80 Sermon Illustrations on Seek God

What makes prayer effective? Is it the number of words, our tone of voice, or how many people hear us pray?

James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”* Effective is emphasized because it is a key word. What exactly is an effective prayer life?

While not exhaustive, the following list of essentials will help us as we seek to have effective prayer lives in this new year.

1) Be clean before God

James considers confessing sin a prerequisite to praying effectively. Righteous means to be right with God. To be right with God, we must have a relationship with God. Those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus and seek to follow Him are those who have the right to affect circumstances when they pray.

Righteous also means to be clean, free from unconfessed sins. Repentance, or turning away from sins that so easily entangle us (Hebrews 12:1), is an ongoing, daily, sometimes hourly, occurrence. But keeping a clean slate with God and man is a key to uninterrupted, effective praying. (Psalm 66:18 and Isaiah 59:1-2.)

2) Know God

The more we know the character and ability of the One to whom we pray, the more confidence or faith we have that our prayer will be heard and answered. That is why Bible reading is so important. Like Moses we can pray, Lord, “let me know Your ways that I may know You.” (Exodus 33:13). Discipleship is all about getting to know God, His ways, His character and His purposes for us and our lives.

3) Seek God first

Jesus teaches us to be anxious for nothing. In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches us to depend on our Father to provide for all our needs, to forgive us when we fail and to protect us from evil. With our temporary and practical needs taken care of, we can focus on God’s glory and pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says to “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [practical needs] will be added to you.” Prayers that accomplish much are in line with God’s will and seek to bring glory to Him alone.

4) Abide in God’s Son

Effective prayer is in partnership with God. Jesus teaches us how this works in John 15:1-11 with the parable of the vine. Verses four and five clarify our dependence on God. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

5) Believe you will receive

Jesus was walking with His disciples when He became hungry. Seeing a barren fig tree, he cursed the tree and it withered at once. The disciples were amazed and asked how this happened.

Jesus answered in Matthew 21:21-22, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Jesus often emphasized the importance of belief, as He does in Matthew 9:28-29; Mark 9:19, 23; Luke 8:48, 50; and John 5:44.

6) Be available

We can get distracted by all the activity and tugs on our lives from the world. Apparently that has been the problem throughout history. In Ezekiel 22:30 God says, “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”

God is still searching for an intercessor who is available and who will pray without ceasing. Jesus highlighted this in Luke 18:1 when He said we ought to pray at all times and not lose heart.

7) Glorify God alone

Pride is an easy trap to fall into when people notice that God has answered our prayer. But “pride goeth before ... a fall” (Proverbs 16:18 KJV). We will be wise and obedient if we deflect that glory and praise back to God. He is the One who initiates prayer, He empowers and equips us to pray, and He answers our prayers.

God warns us in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another.” Jesus also teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.”

In agreement with the preceding essentials, the attitude of our heart is important to God. 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

When our heart is pure and our desire is to bring glory to God alone, our prayers will be effective and will truly accomplish much.

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All Scripture quotations are NASB, unless otherwise noted.

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[Previous illustration at this number was added to HolwickID #18653]

When I was a small child singing of the God who had the whole world in his hands, it filled me with awe. The whole world, after all, was a big place. It included grandma’s house in Cincinnati and grandpa’s cottage in Pentwater -- the two farthest points on a map I knew. As I grew older, the world as I understood it grew as well. I discovered Florida on a family vacation and learned about Chile as we sponsored a little girl named Juana. We saved our money as we learned about poverty in South America. We prayed for peace as we learned of trouble across the world. With each day or newscast, the world grew in scope and depth.

Unfortunately, my awe for the one who held it all in his hands did not always grow along with it. In fact, it often faded. As the world grew increasingly bigger, so my anxiousness for the world increased. In the shadows cast by a looming globe, God’s hands seemed somehow smaller. I did not see the expanding world as an opportunity for expanded faith.

At times, this is still the case for me. While the need for God’s hands is heightened with news of each developing war or suffering community, this is usually not the first analysis that comes to mind. In times of uncertainty, the world begins to seem much more than a handful -- for me and perhaps even for God. An editorialist for the THE ATLANTIC JOURNAL expresses similar sentiments:

The world is too big for us. Too much is going on, too

many crimes, too much violence and excitement. Try as

you will, you get behind in the race in spite of

yourself. It’s an incessant strain to keep pace... and

still, you lose ground. Science empties its discoveries

on you so fast that you stagger beneath them in hopeless

bewilderment. The political world is news seen so

rapidly you are out of breath trying to keep pace...

Everything is high pressure. Human nature cannot endure

much more.

His words express the difficulty of living in a world marked by modern momentum, where advances in media and the influence of globalization keep us hyper-informed but exhausted by the sheer number of newsworthy events. “The whole world” is a different place today than it was when I was a child in awe of God’s embrace. Or maybe it’s not that different at all. Ironically, this editorial was first published on June 16th, 1833.

