After “work” related discussion, we were about to adjourn when he asked me how I was doing. I try to make it a point to really answer these kind of questions now since I know that so many ask it nonchalantly and without any real consideration in their hearts. This was not so with him. He really wanted to know, at least at this moment.

It just so happened that I was in the midst of numerous doctors visits and surgical procedures because my blood was showing abnormal activity. The visitations, meetings, discussions, needle pokes, camera probes and biopsies were rather uncomfortable. The pain I was feeling from time to time in my body also caused some suffering – some of which made me lie in bed for the day. But in all of this, I was finding my heart and will more disciplined and hopeful. I was experiencing a closeness with the Lord and enjoying a greater measure of grace than I would had I not been suffering.

As I was telling the church advisor this, his head slanted and his eyes cock-eyed. He looked at me strangely as if he noticed me being rather absurd. He quickly leaned over and said, “Can I pray for you.” I agreed. I cherish the prayers that are offered on my behalf.

He reached out and took my hands and began to pray. What he said was utterly shocking to me. “Lord, it is not your will that he go through this. It is not your plan.” I was taken back by this. And, although that might be the worst thing that I have head in a long time, he said more. He started to talk to my sickness like it was a person who hears. He rebuked it and commanded it to leave me.

I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. Did he not hear me when I said that this suffering was bringing about my heavenly delight? Why would he pray against it and tell it to leave me? Moreover, how does he know what God’s hidden will is when no one else does? Is he more than a church advisor? (This is to say nothing about the strange way that he spoke to a sickness.)

Well, this is not so far from what I read this morning in Job. Of course, I don’t presume to be the perfect mirror of Job. He suffered far more than I have ever. He was a more righteous and wise man that I am. So the comparison is not one-to-one. But, the similarities in our dealings with the “church advisors” was the same.

Job’s friends advised him that his suffering was the penalty of his disobedience, “when [God] sees iniquity, will he not consider it?” (Job. 11:11). If not that, then it was the effect of Job’s sin. But it never cross their mind that maybe it was God’s sovereign plan.

In the first two chapters of Job, we read that Satan was before the Lord after “going to and fro on the earth, and from waking up and down on it.” Apparently, he was seeking those whom he would try to turn against God, but was finding none. God asks him to consider Job. Satan, after some more discussion, obliges.

The thing to point out is that God decided who was to suffer. He also permitted Satan to cause it with some limitations. He could not kill Job. This shows us God’s power over all things created and that nothing, even illness, slips through the hands of God. He controls even Satan.

The man who prayed for me, sincere and passionate as he was, didn’t consider that God is sovereign to this degree. In fact, he told God that my illness was not His will and by doing so, acted as God’s advisor and not just the church advisor.

This is what Job’s friends did. So he responded to them harshly asking, “Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for him? Will you show partiality towards him? Will you plead the case for God?” Also, he tells them, “Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.” (Job 13: 7-8, 12).

Let us be careful not to be God’s advisor or be a false advisor to His church – especially when we advise against His sovereign will. Let us be sensitive to the ways of God and see that He works all things to the good of those who love Him. Be watchful of your prayers and accusations lest you pray against another’s heavenly delight.

They do this because people want to be told good things. They want to be honored and reaffirmed. They want to be proud and confident. They want to hear how well they market, how well they speak, how well they negotiate. We call this “empowerment” because it is one empowering another with positive thinking.

Of course, this is nothing more than the praise of man. In God’s world, there is only one who deserves such honor. Christianity is “sola deo gloria” or to the glory of God alone. This is not to say that people are not worthy of horizontal praise. Rather, it means that the real honor is to the Lord. No good thing that is done is done by the power of man. It is by the power of God working in man. Left alone, man will only do bad even at his best.

Let me explain that briefly because it weighs heavy on issue of glory. We will get more into this later, but here is a smidgen. Hebrews 11:6 reads, “without faith it is impossible to please [God].” The writer is pointing to the fact that only those who have the divine gift of faith will do things unto the Lord. Verse 4 references Abel who gave “a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain,” his brother. He was said to have been commended righteous. He was justified in the Lord.

