Category: Christian Living

What Should I Pray For?

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul taught the people to “pray without ceasing.” What does this mean? To pray without ceasing is to pray every day and many times a day. If you have a best friend, you want to talk with them many times during the day. God wants us to talk with Him many times during the day as well.

These prayers do not have to be long. We may pause to pray for a minute or two but it is precious time spent with God. We can share with God the good and bad things that are happening that day and ask for His help. He always listens to His children.

Make prayer your daily habit. You can find many things to talk with Him about if you just take the time. But you may ask, “What should I pray for?” The Bible gives us that answer.

Good Health for You and Others

When you pray, it is good to pray that you, your loved ones, and other faithful people will be in good health. In 3 John 2, John said that he prayed that Gaius would be in good health. We certainly do not want the people we love to suffer because of illness; however, there are other reasons to pray for someone’s health.

If a person is healthy they can do some things in service to Christ much better. When I am sick it is hard to prepare lessons and a sore throat makes it almost impossible to preach. We pray for the good health of those who work in the church so that they can continue in their service to God.

Pray also for your own good health and, whether you are sick or healthy, do the best you can do in service to God.

Elders

When God established the church he also gave the elders the responsibility to oversee, or rule, over the church. The elders are like shepherds who take care of sheep; the elders help feed us spiritually by making sure the teachers and preachers are teaching the truth. They make sure that your Bible classes are planned well and that the teachers are presenting lessons that will help you grow in your Bible knowledge.

They also help people in the church who are having problems by talking with them and giving them advice from the Bible. They must be wise about how to handle problems and using the Bible to help people know what they are supposed to do.

Does your church have elders? Do you know who they are? If not, ask your parents to tell you who they are. Pray for them and their important work in the church. Thank them for their important work as well.

Preachers and Teachers

As a preacher, I am so glad to hear when people pray for me as I am ready to preach. I want to make sure that I do not teach false things and that I teach the good things well. When people pray for me, I know that they want God to help me do what is right.

When you pray, be sure to pray for your Bible class teachers and your preacher. Both spend a lot of time during the week preparing classes and sermons to help you grow because they love the Lord and they love you and want you to go to heaven.

God warned teachers that they would be judged even harder by God because they might lead people away from Him if they teach false things, James 3:1 Pray that they may always speak the truth. Pray that they may be able to teach their lessons in a way that others can easily understand the important message of God.

Thank God for such men and women who are willing to spend time preparing lessons to teach you what is right. (Don’t forget to thank your teachers personally!)

How I was taught to remember others when praying.
How I was taught to remember others when praying.

When you pray, be sure to pray for your parents. They will appreciate you asking God to help them. As a parent I want my children to pray for me to be in good health. I want them to pray for me to do well in my work and that we will have the things that we need, such as food and clothes.

I also want my children to pray for me to be a good father and for my wife to be a good mother. We have never been parents before so we want God’s help. We want our children to pray that we will be wise in our decisions and to forgive us when we make wrong decisions. I want my children to pray that I will be a good example to them.

I also want my children to pray that I will give them my attention and love; that when I punish them I will be fair and understanding. Be sure to pray for your parents. Do not forget to pray for them every day.

Government Leaders

If you listen to the news or study current events in school, you know that there is trouble with different nations in the world. The government has to protect us from terrorists as well as protect many of our rights. Government leaders have many great responsibilities and the Bible tells us to pray for them, 1 Timothy 2:2.

We should pray that they make decisions that allow us to live as Christians without persecution from the government or any other person. We should also pray for the leaders of the world governments that they would allow their people to worship God freely; not all people enjoy our freedom to worship God as He commanded.

We should also pray that God will give them wisdom in their many difficult decisions. We should pray that they will decide the things that will bring peace, not war. If we have to go to war, we pray that the war will end quickly with few deaths. We should pray for them to make decisions that will benefit all people and allow them to live right.

Spiritual Wisdom

James 1:5 encourages his readers to pray to God for wisdom: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. Godly wisdom is one of the most important things that we can have. Godly wisdom helps us make good decisions and avoid things that we should not do.

