Losing Sleep, Worry, Prayer, and the Power and Love of God

“Simplicity of heart, and freedom from anxiety, He expects of us and gives grace to have both.” – Jim Elliot

Do you ever lie awake at night because you are anxious or stressed about something? Happens to me all the time. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when this happens to you.

First of all, we are commanded by Jesus to not worry. If we are worrying we need to stop. An important clarification here is that there is a difference between a temptation to worry and the actual sin of worry itself. I think when most of us reflect on it we know the difference. It is natural, in my opinion to have fear or concern about something. It is normal for us to look ahead and wonder how things will pan out. But where we cross the line between temptation to worry and actual sin-worry, in my opinion, is where we leave God out of the picture and willfully doubt Him. Before we cross that line and enter into doubt, and insult the Father who loves us, we can decide that we are going to claim the promises that our heavenly Father has given us concerning worry, doubt, and anxiety.

Here are just a few off the top of my head:

“…for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” - Matthew 6:8

“No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” - Joshua 1 (God speaking to Joshua before taking the promised land.)

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:38-39

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” ­- Matthew 6:25-34

And if those passages from the Bible are not enough, or maybe you forget them in the heat of the battle, just consider the very basic and self evident foundational truth about who God is and how He cares about you. God is the one who laid the foundation of the earth. Who set the atom in motion, created the mountains and the sea and all the creatures that inhabit them? This is the God that in Psalm 103 it says, “His throne is established in Heaven and He rules over all”. But that is not all. This is also the same God who loved you so much that He laid upon His Son, His only Son, your sins that you might have life now and forever. That is how much He loves you and cares for you. So there is no doubt that God has more than earned our trust as the One who not only has it all under control, but also has your best interests and the interests of those you love in mind.

Now if I am kept awake because of something going on in my life is that a sin? Is it a sign that I am worrying too much if I can’t sleep. Well I would say, not necessarily. In fact it may very well be a good thing that God is doing. Consider this.

David says in Psalm 119:62 “At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments.” In this Psalm David is repeating over and over a theme of how great God’s ways are and how much he desires to live and follow God’s law. It seems that David would wake in the middle of the night, and we know that David had much in his life that could be categorized as stress inducing, and he would pray to God, cry out to God, but also give thanks to God. This is a good thing from what I see.

Also consider Jesus and His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before Jesus was to go through his greatest trial yet. And what did Jesus tell them to do? He told them to stay awake and pray. The spiritual warfare at that moment was fierce. Prayer was the weapon to fight it. Is the warfare fierce in your life? Are there times that we should maybe lose some sleep to wield the weapon of prayer? Sadly, the apostles did not stay awake when they should have. Sometimes it is good for us to be awake and to pray.

Now that brings me to another important point directly related to the story in the Garden. When we are awake at night, is that not a great time and another chance to pray for the ones we love? Or do I dare say, we could also pray for our enemies? Are we willing to show love to our friends and enemies by praying for them in the middle of the night? Just like the disciples should have been there for Jesus, we too should be there for those we need to pray for. The middle of the night is a great time to pray for our children. It is also a great time to pray for those who have hurt us.

I had a friend once tell me that there were times in his life that he had no food and did not know when or where his next meal would come from. He told me that when this happened to him that he would say, “Well I guess that means God wants me to fast.” I think there are times when God tells us it may be time to fast from sleep. He may in fact be pleased when we wake up with something on our mind that is heavy and we just hand it to Him and give thanks that He has it under control and thank Him that He loves us so much.

So the next time I wake up in the middle of the night and my natural bent wants me to go into fits of worry, fretting, and anxiety attacks, I can instead say this prayer,

“Father in heaven, thank you that I am awake because I can give thanks to you in the quiet of the night. I don’t mind if I am tired tomorrow because you will give me what I need to do your will. It’s worth it to lose some sleep for this. The weight of this thing that is on my mind is too heavy for me but it isn’t for you. And this thing that I am tempted to worry about, I am not going to worry about it because you are taking care of me and the ones I love."

I have a long way to go in perfecting this behavior. It takes work for me to do this even though I know it is true. But it is true that we can count on God no matter what.

“There is no pit so deep, that God is not deeper yet.” – Elizabeth Ten Boom

Islam does not need guns or bombs in America

Here is an excellent factual look at what the Koran says, the history of Islam from its beginnings, what was the behavior of its founder, and speaks directly to those who would say, "Islam is a peaceful religion." This is worth watching every minute of it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-871902797772997781

Don

How Do You Know How Many Kids You Should Have?

I have always loved mathematics. It is one of the main reasons I studied engineering in school. Simple math can even give us insights to the effects Christianity and Islam are having on the world today.

