Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the tag “Faith”

01 Feb 2016

Concerns When Claiming Promises

A legitimate concern when claiming promises in prayer is the fear of putting God to the test. We remember Jesus’ rebuke of Satan when tempting Him to throw Himself off the highest point of the temple. The devil then quotes a promise (Psalm 91:11-12), implying that no harm will come to Jesus because of God’s promised care. Jesus rebukes Satan by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16 saying, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

It would seem that our attitude is a key factor in whether we are praying in faith or demanding something from God and violating the command not to put God to the test. For, there are passages where the Lord encourages us to take Him up on His promises, to test them and see if they are true. In Malachi 3:10 He says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

When claiming promises in prayer, we are not seeking to bind God in some solemn oath, forcing Him to act according to our own desires as the devil was seeking to do when tempting Jesus. Rather, we come to Him in humility and reverence, acknowledging His Lordship over us and His right to act as He pleases. We come asking Him and pleading with Him to fulfill His promises, not demanding that He perform according to our wishes. God will not “jump through our hoops” like some trained circus animal, no matter how advantageous we may think the answers are for the advance of the Kingdom. We cannot purposely place ourselves in desperate situations and expect the Lord to deliver us. He will not be forced by us into acting a certain way. Yet, if we do find ourselves placed into desperate circumstances, we can confidently claim the promises of God for peace, strength, protection, etc. knowing that He will watch over us and care for us.

Another concern when claiming promises relates to Psalm 106:14-15: “In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.” The fear is that perhaps the promises we are praying over and claiming are actually desires arising from our flesh. Perhaps in diligently praying over these promises God will answer, even though He knows that in answering according to my desires the answer will be harmful or not beneficial for me. Or perhaps the Lord will give me the desires of my flesh, but in doing so also punish me for my wrong motives

At first glance that is what seemed to happen to the Israelites. It would appear that they wearied God by their constant complaining about a lack of meat and having worn down His resistance to answer, God finally relented and sent an abundance of quail. But, along with the quail, He also sent a disease that killed many of them; a kind of object lesson not to ask for your desires, for you may get more than you ask for! But is this what really happened?

In Psalm 78:17-31 we find another recounting of the same incident. It says, “they willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved” (:18); the Israelites challenged God’s ability to provide for them in the midst of the desert and it says that “they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance” (:22). In response to their sinful attitudes it says, “He rained meat down on them like dust, flying birds like sand on the seashore. He made them fall inside their camp, all around their tents. They ate till they had more than enough, for he had given them what they craved. But before they turned from the food they craved, even while it was still in their mouths, God’s anger rose against them; he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel” (:27-31). Thus, we see that it was their sinful, demanding attitudes that brought the wrath of God on them, not the request itself.

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , ,
25 Jan 2016
2 Comments

When Promises Don’t Come True

It was another exasperating, faith-challenging confrontation with the Indonesian Immigration Office. Our yearly visa renewal was in trouble again. We’d experienced this numerous times during our ten years in the country and so, once again, I reminded the Lord of our desire for an extension and recruited others to pray on our behalf. I reminded Him of Philippians 4:19, stating that this visa was a need and He had promised to meet all of our needs. I also prayed over Psalm 37:4, saying that it was our heart’s desire to stay and serve Him there, so please grant yet another renewal. We had seen several miracles in previous years regarding visa renewals, so I was confident that God would once again come through.

Imagine my shock and disappointment when the letter that came from Immigration was not our yearly renewal, but a denial of any extension and an “invitation” to leave the country. Why had God not answered? We had prayed over the same request, used the same promises, recruited the same, if not more, people to pray with us. But this time God had said “no.” Can God’s promises be trusted? Why weren’t our prayers answered according to our desires?

Some time later I was studying Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he was crucified. In Mark 14:32-42 we see a remarkable exchange between Jesus and His Father. Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled by the reality of the crucifixion and having to become sin for all mankind (vv. 33-34), so He came to His Father with a specific request, “Take this cup from me.” He based it upon the reality that, “everything is possible for you,” (v. 36) therefore certainly there must be another way other than this death. Had not God promised that if we call upon Him in times of trouble, He will deliver us (Psalm 50:15)? Had not Jesus Himself said that if we ask anything in His name He will do it? He prayed three times; certainly the Father would know His sincerity. Certainly the Father would answer.

