December 31, 2014

• What do you really want?

  Here is a fascinating excerpt from a post from John Piper, at this link: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/new-year-new-adjective-christ-exalting

  It is related to this Bible verse where Jesus says "not to pray like the pagans" - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6:5-15

  Do Not Pray Like Unbelievers

  Third, this simple grammatical adjustment will help to prevent us from praying the way unbelievers pray.

  You might ask if unbelievers even pray at all. They do. Muslims pray. Hindus pray. Jewish people pray. Animists pray. Members of cults, even Satanists, pray. Secularists pray in their most desperate moments. And millions of nominal church-goers pray who are not born again and do not trust Christ.

  They ask God for a hundred things that you and I ask for: Daily bread. Protection. Health. Joy. Marriage wholeness. Wise children. A good job. The breaking of bad habits. Forgiveness for bad deeds. Unbelievers want all these things. And they pray for them. You don’t need the transforming work of the Holy Spirit to want any of these things.

  What then is the difference between your prayers for these things, and theirs? One of the key differences is that your deepest desire, that pervades all other desires, is that Christ be exalted. You love Christ. You treasure him supremely. You have tasted and seen the all-satisfying glory of Christ. Christ is not your butler. And prayers are not your bell-ringing for him to bring you what you want. He is what you want. And you want him exalted, honored, glorified in everything. Listen as people pray. You will find out what they treasure most of all.

  So my third reason for making “Christ-exalting” an adjective, which modifies everything for which you pray, is that this will show where your treasure is. It will set your prayers apart from the prayers of unbelievers.

  • 6:41 pm
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