We get knowledge by studying God’s word. Wisdom is the ability to use what we have learned from God’s word. Study for knowledge; pray and learn from godly people to receive wisdom.

Pay attention to what your teachers, the preacher, and your parents try to teach you from God’s word. Use what you have learned to make good decisions and avoid things that displease God and will do you harm. Pray for wisdom and trust God’s promise to give it to you.

Wisdom When Making Decisions

Every day each of us has to make good choices. Friends at school, in our neighborhoods, and even friends from church ask us to do things and to go places. We must make good decisions about what is right to do and what we should avoid. We should also pray for the courage to explain to others why they should not do things that are wrong. You can teach them this way.

You become stronger when you make good choices. In Hebrews 5:14, the writer compares it to exercising. When you exercise your muscles you become stronger. When you exercise good decision making, it is easier to choose the good in the future.

Even your parents have to make good choices. Pray for them to make good choices as they try to raise you. They are probably praying to God for the same thing. You will pray for good choices all of your life.

Help During Temptation

In the model prayer of Matthew 6:13, Jesus told His followers to pray that they would not be led into temptation and that, when tempted, they would be delivered.

Through bad choices, some people find themselves tempted when, if they had made better decisions, would not have been tempted. If you hang around people who do things that you know are not right, you will likely find yourself in a situation that you could have avoided. We should pray to God for wise judgment to avoid temptation.

It is not always possible to avoid temptation so we should also pray that God would help us in temptation. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, God promised that with each temptation He will provide a way to escape evil. We must pray to God for the wisdom to see the way of escape and the courage to take it. Since Satan is our enemy, we need to pray for God’s help.

Opportunities to Teach Others

In John 8, Jesus used the example of harvesters in a field to tell His apostles to pray for teachers to lead people to Him. The lost need to hear the gospel. You may not feel like you could teach someone but you can lead that person to a teacher or invite them to Bible class or worship services where they can hear God’s word taught.

Pray for chances and the courage to invite friends to Bible classes, gospel meetings, Vacation Bible School, and worship services. By leading someone to Jesus you can change their lives for the good and they can have eternal life with God.

Which of your friends or family members needs to hear the gospel? Pray for them and try to find opportunities to teach them or lead them to a teacher.

Food

We should develop a habit of thanking God for our food. Paul taught that we should give thanks to God for the food we eat, 1 Timothy 4:3-5. Jesus taught His disciples to thank God for their daily bread, Matthew 6:11.

One day, a father, who did not serve God, was fed up with his wife and children giving thanks to God for the food. He told them, “I worked to earn the money to pay for that food. God did not give it to you, I did. You should be praying to me for the food.”

The wise wife quietly reminded her husband that it was by God’s hand that he had his job and the health to do it. God also gave the rain, the sunshine, the seed, and allowed the plants to grow and bear fruit. God provided the nourishment for the animals and the lives of the animals themselves. Last of all, He provided the rain that, in a pure form, filled their water glasses.

The father saw her wisdom and humbly thanked God for the food He had given.

Give Thanks to God

Consider some of the the different things for which we should pray already discussed. When we pray, we must also give God thanks for the prayers He has answered and that He listens to us. Though some adults may ignore you when they are busy or at other times, God always has time for us. He wants us to visit Him in prayer and open our hearts to Him. However, we should not just spend our time asking things from Him. We would not like it if people only talked to us when they wanted something we had.

Luke 17:11-19 records the story of ten men with a terrible, incurable disease called leprosy. These people had to stay away from all healthy people. They cried to Jesus, asking Him to heal them. He told them to go to the priest who could determine if they were healthy. As they went, they were healed, but only one returned to thank Jesus for what He did.

Let us remember to give thanks for all that God does for us and the care that we enjoy. Let us not be unthankful.

Pray Through The Name of Jesus

“…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ” Ephesians 5:20

Do you ever wonder why we often say, “in Jesus’ name” at the ending of prayers (or something similar)? This verse helps us understand why. We approach our Father through Jesus. He is an intercessor (pronounced: enter-says-her). An intercessor is one who asks something on behalf of another person. When we pray to the Father, Jesus is on our side.

