CHRISTIAN GROWTH CYCLE: 2.1

SERVING
GOD

Tim Britton

INTRODUCTION

	In Christian Growth Cycle: 1  Belonging  we saw that we belong to God and to each other as members of Christ’s body here on earth.  We saw that God wants us to grow and be fruitful in his service, and that our growth and fruitfulness involve all four dimensions of the Christian life – our spirituality, our social and environmental life, our corporate life, and our mission.  In this booklet we look in greater detail at how we can serve God in our spirituality.  Don't just read it; put it into practice!
	The two main ingredients of spirituality are prayer and the Bible.  We begin with prayer.

	What do we mean by prayer?  Often in the Bible it means simply making requests to God.  However, in its widest sense prayer includes much more than that.  We pray when we make any kind of communication to God, verbally or non-verbally.  Since we are communicating with God, it is natural for prayer to include elements of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, questioning, confession, affirmation, intercession, and petition.  (We'll look again at these elements in a bit more detail later on.)
	Adoration is simply loving God.  When we want to communicate with God, it is natural to think about him. and when we think about him it is natural to love him.  God knows our hearts, and we communicate our love to him whether or not we say anything.
	Praise is how communicate our admiration of God: we praise him for those aspects of his character and activity that have excited our admiration, and tell him what we think of them.
	Thanksgiving is the natural way we show our gratitude for what God has done.
	Questioning: when we want to communicate with God, it is often with questions in our mind, and it is natural to communicate those questions to our loving heavenly Father.  However, it is helpful to do so alongside praise and thanksgiving, lest our questioning becomes faithless moaning.
	Confession is also natural.  God knows our faults, but he wants us also to be open about them, and to admit to him our sins of omission and commission, our sins of thought, word and deed, and our feelings about them.  When we know God, it is natural to be completely open with him.
	Affirmation is a declaration to God - and to any witnesses - of the truths we accept and live by, and of the trust we have in God.
	Intercession is when we ask God to meet the needs of others;
	Petition is asking him to meet our own needs.  God is the ultimate provider for all human needs, and although he knows what we need before we ask,  it is natural for us to ask and he wants us to do so.  

	All this is serving God.  Adoration is heart service, giving to God the love that is his due.   Praise and thanksgiving is giving to God the honour and glory he deserves.  Questioning and confession are both ways of developing our relationship with God, so that we become better able to serve him.  And intercession and petition are the most important means of fulfilling God's purposes: God prefers to work through our prayers, and often will not do something if no-one is praying for it.  Our intercessions and petitions are a vital part of his plan.  Thus prayer is service at a spiritual level, at the level of dealing face to face with God; as such it is probably the most important form of service there is. 
	
	Prayer needs to be both private and corporate. Jesus tells us to pray in private, but he also taught us to pray ‘Our Father’ rather than ‘My Father’, and we see lots of examples in the Bible of both private and corporate prayer.  This is because our relationship with God is both private and corporate – we relate to him as individuals and as members of various communities.   We will think first about private prayer.

CHAPTER 1: PRIVATE PRAYER

	How should we pray?  The answer: pray your own way.  Your method of prayer and pattern of prayer will depend on your personality, your circumstances, and where you are in your Christian journey.  Don’t expect the methods and pattern of prayer developed when you were a student to be those you use when you have a demanding baby, nor those you have in a demanding job to be those you have when you retire.  We’ll spend some time looking at different methods and patterns of prayer.  Make it your aim to find what suits you and your circumstances; if something doesn’t suit you, try something else.  Don’t give up, but keep experimenting until you and God are happy!  Don’t worry if you find all the examples I will give a bit overwhelming; the main purpose is to help you to broaden your horizons.  There are some further resources in the church library.

	Before we go into details let me make two important points:
1) Real communication needs to be two-way; so our prayer must be accompanied by listening to what God communicates to us.  Expect God to communicate; give him the opportunity by reading the Bible and by being aware of the thoughts and impressions he puts into our minds and spirits as we think about it.  (Books of meditations can also be very helpful.)  Many people write down not only what they pray for each day, but also what thoughts come into their minds, and often find that these thoughts are very helpful.  See for example Colin Urquhart’s ‘My dear Child’.
2) Communication with God needs to be in spirit and in truth.  God does not promise to listen to prayers which are simply words, however beautiful; they need to be expressing our hearts and lives.  First, we need to pray in spirit – to have our hearts engaged with what we are praying.  Often Christians have problems with wandering thoughts during their prayer times, and suddenly realise that they have not been praying at all!  Many people find it helpful to pray aloud, not just in their heads; and others find it helpful to write down even the wandering thoughts, so that they don’t have to dwell on them.  eg you are praying about the day, and you suddenly remember you have to phone someone – write it down!  It could even be a thought from God!  Second, we need also to pray in truth – to have a lifestyle that is in harmony with our words.  God makes no promises to listen to those who do not have the integrity of a lifestyle lived in relationship with him – our sins separate us from God.

WHEN TO PRAY
	When should we pray?  What patterns can we use in our prayer lives?  A few examples follow.  These patterns concern those times which we specifically set apart for developing our relationship with God.  ‘Quality time’ is the modern expression! Experiment to find a way that suits you; don’t be put off by a pattern that doesn’t fit you or your circumstances.  Find out what other people do; but let their example be an inspiration not a condemnation - their way may not be best for you!
	Whatever pattern you decide on, remember that God is with us always, and we can talk to him at any time and in any place, about whatever is on our mind.  Indeed, if we don't talk to him, our relationship is not as close as it could be!  Sometimes a single word is all that’s necessary – ‘Help!’ or ‘Thanks!’  
ACTION: Pause and remember God is with you now.  Say something to him.  Be aware of any thoughts or impressions you may have - they may be from him, so listen!

1) Some people follow a Monastic pattern with set times of set prayers.  This was developed in Christian communities from early times; these days there has been a revival of interest linked with the revival of interest in Celtic spirituality.  Richard Adams has written a number of books to help pray in this way.
ACTION: Arrange to go to Wesley Owen in the Arcade, or to Offa House in Offchurch, and look at some of the books on this subject there.  If it appeals, buy one and use it for a month at least.  Decide what time each day to use it, and stick to those times as much as possible.

2) The Prayer Book pattern is another one – a daily morning and evening prayer.  (Nowadays it is accepted that many people will only manage one a day.)  This was developed from the monastic pattern at the time of the Reformation.  It took place in churches and private chapels, and people also used it for their households or in private.  Non Anglicans would also have morning and evening prayers for the family and servants, without using a prayer book. Usually several chapters of the bible were read and psalms or hymns sung and someone would say a prayer.
ACTION: Ask an Anglican vicar for examples of what to do.  Prayer books include the traditional 'Book of Common Prayer', the more recent 'Celebrating Common Prayer', and the latest Common Worship services (available at www.cofe.anglican.org).  The service includes Bible readings; find out from the vicar how to decide which passages to read.  Again, you will need to decide on a time of day, and do a trial run of a month at least.

3) Quiet Times.  The evangelical movement promoted the use of a ‘quiet time’ each day, encouraging people to read the Bible and then to pray using ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) or something similar to keep them focused.  This was often first thing in the morning or last thing at night.
ACTION: If you have not tried using Bible reading notes, go to Wesley Owen in the Arcade and buy one that appeals to you.  Then use it as part of a daily quiet time (you will need to choose a time each day, of at least 15 minutes).  Follow it up using the ACTS pattern: find something in the Bible passage that you can adore God for, something that you need to put right in your life, beginning with confessing it to God, something to thank God for, and then think of people to ask God to help.  Don't forget to pray for your neighbours and at least one non-Christian acquaintance. Try and use your own words; don't worry about how good they are, God understands.  (If you prefer to use set prayers and have some to hand, by all means use them; but don't neglect prayer simply because you don't have the right words.)

4) Ad Hoc - no particular pattern, but just using whatever time was convenient.  The danger of that one is that often no time is convenient, so no praying is done.
ACTION: You can probably only do this properly if you decide in advance what time is going to be convenient that day.  Make sure that you treat that time as an engagement, and plan how best to use that time.

	In addition to these patterns for daily prayer it is sometimes helpful to set apart a whole day for prayer – as in a church Away Day.  If you haven't experienced such a day, take the first opportunity you can!

