Henri J. M. Nouwen: Mortal Danger

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“When we think about prayer, we usually regard it as one of the many things we do live a full and mature Christian life… If we are fervent in our conviction that prayer is important, we might even be willing to give a whole hour to prayer every day, or a whole day every month, or a whole week every year. Thus prayer becomes a part, a very important part, of our life.

But when the apostle Paul speaks about prayer, he uses a very different language. He does not speak about prayer as a part of life, but as all of life. He does not mention prayer as something we should not forget, but claims it is our ongoing concern. He does not exhort his readers to pray once in a while, regularly, or often but without hesitation admonishes them to pray constantly, unceasingly, without interruption.

Paul does not ask us to spend some of every day in prayer. No Paul is much more radical. He asks us to pray day and night, in joy and in sorrow, at work and at play, without intermissions or breaks. For Paul, praying is like breathing. It cannot be interrupted without mortal danger.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 107.

What is the role of prayer in your life and related to your generosity?

Today Nouwen uses the example of Paul to inspire us not to compartmentalize it but do it continually. Imagine if we only breathed occasionally. We would be in mortal danger, right?

Sit with the Lord on this on this Saturday morning and make changes as the Spirit leads.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

“In a society that seems to be filled with urgencies and emergencies, prayer appears to be an unnatural form of behavior. Without fully realizing it, we have accepted the idea that “doing things” is more important than prayer and have come to think of prayer as something for times when there is nothing urgent to do…

Concentrated human effort is necessary because prayer is not our most natural response to the world. Left to our own impulses, we will always want to do something else before we pray. Often, what we want to do seems so unquestionably good – setting ups a religious education program, helping with a soup kitchen, listening to people’s problems, visiting the sick, planning a liturgy, working with prisoners or mental patients – that it is hard to realize that even these things can be done with impatience and so become signs of our own needs rather than of God’s compassion.

Therefore, prayer is in many ways the criterion of the Christian life. Prayer requires that we stand in God’s presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is “Do your best and God will do the rest.” When life is divided into “our best” and “God’s rest,” we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our own resources are depleted.

Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves. On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us. As disciples, we find not some but all of our strength, hope, courage, and confidence in God. Therefore, prayer must be our first concern.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 92-93.

When I became CEO of GTP, I wanted to make prayer our first concern.

I praise God in my tenure as president we developed a network of 3,582 prayer journal subscribers and 919 intercessors who joined us for monthly prayer in 76 countries.

If we accomplished a lot for God, it flowed from a posture of surrender and dependence.

What might this look like for the church or ministry where you serve? Is prayer peripheral or central to what you do? How might today’s post inspire you to make prayer the criterion of your Christian journey?

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

“When we enter into solitude we will often hear these two voices – the voice of the world and the voice of the Lord – pulling us in two contrary directions. But if we keep returning faithfully to the place of solitude, the voice of the Lord will gradually become stronger and we will come to know and understand with mind and heart the peace we are searching for.

What do we do in our solitude? The first answer is nothing. Just be present to the One who wants your attention and listen! It is precisely in this “useless” presence to God that we can gradually die to our illusions of power and control and give ear to the voice of love hidden in the center of our being.

But “doing nothing, being useless,” is not as passive as it sounds. In fact, it requires effort and great attentiveness. It calls us to an active listening in which we make ourselves available to God’s healing presence and can be made new.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 82.

When I disciple people at GTP, I remind them that God does His most generous and abundant work through FAT – faithful, available, and teachable – people.

The voice of the world is loud and seeks to drown out the voice of the Lord. But the Lord whispers to us to be still and know Him. To take a posture of attentiveness and availability.

Think of the Good Samaritan. What made him so good? He was attentive and available. The priest and Levite that walked by the man in need were neither. They were fixed on their own agendas.

Not the Samaritan. He noticed the needy person (attentiveness) and moved toward him with compassion (available) and I am sure he did not make it to where he was going on schedule.

How does this post speak to you about your posture? Are you attentive? Are you available?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

“Prayer is often considered a weakness, a support system, which is used when we can no longer help ourselves. But this is only true when the God of our prayers is created in our own image and adapted to our own needs and concerns. When, however, prayer makes us reach out to God, not on our own but on his terms, then prayer pulls us away from self-preoccupations, encourages us to leave familiar ground, and challenges us to enter into a new world which cannot be contained within the narrow boundaries of our mind or heart. Prayer, therefore is a great adventure because the God with whom we enter into a new relationship is greater than we are and defies all our calculations and predictions. The movement from illusion to prayer is hard to make since it leads us from false certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to a risky surrender, and from the many “safe” gods to the God whose love has no limits.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 33-34.

