Contemplative Prayer–An Invention of Satan: The Basic Teachings

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

Contemplative prayer is a type of prayer that I believe is an invention of Satan to keep the church from true and correct prayer, and therefore, from following God’s will and from enjoying true intimacy with Him. The basic teaching behind contemplative prayer is that God (the Christian, personal God) is in all things and all people—even non-Christians. They believe that He is located at the very center of every person.

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Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton, one of the chief founders of contemplative prayer wrote, “…At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusions, a point of pure truth…This little point…is the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody.”

Contemplative prayer, therefore, is the attempt to contact God at the center of our being and contemplate Him with our soul. The method of contemplative prayer is much like the Raja Yoga and TM, except that Christian words are used for the mantra. Thus they believe that if the sacred words are Christian words it will become a Christian prayer. And so, this is how they justify using a Hindu method. They would say it is just a technique or a tool of prayer. If one uses the name of a Hindu god you will get a Hindu god; but if you use a Christian word you will get Christ.

Of course the Christian must disagree with using this method of prayer. Even if Christian words are used, this method of the mantra is wrong. It is using vain repetitions, which Jesus spoke against in Matthew 6:7.

The reason contemplative prayer uses the same breathing exercises and the mantra as Yoga and TM is because it is after the same result—to empty the mind. And they do this because they say that it is not the mind that must contemplate God; it is the soul. For this reason, they say that the mind must be empty so the soul can be free to contemplate God within them.

I understand, but disagree with what they are saying, because I believe that the mind is part of the soul—that the soul is made up of the mind, the affections and the will. And so I disagree that the mind must be empty. The mind should never be empty. When we contemplate God with our soul we also do it with our mind. Therefore, when we pray we must think and feel and pray in words—words that express our thoughts and feelings. This is the natural and right way to pray.

Another difference from Yoga and TM is that in these the belief is in pantheism—that everything is god (the impersonal god). Hence, they seek to find their own impersonal divine essence. In contemplative prayer, however, they believe in a personal God whom they believe is in everything (this is called panentheism). They seek to find this personal God inside of them and to contemplate Him with their soul.

This post is an excerpt from my books Joy of Prayer and Prayer A to Z.

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Seven of the Devil’s Servants, False Teachers, that Are Trying To Pervert Our Prayers?

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

Here are seven of the devil’s most deadly servants—false religions and false teachers—which he has used to keep people from God and to deceive believers and pervert their prayers. These are partial excerpts from my books: Prayer A to Z, and Joy of Prayer.

As I said in my last post, Contemplative prayer is a type of prayer that I believe is an invention of the devil to keep the church from true and correct prayer, and therefore, from following God’s will and from enjoying true intimacy with Him.  I believe the devil has been thinking about contemplative prayer and perfecting it for centuries.  The roots of this kind of prayer, which some see as kind of a New Age/ Christian type of prayer, are clearly in the Eastern religions and also in Satanism and the Occult.  We will discuss these as the devil’s servants, because that is what they are.  They are what the devil has used and uses to attract us, to pervert our prayers and to ultimately draw us into his realm where he will make us suffer and make us useless for the kingdom of God.

 

Hinduism

Hinduism originated in India about 1500 B.C. It began as a simple belief in many gods, but then later evolved into pantheism—the belief that everything in the universe is considered to be one impersonal god.

Here are the basic teachings of Hinduism today:
1. That all is one. That all people are one with nature and with the universe.
2. That there is no personal God. That all things together as one is the impersonal god or impersonal enlightenment.
3. That people suffer because they have not liberated themselves from their personal world, which is really an illusion.
4. That the True Reality is the Impersonal All, also called the Brahman-Atman.
5. That in order to liberate yourself from your personal existence and end your suffering you must transcend your physical existence and be absorbed into the True Reality. They teach that this can be done through Yoga or Transcendental Meditation. (from Ron Carlson and Ed Decker’s book, Fast Facts on False Teachings)

 

Buddhism

Buddhism was founded by a Hindu man named Siddhartha Gautama around 500 B.C. It all happened when he began to be grieved over all those in the world who were suffering. He had his Hindu religion, but apparently he was not entirely satisfied with it, so he determined to find a better solution to peoples suffering. One day, while he was meditating under a bo tree, he became enlightened! Thus, he got the name Buddha, or “Enlightened one.”

