Prayer – Joel's Travels

Exposing Our Prayer Life

Joel Muddamalle — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 21:54:53 +0000

No one wants to be exposed or found out. There are certain things that we do that we want to keep doing without any interference from others. Some of these things are innocent and not very harmful, others; are detrimental and possibly totally destructive. Being exposed is uncomfortable and can even be painful. However, it’s good for us.

It’s like waking up in the morning and opening the blinds and seeing the first rays of the sunshine. The initial response is pain. It hurts our eyes, its uncomfortable, we are struggling to gather our senses and see through the brilliance of the light. Then, within seconds our eyes begin to adjust. As the pain fades there lays in front of us the beauty of the sun light and the exposure of all of creation.

I’ve recently been reading through a book by Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones called, “Why Does God Allow War”. The book was first printed in December of 1939. For you history buffs you may recognize that date. It’s the exact time where the US would engage in WWII and the notorious Adolf Hitler begins his reign of destructive and cruel leadership. It is within this context that Dr. Lloyd Jones preaches a series of sermons which are turned into this small book. The first half of the book deals specifically with prayer. Dr. Lloyd Jones in the very first page states:

“In a time of stress and difficulty men and women turn instinctively to prayer. They are conscious of the fact that their fate, and the fate of those who are dear to them, is in the hands of powers greater than themselves”

As you read those words you may have the same feeling in the pit of your stomach. Its the set up that leads you to conviction. Dr. Lloyd Jones continues:

“Prayer is regarded as a mechanism which is designed to produce certain results”

Exposed. Here I was, literally two pages into this book and I found myself in deep conviction. I began to evaluate my own prayer life and realized while I knew how I should approach prayer I found myself in a dangerous position. I realized that my prayer life exposed how I view God. If I came to God in prayer only when I was in great need and functionally prayer served as a mechanism to meet my needs and goals, God was no more than a genie in a bottle.

God: Genie in a bottle or Sovereign God of the Universe?

It’s offensive. How could someone accuse me of viewing God as some genie in a bottle? Yet, here I was; not only accusing myself but declaring the verdict – guilty. My actions unveiled the condition of my heart and some tendencies I fell into. If I don’t keep preaching the Gospel to myself and the truth about who God is, the sovereign creator, sustainer, and King of the Universe; I am prone to dethrone Him and attempt a feeble insurrection and place myself in that place of kingship. The result is that God functionally becomes someone who has a sole purpose of meeting my needs, wishes, and desires.

The way we approach God in prayer gives us an understanding of our Theology of God. What do we believe about God and do our actions line up with our beliefs? Even worse, and more systematic of not having a right view of God is if the only time we truly pray is in the midst of crisis and despair. Dr. Lloyd Jones states,

“This is why, of course, the prayer life of so many is fitful and spasmodic in normal times, and becomes urgent and regular only in a time of desperate need”.

Course Correction:

It is in these moments I am ever grateful that we have a God who is patient and kind with us. We have two options when we are exposed. First, we can fear the exposure and attempt to burrow ourselves deeper into the darkness in a weak attempt at hiding from our creator. Or Second, we can allow the initial pain of exposure to result in a course correction that is navigated by the truth of the Gospel and results in our eyes and heart refocused on the beauty and brilliance of God.

If we look at the prayer life of Moses, Daniel, Isaiah, and even the Apostles we see a model of prayer that brings into perspective the full nature and character of God. If God is who he says he is we should willingly and in eager fashion approach him in humility declaring his worth and seeking his purposes. Petition has its place and even better, God hears and responds to our petitions, however; we need a balance in our prayer life that is centered by the Gospel.

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Grab your Copy of “Why Does God Allow War” By Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones

P.S – I just launched my first e-book and I’m giving it away for free! Grab your copy of Augustine’s 7 Steps To Wisdom!

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3 Ways To Pray For Baltimore

Joel Muddamalle — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 00:14:30 +0000

It’s making the headlines everywhere your turn. Your favorite news app, the tv, the newspaper, and any other place where information is being shared, the Baltimore riots. While many are writing about various aspects of this issue, I simply want to encourage Christians to respond in a thoughtful, gospel centered, and God honoring fashion.