It is perhaps much easier to sing of a world that in his hands when the world is calm and at rest. But that is not the world into which Christ came, nor the world that God carefully holds in his hands. “In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus told his disciples. “But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

No matter what burden we find ourselves carrying, no matter what shape the world looms in our minds, God is not far off. Whether we grow more anxious with each newscast or tremble in awe at the immensity of all that is around us, this is our Father’s world. His hand guides us; his right hand holds us fast.

John’s Gospel further demonstrates the capable hands of Christ: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet” (John 13:3-5). Knowing all things were in his reach and under his authority, Jesus bowed to serve, and accordingly touched the masses.

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Copyright © 2006 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

I remember a time when it seemed quite obvious to me that God was what I wanted. I understood what Pascal meant by the God-shaped vacuum in my heart. And I knew Saint Augustine’s words to be true: our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him. But what I had grasped cognitively, I had not grasped practically; the hole seemed only partially filled and my heart was not at rest. I WANTED TO WANT GOD. I knew it was God that I ultimately wanted, and yet I was sickened with the suspicion that I had not found Him fully because I didn’t want Him enough. And so I wrestled: Do I really believe? Do I fully trust in Christ’s atonement? Am I truly sorry for my sins? Am I seeking with all my heart? How can I make myself want God MORE?

But who can navigate through such a mess of ifs and conditions? If I work harder, if I trust more fully, if I repent more somberly or seek more fervently, THEN I will find Him. Still for others, the conditions we set before our relationship with God are a matter of hiding: if He really knew me, if I stop running, if I sat before Him without this mask, He wouldn’t want anything to do with me.

But in our mess of conditions, it is often the simplest logic that escapes us. I am most confronted about the “ifs and thens” I needlessly carry, when I am sitting before the “ifs and thens” of Scripture. The apostle Peter writes: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation -- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3). Peter’s words put forth a shining thought: if you don’t want God, then why are you so anxious to want to want Him? But if you have indeed tasted that the Lord is good, then why wouldn’t you want more? Could it not be that this longing is in and of itself an assurance of his presence? If you have tasted the goodness of the Lord, then hunger for his Word as if a baby crying for milk; for He is near.

Peter exhorts us to move beyond “if.” Let us not prefer our pain, or drag our feet, or self-examine ourselves to sickness. If you have even slightly tasted the goodness of the Lord, then like newborn infants, yearn for what nourishes, long for the Good News of God among us, thirst for his living Word. The psalmist writes, “As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1). With a taunted and downcast soul, yet not hiding behind ifs that would block him from God, the psalmist waited with his eyes upon the Father, praising, remembering, and longing for his presence.

In reality, I believe that my want for God was a real one. And in fact I had found Him, though it was not yet fully realized, as life often goes. I believe our longing itself is something of answer, though it is one that will not be fully known until we are fully in his presence. In any case, and perhaps most importantly, God has found us.

When Jesus stood at the well beside the woman of Samaria, the conversation was about water but the words were about life, though she didn’t realize it at first. Shocked that he, a Jew without a cup, would request a drink from her, a Samaritan with a past, she asked if he knew whom he was talking to. For surely, she must have reasoned, if he really knew her, he would not want anything to do with her. Pointedly, Jesus responded by asking if she knew whom SHE was talking to: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Putting down her water jar, and her shame, she ran home with the excitement of a child and told everyone about the one who found her at the well.

Like children DISCOVERED let us come to him similarly.

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Copyright © 2006 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

The well-known lines of William Blake’s last epic poem “Jerusalem” conjure images of Jerusalem’s first pilgrims:

I give you the end of a golden string;

Only wind it into a ball,

It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate,

Built in Jerusalem’s wall.

Several times a year, when it was time to celebrate a festival, crowds of pilgrims would make the trek together toward Jerusalem. Many traveled from a great distance, their caravans taking more than a few days to arrive. For some the trip was no doubt long and strenuous, and it would perhaps be understandable if, when the journey was trying, only a drudging sense of obligation moved them forward. (Celebrating the Feast of Passover was a command hastening back to the last days of slavery in Egypt, and later reinstated under King Josiah.) Yet, in the Scriptures, not only the feast itself but the trip as well is described as a time of celebration and worship.

The psalmist remembers leading the procession to the house of God, “with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng” (42:4). Elsewhere the writer recalls the presence of God and the fellowship of believers as they walked together among the crowds to Jerusalem. “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD’” (122:1). The journey itself, though trying or tiring, was an integral part of the festival.

There are days when the reality of my life as a pilgrim moving with the multitudes is as shining as Blake’s golden string. I see myself on a journey in great company, and like the writer of Hebrews and the ancients before me, I am sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see. There are also times when I see no golden string and begin to wonder if I was ever really given one. On these days I feel more like a lonely wanderer than a voice in the great assembly.

