Pray for Each Other - Mining the Catechism

The Heidelberg Catechism doesn’t speak much about how we are advocates for each other, but it does speak beautifully about Christ as our advocate. I'm still trying to get my head and heart around the glory of such a truth!

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Q & A 31

Q. Why is he called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”?

A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father
and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit¹

to be our chief prophet and teacher²

who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance;³

our only high priest⁴

who has delivered us by the one sacrifice of his body,⁵
and who continually pleads our cause with the Father;⁶
and our eternal king⁷

who governs us by his Word and Spirit,
and who guards us and keeps us
in the freedom he has won for us.⁸

¹ Luke 3:21-22; 4:14-19 (Isa. 61:1); Heb. 1:9 (Ps. 45:7)
² Acts 3:22 (Deut. 18:15)
³ John 1:18; 15:15
⁴ Heb. 7:17 (Ps. 110:4)
⁵ Heb. 9:12; 10:11-14
⁶ Rom. 8:34; Heb. 9:24
⁷ Matt. 21:5 (Zech. 9:9)
⁸ Matt. 28:18-20; John 10:28; Rev. 12:10-11

Q & A 49

Q. How does Christ’s ascension to heaven
benefit us?

A. First, he is our advocate

in heaven
in the presence of his Father.¹

Second, we have our own flesh in heaven

as a sure pledge that Christ our head
will also take us, his members,
up to himself.²

Third, he sends his Spirit to us on earth

as a corresponding pledge.³
By the Spirit’s power

we seek not earthly things
but the things above, where Christ is,

sitting at God’s right hand.⁴

¹ Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1
² John 14:2; 17:24; Eph. 2:4-6
³ John 14:16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5
⁴ Col. 3:1-4

Pray For Each Other - Praying the Scriptures

Our praying can be enhanced when we pray using words from Scripture. These prayer segments come from Matthew Henry, Pray the Bible, available online at http://www.matthewhenry.org.

(Section 5 – Intercession, and Section 8 – Occasional Addresses)

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We pray, as we are taught, for all people, believing that this is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth and of Jesus Christ, (1 Timothy 2:3-4) who gave himself as a ransom for all. (1Timothy 2:6)

Add to your church day by day those who are being saved; (Acts 2:47) enlarge the place of its tent, lengthen its cords, and strengthen its stakes. (Isaiah 54:2)

O let the earth be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)

O strengthen the weak hands, confirm the feeble knees, say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not. (Isaiah 35:3-4) Answer them with good words and comfortable words, (Zechariah 1:13) saying unto them, Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you: (Matthew 9:5) Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid, (Mark 6:50) I am your salvation; (Psalm 35:3) and make them to hear the voice of joy and gladness, that broken bones may rejoice. (Psalm 51:8)

To those that are asking what they shall do to inherit eternal life, (Matthew 19:16) discover Christ as the way, the truth, and the life, the only true and living way. (John 14:6) 

O do not quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed, but 

bring forth judgment unto victory. (Matthew 12:20) Let the great Shepherd of the sheep gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead them, (Isaiah 40:11) and help them against their unbelief. (Mark 9:24)

Lord, thou hast appointed those that are sick to be prayed for, and prayed with, and hast promised that the prayer of faith shall save the sick; Lord, help us to pray in faith for the sick, (James 5:14-15) and as being ourselves also in the body. (Hebrews 13:3)

 
When our Lord Jesus was here upon earth, we find that they brought to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and he healed all manner of sicknesses and all manner of diseases among the people; (Matthew 4:23-24) and he hath still the same power over bodily diseases that ever he had: He saith to them, Go, and they go; Come, and they come; Do this, and they do it; and can speak the word, and they shall be healed. (Matthew 8:8-9) He is still touched with the feeling of our infirmities. (Hebrews 4:15) In the belief of this, we do by prayer bring our friends that are sick and lay them before him. (Luke 5:18)

Desiring God's Will - Learning from Others

 – from Arthur Walkington Pink, The Lord’s Prayer.