Without being righteous, regenerated by God, we offer all things from a sinful heart. Although we may do earthly good, be a great humanitarian, feed the hungry, volunteer in civil labor, we do so in sin. Being born in sin, we can do nothing pure (Tit. 1:15). Therefore, any good that we can do, that is good in the sense of divine pleasure, we must do from a saved heart. This is only possible after we have been given the gift of faith (Eph. 2:8). Paul concluded then that if good is done, it is done by the energizing power of God through man.

So in the Kingdom of God, this positive fluff has no bearing, at least not in the sense of the world. In the Christian world, assuring the heart (or strengthening the will and mind) is done by expressing evidences of grace. In other words, pointing out God’s signature in the life of another person is how you motivate that person to do more. It is finding those things that only God can do in a person and identifying them to see God’s handy-work.

This is what Paul does. Notice that he doesn’t thank Philemon for his good works. He thanks God. He says, “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers” (Phile. 1:4). There is no reason to thank Philemon. He was only the beneficiary of the grace and peace mentioned back in the greeting. His good work is God’s work in him. So God should be thanked.

There are two things to notice in the original language. First of all, the word translated “remember” refers to the mentioning of something that is recollected. In other words, it is not something that is spontaneously expressed. It is something said that takes residence in the mind. In our context, Paul is mindful of Philemon and so he mentions him in his prayers.

The second thing to notice is the word “always” which, depending on your translation, is used in reference to thanksgiving unto to God (as in the ESV) or the mentioning of Philemon in my prayers (as in the KJV). Putting this word in the right place means the world to the meaning of this verse. Paul could be saying one of two things. He could be saying that he is always mentioning Philemon when he prays. Or he could be saying that when he mentions Philemon in his prayers, he is always thanking God.

I think that second is true. Not only does it make plain sense, but the original language suggests it. Paul was not using hyperbole, he was speaking literally. In other words, every time that Paul mentions Philemon in his prayers, he is thanking God. What a reputation! There are no concerns. There are no problems. There are no worries. This was a man with a good reputation.

So Paul remembers Philemon and thanks the Lord for what He is doing in Philemon’s life. He is expressing thanksgiving for the evidences of grace. In the following verses, some more detail unfolds, but for now, what an encouraging thing to say.

If you can, picture this in contrast to the positive-thinking, motivational speakers of our time, Paul is not writing words of fluff. He was the apostle of apostles. He was one of the leading disciples of Christ. He was one who was known to cut to the chase. He was one who didn’t tolerate sin and deception. Paul was an authoritative and strong believer. And when he writes to Philemon in order to assure his heart to forgive, he says, “I can’t find one thing wrong with you, so I am always thanking God for you.”

In other words, when Paul, God’s called apostle, goes to God to report, he only knows good things about Philemon. You don’t send fluff up to God – at least, you shouldn’t. This is not some empty positive-thinking affirmation. This is real. This is genuine. This is God’s divine work being manifested in a man’s life. Philemon had a reputation of good.

From the book, Forgiveness: A Commentary on Philemon, by Jacob Abshire

“Ten thousand snares are mine without and within, defend thou me;
When sloth and indolence seize me, give me views of heaven;
When sinners entice me, give me disrelish of their ways;
When sensual pleasures tempt me, purify and refine me;
When I desire worldly possessions, help me to be rich toward thee;
When the vanities of the world ensnare me, let me not plunge into new guilt and ruin.
May I remember the dignity of my spiritual release,  never be too busy to attend to my soul, never to be so engrossed with time that I neglect the things of eternity; thus may I not only live, but grow towards thee.”

Must I explain? Must I state the obvious? For those who are unsure, I’ll relate these prayers to modern terms and examples. But I’ll do so with brevity though I may be specific since I know these too much. My hope is that my specifics do not exclude others from their own knowledge of such things. Rather, that the principle and modern relation helps their memories.

The Snares

To begin, “Ten thousand snares are mine without and within.” The temptations we struggle so much to win are numerous and they come from within our hearts and flesh as well as from without. That is to say that they also come from the hearts and flesh of others and the imagination of our enemy. Temptations are snares. They are traps to bind us and beg of the Lord his wrath. They are numerous. They are from within us. They are all around us. They are strongly evil. For this reason, the Christian prays, “defend thou me.”