Here are some of the basic teachings of Buddhism:
1. That life is suffering; that suffering is caused by desire; that the cessation of desire eliminates suffering; and that the stopping of desire comes by following The Middle Way between the extremes of sensuousness and asceticism.
2. That to achieve The Middle Way one must follow the Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Actions, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Concentration, and Right Ecstasy.
3. When one follows the Eightfold Path he will learn mind and body control, how to empty his mind, and how to bring himself to a higher state of mind or Nirvana. When one achieves Nirvana he is taught that he will lose his personal awareness, merge into nothingness, and become one with the Impersonal. Thus through this Eightfold Path he is promised that he will cease desiring and therefore end his suffering. (from Ron Carlson and Ed Decker’s book, Fast Facts on False Teachings)

 

Yoga

Around 200 B.C. Yoga began to be used in Hinduism as a technique to transcend oneself into the True Reality or into the Impersonal All.
There are eight steps in the Yoga technique. The first five steps, called Hatha Yoga, are external physical disciplines to prepare oneself for transcendence. In these five steps one would perform a series of isometrics and breathing exercises to try to separate his mind from his body (or sense organs) until he loses awareness of this world.

The last three steps are internal meditative techniques called the Raga Yoga. In the first of these steps one would attempt to “[hold] the mind within a center of spiritual consciousness in the body, or [fix] it on some divine form (either within the body or outside it). This is often a mantra, which is a word representing a Hindu god.” In the next step, by meditation, oneness with the universe is attempted. Then in the last step, if oneness with the Universe is achieved, an attempt is made to lose ones individual existence. The ultimate goal, therefore, is to become one with the Impersonal Universe. This process is described in Hindu writings as “a drop of water merging into the Ocean.” (from Ron Carlson and Ed Decker’s book, Fast Facts on False Teachings)

 

Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental Meditation, or TM, was founded in the 1960’s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. According to Ron Carlson and Ed Decker, in their book, Fast Facts on False Teachings, TM was developed by Maharishi because he thought he could profit by offering it as a “shortcut to Enlightenment.”

Summing up what Carlson and Decker said, TM is really just “a simple form of Hinduism.” And, from what I gather, it seems to be a form of the Raja Yoga—the meditative part of Yoga where one says the mantra. (There is much more that I say about this in my books.)

 

The Occult

The occult is one of Satan’s deadliest servants. It refers to secret and hidden things Satan uses to try to bring people into his evil realm and under his power and control. Such things would include witchcraft, fortune telling, channeling demons, and attending séances to communicate with the dead.

People enter the world of the occult because they are looking for a better life. Some are drawn into it by the glamour and the excitement of it. Others are drawn into it because of the power and knowledge they are promised.

The occult, as you might have imagined, has a connection to Yoga and TM. Says Carlson and Decker, “Working with occult power invariably introduces the person to the use of psychotropic drugs or consciousness-expanding techniques such as Yoga and TM. This can open the person to psychotic experiences at best, and demon possession at worst!”

 

New Age Meditation

The New Age Movement (which includes the occult) and New Age meditation has recently become very popular in America. New Age books and practices can be found everywhere you go. Also, there are many New Age centers around the country that are training thousands of people in New Age meditation. Ray Yungen, in his book, A Time of Departing documents the following New Age meditation training statistics: “The Omega Center in Rhinebeck, New York trains 25,000 persons per year. The Kripalu Center in Massachusetts teaches around 14,000 people per year, and at the Interface Center in the Boston area, 20,000 were taught yearly.” These statistics (in his book published in 2002) are so incredible to me. This tells me that this country is going to the devil, fast!

 

Contemplative Prayer

About ten years ago a friend of mine invited me to a prayer meeting. I’ll never forget it. It was strange. We all (about ten of us) sat on chairs in a circle. The leader told us to pick a Christian word like “love” or “Jesus;” and then he told us that we would be praying silently for about twenty minutes. But all we were supposed to do is concentrate on our word. We were not supposed to think about it, we were just supposed to say the word over and over again in our minds. The leader told us that many have received some kind of revelation, seen a light, or have experienced God’s presence in some way, and we could expect to receive something from God too.

I can’t remember what kind of prayer the leader said this was, but I’m sure now that it was contemplative prayer. And, by the way, I didn’t do what we were told to do. It seemed too much like TM or something like it. Well guess what? That’s exactly where contemplative prayer came from. It didn’t come from the teachings of the Bible; it came from Hinduism. Sadly, many in the church are praying with this kind of prayer and believe that God approves of it.

Let’s take a closer look at contemplative prayer… in my next blog post.

