Bryan Duncan of Sweet Comfort fame, is one of the freshest, rawest, and most honest voices in the Christian recovery movement today.

Recently he was sharing his heart and talent with our Steppin’ Out recovery group here at COD. One of his remarks took me back to the Jesus Movement and the way it felt for those of us who weren’t raised in church and didn’t know the lingo.

He asked who this “Father Wejus” was. He’s noticed that a lot of Christians pray to this padre or monk. In fact most of their prayers begin with, “Father Wejus gather together here today to ask you…” or “Father Wejus want to thank you for your many blessings.”

Father Wejus!

Just one moremindless way we talk to God without actually engaging with the Sovereign of the universe.

Just one more way we speak a code that outsiders find confusing, even silly.

I remember my “Father Wejus” moments when I first trusted Christ in the Jesus Movement.

I didn’t put the Wejus character in the place of God, but I always wondered what was so spiritual about “just” asking God for something.

Like it wouldn’t be right to “just” go ahead and tell Him what we want.

I mean, if He really loves us as much as we say He does.

Question: Why do you think many Christians feel a need to “spiritualize” their conversations with their loving Father?

Mommy, Daddy, Sammy

I was sure God was going to answer our prayer.

• Our leadership team, all abiders in Christ and claiming John 15:6, begged God to rescue our budget with a huge December.
• Following our Lord’s instructions on prayer (Matthew 6:5-13; 7:7-11; Luke 11:1-13; 18:1-5), we prayed specifically and persistently.
• We prayed alone, as couples, as families, in groups, and in community at all of our Christmas leadership events.
• Most of us fasted and prayed multiple times during December.

I was so sure that God would say yes to this prayer because usually He says yes when a request burdens our community in this way.

God Said No

He said no. Emphatically no. It wasn’t that He was testing us some to see if we would trust Him enough to move forward with a more robust budget in 2012 by giving us a partial yes. Our December giving didn’t even come close.

I’m devastated and my faith is shaken.

Like you, I don’t know what to do with no answers to my purest prayers when it seems I did everything right. I started doubting whether I really was abiding, if I was asking unselfishly enough, if maybe I was foolish to be so bold and public in leading our church in this prayer.

I came up with strategies to explain away the no. Some of that I’m sure was to protect the “reputation” of God, but a lot of it was simply to try to make sense of it myself.

And then, my grandson Zachy taught me a lesson on prayer.

Jesus rejoiced in the childlike faith of His disciples. Their excited reports of what God had done for them after their first missionary journey, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” (Luke 10:17), elicits this response from the Master:

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will” (Luke 10:21).

Zachy

Zachy was spending the night with us for the first time in his almost three years on earth Friday night. He had moved from a world of a lot of no’s (too many if his parents were to consult Judy and me!) to a world of yes’s. He got just about everything he wanted that night. Okay, I admit it. He got everything he wanted that night.

But then, when it came time to go to bed, his little heart broke. He cried and cried, saying only, “Mommy, Daddy, Sammy” over and over again. Finally, after an hour of comforting him and stroking his little back, he fell asleep with the whispered whimper, “Mommy, Daddy, Sammy.”

The next morning when mommy and daddy and brother Sammy came to pick him up, he ran into their arms and immediately asked them for something he couldn’t have.

They told him no. He protested. And then he asked again.

Children don’t care as much about yes’s as they do about relationship. They protest and throw fits when daddy says no, but what they most fear is being away from daddy…and mommy…and Sammy.

What a child wants most is the secure love of a parent and the familiar surroundings of the community of the family.

But they never stop asking!

The Measure of Faith

There’s my lesson. We tend to measure faith by adult behavior. God measures faith by childlike behavior.

I’m still begging my Father for more money to do the things we want to do for His Kingdom in 2012, but I’m not going to try to fine tune my prayers.

He’s given me what my redeemed heart longs for most: His unfailing love and strength, and a community of faith where I feel safe.

Just like Zachy, what we really want is the presence of our Father rather than His yes.

Question: When God says no to your prayers, do you tend toward more adult behavior of explanation or the childlike behavior of running to His arms and protesting His no?

Could you pray for me?

I was standing on the lawn talking with people after our Sunday services. A young lady I’d never met stood off to the side with one of those, “I have to tell you something” looks every pastor knows.

When the crowd cleared, I walked over to her. “Thank you for being so patient. My name is Ed, how can I help you?”

Tears streamed down her face. “Could you pray for me, please

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh…

I would love to.

