Living a Holy Life...

Chapter Thirty:

As believers and disciples of Christ, we strive to leave our sinful life behind, not just because we are told to, but because we desire to. We know that becoming holy will only result from allowing God to work in us, and to work out of us those things that are displeasing to Him.  If something is displeasing to Him, then we should be of the mind that it has to go.   You have to be willing to give up any vice, any desire, any habit...anything that is within you that holds you back from becoming holy.  Do not slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires.

 

Second Timothy 1:9 says, " He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time...". Because of Jesus' death on the cross we believers are no longer under the law but are under grace... since we have died in Christ, grace exempts us from the law.  Being under grace is the way to holiness.  We must remind ourselves that the purpose of our life is not to be happy, or healthy or content.  The purpose of our life as believers is to become holy.  Unfortunately we have allowed outside distractions to draw us away from this ultimate goal.  First Peter 1:15,16  tells us, “ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;  for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

 

It should be the desire of our heart to be totally submitted to God.  Unfortunately sin also seeks that position within us as it is not content to be just a 'little' sin in our lives, but is only content when it owns all of us. We must completely yield ourselves to God so that even the slightest sin is quickly repented of so that we can live the holy life we seek. If we are honest with ourselves we know that the carnal, fleshly nature is constantly trying to pull us back into living a sinful life.

Sin is a very domineering force and as much as we strive to keep in under control, we ultimately cannot. The only remedy, then, in order to live the holy life that we desire is by having a hatred for sin...for not only what it can do to us, but also how it causes a breach between us and God.  Fortunately First John 4:4 encourages us when it says, " You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." We are assured in Romans 6:14 that "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." 

The first step towards living a holy life is to longingly desire to become holy. The next step is to pray fervently for it. The end result is that we are so desirous of following God that we will walk away from any iniquity we have allowed to overtake us, even the small ones.  We also need to stay in prayer that the Lord will show us when we sin in the future so that we can quickly repent and ask forgiveness. Holiness is simply becoming perfectly conformed to the likeness of Christ. We must go after holiness with every ounce of our being...it cannot be a half-hearted desire or attempt. While we will never be able to totally escape sin in this lifetime, it is within our reach to live as sin-free as possible with the help of the Holy Spirit. 

Second Corinthians 7:1 challenges us when it says, " Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."  In this Scripture, Paul is encouraging believers to reach their destiny of living  with  a pure character and holiness of life. Paul is telling us that we already have the ability to do these things...it is not some far off place we have to wait to reach.  We can begin today to live pure and holy before God and men. 

Some churches have compared holiness with perfectionism. Others have gone to the other extreme and say that obtaining holiness is an impossible task. There are some churches who prompt their followers to live lives that outwardly impress others, but inwardly they are empty. 

Charles Spurgeon, said "It is not by personal holiness that a man shall enter heaven, but yet without holiness shall no man see the Lord. Holiness is better than moral­ity. It goes beyond it. Holiness affects the heart. Holiness re­spects the motive. Holiness re­gards the whole nature of man. A moral man does not do wrong in act; a holy man hates the thought of doing wrong. A moral man would not commit outward sin; a holy man would not commit inward sin. And if committed, he would pour forth floods of tears."  

He also said, "I believe the holier a man becomes, the more he mourns over the unholiness which remains in him. You will not gain holiness by standing still. Nobody ever grew holy without consenting, desiring, and agonizing to be holy. Sin will grow without sowing, but holiness needs cultivation. Fol­low it; it will not run after you. You must pursue it with determination, with eagerness, with perseverance, as a hunter pursues his prey." 

To the degree that you are holy, to that degree your testimony and work for God will be effective. Desiring to live a holy life does not mean we detest one type of sin but put up with another.  We realize that sin is sin and know the detriment it can bring to our living a holy life. We must have a strong desire to become holy, to labor and agonize for it as this is God's ultimate desire for us...to be holy as He is holy. 