The Snare of Sloth and Indolence

One of these snares is that of slothfulness and indolence. To say it in the terms of today, it is being lazy. It is to avoid exertion. To many of us, it is evident when we arrive home from work. Our children long for us. Their mother have exerted herself to  no extent and requires a strong, leading husband to deliver her from the work of child-rearing. Yet, in our own exhaustion, we express our tire and then retire the best way we know how. We chose sloth and indolence over steadfastness and perseverance when it is needed most. To this snare, the Christian asks for “views of heaven.” This is because eternity helps us endure our own weaknesses – even those that are physical.

The Snare of Enticement

Another snare is that of enticement. “When sinners entice me,” the Christian says. There really is no example needed here. We were once sinners who did as our evil heart desired. We defied our authority. We cheated. We lied. We hid ourselves in order to be more sinful. And while we did so, we enticed and begged others to come along. This snare comes in many ways. One way you will likely find on your drive home or during your short time of television. To this, the Christian prays, “Give me disrelish of their ways.” The word disrelish is a feeling of dislike or distaste. He is praying that God would change his desires for these things. Rather than being enticed by them, he is grieved and angered by them. As our children gag and spit out the food that they dislike, the Christian would be good to gag and spit out the sin that entices.

The Snare of Sensual Pleasures

To be take the prior snare more deeply, the Christian adds another snare saying, “when sensual pleasures tempt me.” If you are pondering this from work or a coffee stop, you will likely experience this on you way home or to your destination. The sensual pleasures that the Christian relates exist today on our street signs. They billboards geared to capture the eye of men and young boys. The same exists on the internet and television. To this, the Christian prays that the Lord will “purify and refine me.”

The Snare of Worldly Possessions

Progressively these snares continue. “When I desire worldly possessions.” Sensual pleasures are the longing for what is not ours – namely, the body of another. This is the common condition of the world. But it does not end here. While we might be good at fighting our sensualities, we might lose gravely to the lesser (at least in our American minds), the possessions of the world. Should we ask ourselves, “What is it on that we spend our money?” Is our home full of stuff that make us feel refreshed and new? Or is our home full of content since we have all that we need in Jesus? Do we spend ourselves on one thing and then long to be spent again on something else? Is there no end to our earthly longings? Must we have everything that we like? Rather, our heart should be as the Christian prays, “rich toward thee.” If we spent half our time exerting ourselves to building up ourselves in God’s word as we do in exerting for perishable things, we would do well.

The Snare of Vanities

Again, progressively we move to the snare of “vanities of the world.” This is to be high and lifted up among men. It is to be handsome and pretty. It is to have the finest things and wear the finest clothing while driving the finest cars. It is, at the base, to be noticed or long to be noticed. It is the pride of life. It is the approval of men. It is living for the sake of things that will end and decay and have no real lasting presence. Such snares will do to us as the Christian says, “plunge into new guilt and ruin.”

Fighting the Snares

A keen way to fight these snares is mentioned in this last verse. The Christian prays, “May I remember the dignity of my spiritual release, never be too busy to attend to my soul, never to be so engrossed with time that I neglect the things of eternity; thus may I not only live, but grow towards thee.”

The truth here is subtle yet powerful. The falling into the above snares is a sure sign that we have forgotten the dignity of our spiritual release. This is a clever way to say that we have not been mindful of the value of salvation. We have lost our honor for what Christ has done on our behalf. For salvation is the greatest gift that man can have. It is above all the most dignified, valued treasure. It is to have Jesus eternally who is the greatest good. If we have salvation we have Christ. If we have Christ we have the one who satisfies our soul. Therefore, when we fall into sin, we show dissatisfaction toward our salvation and toward our Lord.

Therefore, we should pray that we never be too busy to attend to our souls. Such attending will arouse our passions for eternity by seeing and savoring the goodness of Jesus and salvation that he has given us. Let us not neglect the things of eternity and be engrossed in this limited time pursuing things that ensnare us. Let us grow towards thee.

