Sanam Doctrinam

While some things in Scripture may seem less than clear, we can say that prayer certainly matters. Scripture is clear on the priority of prayer in the Christian life. Because of this emphasis that Scripture lays on prayer, we can consider prayer something that we can jump right into—in fact, that we must jump into—no preparation necessary. In today’s verse, however, the Apostle Peter provides us with a couple preparations that are essential for effective prayer.
 
How do we prepare for prayer? The first thing that Peter instructs us to do is to "be of sound judgment." The word has the idea of being able to think in a sound or sane manner, or to be of sound mind. To understand the meaning of this world from a colorful context, we could look at Matthew 5:15 or Luke 8:35. The story is a familiar one. A demon-possessed man thrashes about among the tombs without restraint. Jesus comes and drives out the demons from the man, sending them into a herd of pigs, which promptly run off a cliff and drown themselves. Afterwards, we find the man, as the text describes him, "clothed and in his right mind." The words, "in his right mind," are a translation of the word we have in our text, today. Peter tells us that in order to prepare for prayer we need to be in our right mind. That is, we need to be thinking rightly about God, ourselves, and everything else. To be more specific, the idea is that we need to view things from God’s perspective. That includes, among other things, that there be no disagreement on our part about our sin. If we are buddying up with sin, we’re in no condition to pray. It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that years before Peter picked up his pen, David wrote, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear" (Psalm 66:18). If we haven’t come to grips with God’s perspective on life, we’re just not ready to pray. This doesn’t mean that we have to have everything figured out theologically to pray, but simply that we need to have chosen mentally to take hold of God’s viewpoint on all things.
 
The second preparation for prayer that Peter provides is that we are to be of "sober spirit." If you’re like me, that phrase conjures up images of sour saints with long faces, who, on their best days, might be characterized as gloomy. That’s not the idea here. The word translated "be of sober spirit" literally has reference to being free from every form of mental and spiritual "drunkenness"—from excess, passion, rashness, and confusion. The word carries the idea of being well-balanced and self-controlled. Peter is basically saying that if we want to be able to pray effectively, we need to be free from mental chaos. Perhaps you have had the experience of trying to pray and finding yourself distracted by a multitude of things. Peter says to guard against this. To use the analogy of a horse, Peter tells us to take hold of the reins, and keep things at a steady trot. When our minds are tempted to race ahead to the thousand distractions that fill our lives, it is to us to set our minds on Christ and focus on Him and Him alone. It’s at that point that we have the clarity and composure to pray.
 
Prayer is a remarkable privilege. It is the right and responsibility of believers in Christ to approach the very throne of God and boldly to ask for that which we need. This right and responsibility, however, is to be exercised in the context of personal preparation. Being of sound judgment and sober spirit is the preparation we need. Next time we approach our holy God, let’s be sure we’re in the right frame of mind.

A cornerstone of Christianity is that we are justified by our faith, and not by our deeds. Believing the gloriously orthodox proposition that God declares us right with Him solely by grace alone through faith alone, however, has led some to the fallacious assumption that it makes no difference how we live. Eternity will be the same for all the saved, some folks reason. Scripture, however, presents a markedly different picture. Few verses are as explicit on this point as today’s. Matthew 10:42, however, offers more than theological correction—it also serves as a source of comfort to the faithful follower of Christ.
 
When, in today’s verse, Jesus speaks of someone acting "in the name of a disciple," He is saying, as some modern translations reflect, the same thing He said in verse 41. There, the prophet and the righteous man were received because they were a prophet and a righteous man, respectively. The same is true here, in verse 42, although it’s less evident due to a change in vocabulary. We might have expected Jesus to say, in parallel fashion, that who ever gives a cup of cold water to a disciple in the name of a disciple shall not lose his reward. Instead of using the word "disciple," however, Jesus used the phrase, "little one." We might think that Jesus is speaking of a small child here, of a person that is chronologically very young. That’s not the case. Another passage in Matthew, in chapter 18, helps us to understand to what Jesus was referring when He spoke of "little ones" in this verse. In Matthew 18:1-10, Jesus uses a young child to illustrate the need for a person humbling himself as a little child in order to be Jesus’ disciple. Throughout that passage, when Jesus speaks of "little ones," He’s talking about those who have humbled themselves in the kingdom.
 