We must give thanks for all things because all things come from God. Every blessing comes from God (James 1:17).

If you spent a lot of money or a lot of time on a gift for someone and they acted as if they did not care you would feel hurt, perhaps even angry. We are ungrateful if we do not give thanks for all things that God has given.

We give thanks for the good things we enjoy for we are very blessed. We should even give thanks for some bad things. If we are tempted but we do not sin, we become stronger. When we are sick, we appreciate our health. When we have bad days, we appreciate the good days. In all things, we must give thanks to God.

We can only approach the Father through Jesus; therefore, we must do all things in His name.

Could You Serve Christ in Obscurity?

Having written a general article about the craving some have (which I fight) to become a celebrity in their own cyber world and asks the introspective question: could we live in obscurity?

There is a spiritual angle to this as well. Could I serve Christ with few knowing what I am doing for the Lord’s cause? Can I do a good deed to His glory and to accomplish His will and be content that my brethren do not know what I have done? Could I truly keep the right hand uninformed of the left hand’s work?

Do I serve Christ so that others may see. I may not sound the trumpet for all to hear and may refrain from praying loudly on street corners, but do I “glorify God” by proclaiming on social media all the good things I am doing in the kingdom? Could it be that I would never boast in what I have done but would “humblebrag” freely to the clicking likes of others?

Then the accusing question sounds within but a question asked too late for me. You are a preacher. You are not invited to speak in lectureships or gospel meetings around the nation and you write nothing that is posted for a broader audience in bulletins, newsletters, or on the Internet. You do incredible work for the Lord but only the people in Flyover Town, USA (or a small remote town in a foreign country) know what you do. They love you dearly and credit you with their great spiritual growth and you help generations of people follow the Lord. But no one else knows what you are doing and you receive no accolades from brethren in other places. Could you be content with this? Could you be content that aside from your local associations, your works are known only to God? The question is moot for me but may be life changing for another.

Who are we serving? Why are we serving? What is the real answer to these questions?

Consider the attitude of the apostles in 1 Thessalonians 2:4-6:

but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.

As bondservants of Christ, we should heed Paul’s command to those who were physical servants of men in Ephesians 6:5-8:

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

Celebrity is an illusion. How sad if we chase the praise of men and disqualify ourselves from the praise of God (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18). How futile is the fickle praise of men. Let all be done to the glory of God.

The Bored and the Stagnant: Recipe for Church Problems

The Bored

Some Christians always seem to desire something different in the worship or work of the church. They think that change will reinvigorate them or make things better. They seek new cars, houses, jobs, and possessions to fix their boredom and discontent. They feel their marriage is dead so they seek illicit affairs or divorce to find a new spouse. Yet change eventually settles into a new reality and the old boredom and discontent returns because they treated the symptoms and not the root problem.

People do not seek to change things that are effective and fulfilling. It is no surprise that some people feel that the worship is dead, the church is dead, and that we are going through the motions, boring each other to death, with some self-satisfaction that we have done God’s will. When someone reads a popular religious book extolling the value of a new way of operating the church, worshiping, doing God’s work, or introducing practices that were considered long forgotten, it is no surprise when they feel that they have found the magic cure.

If some would look into their own heart they might see if that they are lacking in love, commitment, or total dedication to God in their lives and are looking for a “worship experience” or something in the church—the externals—to fill what should be filled from within. Some are very shallow in their faith, it is a part of their life and not life itself, so they are very sensitive to worship or the church not satisfying their needs and become restless. Some are looking for an experience instead of building a complete life in God.

The Stagnant

Some reading the section above may nod approvingly and with disdain upon such brethren. Do not be quick to judge the dissatisfied and look down on their instability because it may be that we have settled for less than offering the best to God in worship and in the work of the church. Some people are quite content to the point of stagnation:

  • Why do we need to learn new songs? Aren’t the old ones good enough?
  • Why did that brother spend so much time talking before the Lord’s Supper? Doesn’t he know we just need to pray and pass the plates?
  • Why did the song leader sing more than five songs? Doesn’t he know we have lunch waiting?
  • Why are the elders and preachers urging us to practice hospitality, doing things with one another, and serving those in need?

