Paul told young Timothy that he must guard the gospel faithfully, spread it actively, and suffer for it bravely (2 Tim 1). Jude, the brother of our Lord, says that we must earnestly contend for the faith, the body of truth concerning Jesus Christ and His teachings, which has been entrusted to us (Jude 3). In a postmodern age when many believe there are no fixed, transcendent moral absolutes, it is especially important for us to know WHAT we believe and WHY we believe. Here in CHC and THN, we are first Protestants, Evangelicals, then Pentecostals, and in this particular order.

Why do we call ourselves “Protestants”? Here are the reasons …

This is the final instalment to our series on prayer. Jesus teaches that we must saturate our prayers with adoration.

What does it mean to adore God?

How does adoration bring us to a place of inner peace and heavenly joy?

Let me share with you some practical steps of how I spend time in adoring prayers ...

In prayer, Jesus wants us to learn how to ask (Jn 16:24). We mustn’t think that there is no need to ask anything from God because He already knows what we need.

When we pray …

(1) We must ask God according to His will (Jas 4:3; 1 Jn 5:14-15).

(2) We must ask in faith (Mt 21:22).

(3) We must ask persistently (Lk 11:9; Lk 18:1).

However, if we pray for a supernatural miracle, are we resisting the sovereignty of God?

Here is my response …

Jesus is the totally sinless Lamb of God (1 Pet 1:19). While we are legally and positionally righteous in Christ, yet in this lifetime, we will still sin. Therefore, Jesus teaches us that repentance must be a daily lifestyle. When we pray, we must regularly confess our sins to God, who will freely “forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us” (Lk 11:4, NIV). This is where the Ten Commandments are very useful (Ex 20:3-17; Deut 5:7-21). While they can’t defeat sin, they are very good in detecting them. I often use the Ten Commandments as a “spiritual MRI” to check my heart.

This is how I do it in my prayer life …

A conversation is a chat between two people. Prayer must be exactly like this – a conversation between a believer and God! He loves to fellowship and commune with us. In prayer, we are sharing our hearts with Him, and He is sharing His heart with us. Only when there is a conversation is there a full spiritual encounter.

This is how conversation usually happens in prayer …

Jesus was an expert in Bible meditation. He meditated so much on Scripture that He quoted it automatically and instinctively in almost every situation, especially during the critical moments of His life and ministry. Over the years, I have learned that this is the secret to a powerful prayer life. Christian meditation, however, is very different from other forms of meditation. It is, first and foremost, not a breathing exercise.

This is how you do it …

In the Gospels, Jesus was constantly in a prayer mode. Why? Because prayer is how we fellowship and unite with God. Prayer tunes us to God.

How did Jesus pray? This is what I have learned …

Why pray early in the morning, especially when so many of us are night owls? Besides, isn’t any time of the day always a good time to pray? Of course, it is! We shouldn’t be rigid and legalistic about the right timing for us to seek God. Yet, many saints of the Bible, including our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, loved waking up early in the morning to pray (e.g., Mk 1:35; Ps 5:3). The Holy Spirit also fell upon the apostles and the earliest Christians in the upper room during an early morning prayer meeting (Acts 2:1-4).

What is so special about praying in the morning? There are some very practical benefits that I have found. Please allow me to share them with you …

The cross is the focus of the gospel. No matter what your needs or problems may be, God has an answer for you. It is, however, only through the cross alone that you may receive provision for your needs and answers to your problems. In the last post, I talked about the first four aspects of the great exchange. Here are the rest:

(5) Jesus tasted death so that we might have eternal life.

(6) Jesus was wounded so that we might be healed.

(7) Jesus endured poverty so that we might share His abundance.

(8) Jesus was made a curse so that we might enter into the blessing.

The sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross is the focus of the entire gospel (the good news). Something truly amazing happened during Easter. Martin Luther called it “the wonderful exchange”.

No matter what your need or problem may be, God has an answer for you. But there is only one place that you can find the answer at: the cross on which Jesus died. It is only through the cross (and the cross alone) that you can receive provision for all your needs, and answers to your problems.

Eight powerful things happened in the great exchange.
Let us look at the first four:

(1) Jesus was punished so that we might be forgiven.

(2) Jesus was treated as guilty so that we might be declared righteous.

(3) Jesus bore our shame so that we might share His glory.

(4) Jesus endured rejection so that we might have acceptance with the Father.