Covenant Praying

So, what's a sermon? And what is it supposed to do? A sermon is not about offering a few tips on how to live a better life. And it isn't the explanation of how to avoid hell. No, a sermon is something better than that. It is an explanation of reality. And that's because a sermon answers key questions like, Who is God? Who am I? How does He relate to me, and how am I to relate to Him? The answers to those questions explain important aspects of reality. And the place to find the answers to those questions is in the Gospel. So, here's another way of describing a sermon. A sermon is explaining some aspect of the Gospel so that an error in someone's understanding of reality can be identified, repented of and replaced with an accurate understanding about what is real. So, you see, being a Christian is about growing in your understanding of reality.

Today, the aspect of reality that we're going to take a look at is the nature of the relationship that we Christians have with God. That means that we're going to look at the biblical notion of covenant. Listen to something that Jeremiah wrote.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31.33

What a good summary of an important element of the Gospel: Yahweh is our God, and we are His people. Ours is a covenant relationship with Him.

Before we start to look at this, let me mention something. The first part of the sermon is going to be a little on the theoretical side. Everyone needs to understand a little theory. But I want you to know that my goal is actually quite practical. My goal has to do with your prayers, in particular, your prayers for your children. Preaching on this seemed like a good idea in light of what happened to little Eden this morning. But we need to be clear on a little theory first.

Let me begin by reminding you what a covenant is. Because of what Jesus has done, we are in a covenant relationship with the eternal God. You could describe this in terms of a contract where God is one of the contracting parties and we are the other. This contract is about certain promises and certain obligations. Both God and we are bound by these promises and obligations. It's a contract.

Now using the language of contract can be helpful. It underscores the binding nature of those promises and obligations. But there is a problem with using this kind of language to describe a covenant. It sounds pretty cold.

So, let's warm it up by adding something to the mix. Let's talk about marriage. This also is a covenant. There are promises and obligations, binding promises and obligations. This man promised to be a husband, as Jesus defines it, to that woman. He promised to love his wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. In so doing, he placed himself under obligation to live sacrificially, just like Jesus did. Then, this woman promised to be a wife, as Jesus defines it, to that man. She promised to submit to his authority just as the church submits to Christ's authority. In so doing, she placed herself under certain obligations. And there is sacrifice here also. At the wedding, promises were made and obligations accepted. It's a covenant.

Now, because of this covenant relationship, it is completely proper for the husband to call on his wife to keep her promises. And it is completely proper for the wife to call on her husband to keep his promises. It's a covenant.

All of this about contracts and marriage helps to describe our covenant with God. It's about promises and obligations. So, I can say that it is completely proper for God to call on us, His people, to keep our promises. Likewise, it is completely proper for us to call on God to keep His promises. It's a covenant.

Here is a prayer that I offer up daily.

Father,

Purify my mind.

Strengthen my heart.

Soothe my soul,

For I am Yours. 

It's that last phrase that I want you to notice. Note the little word, 'for'. That phrase gives a reason why I think the Father should grant my requests. 'For I am Yours.'  This is covenant language. 'You are my God, and I am one of Your people.' It's a way of saying, 'You made promises to me. I want You to keep them.'

So, do you see what's going on here? The prayer is an appeal to the covenant relationship that exists between the Father and me. It's calling on Him to keep His promises in a few particular areas that I've mentioned, areas that He has made promises about. And I find that phrase, and all that it means, a comforting aspect of that prayer. I have good reason to expect those requests to be granted. He is my God, and I am one of His people. It's a covenant.

I'm not dreaming up something new. You will encounter this calling on God in terms of the covenant in the Scriptures. Here are some examples from the Psalms.

Save your servant, who trusts in you -

you are my God. Psalm 86.2

I say to the Lord, You are my God;

give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord! Psalm 140.6

But I trust in you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 31.14

These prayers are appeals for Yahweh to act. They are based on Jeremiah's summary of the covenant.

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So, when you pray, it is good and proper to remind God of His promises as they relate to your requests. It's a covenant.

All of that is the theory. Now it's time to apply it to the practicalities of life. Let's talk about how you can pray for your children. And I'm going to use Eden as an example.

So, what happened this morning with little Eden? She was baptized. What does that mean? A little review. It does not mean that we know that she is one of the elect. Neither does it mean that we know that she is regenerate, born again. So, it does not mean that we know that, automatically, Eden will end up in heaven. It doesn't mean those things because those are not things that we can know about other people. I don't know that about any of you, and you don't know that about me. Baptism isn't about such things.

