Crisis Praise
The conference wasn’t supposed to start with such alarm and concern. As more than 3000 people assembled, news had spread of a summer thunderstorm that became a flood passing through Big Thompson Canyon just south of the conference sight. The day before, 35 women in the leadership of Cru had gone into the canyon for a pre-conference gathering and were caught in the flash flood. As the conference started the following evening, no one knew much more than that the women were caught in the flood. Later it became clear that 7 staff women lost their lives.
As the Bill Bright stood up to begin the conference he knew there was only one thing to do: Praise the Lord.
He began reading psalms of praise. He led the staff in praise to God for His greatness and awesome presence even in the uncertainty and grief.
Bill knew that in the midst of crises, there’s only one appropriate response for Christians and that is to worship the LORD - to praise Him and adore Him for who He is and ask for His glory to reign.
David had a similar response in the midst of terrifying circumstances. He wrote, ""My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts—the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.”
And he followed it with:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! (Ps57:9-11)
This lesson is simple but hardly natural and on one level doesn't make sense, right? We so instinctively go to fear, anxiety, anger or retribution when negative things happen to us. Yet, when we praise God we direct our heart to His beauty, His love and His power. There are numerous examples of God’s power moving in response to this type of praise. Just a few psalms later David repeats his steadfast response amidst trial:
"But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love." Ps 59:16,17
It is instructive that David carried this attitude of praise in bad and good times. He practiced praising God all the time - at least that was his desire. And this is why we must cultivate an attitude of praise throughout the “normal” days of life. When we are grounded in authentic knowledge and praise of God in normal times it is much easier to worship Him in the bad.
David wrote in Ps 34, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
When our praise is focused on the character of God, which doesn’t change, we can still worship Him even in the midst of circumstances that do change.
If you are a worship leader don’t miss this lesson! It is our role to call his people to worship at all times… and certainly in times of crisis or change! I wonder if the church has lacked power to respond to crisis appropriately precisely because we’ve failed keep a "first response" heart of praise and worship. As worship leaders, we must call people to continually cultivate a heart of praise personally and corporately.
How do you respond to tragedy or negative circumstances? May we keep cultivating a heart of worship in ourselves and others.
"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!”
And as we remember Who it was that invaded our world and our lives this Christmas, let's let our praise abound!
“Glory to God in the highest!"
Crisis Prayer
For most Christians, the Lord’s Prayer is the example of prayer we were taught to model in our own prayer life. It’s the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray found in Matt 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4 It would be more accurately called the “Disciple’s Prayer” and it's a great model for our prayers, for sure!
There is also another model taken from Jesus own life. It’s His "crises prayer" in the garden of Gethsemane, just before he gave himself up to the Jewish authorities. It led to the horrific pain and eventual sacrifice of His life on our behalf for our salvation. And it is only because Jesus redeemed us from our crises of separation from God, that we can come before Him in worship and prayer.
In that desperate moment He prayed:
"Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36, Matt 26:39, Luke 22:42)
Four Essentials:
Jesus modeled four essentials to effective prayer for us: Fellowship, Faith, Request, and Surrender. These have been very helpful in my own prayer life and I hope help you too!1. Fellowship with God: “Abba, Father”
Jesus was intimately connected with the Father all the time. He lived in union with God and constant worship before Him. Worship expressed in obedience and adoration.
* “Abba" (Daddy) suggests love and intimacy with the Father.
* “Father” suggests that Jesus knew who God was and who He was - the Son of God and Son of Man.
For us, this fellowship with God is possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. By our believing and receiving Him by faith we become sons and daughters of God! Jn1:12
To live in fellowship with God means we are living in repentance before Him regarding all sin in our lives and pursuing our relationship with God. So, while Jesus didn’t have sin, we do and must confess and forsake any sin God reveals to us!
As you approach a time of prayer ask:
Question #1: Am I living in fellowship with God? Is there any unconfessed sin in my life? Have I turned from it and surrendered to Christ’s Lordship? Jesus had made up his mind to live in fellowship and under the Father’s Lordship regardless of the outcome.
2. Faith: “All things are possible for You.”
We are commanded to believe God when we pray and this is Jesus example. Mk11:24 Praying in faith means we fully believe God is able to do anything He desires. Does it mean we believe He will give us what we ask? I think not - Not unless what we are asking is something God has promised us in His word, such as the promise to give us peace. Phil 4:7 But this asking in faith must go deep into our being. it’s not wishing that God could do something. It is fully affirming that God is who He says He is and putting our weight into it. Heb11:6
As you approach a time of prayer ask:
Question #2: Do I fully believe God is able to do anything - that all things are possible? Inherent in this prayer is the trust that God would do what is best in His plan. We too can lean on God’s great promise that He does all things for His glory and our good. Rom8:28 We mustn’t let our circumstances or other’s words diminish our view and the truth of who God is.
3. Request: “Remove this cup.”
Jesus did not hide his desire before the Father. He was aware of what he was feeling (Matt26:38) and what was causing His feelings (impending crucifixion and more.) He brought this before the Father and His request for this chapter in His life to be removed. Did God give Him this request? No, but He did give Jesus the strength to follow the Father’s plan. This strength allowed Jesus to bring his emotions of sorrow under control and to obey God.
As you approach a time of prayer ask:
Question #3: Am I bringing my deepest requests before the Lord? Am I being honest and vulnerable before Him - hiding nothing?
4. Surrender: “Yet, not what I will, but what You will.”
Perhaps this reveals more about Jesus’ heart than anything. His knowledge and love of God was so complete that He passionately wanted the Father's will over His own. He knew and trusted that the Father’s will was best - whatever that meant for His current circumstances. He knew that in the end, joy was before Him. Heb12:3
Our knowledge of God and delight in His will is a work in progress. Still, by His grace, we can also live in surrender. We have an amazing hope we are to abide in, faith we are to live by, and love we are to walk in by His Spirit’s power. We can affirm that His will is better than ours. We can even be optimistic about the future. 2Cor2:14
As you approach a time of prayer ask:
Question #4: Is the posture of my heart one of surrender? Do I fully believe God’s will is best? Do I have a surrendered attitude toward God in the little things as well as the big?
May God deepen our experience of Him and may we imitate Jesus in all areas of our lives, including our prayers.
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