faith for faith

How long, O Lord; how long must I wait for thee?
I have sought thee with my whole heart,
And my heart is wearied by thy pursuit;
I have looked about me, and I see myself alone;
Thy enemies look with contempt upon me,
And those who bear thy name jeer and detest me;
I am a fool to those who hate thee,
And a mad man and a rebel to those who claim allegiance to thee;
All have despised me, and all have desired my ruin;
I am alone.

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There is much that is said about knowing the will of God and doing the will of God in the church today, yet oftentimes there is little counsel that is given that is concrete, either Scripturally or in practice. Typically, if you express that you are searching the will of God in a particular matter, you are given counsel that revolves around the notion of “closed doors and open doors” or “listening to the small, still voice of God during prayer.” While these cannot be discounted (being that God can use whatever means he sees fit), biblically, these are not the ways by which we are called to determine God’s will.

For though the two aforementioned methods have their origins from the text of the Scriptures, they are from misapplication rather from than clear mandate. First, for though the notion of “closed and open doors” is used by the apostle Paul in his writings, it is always used in respect to the Gospel being proclaimed and received and not in respect to determining the will of God (cf. 1Cor. 16:9; 2Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3). For when Paul uses such language, it is in commentary upon what God has done through what Paul has already done concerning the clear will of the Lord, namely, preaching the Gospel. For Paul already knew from the Scriptures and from revelation that the will of God was to preach the Word of God to the Gentiles, and the open door of which he speaks was God providing the way by which Paul would accomplish the will of God.

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Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality (Rm. 12:12, 13).

The three–rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer–if any are to be fulfilled in the life of a Christian, each must rest upon the other. For patience in tribulation will not come apart from rejoicing in hope, nor will it come apart from incessant prayer. However, our hope will not come apart from tribulation, for the apostle says earlier in his letter, “We rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rm. 5:3-4). And incessant prayer will not come apart from rejoicing in hope and patience in tribulation, for hope and patience are the wellspring of godly supplication. The three are a three-stranded rope, where together the three are strong and stay a Christian’s life, but remove even one, and the others’ strength is diminished.

And when these three are found in the life of the Christian, it overflows practically in the contribution to the needs of the saints and the showing of hospitality. For the one who rejoices in hope of his future Inheritance by necessity does not rejoice in the world’s temporal pleasures and thereby uses his resources for the needs of the saints rather than for worldly gain. Also, the one who is patient in tribulation, because of his own suffering, sympathizes with the plight of his fellow brothers and sisters and seeks to aid them in their need and suffering. And, finally, the one who does not cease to pray to the Lord, is constantly fixed upon doing the will of the Lord, which is to love his brothers and sisters in the same manner that Christ loved him, suffering even unto death for sake of the saints. Each of these–hope, suffering, and incessant prayer–hold the Christian fast and overflow in a wellspring of generosity to the needs of the Church.

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Grant, Almighty God, that, since to a perverse, and in every way a rebellious people, thou didst formerly show so much grace, as to exhort them continually to repentance, and to stretch forth thy hand to them by thy Prophets, — O grant, that the same word may sound in our ears; and when we do not immediately profit by thy teaching, O cast us not away, but, by thy Spirit, so subdue all our thoughts and affections, that we, being humbled, may give glory to thy majesty, such as is due to thee, and that, being allured by thy paternal favor, we may submit ourselves to thee, and, at the same time, embrace that mercy which thou offerest and presentest to us in Christ, that we may not doubt but thou wilt be a Father to us, until we shall at length enjoy that eternal inheritance, which has been obtained for us by the, blood of thine only-begotten Son. Amen (John Calvin).

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26, 27).

We as Christians make much, and rightly so, of the work of reconciliation that Christ accomplished for us who are in him. Through his holy life and his death he has reconciled us, who were once children of wrath and enemies of God, forever to the Father. Scripture declares also that Christ’s work of reconciliation did not end with his holy life and death but that Christ is now at the right hand of the Father pleading our case as our advocate and high priest. And though Christ has once and for all reconciled us the Church to a holy and just God through his spilt blood, there is further reconciliation needed to make us one with the Father.

Our lack, or weakness as it is called in Romans 8:26, is our ignorance of the Providence (i.e. the unrevealed will) of God. This ignorance coupled with Scripture’s command for us to pray without ceasing in all that we do has the certain potential to create disharmony between us and the Father. For example, we may pray according to God’s revealed will (i.e. Scripture) that he would spark a revival in our churches, and yet this request might be against the Providence of God. We might pray that our grandmother would be healed of her sickness, that a lost neighbor would see the Gospel as gospel, or that we might have victory over a particular sinful inclination–and all these requests, as rooted in Scripture as they might be, might be in conflict with the Providence of God.

Paul experienced this disharmony firsthand with what he calls his “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12. Though we do not know exactly what this thorn in the flesh of Paul was, we can be sure that each of the three times that Paul prayed for its removal that he was praying according to the testimony of Scripture. Although his request was Scriptural, God denied his request each of the three times. Why? Because God had a greater purpose, namely to keep Paul a humble man and to prove to him that his grace was sufficient for his sustenance.

Should we then be concerned that our prayers that accord with Scripture are contrary to the Providence of God? Should we, as the context in Romans 8 dictates, hesitate to pray for the alleviation of our sinful passions and inclinations for the sake of holiness? Absolutely not! Why? Because we have a mediator in the Holy Spirit that maintains our harmony with the Father in spite of our ignorance of his Providence. Scripture says that we do not know how to pray as we ought, and for this very reason the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words (v. 8:26). And though these groanings of the Spirit are inexpressible and incomprehensible to us, we do know that they are done in accordance with the unrevealed will of the Father (v. 8:27).

Just as we praise Christ and are comforted that he has brought us close to the Father through his life and blood, we should also praise the Holy Spirit and be comforted that he is interceding for us according to the will of the Father. We should be comforted first because in spite of our weaknesses we are still one with Father through the work of the Spirit and second because his intercessions are according to the good and perfect Providence of the Father. It is the same Providence that in the following verse declares, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (v. 8:28). Praise God for his intercession and Providence!