HOW TO PRAY
	What methods can we use to communicate to God?  You may find that you use several in one prayer time, and different ones at different times.  Here are some: 
1) By the book.  If you are using Celtic prayer or a Prayer Book, many of the prayers will be there for you.  However, they do not contain many intercessory prayers, so you will need to buy a book of prayers in addition, unless you can use conversational prayer.  Some kinds of prayers expect you to add your own words.  The Bible is also a great source of prayers - see below.
2) Conversational.  You speak to God naturally, as to one who loves you dearly.
3) In tongues.  If you have the gift of tongues, use it, especially if you don’t feel you are expressing yourself properly.  If you don't know whether you have the gift of tongues, try it and see - open your mouth and utter whatever syllables come out, without thinking about it.
4) Prayer lists.  Many people find it helpful to make lists of things they want to talk to God about.  If you do have such a list, keep it, look at it in a few weeks’ time and note down answers God has given you.
5) Observing God’s creation. You can pray as you walk, using what you see to spark praise or intercession.
6) Focusing on an object or a picture. Let God speak to you through it, and respond to him.
7) Imagining scenes (eg of a gospel incident).  Imagine yourself as part of the scene, eg as one of the disciples at the feeding of the 5,000.  How do you feel about Jesus?  About yourself?  As you return to the here and now, what is your heart’s desire?
8) Freewheeling  from one topic to another, as many people do in ordinary conversation.   (But don't forget to listen, or it will be another case of verbal diarrhoea.)
9) Contemplative union with God.  This has been described as ‘floating in the sea of God’s love’.   This takes time: time to be still, to become aware of God's presence, time to let his presence surround you and fill you.
10) Express yourself in music or dance.  These are forms of communication, why not use them with God?
11) Express yourself by writing your thoughts in a journal, read by God.
12) Argue with God.  Notice the thoughts that come putting the other side of the argument!
13) Think things through with God.
14) Action.  Communicate with God by doing something to help the poor or oppressed, or to make a point.  For this to be real communication you need to be aware of your union with Christ, and to be open for him to initiate or change the action.
15) Use the TV or newspaper to inspire your prayers for God’s world – pray about the things you see. 
16) Self-examination.  Look back on your actions, words, thoughts and motives.  But be careful that you do so always as someone who is already forgiven and beloved.
	This list is not exhaustive; there are nearly as many methods as there are people!  Find what suits you, and don’t get stuck in a rut!

WHAT TO PRAY
	Adoration is simply loving God. Make time for adoration in whatever pattern you use.  Most methods of prayer lend themselves to adoration.  Think about what God is like and what he's done; think especially of his unfathomable love for you.  Remember that the Holy Spirit within you is adoring God, and that your new nature is fully responsive to God, and go with the flow. When you read the Bible, look in the passage for a good reason  for adoration.  If you are using songs or poems or written prayers, let them remind you about God and let their words express what you feel or want to feel.  (Often just saying or singing the right thing helps bring our hearts into line - which is one reason why repetition can be useful.)  You can use verses from the Bible to express your feelings, such as Psalm 18:1; Psalm 63:1-8; Psalm 73:25,26; Psalm 116:1; and passages like Ephesians 1:3-10 can help rouse our love.
	Praise, and Thanksgiving, are also vital ingredient for all patterns of prayer.  The difference is that praise expresses our admiration of God's nature and activity, and thanksgiving our gratitude for what he has done for us and for our world.  Whatever we are feeling, we can still thank and praise God, for he is worth it.  In your prayer time, think about God and what he has done: look at your Bible reading, look at your life, especially since your last prayer time, and use whatever method of prayer you have adopted to praise and thank God.  If using a written prayer, you may want to adapt it to say what you want to express.  There are many Bible verses expressing thanksgiving; see especially  Psalms 65, 100, 103, 136, 150, and the beginning of many of Paul's letters (after the greeting).
	Questioning  is not a part of many written services, except inasmuch as it is part of many Psalms (eg 22, 43, 74, 88).  If you do come to God with questions, you will probably find it easiest to put those questions into your own words.   However, do so alongside praise and thanksgiving, so that the things you do not understand don't undermine the things you do understand.  As you question God, be aware of the thoughts and impressions that come deep into your heart; they may help you to go forward in your faith.
	Confession is part of many patterns of prayer.  However, it is easy to say a 'general confession' without meaning what we are saying.  Whatever method of prayer you are using, mean what you are saying/doing.  In confession, be specific: confess the actual sins and omissions you have not yet admitted to God.  If you are aware of sin but not of specific sins, that's OK - let the Holy Spirit be your guide.  However, confession without repentance - without the determination to do something about the sins - is worthless.  When you have confessed, wait for the sense of God's forgiveness; the 'absolutions' in some prayer books may help.  See Psalm 51 and 1 John 1:7-10.
	Affirmation, the declaration of our faith and trust, is a large part of many of the psalms, often mixed in with requests (eg Psalm 2).  There are many written statements of faith which are helpful, some based on statements in the Bible such as in Philippians 2:6-11.  Whether using a written affirmation or your own words, it is most helpful to say it aloud, even when alone.
	Intercession, praying for others, is the best thing we can do for them.  True, we need also to do what we can for them; but action without intercession smacks of independence, a reliance on human resources rather than on God who wants to use and bless our human resources.  Likewise Petition, praying for ourselves, expresses our dependence on God.  So do not underrate the need to pray for others, and for others to pray for you., and do not underrate the need to pray for yourself.  After all, Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread, and he who knows the number of hairs on our head (Luke 12:6,7) is interested in all our concerns, no matter how big or small.
	As we grow closer to God, our prayers for others grow in intensity and in effectiveness.  We begin with intercession simply as an expression of our desire for a person or an outcome.  But we do not leave it there: let that desire deepen, giving an urgency and intensity to our prayer.  Let the intensity grow until it will not take no for an answer, but keeps up until the answer is received – see Jesus’ parable about the widow and the judge (Luke 18:1-8).  Such persistence needs to be accompanied by a growing faith – expect God to say Yes – and a sense that this is a Spirit-given desire.  (It must of course be in accordance with what the Bible teaches.)  Our prayer’s effectiveness is increased through others seeing the need and joining with us.  Persevere; we do not give up simply because of delays, only because we have an answer from God.  And let us always accompany intercession with praise and thanksgiving.
	Who should we intercede for?  Obviously, your friends and family.  But may I encourage you to aim to pray daily for your immediate neighbours, for the members of your cell group, and for two or three people whom you want to get to know Jesus Christ?  And to pray at least weekly for your church, your community, your country and government, and for a missionary society or mission partner of your choice.  All those things will mean that you need to keep yourself informed about what's going on: through church bulletins and magazines, newspapers, and missionary magazines and prayer letters.  ACTION: If you don't subscribe, subscribe now!

	Fasting.  Fasting is expected of us in the Bible (eg Matthew 6:16, 'When you fast…'), and it has been a common accompaniment to prayer from earliest times; it is praying with the body, an involvement of the whole person in prayer.   Fasting has various purposes.  One is simply to make time to pray.  Another is as a means of humbling ourselves before God.  Fasting expresses our hunger for him and his will. It expresses the fact that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.  It may help to clarify the mind and direct our thinking.  Fasting is not a means of dieting, nor a means of twisting God's arm!  Start small at first, eg giving up one meal in a day, perhaps once a month or once a week.  You may like to start during one of the church seasons of fasting (Advent or Lent, but not on Sundays when we rejoice in the resurrection!).  John Wesley expected all Methodists to fast up to 4 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.  If you cannot do without any food, eat just a simple meal.  Don’t give up drinking – when people in the Bible fasted from drink as well as food it must have been by a miracle, for our bodies need fluids!  Use the time saved by your fasting for special prayer.  Don't be surprised if this is difficult, and if your thoughts constantly turn to food! 

Do not continue reading until you have begun to put this chapter into practice.