Jesus is using "little ones" in the same way in Matthew 10:42. When He speaks of His "little ones," He’s talking about one of His dear followers, and in context, specifically one of His followers who has undergone persecution (Matthew 10:24-39).
 
All of this is background, however, behind the main emphasis of the verse. Jesus says that when someone gives one of even the most humble members of His kingdom a cup of cold water, God takes notice. Not only does God notice, the text tells us that He will graciously reward. What I find so comforting about this text is that in it we learn that God takes notice of even the smallest actions of kindness done by His Son’s followers to one another. To argue from the lesser to the greater, if God certainly (or "truly" as Jesus says) will reward the one who does this relatively small thing, how much more will he reward acts of great faithfulness done for His Son’s honor? The word Jesus used for "reward" is, at its most literal level, "remuneration for work done." God overlooks no good work. He pays attention. God keeps track of rewards for the good works of His children more closely than any accountant does the investments of those for whom he’s responsible. God overlooks and will overlook nothing.
 
Eternity won’t be the same for all believers. For some, there will be great reward. For others, they will spend eternity with Christ, but only as those escaping from a burning structure (1 Corinthians 3:15).
 
God is watching. The way we live after being declared righteous makes enormous difference with regard to eternity. Today, let’s stand in awe of One so just and gracious as to reward every little deed, and live accordingly.

Wants. Each of us has them. Some of us want a certain CD (small want) or an automobile (big want). Some of us want the healing of a broken relationship. Some of us set our sights on some sort of personal achievement, some on a promotion in our place of employment. Some desire something to happen in our church. Some of us want to advance our education.
 
There isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with wanting anything. God created each of us with a "wanter," an aspect of human will. Anytime we speak of an essential component of humanity, however, we need to remember that whatever that component is, it has not been left untouched by the ravages of sin. Genesis 3 affects every dimension of our lives. Our wills are no exception. Peter tells us, for example, in 1 Peter 4:2, that apart from Christ, we all live for our own desires. Although there is nothing intrinsically wrong with wanting things, a problem emerges when we want things too much. What happens when we exhibit this kind of inordinate wanting is that our desire for God becomes diluted. He who is to be the greatest desire of our hearts begins to be second to other, more pressing longings. When this dilution is unchecked, God becomes merely an elective in our quest for entertainments, diversions, and recreation. That’s dangerous to our soul.
 
In Psalm 73:25, Asaph presents a wonderful alternative to our distracted longings. In fact, when he describes the center of his wanter’s wants, he narrows it down to a single object—God Himself. Asaph employs a figure of speech known as a merism to do so. The merism consists of the two words "heaven" and "earth." In Psalm 73:25 Asaph surveyed the entire universe, as it were, to find those things which he desired. I find it hard to believe that Asaph didn’t have myriad desires, as we all do, but one object of his desire so eclipsed all others in magnitude, it was as if God Himself was the only thing he could find, anywhere, that he wanted.
 
Asaph, I submit to you, was in a wonderful place. Perhaps the reason so many of us are so unhappy is that we have attempted to satisfy our souls on the stuff of this world. We want, and perhaps get, and want again. Asaph wanted that which truly satisfies. The quest that consumed him was the quest for God.
 
Let’s check our hearts at this point. How many of us can say that when we survey the universe, the thing that overshadows to an infinite degree our desire for all other things, is our desire for God? I think our God wants us to move that direction if we can’t say Psalm 73:25, from our heart, along with Asaph. Perish the homes, the cars, the cash; the positions and attainments; the successes and all other relationships—give us God! He is the One that is to be enthroned in our hearts, reigning there without a rival. Asaph knew the delight of this, as can we.
 
One thing I should add: When we desire God above all else, we get Him! He is not one of those unattainable desires that so many of us chase hopelessly through life. He is available to us. After all, it was He who in Christ beckoned us to come to Him and eat of Him as the bread of life, and to drink of Him as living water. He satisfies our longings, our deepest desires.
 
Perhaps now, in the quietness of our own hearts, this is our opportunity to repent of those things in life that have seduced our affections and to instead turn our longings to our great God. Heaven and earth hold no more worthy object of our desire.
 
Nothing else even comes close.