My North Dakota hunting trip in November tied with my Wisconsin fly fishing trip in June as my top two outdoor adventures this year.

And my travels to many countries offer adventures filled with everything from abundant fruits and faith-stretching moments to real danger and miraculous deliverance.

But since my shift to Founder, I find prayer that I pray more than ever.

George Berlin in my Tuesday morning Bible Study gave me this book yesterday. I started reading immediately and this statement stuck out to me. The life if prayer is a great adventure.

Read this last part again.

“Prayer, therefore is a great adventure because the God with whom we enter into a new relationship is greater than we are and defies all our calculations and predictions. The movement from illusion to prayer is hard to make since it leads us from false certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to a risky surrender, and from the many “safe” gods to the God whose love has no limits.”

The generosity that comes into view links to the invitation to intimacy with the God whose love has no limits. He leads me to true uncertainties and risky surrender.

While most opt for easy support systems and safe living, I give thanks today for the generosity of God who offers peace that transcends all understanding when we surrender everything to Him.

Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything.

But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us[a] but to God!” Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things. Acts 5:1-11

“Ananias and Sapphira deserved punishment, for sure. They deserved a stiff sentence. But the death sentence Does the punishment fit the crime? What they did was bad, but was it that bad?

Let’s think about it. Exactly what did they do? They used the church for self-promotion. They leveraged God’s family for personal gain. They attempted to turn a congregation into a personal stage across which they could strut.

God has a strong word for such behavior: hypocrisy. When Jesus used it, people ducked for cover. He lambasted the Pharisees with this blowtorch:

All their works they do to be seen by men . . . They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, “Rabbi, Rabbi.” . . . But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men . . . Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers . . . You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. (Matthew 23:5–7, 13–14, 25

Jesus never spoke to anyone else with such intensity. But when he saw the religious hypocrite, he flipped on the spotlight and exposed every self-righteous mole and pimple. “They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men” (Matt. 6:5).

This is the working definition of hypocrisy: “to be seen by men.” The Greek word for hypocrite, hupokrites, originally meant “actor.” First-century actors wore masks. A hypocrite, then, is one who puts on a mask, a false face.

Jesus did not say, “Do not do good works.” Nor did he instruct, “Do not let your works be seen.” We must do good works, and some works, such as benevolence or teaching, must be seen in order to have an impact. So let’s be clear. To do a good thing is a good thing. To do good to be seen is not. In fact, to do good to be seen is a serious offense. Here’s why.

Hypocrisy turns people away from God.”

Max Lucado in Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010) 64-65.

Today’s post is long so I will be short. Sit with the Lord today related to this idea: “Hypocrisy turns people away from God.”

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any hypocrisy in your generosity. Root it out. This is serious business. If you had cancer do you let it spread or treat it. You treat it so it does not kill you. Think of hypocrisy in the same way.

God convicted me of wrong motives in one aspect of my life while writing this. As I shift to Founder of GTP, I am learning to listen more and walk in greater humility while asking God to help me not have any hypocrisy.

Join me in this. Lest our living and giving turn people away from God.

And as today marks Veteran’s Day in USA, a day of remembering those who have served, reach out to express gratitude to at least one person in your life for their sacrificial service.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Galatians 5:22-23

“If a man worth a billion dollars, if that man exists, if he’s worth a billion dollars and he gives away a million, he’s that much the poorer. If he gains a million, he’s that much the richer. But God can give away grace and still not be any less rich in grace. You can refuse His grace and still God won’t have any more grace because God can’t have any more grace than He has now because He has an infinite grace, which is boundless and limitless. And there isn’t any way possible for God to have any more kindness than he has now. But somebody says, didn’t Jesus, when He died on the tree, didn’t that make God gracious and kind to us? No, it’s exactly the other way. Christ died on the tree because God was gracious and kind, not to make God gracious and kind.”

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) in his sermon entitled “Thou Art Good and Doest Good” delivered on 18 November 1956.

I love this sermon. Tozer taps into the implications of God’s abundant economy.

To explain this to stewards that I disciple around the world, I often use an illustration. I say, if I am kind to a person at the train station on the way to work, and kind to a barista that makes me a coffee in the morning, do I run out of kindness by lunchtime. Of course, I do not.

Why? Because the abundant nature of the fruit of the Spirit in God’s economy.