First, the affects of these riots will surpass just the city of Baltimore and will be the baseline that others will turn to as tragedy occurs in other cities just as Baltimore is responding to the events surrounding Freddie Gray’s death. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr helps us understand the rationale for riots as he states,

A riot is the language of the unheard – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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In regards to the limitations of riots Dr. King states further:

The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves and emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Therefore we are always faced with the question of response. How do we respond in light of such tragedy, pain, and heartache? I believe the mandated response for all believers is – Prayer.

Unfortunatley, this may be the most overlooked or assumed response. In fact, many of us say we are “praying” but never actually spend time in intentional prayer for all those affected by the riots. This may be partially because we lack a proper understanding of the theology of prayer. What actually occurs when we pray? Let’s start with a definition of prayer. Harpers Bible Dictionary states:

Prayer is – the act of petitioning, praising, giving thanks, or confessing to God; it is expressed by several different words in both the OT and NT. Prayer can be individual or corporate, audible or silent. It is conditioned by the biblical understanding of God as a personal being who hears the prayers of his people.

If we believe that our prayers are heard by the creator of the universe who is personal and takes active part of human history, this should motivate us to spend dedicated and intentional time in prayer. Here are 3 ways we can be in prayer for all those affected in the Baltimore riots:

1. Pray for the family of Freddie Gray – This family is hurting, confused, and dealing with so much pain and agony. Pray that the Holy Spirit would bring comfort, understanding, and peace to this family. Further, pray for salvation and the Holy Spirit’s effectual calling of these family members.

2. Pray for the police and law enforcement – Police and law enforcement have put their lives on the line and their bodies in danger to protect the city and other people. Pray for peace for the families of these officers. I can only imagine the countless wives, children, husbands, mothers, and fathers that wait anxiously for their loved ones to come home.

3. Pray for the Gospel to transform the city of Baltimore – While this riot is a poor attempt to cause transformation and force politicians, judges, and law enforcement officials to hear the voice and concern of those rioting, the only true source of change and transformation can be through the power of the Gospel.

The Gospel is the ONLY means of effective transformation for the city of Baltimore via @muddamalle
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Finally, pray that the Gospel would invade the lives of every person living within the city of Baltimore. Pray for the pastors and churches in the city that are facing the daunting task of shepherding and counseling countless families.

If you made it through this entire post, pray right now. #PrayForBaltimore

^[1] Paul J. Achtemeier, Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature, Harper’s Bible Dictionary (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985), 816.

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Staying Dad While Traveling

Joel Muddamalle — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:59:33 +0000

Possibly one of the most significant challenges that I faced when I took the National Presenter role at Faithlife was the impact of travel on my family. As I am reviewing the past year I just hit the 150,000 air mile mark which means my office is really an airplane. As a youth pastor, I have seen the impact of absent fathers. Kids that are craving for the attention of their parent who is chronically missing events and is preoccupied with work. Now, to be fair, the issue is prevalent for both the parent that travels and is physically absent as well as the one who is obsessed with the office and is consistently emotionally and mentally absent. In my circumstance, I find myself physically absent at various times throughout the year. Seeing the affect that the absentee parent has on kids has caused me to be incredibly cautious about my travel and to intentionally pursue being “dadda” while on the road. The following are four things that I pursue to make this happen. I hope they are encouraging for those of you that travel.

1. Facetime

I love FaceTime. It is incredible and allows me to see my kids even when I was across the pond in London earlier this year for the Worship Central Conference. I love having breakfast together with my boys via FaceTime. I have my iPad up and headphones in as I’m grabbing breakfast at the hotel and Liam and Levi join in while they are eating their cereal from home. Sometimes, I can even catch up with them while they are in the car heading to church :).

2. Keeping a Journal

I keep a journal and do my best to write letters to my boys while I’m on the road. In my mind, this is an investment into their future and will hopefully leave them with dad’s thoughts even when I’m long gone. Further, I get to be apart of some incredible conferences and am learning from the best pastors, theologians, and scholars. I want my boys to have that available to them. Some of you may be surprised, but the journal is an old school written journal. My handwriting is horrible so I do my best to make it legible, but there is something about handwriting letters and journal entries that adds to the experience and character of that journal. Its almost like I am leaving a piece of myself in every journal entry.