My oldest son and I attended an Evangelism Explosion seminar a few weeks ago. In this seminar the instructor sort of went off on a tangent and shared something I have never heard shared in church before. He said that years ago he was teaching a young marrieds Sunday School class and he was teaching them through the Song of Solomon. During this teaching a young woman asked a question he was not prepared to answer. She asked, "How do you know how many kids you should have?"He told her, "Let me look that up and get back to you." He then went searching for an answer in the Bible. He then told us what he found. He said, "Class, you know what? You won't find anywhere in Scripture that you should limit the number of kids you should have. In fact, it says in Scripture that children are a blessing and the more you have the better."

Sadly, I know many Christians have never heard this before. And the way of the culture is to maybe have children but not too many. Most Christian families have followed this cultural norm not knowing any better. I know I was very close to making a decision that would have cut me off literally from having more children. And only by God's grace did He alter my course of action and here I am six children later and hoping God will give us the privilege of raising more.

Ultimately it is God who opens and closes the womb. And I know there are many who desire to have children but are not able and for whatever reason God will many times decide to keep the womb closed. We see in the Old Testament many very godly women whose wombs were closed for a time. But we never see in Scripture God telling someone to sterilize themselves or take some action to prevent conception. God's word clearly states that "children are a blessing" and certainly we see throughout Scripture and in our own personal experience that God does withhold blessings from his people when they turn away from His desires and/or pursue other things instead. In other words, man can reject God's blessings by his own free will and actions.

In this culture it seems very strange for a married couple to leave their reproductive system fully natural and capable as God designed it. And for some it is a very scary idea to let God decide how many kids you will have. But isn't that what faith is all about. Trusting God, because He has proven to be trustworthy and He is God afterall, even when our own logic or the worlds wisdom around us tells us to do something else? And is it not the purpose of the Christian to live for Jesus and not himself?

Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. -Malachi 2:13-15

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. -Psalm 127

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." -Genesis 1:27-28

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. -Proverbs 5:18-19

Don

Evangelism or Saving Babies? Which will it be?

Recently in a discussion about abortion with some fellow brothers, a statement was reapeated over and over and it went like this: "Evangelism must always come first. That is the way it has always been. Then everything else comes after that." Of course in the context of this discussion, "everything else" is referring to pro-life activism. That is, the activity of defending pre-born babies. This statement has several problems.

1. It assumes that doing one means you can't do the other. Why is it that defending babies from being tortured to death is somehow prohbitive of sharing the good news of forgiveness and freedom from sin through Jesus Christ? I reject that at its face and you should too. Or at least, someone is going to have to prove that statement to me. It is a false dilemma. The two are not exclusive of the other and in fact, I would argue, the two are in harmony. What do I mean by that?....

2. The missionary heroes of faith, those we might tout as being in the evangelism hall of fame, are filled with examples of saints who minister first and spent most of their time ministering to physical needs of those they were with. The list is long and just off the top of my head here are but a few:

• Hudson Taylor - missionary to China who cared for the needs of unwanted chinese children
  
• William Carry-missionary to India. Was instrumental in bringing an end to "Sati" the practice of burning widows after their husbands died.
  
• Amy Carmichael-missionary to India. Known for rescuing young girls from being enslaved as Hindu temple prostitutes.
  
• Gladys Aylward-missionary to China. Rescued hundreds of orphans. Helped stop the practice of foot binding.
  
• Corrie Ten Boom-devoted Christian and along with her sister and father, were part of the Dutch resistance to the Nazis and rescued Jews from slaughter.
  
• George Mueller-Evangelist and coordinated orphanages in Bristol, England.
• Mother Theresa-Roman Catholic Nun who ministered to the sick, poor and dying for decades.
  

I know the list could go on but you get the idea. Let's not also forget that the historians record that the early Christian church was known for caring for the sick and needy. And they were also known for caring for abandoned babies. Something that the Roman culture practiced and despite the legal prohibitions by the Roman government to intervene for these babies, the Christians cared for them anyway under great persecution.

3. And thirdly, since when does "evangelism" trump the commandments of Jesus? Jesus and the apostles clearly commanded Christians to care for the physical needs of the "least of these" (Matthew 25:40) and to care for "widows and orphans" (James 2). We see through out the Old Testament that God repeatedly demands justice for the helpless and needy.

I don't understand this logic. But really I should. Why is that? What is it that is different about the helpless people that the above listed saints cared for and the unborn children being killed by abortion? The difference here is that most people do not see the pre-born babies as the same as the victims of the above injustices. The pre-born is an abstraction and abortion is merely a lesser of evils but not a great evil. At least not nearly an evil comparable to the genocides listed above.

