Cornelius – Centurion of Word and Deed

Cornelius – Centurion of Word and Deed

by | Feb 3, 2014 | Prayer, Service

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.  He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.  One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said … “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God” ( Acts 10:1-4).

Two aspects of Cornelius’ faithful walk before God are shown in these verses – twice over: his generous gifts to the poor and his prayer.  Now I can’t prove it, but given the fact of Cornelius’ evident  concern for those with needs, the final verse in this section of scripture makes me think he was praying  for the poor as well as giving to the poor.  If that’s the case, I’m sure that the poor were not all Cornelius prayed about, but in any case, the story of  this centurion reminds us that prayer and giving are both important in helping others and in learning the spirit of true giving ourselves.  Just as we can give without concerned prayer, we can pray without actual giving, and in either case our concern is limited as well as our effectiveness.

This is a point the apostle James makes so clearly in his Epistle: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:15).  It’s a vital combination:  we should not speak without doing.  James doesn’t suggest that our words of comfort are not important, just that they should not be alone.  This applies as much in terms of our words spoken in prayers, of course, as it does in our direct relations with others.

The Book of Acts shows us that Cornelius understood the importance of both speaking and doing.  He reminds us of that other centurion who told Jesus “… just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Matthew 8:8-9).   Both centurions understood the relationship between speaking and doing, both understood that speaking of itself is not enough. But while the one story stresses what God does as a result of our requests, the other story stresses what we should do as a result of our requests.  Words and deeds are always interrelated, in prayer as in other areas of Christian life, and the more we remember that, the more we can accomplish.

Before You Ask

by | Jan 5, 2014 | Prayer, Tactical Notes

You know how a compass works. The floating needle or direction arrow points toward the earth’s magnetic pole.   You also know what happens if the compass comes close to a local magnetic source – the direction arrow gets pulled away from its proper orientation and will not work properly until it is freed from the nearby influence.  

Each of us lives with a spiritual moral “compass”  we have developed which, if guided by God, points us in His direction, but sooner or later – and usually sooner – our spiritual compass  gets pulled away from true by the physical influences that surround us.  At that point we must reset  the compass by freeing ourselves from the negative physical influences or, knowingly or not, we are headed in the wrong direction.

That “reset” would seem to be the exact purpose of the beginning of the model prayer outline that we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Jesus taught that before making our requests to God we should  begin by praying “Our Father which are in heaven, hallowed be your name “ (Matthew 6:9).  These simple words, if expanded and prayed with sincere thought, reset our spiritual compasses and get us pointing  in the right  direction again.  It is as we pray thoughtfully, concentrating  on what God is, His nature, and His relationship with us that that we align and prepare ourselves for the requests we are about to make.

It’s all too easy to forget or skimp on this aspect of prayer, especially when our minds are crowded by our own needs and the needs of others, but it is to the degree that we do first align ourselves that we are better able to see things from the perspective God wants us to have.  Without  this realignment we eventually find ourselves asking for the wrong things in the wrong ways for the wrong reasons.

So, consider the importance of the opening thoughts of the Lord’s Prayer before asking for specific requests.  Jesus’ words help us in showing that alignment should always precede asking, and resetting should always precede requesting. 

A Direct Private Line

by | Dec 27, 2013 | Prayer

I was never in business, so the ways of the business world are often news to me.  Take, for example, when I found out that some businesses have a direct private line to the CEO that is made available to the most important clients.   Not to the rest of us, of course. We have to go through the recording with a raft of choices only to hear “There are twelve people ahead of you”  then perhaps eventually  be transferred a couple of times and perhaps put on hold for several minutes before we finally get an answering machine.  All this to call companies with only a few thousand callers.  Can you imagine what it would be like if we had to reach our Heavenly Father by phone?  “There are four million three hundred and twenty five thousand seven hundred and fifty six callers ahead of you.” 

The truth is we all have a direct private line that is always there.  It’s humbling to think that we are each, individually, important enough to Him to have a direct line to the CEO of the universe. We don’t have to wait on hold in order to get through eventually – the line we are given is direct and instant.  At any time.  There isn’t even a weekend plan where we have to wait to call because we are low on minutes. It’s really a wonderful thing that we so often take for granted.  No downed or bad lines, no poor satellite signal, no answering machine or dropped calls – ever. We can actually reach our heavenly CEO faster than we can get through to our doctor’s office or the manager of the local grocery store.  Have you ever given thanks for that?

The fact that we have direct access to our Heavenly Father is truly a great gift – and it is sad that many do not understand that the access is there, but believe they can only call on God through various intercessors.  Jesus’ words are clear on this, however, that although we ask in His name (John 16:23) and are only able to approach through His sacrifice (John 14:6),  we do not need any intercessor, but may pray directly to the Father (John 16:26,  Mat 6:9).

