A Prayer We Don’t Expect to be Answered

By Rick Blumenberg  / @rickblumenberg

There is, it seems, one prayer Jesus taught us to pray that we Christians don’t expect God to answer. We are to pray to our heavenly Father “Your kingdom come, your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.” However, very few Christians really believe the time will ever come on earth when God’s kingdom will come as it is in heaven. We seem to expect the world to get worse and worse instead of better and better, which is what we should expect if God’s will is done.

The prayer Jesus taught us to pray has always been God’s plan for the world. The best Old Testament description of this prophecy is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34 where God spoke of the new covenant he would make when Jesus would come. We read in verse 34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Apparently God expects a time to come when everyone on earth will love and serve him. Apparently too, Jesus is calling on us to help bring this about through our prayers.

How often do we pray in faith for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done here on earth? When we pray the “Lord’s Prayer” do we really think about what we’re asking for and do we pray in faith that it will be answered?

I think our pessimism about the future of Christianity may come from a misunderstanding of Jesus’ statements quoted in Matthew 24:7-9 and Mark 13:7-9. I believe Jesus was talking about the early days of Christianity, not the last days, as these verses are usually interpreted. He was bracing his disciples for the fact that following him would not be easy. And sometimes it will be exceedingly difficult. What did Jesus mean when, after mentioning these things, he said, “these are the beginnings of birth pangs”. Could he have meant, when this happens to you remember, you are birthing a new world order and births come with great pain. Satan and the then current world order did not want the new era to be born and resisted it with ferocity. Resistance is still very real. Persecution is happening in many places of the world, but this is not the end. God is still on his throne. On the other hand, we know when it is finished, giving birth brings great joy.

Our task, as followers of Christ, is to do what he told us to do—pray in God’s Kingdom! As we pray, of course we must work, but we are confused if we think the work is more important than prayer. We live now in the “greater works” time Jesus spoke about. Greater works than the miracles Jesus did? Absolutely! Jesus still lives and is still working, but in a much greater area through his Holy Spirit. He continues to do the works of God with great power. But he set the world up to operate on our prayers and our faith. He counts on us to pray in God’s Kingdom!

Here is the really tough question: Would Jesus teach us to pray a prayer he knew would never be answered? I don’t think so!

This was an assignment for all Christians—to pray faithfully for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus gave us the assignment and the method to bring it about—prayer. If we use God’s method we can pray in God’s Kingdom! Do you want to know what happens when we don’t use God’s method? Just look around and see for yourself. Alright then, now that we know let’s do it!

I’m Rick Blumenberg and that’s My View from Tanner Creek.

    

If I Become your Pastor… We will follow Jesus

By Rick Blumenberg / @rickblumenberg

Recently I preached to the congregation I serve as Interim Pastor about how things will go if I become their permanent pastor. That was only a possibility, but if they considered this I wanted them to know what they are getting into. I thought perhaps what I have to say would be helpful to my blog readers, so my theme for today is “If I become your pastor….we will follow Jesus.

My point is that a pastor is always an “under-shepherd” rather than the primary shepherd. Jesus is the head of the church. Any organization that does not have Jesus as the primary leader may be a good and beneficial organization, but it is not the church. My task, and I believe the task of every pastor, is to help our congregations learn better how to follow Jesus.

It is really a simple and clear guideline, but the implications are earth-shaking. Living out that goal is the most difficult and most satisfying task of our lives. As long as we try to do it pastor and church will be in a learning mode. We’ll never learn it all. God always has new and beautiful things to teach us and sometimes painful lessons to learn and difficult applications we must carry out. I could write a book on the subject if I was smart enough, but for today, it will be a simple blog post.

Here are my basic points as I completed the thought.

We, as a church, will do everything God tells us to do (John 3:33-35)

We never ask can we do/afford this. We only ask…“What is God’s will in this situation?” After we ask, we pray. Individually, corporately, we pray, and continue to ask, “God, what is your will in this situation? After we pray, we vote and the majority rules. It’s not a perfect system. In almost every church some who vote never pray or seek God’s direction and because we’re human sometimes even when we seek God’s will we fail to understand or follow. Not perfect, but the best way I know.

We lead our personal lives with Jesus Christ as Lord

No saint on Sunday, Sinner on Monday-Saturday business—every day is God’s day. All of life belongs to him and everything we own belongs to God. We are mere stewards. What is most important to God must become most important to us. Our goal is that “God’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Just as fully, unhesitatingly, joyfully, as it’s done in heaven. Not just in the church, but also in our personal lives! Now we are human and sometimes we will fail. When we do, thankfully, God forgives.

We tithe our income to God (See Malachi 3:6-12)

We stop robbing God and begin to really trust. If we don’t love and trust God with our finances, we don’t really love and/or trust him. Our church doesn’t have enough income to survive. We’re dying financially! One reason we’re dying is because we’re robbing God. If I become your pastor, we must begin to tithe our income. It’s important to note, this scripture is for all; individuals, families, churches.

You’re not going to believe this, but after I preached this sermon the church voted unanimously for me to become their pastor instead of merely an interim. This may be the only place in scripture where God says “test me in this”. He goes on to say, thru the prophet Malachi, “see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” (v. 10)

This tiny congregation doesn’t have enough income for the minimum bills necessary to keep the doors open. It doesn’t make sense to give away ten percent when we are in such bad shape…unless God is real and alive and at work in our world today. If that is true (and I know it is) we can trust him.

I’m Rick Blumenberg and that’s My View from Tanner Creek.