CHAPTER 2  GROUP PRAYER

	In the West we tend to be very individualistic, and we don’t find it easy to think corporately; yet it is important. God relates not just to individuals, but to groups – to families, nations, churches.   The groups in their turn can relate to God – not just through the individuals each relating to God individually, but also as a group.  Indeed, there seems to be special power when people relate to God as a group.  Two or three met together in the name of Jesus guarantees the presence of Jesus among them.  Two people agreeing about what request to make God guarantees an answer.  (Matthew 18:19,20.) This is the value of group prayers, whether the group be a cell, or a congregation, or representing a parish, city or nation.  By meeting together to pray, we show that we are serious about what we are doing, we are able to share information and if necessary discuss how to proceed, we are able to benefit from the different gifts and outlooks people may have, and we are more representative of the group we belong to.

	It is not always easy to make the most of corporate prayer and worship.  Let us look at three scenarios: when we are all speaking or acting together, when one person is leading and we are listening or watching, and when we are the ones doing the leading.  

1) We are all speaking or acting together.  
	In prayer this most commonly happens when we all join together in a set prayer such as the Lord’s prayer.  Some churches have times of prayer when everyone present speaks out loud their own prayer, either in their own language or in tongues.  (Often this is sung rather than spoken.)   In public worship, there are times when we may make a declaration of faith together, and of course there are times when we are all singing the same song together.  How do we make the most of these occasions?

	If we are speaking or singing using a set form, the words may not be the way we would naturally speak – they may be old fashioned, or more poetic or theological.  When we are singing, the music may not be a style we are comfortable with.  None of these things are a problem, provided we do our best to understand what we are saying or singing and then let those words come from our own hearts – whatever the language or music. It is the meaning that counts, and we need to mean what we are saying or singing, whether we are using our own words or someone else’s. We need to be able to suspend criticism for the time being.  If we feel that what is being said is simply untrue, do not say it!  At a later time you can go to the leader and say what you think – but make sure that do so in a loving spirit, and in a constructive way, suggesting a better way of putting it.  But if your problem is more one of style, please accept that true corporate worship may never be wholly to anybody’s liking, and that one person’s poison is another person’s meat, and that matters of style do not contribute one iota to a service’s acceptability to God – all that matters to him is spirit and truth.  No doubt the temple worship in Isaiah’s day was strictly according to the laws of Moses, with instruments and choirs as inspired by King David, everything as it should be; yet Isaiah said to them (in chapter 1), ‘Hear the word of the Lord… When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?… Your incense is detestable to me.  New moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your evil assemblies…Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.  Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean…Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!  Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.’. and so on.  Their worship was technically fine; but their hearts were wrong.  We need to be sure that our hearts are right, and that we worship God in spirit and in truth in our public worship, whatever the outward form of the service or prayer time.

	Sometimes the music or the words really touch us, and we want to respond personally to them in some way.  It is OK just to stop singing and think about it, or to listen to everyone else, when God is dealing with you.  It is OK to respond physically with some kind of symbolic gesture, such as raising your hands.  There are many people who despise such things, calling it happy clappy or some such thing.  Shame on them!  If you can’t show as much emotion in church as you can on a football terrace, there is something wrong with church!  So if you want to let your body language express your feelings to God, don’t be put off by the thought that people around you will be put off.  And if you are one of those who want everything to be dignified and formal, feel free to be dignified and formal yourself without fearing that people around you will be put off by you.  If they are, shame on them!  God accepts the happy clappers and God accepts the dignified; if we harbour criticism of either group in our hearts, we stand condemned by Jesus’ words in the sermon on the mount, ‘Judge not, that you be not judged.’  Let us not allow our actions be ruled by fears of other people’s condemnation, when what we are doing is motivated by our hearts responding to God.  Let us not assume that others are condemning us; rather let us assume that they too are worshipping God in spirit and in truth, even though they may not be doing exactly the same as us..

2) One person is leading us in prayer or worship, and we are listening or watching..  Again, the words they use will not necessarily be the words we would choose.  They may not be praying about the things we feel are important. If they are singing and we are listening, the music may not be to our taste.  If they are dancing, we may not appreciate it. How can we make the most of the situation?
	The answer again is to focus on the meaning of what they are saying or singing, and to echo that meaning in our own hearts.  Let us accept the person leading as an individual who is important to God, who at that moment has God’s full attention, and support the prayer in our hearts to God, showing that support if appropriate with an ‘Amen’ (a Hebrew word meaning ‘Yes’, ‘That’s right’, ‘Let it be so’).  Again, it is not the right time to be critical.  A heart full of criticism is anathema to worship, and it is usually the case that the critic is more in danger of God’s judgement than the one criticised.  If we disagree with what is being said, we simply in our hearts withdraw support for that part of the prayer.  If there are things we want to pray or add, we can do so in our hearts at the time or later.  But the important thing is to listen actively to what is being said or sung, and not just to let someone do the talking while we go to sleep!  Likewise when watching a drama or dance, try to understand what it is that is being expressed, and as it were underline that in our own hearts.  And God, who is attentively watching (and inspiring) what is being done, will appreciate what is going on in us.

3) We are doing the leading.  
	We may have an opportunity to lead prayer in a cell group or in another small group, or in a larger gathering.  It may be we are part of a group where there is an open time for anybody to pray, and there is something we want to pray for.  The first time we pray out loud can feel very scary: we feel that we’ll say the wrong things, that the others will dislike or disapprove of what we do, and that God won’t listen.  We are representing the group to God, and it can feel like a big responsibility.  However, remember these four things:
a)	that the one we are speaking to is our heavenly Father, and just as human parents encourage their children to speak in front of the rest of the family – and are delighted when the youngest does so for the first time – so God delights in our prayers and knows exactly what we mean even if the words aren’t quite what we meant them to be!  However, make sure that your prayer is to God, not to the other members of the group.  If you need to explain something to the group, do so before you pray to God!
b)	that we are representing the group to God.  Pray about those things that the group are or should be concerned about. That may be about something the group is doing or has been talking about; or about something that is on the news and the group is concerned about. Or it may be something personal, such as a friend of yours who is ill; you want the whole group to pray for that person.  If you are praying as part of an open prayer meeting, just pray for one thing at a time – it doesn’t have to be a long prayer, it doesn’t even have to be a complete sentence.  Don’t try to pray for everything under the sun in one prayer!  If you are the only one leading a time of prayer, you may want to pray for a variety of things.  Don’t pray only for the needs of the group; pray for the community and world around us.  Don’t forget to include thanksgiving!  Remember, however, that the group wants to support what you are saying, so speak clearly enough for everyone to hear!  But don’t worry about what the group will think about your prayer – God appreciates it, and that’s all that matters.
c)	that we are representing ourselves as well.  We are the speakers, and it is all right if our personalities colour what we say and how we say it!  Some people use prayers from a prayer book, others write their own, others just pray what comes into their heads at the time.  Many people find that it is easier to pray on the spur of the moment in a small group, and find that it becomes easier the more they do it – their confidence grows.  But there is no right or wrong way; God will understand what we mean, though it is helpful if the other members of the group also can understand!
d)	that there is plenty of help available.  There are lots of books of prayer, lots of prayer ideas.  There are some in our library, and many church members have books they find useful.  Look and ask around!

	I have said all this with reference to leading in prayer.  Similar things hold true for leading in worship.  You may be asked to lead the worship part of a cell meeting, or of another group.  Don’t be afraid to do things your way, provided that you think the group will be able to enter into it in worship to God.  Again, there are many books and ideas to help, in the church library and resources room, in friends homes, and on the world-wide web (www.cellchurch.co.uk).  If in doubt, ask your cell group leaders!

	What about distractions, such as a tearaway child, or a bird flying around, or personal problems that you can’t forget about?  Try as you will, you can’t blank out the distraction, and it is easy to feel cheated out of the benefits of worship or prayer.  The first thing is to remember that we are in the presence of God, and he hasn’t left just because there is a distraction.  The second thing is to remember that he reads our hearts; and often the very fact that we have made the effort and are trying to concentrate on him is itself an act of worship.  So trust God to understand your heart, and if you feel that you haven’t received from him, trust that he will make it up in other ways.  But don’t try to put blame on yourself or anyone else, even if there is obviously fault somewhere.

