, they are insulting to God. Why? Because they don’t require divine intervention. But ask God to part the Red Sea or make the sun stand still or float an iron axhead, and God is moved to omnipotent action.
The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears (Kindle Locations 81-84).

There are several statements in that excerpt written with an air of absolute certainty, yet to me they seem to lack any biblical support at all.

For example, if "Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers", then one would think it would be stated pretty plainly, in so many words, in the Bible. Yet there is no such thing stated; in fact, one could say that the New Testament teaches rather the opposite, with one exception. Jesus, for example, tells the disciples to pray for the rather mundane need of food to eat each day. When Jesus prayed before His death, his prayer was a petition that the cup should be passed from Him, but also an acceptance that the Father's will be done. When Christ in Revelation sends a message to the poor and persecuted church in Smyrna, He says nothing about them needing to engage in bold prayers that they should be delivered from their poverty and persecutions. When Paul addressed the many offenses of the Corinthians, he says nothing about them need to honor God by praying more boldly for whatever they would want. Rather, things like contentment are stressed and encouraged, and enduring to the end. Among the types of people whom Jesus called "Blessed", there were the meek, the persecuted because of righteousness, the hungry and thirsty for righteousness, the mourners, the poor in spirit. There is no mention of the bold in prayers.

As I said, there is one exception. In one of His parables, Jesus contrasts the prayer of a Pharisee and that of a publican. The Pharisee boldly praised God for his righteousness, but the publican humbly begged for mercy. But it was the publican, whose prayer was far from bold, who was justified. I will write more about this in a moment.

If "...God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less", then should we not expect such a thing to be fairly plainly stated in Scripture? We have a good idea of the things that are offensive to God, all the sins we commit, both plainly and secretly, things socially acceptable and socially rejected, things we know look bad and things that feed our self-righteousness by making us look good. The committing, for example, of blatant adultery, and the secret adulteries of lusting after another. But I have not seen anywhere that states that a lack of big dreams or bold prayers is anywhere considered offensive to Him.

If "...your prayers aren’t impossible to you, they are insulting to God", then where is such a thing stated in Scripture? Is having food for each day an impossible task for us? For some it may be, for others it really is almost routine. For the disciples, I must say that it doesn't seem like they were hurting on that front.

But I wonder what, really, Batterson means by praying for what is "impossible to you". In the book, he mentions things like his church acquiring a building for a coffee house, his church purchasing a whole city block, his church finding places to meet. But are these things really impossible? Those who do not worship God start up coffee shops, buy buildings, even find places places to hold religious ceremonies and worship whatever false gods they worship. Nothing in the book is necessarily impossible for a person with reasonable gifts and talents to do--maybe not easy, but not in itself impossible.

There is one impossible thing, though, that we can pray to God for. There is something impossible for any human to do, something only God can do. Christ came to earth to suffer and die as a sacrifice for our sins, for we could not rid ourselves of them. We can repent of sins and believe in Christ, and God will forgive us of our sins and give us eternal life, in much the same way as the publican was justified for his humble prayer for mercy on himself as a sinner.

There is a sense in which we may bodly approach the throne of grace, to receive help in time of need. But there is no guarantee that that help will be a new building, a larger church, a dream come true. Paul was right to pray to God concerning what he called a "thorn in the flesh", but God did not take it from him, but rather gave him the grace sufficient to endure it, and so Paul came to rejoice in his weakness. There is a sense in which we may pray for boldness, as the Apostles did early in Acts, praying that they should boldly proclaim the Gospel as the powers in Jerusalem began roughing them up some.

But there is no guarantee in Scripture that your dream of having a 10,000 member church will be honored, no matter how much you think it would honor God to have it and pray for it. There is no guarantee that you will prosper. There are guarantees that those who live godly in Christ will suffer persecutions. There are guarantees that just as the world hated Christ so will it hate those who love Him.