Another thing to remember is that our calls are always answered.   Although we talk about answered prayer and unanswered prayer, I find it helps to remember that prayer is like a phone call that’s always answered. God is always there and the “phone” is always on.  He may not give us what we ask for, or as quickly as we ask for it, for our own good, but we should remember the sincerely made call is always answered (Psalms 86:7, Jeremiah 33:3).  Something else for which we should be constantly thankful.

There’s only one catch to the direct private line package, and it’s a relatively small one.  We have to use it or we lose it.  It’s not like that legendary “hot line”  between the leaders of the US and the old Soviet Union – there to be used if circumstances become desperate enough that it is needed.  Remember Paul shows we should pray in all things. But it’s not hard to do. In fact, we don’t even need a reason to call, God is always desirous to hear from us and happy to take our call.  So if you haven’t done that recently, why not make the call and give thanks for your direct private line!

Help Needed

by | Dec 8, 2013 | Discipleship, Great Commission, Prayer

 “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’ “ (Matthew 9:37-38).

Although these verses are usually interpreted to mean that we should pray for more people to come to the knowledge of the truth who could join the work,  it seems to me that they may just as well mean that we should pray that laborers who are available, but not in the field, should get involved in the harvest. If that is the case, then we should all be praying for help to see what we can be doing, not just for others to come along who will do the work.

In any event, it is clear that we are told to pray earnestly (the Greek word is a form of deomai signifying “beseeching” or even “begging”).  We can hardly pray in this manner without personal involvement in the need for which we pray.  How?  We can pray earnestly for more workers to be called, or to become involved, for their needs, and for the success of their work.  What else can we do?  Certainly we can help financially, as we are able, to support good work where it is being done [Note: TacticalChristianity.org  does not accept donations or gifts],  but prayer always must be the first priority.    That’s what Jesus stressed.  On the other hand, other scriptures do show the necessity of helping those workers who “go out” into the harvest.  Notice the words of John in this regard:

“Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are … You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.  For they have gone out for the sake of the name … Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth” (3 John 1:5-8 ESV).

So, even if it is not our calling to personally go out into the “harvest field,”  there is much that we can do to support those who do go and to be “fellow workers.”  The “advertisement” for help needed has already been published.  It is up to us to respond today!
Asking and Giving

Asking and Giving

by | Dec 1, 2013 | Forgiveness, Prayer

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Asking and giving may seem like polar opposites to us, but when it comes to asking something from God, or even giving something to Him, these actions have something in common in that they involve our relationship with our neighbor.  

Two verses in the New Testament show this fact. It’s easy to see one of them and then to think the other is just a parallel account, or a slight variation, but the two verses make two distinct statements:

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25).

“… 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”  (Matthew 5:23-24).

Notice that these situations are not the same at all.  Mark 11 speaks of occasions when we are asking something from God – specifically forgiveness in this case – and shows us that we cannot receive this from God (and perhaps anything) if we ourselves are not willing to give forgiveness.   In Matthew 5, the occasion is one in which we wish to give something to God, but He makes it clear that He will not accept the gift (perhaps any gift) if we know others have something against us and we are not willing to accomplish reconciliation.

Taken together these verses show how important right relationships with our neighbors are for a right relationship with God.  In both these cases,  God does not want to accept something – a request or a gift – from someone who is estranged from another, who is holding back something from another – whether we are holding back forgiveness or reconciliation. 

In the case of our forgiving others, nothing must stop us doing this, though God understands that in situations where others have something against us we can only do our best to reconcile with them. Sometimes, others are not going to hear our attempts  at reconciliation and there is nothing we can do about that, other than to pray for them. 

Normally, however,  in our relationship with God, whether we are asking or giving, if we hold back from our neighbor, God holds back from us. On the other hand, if we are giving forgiveness and attempting reconciliation where it is possible,  God does not hold back from us in accepting  that which we are asking or giving. 

Praying Always

Praying Always

by | Oct 27, 2013 | Prayer

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This week’s new (for this site) article, on the Tactical Living page, is by an old friend,  Philip Shields.  “Do We ‘Pray Without Ceasing’?” is condensed from the June 15, 2013, blog posting on his website at lightontherock.org.   As for the title, when the apostle Paul spoke of praying  “without ceasing” and “praying always”, he was talking about the elderly and sick and those with plenty of time on their hands, right?  Surely he wasn’t talking about those who have to commute to work, mothers with young children, active duty service people, and all the rest of us? Philip’s article looks at what Paul meant by “praying always” and how that can apply to all of us.