But in the imagery left behind by the psalmist I believe there is hope to proclaim on the journey. In every season of a life moving toward God, the psalmist shows us that the one we journey toward is the reality that sets our hearts toward pilgrimage in the first place. In this alone is there not reason to give thanks along the way? We seek because there is one TO FIND. Whether in loneliness or in triumph, we are given songs to sing. And in Christ we find the most hopeful image of a pilgrim, a man who knew he was far way from home, and laid down his life to show us the way. We are promised that the road is costly, even as he offers a burden that is easy and a yoke that is light.

As the weary pilgrims of Israel made their ascent to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, they sang with the journey yet on their hearts: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (84:1-2).

It is a stirring image: a great crowd making the ascent to worship God after a long journey already wrought with thanksgiving on their lips. It is all the more stirring to see yourself as one of them: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage” (Psalm 84:5).

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Copyright © 2006 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

In the book "Megatrends 2000", authors Naisbitt and Aburdene outlined trends they anticipated would be transformational for the future. Among their calculations was the New Age movement, which in 1990 was quickly gaining momentum. They wrote: “In turbulent times, in times of great change, people head for the two extremes: fundamentalism and personal, spiritual experience... With no membership lists or even a coherent philosophy or dogma, it is difficult to define or measure the unorganized New Age movement. But in every major U.S. and European city, thousands who seek insight and personal growth cluster around a metaphysical bookstore, a spiritual teacher, or an education center.”(1) This is all the more an accurate picture for today.

While New Age seekers may not share a cohesive focus or an organizational center, there are certainly consistent and underlying tenets of thought among them. The movement is syncretistic, in that it incorporates any number of spiritual and religious ideologies at one time, but it is consistently monistic and pantheistic. New Age seekers are informed by the belief that all of reality is essentially one. Thus, everything is divine, including themselves; for if all is one, and there are no distinctions, then all is God. Or, in the words of Shirley Maclaine, “I am God, because all energy is plugged in to the same source.... We are individualized reflections of the God source. God is us and we are God.”(2)

Seven hundred years earlier, medieval Christian mystic Julian of Norwich spoke in what some may consider a similar tone: “[O]ur substance is our Father, God almighty... [O]ur substance is whole in each person of the Trinity, who is one God.”(3) Early Christian mystics are known for their fervent seeking and spiritual awareness of the oneness of life. Thus, there are certainly similar melodies to be found within the songs of Christian mysticism and the growing chorus of New Age spirituality. But so there are marked differences among them.

Within its historical context, mysticism, like many other Christian movements, was an expression of faith in response to faithless times. In this regard, New Age seekers are not entirely different. Some New Age seeking is, I think, a legitimate reaction to the comfortable and shallow religious life we find within our society. But as New Age seekers long for the depth and freedom to believe in everything, the result is contrary to what they seek. Their theology and spirituality are entirely segregated. The quest for illumination is a quest that can begin and end anywhere; thus, they find neither depth, nor freedom. On the contrary, Julian of Norwich and other early Christian mystics sought an authentic experience of faith as a result of an already dynamic understanding of that faith. Their theology in and of itself is what LED THEM to spirituality.

For the Christian today, illumination still begins with Light itself, God unobscured, though incomprehensible, revealed through the glory of the Son. Starting with light and standing upon truth, the Christian begins his journey as a seeker knowing there is one who hears his prayers. There is a source for all illumination, and He is light of the world.

New Age seekers would perhaps be helped to know there is a great tradition of seeking within Christianity, a tradition that began with the recognition that we could not fix what is wrong, and a tradition that continues because there is one who can. The human heart is ever-seeking, showing the longing of a soul to be known. In the words of Julian of Norwich, “We shall never cease wanting and longing until we possess Him in fullness and joy... The more clearly the soul sees the Blessed Face by grace and love, the more it longs to see it in its fullness.” For the Christian seeker, communion with God is far more than self-discovery or personal freedom; it is theology that has become doxology, which in turn becomes life.

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1. J. Naisbitt and P. Aburdene, MEGATRENDS 2000: TEN NEW DIRECTIONS TRANSFORMING OUR LIVES (New York: William Morrow & Company, 1990), 11.

2. Shirley Maclaine, DANCING IN THE LIGHT (New York: Bantam Doubleday, 1991), 339.

3. Julian of Norwich, SHOWINGS, edited and translated by James Walsh in “The Classics of Western Spirituality” (New York: Paulish Press, 1978), 129.

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Copyright © 2007 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

In the July/August 2008 edition of the Atlantic Monthly, there is a fascinating feature story by Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains.”

There is no question about it, Google is a marvelous tool. The entire planet uses it, and the gargantuan mountain of information you can find there is growing in depth and breadth daily. Plus, the search engine is only getting faster. But day by day, Google and the Internet-at-large are convincing us that knowledge ought to be at our fingertips; whether it is a map, stock-price, article, quote, or video clip — we start to feel that typing it into a search-bar is all that it should take.

As author Carr puts it, “the Net seems to be ... chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.” Carr is right. No wonder we are so crazy about it — it gives us the instant gratification we crave.