When God works in us and produces fruit, we don’t end up empty when we share it, but rather enriched for every good work. We have more love, more peace, more patience, more kindness, and more generosity. We can continue to thrive with more faithfulness, more gentleness, and more self-control. It never runs out.

So whether you have a billion dollars, a million dollars, or just a few dollars, give generously. Why?

The world tells you not to do this because you will end up empty. Or it says that you will find yourself in need. I say that you don’t figure it out until you live it out that His grace will abound toward you and you will have all that you need. Try it. Tozer put his finger on it!

And notice, one more thing about God’s abundant economy.

God cannot have any more grace or kindness toward us because it never diminishes. And if you flip that back on us. We cannot ever accumulate enough money because it always diminishes. What does that prove? It proves that accumulation represents a foolish relationship to money. Generosity comes into view as only wise pattern that brings life.

Read this sermon to get the full picture. It’s time well spent.

You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:68

“God is full of kindness and favor and mercy, that God is good-hearted and of good will. Now I looked up the word “good” here as it’s used about God to find out what the Bible did say, what this word does mean. And you know it is one of those words that is so full of meaning that it makes our English language stagger. It means that God is bountiful, that he is cheerful, it means that he is merry and glad and gracious and joyful and kind and sweet and ready.

Now all of those meanings are in the word “good” in Hebrew so that it takes all of those meanings to put it into our English. Thou art good and doest good. Thou art bountiful and doest bountifully. Thou art cheerful and doest cheerfully. Thou art merry and doest merrily. Thou art glad and dost labor in thy gladness. Thou art gracious and doest graciously. Thou art joyful and doest joyfully. Thou art kind and doest kindly. Now it means all that and I suppose it means a good deal more, but it means that God is kind and favorful and merciful, that God has a good heart toward us, that he is a person or a being of good will…

So, you’re not dealing with a sulky, heavy-browed God. You’re dealing with a God who is kind, and then the word ready is in there. I don’t know what the word ready is in there for unless it means that God is there ready to be kind and ready to be gracious and ready to be bountiful. So, He’s a ready, God, and He’s benevolent and cordial and gracious.”

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) in his sermon entitled “Thou Art Good and Doest Good” delivered on 18 November 1956.

Two days ago, I pulled a gem of a quote from this sermon and decided to spend a few more days with it. Today I feel encouraged by the goodness of God, and specifically his “ready” posture toward us.

So related to generosity, God stands ready to give us what we need, whether we need mercy or provision, or gladness or deliverance. He stands ready to come to our aid. Why celebrate this today?

I am at home catching up on emails from taking last week off work. I need divine assistance in so many ways. I can’t serve without it. And guess what? He stands ready to pour out grace, help, and wisdom I need.

The commands of God find roots in the limitless goodness of God. Lest we let anything sway our generous living, giving, serving, and loving, we must root our obediences in His matchless goodness.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

“It was a long, shameful walk back to the hunting cabin. For well over an hour, I had sat in the deer stand, happily reading and enjoying the quiet morning. Then I felt the loose bullets rattle in my pocket. I turned and looked. Oh no. I had forgotten my rifle.

No choice now but to go back for it. The rest of the men in our extended family were tucked away in their own stands. They wouldn’t see me go back for my gun. But they would hear about it. Oh, would they. The cabin, teeming with our wives and children, would all too gladly report on my “hunt.” I could see pairs of eyes gawking through the window as I came up the dirt road. They gathered around and met me with barbs and laughter at the door.

Years later, I’m yet to live it down (and rightfully so). Now every fall we hear, “Remember the time Uncle David . . .” I’m a terribly amateur hunter. I easily smile and chuckle about once forgetting my rifle. For me, the real joy in that quiet deer stand is unhurried Bible meditation and prayer. Getting the big buck is a distant second.”

David Mathis in his 4 October 2023 blog post entitled “The Use and Abuse of Scripture: How Christian Preachers Wield the Word.”

I have never hunted deer before but this is a funny and insightful little story.

Only this year, on the property of my friend John Stanley in Wisconsin, did I get the chance to go up into a deer stand. It was not spacious but it was comfortable.

How does this connect to generosity?

Imagine the things you could do in a deer stand. You can pray and use it as a time of spiritual growth, or you can use it to focus on nothing or senseless things as well.

I learned a lot on this week vacation while hunting.

Through reflection on Scripture, life, work, and more, I discerned new things and feel excited to apply them. Sometimes we can only learn these lessons in solitary places.

Imagine that such places serve as fuel filling stations for generous living. I think so!