	One last thing: Jesus promised that when two or three met in his name, he would be there in the midst.   Whatever you do, come to worship or to group prayer with expectancy.  Jesus is there.  If two or three are there in his name, he will most certainly be there.  He promised!  He won’t break his promise and leave the gathering just because something is wrong with what’s going on – our worship and our prayers will never be perfect, but he died to give us access to the Father, and he won’t be put off by our imperfections!  We are united to him, accepted, beloved.  That doesn’t mean we can treat him shabbily – we make it our aim to please him.  But let’s be honest, isn’t that what we’re all doing?  Isn’t that what we all want?  So let’s expect to meet Jesus,  who is here, and let’s enjoy his love, learn from his word, live in his light, and go forth strengthened to serve him in the world.

CHAPTER 3:  PRAYER MINISTRY 

	The word ‘Ministry’ encompasses all forms of Christian service – serving God, serving our neighbours, and serving one another.  Prayer is ministry, the greatest kind of ministry that we can offer to another.  In this chapter we look in a bit more detail about how we can serve other people through prayer.  As always, there is an element of mystery in all this.  God knows their need; he could easily meet it without being asked.  Yet often he will not act without being asked, and often the request needs to come not just from the sufferer, but from one or more others; and sometimes the answer will not be given until the request has been made again and again for a long period of time.  All too often, there seems to be no answer whatsoever.  Which praying Christian is there who has not experienced disappointment in prayer?  And if this is the way things are, why pray at all?

	Before we think about the practicalities of praying for other people, let’s think a bit more about this question.  Why is it that sometimes our prayers are not answered?   It has been said that prayers are always answered – with a ‘Yes’, or a ‘No’, or with a ‘Yes, but wait’.  Our problem is that we too often expect the answer to be ‘No’, and at the same time have a hunch that this isn’t the way things should be.  What does the Bible have to say about it?

	The Bible gives us some very specific reasons why God does not answer prayer.  If we are being disobedient or are refusing to repent of a particular sin, God will not listen (Deuteronomy 1:43-45, Psalm 66:18).  If we are being unjust, God will not listen (Isaiah 1:15-17).  If we are praying to look good, or praying lots of words without meaning them, God will not listen (Matthew 6:5,7).  If we stand self-righteously before God, thinking that we are good enough for him, he will not listen (Luke 18:9-14).  If we doubt, God will not answer (James 1:7,8).  If our requests are purely selfish, God will not answer (James 4:3).  If husbands are not being considerate and respectful to their wives, their prayers will be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).   And finally, our prayers may not be answered simply because they are not in accordance with God’s will (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).  However, if that is the case, that is not usually the end of the story.  God may say, ‘No’ to a particular request, but it will be because he has a better way.  If he does not reveal to us that our request is not going to be granted, we should keep praying anyway.  Eventually we’ll know, one way or another.  It may be that a ‘No’ answer seems  anything but a ‘better way’ – it just looks like an unmitigated disaster.  This is where we have to trust that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is good and wise, and really did hear our prayer and knows what he is doing in refusing it.  It’s hard; but don’t let go of your faith.  Jesus warned us that bad things will happen to good people; but those who persevere to the end will be saved (Mark 13:13).  

	The Bible also teaches us very clearly that God does hear and answer prayer.  
•	We saw last time that God promises to answer when Christians pray together: ‘If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.’ (Matthew 18:19.)
•	He promises to answer when we pray according to his will: 1 John 5:14,15  says, ‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask- we know that we have what we asked of him.’  This means of course that we need to be sure that it is according to his will; and a large part of prayer is praying until we are sure.
•	God also promises to answer when we pray in the name of Jesus – aware that we are united to Jesus and that he has given us the right to ask.  Jesus says in John 16:23,24, ‘I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.  Ask, and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.’
•	God also promises to answer when we pray in faith, believing that he will answer.  Jesus says in Mark 11:24, ‘Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’  If you are given the faith to believe that the request has been heard and the answer is positive, then in due time you will receive what you asked for.  Even though you are still waiting, you know that you have been granted your request.  It is just like receiving a cheque.  You don’t get the benefit of the money until you put the cheque in the bank, but you know it is yours already, just as soon as you received that little piece of paper.  The prayer of faith is like that.  I don’t believe that we can twist God’s arm by screwing up the faith to make him answer; but we pray until God gives us the assurance of an answer in our hearts – until we have the cheque in our hands.  
	This may mean we have to keep on praying until we know that we are praying according to the will of God, and that we are praying in Jesus’ name, and we have the assurance that God has answered – and it may take some time.  But the parable of the widow and the unjust judge specifically teaches us to pray without giving up.  I believe that all too often we just are not persistent enough; we do not hear anything from God, and after a few prayers – or even weeks or months or years – we give up.  George Mueller began praying for five friends to become Christians.  After five years, one came to Christ.  Ten years later, two more were converted.  A long time later, in Chicago, Mueller said about the other two, ‘I have prayed for two men by name every day for thirty-five years; on land or sea, sick or well, I have remembered them before God by name… I shall continue to pray for them daily, by name, until they are saved, or die.’  Soon after that, the fourth was saved.  The fifth became a Christian just after Mueller died.

	Most of our prayer ministry will be done in private.  Sometimes we can have group prayer ministry, for individual and for wider concerns.  But often prayer ministry is done in secret, so that no-one knows for whom we are praying.  Equally often, people ask us to pray for them, and it is immensely helpful for them to know that they are being prayed for.  Even if they don’t ask, it is often right to volunteer to pray for people.  Most of us do this: we are talking with someone, and they tell us about a problem, and we say to them, ‘I’ll think of you.’  Please don’t say that.  If you mean that you will pray for them, say, ‘I’ll pray for you’!   We don’t want them to experience the power of thought, but God’s answer to prayer.

	We may have occasion when it is right for us to pray then and there with the person.  We offer this ministry after every service, with a ministry team available.  However, it is helpful for everyone to have an idea what to do, so that if a friend or colleague is needing prayer and there is no-one else around, you’ll know what to do.  And also if you go for prayer, you’ll know what to expect.
	The basic idea is very simple.  First there is an exploration time, when we discover what to pray for.  Then there is the prayer time, in which we ask God to act. 
Exploration.  We ask the person what they want Jesus to do for them.  (This could have happened in the course of a previous conversation.)  The person who has asked for prayer may not know what exactly the matter is, or what they want Jesus to do; or they may not want to be explicit.  We who are praying do not need to make a diagnosis; God already knows what is the matter, and he is the one who is going to be doing the work.  However, it is helpful both for us who are praying and for the one who is prayed for to be as open as possible without feeling exposed or embarrassed – the openness is not just to one another, but to the Spirit of God.  If we don’t quite understand what we are being told, we can ask further questions, but without probing.  (There may be a place for probing in a longer counselling situation, and that’s not what we’re talking about here.)
Prayer.  When we pray, that can take various forms.  Some people pray a set prayer, for every individual.  Some pray in silence.  I prefer to pray in silence for a little while, and then pray aloud as I feel God is leading me.  Sometimes I may ask a question in the middle of the prayer time, such as How are you feeling?  As we pray it is important to be listening to the Holy Spirit, and to expect God to give whatever gifts of the Spirit are needed for the occasion.  If I feel God is telling me something, or is giving me a sense of something else that he is doing in that person’s life, I check it out with them.  I usually lay hands on a person – it is important not to be indelicate or obtrusive in this, and it is OK to pray with our hands not quite touching.  It is vital that the person who is being prayed for feels that they are not being manipulated or devalued or embarrassed, but that they are always treated with the utmost respect and love.
	At the end it is helpful to ask how the person is feeling.  If they suddenly feel OK, praise God.  However, the answer to their request may take its time in coming, or there may be only part of an answer, or none at all.  Nobody is ever harmed by being prayed for by a Christian, so don’t worry about that.  It may be that the person needs to come several times for prayer, or needs to see someone more experienced – or even needs to go back to their doctor.  Prayer ministry should never conflict with the ministry of health-care professionals.

	Another special form of prayer ministry is prayer evangelism.  Many of us are put off by the idea of evangelism.  But all of us can be part of prayer evangelism.  We’ve already seen the example of George Mueller.  One idea is for each one of us to think of our closest neighbours – say the three houses on each side, and six houses opposite – and start praying for them.  We pray for God’s blessing on them, we pray for any needs they may have, we pray that they may come to know Jesus, and we pray that God would give us opportunities to share his love with them.  If opportunities to offer some kind of practical help come along, we use them!  If they start asking questions about our faith, we answer them!   That’s all there is to it – nothing forced, nothing unnatural, just taking opportunities to love and share as God gives them.