While the Scriptures teach us that one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control, Google bombards us with the opposite message: You ought to have what you want when you want it. And when you break it down, instant gratification is really another manifestation of pride.

So not only is Google and search engines in general changing the way we think, they are changing our hearts. Don’t believe me? Pay attention to yourself the next time you type in a search bar. See if these feelings of impatience and a need-to-know don’t crop up a bit.

After all doesn’t Google give us what we really want? An end to our search? Our questions answered? Instant knowledge and all the empowerment that goes along with it? For Christians, these desires are worth thinking over — because every deep human desire is, in some way, connected to our conscious or even unconscious desire for God.

Think about what the Bible promises. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). “Ask and it will be given to you ... seek and you shall find” (Matthew 7:7). “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Or what about when Christ promises that a day is coming when He will speak plainly to us about the Father of glory (John 16:25)?

Can you imagine the ecstasy of such a day? When communication with God is unhindered?

No wonder we see a Messiah in Google. We were built to want understanding, knowledge, wisdom, communication — and we can get it! But only by faith in Christ.

Make no mistake, Christ promises us that through Him a day will come when desires cease and all that we want to know and feel will be known and felt in His immediate and enduring presence. In Him, our search is found.

So as drinking water teaches us to yearn for spiritual drink and as bread reminds us that we must eat spiritual food, let the Internet and all its potential for good or ill remind us that what we are really searching for is Christ. Only He will give us true understanding, enduring satisfaction, and unhindered communication for life forevermore.

We will find it is time to call off the search — because all we have ever needed or wanted is in Him.

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Copyright (c) 2008 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

They are images that will last with people the world over for a long time: The joyful rescue of the 33 Chilean miners. The different men, some crossing themselves, kneeling in prayer, praising God, embracing their loved ones.

Who could not be moved? My wife, Patty, as long as she watched, counted aloud “15”, “16”, and so on as the men emerged from the ground. One billion people around the world were glued to their televisions.

Many of the men have claimed that their near-death experience brought them nearer to God. That being trapped in the mine changed them for the better -- forever.

A CNN reporter called me, asking, would the change last, however? Would those men who promised to reform their lives have the wherewithal to keep their word?

Well, I can only speak from experience. I dedicated my life to Christ during a time of great stress - Watergate and the collapse of the Nixon presidency. But I believe my faith in Christ is stronger today than it was when I first turned to him. I experienced God’s love and forgiveness. And I’ve never, ever wanted to turn back.

And over the course of 30-plus years of prison ministry, I’ve seen hundreds and thousands of men and women, who, once they embraced the Gospel, never turned back, either.

Have there been those who did not “stand their ground” and returned to the lives they led before prison? Sure, there have. But these have been the exceptions to the rule.

And independent studies of Prison Fellowship’s work have borne this out. Prison Fellowship’s InnerChange Freedom Initiative, for example, dramatically reduced recidivism among participants who finished the program. Only 8 percent of them returned to prison within two years of their release. And that’s compared to 20+ percent of a comparison group in Texas who did not participate in IFI. The national reincarceration rate is 51 percent after three years.

The CNN reporter then asked me why is it that people always wait until they get into serious trouble before they turn to God. Well, that’s an easy answer. Most people whistle their way through life oblivious to the reality that their earthly life hangs by a thread.

These miners were no different than anybody else. When they went to work that fateful morning, they never thought that before the day would end, the mine would collapse, and they’d be entombed in darkness for the next 17 days without any contact with the outside world. They stared death in the face. And like many who have reached the moment of ultimate crisis, they realized that they were not in control of their own destiny. And many of them realized for the first time that they never were in the first place. So they turned to the One who held their fate in His hands.

Now no doubt many of these men will face real trials in the days and months ahead: post-traumatic stress, and the temptations that come from becoming instant celebrities. They need our prayers.

But they’ve also given a wonderful gift to the Church. Their experience is a living parable.

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Copyright (c) 2010 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

On August 24, 1926, more than 100,000 people lined up in my neighborhood right outside of the Frank Campbell funeral home here in Manhattan. Actually, “lined up” is too formal and orderly a word to describe what was happening: Windows were smashed, and some of the “mourners” reportedly committed suicide. “Never before,” in the words of the funeral director, “have so many people tried to see a body.”

It wasn’t just any old body: It was the remains of silent film star Rudolph Valentino. A silent legend in life, he became a kind of silent god in death.

My friend Joe Loconte cites this by way of illustrating the fact that every society contains people who long to be in touch with the divine and transcendent. Loconte calls these people the “God Seekers.” And while they don’t always look in the right places, there’s no doubt that they are seeking.

We’ve all heard countless times that we’re living in a “secular age.” We’ve seen the statistics saying that the number of people who don’t identify with any religion is growing rapidly.

While the statistics are true up to a point, we need to put them in context. What makes our age “secular,” according to philosopher Charles Taylor, is that people today treat belief in God as optional in ways that were literally unimaginable to people 500 or even 200 years ago. Ideas and cultural changes made this optional belief possible and, in turn, relegated religion to the private sphere.

