VIEWPOINT

Yarp.  That was a new word that Lisa Boucher shared with us from her book, The Remarkable Women of the Bible.  The section dealt with the two sisters of Luke 10, Mary and Martha. 

You may recall that Martha asked Jesus to join in her criticism of her sister and require Mary to help her with the housework.  Jesus, however, complimented Mary for having the insight to recognize that “one thing” is needed.  “Mary has chosen what is better” the Lord stated.

(I’ve sometimes thought that the commentators give Martha a little more grief than she deserves. We’ve often benefited from the “ministry of hospitality!”)

Nevertheless, Martha is described in Scripture as “distracted.”  She has come to represent the critical, complaining, negative spirit that is so unhealthy to our spiritual vitality.  Disagreeable griping is not very Christ-like!

That’s where “yarp” comes from. It’s “pray” spelled backwards.  If you’re in the frame of mind to pray, you probably won’t be yarping.  Conversely, if you’re doing a lot of yarping, you may not be spending much time in prayer and praise! 

“God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede” (Oswald Chambers)

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Speaking of prayer, I found an article in Discipleship Journal quite helpful.  It’s called “Praying in the Kingdom,” and here are some portions:

“Prayer has always intrigued me.  Which is why, years ago, I began studying the prayers in the Bible.  When I got to the New Testament, I counted 74 requests made of God.  Out of the 74, only two were for material or physical needs.  That really caught my attention. 

“Acts 4 shows just how different these New Testament prayers re from how we often pray.  Jesus’ disciples had been warned never to preach about Him again.  This warning – really a threat—came from the same religious leaders who’d had Jesus killed.  The apostles responded much as we would today:  They called a prayer meeting. 

“In this situation, what would we ask of God?  We’d ask Him to protect us.  Or to show us a less offensive approach to preaching Jesus.  We might even ask God to destroy or remove the evil leaders.

“But look at what the threatened disciples asked:  “Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29).  Why would they ask such a thing?  I believe it is because they were more concerned about advancing the kingdom of God than living a long and comfortable life. 

“Paul’s prayers also reflect the values of God’s kingdom.  They are best understood by Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 4:18:  “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

“Kingdom values – the things that are unseen – last forever:  faith, love, hope, wisdom, inner strength, knowing Christ’s love, being filled with the knowledge of God’s will, and so on.  When Paul prayed for others, he asked for these values to become evident in their lives.  That’s reflected in the prayers of Ephesians 1:15-23 or Colossians 1:9-14. When we pray from the perspective of God’s everlasting kingdom, we bring joy and satisfaction to God’s heart because we are asking Him to do exactly what He longs to do.  We advance God’s kingdom as people become more like Christ, and the gospel can be seen as well as heard.  The outcomes of our prayer will be eternal – qualities like faith, hope, and love will be present in those we’ve prayed for.”

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I look forward to seeing you Sunday with a Bible, a smile, and a positive word!    RA