3. Praying for my boys

This happens in conjunction with the journal and usually at night after I’m done writing but I want to always keep my boys in prayer. The reality is,

being a dad is not on pause when I step foot on an airplane and then back on play when I’m home.
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Fatherhood and being a dad is who I am in every city, airplane, hotel, and conference that I step into. So keeping my boys in prayer reminds me of who I am and why I do what I do.

4. Don’t let the road consume you

I am still early in this whole traveling business. I don’t want this to consume my life. There has to be a balance between the road and home. I work for a great company that gives us unlimited time off. As long as I meet my goals and objectives I am free to take time off as I need. So, we try to schedule extended vacations, time with family, and “stay home vacations” into the year to ensure the balance. These go on my calendar and are blocked off. I’ve learned that the things that we hold as important make it on your calendar. My family is important, so they are literally on my calendar.

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Pastor Mark Driscoll and What We Are Missing

Joel Muddamalle — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 16:47:06 +0000

The recent resignation of Mark Driscoll from pastoral ministry at Mars Hill Church in Seattle has caused a stir not only in the Christian media circles but also among local church leaders. Further, his recent appearance at a conference caused more questions and further media stirring.

Pastor Mark, is a dynamic communicator and preacher. He has made a significant impact in my life and has encouraged me to be fully devoted to the Word of God and to the local church. I should also say, that I have had the opportunity to meet and speak to pastor Mark on multiple occasions. Each time he has been incredibly gracious to me. With that said, the most painful things that I have seen are the blog posts that attack and seem to take joy in the circumstances surrounding pastor Mark and Mars Hill. Possibly even sadder, is the fact that in the midst of so much media exposure and personal thoughts through blog posts, podcasts, websites, and other media outlets, it seems that the most important aspect of this situation seems to be missing completely.

The most important aspect of this situation is the reality that the church should be in sincere prayer for Pastor Mark, his family, and Mars Hill.

I believe it is the responsibility of the church (universal, the body of Christ) to pursue this. In fact, this really is not my opinion but a mandate from Scripture.

Because the scriptures tell us to:

There are numerous scriptures that point us to pray for our leaders. Let me start by saying that it is not by accident that any leader comes into leadership. Romans 13:1 clearly identifies that there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Hebrews 13:7 continues by stating that we should remember our leaders, the ones who spoke to us the Word of God. Our remembrance of our leaders should cause us to spend time in prayer for them. Finally, in verse 18 the author of Hebrews asks the church to pray for leaders, so that they would have a clear conscience, acting honorably in all things. I don’t know many church members that wouldn’t want their pastor to have a clear conscience and act honorably.

Because pastor Mark is human, flawed, and in need of grace:

It’s easy for us to look at someone and begin to develop our own beliefs about that person. Essentially, we put them on trial in the court of our minds, or in todays case, the court of social media and opinion. The reality is, each of us holds a darkness that unaffected by the grace of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit would not only bring destruction to ourselves but also to those that we love around us. Why bring this up? Because anyone is capable of falling, sinning, and making mistakes. Please don’t get me wrong, there are and should be consequences for our actions. However, the pursuit of restoration, reconciliation, and unity amongst the church should be of utmost importance when possible. As we take into consideration our own sin and need for grace, it seems right that we should extend that grace to others in need.

Because there is more at stake than just Mars Hill Church:

Sadly, this is not just an isolated situation. It just happens to be a situation that had the spotlight of media. I can’t begin to imagine how many more issues there are in the local church. How many more pastors are in need of prayer from their congregations.

Pause: When was the last time you prayed for your pastor and his family? Go ahead and stop reading now and do that.

Pause: For those of you that thought I was kidding, I wasn’t. Seriously, pray for them.

What’s at stake is the local church. The health of the church really does go hand in hand with how the pastor is doing spiritually and emotionally. So it shouldn’t be a surprise when we read through Hebrews that there is an emphasis of considering and praying for our leaders.

I love what EM Bounds says:

“What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer.”

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