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What’s Satan Up To Regarding Our Prayers?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Stephen Nielsen

Ever since Satan set his will against God, to usurp the throne of God, he has been trying to hinder and pervert the worship and prayers of God’s believers. When we worship the true God, therefore, he hates it, and he will do everything possible to hinder and pervert our prayers.

What he likes to do and what he has been doing for centuries is to put before the Christian a more exciting way to pray. He has managed to draw many weak believers into praying wrongly, using practices that are perhaps more exciting, and that produce peaceful and happy sensations, and that appear to be Christian, but are not Biblical and are harmful to their faith. Accordingly, Satan and his demons come to us as angels of light (2 Cor. 11:14); hence, the kind of prayer and worship he puts before us is nothing but a counterfeit or an imitation of true prayer.

The kind of prayer I am mainly talking about has been termed contemplative prayer. It is a type of prayer that I believe is an invention of the devil to keep the church from true and correct prayer, and therefore, from following God’s will and from enjoying true intimacy with Him. Sadly, many weak believers have been deceived and have fallen prey to this kind of prayer.

I will talk more about contemplative prayer shortly [in an up coming post], but before that I want to give you the basis of it and where it came from. I believe the devil has been thinking about contemplative prayer and perfecting it for centuries. The roots of this kind of prayer, which some see as kind of a New Age/ Christian type of prayer (an oxymoron), are clearly in the Eastern religions and also in Satanism and the Occult. We will discuss these as the devil’s servants, because that is what they are. They are what the devil has used and uses to attract us, to pervert our prayers and to ultimately draw us into his realm where he will make us suffer and make us useless for the kingdom of God.

The next post will be about the devil’s servants—seven of them.

This post is an excerpt from my book Joy of Prayer.

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Five Blessings of Solitude

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Stephen Nielsen

As you prepare for your time of solitude, don’t think of it as confinement, or as a punishment, or suffering. You can look forward to this time. It is a time that God has provided for you to be intimate with Him and to receive His blessings. Here are five blessings of solitude:

1. You gain the impression of Christ. As you loose the impression of the world in solitude, you will also, at the same time, gain the impression of Christ and will be renewed and restored by His love. Such impressions, however, are limited by the amount of time you spend in prayer. To the degree that you remain in quiet prayer, to that same degree you will gain these impressions.

Arthur T. Pierson once wrote,

He who rushes into the Presence of God, to hasten through a few formal petitions, and then hasten back to outside cares and pursuits, does not tarry long enough to lose the impression of what is without, and get the impress or what is within, the secret chamber…He who would look downward into his own heart-depths, and see God reflected there, must stay long enough for the stormy soul to get becalmed. Only when he first gives peace is the nature placid enough to become the mirror of heavenly things.

2. You gain a greater resolve to wait on God, and, as you are waiting, your desire for God is sharpened. Solitude is a place and a time to wait on God. And in our waiting we acknowledge our dependence on Him. It is a submission to His will and His time.

Runcorn put it this way: “Waiting is an acknowledgement of our dependency. It exposes to us the illusion of our ‘control’ over our lives.” Runcorn goes on to say, “Waiting is …a place of faithful obedience, ready to respond and serve the moment the need arrives. It is attentive and full of concentration on the will of the master.”

The Psalmist illustrates quite well this act of waiting. He says, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us” (Ps. 123:2).

Psalms 130:6 says, “My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning.” Here we see that our waiting is not only a dependency, but also a hopeful expectancy. And in this expectant hope strength is renewed and desire is shaped.

Isaiah declares, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength” (Is. 40:31). In waiting God gives us new strength to wait longer. He will not let us fade in our waiting. In fact, the longer we wait the greater our desire for Him grows.

Many times in our waiting, especially if we are fasting, we lose all desire for the things of the world, and our thirst for God is heightened to a pant. We may say with the Psalmist, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Ps. 42:1).

3. You are weaned off of the need for constant experiences. Runcorn writes, “In bringing us to a place of emptiness, of facing our hunger and thirst, the wilderness has a way of weaning us off our need for constant ‘experiences’ and ‘consolations’. It teaches us to live by faith not by sight. This is not a rejection of ‘experiences’ of God, but the recognition that it is God we are called to trust in, not his gifts.”

I think it also needs to be said that the reason we would ever have a desire to trust more in God and not to desire experiences is because we have learned in the desert of solitude that the experience of God is far more desirable that any other experience. Solitude then makes us more aware of God. It brings to our life a firm foundation of hope and makes all other experiences dull, even boring, compared to the experience we find in God. But in saying that, I must also say that with God nothing we do is dull or boring, not because those things in themselves give us any satisfaction, but because He is there with us. He is our eternal hope and joy.