Pastor Joe asked me to speak briefly on the subject of confession, or the admitting of our sins and the asking of forgiveness in prayer. Staying within the vein of the series, “Prayer: Just Do It,” I would say that my goal here is to motivate us to have confession in our prayers by emphasizing the truth that God is forgiving. And I think that we can meet that goal if take our cues from “The Lord’s Prayer” itself:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:9-12).

Now, before look at this any further, I thought it be best if we first define “forgiveness” so that we are all on the same page. Thomas Watson, an old Puritan, defined forgiveness with these seven characteristics:

1. Resisting revenge. (Romans 12:19)
2. Not returning evil with evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
3. Wishing them well. (Luke 6:28)
4. Grieve at their calamities. (Proverbs 24:17)
5. Pray for them. (Matthew 5:44)
6. Seek reconciliation with them. (Romans 12:18)
7. Coming to their aid in distress. (Exodus 23:4)

In a nutshell, forgiveness is “overlooking transgressions.” I say that because Proverbs 19:11. It says that forgiveness is man’s greatest honor, “It is his glory.” This makes sense when we consider who God is. In Exodus 34:6-7, God calls Himself “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”

For this reason, John MacArthur said something like this, “We are most like God when we forgive others and we are least like God when we don’t forgive others.” Thus, when we forgive, it is the most honorable thing we can do. And, we don’t forgive, it is the most horrible thing we can do. And, the Bible warns us that God will not forgive us either (Luke 6:37; Matthew 18:23-35). So the rewards are wondrous and the punishment is grave. Forgiveness is at the heart of our Lord.

It is also an important part of life because it is an important part of God. When Jesus was hanging on the cross he uttered the words, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This, of course, was God’s heart as His own creation committed the most evil of sins – murdering the Son of God.

The disciples understood the importance of forgiveness. Peter, being the bold foot-eater that he is, asked Jesus the question, “How many times should we forgive someone who sins against us?” Trying to be impressive, he suggests an answer for Jesus thinking that he would sort of beat him to the punch-line, “Seven times?” Jesus responded, “Seventy times seven” which meant infinitely since no one would really keep track to that much detail.

After that, Jesus told the parable of the man who owed the king ten thousand talents. In Matthew 18:23-35, the king wants to settle this debt but the man didn’t have the money. So the man begs the king for mercy and the king forgives him his debt. The story goes on to say that this same man had a servant who owed him one hundred denarii. The man went to settle this debt (just like the King did with him) and the servant begged him for mercy (just like he did the King) and the man choked him and threw him in jail – proving himself most unlike the King. So the king found out about this and threw the man in jail.

Forgiveness is a divine quality. God has set the standard for it and expects us to fall in line or otherwise fall short of His forgiveness. In other words, God grades our forgiveness by His own. So logic would suggest that God must have forgiven first in order to have a scale by which He will grade. I say this because I think that it answers the question, “Does God forgive?” The reasoning goes: If God judges our forgiveness by His own, then He must have first forgiven first. And this makes sense to me. Isn’t it true that we love God because God first loved us. Well, the same is true of forgiveness.

What evidence do we have that God forgives? We have the evidence that God calls us to forgive and judges our forgiveness by His own. Ask yourself, “Would he hold you to a standard that is higher than his?” Certainly not! Forgiveness is a divine quality and we cannot forgive unless we are first forgiven.

Now, that certainly answers the question. But there is more to say about forgiveness. Especially when we are considering the topic of confession in our prayer. Again, The Lord’s Prayer goes like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:9-12).

The prayer teaches us to confess our sins to the Lord and ask for His forgiveness. We have much to be forgiven. We have countless sins to confess. First John 1:8 and 9 read, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So, if God sets the pace for forgiveness by forgiving much more than we ever will and He tells us to confess our sin to him because he is “faithful and just to forgive us,” then why do we struggle so much with confession? In other words, “What stops us from confessing?” Forgiveness is a divine action. It is stimulated and commanded by God. It is honored by God. It is like God because it is of God. And therefore it is something we should be eagerly seeking. God wants to do it. He has done it and will do it. It is at His heart to do it. And he tells us to just ask. Again I say, if it is that glorious of a reality, what stops us from confessing? What kills our motivation to confess to this forgiving God?