Some are satisfied with continual dry worship and inactivity as a church—it fits their life. Like the person who seeks innovations in worship and the work of the church, if some who settle for less than the best would look into their own heart they might see if that they are lacking in love, commitment, or total dedication to God in their lives and, instead of looking for a “worship experience,” they want to fulfill their duty or commitment and get on with their lives.

Like the innovator, some are very shallow in their faith, it is a part of their life and not life itself, so they are content to come to services, mumble their songs, respectfully bow in prayer, look attentive to most of the sermon (with a couple of naps), and feel that they have been faithful in their duty and return to a life that mostly revolves around their needs, not God’s work.

This was a problem in the Old Testament. Consider the cries of the shepherd prophet Amos:
Amos 4:4-5:

4“Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.

The people were coming to the places of worship but multiplied transgressions for their own satisfaction, not to God’s glory. They enjoyed it but God did not.

Amos 5:21-24:

21“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

God hated (twice emphasized) their feasts and would not accept them just because they were offered. He was not satisfied with motions or emotion. He wanted the selfless worship of holy people.

Malachi 1:6-10: If you follow the link to the passage in Malachi you will find a condemnation of the people who did not offer the best. God wished that they would lock the doors and not waste their time and His.

The easy life is dangerous!

Amos 6:3-7: Follow this link to Amos 6. The children of God were in luxurious ease, amusing themselves with idle music and feeding their faces when work needed to be done. If Amos were to come among brethren today would he sound a similar alarm? Stretching out on our couches and easy chairs, eating the bounty of our pantry and refrigerator, watching television, playing on the Internet, investing countless hours in our hobbies and earthly activities until the calendar and the clock tell us, it is the appointed time to serve God. We search the house and car for the Bible and class book, go to the building and find our regular seat, go through the motions of worship, and return to our regularly scheduled program.

I’m not saying that is true of you, but you had better make sure that it is not true of you and I have to make sure it is not true of me because, to paraphrase the words of God to Amos and Malachi, He would rather the doors of the church be locked so that we would not waste our time or His in vain worship that He hates and noisy songs that do not honor Him.

We do not need innovations, we need to do what God commands. Our worship must be done decently and in order, 1 Corinthians 14:40. Our worship must be offered with zeal and enthusiasm. We must live holy and dedicated lives devoted to serving God and not our own needs and comforts.

We must live and worship in the spirit of the New Testament Christians

  • Acts 2:42-47 – Devoted to God’s word, devoted to supporting one another spiritually and materially, Sacrificed possessions to take care of each other, Daily worship, Thankful to God
  • Acts 4:32-34 – United in heart and soul, Forsook a claim on material possessions preferring to meet the needs of their brethren. They enthusiastically preached the gospel even when persecuted.
  • Acts 5:42, 6:7 – They enthusiastically taught the gospel.
  • Acts 8:4 – those scattered from the persecution preached.
  • Acts 11:19-25 – Passion for the gospel led to growth.
  • Acts 13:2-3 – Sent preachers into foreign places.
  • Acts 17:6 – their teaching turned the world upside down.
  • They helped brethren in need in faraway places as churches andindividuals
    • Acts 11:27-30 – Judean famine
    • 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 – Giving of themselves then of their wealth

They rejected the immorality of the world, repented of their wickedness, and tried to live pure and holy lives, Titus 2:11-14. They encouraged one another to live holy lives. They were united. They enthusiastically preached the gospel to others and sent messengers throughout the world. They willingly sacrificed what they had to relieve the need and suffering of their brethren. They did all of this without formal programs or man-made organizations: They fervently loved God and one another and it was expressed in their teaching and practice.