	Prayer ministry is not just for the holy few.  It is something all of us can be involved in, one way or another.  Look for the opportunities, and take them as God gives them!

CHAPTER 4:  THE OLD TESTAMENT

	We now turn to the second main ingredient of spirituality, which is the Bible.  We will look at an overview of the two parts of the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament, and then we will see how important it is for our growth and fruitfulness in God’s service.

	We begin with the Old Testament.  We need to know how to hear God speaking to us through it.  Some general points need to be made first:
1)	There are parts of the Old Testament which we find boring.  Nevertheless, they are essential parts of God’s revelation.  For example, while we may find lists of names boring, they show that God is interested in individuals and that these individuals play an important part in fulfilling God’s purposes.  Likewise detailed descriptions of temple furniture and the different sacrifices may be boring to us, but they provide an essential foundation for teaching about worship.
2)	There are parts of the Old Testament which are shocking to us.  There is sex and violence galore.  We see God telling his chosen people to commit genocide.  How does this tally with the New Testament revelation that God is love?  This is a big question, which we haven’t time to go into just now; but we need to remind ourselves a) that God has the right to sentence evil-doers to horrible punishment; b) that he has the right to use human beings as his instruments of punishment; c) that the Old Testament reveals God to be a God of justice, who decrees that the punishment should fit the crime (and sometimes condemns his instruments of punishment for going too far); d) that the Old Testament also reveals God to be a God of love, who commands his people to love him, their neighbours, and even their enemies; e) that the New Testament does not pull any punches about God’s wrath against sin and the punishment that sin will receive.
3)	This is Scripture, inspired by God, the only Scripture Jesus had.  Through these words God has revealed himself; even the New Testament quotes Old Testament to back up its claims.   Through the Old Testament God reveals himself to us today; it is all ‘useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that God’s servant may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16,17).
4)	God reveals himself in the Old Testament in a number of different ways: through history, through direct messages, through poems and proverbs and parables, through laws.  We need to recognise these differences, and not treat poetry as if it were historical narrative for example.  At the same time, we must not treat poetry only as poetry; it is inspired Scripture, through which God speaks to us if we have ears to hear.

	So how do we hear from God through the Old Testament?  And how can the Old Testament help us to live our lives better and help those around us?
One answer: look at the Old Testament in its various contexts.

1) Historical context.
	The Old Testament dates are all BC – the larger the date, the further back in history.  So 2000 BC is a thousand years before 1000 BC.
	The Old Testament starts at the beginning of creation, whenever that was.  In prehistorical times, the great events it talks about are the creation of human beings in God’s image, the fall into sin, the great flood, and the scattering of human beings all over the world.  Then in historical times the major landmarks are: 
•	beginning from around 2000 BC, the lives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (otherwise known as Israel), who were the forefathers of the Israelites; 
•	the 400 years in Egypt where the family went to escape famine, but were made slaves when their descendants became too numerous for the Egyptians (this coincided with the Egyptian New Kingdom period, the high point of Ancient Egyptian history); 
•	the Exodus from Egypt under Moses, when the tribes went through the sea to the Sinai peninsular, and received the laws at Mount Sinai (this really was the birth of the nation);
•	the 40 years of wilderness wanderings after they refused to enter the land God had promised to give them;
•	the crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of the promised land under Joshua;
•	the rather anarchic times of the Judges, ending with Samuel;
•	the united kingdom under Saul, David and Solomon, which was the highlight of the history of Israel, with David’s piety and military victories bringing the greatest geographical extension of the kingdom in around 1000 BC, and Solomon’s splendid reign of peace during which the temple was built (this coincided with a period of history when all Israel’s neighbours were militarily rather weak);
•	the divided kingdom, with two tribes of Judah and Benjamin comprising the nation of Judah in the south, with Jerusalem as the capital, and the other tribes comprising the nation of Israel in the north, with Samaria eventually becoming the capital, and an idolatrous alternative worship set up to stop people going to Jerusalem;
•	the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 723 BC;
•	the capture and destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 587 BC;
•	the exile of the ‘Jews’ (the people from Judah) in Babylon;
•	the return to Jerusalem in 537, the rebuilding of the temple and later of the walls under Nehemiah in 445 BC.
	The Old Testament proper ends there; some books in what is known as the Apocrypha contain some stories of the time between the testaments.

 2) Geographical context,
	The promised land, present-day Israel and Palestine, lies at the end of what is known as ‘the fertile crescent’.  To the west is the Mediterranean, to the east are deserts.  However, to the south lies the way to Egypt and Africa, and to the north lies the way to Europe and Asia.  The ‘fertile crescent’ curves round to Mesopotamia, seat of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires.  Most of the Old Testament history is concerned with goings on in this small part of the globe, and Israel tried to exist at the cross-roads between the super-powers of the day.

3) Biblical context.
	With that history in mind, we need to see what the Old Testament structure is, and how its books fit into the history.
	Christians organise the Old Testament into:
•	the first five books, called ‘the Pentateuch’ (meaning 5 scrolls) or ‘the books of Moses’.
•	the historical books, 
•	the books of poetry and wisdom, 
•	the prophets.
	The first five books lay the foundations for everything that follows.  Genesis means ‘beginnings’, and deals with the beginnings of the human race, then the beginnings of the people of God, ending with the children of Israel moving into Egypt.  Exodus begins 400 years later, with the Israelites as slaves in Egypt, and tells the story of their escape from Egypt, their journey to Mount Sinai, and the construction of the tent of worship and its furniture.  Leviticus gives detailed laws for worship, and Numbers tells the story of the people’s wanderings in the desert.  Deuteronomy is written as a covenant between the nation and God, and is Moses’ final encouragement to the people of Israel.
	The historical books take the story from the conquest of the promised land through to the return after exile. They are all written, not simply to tell the story, but to encourage the nation’s faith.  They tell of failures and mistakes as well as of blessings and obedience.  The key to the nation’s welfare is seen to be its relationship with God: are the people and their leaders obedient or not?  The blessings promised in Deuteronomy are tasted under David and Solomon; but from then on the story is of decline, with some notable exceptions, until the curses in Deuteronomy are experienced in full as the people are exiled.  Yet that isn’t the end of the story; after death comes resurrection: through the exile the people are purified and eventually the nation is rebuilt.
	The books of poetry and wisdom are mostly compilations from a broad band of history.  The golden age was that of David and Solomon, and many of the psalms and proverbs date from them.  They are honest and practical, showing how individuals related to God in every aspect of life.  They include Job, which highlights the problem of suffering, and the Song of Songs, a book of love poems.  The psalms especially became the nation's hymn book; they still speak today to the varied situations we find ourselves in.
	The prophetic books are of two types, the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and the minor prophets.  They sought to call their people back to God, and to encourage faith in God in the difficult circumstances of their day.  Their work was simply to pass on direct messages from God.  Sometimes the messages concerned the future, often the past or the present, and were not always what the people wanted to hear.  The prophets constantly taught the people about justice and integrity, in personal and national matters. The principles that governed them we need to take to heart, as individuals, as a community, and as a nation.

4)  Faith context.
	As we read the Old Testament, we do so from the point of view of the New Testament and the Christian faith.  We see that God is acting through the ages to prepare the way for his Son to come and redeem his creation.  So we see God forming through history a people who knew the truth about him in a way no other nation did, a people who could include among them the ancestors of Jesus.  We also can see many events, situations, and prophecies which foreshadow Christ: not only direct prophecies about his coming, but people like Elisha or Joseph, stories like Jonah in the fish, which remind us of Jesus and teach us about the gospel.
	As we read the Old Testament, we cannot just apply what we read directly to today.  Circumstances are different.  Since Christ has come, we are not under the law.  So we need always to interpret what God is saying.  Ask, why did God inspire these things to be written?  What are the principles behind them?  How do they apply to us?  The laws were given to help people live with God.  How did they help?  What can we learn from them?  Most of the 10 commandments are easy to apply to today.  But laws about worship still show us what God is like, even if we do not have to obey them to the letter.
	As we read the Old Testament, we need to listen to what God is saying to us.  When we read the historical narratives, notice what God shows us about human nature – both about what is wrong, and about how it ought to be; and try to understand  God’s nature as seen in his activity.  When we read the laws, look for the principles that govern a just society, see how to be godly, and see in the worship visual signs both of God’s holiness and of the need for a sacrifice for sin so that we can be put right with him.  When we read the prophets, ask why it is that they are saying the things they do, and what God might be saying to our own situations.  The circumstances may be different, but human nature is the same, and the principles behind the prophetic messages are the same.  And as we read the books of poetry and wisdom, let us use them both to express our feelings and to challenge our values and activities in the everyday matters of life.

