Think back to your favorite subject…I’m going to bet it wasn’t algebra! Ok, for a few of you slightly-off individuals it was, but most of us just endured algebra. It was all “a*(b/c) = x” and you were left to find how the thing made sense. I bet that as you remember this, you are already praying that your sweet children don’t ask you for help on that type of homework, am I right? Because that stuff made your eyes cross and glaze over back then and now that you know you don’t need it in real life, it’s a rusty art. But back then, when you needed it to move forward in life, you had to figure out relationships between the parts of the equation that made the other parts true.
The same relationship truths can often be applied in other areas of lives. Certain actions need to be plugged into parts of an equation to achieve desired outcomes. Even in our spiritual walk. For instance, in journaling during my prayer time one morning, I found myself recounting the works of God’s Hand. How His hand guides, provides, protects, anoints, delivers, heals, holds and comforts us. His right hand is powerful, and it’s also where Jesus sits. Jesus, the Word of God, the Word that was with God and was God (John 1:1), sits right there at God’s right hand – “the power hand”. I began to thank God for His Word and the power it holds in my life. He speaks to me through His written word so often when I’m praying, or while studying it, and it comes to life when He shows me certain themes. Those themes change my thinking and perspective, guide me in His truths for me, and grow my relationship with Him. And all of the sudden there was a string of themes He has reiterated in my life, tied together to form an equation.
No, this isn’t an algebraic equation…trust me, math wasn’t my subject. This equation is nothing complicated, but it involves intentional effort and is something that you cannot afford to let become a rusty art. You can teach your children a spiritual equation that is powerful, useful and potentially life changing (unlike the dreaded algebraic equation).
The general equation is as follows:
Studying God’s Word + Spending Time in Prayer with God = Seeing God’s Powerful Hand at Work
I know, it’s a little wordy, right? I tend to be that way. Let’s just shorten it to the basics:
Word + Prayer =Seeing God’s Power
To be clear, God doesn’t need us to do anything in order to accomplish what He wants done. He can part the sea through a snort of His nostrils (Exodus 15:8…what a picture, huh?) and formed all of creation with a simple word (Genesis 1:3-31). Despite His majesty, He wants a relationship with us and to work through and around us. The equation simply reminds us that when we spend time reading, focusing on and digesting His word, and add to that a deliberate, relational prayer life with Him, allowing His Spirit to apply that scripture to our lives, we will be able to see Him work in our lives as He changes us and our perspective of those things around us. When our focus is on Him, we know what He’s doing.
Why do we need to know what God’s doing? So we can participate with Him in what He’s doing. So we can give Him glory. So we can move in His Will. And because our ultimate example, Jesus, knew what God was doing.
In John 5, Jesus heals a man who had been an invalid for 38 years at a pool, on the Sabbath. Thirty-eight years, y’all. He was questioned by the Jewish leaders, not because He healed a 38 year old ailment, but because He did this on the Sabbath, a day when all were to be at rest (they even fussed at the newly healed man for carrying his mat on the Sabbath, something a mother would never do). When the Jewish leaders accused Jesus’ Sabbath work, His defense was, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” Verse 19 tells us, “ Jesus gave them this answer: ‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ‘”
How did Jesus know? He showed us the way. When we look at how Jesus walked, in consistent prayer and communion with God, being the very Word in human form, it models for us how we can see what God is doing in our midst. The Word of God paired with His presence allows us insight into what He’s up to; it allows us to see His power at work. But don’t miss the fact that the Jewish leaders were so preoccupied with the “rules” of the Sabbath that they missed what God was doing! In fact, Jesus eloquently points that out to them in the verses that follow, noting,
“And the Father who sent me has himself born witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent ….How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” John 5: 37-38, 44
Jesus points out the importance of the Word abiding in our hearts, seeking Him and the listening for His voice. Daily time spent with God in His word and in His presence, diligently seeking to hear His voice and see what He’s doing allows us to focus our attention on Him. We form a relationship with Him and begin to move in step with Him. If they had satisfied those parts of the equation, they would have seen the work Jesus did as God’s work and given Him the glory and praise. Instead, they missed it. They were focused on rules and not on God’s heart. God’s heart was right in front of these religious leaders of the day, and they missed Him.
“Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me’”. John 10:25-26
I don’t want my children to miss it. I don’t want them to miss out on the fireworks show that God regularly performs for us, with works and wonders and blessings constantly happening all around us. I don’t want them to be so focused on the world and its rules and receiving their own glory that they don’t recognize what God is doing in their midst and therefore miss an opportunity to give Him the glory and praise. I want them to learn this equation so that when they realize they’re missing something, they can look at their lives and plug their actions into the equation to see if they’ve let their Bible study slip or their prayer time go. I want them to ask themselves, “Have I spent any time with the Lord to see what He’s doing?” prior to making decisions. I want them to be on the lookout for God’s powerful hand at work and give them glory. Heck, I want those things for myself!
Let’s teach them an equation that has eternal significance. Let’s lead by example in spending time memorizing and pondering God’s Word, praying and engaging in deep relationship with our Lord and Creator, and then watch His hand at work in our lives and hearts. With dedication and practice, this equation will benefit you and your children for a lifetime.
Word + Prayer =Seeing God’s Power