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:6

“Deliverance, what kind of deliverance? Well, deliverance for whatever kind of deliverance you need. Deliverance won’t come because you’re nice, it won’t come because you memorize Scripture, though I want you to memorize Scripture. It won’t come because you love great hymns, though I want you to love great hymns. It won’t come because you go to prayer meeting. Well, I want you to go to prayer meeting. Deliverance will come because God is eager to deliver you. It burns in God’s presence. God’s hunting you up. God’s following you. Surely, goodness shall follow you all the days of your life. Amen.”

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) in his sermon entitled “Thou Art Good and Doest Good” delivered on 18 November 1956.

While pheasant hunting I often say this to my German Shorthaired Pointer, “hunt it up, Grace, find a bird.” And we spend our day walking about 20,000 steps and hunting up birds.

I chose to look for the hunting motif in A.W. Tozer as Jenni and I got to hunt pheasant one year in North Dakota with dear friends, Randy and Debbie Discher, and Randy just loves Tozer who did not disappoint.

Enjoy his sermon if you love Tozer. And soak in how much God loves you. Even as I walked 20,000 steps yesterday looking for birds, God never stops looking for ways to bless me.

I like how Tozer draws out that this deliverance or blessing comes not because of what I do but because of how good God is. Seriously, read the sermon and be blessed.

Today, I praise God for the privilege of hunting with my friend, John Roswech, who has experience a similar transition as my founder shift. I learned much in talks with him.

Today I drive 600 miles or 1,000 kilometers home. I praise God to have 12 birds in the cooler. Meat for the winter. God supplies, but Grace and I had to work to harvest it. Walked 80,000 steps in 4 days.

While I was hunting birds up, I love the word picture that God is hunting me up. He’s giving all his effort and resources to look after me. What an amazing God we serve.

For nothing will be impossible with God. Luke 1:37

The Hunting of the Dragon

When we went hunting the Dragon
In the days when we were young,
We tossed the bright world over our shoulder
As bugle and baldrick slung;
Never was world so wild and fair
As what went by on the wind,
Never such fields of paradise
As the fields we left behind:

For this is the best of a rest for men
That men should rise and ride
Making a flying fairyland
Of market and country-side,
Wings on the cottage, wings on the wood,
Wings upon pot and pan,
For the hunting of the Dragon
That is the life of a man.

For men grow weary of fairyland
When the Dragon is a dream,
And tire of the talking bird in the tree,
The singing fish in the stream;
And the wandering stars grow stale, grow stale,
And the wonder is stiff with scorn;
For this is the honour of fairyland
And the following of the horn;

Beauty on beauty called us back
When we could rise and ride,
And a woman looked out of every window
As wonderful as a bride:
And the tavern-sign as a tabard blazed,
And the children cheered and ran,
For the love of the hate of the Dragon
That is the pride of a man.

The sages called him a shadow
And the light went out of the sun:
And the wise men told us that all was well
And all was weary and one:
And then, and then, in the quiet garden,
With never a weed to kill,
We knew that his shining tail had shone
In the white road over the hill:
We knew that the clouds were flakes of flame,
We knew that the sunset fire
Was red with the blood of the Dragon
Whose death is the world’s desire.

For the horn was blown in the heart of the night
That men should rise and ride,
Keeping the tryst of a terrible jest
Never for long untried;
Drinking a dreadful blood for wine,
Never in cup or can,
The death of a deathless Dragon,
That is the life of a man.

C.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) in his poem, “The Hunting of the Dragon.”

G.K. Chesterton’s poem explores a mix of of youthful idealism and adult disillusionment in pursuit of meaning. The dragon seems to point to big challenges that gives us a sense of purpose and adventure.

The poem celebrates the youthful imaginative spirit. The world is a “flying fairyland” and the call to action (“rise and ride”) inspires us.

However, as the hunters get older, the “dragon” becomes a mere “dream,” representing the loss of wonder and the confrontation with the mundane aspects of life.

The deeper meaning suggests that while actual dragon hunting may be an elusive, almost impossible goal, the act of standing against evil and embracing adventure is what gives meaning to a person’s life.

It ultimately emphasizes that facing challenges and believing in the possibility of defeating “dragons” is essential to a meaningful human existence.

Related to generosity, we must not stop pursuing big dreams with God. We must not stop deploying the resources we have with radical faith. And we must not stop trusting Him to give us victory.

Don’t go stale. Go rise and ride. Now! Go slay some dragons, or put pointedly, go accomplish some impossible tasks with God by focusing on what you can do with what you have.