But none of this changes the fact that, as St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Our age may tell us that belief is optional, (especially belief in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ), but that does nothing for our restlessness.

Joe Loconte’s fabulous new book, “The Searchers,” is a kind of field guide to that restlessness. In Loconte’s telling, many of us are in a situation similar to the travelers on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. Our expectations have been, as the cliché goes, overtaken by events. The story we have invested in isn’t likely to turn out the way we hoped that it would.

For the disciples on the road to Emmaus, disillusionment came from a failure to understand how God intended to redeem Israel. They literally could not see the risen Christ until Jesus had “explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” and broke bread with them.

For our contemporaries, making faith in God optional made faith in a series of illusions possible. Loconte ticks them off one-by-one in a chapter entitled, aptly enough, “The End of Illusions.”

Politics, ideology, our careers and kids, and even romantic love — all of these have failed to quell our restlessness. But, like the Emmaus-bound travelers, something we’ve been told gives us a basis for hope, a reason to keep seeking! The question is: Do we dare believe again?

Loconte’s answer is, of course, a resounding “yes.” Belief may have become optional nowadays, but reasons for that belief are as valid today as they were on the road to Emmaus nearly two thousand years ago. Those reasons are the subject of tomorrow’s broadcast.

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Copyright (c) 2012 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

There are many words that can be used to describe God: holy, just, righteous, merciful, sovereign, gentle. I’m sure you can think of many more. One of my favorite adjectives for the Father is “gracious”.

Our God is no Scrooge when it comes to sharing what is His with those He loves. He is a giving God. His kindness overflows with great abundance. Whenever I give what I consider to be gracious to someone, He always give more.

In Psalm 18:35-36, David challenges us to enumerate all of God’s grace gifts. In these two verses he starts the list with four blessings he had personally experienced from the hand of God:

1) “You have given me the shield of your salvation”

2) “Your right hand supported me”

3) “Your gentleness made me great” (“Your humility exalts me” – CSB)

4) “You gave a wide place for my steps under me and my feet did not slip”

Salvation, support, strength, security ... four treasures for which the shepherd king would willingly trade everything or pay any earthly price; yet, given freely by the One whom David called, “my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2).

Interesting. Do you see a parallel? Each word or phrase David uses to describe God in verse 2 to open this psalm is also descriptive of the four gifts from God that he exalts inverses 35-36. These blessings were not simply spiritual items that God went shopping for and thought David could use. The real present was God Himself. As Israel’s king opened his presents of salvation, support, strength, and security, he recognized that the true gift was the Giver ... the King of kings.

Throughout his life David learned that the best way to seek and enjoy God’s presents was to seek God’s presence, to seek God Himself. When the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to its rightful place in Jerusalem in the early days of his reign, David called the nation to, “seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face always” (1 Chronicles 16:11).

Then, as his life and reign drew to a close and he was ready to pass the scepter (along with the responsibility of building the Temple) to his son, Solomon, David challenged his heir and his people to, “set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God” (1 Chronicles 22:19). He invited them to receive God’s presents by seeking His presence.

Nearly 1,000 years later, God stepped boldly into history with another present. Imagine the surprise of those who were at Bethlehem’s manger and those who came to know Jesus in the years to come to discover that this gift was none other than Emmanuel ... God with us! In presenting Himself, wrapped in humanity, God was once again giving salvation, support, strength and security! Our awesome God never changes!

The best gift that will be given this Christmas is the gift of God, Himself; or, as the song goes, “The best gift of all is Jesus.” As you seek God’s hand of blessing, seek God’s face. As you enjoy His grace-filled presents, recognize that it is His holy presence that brings salvation, support, strength and security. This is how to have a blessed Christmas and a Christ-filled new year.

One final thought ... if God’s best present is His presence, what present should we make of our presence in the life of those we love?

How to spend extended time alone with God. To spend a day with God, start by reading a Bible passage prayerfully and slowly, perhaps aloud. Meditate on thoughts it brings up. Write down any insights. Take a break to worship or sing.

Theophane the Recluse wrote, "To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord - ever present, all seeing, within you." This kind of prayer is about seeking God, not getting things from God.

Hubert van Zeller wrote, "A lot of the trouble about prayer would disappear if we only realized ... that we go to pray not because we love prayer, but because we love God."

In "An Autobiography of Prayer," Albert E. Day asserts that prayer makes us more "God-conscious" and less "me-conscious." In asking for things for our own good and the good of others, we begin to see how little we really need and that all we do need is found in dependence on and relationship with God. So, the more we pray, the more God-conscious we become.

What makes prayer effective? Is it the number of words, our tone of voice, or how many people hear us pray?

James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”* Effective is emphasized because it is a key word. What exactly is an effective prayer life?

While not exhaustive, the following list of essentials will help us as we seek to have effective prayer lives in this new year.