I see this all the time. The smartest people and what you might say are the most godly people completely miss that there is a holocaust happening in their own backyard.

So you see there is no contradiction between Christian evangelism and pro-life activism. That is unless the unborn are really not human beings and are not our "neighbor" who we should love as ourselves.

Don Cooper

"If those who claim the name of Christ are not willing to stand up against something as evil as killing a baby, then the world has the right to ask if Christ is real." -Francis Schaeffer

Baby Gabriel Is Born

There are times now in my life that I reflect on the work that I am doing and find it very odd.  In its most simplistic sense, I find it odd that there is even a reason that I have to argue that killing babies is wrong and should be illegal.  Fortunately, for most people, I don't have to argue too much because the facts speak for themselves and for most people when they see the hard evidence of what abortion is, the person's conscience reasons them to the conclusion that it is seriously wrong.  Unfortunately, these are facts that most people do not want to see and in fact would prefer to remain ignorant of them or in denial of them.  Hence the need for all the crazy stuff I do at CBR:  http://abortionNO.org

 Just a few days ago my son Gabriel was born.  I have been looking at this incredibly beautiful creation so perfectly formed.  He is utterly helpless and entirely dependent upon us to care for him.  He cannot talk and although he looks around and is very alert for a newborn baby, I am not sure how much he can even think.  Yet that makes him all the more precious. I would give up all things for the sake of this little boy.

I think about the pro-abortion arguments that attempt to justify killing babies with statements such as "viability" (which is another word for dependence), size, ability to think, level of development, etc. and I think how absurd these arguments are.  And in its most simplistic sense I am reminded that abortion is nothing short of the most evil and disgusting act that man has ever devised.  What kind of person takes a helpless, innocent human baby and rips him apart limb for limb?  When I look at my son I am reminded that there are babies just like him who are being tortured to death every day.  It is just wrong and utterly disgusting.

 

I am sometimes asked by people, "Why are you so passionate about abortion?".  Or they may ask, "Why did you decide to do this work fulltime?" And while I understand the question at some level, for the most part I want to ask, "Why do you even have to ask me that?"  Babies are being tortured to death all around us.  Why are you not so passionate about abortion?  Why are you not doing all you can to save these babies from this horror? 

The Tolerance of Injustice and the Gospel

This morning I was listening to some hymns on a CD and one hymn reminded me of the Civil Rights movement.  It has been forgotten by the politically correct that the Civil Rights movement and the abolitionists of slavery had a foundation in Christianity.  Those who were at the forefront of these efforts openly proclaimed the name of Christ and His teachings.  With that in mind however, I thought that it is amazing that the gospel spread to African Americans in this country when there was so much hypocrisy abounding.  When slavery was legal, the institutional church was silent at best and pro-slavery at worst.  This can be seen in the writings of such people as William Loyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass.  

Why was the institutional church silent or pro-slavery?  Because it was not politically correct to be openly opposed to slavery. It was devisive.  You might offend some of your church members who were slave owners and depended upon it for their livliehood.  And besides that, the black man's humanity was in doubt so who was to say whether slavery was right or wrong.  One might believe the black man was fully human as a white man.  While some thought it was not so.  But who were they to force their view on somebody. Each person would have to make up his own mind.  In the mean time, let's get about our business of "worshipping" God.

 

It is sickening to think about really.  Yet are we not at that same point today?  The humanity of the pre-born child and the inhumanity of abortion that kills that child is in debate today.  And sadly, the institutional church has for the most part been a non-player.

 

How much moral authority can the church have when she tolerates something as evil as killing a baby?  How convincing is the message of the love of Jesus when those bringing that message are either complicit in the deaths of babies or complacent about the killing going on around them?  

 

More to follow... 

 

DEC 

Why Do YOU Oppose Abortion Mr. Guiliani?

Recently CNN quoted former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani: 

“Religion is an important thing to me and my life, but ultimately I’ve been in public life most of my life, and taken oaths of office to enforce the law, and I’ve got to make the decisions that I think are the right ones in a country like ours,” he said.

“My view on abortion is that it’s wrong but that ultimately, government should not be enforcing that decision on a woman.”

Now what's wrong with this statement? A simple question can quickly point out that this is a barbaric view.  That question is, "Why do you think abortion is wrong Mr. Guiliani?"  To which his reply would most likely be, "Well I think abortion kills a human being. I think abortion kills a baby." To which you repeat back what he has just said. "So Mr. Guiliani, you think that abortion kills a baby? But you think that people should be allowed to decide to kill babies?"

You see Mr. Guiliani.  You don't really believe abortion kills a baby.  You don't really believe abortion is wrong.

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