One of the things you will realize is that the closer you get to holiness, the more aware you will become of your unresolved shortcomings. The more light we receive, the more of our own darkness is revealed. This can cause us much grief.  It is not that we have become worse sinners, but that we are now more sensitive to it in our lives. Where we may have once overlooked it, we no longer can. Nor must we stop short of purging all sin from our lives.  

We feel good about ourselves when we have gotten rid of some sin in our life, but we must not stop there.  We must continue as there is always hidden sin, sin that we may not even be aware of until the Lord shines the light upon it.  And be prepared, because He will.  Not out of meanness, but out of love for us and His desire that we will become as sinless and holy as possible.  Not only does living a holy life help us personally, but it brings honor to God.

God will not force holiness upon you. He desires you to become holy, but He will not force you to pursue it.  He leaves it up to us to strive for it. We must strive after it and determine to not give up until we have obtained it. The way we do this is to do our utmost to cleanse ourselves.  We can simply say, "Oh, I have a bad temper" and accept that that is just how we are.  We have got to overcome it.  Or if you are naturally lazy, you simply cannot say this is just how you are.  While sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit, He expects us to do our part. 

Sanctification means that the holy qualities of Christ have been given to us.  Sanctification is imparted to us from Christ, it is given to us, granted to us.  It is not achieved by our outward human efforts of simply acting as we think Christ would. When Christ imparts His Holy qualities to us it flows out from our inner being and is not something we do in our own strength. 

God has saved us by His sovereign grace but as Philippians 2:12-13 says, "... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..."  We are being told that it is up to us to endeavor to do our best so that our labor is not in vain; however, we must still remember that we depend upon the grace of God for our salvation.  It may be a difficult task, but it is a task we must do nonetheless. We may have to fight with our old nature, but if that is what is required then we must do it if we want to achieve holiness. 

Oswald Chambers, another one of my favorite authors, said, "Do I believe I need to be holy?  Do I believe that God can come into me and make me holy? If through your preaching you convince me that I am unholy, I then resent your preaching. The preaching of the gospel awakens an intense resentment because it is designed to reveal my unholiness, but it also awakens an intense yearning and desire within me.  God has only one intended destiny for mankind--holiness. His only goal is to produce saints. God is not some eternal blessing-machine for people to use, and He did not come to save us out of pity--He came to save us because He created us to be holy.  Atonement through the Cross of Christ means that God can put me back into perfect oneness with Himself through the death of Jesus Christ, without a trace of anything coming between us any longer.  Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind--placing every detail of your life under scrutiny of God Himself.  Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what God has given me that is being exhibited in my life."

I believe a word of caution is needed here, given our human nature to go from one extreme to the other.  While holiness is a most worthy goal, we must take care not to try to obtain it by our own means as we may end up doing it solely for our own personal benefit. What we need to realize is that a life of total surrender and walking without sin (and repenting of it as soon as we realize we have done it) is where we develop true holiness, not through our own human efforts. You cannot live a holy life by your own efforts as only God can make you holy as He works in you. The most wonderful part of living a holy life is that it does not come from imitating Christ, but in allowing His perfect qualities to shine through you.  Remember, becoming holy is the result of allowing God to transform you, and the fruit of becoming holy will be that it draws others to Him.

 

Intercessory Prayer: Part Two

Chapter Twenty-nine:

There is no special way that you need to do intercessory prayer.  Some feel most comfortable on their knees.  Others do it at a table and some even doing it while taking a walk and talking with God.  Many pray throughout their day, being open to what God puts upon their heart. The only caution I would give those who like to pray in private for periods at a time is to take care when praying in a place where there may be unknown and unexpected distractions that could arise. For example, if you're at home, turn off your phone.  You may not want to let anyone know you are at home in case someone decides to stop by. Some people find that going off somewhere solitary not only helps them get away from possible distractions but also helps them focus on hearing God's voice better during their prayer time.  Find out what environment works best for you.

Sometimes during intercessory prayer you take on a burden or need that goes far beyond your own understanding.  As Romans 8:26-27 tells us, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."  A very big part of effective intercessory prayer is praying in the Spirit, which allows God to pray His will through you. Intercession comes as you develop a strong walk with God and He shows you what to pray for. 

