New Year, Old Prayers Lisa Scheffler, author We’re coming up on New Years Eve, which means it’s almost time to take down the Christmas tree, throw out the leftovers and sweep up those pesky pine needles that seem to show up everywhere so we can get on with the new year. Like a lot of you, I look ahead to 2015 with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. What will the next twelve months bring for me, my family and friends? What changes and challenges will come? And when I am ready to turn the page of the calendar to 2016, what will I say about this year? Since there is no such thing as a fortune-telling crystal ball, we can’t answer any of those questions. But we can begin 2015 determined to take every step with Jesus, so that no matter what this year brings, we can make an impact for Christ and move farther down the path toward Christlikeness. We can begin this year as we mean to end it, by seeking God. I know of no better way to begin a new year than by praying four very old prayers. The apostle Paul prayed hard for the people he saw come to Christ as he started churches in the ancient world. He delivered the good news of what God had accomplished through Jesus. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection, humanity could be rescued from sin and death and reconciled with God. Paul wanted to see that gospel sink down into people’s hearts and minds, transforming their thinking and motivating their actions. But he did more than teach, warn and encourage these new believers. He prayed that God would make it so. We should want the same things Paul wanted for ourselves and our church — to see the world as God sees it and act accordingly. But we won’t get there without prayer. So this week, let’s study four life-changing prayers that Paul prayed for his churches, and pray them for ourselves and each other as we begin this new year. Day One: Ephesians 1:17–19 For better or worse (mostly for the worse), the 1990s saw the birth of reality TV. Late in the decade, Jim Carrey starred in The Truman Show, a movie that critiques the idea of a life lived completely in front of the camera. Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a man who didn’t know that, from birth, his entire life has been a TV show and every person he comes in contact with is an actor. His parents, friends and even his wife are playing roles, and his entire town is a set. When he begins to figure out the truth, he tries to escape the massive dome that encapsulates his world, and eventually finds his way to the edge of the set and a hidden exit door. The director of the show, from high up in a control room, speaks to Truman over a massive intercom and tries to convince him to stay and continue being the star of his own show. Truman takes a final bow, and walks through the door and into the real world. Truman had been living a lie. Everything he thought was reality, turned out to be an elaborate fabrication. Once he knows the truth, he has to live according to it. He can’t go back to the life he’d known. Having been enlightened, he has to move forward in that knowledge. The same is true for Christians. Once our eyes are opened to the reality of the gospel, how can we continue in the lie that we are the star of our own shows when we know we have a much bigger and more important part to play in the Kingdom of God? Once we know that our life has eternal significance to God, who created and redeemed us out of his vast love, it changes everything. Paul wanted all the first century churches he planted to live in according to the truth of the gospel. In the first few verses of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul, in an exultant praise to God, reminds his readers of the astounding grace God has shown by choosing, redeeming, forgiving and adopting them. He is retelling the story of what God has accomplished through Jesus. Then, he shares the way he has been praying for them. Ephesians 1:17–19a 17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him — 18since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened — so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe…. What does Paul ask God to give these believers? Why[TJ1] ? Look back at the verses above for three significant words that help us see the world as Paul sees it. “Since” and “So that.” Since the eyes of our hearts have been enlightened we can receive spiritual wisdom and knowledge of God. Have you ever wondered why some people can know about Jesus but not know him at all? The knowledge of who he is and what he has done for them has not “opened the eyes of their heart.” The Holy Spirit hasn’t revealed Jesus to their innermost being so that they can see him for who he really is. For Paul it was impossible for people to see the glory of the gospel unless they were taught by God, but more than that, knowledge of God is life itself.[1] But what happens after we’ve been enlightened and understand how our individual story fits into God’s eternal one? We pray for more wisdom and revelation. We pray that we can know God more deeply and be led by him more fully. We pray that we will see our lives, relationships, vocation and mission on this earth from his perspective. So that. Increased knowledge and intimacy with God is not an end to itself; it is only the beginning. The more we grasp who God is and what he is doing in the world, the surer we will be of the hope, wealth and power available to us as his children. We have hope in our calling, that we have been chosen by God in Christ not “for our own sake, but for the sake of what God wants to accomplish through us.”[2] We live in light of the wealth of the inheritance we are receiving as sons and daughters of the King — an eternity with the Father in a new creation, renewed by God’s love and power and ruled over by King Jesus. We come to recognize God’s incomparable power in the world and avail ourselves to that which the Spirit provides to defeat sin in our lives and reach out to others with the supernatural love of Christ. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians and for us is that our knowledge of God would grow and deepen so that we know the amazing difference Jesus makes in our lives and in this world. Let’s join him in that prayer. May the truth of God be the foundation upon which we form every thought, feel every emotion and plan every action so that our lives would be different in the new year. Look back at the three “so that’s” Paul lists in verses 18–19. What difference could a deep down, soul-knowledge of those realities make in how you approach the new year? How does (or would) engaging God individually on a daily basis through prayer and his Word help you gain a deeper understanding of God and his ways? Maybe it’s time for more of us to take a final bow and exit the bubble we’ve been living in. Maybe some of us are finally ready to stop living as if we’re the stars of our own show. May 2015 be the year that we walk away from the lie that our needs and wants are most important, and that whatever desires we can rationalize, are ours to fulfill. The gospel-illuminated reality is inconceivably better. God has more wonders in store for us than our wildest dreams could envision. We only have to step into the real world and live according to its truth. Pray Ephesians 1:17–19 for yourself and at least one other person today.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 06:30:00 +0000
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