1) Be clean before God

James considers confessing sin a prerequisite to praying effectively. Righteous means to be right with God. To be right with God, we must have a relationship with God. Those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus and seek to follow Him are those who have the right to affect circumstances when they pray.

Righteous also means to be clean, free from unconfessed sins. Repentance, or turning away from sins that so easily entangle us (Hebrews 12:1), is an ongoing, daily, sometimes hourly, occurrence. But keeping a clean slate with God and man is a key to uninterrupted, effective praying. (Psalm 66:18 and Isaiah 59:1-2.)

2) Know God

The more we know the character and ability of the One to whom we pray, the more confidence or faith we have that our prayer will be heard and answered. That is why Bible reading is so important. Like Moses we can pray, Lord, “let me know Your ways that I may know You.” (Exodus 33:13). Discipleship is all about getting to know God, His ways, His character and His purposes for us and our lives.

3) Seek God first

Jesus teaches us to be anxious for nothing. In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches us to depend on our Father to provide for all our needs, to forgive us when we fail and to protect us from evil. With our temporary and practical needs taken care of, we can focus on God’s glory and pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says to “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [practical needs] will be added to you.” Prayers that accomplish much are in line with God’s will and seek to bring glory to Him alone.

4) Abide in God’s Son

Effective prayer is in partnership with God. Jesus teaches us how this works in John 15:1-11 with the parable of the vine. Verses four and five clarify our dependence on God. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

5) Believe you will receive

Jesus was walking with His disciples when He became hungry. Seeing a barren fig tree, he cursed the tree and it withered at once. The disciples were amazed and asked how this happened.

Jesus answered in Matthew 21:21-22, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Jesus often emphasized the importance of belief, as He does in Matthew 9:28-29; Mark 9:19, 23; Luke 8:48, 50; and John 5:44.

6) Be available

We can get distracted by all the activity and tugs on our lives from the world. Apparently that has been the problem throughout history. In Ezekiel 22:30 God says, “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”

God is still searching for an intercessor who is available and who will pray without ceasing. Jesus highlighted this in Luke 18:1 when He said we ought to pray at all times and not lose heart.

7) Glorify God alone

Pride is an easy trap to fall into when people notice that God has answered our prayer. But “pride goeth before ... a fall” (Proverbs 16:18 KJV). We will be wise and obedient if we deflect that glory and praise back to God. He is the One who initiates prayer, He empowers and equips us to pray, and He answers our prayers.

God warns us in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another.” Jesus also teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.”

In agreement with the preceding essentials, the attitude of our heart is important to God. 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

When our heart is pure and our desire is to bring glory to God alone, our prayers will be effective and will truly accomplish much.

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All Scripture quotations are NASB, unless otherwise noted.

*

[Previous illustration at this number was added to HolwickID #18653]

In the film "Forrest Gump" Forrest's bitter, disabled Vietnam veteran friend, Lieutenant Dan, was watching a church choir sing on television. In a sarcastic tone Dan asked Forrest, "Gump, have you found Jesus yet?" Forrest's innocent reply was, "I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for Him."

Many people think like Forrest Gump. They do not know that they need to find Jesus or that He is seeking to "find them." It is our responsibility as Christians to show people the love of the Lord and tell them of His matchless grace.

They are images that will last with people the world over for a long time: The joyful rescue of the 33 Chilean miners. The different men, some crossing themselves, kneeling in prayer, praising God, embracing their loved ones.

Who could not be moved? My wife, Patty, as long as she watched, counted aloud “15”, “16”, and so on as the men emerged from the ground. One billion people around the world were glued to their televisions.

Many of the men have claimed that their near-death experience brought them nearer to God. That being trapped in the mine changed them for the better -- forever.

A CNN reporter called me, asking, would the change last, however? Would those men who promised to reform their lives have the wherewithal to keep their word?

Well, I can only speak from experience. I dedicated my life to Christ during a time of great stress - Watergate and the collapse of the Nixon presidency. But I believe my faith in Christ is stronger today than it was when I first turned to him. I experienced God’s love and forgiveness. And I’ve never, ever wanted to turn back.

And over the course of 30-plus years of prison ministry, I’ve seen hundreds and thousands of men and women, who, once they embraced the Gospel, never turned back, either.

Have there been those who did not “stand their ground” and returned to the lives they led before prison? Sure, there have. But these have been the exceptions to the rule.

And independent studies of Prison Fellowship’s work have borne this out. Prison Fellowship’s InnerChange Freedom Initiative, for example, dramatically reduced recidivism among participants who finished the program. Only 8 percent of them returned to prison within two years of their release. And that’s compared to 20+ percent of a comparison group in Texas who did not participate in IFI. The national reincarceration rate is 51 percent after three years.

The CNN reporter then asked me why is it that people always wait until they get into serious trouble before they turn to God. Well, that’s an easy answer. Most people whistle their way through life oblivious to the reality that their earthly life hangs by a thread.