But we find an amazing thing! The Father let His Son die on the cross the next day, taking upon Himself the sin of all mankind. Why did God not answer Jesus’ request? But then it hit me—God had answered! But, the answer was “no.” Jesus Himself had received a “no” answer in prayer! Why? Was it because He had some unconfessed sin? Certainly not—He was sinless! Was He not sincere in His request? No—He repeated His request until he sweat blood (Luke 22:44). The Father did not grant His request because His perfect plan required His Son’s sacrificial death. There was no other way!

A key insight is found in Mark 14:36b where Jesus says, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Though Jesus made a specific request, His underlying attitude was not a demanding of His own will, but rather, a surrender to the will of the Father. We too must assume this attitude when we pray. Not a fatalistic attitude in which we subliminally say, “I know it isn’t going to do any good to pray, but just in case…” But rather a prayer life that is bold in it’s specific requests, yet surrendered to our Heavenly Father’s higher will, knowing that His will is best. Someone has said, “God’s will is what you would choose if you knew everything that He knows.”

Praying over and claiming the promises of God as found in Scripture is a wonderful means of praying. But the promises are given as anchors for our hope when times of pressure come, not levers to make God do what we want He to do. We make specific requests related to specific Scriptural promises, but we also submit to the good and perfect will of our Father. We trust Him even when we don’t get the answer we expect, when it does not feel so good, and even when don’t understand.

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks and tagged , , , , , , ,
21 Jul 2014

Leading from the Promises of God – Part 2

Kingdom leadership is a leadership of faith.  While it can be said that those who don’t lead in the Kingdom also must exercise faith, their faith is founded in something other than God.  It may be experience, resources, skills or something else.  But we who lead in the Kingdom find our faith rooted in the promises of God.

Within the Scriptures we can find both general promises, for all people at all time, and those specific personal promises that are for our own life and leadership.  J.O. Sanders reminds us of this regarding a promise from God, “A promise by God is a pledge by God. It provides the warrant and forms the basis of the prayer of faith. The stability of a promise rests upon the character and resources of the One who makes it, even as the value of a cheque depends on the probity and resources of the one who signs it. The character and fidelity of God vouch for the credibility of the promises He makes.”

God sometimes gives to individuals specific promises that relate to their own unique situations at a certain time. The Holy Spirit impresses these special passages of Scripture upon our hearts and we have an inner assurance that this is part of His special leading in our lives. The immediate context of the passage may refer to another person, place or time, but we hear God’s voice speaking to our heart concerning our current situation.

Though such personal promises are a means of God revealing and confirming His will to us, we must always remember that this is a very subjective process. “The heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9) and as such we are capable of reading into certain passages of Scripture what we want to see. We can deceive ourselves, if we are not careful.

Again, Sanders encourages us, “But promises must be distinguished from facts. We accept a stated fact of God’s Word, but we plead a promise. When God proclaims a fact, faith accepts and acts upon it. When God makes a promise, we comply with its conditions, claim its fulfillment and receive the promised favour. The function of the prayer of faith is to turn God’s promises into facts of experience. The patriarchs through faith obtained the fulfillment of God’s promises (Hebrews 11:33), and turned them into personal experience.”

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , ,
14 Jul 2014

Leading from the Promises of God – Part 1

Kingdom leadership is a leadership of faith.  While it can be said that those who don’t lead in the Kingdom also must exercise faith, their faith is founded in something other than God.  It may be experience, resources, skills or something else.  But we who lead in the Kingdom find our faith rooted in the promises of God.

Here’s a reminder from Charles Spurgeon regarding Scriptural promises/  “A promise of God may very instructively be compared to a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it over comfortably, and then have done with it. No, he is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a check. He is to take the promise, and endorse it with his own name, by personally receiving it as true. He is by faith to accept it as his own. He sets to his seal that God is true, and true as to this particular word of promise. He goes further and believes that he has the blessing in having the sure promise of it, and therefore he puts his name to it to testify to the receipt of the blessing.

“This done, he must believingly present the promise to the Lord, as a man presents a check at the counter of the bank. He must plead it by prayer, expecting to have it fulfilled. If he has come to heaven’s bank at the right date, he will receive the promised amount at once. If the date should happen to be further on, he must patiently wait till its arrival; but meanwhile he may count the promise as money, for the bank is sure to pay when the due time arrives.

“Some fail to place the endorsement of faith upon the check, and so they get nothing; others are slack in presenting it, and these also receive nothing. This is not the fault of the promise, but of those who do not act with it in a common-sense, business-like manner.”

Charles Spurgeon
Faith’s Checkbook, a collection of God’s promises for daily use

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Post Navigation

Newer Entries →