The brethren continued these practices as recorded by early writings. Let us reflect on their example coupled with what we have already read from the scriptures. Consider this testimony of the early church from Aristides – delivered the Apology around the year 125, when Hadrian visited Athens

Apology SectionXV. Wherefore they do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle what is held in pledge, nor covet what is not theirs. They honour father and mother, and show kindness to those near to them; and whenever they are judges, they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols (made) in the image of man; and whatsoever they would not that others should do unto them, they do not to others; and of the food which is consecrated to idols they do not eat, for they are pure. And their oppressors they appease (lit: comfort) and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies; and their women, O King, are pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in the other world. Further, if one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food.; and they escort his body as if he were setting out from one place to another near. And when a child has been born to one of them, they give thanks to God; and if moreover it happen to die in childhood, they give thanks to God the more, as for one who has passed through the world without sins. And further if they see that any one of them dies in his ungodliness or in his sins, for him they grieve bitterly, and sorrow as for one who goes to meet his doom.

I have been both the bored and the stagnant in my life and don’t want to go there again. If we are living and worshiping as we ought, we will not become bored and discontent and become susceptible to any innovation or cure that is offered.

Is God’s Plan For Your Life a Blueprint or a Game Plan?

In the modern religious world it seems almost heretical to think that God doesn’t have a specific plan for each person (by specific plan I mean that He has planned details of our lives). In everyday conversation and on social media, people attribute events in their life to the specific fulfillment of God’s plans and comfort themselves regarding tragedy considering it was sent by God for a purpose and was not mere chance. Some people anguish trying to discover God’s will for their lives or wonder why God’s plan is bringing them such trials and sorrows. Some interpret many events or Bible passages as signs or messages from God guiding them on this supposed road-map.

What does the Bible say about God’s plans and our lives?

God Had Specific Plans For Some People

Before we study the issue we must make it clear by stating that God did have specific plans for some people in history. The Old and New Testament are filled with people whom God used to accomplish His will. Using words like “I have chosen you” or “you have been appointed” He describes plans for people like Moses, Pharaoh, David, John the Baptist, and Paul (among others) to accomplish specific objectives. He even used nations to accomplish His purposes. Even within these exceptions most, like Pharaoh, He used for a limited purpose and there is not mention of further plans for them outside of that defined need.

Also, with the nations, Pharaoh, and the Jews who killed Jesus God used their evil motives and personal ambitions to accomplish His purposes. He accomplished His will in spite of their wickedness or disobedience. With others, like the apostle Paul, the plans were not obvious or revealed to them even though they spoke other things by inspiration (see also the future of Peter and John in John 21:20-25). God, as sovereign ruler, can use His creation as He wills to accomplish His purposes, Romans 9. But a distinction needs to be made between a specific detailed plan for their whole life or a specific plan for a part of their life that moves His master plan forward. In other words, just because God had a plan for Pharaoh during the time of Israel’s bondage and their release does not mean that He had a continuing specific plan for Pharaoh once Israel left Egypt.

Gameplan

Blueprint or Game Plan?

When thinking of God’s plans in our lives, I think Don Truex explained the two approaches best in an excellent sermon asking if God has a blueprint for our life or a game plan. A blueprint is a specific detailed plan with a defined outcome. There is no room for choice because if you diverge from the blueprint you can’t build what was designed. A game plan, by contrast, is a general approach or strategy that allows a lot of flexibility for choice and many possible outcomes that are in harmony with the general objective. As Brother Truex notes, “with blueprints, there is no ‘Plan B’.”

Discovering the Blueprint

The crux of the problem is revealed when we try to discover God’s plan for us. God’s word was written to a universal audience so I find passages that apply to me but not only to me. My name is not listed in scripture with a unique plan for my life. Therefore, if God has a blueprint for our lives,  His will must be revealed outside of scripture. The central problem is that we have no guidance in the New Testament on what signs to look for in our lives, how to tune into the messages of God, or how to discern what is a message from God pointing down one path or from Satan leading me down another path. We have no scriptures telling us that God speaks through feelings, promptings, or a sense of peace to direct our decisions as He navigates us through life. We are not told to expect the leading of the Holy Spirit or instructions on how to discern it. Yet many Christians interpret (and that is the key: they interpret) events and feelings as indications from God that He wants them to take a certain action, make a decision, or is satisfied with their choice. Some have called this the “third revelation.”

