Teencamps (2002 message on prayer)

I have a number of devotionals like this one from the past few years that I'd like to post, but am somewhat lost as to how to go about it. I don't want my whole blog to become a sappy encouragement center or a spiritual thermometer. I quickly lose interest in others' blogs when they walk that ground. Nor do I believe my "talks" are particularly insightful--some God has used, some he hasn't. Perhaps they will be of some benefit to their current readers, but I am certain there is more fertile literature for the mind and soul elsewhere. I will continue to post them, then, as memories.


I’m going to give a short talk tonight, about prayer. I had a hard time deciding what to say, incidentally, precisely because there is so much to say about prayer. I could have read Matthew six, and examined the Lord’s Prayer. I could have turned to Matthew seventeen where Jesus says that if you have so much as a mustard seed of faith you can move mountains. Or, I could have exhorted you to have consistent, regular prayer times, because as it says in James four verse two, you do not have because you do not ask.

All of these are great topics, but I decided to address two other aspects of prayer. Please pay attention, because there is exciting and convicting truth here, and I want you to find it and understand it. First, I’m going to discuss our attitude as we pray. Next, I’d like to challenge you concerning what you pray for. Your attitude as you approach God in prayer, and the content of those prayers.

When you go to God in prayer, understand, please, the privilege of your position. Remember the cross when you pray. It is the basis by which we can have any audience with God. We were dead in trespasses and sins; the objects of God’s wrath. We had no audience with God, because as it says in Proverbs, even the prayers of a wicked man are an abomination to the Lord. God is too holy to look upon sin.

But, because of the gospel, because of the good news that Christ died on the cross, paying the penalty for our sin, because his righteousness was accounted to us, we how have an audience with God. Before we had no hope of receiving blessing from Him, but now God looks on us with joy and pleasure. Now we are invited, no, commanded, to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace.” (Hebrews 4:16)

When you pray, be confident; have faith that you are in the presence of God and that He is pleased with you. But do not be proud. There is nothing you have which you did not receive, nothing except the righteousness which was given to you.

The second thing I wanted to challenge you with concerns what you ask God for in prayer. It’s important to ask Him for the right things. If we don’t woe is us if He answers. (I am reminded of Israel, wanting a king, demanding a king, and wishing they hadn’t.)

Turn, please, to Daniel nine. I will read, beginning in verse sixteen.

"O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people and called by Your name.”

Daniel’s prayer is that God would cause His face to shine on Israel. That he would shine the light of His countenance on His people and bless them.
Israel was experiencing the judgment of God—they were a people conquered and destroyed. Daniel could have prayed for liberty, or the rebuilding of the city walls or the temple. All these would have been legitimate concerns—but instead he prays for the nearness and pleasure of God. You can sum it up by saying that he prayed that Israel would have a right relationship with God.

I urge you, when you pray, to think about what really matters. The condition of your heart. Think deeper than your circumstances, think and pray about how you respond to them. When you pray for yourself or for others, don’t merely ask for changes in the details of the situation, pray that God in his mercy would provide the grace and faith and strength you need to respond as you ought.

In conclusion, we will not become effectual in our praying unless we give attention and preparation to the state of our own hearts and the manner in which we approach God. That has nothing to do with fancy words, education, or religious phrases, but it does have to do with a heart that is seeking God and is concerned with His glory. A mind that is taught by His word.

Preparing this talk today was a challenge for me in this very area. I couldn’t seem to get any thoughts down on paper. (Actually, now that I’ve succeeded in getting them onto the paper, I seem to be having trouble getting them back off and into my mouth so I can share them with you!) At first, I prayed that God would enable me to write quickly, and speak with force and confidence, and to do such a great job that everyone here would be changed forever and… and… 5:00 rolled around and I still didn’t know what I was going to say. I had been sweating and struggling and wrestling with truths and words and ideas that just would not seem to come together.

I was getting nervous. Now what did I pray for? That god would put words on the pad in front of me? That He would enable me to give a spectacular impromptu speech? NO. I fell on my face and prayed, “God, I don’t care whether I look good tonight or not. I just know that You want the truth of Your word to excite and convict tonight, and I pray only that You would accomplish this in spite of me.”