So, what is baptism about? It's the signature at the bottom of the contract. It doesn't cause a covenant relationship to be created, but it indicates that one does exist. So, as a result of her baptism, we are able to say that Eden is in covenant with God. He has made certain promises to her, and He has placed her under certain obligations. He is her God, and she is one of His people.

Now, will this lead to Eden ending up happy in the age to come? Well, it all depends. It's like getting married. Will the wedding ceremony result in those two newlyweds experiencing all the happiness that is built into marriage? It all depends. Will promises be kept and obligations fulfilled? We know that God will always come through on His obligations. But will Eden? And what if, God forbid, she refuses to do that? What will that mean? The word 'divorce' fits here. What was once a relationship is no longer. But we don't want that to happen. We want her to live faithfully to her God and to end up as one of the happy saints in the age to come.

And that gets us to this: praying for Eden. What should Aaron and Amanda pray about when it comes to their daughter? Here are some ideas that fit. I think that they should express their gratitude to God that He has decided to include Eden in a covenant relationship with Himself. That's not a gift given to every newborn. No, it's only for children of Christian parents, children of those who are already in a covenant relationship with God. All other children are born far from God, without any such relationship with Him.

I think it would also be good to pray that Eden would grow to be faithful in meeting the obligations that God placed on her in this covenant relationship. Which particular obligations they will pray about will change as she grows older, as her ability to understand those obligations develops. One obligation that will remain the same all her days is that she would embrace more and more of the Gospel as it becomes clearer and clearer to her.

One more area that Aaron and Amanda will want to pray about is that they would be good parents, helping their daughter to develop as a faithful partner in this relationship with her God.

That's the what to pray for. And more could be added to that list. What I really want to stress, though, is the how. How should they pray for her?

On alternating Wednesdays, I meet with Jon and Lisa and Dave Bull. We've been going through Paul Miller's book, A Praying Life, a very stimulating book. In one chapter, Miller describes a difficult situation with his daughter, Emily. This is what he wrote.

I knew that the common thread connecting Emily's fear, her distance from me, and her desire for a cell phone was faith. She was walking a little ahead of me, so I slowed down and prayed, God, you have got to give Emily faith this year. You have no choice.

I dare say that that is a bold prayer. God has no choice?!? Is Miller right in saying that? Well, he went on to explain.

I was keenly aware of my inability to grow faith in her heart. God just had to do it. He didn't have a choice. He was bound by his own covenant.

There are two things I want you to note here. First, I commend Miller for his perceptiveness. He knew what was happening with his daughter. He understood what was going on in her soul. Her faith was weak. As a result, she was struggling with something and giving in to fear. He understood his daughter. Kudos. But the second thing that I commend him for is his bold praying for his daughter.

God, you have got to give Emily faith this year. You have no choice.

What I want you to see is that this boldness is not some personality quirk. Miller was simply acting in accordance with reality. He was believing a particular aspect of the Gospel: the covenant. His bold prayer was based on the covenant relationship that existed between Emily and her God. So, because of that covenant, because of the promises and obligations entered into, Miller prayed a rather bold prayer. And I can't help but think that his prayer for his daughter was one reason why Emily came through that hard time so well. Her faith grew.

Here's the thing. I say this to Aaron and Amanda, and I say it to all of you. You can pray just as boldly. You can remind God of His promises. Just like Paul Miller, you can remind Him, 'You must bless her in this because You are her God. You made promises about this area of her life. So, I'm asking You to keep Your promises'. This is no more out of line than a husband reminding his wife of her marriage covenant promises or a wife doing the same with her husband. It is believing in what is real.

Understanding the covenant relationship that exists between God and your children gives you a basis for praying boldly for them. Remind God of His promises to be God to your children, something certified at their baptism. Pray boldly that He would enable your children to faithfully fulfill their obligations to Him, whichever obligations they are facing at the time. And don't limit this to just when they are living under your roof. Pray this way for your children for as long as you live.

Now, why is this important? Here's just one thing. There are tremendous resources available to us in God. But we don't make use of them to the extent that we could. And one reason we don't is that we don't know that they are there. We don't understand reality as well as we might.

But even to the extent that we do understand something of what is real, we still don't avail ourselves of these resources to the extent that we can. Or to say that differently, we don't pray boldly according to what is real, real like that covenant is real. So, let's not pray wimpy prayers, either for ourselves or for our children. Let's understand what is real. Let's believe the part of the Gospel that teaches us that we and our children are in a covenant relationship with God. Let's believe that and pray boldly.