4. Character is shaped. Many of the most well known characters in the Bible were people who were shaped by solitude. In fact, most of the Old Testament characters were desert dwellers, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And how about Moses? He wandered with the children of Israel for forty years in the desert.

Some were shaped not only by the desert, but also by the dungeon. Such was Joseph, who was first thrown into a pit by his brothers to die, then later was wrongly cast into a prisoner’s dungeon for about three years. This man, who was wrongly imprisoned, was fashioned by God through those hard times, and came out of it a great leader (over all the land of Egypt) and a great man of God (Gen. 41:41).

Elijah also was formed in his character by the desert where he lived. There, sometimes he had no food at all, only the food that God provided by miracles. On one occasion, ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and evening; and he would drink from the brook Cherith (1 K. 17:6). This man, though he had a nature like ours, became so great in his faith that he stopped the rain through prayer for three and one half years (Ja. 5:17).

In each of these men, solitude taught them to live by faith. In many cases they had to cry out to God for the very essentials of life or they would die.

5. In solitude the Spirit of God joins us with the spirit of our friends. In solitude we sense His Spirit all around us, and we also feel the spirit of the saints and all their needs and pains. We want to comfort them as He comforts us. Our awareness of God keeps us more aware of ourselves and also of others.

Sometimes in solitude we feel exceptionally close to others, in fact, closer than if we were physically with them. And that is because, though our bodies are further apart, our spirits are closer.

David Runcorn relates his experience of being in solitude, apart from his friends: “Out of the tears and the pain of that emptiness there came a deeper awareness of my friends. There were times when they were more present to me than if I was with them physically. Truly, this solitude was not separation, but a meeting at a deeper level.”

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5 Things to Do While In Solitude

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Stephen Nielsen

 

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When you have found a place of solitude to be alone with God, it is best that you have some idea what you will do—the activities that will make up your quiet time. Here are five suggestions.

1. Meditate and pray over the scriptures. This I believe should be the very first and the main activity in solitude. Without this step of opening our Bible and digging out the truths God wants us to know, our time in solitude would be misdirected and highly unproductive.

As we open our Bible, let us be mindful of the whole reason why we should desire solitude with God and why we are beginning the time by studying the Word. It is not so much just to gain knowledge or for any personal gain or experience; rather, the time of study and prayer, and our whole time of solitude, must be for His will and pleasure, and a time to conform our will to His will, so that in the end we will be found as having pleased Him.

Here are six steps to help guide you in this first activity of meditation and prayer:
(These steps are laid out extensively in my book Joy of Prayer.)

2. Pray over the most urgent things that God has put on your heart. After you have dug into the Word and prayed over it, God may begin to speak to you about things that He wants you to do, or about some person, or a family, or a group of people that have a particular need. Don’t put that burden off. Now is always the time to pray over things that He speaks to you about and urged upon your spirit. Therefore, you should pray while you have the burden, while it is fresh on your heart.

This is not the time to pray over a list of things. Use this time to pray just over those urgent things. This time may be very short or very long—depending on how many things God has spoken to you about and upon how God moves you to pray. Nonetheless, you should pray until the burden is lifted or until your words of prayer have run out.

Perhaps at a later time in the day or at any time in the future God will burden you again with these same needs. Then, by all means, don’t hesitate to go again immediately to prayer, and pray until the burden is lifted again. You may find that God wants you to pray at several different times, even for many years over the same thing; or perhaps just one time of prayer will do. That is up to God. Let Him lead you by the burdens or the urgings of the Spirit He puts upon you.

3. Keep a Journal. I think it is always helpful to write things down. It is an aid to the thinking process and to the memory. When you put on paper what you’re feeling, thinking, and praying, it helps you to get a hold of your feelings and to think more clearly. Your thoughts also become more real to you, and it will help you to remember what God said to you and what you prayed back to Him.

What you write and how much you write is entirely up to you—according to how much you like to write and how much you feel it helps you. Do whatever you want. You can write down your thoughts and prayers constantly throughout your time of solitude, or you can make it a separate time. Some may choose not to journal at all. That’s okay too.