These miners were no different than anybody else. When they went to work that fateful morning, they never thought that before the day would end, the mine would collapse, and they’d be entombed in darkness for the next 17 days without any contact with the outside world. They stared death in the face. And like many who have reached the moment of ultimate crisis, they realized that they were not in control of their own destiny. And many of them realized for the first time that they never were in the first place. So they turned to the One who held their fate in His hands.

Now no doubt many of these men will face real trials in the days and months ahead: post-traumatic stress, and the temptations that come from becoming instant celebrities. They need our prayers.

But they’ve also given a wonderful gift to the Church. Their experience is a living parable.

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Copyright (c) 2010 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Jumping from their seats, the spectators in Athens, Greece, roared, “Nike! Nike!”

“What does that mean?” asked James.

“That means victory,” answered the judge. That afternoon, James Connolly stood on the victor’s stand and received the first place medal -- the first Olympic champion in 1,500 years and America’s first Olympic hero.

James had dreamed of Harvard, working multiple jobs for years to save the tuition. But when news came of the rebirth of the ancient Olympics, he took all his college funds and went to Greece to become an Olympic jumper.

At age 27 in 1896, James Connolly embodied the Olympic motto, “Swifter, Higher, Stronger” and the words of Father Henry Didon, “You who wish to surpass yourself, fashion your body and spirit to discover the best of yourself, strive always to go one step further than you were aiming for.”

Paul embraced that attitude in Philippians 3:13-14: “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal....”

What does it take to run for Christ?

Make up your mind to do it. When we decide to follow Christ, all else becomes secondary. “What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:7). Some things we give up entirely -- sinful lifestyles, unhealthy habits, unholy relationships. Other things we place on the altar of God’s will, saying, “Lord, these are for Your service.” There may be sacrifice and hardship, but the Lord wants to give you “a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Make up your mind to pursue Christ with all your heart. “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Stick with the training. We need to know the rules of the game, so study your Bible every day. And we need to develop our spiritual muscles, so exercise every day -- exercising godliness, self-control, righteousness and leadership. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27: “Run in such a way that you may obtain [the prize].... I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

This means we intentionally apply the truths we find in our Bibles to everyday life. We say “no” to other opportunities and demands in order to make room for Christian activities. We wake up early on Sunday mornings and go to church. We wake up early through the week to have our morning devotions. We seek opportunities to serve the Lord. We love. We forgive. We exercise faith, trusting God when things go badly in life. We memorize Scripture so that we can offer others an encouraging word.

The Bible says, “Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next” (1 Timothy 4:7-8).

Run for the prize -- persevere. Don’t give up. Have you tried repeatedly to have your daily quiet time? To trust God with that anxious care or weakness? Be determined, and sooner or later you will work through to victory. The Bible says:

• “Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11).

• “We never give up. Our bodies are gradually dying, but we ourselves are being made stronger each day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

• “Always pray and do not give up” (Luke 18:1).

It’s time to say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and then begin to run the race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1). Get back into shape. Be swifter, higher, stronger for Christ and His Kingdom. Exercise godliness, and don’t give up. Sooner or later, you’ll hear the roar of the crowd: “Nike! Nike! Nike!” For the Bible says, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

[My sermon version follows at the end]

The bus is full of travelers on the way from Aleppo, Syria to the smaller city Al-Qamishli in the far northeast of the country.

After some hours, they approach one of the many checkpoints along the road. This time, the checkpoint is controlled by fighters of Islamic State; their black flag waves proudly in the slight breeze that blows over the fields. In the distance, the passengers see the city of Raqqa. The driver slows down and stops when one of the fighters dressed in black raises his hand.

Three fighters enter the bus and check on the passengers. Meghrik sits further back in the bus; he sees how one-by-one, the other passengers show their ID. His sweat makes his back wet. To calm down, he takes a deep breath. A fighter stops next to him. He reaches for Meghrik’s ID card.

“Are you a Christian?” he asks.

“No,” Meghrik answers.

Yes, he was raised a Christian in a Christian family and has a Christian family name, but Meghrik doesn’t believe in God anymore; he thinks Christianity is ridiculous.

“You’re lying. Your name says you’re a Christian. Come with me.”

Meghrik is paralyzed by fear. He knows the reputation of IS [Islamic State; also ISIS]. He rises from his chair and takes his small bag with him. The other passengers stare at him, he sees horror and fear on their faces, but no one acts or even speaks.

When he leaves the bus, the IS soldier shows Meghrik’s ID to the commander of the checkpoint.

“An infidel,” he says, “you cannot continue with this bus.”

Meghrik wants to say something, but the commander orders him to shut his mouth.

Evening comes, and he finds himself sitting face-to-face with an IS judge in a ‘court-room’ in a house in Raqqa. The judge looks again at his ID and concludes from his name that Meghrik is a Christian.

“You’re sentenced to death,” he declares.

Meghrik hears the words; he is in the midst of a nightmare. This cannot be true. He feels all strength leaving his young body.

“But I am not a Christian, I don’t believe what my parents taught me,” he tries whispering, but it seems his voice doesn’t function as it should.