	When reading stories of particularly godly men and women, I like to find out what books and stories inspired them.  Jesus Christ is the greatest of all; and here, in the Old Testament, are the words that inspired him.  They were written for our learning too, so that we can grow into maturity.  Let us read, and learn, and grow!  We’ll think about the practicalities in Chapter 6.

CHAPTER 5:  THE NEW TESTAMENT

	If you have been helped by someone, it is no surprise if you in your turn want to help others.  One of the best things we can do to help others is to enable them to receive help from God; and one of the greatest sources of help from God is the New Testament.  But we cannot enable people to get help from the New Testament unless we find it helpful ourselves.  So how can we get the best out of the New Testament?

	We can only get the best out of the New Testament if we listen to the whole of the New Testament.  So many people are happy to read the stories in the gospels and Acts, dip into some of the letters here and there, but leave books like Revelation well alone.  Yet each has something important to teach us, each has been recognised from earliest times in the church as being inspired by God.  So what is the New Testament about?  What is its message?

	Let’s start by looking at the different parts of the New Testament, beginning with the Gospels – called ‘Gospels’ because that is the old English word for good news – they are good news about Jesus Christ.

	The Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – were not the first bits of the new Testament to be written; that honour goes to some of Paul’s letters.  But they were mostly written within thirty to seventy years of Jesus’ resurrection, and were based on eyewitness accounts and stories handed down by word of mouth or even written down long before.  Tradition has it that Matthew and John were apostles, two of the twelve disciples of Jesus, and it is almost certain that Mark was the John Mark referred to in Acts and Luke was the ‘beloved physician’ mentioned in Paul’s letters and in the Acts.  Matthew, Mark and Luke are all similar in style, so much so that theologians give them a long name  - they are the ‘synoptic’ gospels, sharing a similar perspective.  If you read them carefully, you will see that they not only share the same stories, but often the same words.  I have some parallel New Testaments with the words of each gospel printed out side by side, so that you can see exactly what bits are shared.  Copyright laws didn’t exist in those days; what probably happened was either that there was a common collection of stories circulating around, which they all used, or that one person wrote the first one, and the others edited it and added material that they had got hold of.  The most common view nowadays is that Mark wrote his gospel first, basing it on the stories he heard Peter tell in Rome; there are parts in it which are almost certainly eyewitness accounts, such as the observation that when Jesus fed the 5000 the grass was green, not dried up as it usually is.  It is assumed that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a basis, and added other material.  There are some stories which occur in both Matthew and Luke, but not Mark; others are unique to Matthew or unique to Luke.  But however they got their material, they each use it in their own way.  Matthew’s emphasis is on the teaching Jesus gave his disciples, and the way he fulfilled Scripture; it is the most Jewish of the gospels, and also the most scathing about religious hypocrites.  Mark is the action gospel, stressing how Jesus’ disciples must be prepared to serve and suffer as he did.  Luke stresses the blessings of salvation, especially to those society looked down upon.  Each gives a different portrait, but the portraits are obviously of the same person.
	John is very different from the others.  His gospel was written last, and the others had been in circulation for some time before he wrote.  His gospel assumes that people knew the facts about Jesus life, and goes deeper into the significance of who he was and what he did – Jesus was indeed God become a human being.  Much of his gospel is set, not in Galilee, but Jerusalem, and describes discussions Jesus had with people there.
	Four different narratives, written by people who were not seeking to collaborate but were each telling their own stories, result in a picture with certain contradictions but the most amazing unity.  There are differences in the stories that are hard to reconcile with each other, simply because each writer told part of the story and not the whole.  But they unite to give us a picture of Jesus that is wholly consistent.  And that is the main purpose of each gospel: to help us to get to know Jesus who is the same yesterday, today and for ever.  Taken together, they provide us with enough material to enable us to get to know him as he truly is – and to spend a lifetime getting to know him.  And that’s what Christianity is all about – knowing Jesus.  That’s what salvation begins and ends with – knowing Jesus.  Jesus reveals God, Jesus enables us to get to know God, Jesus enables us to live with God forever, Jesus enables us to be part of the fulfilment of God’s good plan for his creation.

	After the four gospels comes the book of Acts.  It is titled, ‘The Acts of the Apostles’, but it would be better named the Acts of the Holy Spirit.  It was written by Luke as a follow up to his Gospel, and it tells the story of the birth and growth of the early church, especially as it involved first Peter and then Paul.  Peter’s ministry was primarily to the Jews; yet he was the first apostle to preach to non-Jews.  Paul before his conversion was a much more conservative Jew than Peter; yet in his journeys (mainly in present day Turkey and Greece) his ministry was primarily to non-Jews.  Acts 1 records the words of Jesus: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’  The rest of the book tells how the Holy Spirit grew the church first to neighbouring Samaria, then south to Africa, then north to Syria and Antioch in southern Turkey, and from there to the rest of Turkey, Greece, and to the heart of the empire in Rome.  The same Spirit is working in us today, with the same goal of spreading the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

	The rest of the New Testament consists of letters written by the first Christians to individuals and churches, in response to various situations.  

	First we have letters of Paul.  They are not organised in any obvious order, except that the longest come first. 
Romans was written when Paul was hoping to travel to Rome and use it as a base for further journeys.  The good news of Jesus had already reached there, but Paul feels it best to write and tell them exactly what his teaching was about.  We therefore have the most thorough explanation of the gospel in all the letters.
1 & 2 Corinthians were written to deal with various problems, such as divisions, immorality, sex and marriage, communion.  In the second letter Paul has to defend himself, and in doing so bares his soul.
Galatians was one of the earliest letters, written to reinforce the gospel in Galatia, where it was being undermined by false teaching.
Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians were written from prison in Rome, towards the end of Paul’s life.  Ephesians is a general letter talking about God’s plan for the world, and the way we should live.  It has a lot in common with Colossians, which is more focused against some false teaching and seeks to show how Christ is all-sufficient.  Philippians is much more personal, a thank-you letter which also seeks to heal divisions.
1 & 2 Thessalonians were early letters written to encourage the Thessalonian Christians, especially by explaining about our Lord’s return.
Next come some letters to individuals, often called the ‘Pastoral’ letters.
1 & 2 Timothy are practical letters to a younger colleague who is overseeing the church in Ephesus; Paul is particularly concerned about developing Christian leadership.  They are written from prison, just before Paul’s final trial and execution.
Titus was another colleague, doing similar work to Timothy but in Crete; Paul gives advice on what to teach different groups of people.
Philemon was a member of the church at Colossae, and the owner of a runaway slave who had become a Christian and a colleague of Paul at Rome; Paul is sending the slave back to be reconciled.

	Next we have general letters written by other church leaders.
Hebrews is an anonymous letter, almost certainly not written by Paul despite the title in the Authorised Version.  It encourages Christians to hold on to their faith, by showing how Jesus Christ fulfils the Old Testament and is indeed the Son of God, the true High Priest, who brings us into God’s presence.
James was probably a brother of Jesus who became a leader in the church in Jerusalem; his letter deals with a variety of practical topics such as faith, riches, use of the tongue, healing.
1 & 2 Peter also seek to encourage Christians facing trouble and persecution, by reminding them of Christ’s example and the eternal destiny that Christ has won for them.  The second letter is more directed against false teaching which had arisen.
1,2 & 3 John were probably written by the apostle John.  The first letter encourage right belief, right love, and right action in fellowship with God and Jesus; the other letters are personal notes to individuals.
Jude was James’ brother, and he writes against some false teachers.

	The final book is the Revelation to John.  I believe that is the same John who was responsible for the gospel and the letters of John.  The revelation is from Jesus, to seven churches in present day Turkey which represent the world-wide church.  It begins with letters to each, reflecting their individual situations, and then goes into visions which are designed to encourage the churches to be faithful come what may, trusting in God’s sovereign power as he works his purposes out.  Much of the symbolism is difficult to understand, but however much we may argue over the details the message is clear: through Christ God will defeat all his enemies and will then reward his faithful people with the blessings of a new heaven and a new earth.