4. Worship the Lord with songs and hymns. A great deal of your time in solitude will be spent in mourning and confession of sins, but then, when the blessings of the Lord come to you and you feel His Spirit flood over you, let that blessed time be filled with singing and praising Him. The Psalms were meant to be sung; so sing the psalms, or you can put any other scriptures to song. Maybe you have a favorite hymn you like to sing. You can even make up your own song. Let the Holy Spirit lead you. Sing whatever He puts on your heart.

5. Pray extensively over many things. This fifth activity is the time when you will pray over all the things you can think of, and over all the lists you have.

Overall, in your time of solitude, if you decide that you want to try to do all of these five activities together and in order, it may take a good bit of time. This is not something you can do everyday, especially if you have a regular job. I would suggest planning a whole day or at least a half-day for your time of solitude.

Also, you don’t really need to fit this last prayer time in at the end of your other times. If you want, you can just make it a separate time of prayer. I often have enjoyed praying over many things while walking, and I sometimes take a list with me. At the end of the time I feel so refreshed, not only because of the fresh air and because of the invigorating walk, but because I have let all my requests be made known to God (Phil. 4:6); and so He gives me His peace (Phil. 4:7).

Sometimes during my walk I stop along the way and sit and pray. I have special places where I like to sit—where God has often spoken to me and has given me His peace. There He has strengthened my heart and encouraged me to bring all my burdens and desires to Him, and also to pray over many other things.

I want to encourage you to make this extensive prayer time a fun time. Don’t grind it out as a chore. Find a pleasant place to pray and try to sense the presence of God near you. If you have trouble praying inside, that is, if you find yourself falling asleep or your mind starts wandering, go outside—even if it’s in the winter time and very cold. The cold, fresh air will wake you up! Go for a long walk and pray. Pray for as long as you can walk.

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Five Reasons Why God Is Grieved By Worldliness

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Stephen Nielsen

Why is God grieved by worldliness, or how does worldliness keep us from inner solitude with God? Here are five different passages of scripture that will give us the answers:

1. from Luke 8:14. According to this parable of Jesus’, the cares, riches and pleasures of this life are like thorns that will choke the Word of God in us so that we cannot produce fruit. God is grieved by this because that is our purpose—to bear fruit (Jn. 15:16). Therefore, when we fail to fulfill our purpose in life we cannot have the intimate fellowship with Him that He desires of us.

2. from Matthew 6:25. Since the whole system of this evil world teaches us not to believe in God or trust in Him, but to place our security in material things, when we become entrapped by these things we worry when we loose a job or when gas prices go up. How God must be grieved by this. He wants us to trust in Him for everything and commit everything to Him in prayer. This lack of trust is a huge hindrance to our inner solitude with God.

3. from 1 Timothy 6:6-10. Worldliness teaches us not to be content with our necessary food and clothing, but to pursue great riches. If we take this worldly path our solitude with God will certainly be destroyed. Verses 9-10 says, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

4. from 1 John 2:15-16. When Christians let themselves get entangled in the things of this world they love the world. According to these verses, when we love the world, God’s love does not remain in us; He separates Himself from us and is grieved by our sin.
I am not saying that God stops loving us or that He takes away His presence from us completely so that we are no longer saved. He loves us even when we sin. But when a believer entangles himself in the world he is acting like a nonbeliever who loves the world; therefore his unbelief prevents him from receiving and experiencing God’s love. God is grieved with this person’s worldliness and there can be no true fellowship there, and no peaceful solitude.
Some would disagree with what I am saying here. They would say that no true Christian can really love the world, that it is the character of a Christian to not love the world. However, since John is writing to believers (1 Jn. 2:1, 7, 12-14) and telling them “Do not love the world or the things in the world,” I conclude from this that it is possible for believers to love the world. For if it was not possible for true believers to love the world then why would John have instructed them not to?
Yes, it is definitely possible for believers to become entangled (at least somewhat entangled) in the world and to fall in love with it. And so let it be a warning to all of us not to go the way of the world.

5. from 2 Timothy 2:3-4. Here Paul instructs Timothy that as a soldier of Jesus Christ he should not entangle himself with the affairs of this life, so that he may please God who has enlisted him as a soldier.
Becoming entangled in the ways of this world is always a hindrance to Christian faith and it displeases God. There is nothing more grievous and painful in a relationship than to know that the person you want to get to know and love is displeased with you. And it goes both ways. If we are in the world and love the world we are saying to God that we are displeased with Him and His ways; and so He is grieved with us too.
But if you want your relationship with God to be closer, if you want to feel His love and presence, all you have to do is confess your sins and come to Him. Give up your sins and draw near to Him—and He will draw near to you. And if you feel hopelessly entrenched and entangled in the world, don’t worry, just go to Him and tell Him about it—and He will pull you out of the world’s snare and into His arms of love.