You’ve heard before that you should pray according to the will of God. What does that mean? It means that you do not ask for your own personal glory, but for God’s.

You all have a debate tournament coming up. What are you going to pray for? That you’ll give good speeches? That your opponent will not? :) Whatever you ask of God, be sure to consider your attitude as you approach Him, and take a moment to consider what use you will make of the gift you ask Him for.

Misc. Pictures (because I don't know how to spell the whole word)

Some of you have seen these before...

Does not wisdom call out?

Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
-Proverbs 8:1-2

I was reading my Bible this morning, waiting for two MV-22 Ospreys to land, when my little green New Testament attracted another lieutenant's notice. Our conversation started in Proverbs, but quickly found its way to every corner of the Bible. He asked how I, as a Christian, justify pointing my rifle at a man and killing him. In order to minimize the risk of finding himself in such a position, he requested a non-combat MOS. We talked about how we are all sinners—all murderers, even—and how grateful I was that God has made a way to forgive us. Not just a generous scale that easily tips the balance of good and bad in our favor, but a final pronouncement of forgiveness. We are cleansed from all our filth.

He wanted to know if babies went to heaven.

Come to find out he grew up in a baptist church. He's been in many different types of services, including non-denominational and Presbyterian. He believes in God; he talks about the Bible as though he really believes what it says; he used to be a good kid. Why doesn't he go to church now? Because he got a girlfriend. “She led me away.”

Why did he give up on being a Christian? Because he couldn't succeed in being good. Because being good never got him anywhere. Because he got a girlfriend. He hasn't denounced everything Christian. He still avoids killing people; but now he has fun.

The end of the story? She cheats on him. They don't always get along. She has none of the qualities he's looking for in a wife—but it's better than being alone. I reminded him that many men in the Bible have had the same complaints about the wicked prospering while the righteous perish. I reminded him that God is just, and we we must believe that. I told him that the heart of sin is wanting to do your own thing. God rewards those who seek him, not those who are sinless. I asked him not to turn his back on God. I asked him to remember Solomon and Samson.

I didn't know what else to say. The Ospreys arrived, and we were done talking. I'll pray for him... and invite him to church. I wish I could find him a better girlfriend :-p

Chapel Testimony (Fall 2002)

Over the next couple weeks I'm going to post a few things I've written in the past. I want them on-record, so to speak. This first is a copy of what I said in chapel just over three years ago.

Hi, I’m Kevin Radman. (That, by the way, is an introduction no rhetoric class can enable you to give!) I was first scheduled to give a testimony in the middle of September, but the date was pushed back several times. I thank God it has, because this morning I’m going to share with you something I wouldn’t have been able to say two months ago.

I try so hard to be good—I really do. It means everything to me. It has for a long time. I used to tell my friends that my circumstances didn’t effect me; it didn’t matter if my car broke down or I spilled a bucket of paint at work, what mattered to me was whether I walked with God. My happiness was not dependent upon my surroundings, my joy and satisfaction with life hinged on my service to God. I thanked God for this, I saw it as a good thing; I was proud of it.

But you know, for as much as I wanted to be good, I wasn’t. Because I wasn’t, I was often discouraged, unhappy, disappointed with myself. I used to sit in my car with a friend and tell him, “Elijah, I’m miserable!” “I’m the world’s most hypocritical Christian!”

I’ve been tired, but it’s not just because I haven’t been getting enough sleep. I’ve been frustrated and discouraged, but it’s not merely because of my grade on that last Latin exam. I have no joy. I’m not the only one who’s been there. Many of you are in the same place, and you’re not happy either.

Most of you know what it is to bang your head against Latin. How many of you also know what it’s like to sit down and bang your head against your Bible? I do. Trying to do devotions. Trying to read the Bible. Trying to pray. Trying to worship God in chapel. Trying to stay awake in church. Trying not to be as lazy as I was yesterday. I felt dead spiritually.