There are certain people that stand out whom we need to always be in prayer for: our government and its leaders; our Nation; the people of God around the world (not only in our church and our friends), those who are being persecuted, but also those in spiritual leadership.  However, what you will find as you do intercessory prayer is that God may have you pray for a specific situation or person that you know nothing about.  Do not worry if you do not understand it all, just pray because God is directing you to and He is aware of the need for prayer for that situation.  This can be frustrating for those people who always like to see an answer to their prayers because you may never know the outcome.  All you can do is trust that your prayers have been heard by God and He will act accordingly.  You will have to learn to trust God in a greater way than ever before!

As Oswald Chambers said, "People describe intercession by saying, 'It is putting yourself in someone else’s place.' That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective. Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything." Luke 18:1 tells us, "... men always ought to pray and not lose heart." 

Remember, your prayer life is very strongly connected to your walk with God. If you have sin in your life, God is not going to listen to you until you repent of your sin and ask for forgiveness. You may even find that while you are interceding for another, God may deal with your own heart.   We are told in Matthew 5: 23,24 " Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."  God is telling us that we need to enter into prayer with a clean heart and a clear conscience.  If we have anything holding us back it will interfere with our prayers to God.  First go and reconcile with your brother or sister if at all possible. The beginning part of James 5:16 says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."  God does not want anything to stand in our way of being effective prayers.

Without a doubt God does have the ability to simply just change a person or a Nation, but He has chosen to work otherwise, through believers who pray, and pray without ceasing.  It is a privilege to be an intercessor for God! God has two things He desires to accomplish through having us involved with Him in intercession.  First, He wants us to learn just how dependent we really are upon Him, and secondly, He wants us to join in with Him in praying for others. James 5:16 says, "...the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." 

When wondering what to pray for, I remember Isaiah 40:31 which begins, " But they that wait upon the Lord...".  I have often read that Scripture with the thought in mind that when I am tired, or unsure of what my next step is to be that if I wait on the Lord He will strengthen me and show me what to do.  However, I realize that this can be looked at in another way, from a prayer aspect.  If I wait upon the Lord He will lead me into what He wants me to pray for.  Sometimes the best way to pray is to simply wait quietly before the Lord and allow Him to show you what He wants you to pray for.  Be in His presence, and do not rush things as you want to wait for Him to reveal Himself to you. Then He will show you what to pray for.

Recently I have been reading the autobiography of Hudson Taylor, who lived from 1832-1905, and was founder of the China Inland Mission.  There was one situation that really spoke to me that I would like to share with you. He had been training as a doctor in order to be able to go to China. During this time of preparation he was sent to be a doctor to a man who was a known atheist. Several times Hudson tried to talk to him about God, but the man would simply roll over in bed and refuse to listen. Hudson finally stopped trying to evangelize the man and simply doctored him. One night as he was leaving, the man asked him why he was speaking no more of God. It turned out the man renounced his atheism and accepted Christ.

I would like to share the section that Hudson wrote shortly after that experience: "Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts, and our own feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things, may be the true cause of our want of success."

That really challenges me to look into my own heart to see if it is really the hardness of the unbeliever's heart that is standing in the way of their conversion, or if it is the lack of earnest prayer on my part. This is where intercessory prayer makes a big difference! Are we merely praying simple, repetitious words, or are we, as Hudson said, being driven to tears for their souls! 

One of your ultimate goals as a believer and disciple of Christ should be developing a stronger prayer life where we earnestly seek the salvation of others.  The way to do this is by having a strong relationship with God, praising Him, growing more Christ-like and having a desire to live holy before God. In the next teaching, we will look closer at how to live a holy life. 