Though foreign to the New Testament, this “third revelation” is described as God’s leading through emotions, impulses, and “speaking to/putting upon your heart” to fulfill God’s specific plan for your life. This is idea, rooted in mysticism,  is popular in Christian bookstores, but is foreign to God’s word. Though a former believer in this idea, Reformed writer Gary Gilley, in an enlightening podcast answers biblical arguments offered in support of God’s inner leading and the absence of  Bible instruction about  listening for God’s voice in our heart or how to detect His prompting. He also addresses what proponents do not: why is the “prompting” not considered binding or obligatorily and disobedience considered a sin?

The last question is quite important because if God does have a blueprint, what if we ignore it or choose another path? Proponents argue that many of the choices are not moral choices but are lifestyle choices (should I choose this job or that or live in this city or that) but if God is giving us signals that we should live in Atlanta but we choose to live in Tampa, why would we not be rebellious sinners for circumventing His plan? Any divergence from the plan means we cannot build exactly what God planned! Will God then force us to do His will and take away our free will? I think it might surprise some who teach that predestination is not taught in scripture to realize that they are contradicting their view of man’s free will by promoting the blueprint concept.  When we talk of people that God has planned for us to marry, jobs He has planned for us to have, etc. we are promoting this blueprint concept whether we have realized the implications or not.

Discovering the Game Plan

If we understand that the Bible does not have a specific plan for a mate, job, place to live, or the minute details of life we understand that God could still have a general plan for us to follow. We are faced with the same dilemma described above: discovering the plan. Since this plan is not “personalized” we are given general direction and boundaries and the flexibility to choose within those boundaries. The New Testament is filled with general guidance for the Christian to be holy in his life, edify his brethren, be a light in the world, abstain from immorality, teach the lost, etc. These commands and expectations are bound on all Christians. Some specific life decisions that blueprint followers look for feelings or impressions from God to guide them,  game plan followers look to the principles of scripture to guide their judgment. Consider these examples:

  • How much should I give to the contribution? Whatever you determine is appropriate, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7.
  • Who should I marry? Whoever you want to as long as they have a scriptural right to marry, 1 Corinthians 7.

In a book I highly recommend, Is that You, Lord?, Gary Gilley listed several decisions of Paul in his missionary planning and travel that were not attributed to God “laying something on his heart” or some prompting but were completely Paul’s discretion: Titus 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2; Philippians 2:25, 1 Corinthians 16:3-4.

To find the game plan, we study the New Testament instructions for all Christians. We follow general plans such as Titus 2:11-14:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

The challenge here is not to try to find God’s will through some mystical and mysterious promptings but to submit our will and our desires to the will and desires of God expressed in His word.

My View: God’s Game Plan

We understand that “all things work together for good for those that love God” (Romans 8:28). It is not for us to figure out what He is doing through His providence, but to obey His will so He can accomplish His purposes through us. Instead of wondering where God wants me to live or what job H wants me to take, I must make those choices using wisdom taught by God’s word and in whatever city I choose to live and what career I pursue, live to His glory. God can use me where I am even though He has left the decision making to me.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6) ESV

Instead of attributing events to the direct hand of God, I take the Mordecai attitude of “PERHAPS you were brought here for a reason” because PERHAPS it was just chance but you can use the opportunity to serve God. Unless God explicitly reveals His actions, I feel it is presumptuous of me to say “God did THIS.” Give glory to God that whether by chance or His purpose, the action took place but in humility remember that “His ways are past finding out.”

To take the game plan view, we realize that God has given us boundaries in which to act, guidance on decision making, authority to make choices in our lives, consequences for our choices, and acts providentially to take care of us and make all things to work together for our good. It does not diminish His role in our lives but recognizes that God has a role and has created a role for us to accomplish His will. I do not have to anguish that I may have married the wrong person, lived in the wrong place, chosen the wrong career, or messed up other choices because I wasn’t in tune with the vibrations of the Spirit or hearing the voice of God in my feelings or some signs. If I am obeying His will I am accomplishing His will.