Four or five weeks ago, I gave Zach Martin a ride to my church in Leesburg. On the way there I confessed I had not been consistent in my devotions, I lacked motivation in my school work, I was tired and frustrated and distracted and unhappy. After the service, I was even more desperate: “Zach, what’s wrong with me? I got enough sleep last night, I sat in the front, I breathed deeply, took notes, and exercised different muscle groups to increase my heart-rate. I pinched myself, I propped my chin up with one hand and my eyes open with the other… and I didn’t hear a word the pastor said! I prayed that God would keep me awake, I asked Him to soften my heart and to cause the message to grab me and impress itself on my heart; that was my one goal in coming to church, and I failed.”

You know what he said? He looked at me, and he said, “Kevin, God loves you.” I knew that; of course God loves me, He loves everyone! But then I began to understand. I had been saying, “I try so hard to be good—and I’m not—and I have no joy.” God says, “I love you. You don’t have to be good. I know you’re bad. I’ve known from the start that you would be, and I’ve already forgiven you.”
Please listen as I read from Romans, chapter five, beginning in verse one:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Did you catch that? Let me read it again, in fewer words: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God… and rejoice!” Did you know that God doesn’t want you to be miserable? Let’s keep reading:

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

“We glory in tribulations [and have hope] because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts.” Let’s keep going:

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more then, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, though whom we have now received the reconciliation.

God knew everything bad I would ever do before He forgave me, but He did it anyway. I cannot sin so grievously that He would regret saving me. We sing about amazing love and amazing grace. They’re not amazing until you understand that you don’t deserve them.

Instead of thinking that you need to read through the entire Bible each year, and fourteen devotional classics in the same period, delight yourself in God. That’s all He asks from us. As John Piper puts it, “don’t be good, be God’s.”
I’ll end with this: I used to get discouraged when I went to Sunday night worship here in town hall. Everyone else is having a miraculous encounter with the Almighty. Their hands are in the air---just look at their enraptured faces—they talk between the verses—“Yes, Lord, amen.” “You are holy, Lord…” Eve’s crying. I want to do that, but I don’t feel anything. I wanted to worship God like they worship God. But I just stand there with my arms dangling at my side. They’re Presbyterian. They won’t come above my belt – they don’t know how to dance! But you see, I don’t have to do these things to please God. God is pleased with me because of the blood and righteousness of His Son.

Do you remember that I said my satisfaction and fulfillment in life depended on my “walk with God?” They didn’t. They depended on a list of ideals in my mind that I thought I had to live up to. My whole life has been an emotional roller coaster based on my spiritual performance. God says, “Be still and know that I am God. Relax. Just enjoy the fact that I love you.”

Do you know why Torrey is always smiling? This just dawned on me this morning as I walked in. Do you know why Torrey is always smiling? Because someone told him that God loved him, and he believed it!

The Bible says, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.” “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Let’s pray…

"Some of God's children, blessed be his name, are made strong to do mighty works for him; God hath his Samsons here and there who can pull up Gaza's gates, and carry them to the top of the hill; he hath here and there his mighty Gideons, who can go to the camp of the Midianites, and overthrow their hosts; he hath his mighty men, who can go into the pit in winter, and slay the lions; but the majority of his people are a timid, weak race. They are like the starlings, that are frightened by every passer by; a little fearful flock. If temptations comes, they fall before it; if trail comes, they are overwhelmed by it; their frail skiff is danced up and down by every wave; and when the wind comes, they are drifted along like a sea-bird on the crest of the billows; weak things, without strength, without force, without might, without power. Ah! Dear friends, I know I have got hold of some of your hands now, and your hearts too; for you are saying, “Weak! Ah, that I am. Full often I am constrained to say, I would, but can not sing; I would, but can not pray; I would, but can not believe.” You are saying that you can not do any thing; your best resolves are weak and vain; and when you cry, “My strength renew,” you feel weaker than before. You are weak, are you? Bruised reeds and smoking flax? Blessed be God, this text is for you then.”

"A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.” Matthew 12:20

-Spurgeon, “Sweet Comfort for Feeble Saints”