 

Intercessory Prayer: Part One

Chapter Twenty-eight:

When you hear the word prayer you usually think of going before God with your needs or the needs of others and asking God for help. Intercessory prayer is different in that you are earnestly praying for another, or where you are praying for something or someone that God has placed on your heart.  Have you ever had a person's name or face suddenly come to mind, someone you had not thought of in a long time? Have you ever felt your heart grieved about the state of a Country you have never been to, or wept without words for your own Country or those in it? Perhaps the Holy Spirit has been trying to get your attention in order that you might effectively pray for that person or Country--in order that you might intercede.

An example of being an intercessor can be seen in Acts 12:5. When Peter was in prison, the entire church was praying for him, not just those with a gift of intercession.  It is also expressed in Ephesians 6, when Paul is exhorting all of the believers it included intercession. We read in Ezekiel 22: 30-31, " I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.  So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”  Another example of intercession is found in Psalm 106:23 which says, " So he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them." Had it not been for Moses standing in the gap between God and the people and praying to God to withhold His wrath, the people would have been destroyed.  But God honored Mose's prayer because Moses was open to what God wanted. 

Being open to God comes from having communication with God on an ongoing basis.  I realize that daily activities can sidetrack us, and some things do rightly demand our attention.  What I am referring to is an attitude where you are constantly open and ready to hear God even when you least expect it.  It is living a life of praising God, and the result of living with that attitude opens you up to being so in tune with God that He knows He can ask you to pray for something or someone.

God is looking for praying believers, intercessors who are faithful and tenacious.  There are some who do have a special calling on their lives to be intercessors, just as another may be called to the missionary field or to be a pastor.  While this is true, do not let that stop you from being an intercessor yourself.  Any disciple of Christ can and should be an intercessor.  As we all have the Holy Spirit in us, it is clear that we are all called to be intercessors. Intercession is the act of mediation, pleading or praying on behalf of another or even a nation.  Ezekiel 22:30 says, "I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one." God was looking for a go-between, someone who by their fervent, upright and active prayer would co-labor with Him to effect change and to see the people return to Him.  He was looking for an intercessor. Unfortunately, God was looking for help but could find no one. Remember, God is not hindered in what He can do, but at certain times He desires to find someone who will stand with Him.

When you start doing intercessory praying you may discover that it may be unlike anything you have ever encountered before.  During your regular prayer times you may have felt led to tears when praying for a lost loved one, or praying for a personal healing; however, during intercessory prayer you may feel a great heaviness in your spirit and a burden that you've never experienced before.  Lamentations 3:48-50 describes this, " Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief, until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees." 

Sometimes, you may pray once and feel that God has released you from praying any further for that person or situation.  However, there will be times that you feel that God wants you to pray regularly.  God will tell you when you can stop praying, but do not stop praying if you feel God wants you to continue. There will also be times when for some reason God will tell you to not pray for a person.  It could be that God wants to teach that person something, so do not interfere with what He is doing in that person's life or situation.   You cannot pray your own will or your own ideas about how something should work out.  Some prayers are answered quickly, others take lots of intercession to accomplish God's work.    There will be times that God will stir your heart to not only intercede but also to fast.  You will need to be a person of persistence, determination, faith, patience and selflessness as intercession can take a toll on you, physically and spiritually. 

Sometimes we will feel an urge to pray after reading the Bible as He speaks to us through the Scriptures.  Or maybe we hear that still, small voice speak to our heart.  God may even give you a picture in your mind as to what/who He wants you to pray for.  Sometimes you will simply feel that you should pray in  your heavenly prayer language as you are not sure exactly how to pray for a particular situation. Then there will be times when you pray in your prayer language and the Holy Spirit will be the only one who knows what you are praying about.  This is where trust in God comes in.  Trust that even though you do not understand what you are praying for that you are, indeed, praying for the right thing .  

To be a prayer warrior demands a lot.  It is done primarily in secret and involves a sacrifice of your time.  He knows the weakness of the human heart towards pride, and does not want us revealing in public what He has told us to pray about in private, that is unless He tells you to share it with others. There may come a time when He prompts us to share, but unless this happens, we are to remain silent.  

In Part Two, we will look more in-depth at intercessory prayer and how your walk with the Lord will affect your ability to be an effective intercessor.