I can think of two reasons why we are hesitant and I hope to respond to both of them in one passage. The first reason may be that we are too weighed down by our sins. Sin causes friction in relationships. We experience that not only in our relationship with God, but also with our friends and family. Healing these relationships is always tough. It humbles us and makes our hearts beat a little harder. It makes us vulnerable. So, how much more difficult is it when there is tension with the Most High!

The second reason may be that we feel as though God doesn’t understand our shortcomings. I’ll be the first to admit that there are some sins that I think are more sinful than others. It is these sins that make me want to run from God rather than run to God. The depths of our sin can be dramatic to us and we may feel that God just won’t understand.

So the two reasons are the affects of our sin and the depths of our sin keep us away from God and confession. That is to say that the tension is thick and the understanding is limited.

Let’s turn to Hebrews 4:14-16. It reads:

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We understand priests to be those who made sacrifices for the people. You may remember that each day, a Jewish priest would take the animals from those who came to offer, and would butcher the animals, burn them, and make an offering of incense unto God on the people’s behalf. The priest served as a mediator who represented the sinner. Here, Christ is our High Priest who represents us in Heaven making His appeal to the Father on our behalf. Not only is He a priest but he is a sinless priest. He is the High Priest.

It can be the affects of our sin that tell us not to go before our Holy God. But, as the writer of Hebrews reminds us here, we have one who is going to God on our behalf. It says that we “have a high priest” who is “without sin.” He is our High Priest who is sinless and has no reason to be ashamed. He makes His appeal to the Father as our representative. That is to say that we can feel safe when we confess because God is dealing with His Perfect Son rather than His sinful child. When we are making our appeal to God it is not us making the appeal, but our great High Priest, Jesus, who is sinless, making an appeal as if it were his own. So our first reason, which is more an excuse, should no longer hinder us. We should not be afraid of confessing to our Holy God because His Holy Son is making His appeal on our behalf. God sees His son and not us.

It can also be the depths of our sin that tell us not to go before our Holy God. This was our second reason. And to this, Hebrews says, “we have a high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses.” So if you can imagine the Son having the attention of the Father. The Father is listening to the Son as He makes an appeal on our behalf. This is the connection that the author makes between God the Father and the God the Son. They have a union and a relationship of love. The Son has the heart of the Father. This is picture set forth in Hebrews and the rest of Scripture.

There is another connection made here in Hebrews. It is one between us and the Son. And I like to think that we have the heart of the Son as He has the heart of the Father. So, as the Son listens to us, the Father listens to Him. We make our confession known and our Atoning Christ makes this confession to the Father. The Son, Jesus, sympathizes with us in our temptations. He understands. He pitites us like the King did the man in the parable.

So, I think that at least these two excuses are irrelevant. While they are real feelings, they are not realistic truths. That is to say that we may feel that way, but it is not the way it is. Yes, our sins cause tension. Yes, some sins have more severe consequenes and are more grave than others. But, when we are in the Son and the Son is in the Father. We have reason to believe based on what God has revealed to us and motivation to confess in prayer and be confident that our Lord will forgive.

Forgiveness is dear and near to the Lord’s heart. We have a High Priest who is sinless and who sympathizes with our frailties.

I wrote down this note to sum it all up. “God feels with us and not against us.” And I think that this was what the writer of Hebrews concluded. When he considered all that we have considered just now, this is what he wrote, “[that being true], let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We visited for a short time since we had our young ones with us. And as we were readying to leave, I was asked to pray for him. So I nodded and knelt down along side his bed. He was awake and very much alert but weak. I held his hand and prayed.

I was planning on appealing to God’s transcendence and imminence later in my prayer. So I began with adoration expressing recognition of God’s power and His inability to be other than who He is. I identified His ever existing grander and awesomeness. I made sure to speak of God’s transcendence in order to set our minds on his strength.

I then moved to God’s imminence recognizing His faithfulness, love, and care for us while we are both physically and spiritually sick. I expressed our deep thankfulness and gratitude for the hope we have as believers – the hope of our future in heaven where there is no suffering or sickness, no worries nor pains, where our bodies do not decay and become feeble. I then drew our attention to the hope we have before heaven – the hope of our present life of abundance with divine provision, protection, and peace, where we can rest assured in God to be our supreme overseer and not need to dwell on our daily woes.

