Wisdom and Words

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver."  Proverbs 25:11

In addition to the above verse, I would actually encourage anyone reading this blog entry today to read through all of chapters 25 and 26 in Proverbs.  There is a tremendous wealth of wisdom found in these two chapters, which we will be addressing as we think about faith and wisdom and how they relate and play together.

Faith, we are told in the Bible, is the assurance of things that we hope for, and the conviction of things that we cannot see  (read Hebrews 11 to see this more fully explained).  Faith looks at what Jesus has done, and even though it may not make sense why He would do it, or how it would actually change things for us, we put our hope in it, and we are convinced that what Jesus did applies to us, in making us right with God, and in assuring us of a place with God forever.

Wisdom, however, doesn't seem to speak much to matters of faith.  In fact, wisdom actually seems to be much more worldly than matters of faith.  Wisdom speaks to ways of living in this world, and therefore, can actually seem to be somewhat contradictory to faith.  Faith looks at what can't be seen, and believes in it.  Wisdom looks at what exists in this world, and talks about how to best utilize it.

So do faith and wisdom have any connection?  Well, you may recall that yesterday's blog post began with Proverbs 1:7, that fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.  And that right there should show us that there is some kind of connection there.  Being in God involves being wise.  Being foolish is likened to being apart from God, and is definitely not in line with what God would have for His people.

I suppose one way we could think of it is like this.  Wisdom recognizes the pattern that God originally created for us humans to live under, and then works to bring us toward that original will and design.  Wisdom isn't forcing someone to do it.  Rather, wisdom sees that God's design is the best design, and then works diligently to bring one's self into that, as much as is humanly possible.  It's not trying to create a connection with God, but rather, working to live as God designed us to live in His intent in creation.

So wisdom looks to live as God created and designed for us to live.  Faith anticipates that day when wisdom becomes inherent in all of us who are in Christ Jesus, for in the new creation, we will actually be living according to God's will and design perfectly.  Wisdom becomes reality there.  Wisdom becomes a defining characterstic of who we are.  We live according to God's wisdom because God's wisdom is perfect, and because, in Jesus, we have been made perfect in that new creation.

In the meantime, wisdom sees that God designed our lives to operate in certain ways.  Even though sin keeps us from being able to fully live that way, wisdom still strives to bring that about as much as is possible.  It doesn't reconcile us to God, but opens doors to living better and more peaceably among the people of this world.  It's like the apple of gold set in silver, of great value, but only realized when we actually live according to it, with the assurance that, in Jesus, the day is coming when we will all live according to God's wisdom.

Wisdom and Faith

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."  Proverbs 1:7

There is a lot of wisdom literature out there.  In fact, when we look at the book of God's Words to us, we find that there is a lot which can be classified as wisdom literature in it.  God seems to have a thing or two to say about what is wise when it comes to our lives in this world. 

What do we do with all these wise words found in God's Word to us?  Well, there are some good ways of handling these words, and some not so good ways of handling these words.  It would be improper to take these words of wisdom and somehow make them into a law that God's people must uphold.  We may read, for example, that it is wise to hold one's tongue rather than reveal one's foolishness.  We know that it is better to let people think you are foolish than to open your mouth and prove them right! 

Now, how do we connect that with our faith, and what we understand that God has done for us in Jesus?  We know that we have full forgiveness in Jesus for everything sinful, wrong, and stupid that we do in this world.  Yet, do we continue to open our mouths to reveal our foolishness, to continue with the example above?  Well, not really.  Since we have been redeemed and rescued by God in Jesus, we strive to live according to the will and design that He created for us.  And that new life that He creates in us is one which strives to live according to His wisdom, as well.

We can't demand that God's people all of a sudden live wisely, and yet, we encourage and exhort one another to grow in wisdom as God's people.  As we do this, we also see that it impacts how others see us.  When those who do not believe in God see us acting foolishly, they may be led to think that being a Christian is a license to be foolish.  That's hardly the picture we want to paint for them.  We would much rather paint a picture of a people who live wisely in this world, even as we live our lives in faith in what God has done for us in Jesus.

Tomorrow, we'll flesh this out a bit more, as I realize I'm starting to get a little long-winded.

The Lifting Up Of My Hands

We raise our hands up in the air for a variety of reasons.  When our football team scores a touchdown, we just might hold both hands up with the referee in the symbol representing the touchdown.  When we get excited, we might throw our hands up in the air, or do a fist pump or two into the air.  If we are told to surrender, we put our hands up in the air, but that is much more a sign of defeat than these others so far.

So it's interesting that the author of Psalm 141 would write the following words.  "Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."  Here, the lifting up of my hands is for yet another reason.  It is the plea and supplication made to God.  Holding up the hands is like the prayer ascending before God.  It is seen as a sacrifice to the LORD God.