Words poured from her heart. Story after story punctuated by sidebar explanations I could not connect. “And then my mother told me that she heard…” “Well, I really didn’t say that, but my husband thought I did….” “I just don’t know if I can go on with all of these people saying….” “And then I lost my job….” “So you can see why I….”

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A friend asked me recently if I still wanted him to ask God to “Please let Ed live and serve.”

My response? “Absolutely! Why wouldn’t I want you to continue praying for me?”

He seemed surprised. “But we’ve been praying this for eleven years! Isn’t it time to stop asking or at least time to change the prayer a little? Don’t you think,” he wondered, “that God’s tired of hearing the same thing over and over again?”

His comment unmasks a common misconception about prayer: That we should communicate with God in adult ways—trying to figure out what He wants to hear and then making sure that we get it right and don’t bore Him.

When the Lord Jesus taught on prayer, He encouraged His disciples to relate to the Heavenly Father with childlike faith, words, and behavior. His central teaching on prayer, Luke 11:1-13, reads like a kindergarten lesson plan rather than a seminary course.

Model Prayer

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From my journal:

“Okay, Lord, it’s 2:30 AM and I’m wide awake. Guess there’s nothing to do but pray.”

Do you struggle with insomnia?

Do you often find yourself roaming the house after midnight, wondering if you’ll ever get to sleep?

Me too. I’ve never been a good sleeper.

You know what you need? More than a new prescription for sleep aids. More than an eating and exercise regimen. More than some sheep to count.

You need a journal!

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Breakthrough Prayers

A few years ago we dedicated ourselves to moving our vision forward by prayer—learning how to pray daring, world-changing prayers that ask the Lord to do what we know we could never do.

We call them Breakthrough Prayers–persistent prayers focused by fasting.

We have learned to pray these bold, breakthrough prayers as we have rejoiced in His specific and gracious answers. May it never be said that we have not because we ask not. Only God knows the ministries we could launch, the missionaries we could send, the souls we could reach, and the blessings we could receive…if only we would ask.

Here’s the link to the sermon, study notes, and discussion notes from last Sunday:

Plan or Pray?

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).

A few years ago we dedicated ourselves to moving our vision forward by prayer—learning how to pray daring, world-changing prayers that ask the Lord to do what we know we could never do.

We call them Breakthrough Prayers. Those Christians and churches experiencing God’s grace in extraordinary ways know the power of prayer. Every prayer ever uttered by a child of God is an exercise of grace. If He did not love us in grace our prayers would fail. But there are those who want more. For these, there is the option of breakthrough prayer.

Breakthrough Prayer?

Many have asked me, “What makes a breakthrough prayer different from other prayers?

• Breakthrough Prayers are our collective community prayers—we pray these together.
• Breakthrough Prayers are specific—we ask God to take us beyond a precise ministry threshold our leaders feel God wants us to reach in His time and in His way.
• Breakthrough prayers are persistent—we keep on asking, every day, all the time, throughout the year.
• Breakthrough prayers involve fasting—those who are able fast and pray together during the year asking God for His answer.

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The Un-me

If your life looks anything like mine, you know that most of the time there is a “you” that is there for others—problem is, it’s often not the “real” you.

The “you” at work doesn’t have permission to tell others that you don’t know how you’re going to make payroll, or your plans to let some of them go if business doesn’t pick up. As a supervisor or owner, you can’t let them know how much this economy frightens you.

Every leader or coach realizes that the “you” who stands in front of your team must not sweat…even when the challenges or the failures make you feel like you’re going to throw up.

A dad struggling with self-doubt or regret knows he can’t let it show. The “you” at home doesn’t have permission to ask the children to “help daddy through this crisis.”

You single moms know that there is a “you” that is always on. If your children had any hint at what’s really going through your mind late at night when you finally get to bed—the desperation, the loneliness, the exhaustion—their little lives would be wounded even more.

A husband’s shielding love presents the “you” that assures the wife of your confidence in God…even when your heart is screaming, “What do we do, Lord?”

A wife’s devoted love asks God for the courage to be the “you” that supports her husband’s tough decisions…even when you’ve voiced your reservations and your heart is crying out to the Lord, “What if this isn’t what we should do? How can we know this doesn’t put us at risk?”

The Me-me

But there is one place that is different, that place where you and I never have to be the impressive me, the confident me, the strong me, or the “spiritual” me—it is the only place safe enough to totally let down our guard.

It’s the safest place in the universe.

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