I thought now would be a good time to move on to our request (although I felt like no request needed to be uttered at this moment). By appealing to God’s power – how He is more than capable of healing His own children – I asked that He would grant us the request of healing my friend of His terrible heart condition. I mentioned that he had been such a tremendous help to me and my family in many practical ways. I then asked that he be given this graciousness as he had been so gracious to me.

My prayer was no longer focused on God and I wanted to return to Him. So I said that if healing my friend was not in the purpose of the Lord, then we will still be grateful and trusting – that it would not reflect negatively on God’s power. He is supreme either way. So no matter what happens, God will be glorified and that is our heart and desire – that is what was request.

I closed by asking that the light of Christ be upon the lips and faces of my friend and his wife as they remain in the hospital. I prayed that the nurses, doctors, and visitors would be witnesses to this light. I ended with an “Amen.”

We adjourned and began to leave when I was pulled aside and asked to “be more encouraging” when I pray. I was puzzled, I could think of nothing more encouraging then the attributes of God and our trust in Him. This person thought differently. Instead, she suggested that I pray that God heal our friend and stand firm on that healing; that I should be confident that God would heal him. She said that “no one wants to hear about submission when they are hospitalized; they want to hear about healing.”

I wondered then why Jesus at the foot of his darkest hour prayed, “Lord not my will but your will be done” (Luke 22:41-42). Or why Paul while he waited for his execution prayed for his son-in-the-faith and for the work of the gospel (2 Timothy). Or why Stephen, being so Christ focused, proclaimed the gospel while he was stoned to death (Acts 7). I wondered why common woes have troubled the believers for so long and yet nothing has stopped them.

I could not entertain the thought that there was anything more comforting and strengthening then the Lord. This was why the martyrs stood firm. Yet, I should abandon the gospel for some temporal healing. I would rather be as those in the Bible and cling to the gospel for some eternal healing.

My body will rot and decay, but my soul will not. And while in this body, I will be troubled. I will then pray to God reverently asking Him for mercy, but I will command him not. My submission is to Him alone. My troubles must wait.

Oh how we have forgotten that Christ is sufficient. We have somehow moved our concerns from God unto ourselves. Thus, we have elevated self above the Lord. Such a perspective is contrary to Scripture. It would be worth it for us to read the prayerful words from the Puritan who wrote:

“Thou bottomless fountain of all good,
I give myself to thee out of love,
For all I have or own is thine,
My goods, family, church, self
To do with as thou wilt,
To honour thyself by me, and by all mine.
If it be consistent with they eternal counsels,
The purpose of thy grace,
And the great ends of thy glory,
Then bestow upon me the blessings of thy comforts;
If not, let me resign myself to thy wiser determinations.” ⁱ

Notes:

1. Arthur Bennett, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, (Banner of Truth Trust, 1994), p. 7.

At first glance it seems like a call to daily and quiet devotional reading. But at a closer look, you find another call more specific to just daily and quietness. The call is actually to find quite time in order to quiet the mind. Why? So that God can speak to you.

The idea builds heavily on a common concern among believers today (which might explain its infiltration). The concern is that Christians are always spilling problems and requests at God’s feet while exhausting Him with many words in prayer. (While this concern could be argued away, I’ll leave that alone for now). So instead of tiring God with many words, we should stop and listen to Him speak.

That doesn’t sound bad at all. In fact, that might be some good exhortation. However, contemplative prayer (or stilling the mind to hear) is not the answer. God speaks through His Word (Hebrews 1:1-2). This is what makes this new movement so scary.

And just read how scary as I quote Brannon Manning who describes the method in his book, Signature of Jesus:

The first step in faith is to stop thinking about God at the time of prayer.

The second step, “without moving your lips, repeat the sacred word [or phrase] inwardly, slowly, and often.”
The third step concerns what to do when inevitable distractions come. The answer is to simply return to listening to your sacred word. Gently return your mind to your sacred word.

In these upcoming weeks, I’ll examine this new movement in order to determine exactly its agenda and who is in support of it. In the meantime, I would suggest that strong discerning believers in the church do the same.