“The text now before us contains a prayer that we might be brought into complete accord with God’s revealed will. We do the will of God when, out of a due regard for His authority, we regulate our own thoughts and conduct by His commandments. Such is our bounden duty, and it should ever be our fervent desire and diligent endeavor so to do. We mock God if we present this request and then fail to make the conforming of ourselves to His revealed will our main business. Ponder our Lord’s solemn warning in Matthew 15:1–9 (cf. Matthew 25:31–46 and Luke 6:46–49).

“Thy will be done in earth.” The one who sincerely prays this necessarily intimates his unreserved surrender to God; he implies his renunciation of the will of Satan (2 Tim. 2:26) and of his own corrupt inclinations (1 Pet. 4:2), and his rejection of all things opposed to God. Nevertheless, such a soul is painfully conscious that there is still much in him that is in conflict with God. He therefore humbly and contritely acknowledges that he cannot do His Father’s will without Divine assistance, and that he earnestly desires and seeks enabling grace. Possibly the meaning and scope of this petition will best be opened up if we express it thus: O Father, let Thy will be revealed to me, let it be wrought in me, and let it be performed by me.

From a positive perspective, when we pray, “Thy will be done,” we beg God for spiritual wisdom to learn His will: “Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts.… Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes” (Ps. 119:27, 33). Also, we beg God for spiritual inclination toward His will: “I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart.… Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies” (Ps. 119:32, 36). Furthermore, we beg God for spiritual strength to perform His bidding: “Quicken Thou me according to Thy Word.… strengthen Thou me according unto Thy Word” (Ps. 119:25, 28; cf. Phil. 2:12, 13; Heb. 13:20, 21). Our Lord teaches us to pray, “Thy will be done in earth,” because this is the place of our discipleship. This is the realm in which we are to practice self-denial. If we do not do His will here, we never shall in heaven.

“As it is in heaven.” The standard by which we are to measure our attempts at doing God’s will on earth is nothing less than the conduct of the saints and angels in heaven. How is God’s will done in heaven? Certainly it is not done reluctantly or sullenly, nor is it done hypocritically or Pharisaically. We may be sure that it is executed neither tardily nor fitfully, neither partially nor fragmentarily. In the heavenly courts, God’s will is performed gladly and joyfully. Both the four living creatures (not beasts) and the twenty-four elders in Revelation 5:8–14 are depicted as rendering worship and service together. Yet heavenly adoration and obedience are rendered humbly and reverently, for the seraphim veil their faces before the Lord (Isa. 6:2). There God’s commands are executed with alacrity, for Isaiah says that one of the seraphim flew to him from the Divine presence (Isa. 6:6). There God is lauded constantly and untiringly. “Therefore are [the saints] before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple” (Rev. 7:15). The angels obey God promptly, wholly, perfectly, and with ineffable delight. But we are sinful and full of infirmities. With what propriety, then, can the obedience of celestial beings be proposed as a present example for us? We raise this question not as a concession to our imperfections, but because honest souls are exercised by it.

First, this standard is set before us to sweeten our subjection to the Divine will, for we on earth are set no more demanding task than are those in heaven. Heaven is what it is because the will of God is done by all who dwell there. The measure in which a foretaste of its bliss may be obtained by us upon earth will be determined largely by the degree to which we perform here the Divine bidding. Second, this standard is given to show us the blessed reasonableness of our obedience to God. “Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word” (Ps. 103:20). Then can God require less of us? If we are to have communion with the angels in glory, then we must be conformed to them in grace. Third, it is given as the standard at which we must ever aim. Paul says, “For this cause we … do not cease to pray for you … That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing …, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col. 1:9, 10; 4:12). Fourth, this standard is given to teach us not only what to do, but how to do it. We are to imitate the angels in the manner of their obedience, though we cannot equal them in measure or degree.”

Desiring God's Will - Rooted in Scripture

Last week in the sermon I read part of Philippians 2 as we pondered what it means to seek God’s glory by hallowing his name. Here is that passage, and then note that what follows is a plea to conform to the will of God because it is indeed God who is working his purpose in us.

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Philippians 2:5- 18

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used

to his own advantage;

⁷ rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” ^u Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.