Your View

Your view will largely depend on your view of predestination and free-will. However, there is confusion when people teach that God has given us free-will to act but then speak of trying to find God’s specific plan for our lives. Thinking through your view, based on what God’s word teaches, will help you be more consistent in how you think and how you speak.

Jeremiah 29:11 Is NOT A Promise For Christians

flowersI see many Christians, young and old, discussing plans for the future or changes in their life using Jeremiah 29:11 as a verse of comfort that God has plans for a bright future for them. In one sense I am not surprised. The denominational world has emblazoned this verse on coffee mugs, shirts, motivational posters, and it is used by the positive psychology and health and wealth prosperity preachers in the popular religious culture. But I am also perplexed because we are supposed to be careful in our handling of the scriptures and reading from the scriptures instead of reading our beliefs into the scriptures. Consider the verse:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV)

Standing alone it does appear to be quite comforting. Though I may not know what life holds it appears that God has planned a bright future for me in which I can rejoice. Not only that, it appears that God has a personal plan for my life–different from His plans for others. I am no insignificant person; God has plans for me! But is this the message of this verse?

What Is The Message of Jeremiah 29?

The first indicator that this might not have application to the Christian is the location in scripture: the book of Jeremiah is in the Old Testament and he was a prophet to the Jews. There are some prophecies, such as Joel 2, that speak to the Christian age and many prophesies of the Messiah so further examination is needed to determine if this is for the Christians or the Jews. Let’s look at the broader context. I’ve included the text of Jeremiah 29:1-4 divided with notations (text from the English Standard Version):

These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

To whom was it written? Jeremiah is writing to the Jews taken by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonian Empire, from the land of Judah to live in the region of Babylon, verses 1 and 4. Nebuchadnezzar took Jews to Babylon in a series of captivities. Jeremiah was part of a group that was left in Jerusalem before it’s eventual destruction and the final deportation.  This is not written to those in “the latter days” or other ways that Christians are referenced in the prophets.

What was the message? From Jerusalem, the prophet instructs the early captives to settle in the land because they would not be delivered and returned to Judea for seventy years (According to Jeremiah 25 and 29:10). He urges them to build houses, plant produce, grow families, and be a blessing to their new communities. He tells them to ignore the false prophets who are preaching an early return to the Promised Land. Finally, he promises that at the end of the seventy years God would return them from the scattering of captivity to the Promised Land.

Plans for whom? So we return to our key passage: Jeremiah 29:11. The captivity and return were not unfortunate circumstances but were part of the plan of God for them. He planned destruction for Jerusalem, seventy years of exile for His people, and a glorious return to the land of Judah where they would rebuild their lives, the temple, and the nation. Thought they were suffering, God had plans for which they could hope if they sought Him with their whole heart.

Doesn’t make sense for the Christian! The immediate verse says that these plans will follow seventy years of Babylonian exile under which no Christian is suffering. The promise was already fulfilled when God visited the Jews, fulfilled His promise, and brought them back to this place (Jerusalem) as recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:17-23. God had specific plans for the captive Jews: care for them in exile and return to the Promised Land. Even the phrase “you will call upon me and pray to me” alludes to Daniel 9 where Daniel prays for deliverance knowing the seventy years are at an end and God answers with the comfort that the plan for their return to Jerusalem has been set in motion. [If you take the time to read 2 Chronicles 36 and Daniel 9 you will notice specific overlapping language with the text in Jeremiah 29]. It is illogical to take one thought out of a broader thought to apply to oneself and ignore the rest.

What about other verses? Strange that people do not take other prophets where God declared he had plans for their destruction and apply it to themselves. God told Israel of His plans for their punishment and destruction in many places but no one seems eager to take them out of context and apply them to their current situation. It is foolish to do it just because the verse says something we like.

The Christian cannot take this promise from the Jews for a specific outcome and apply it to their lives. Let us be careful when we quote passages thrown about in the religious world. The Christian has many promises of God’s care but this isn’t one of them.