	What is the relevance of all this to us?   The most important thing for any human being is to be in a good relationship with our Creator God.  Without that relationship, life is meaningless and futile.  We are Christians because we have come to see that only through Jesus Christ is that relationship with God possible.  But how do we know?  We know because the New Testament tells us.  The focus of  every part of the New Testament is Jesus Christ.  The gospels tell his story, the Acts show his mission being fulfilled by his people, the letters show us how a right relationship with Jesus stems from right believing and produces right behaviour.   We cannot have a relationship with God simply by copying Jesus, and trying to live a life that matches up to his.  That is an impossible task anyway.   We have to have a real relationship with him, and for that to happen we have to get to know him.  That’s why it is important to know the truth about Jesus: we cannot have a proper relationship with someone who is just a figment of our imagination, or who is only a projection of our own ideals.  A good Christian life flows from knowing Jesus and being united to him; it is his Holy Spirit, living and acting in us, who gets the results we want and God is looking for.  Nor is it enough simply to know the historical facts; we need to know why Jesus did the things he did.  We cannot know the significance of Jesus’ life just by reading the gospels.  It is the letters that tell us what his life and death and resurrection accomplished.   The letters also tell us what sort of behaviour the Holy Spirit is working for in our lives.  Many of them start with the theory, and end with the practical, and we need both if we are to grow spiritually as God wants us to.

	The important question is this: do we want what God wants for us?   If so, we need to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the New Testament.  All of it!

CHAPTER 6: THE USE OF THE BIBLE

	Remember what we learnt about Bible reading in the first Christian Growth Cycle booklet (Membership)? 
•	Have a regular diet.  Try to read at least something each day. Don’t leave all your Bible reading to one day a week. 
•	Have a sufficient diet.  Don’t just make do with one verse at a time: aim to have sufficient to get your teeth into. 
•	Have a balanced diet.  Don’t just make do with sweeties – those passages that mean a lot, that you keep reading again and again.  Aim in the course of time to read the whole Bible – it doesn’t matter whether it takes you one year or ten.  You’ll probably find it helpful each day to read something from the Old Testament and something from the New. Ask others in your cell group what they find helpful.
•	Chew it over properly.  Always ask, 'What is God saying to me today?'  It may be something about himself, about his world, or about yourself.  It may be a promise or truth to believe, or something to do.  Look in the passage for the answers.  After you've answered that question for yourself, then (and only then) is the time to look at any Bible notes you may be using.  (We recommend that you do use notes or a Bible commentary to help you understand what is being said.)  After reading the notes, ask the question again.
ACTION POINT:  Have you found and bought suitable Bible Reading Notes or book?

	As you read your Bible, receive God's truth, believe it, act on it, and share it.

1) RECEIVE GOD'S  TRUTH

	How do we know the truth about God, his deeds, ourselves, the world around us; how do we know what God really wants from us?  Our position is that the Bible tells us: that the Bible is God speaking to us about these things.  Let me explain a bit more:
i.	God is invisible.  He is not available to research or experiments.  We cannot find out about God simply by looking at the world around us, or by philosophical arguments.  If he is there and wants us to know him, the only way is for him to do something to reveal himself.
ii	God does not reveal himself in contradictory ways to different people.  While some statements are ‘true for you but not true for me’ (eg this room is too hot), other statements are either true or false.  Revelation about God is either true or false.  Claims that God did something or said something are either true or false.  If the Bible says Jesus was crucified, and the Koran says he was not, they cannot both be true. If the Bible says we have only one life on this earth, and the Hindu scriptures say reincarnation happens, they cannot both be true.  This means that we have to make up our minds whether the Bible is God speaking to us.  If it is not, ignore it!   If it is, then read it as if each day it had just come through your letter box and you knew this is a message from God. Don’t buy the lie that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere.  That doesn’t hold for anything else in life, why should it hold for religion?
iii.	The whole Bible reveals God.  Genesis 1 does not tell us all we need to know about God: there is an unfolding of the truth from beginning to end.  It is not an evolution of truth, so that the latest teaching replaces the older teaching.  The NT builds on the OT, but does not replace it.  This means three things:
a) Do not pick and choose what to believe, what to listen to.  Some people say, only part of the Bible is from God, other parts are mistaken human ideas.  But what is the rule by which we can judge these things?  Human beings are all too likely to dismiss those teachings they find uncomfortable, whether or not they come from God.
b) Don’t play one verse off against another; ask what God is saying in both.  We do not read about the wrath of God without knowing the love of God.  We read one passage in the light of all the others. 
c) Aim to read the whole Bible.  The first time you do it will find many passages that you haven’t understood, or seem irrelevant.  But the more you read the Bible, the more you understand and the more God speaks to you.  You cannot reach spiritual maturity unless you are prepared to listen to everything God wants to tell you – so keep reading!  Don’t act as if getting to know God, and growing to spiritual maturity, are optional extras for those who like that kind of thing.  They are not!    How can we read the whole Bible?  The same way as you eat an elephant - a bite at a time.  Some start at the beginning and go through to the end; others like to read something from the Old Testament, and something from the New, others like to read from many parts of the Bible each day.   Many Bible reading notes aim to cover the Bible every few years.
iv.	The timeless truths within the Bible are revealed through words written for particular contexts by particular individuals.  One of the books of the Bible is a letter from a prisoner in Rome to a Christian in Turkey about his slave – nothing to do with us!  But that letter, though addressed to one particular situation, nevertheless reveals timeless truths about God’s ways and how we should live in them.  But those truths are not at the surface; we need to look beyond the circumstances to find the spiritual principles behind them.  We need to ask two questions.  One we've already seen: 'What is God saying to me?'  The other question is asked first: 'What did the writer intend? Is the passage historical narrative or poetry or fiction or what?  What were the circumstances of his readers?  Then ask, What is God saying to me?  Sometimes we can make direct connections between what is going on in the passage and our own circumstances; but often we have to look and see what spiritual principles are involved, and then see how those same principles can apply to our very different circumstances.  Since God is the same, and human nature is the same, the same processes are at work in our times as in those days even though the culture and technology is so different.   Don’t be afraid to use help: bible study notes, tapes, books, the internet, Christian leaders.  I love being asked questions about the Bible! 
v.	The Holy Spirit is at work in every part of the revelation process.  He inspired the people who wrote the books of the Bible in the first place, so that their all too human words were the means through which God reveals himself.  He is at work in us to enable us to receive that revelation.  We can study the Bible all we like, but unless the Holy Spirit is working in us, we cannot receive God’s revelation, and it will not really help us.  We do not need to be brainy; all we need is the Holy Spirit – and Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to those who really want him.  So don’t just read the Bible out of duty.  Engage your mind and your heart, and trust the Holy Spirit to enable you to understand what God is saying.
 
2)  BELIEVE GOD'S TRUTH

	Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:31,32).  His listeners complained: ‘We’re not slaves of anyone – we don’t need to be set free.’  But Jesus told them, ‘Everyone who sins is a slave to sin’.  You can’t stop yourself sinning – you’re a slave to it.  God’s truth can set you free, free to live the life God wants for you.
	Our behaviour is largely a result of what goes on in our minds.  Our decisions are affected by our attitudes and values, and these in turn are affected by our beliefs.  If  I’m constantly told I’m no good it would be no surprise if I came to believe it; my belief would confirmed by the fact that no matter how hard I try, I cannot make myself perfect – I see that my nature is flawed.  My belief would encourage a low self-esteem, and I might behave badly to gain attention. Psychologists have certain tools they can use to change behaviour: they may try to give positive experiences, they may use drugs to change things physically, or they may use various techniques to change the way we think about ourselves and the world around us.  Unfortunately, arrayed against them are the three things we mention in the baptism service – sin, the world and the devil, which act together to keep us from living the way God wants us to.
	God’s truth sets us free.  It is not teaching merely; there is power in it.  Accepting the truth about Jesus and what he has done opens the door for God to act in our lives and produce real change.  Our nature is changed – we are born again, and given the power to live a new life. But unless our minds are changed, our behaviour will not alter. Our thinking needs to be changed in line with the truth we discover about God, about ourselves, and about the world.  As our beliefs and attitudes are changed, so our behaviour is changed.  
	We are prisoners to sin because we have bought into lies.  We have accepted lies about God, so we are not interested in loving and obeying him.  We have accepted lies about what’s valuable in life.  We have accepted lies about ourselves:  ‘You’ll never amount to much.’ ‘You could never be a spiritual example to others ’  We have accepted lies about our behaviour: ‘You’ll never really change.’  And we accept lies about other people and the world around.
	The answer is obvious: replace the lie with God’s truth. Any wrong beliefs or behaviour you have learned can be unlearned.  Once you’ve seen the lie for what it is, the battle is won.  All that remains is to reject the lie you’ve seen, and to live in the light of the truth.  How do we do this?  Five Bible verses give the answer:

2

i.	Romans 12:2 says, ‘Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’  Get to know God’s truth, that’s the first step. If you let God’s truth challenge and change your thinking, your behaviour will follow suit.
ii.	1 Peter 1:13 says, ‘Prepare your minds for action’.  A modern paraphrase would be, ‘Roll up the sleeves of your mind.’  Be prepared to think!  Don’t let your mind freewheel into fantasy-land.
iii.	2 Corinthians 10:5 says, ‘We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’  This involves being aware of the thoughts that come into our minds, then comparing them with what we believe God would want us to think, and immediately rejecting those that are out of order.  I emphasise ‘immediately’.  Do not play with temptation, do not allow wrong thoughts  to stay in your mind for a second longer, do not let your imagination have a free rein.  This is very important.
iv	Philippians 4:6,7 tells us to pray about everything with thanksgiving, and gives the promise that if we do so God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds.  Pray about those things you are thinking of  - God knows exactly what they are.
v	Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about those things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable.  Think positively, not negatively; thinking about all that’s wrong in the world won’t make it better!

3)  ACT ON GOD'S TRUTH - LIVE BY THE SPIRIT

	We've just seen that our behaviour springs from our beliefs.  Bringing our beliefs into line with God's truth is the most important thing to do.  But it is not the whole story.  We need to bring our wills and our bodies into line as well.  We do not do that simply by learning a lot of rules and following them.  That is legalism, and much of Paul's letters are directed against that way of life.  We live God's way, and serve him with our lives, only by living 'by the Spirit' (Galatians 5:16, 25).  Instead of making our own decisions and trusting in our own resources (that is living by the 'sinful nature'), we live and work looking to the Holy Spirit to direct our lives and to give us power to fulfil his purposes.  Then the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22,23) - will grow.

	Living by the Spirit involves a life of Believing the Spirit (see above), Belonging to the Spirit, Obeying the Spirit, and Depending on the Spirit.
Belonging to the Spirit.  	At the Encounter Weekend (or while going through the Encounter Workbook) you presented your body to God.  It is easy to go take back what we gave; whenever we sin we are taking back the body we gave to God.  We need therefore constantly to renew our commitment to him.  Periodically present yourself as a whole, and the individual parts of your body one by one, to God for his purposes; and keep asking Jesus to fill you with God the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13, Ephesians 2:22, 5:18).
Obeying the Spirit.  If we belong to God, we are open to his revelation and willing to  obey him - that is part and parcel of belonging to him.  But we need to recognise when he is revealing his will, and then we still need to decide to obey him, and we need to act. 
Recognise.  God guides us in various ways.  The most important way is through our thinking, as we read the Bible.  If the Bible tells us not to steal, we don't need to wonder if it is all right to fiddle the accounts.  However, the Holy Spirit also guides us in other ways.  Sometimes a verse seems to speak to us with special strength.  Often the Holy Spirit guides us when we are not reading the Bible. It may be a thought or a feeling or impression we have.  It may be through a dream or a vision.  It may be through other people, perhaps giving us a message or picture they believe God has given them for us, or speaking formally in a sermon or informally in a conversation.  It may be that circumstances indicate God's will for us.  God can and does guide in all these ways.  However, all these ways must be tested - something that seems like guidance may not necessarily be from God, and we need to learn to recognise whether it is or not.  Always we need to ask: 
•	Does this guidance agree with the Bible?  Beware of taking a verse out of context - check with other passages.  (If you don't know where to look, ask someone!)
•	Does this guidance keep me away from sin?  God will never guide you to do something wrong.
•	Do other Christians agree?  Ask them to pray with you.  If they feel unhappy about it, be careful - do not go against them unless God makes it very clear in another way.
•	Do I have peace in my heart?  When God guides us, he gives us a sense of rightness about the action, even if we don't like what he's asking us to do.  Satan, on the other hand, will often just make us feel guilty and uncomfortable.
Decide. Bill Batt, an evangelist in the last century, tells how he was converted at a meeting.  Afterwards a stranger approached him, and said, 'If you mean business with God, read the Bible every day, do what it says, and let God take the consequences.'  If you know what God wants you to do, don't put it off; decide immediately to do it.  Exercise your renewed will!  If you don't like what God is telling us to do, the temptation is to delay, and to say to yourself that you need to think about it, and will decide later.  Decide now!
Sometimes we need to make a decision and we just are not sure what God wants us to do.  At such moments it is important to trust that the Holy Spirit is in you and is directing you, and simply to make the best decision you can.  God won't let you make a mistake if you genuinely want his will.
Act.  Obey immediately!   Don't put it off until tomorrow; that is not the kind of obedience that glorifies God!  Don't give the devil a chance.
Depending on the Spirit.
Obey in prayerful dependence upon the Holy Spirit, so that you really are doing God's will in his way.  It is easy to find out God's will, and then to attempt to do it in our own strength. Paul tells us to 'continue to work out God's salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose'  (Philippians 2:11,12).  God is at work in us; we do not sit back and watch, but we co-operate with him, acting in trusting dependence on his grace and his power. Be ready and willing for the Spirit to continue to guide each step of the way, and trust him to give whatever we need to accomplish his will.   As we go forward, we will meet difficulties and problems; pray about them, ask God for his provision, and trust him to answer.  The work is not ours; it is God's - and the glory needs to go to him.  So match your requests and your trusting with your thanks and your praises!

4)  SHARE GOD'S TRUTH

	The more we know and live according to the truth, the more we become the people God intends us to be, and the more able we are to help others. One of the principles of the kingdom of God is that we grow spiritually as we help others to know God’s truth and let them help us.  Ephesians 4:15 says, ‘Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ.’  We are to speak the truth in love.  Not just to speak the truth: many people say, ‘I like plain speaking, and I’m not afraid to speak my mind,’ but don't care how they say it or whether it will benefit the hearer.  Truth without love can be destructive.  But love without speaking the truth is deceitful, and many of us are tempted to be quiet when we should be speaking – either we are cowards, or we are afraid that what we say will be taken the wrong way, or it never seems to be the right time.  If we are to grow, we need to learn how to share the truth we have received and are trying to live by, in a spirit of love in which our only aim is for the hearer’s well-being and growth in God’s grace.
	The opportunities to speak the truth in love come most easily when speaking one to one, with Christians or non-Christians.  But we also get opportunities to talk about God’s truth in groups, at least in general terms, and that can be just as helpful.  In our cell groups we have Word sections, in which is the aim is for everyone to benefit from the understanding and experience of the group, so that all may grow in their relationship with God and usefulness to him.  The discussion leader therefore needs to draw out from everyone in the group their understanding of what the Bible says, or of the present day situation God could be speaking about.  Part of the process of growing in understanding involves being honest about questions and difficulties, either with the Bible passage or with the present day application, so the leader needs to encourage honest questions.  The leader also needs to draw out any experience people may have of those situations, and of how the truths in the Bible can help.  The aim is not just to understand, but to put the truth into practice and to be able to share it with others.  ‘Aha!’ experiences and inspiration are no substitute for obedience.
	In summary: do not believe the lie that you cannot read the whole Bible.  Do not believe the lie that God will not speak to you through the Bible.  Do not believe the lie that you cannot become a mature, Christ-like Christian.   Do not believe the lie that you cannot speak the truth in love in order to help other Christians grow.  Receive God’s truth., believe it, act on it, and share it – and God will bless you, and his kingdom through you!