This is another excerpt from Joy of Prayer.

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Four Hindrances to Finding Inner Solitude

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Stephen Nielsen

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The hindrances to solitude are those things that grieve God within us, and therefore would keep us from prayer. There are many things that would grieve God, but we will talk about four things in particular.

The sins of lust. What I am referring to here are all those sins that are sexual in nature—immorality, impurity, and lust. I believe God is especially grieved by these kinds of sins. They are a perversion of His most precious and intimate gift. Furthermore, they are extremely damaging to our relationship with God and others, and they corrupt us to the deepest level of our being.
The root of these kinds of sins (Eph. 4:19) seems to be the hardening of the heart toward God, to the point where there is no sensitivity toward Him and others. One who has developed this hard, rebel heart has blocked out God and has decided to get his needs for intimacy met on his own terms and in his own way.
The result of this kind of sin, for a believer, is that there is great turmoil in the soul—for he seeks pleasure in the flesh, and at the same time, in his spirit, he hates what he does (Rom. 7:15). Wherever he goes and whatever he does to find solitude, if he does not confess his sin and get right with God there will be war against his soul (1 Pet. 2:11).

The sins of anger. Anger is one of those sins that invites many other sins to come along with it. I think the angrier we get and the longer we continue being angry the more sins we seem to attract to ourselves. So what I am speaking of here as the sins of anger is not only anger itself, but all those sins that go along with it, such as quarreling, jealousy, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder (2 Cor. 12:20), also bitterness, malice, unforgiveness (Eph. 4:31), and filthy language (Col. 3:8). I would say that anger is the sin that keeps these other sins together and strengthens them; and in turn they work to strengthen anger. Together they work in harmony (or perhaps in disharmony) as a choir, not to sing but to yell and curse and cause discord.
These sins are a great hindrance to finding inner solitude—for God is greatly grieved by them, and therefore, it is impossible to pray and commune with Him.

The sins of pride and selfishness. Pride and selfishness, I would say, are sort of the same. To be prideful is to be arrogant, rude, haughty, and disdainful. Selfishness, it seems, is the root of pride. It means to think only of yourself, or at least to think more of yourself than others. One who is selfish and prideful is one who is always thinking of his own status and importance and reputation and happiness—without regard to others. He is also one who thinks others should serve Him, but he doesn’t really care to serve them (Phil. 2:2-8).

The entanglements of this world. What I am speaking of here are all the things of this world that tend to entangle us and entrap us so that we have no time for God. As I see it from scripture, there are three parts to this world (or to worldliness) that seeks to entangle us.
1. Material things and the pleasures of this world
2. The values and beliefs of this world
3. The lifestyle of this world.

This is another excerpt from my book Joy of Prayer

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Let Perseverance Finish its Work: Four Steps to Christian Maturity – from James 1:4

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Stephen Nielsen

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For a long time I have marveled at James 1:2-3—that we are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience. Now, just in the last month, I feel that God wants me to pay more attention to verse four—to “let patience have its perfect work.”  I also like the way the RSV says it—“Let steadfastness have its full effect.”  And also the way the NIV says it—“Perseverance must finish its work.”  This gives the idea that there is a process of work involved that must be completed to achieve its desired effect.   Well anyway, here are the four points that I have developed in my study.

 

Four Steps to Christian Maturity – from James 1:4

 

1. Know the goal. The goal for every Christian according to James is that we would be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing—like God.  James, being the brother of Jesus, knew of Jesus’ teachings: that we are to be seen by the world as children of God, that we are to love even our enemies.    Matthew 45:43-48 is a passage that teaches this:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,  45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?  48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

 

 2. Know the process. The way we arrive at maturity (to be “perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect”) is by a process through trials, which produces endurance and patience. This process is termed “the testing of your faith.”  It is a process of putting our faith to the test; and its purpose is to prove and strengthen our faith.  Note I said strengthen our faith—or our faith in God.  The trials God brings toward us are not meant to make us strong in our selves—to be more self- reliant.  In fact, they will do the opposite; they will cause us to look away from ourselves and up to God for His help (Read 2 Cor. 12:9-10).

 

 3. Know that we must not hinder the process. The key word here is “let.”  After James tells us that the testing of our faith produces patience, he says, “But let patience have its perfect work,that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”  Therefore, we must let the trials do the work that they were designed (by God) to do (in us), so that they will produce the desired result—to make us patient and therefore mature.