“This is the verdict,” the judge simply answers.

He is thrown back into the room that serves as his prison cell. In deep fear, he stays awake, hoping that this is just a misunderstanding, or that he might wake up from this nightmare.

Several hours later, men in black clothes come to bring him to the execution place. They tie his arms, cover his eyes and push him into a car. After a ride through the city, they arrive at an open area with dugout graves. The fighters take off the blindfold. Horrified, Meghrik looks into the hole and two men push him in. He can’t break the fall with his arms because they are tied to his back. He hears the sound of loading weapons – his last moments alive. He can’t think properly now. Tears run down his cheeks. He feels completely helpless.

Suddenly, he remembers what happened a month ago.

He was challenged by a friend to pray and ask God to show him that He really exists. That happened after a long discussion about the existence of God, the person of Jesus and what, according to his Christian friend, He had done for mankind. He accepted the challenge of his friend. This remembrance makes him pray again in this grave, a heart cry in his darkest hour.

“If you exist, let me live. Please give me a chance to get to know You,” Meghrik cries out to God.

Seconds pass by, and a voice breaks the tense silence: “You can live and be free when you convert to Islam,” one of the men shouts to Meghrik.

“I will convert,” Meghrik said rapidly, seeing no other way out.

The men take him out of his grave and back to his cell. A big relief, mixed with new fear. He stays with another man. “Converting is of no use,” the man says, “they will kill you anyway.”

The next day, IS men entered the cell and begin torturing him with a cable. He counts somewhere between 20 and 30 lashes that day.

This goes on for three days.

Meghrik continues to pray, “God, You saved me the first time, so why do You let them torture me again? Please, Lord, get me out of here so that I can search for You and learn about You.”

Every day, he faces the same torture and interrogation. On the fourth day, one of the men says, “Tomorrow, we will kill you.”

But God had other plans for Meghrik. That day, one of the IS leaders comes to the prison. The man says they won’t execute him. He is taken to another IS judge who is a bringer of good news: “You will be freed within some days.”

On the tenth day of his imprisonment, Meghrik walks out of prison with a document that gives him the right to pass the IS checkpoints and return home.

“It was an indescribable moment when I finally left that place, a moment of happiness and a fulfillment of God’s promises. He heard my prayers. I had denied Jesus and was even ready to convert to Islam... But God didn’t leave me or let me down, He stayed with me until the end to show me His existence.”

________

*Names are representative.

====================

Version used in sermon:

It Took His Grave To Find God

The bus approached a checkpoint near Raqqa, Syria. A black flag flew nearby, which meant the men at the checkpoint were fighters for ISIS. Three soldiers entered the bus and checked IDs.

When they got to Meghrik, they asked him, “Are you a Christian?” He answered, “No.” He explained that he had been raised a Christian in a Christian family and had a Christian family name, but he didn’t believe in God anymore and thought Christianity was ridiculous.

The soldier didn’t buy his explanation and forced Meghrik to get off the bus. That evening he found himself face-to-face with an Islamic State judge in a makeshift courtroom in Raqqa. The judge concluded from his name that Meghrik was a Christian and sentenced him to death.

Several hours later, men in black clothes come to bring him to the place of execution. They tied his arms, covered his eyes and pushed him into a car. After a ride through the city, they arrived at an desolate area with open graves. The fighters took off the blindfold and push Meghrik into the grave. He couldn’t break the fall because his arms were tied behind his back. He heard the sound of loading weapons - his last moments alive. Tears ran down his cheeks. He felt completely helpless.

Suddenly, he remembered what had happened a month ago. He had been challenged by a friend to pray and ask God to show him that he really exists. This happened after a long discussion about the existence of God, the person of Jesus and what, according to his Christian friend, Jesus had done for mankind. Meghrik accepted the challenge of his friend and had prayed for God to reveal himself. This memory made him pray again in this grave, a genuine cry from the heart in his darkest hour.

“If you exist, let me live. Please give me a chance to get to know you.” Seconds passed by, and a voice broke the tense silence: “You can live and be free when you convert to Islam.” “I will convert,” Meghrik said rapidly, seeing no other way out.

The men took him out of his grave and brought him back to his cell. It was a big relief, but mixed with a new fear. Another prisoner told him, “Converting is of no use, they will kill you anyway.”

The next day, ISIS men entered the cell and begin torturing him with a cable. He counted somewhere between 20 and 30 lashes that day. This went on for three days.

Meghrik continued to pray. “God, you saved me the first time, so why do you let them torture me again? Please, Lord, get me out of here so that I can search for you and learn about you.”

That day, an ISIS leader came to his cell. The man said they wouldn’t execute him. On the tenth day of his imprisonment, Meghrik walked free. He says it was an indescribable moment when he finally left that prison. It was a fulfillment of God’s promises. God had heard his prayers.

Meghrik had denied Jesus and was even ready to convert to Islam... but he says, “God didn’t leave me or let me down, he stayed with me until the end to show me His existence.”