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The Great Commission in the Old Testament

We all have hopes and dreams – even God. 

Peter spelled out God the Father’s hopes when he wrote: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). 

God the Son spelled out his hopes when he said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). 

Long before Jesus issued his last command, a psalm-writer expressed the hope that one day people from every nation would worship God and be blessed by him. You might call Psalm 67 “The Great Commission in the Old Testament.” 

If you want to be encouraged, read Psalm 67!

It starts with the high priestly blessing (which is found in Numbers 6:24) for protection, favor and peace:

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—(Psalm 67:1)

Then, it expresses the writer’s heart for all the peoples of the earth: 
² so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations. 

The chorus is a wish that God would receive what he deserves from all men:

³ May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

My favorite word in this chorus is the little word, “all.” 

My favorite verse in the psalm comes next:
⁴ May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.

I like this because it reminds me of how good God is (and wants to be) to his people. 

Verse 5 repeats the chorus:
⁵ May the peoples praise you,God;
may all the peoples praise you.

Apparently the psalm-writer really wants this to happen! 

And listen to this: when all the nations of the earth are able and active in praising God (i.e., when the Great Commission has been fulfilled), everyone will have plenty, feel blessed and God will be universally revered:

⁶Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.
⁷ God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him. 

This is a prayer worth praying:

“Lord Jesus,

May the nations be glad and sing for joyfor
you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.

May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
Amen!”

We are a Great Commission church. His last command is our first concern. We will do anything short of sin to reach people for Christ.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

4 Reasons I Don't Pray

I hang out with enough Christian leaders to know that prayer is a challenge for just about every serious believer. Few of us pray as long or as fervently as we wish we did.

The truth is, prayer is the most important action we can take in just about any situation. Satan knows this. Which is why there is a spiritual battle that goes on in our minds regarding the very subject of prayer. The battle rages in our minds, and if we’re not careful, we can succumb to wrong and terrible thinking when it comes to prayer. I know because I’ve done it personally.

The four reasons I don’t pray:

1. I believe prayer doesn’t work.

Sometimes when I think about praying, this little thought flashes through my mind, “Prayer won’t help because God doesn’t respond very often.” If I’m not careful, that little lie can keep me from the most important activity of my day.

2. I don’t believe prayer is an effective use of my time.

At other times, a second thought comes to me. “Reading that article or making that phone call will reap you immediate benefits. Prayer won’t.” Again, a lie. But that’s all Satan has to throw at me, so he throws it even though even he knows it isn’t true.

3. God is usually silent when I pray.

At still other times I think, “Why should I pray? I won’t hear from God.” What could be farther from the truth? Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice.”

4. I’m lazy.

Of all the reasons not to pray, this is the only one that’s true. When I choose not to pray it’s because prayer is work. It requires mental concentration, and I don’t feel like concentrating.

The first three reasons I don’t pray are lies from the pit of hell.

Prayer does work.

Ps. 17:6 says, “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me.” Jesus said, “Everyone who asks receives.” (Luke 11:10). As a father, I respond to every request my children make of me and I respond with whatever is best for them. God does too! He loves to answer your prayers.

Prayer is an effective use of my time.

Every moment spent with my wife may not be productive, but without those moments our relationship would diminish. Time spent with God is never wasted time. Quite the opposite: time spent with God is incredibly valuable for your life now and your life in eternity, as well as for the granting of the requests you bring him.

God is never silent.

Sometimes I don’t hear him. Usually that’s because I’m not listening, or because (like a child) I refuse to hear what he’s saying. Sometimes when I’m praying, a thought will come to me that’s a bit off-topic. Often that off-topic thought is a whisper from God. More and more these days I’m trying to spend the day with the Lord. So, if I get an off-topic thought during my prayer time, I’ll jump up and act on it or write it down to act on later. Then, I get back to my conversation with the Lord. Just like when I’m meeting with my staff. Sometimes we’ll come up with an idea that needs to be acted on or written down, but our meeting continues. We act on the idea and keep on talking.

I want to talk with God all day long. After all, he’s always talking to me. God is a communicating God. He has been in perpetual conversation, Father to Son to Holy Spirit, for all of eternity. I want to get in on that conversation as much and as often as possible. The ideal is to begin my day in prayer and then keep the conversation going all day long.

So then, the truth is, the reason I don’t pray, or don’t pray more, or don’t pray more fervently is because I’m lazy. I will be effective in prayer if I walk in righteousness (Ps. 66:18) and I present my requests to the Lord (Phil. 4:6).

So why should I pray?
For the reasons above, and for these three more:

1. Because the Lord loves to hear the sound of my voice.

Like Solomon with his lover, God loves to be with me. No sound in the universe is sweeter to him than the sound of my words directed towards him.

2. Prayer changes me.

As I speak with the Lord, my perspective changes. I see things with better, more righteous eyes. And my motives change. I want to do better things with better intentions. And my backbone strengthens. I do God’s will with deeper conviction, and I resist sin with greater resolve.

