Peter, the apostle of Jesus, wrote
his epistle of 1 Peter to the Christians in Asia minor. He told them how to
live as believers in a sinful world that worshipped manmade idols and success.
Peter encouraged these Christians to stand strong in their faith while their
friends and neighbors continued to live for their own desires. He reminded them
Jesus suffered, too, for staying moral and true to God’s purposes. They would
experience trials and tribulations as He did.
In 1 Peter 4:7-8, Peter concisely
repeated what he wrote in verses one through six. He reminded them the end of
the world was coming soon. For the Jews, it was imminent. The Romans destroyed
the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. For Christians, when Jesus began His ministry
on earth, He heralded the beginning of the end. With His first coming and later
ascent into heaven, His return to earth could occur at any time or day. The
Christians could know the first part of God’s kingdom coming on earth was
imminent.
How did Peter tell the Christians of
Asia Minor to live as they waited for Jesus’ return to earth? In verse seven,
he wrote, “Be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.” To the casual reader, Peter
may have sounded like he told them to keep on praying. Yet, when considering
the Greek words Peter wrote, we realize he taught these Christians, “Because
Jesus was to return imminently, be clear of mind, heart, body, and spirit and
have God’s perspective of the world. Understand the truth on both sides of a
situation and gain God’s understanding from how He sees it. Then, with God’s
perspective and giving all oneself to Him, dedicate yourselves to pray God’s
will through His Spirit within you, forsaking your own earthly opinion. Offer
your whole being: heart, mind, body, and spirit, as a sacrifice of self-desire
and self-will for God’s will according to His wise and knowing perspective.”
Peter understood prayer is more than a
“gimme list.” He realized prayer is meant to be a believer’s joining with the
God to be in a closer relationship and likeness with Him. Prayer is about
relationship with God.
When a parent first introduces prayer
to a child, it would be at a meal and/or at bedtime. After that, the next time
a person encounters the idea of prayer would be at
church as part of worship or in Sunday School where the child hears about Jesus
praying or the Jews of the Old Testament communing with God. Still, at each of
the learning points, the child or teen may not have learned prayer is about
having a relationship with God. The child/teen would have learned what prayer
to say at which event or what is expected to be said in a prayer. Yet, that
child/teen/young adult may not realize times of prayer are to be about seeking
God, His perspective, His will, and growing to be closer to and more like Him.
Peter made this last point clean when
he wrote in verse eight, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for
each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” What was most important? Show
deep love for each other. Our human idea of love is flawed. It often is
self-serving. We love so that someone will return our love. We love because we
are grateful for someone or something they did. Our love is connected to what
we have experienced. It comes from our own needs and from our limited supplies.
This love is not about what Peter wrote. He wrote about agape love, not philia
love. He wrote about the love that comes from the source of all love, God. Just
as God is the source of faith, joy, hope, salvation, etc., He is the source of
true love. The love people give each other-philia or eros-is mixed with
self-serving motives. Agape is pure love that does not depend on how a person
feels. God loves. In 1 John 4:10, the apostle John wrote, “This is real
love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to as a
sacrifice to take away our sins. God’s love is a one-way covenant with us. He
loves us even when we don’t love Him. He loves us when we sin, and He wants us
to return to a relationship with Him. When Peter wrote 1 Peter 4:8, he meant, “Continue
to love each believer like God loves so that the person’s sins against you do
not keep you from loving the other believer with a tainted love.”
Having this form of love, agape love,
God’s love, requires a person to have a close and growing relationship with God
through Jesus. How does a person have a close relationship with God? Believe in
Jesus, God’s Son, as the Savior who died to take your death judgment for your
sins so you would not die and be eternally separated from God. Believe and
live. Believe and experience pure love. Experience agape love that requires
nothing from you except to receive it and be with God. Join God in prayer and
Bible study growing in a closer relationship with Him and become more and more
like Him. Be like Jesus, who though He was persecuted, hated, and hurt, still
loved us, and died for us. Prayer becomes more than a recitation of thanks over
a meal or a bedtime blessing over our sleep. Prayer becomes our connection with
God, who loves us without end. It becomes so much a part of our relationship
with God that it no longer feels like a discipline, but a sacred honor and
blessing to be with Him. We then want to embrace any opportunity we have for
prayer. Unable to get enough with the twice daily times of prayer we learned as
children, we find ourselves breathing in and out, our hearts and minds joining
with God, so when people see us, they see the heavenly Father. They marvel at
the presence of the One with whom you have a genuine likeness.
Get out of meagerly praying for
people based on your self-interest. Pray selflessly and with God’s will in
mind. Grow in your relationship with Him. Become the shining beacon of His love
to the world around you.
Pray
because it is a privilege to join with God.
Pray
with each breath.
Pray
and thank the Lord for this blessing.
Always
be thankful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is
God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 [NLT])