Now why does James tell us that we should let patience have its perfect work?”  Does James think that we have a tendency to hinder the process?  Yes. That’s it.  We aren’t happy with trails, or we don’t understand the process.  Clearly we don’t like pain and suffering, and we don’t see the reason for suffering. 

I like the way the Living Bible renders verse four.  It says, “So let it [patience] grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems.”  

Yes, this is what we tend to do isn’t it? But when we do that, our patience and maturity will not have a chance to develop.

Here is what Barnes Notes says about how we should not hinder this process of development:

 Let it be fairly developed; let it produce its appropriate effects without being hindered. Let it not be obstructed in its fair influence on the soul by murmurings, complaining, or rebellion. Patience under trials is fitted to produce important effects on the soul, and we are not to hinder them in any manner by a perverse spirit, or by opposition to the will of God. Every one who is afflicted should desire that the fair effects of affliction should be produced on his mind, or that there should be produced in his soul precisely the results which his trials are adapted to accomplish.

 

 4.  Rejoice in trials.  When we know the goal of trials, when we understand the process through which trials build our patience, and when we know that we must not in any way hinder that process, then we can sit back and relax, and even be joyful when the trials come—knowing full well that the result will make us like Christ.   

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How to Find Inner Solitude – 4 points

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Stephen Nielsen

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After you have found, and have gotten in the habit of going to those quiet places, those places of outer solitude, you must next learn inner solitude—that is, learn how to close the door of your heart.  David Runcorn said, “Outer solitude is in order to learn inner solitude”

The sad reality, however, is that too often we stop our search, having achieved only outer solitude.  I suppose that is because inner solitude takes too much time and effort.  But if we keep at it, keep struggling to find it, we will find it and be pleasantly surprised; for with inner solitude we can be at peace with God anywhere you go.

So what really is this inner solitude?  I think I would describe it this way:

1.  It is that state in which you are at peace and at rest in Christ because you have confessed your sins, He has cleansed you from sin, and He feels at home within you (Eph. 3:17).

2.  It is having a mind that is being strengthened with might through God’s Spirit—which is being rooted and grounded in the love of God and Christ, and that is constantly thinking about, dwelling on, and getting to know and comprehend the love of Christ and the fullness of God (Eph. 3:16-19).  Therefore, the state of inner solitude is that state in which your mind is clear and strong and is always thinking about God and getting to know Him.

3.  It is having a mind that delights in God’s Word and is satisfied with being His slave and a slave of righteousness (Rom. 7:22, 25).

4.  It is an inner peace that guards the heart and mind when we trust Him to take care of us (Phil. 4:7, Is. 26:3). 

 

Now the question is how does one go about making Christ to be at rest within, so he will obtain this inner peace and strength?  Well, mainly, I would say, we do it by deciding to let go of all our sins and cares and wants, and by simply asking God to fill up our life with Himself, to take control of our life and give us His peace.

This of course is a continual process.  Since we live in a sinful world and have sinful flesh, we will no doubt continue to sin, which is always grievous to the Lord and it always takes away our peace.  But God has given us a solution; He has given us a way to continually wash away that sin.  All we have to do is confess our sins to Him and He will forgive us and cleanse us.  1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  This verse of truth is the Christian’s bar of soap.  It is the way we can continue to cleanse ourselves from sin and have continual peace.  We must never neglect to use it.  God has given it to us and it works.

Our natural tendency is to deny our sin (v. 8).  But don’t ever deny your sin or try to hide it.  If we do that we are calling God a liar (v. 10), for God has told us that we have all sinned (Rom. 3:23).

But He has given us an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn. 2:1).  If we confess our sins to the Father He will forgive us because of what Jesus Christ has done for us (Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, 1 Jn. 2:2).  He died for our sins on the cross paying the penalty for our sins.  Therefore, every time we confess our sins we are forgiven and cleansed because of Jesus’ shed blood for us.

Let us never neglect to confess our sins.  For when we confess our sins to God, the blood of Christ is applied to our heart and gives us immediate peace and joy.

The next steps you need to take to gain inner solitude is to be open to what God is saying to you, and then do what He wants you to do.  If you have truly confessed your sins you will want to do everything He wants you to do.  If you have wronged a brother or sister, God will be telling you in your spirit to get the situation right with them.  And so you need to do that.  Likewise, with regard to anything that is sinful and that displeases God, you need to confess it to God and be open to do what He wants you to do.  It will no doubt involve some changes in your life.