3. Without God’s assistance, no other activity accomplishes anything of lasting worth.

Jesus said, “No branch can bear fruit by itself… Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” So what’s the point of doing anything if I’m not doing it with Jesus?

Prayer is work. And you and I were created to work hard. Let’s get at it!

A Dangerous Prayer

Twenty-one years ago I prayed a prayer that has changed me more than any other. It changed my vocation, location, orientation, and just about every other “ation” in my life.

 The prayer? “God, I don’t ask you for much today. I just ask that you give me your heart for lost people.”

Nineteen words. Twenty-one syllables. Seventy letters. One request.

I prayed that prayer every day for ninety days. By the end of it, I was a new man. I was no longer content to serve the church. I was compelled to serve God and his purposes in the world. At the time, I was an associate pastor in a nice, safe church in rural Colorado. I was content with that. I planned to stay there for a long, long time.

But the prayer (or, the Lord) wouldn’t let me. The prayer moved me to San Diego County, where I founded New Song Community Church, a church focused on reaching the lost. To date, just a few less than 8,000 people have received Christ through New Song’s ministries. Last year we released a movie that we believe is saving lives daily. (The movie is aptly named, “To Save A Life.”) We’ve helped start seven churches and seven parachurch ministries or outreach-focused companies, one of which has planted 104,000 churches. I am in awe of what God has done.

Here’s what I know:

1. A simple prayer really can change you.

 2. God’s great desire is that all people come to know him.

 3. God uses ordinary people who are willing to take extraordinary risks.

 4. The community you live in will only be reached if people like you pray dangerous prayers and get about the business of building Christ’s church.

 5. Churches that reach out are led by pastors who are compelled by God to reach their communities. Most of these pastors don’t see themselves as overly impressive. They’re just convicted to their core that they must mobilize people to reach out because they are convinced that this is God’s primary purpose for them, and for their people. 

I’ve written an eight-week adventure designed to infect pastors and churches with a love for the lost. If you’d like to become infected, email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you a lesson a week for the next eight weeks. If all goes well, you and your community will be changed more than you’ve ever imagined.

Are you Ready to Discover the Latent Power of Prayer?

Put a pan of water on the stove and heat it up. For awhile it will look like nothing is happening. Then, when the water hits the magic number of 212 degrees, it expands and turns to steam. This water-to-steam exchange is so powerful that the first modern engines used it to power railroad engines and oceanliners.

 

Prayer has a similar quality. Often when I pray, I don’t see anything for awhile. Then all of a sudden, things start happening. Leaders emerge; people come to Christ, the church surges forward.

 

IMHO, summer’s slower pace is an excellent time to store up latent prayer energy. As a pastor, I’m praying over the Scriptures and sermons and services we’ll experience in the fall. I’m praying over God’s vision for our church in the coming ministry year, for our outreach and service events. Our church is situated in the San Luis Rey Valley. Over 200,000 people live here, and 75-80% of them don’t know Christ. Every morning I pray, “Lord, give me this valley.”

 

I’ve asked our staff to increase their times of prayer this summer. And a week ago, I emailed our Prayer Warriors to ask them to focus on three specific events.

 

You can’t see anything different right now. But spiritual energy is being stored. I believe God’s power will be unleashed in Ephesians 3:20 ways this fall.

 

How can you prepare in prayer for the fall?

 

If you're ready to build momentum in your church, watch for Hal's free e-course, Momentum Bootcamp for Pastors.

The Prayer I Pray Every Morning

1 Chronicles 4:10 contains one of the shortest, simplest, most powerful prayers ever prayed:

“Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”

                      

I pray these four prayers every morning:

   1. Lord, would you bless me today in every way YOU want to bless me.

   2. Would you increase my territory so that I can be used more effectively by you.

   3. Would you place your hand upon me, and use it to touch others.

   4. And would you keep me from harm and harm from me.

 

These are prayers God wants to answer. Since I began praying these four prayers daily, the church I lead has seen averaged leading more than two people to Christ every day; we have experienced incredible unity; we have more people per capita serving the poor and needy of our community than any church I’m aware of… and the list goes on.

 

God wants to bless his people. But various reasons, he often waits until we ask. So ask! (Key: ask him to bless you in the ways he wants to. You have some ideas, give him permission to initiate his ideas for blessing you.)

 

God wants to increase the size of your responsibilities. Jesus came to build his church. Ask him to entrust as much of the building of it to you as you can handle. Then ask him to enlarge the territory of your heart and character so you can handle more. Life on earth is about training for reigning with him in heaven. Grow as big as you can.

 

God wants to place his hand upon you. Invite him to do so every day.

 

And God wants to steer you towards significance and away from pain (unless that pain will result in your gain), so ask him for that as well. – Jabez did, and “God granted his request.”

 

I not only pray this prayer for myself, I pray it for my wife, son, daughter, and staff every day.

 

I have discovered that there seems to be a cumulative effect to this prayer. It could be that prayers are like seeds sown in the ground. You pray them and tend them, and after an interval, they begin to sprout and grow. I’d be interested in your feedback about this.

 

“I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and my prayer.” – Psalm 17:6