Typically, we think of prayer along the lines of asking of God, giving thanks to God, and the like.  The idea of prayer as sacrifice may be somewhat unusual to our thinking.  Sure, the giving up of our time may be the sacrifice we see, but is there more than that to it?  What kind of sacrifice is the lifting up of my hands?  What kind of sacrifice is the offering of my prayer?

As David wrote these words, it's very likely that his intent here is more along the lines of the giving of one's whole life to God.  When we lift up our hands to God, the prayer that we are offering is that of our very own selves.  We sacrifice our lives, our wants, and our hopes, and ask that God would give us His life, and make us to want those things that He wants.  We ask God to give us, not the hope that we would dream of, but the hope that He has prepared for us.  That is the sacrifice that we offer to Him, especially in this kind of prayer.

Lifting up hands during prayer is not a new thing.  The idea of sacrificing our own lives to God for His working and doing isn't new.  That's something, though, that we need constant encouragement to bring about.  Even though we know that Jesus' sacrifice makes us right with God, the struggle with our sinful nature makes us want to keep our hands down, and our lives to ourselves. 

May that lifting up of my hands be a willing indication of a life that wants to be lived according to God's will and design, because I am a new creation in Jesus!

What's the Right Way?

"Lord, teach us to pray."  Jesus' discipes, as recorded in Luke 11:1

What is the right way to pray?  It's a question that I have been asked on more than one occasion in life, and one that probably sticks in the mind of many people, yet never gets voiced.  And, truth be told, if you go to one of those Bible search websites and do a word search for pray or prayer, it can get even more confusing. 

Think about it.  In the Bible, we have different ways of praying emphasized in different parts.  In Matthew 5, Jesus says not to pray publicly, to be noticed by others, but to go into your room, and shut the door.  But then, we have places like some of Paul's letters which call for God's people to pray together, and even in some dynamic ways.  In 1 Timothy 2:8, he would even seem to be calling for men to pray in a particular way, with hands held up.  And yet, if we read in places like 1 Samuel 1:1-20, we see Hannah praying quietly before the "temple", likely the tabernacle of God, quietly and privately, yet in a public place. 

So what is the right way?  Well, from a place or posture standpoint, what the Bible seems to paint for us is a picture that there is no one set way or place.  That is left up to us, and really, it seems to place an emphasis that we can and should pray in any way, at any place. 

Does that mean that there isn't a right way to pray, then?  Well, I would suggest that we approach this question more from an attitude basis.  Is there a right way to pray?  Yes, in the way that we approach our God, asking for His will and His guidance be done in our lives.  We pray to God, asking that God would bring about those things in our lives that are best suited for the furtherance of His will and His design.  We pray that God would guide us according to His will, and that the things we ask for would bring further glory to Him, and not to merely to us.

In the end, it seems that the Bible would guide us more to the right attitude of prayer than to the right way or posture or place.  When our heart is set on God and on His will, anyplace is the right place, and any posture is the right posture.  Faith that God is doing His work seems to be that which is right when it comes to our prayer life.

Three Hours A Day?!?!?

"Let my prayer be counted as incense before You, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!"  Psalm 141:2

"...pray without ceasing..." 1 Thessalonians 5:17

"I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or quarreling..."  1 Timothy 2:8

There's a story that makes its way around on occasion.  It attributes something to a church father that I honor quite a bit, Martin Luther.  The story goes something like this.  One day, Luther was asked how he went about praying.  He told of how he would spend some number of hours in the morning in prayer.  So he was then asked, what do you do if it's a busy day, with a lot planned?  The saying goes that he replied, then I make sure to spend at least three hours in prayer!

Three hours a day in prayer, especially when it's a busy day??  That sounds strange to ears influenced by our way of life in the west.  After all, we tend to think that time is money, and that our time is valuable, and not to be spent wasted in things that don't bring some form of tangible value to us.  So three hours of a day dedicated to prayer sounds insane, especially when there are "bettter" things that we could be doing.

Now, I'm not here to argue how accurate this story may be, or even to try to explain how Luther might define an hour of prayer differently than what we might think.  But if you look simply over the three quotations above, one thing is clear.  God looks for and calls for our prayers.  Not so much as a "Talk to Me!!!" kind of command (although that is in there!), but as an invitation. 

In fact, Luther seems to have had a pretty good grasp of that invitation.  In his explanation to the opening words of the prayer we know as the Lord's Prayer, he gives this thought.  Our Father who art in heaven.  What does this mean?  With these words, God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that, with all boldness and confidence, we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.

Notice how it's much like a father who wants to hear his child speak to him.  That's what God looks for from us.  Sure, at times we don't want to talk, and the command needs to be reiterated to us.  Other times, we don't ask for nearly as much as our father wants to give, and so He reminds us to ask, because He is generous.  Other times yet, we find that we babble on about things that really don't have much meaning, and He loves to hear from us at those times, but He also reminds us that He looks for us to be specific and focused when we talk to Him.

Three hours a day?  Actually, that sounds about right.  The question really is more along the lines of, Do I value my relationship with my Father enough to talk to Him often, even up to three hours a day?