When you have gotten these things taken care of—when you have confessed your sins and made things right—you have made it possible for Christ to be at rest and at peace within you.  Hence, you have opened up the line of communication between God’s Spirit and your spirit.  This is what inner solitude means—or we could also call it inner peace. 

Now some may say, I have found places of quiet and I have found occasional inner peace, but every once in a while when I pray I am distracted by noises and I can’t seem to make the noises go away.

Well, let me say, first of all, if you are distracted by noises you really haven’t acquired that inner peace.  There may be some sin in your life you need to deal with so that God will give you peace.  Moreover, if you are trying to make the noises go away you don’t really have the right approach.  What you really ought to do is accept the noises and pray over them.  The noises are what your situation is; it is the world around you; it may be the devil distracting you; it may be God trying to get your attention; no doubt it is a combination of things.  If you reject the noises you are rejecting God and the world God has put you in.  Remember, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).  So, what you need to do is accept those noises as being part of your world; accept them and pray over them, and eventually what you thought to be a distraction will result in a good purpose.  Yes, thank God for each bit of noise and for each voice and for each stray thought, and pray over each one.  Regard them all not as a hindrance to prayer but as opportunities for prayer, even as prayer requests sent from heaven.  Soon each bit of noise will be not distraction but blessings straight from heaven.

The above is an except from my book Joy of Prayer.

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Three Reasons Why Solitude Is Important When You Pray

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Stephen Nielsen

1.  It provides rest for the body and soul.  Everyone needs a break from time to time.  Even Jesus needed a break.  But His breaks were somewhat different than what most people would consider as a break.  When many of us take a break we drink coffee, go fishing, or go to a movie.  Sometimes when we take a long break or a vacation we come back more tired then when we left.  Our type of break is a break from the rat race of life, a break from work, a break from duty, a break from responsibility—and too often, sadly, it is a break from God.  Yes, often our breaks are an excuse to satisfy our flesh in worldly and lustful pleasure, a time to catch up on all the sin we have missed.  And that is one reason why, when we come back from our breaks, we are so tired.  Sin has worn us out, and the only way we can find some relief is to go back to work again.  How sad that we haven’t learned how to take a break.

Let’s learn from Jesus how to take a break.  When Jesus took a break He went to places of solitude and quiet, where He was alone with His Father. It was a time to pray and reflect.  Jesus once said to His disciples, and He says to us, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mk. 6:31, NIV).

David Runcorn comments on Jesus’ practice of solitude: “This was the secret of Jesus’ life.  This was where He found strength to follow the Father’s will.  When we follow Him we must copy not only His words and actions but His silence and moments of solitary withdrawal as well.  If Jesus needed those times, then we certainly need them more!”

Jesus was not like many of us who take breaks from God to feed our flesh and then go away exhausted.  Rather, He rooted His life in solitude in order to give Himself to the world.  He rested from His work and at the same time gained strength from His Father in prayer, after which He came away feeling both spiritually and physically revived.  Yes, Jesus really knew how to take a break!  We ought to follow His example.

 2.  It helps us find God and learn His voice.  Solitude is important not just to give us a break, or even to gain strength, but to find God and learn His voice.  In Psalms 46:10 God tells us: “Be still, and know that I am God.”  In the NAS it says, “Cease striving and know that I am God.”  Solitude helps us to be still and to cease striving.  Accordingly, through solitude we can come to know that God is really God.

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus said, “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” I take it to mean here that the reward (of the secret place of solitude) is not only when God answers your prayers, but also when He lets you find Him, and when we learn His ways and purposes and become familiar with His voice.

The main reason I think we can find God better in Solitude is because God is a spirit and is unseen.  Solitude is where we can better get in touch with our spirit so that we can connect with His spirit.  And there in solitude we can worship Him in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24).    

3.  It helps enhance our love for God and man.  When we endeavor to remove ourselves from all the distractions of the world, even to fast for a time in order to see, feel, and be satisfied by God alone, He indeed rewards us with His love and pleasure.  And when we have experienced His love we can’t help but to love all those whom He loves—the entire world (Jn. 3:16).  For when we are in solitude He takes us into the arms of His love, satisfies us by the milk of His Word (1 Pet. 2:2), and He shows us the wide expanse of His love; it is a love with no respect of persons (Ja. 2) and having no limit to personal sacrifice.

 This is an excerpt from my book Joy of Prayer .

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