Longbeard Press, LLC

Chapter 8

Are Christians Supposed to Constantly Think About Christ and Pray?

Mr. Warren says:

“We are told to ‘worship him continually’ and ‘praise him from sunrise to sunset.’  . . . How is it possible to do everything to the glory of God?  By doing everything as if you were doing it for Jesus and by carrying on a continual conversation with him while you do it.  . . . When I first fell in love with my wife, I thought of her constantly:  while eating at breakfast, driving to school, attending class, waiting in line at the market, pumping gas -- I could not stop thinking about this woman!  . . . By constantly thinking of her, I was abiding in her love.[1]  This is what real worship is all about – falling in love with Jesus.”  (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, pp. 66-67)

“‘Praying without ceasing’ means conversing with God while shopping, driving, working, or performing any other everyday tasks.  . . . The Bible tells us to ‘pray all the time.’  How is it possible to do this?  One way is to use ‘breath prayers’ throughout the day, as many Christians have done for centuries.  You choose a brief sentence or a simple phrase that can be repeated to Jesus in one breath . . .” (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, pp. 87-89)

But Scripture says:

“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”  (Matthew 6:7-8 NIV)

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24 NIV)

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”  (Philippians 4:8 NASV)

“God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.  Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.  He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite-- wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.  He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.  He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.”  (1^st Kings 4:29-32 NIV)

            Many jobs require periods of intense focus and concentration on the task at hand.  Many subjects in school require close attention for extended periods of time, in order to be learned effectively.  When Solomon, using the wisdom God had given to him, wrote about all sorts of plants, trees, mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, he had to study them and, for extended periods of time, focus his attention on those subjects, and not on God.  A person cannot focus their attention on two things at once.  He can think about one and then the other and then another, but cannot think about all these things at once.  How would you like it if a heart surgeon or brain surgeon was operating on you, but had recently decided that he needed to think about Christ all the time, instead of focusing on an intricate operation?  What if all the air-traffic-controllers decided they needed to be thinking about all the reasons they loved Jesus, instead of concentrating on keeping airplanes from crashing into one another?  Would that be pleasing to God?

            God tells us that whatever we are working at, we should “work at it with all our heart.”  (Colossians 3:23 NIV)  The Greek word, here translated ‘heart’, is ‘psuche’, and is commonly translated ‘soul’ or ‘inner being’ or ‘mind’.[2]  {See support for numbered citations in notes at end of chapter.}  Our English translation is appropriate enough though, because we use the word ‘heart’ to represent the inner being of a person.  If we are to study with “all our heart,” we are to focus on the studies, not on Jesus or ‘breath prayers’.  If we are to do our job with “all our heart,” we are not going to be thinking about how much we love Jesus during that time.  The Bible tells us that, by working with “all our heart,” we are serving Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:24).  To work at our studies or our job in a negligent fashion, by being preoccupied with thoughts about the greatness of God, or the need to say ‘breath prayers’, is actually dishonoring to Christ.  It is failing to do our work diligently “as working for the Lord.”  (Colossians 3:23 NIV)

            Mr. Warren quotes Psalm 105:4 from “Today’s English Version” (hereafter ‘TEV’) Bible, when he says, “we are told to ‘worship him continually’.”  (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, p. 66)  The TEV is a loose, interpretive paraphrase of the Bible, instead of an accurate translation.  If you look at any one of the accurate translations, they do not say “worship him continually.”  Rather they say, “Seek his face continually” (NASV), “seek his face always” (NIV), “Seek his face evermore” (NKJV), and “seek his presence[3] continually” (NRSV).  The TEV ‘translator’ mistakenly decided that “seek his face” meant “worship” and, instead of translating the verse accurately, paraphrased it to say what he thought it meant.  However, to ‘seek God’ or ‘seek God’s face’ is not the same as ‘worshipping God’ or seeking some experience of God’s presence.

            Following the mistakes of the Mystics, many modern day evangelical Christians believe that to "seek God" means to seek some existential experience of God's presence (most often in a ‘worship’ experience).  However, a close examination of the Scriptures indicate that to "seek God" or “seek God’s face” means to seek God’s favor by living a life in obedience to God, in order to be rewarded,[4] in this life and the next.  This seeking of God by obedience includes, among many other things, worship, because God also commands us to worship him.  But if you compare the number of Scriptures relating to worship, with the number of Scriptures relating to the many other types of obedience, you will see that God’s commands emphasize doing things that help one’s family, neighbors, church and society -- more than the activity of worship.

            Let us consider some of the Scriptures that talk about seeking God, that show us that ‘seeking God’ means to seek his favor by obedience to his commands, so as to obtain rewards.  Consider the following:

"And I will establish his kingdom forever, if he resolutely performs My commandments and My ordinances, as is done now.  So now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek after all the commandments of the LORD your God in order that you may possess the good land and bequeath it to your sons after you forever.  As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever."  (1^st Chronicles 28:7-9 NASV)

            To ‘seek’ cannot simply mean to ‘worship’, as the phrase occurring in the first part of the above passage says to “seek after all the commandments of the Lord.”  Obviously, we are not supposed to worship the commandments, but we are to seek to obey them.  Then Solomon is told to “serve [God] with a whole heart,” which is another admonition to obey God’s commandments.  Then God provides the reason why we should seek to obey him:  “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”  Here we see that ‘forsaking’ God is the opposite of ‘seeking’ him.  This is another clue to what ‘seeking God’ means.  If we know that ‘forsaking God’ is the opposite of ‘seeking God’, we can study passages about ‘forsaking God’ to learn what ‘seeking God’ means, knowing that it means the opposite.

            As will be seen below, the Scriptures show that forsaking God means disobeying God.  There are many passages where ‘seeking’ and ‘forsaking’ (or 'abandoning') are laid out as opposites.  One brings blessing, the other a curse.  Since Scripture shows that to ‘forsake’ the Lord is to refuse to obey his laws, therefore, to "seek God" means to obey God’s laws (not to search for some existential experience of God’s presence, whether through worship or some other means).  Consider the following:

"After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD.  Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. . . . he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.  Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, 'This is what the LORD says, "You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak." '  . . .  He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD."  (2^nd Chronicles 12:1-14 NIV)

Note that "abandon[ing] the law of the Lord," in the first verse, is equated with “abandoning God” in the following verse.  Also, “abandon[ing] the law of the Lord” is equated with “not set[ting] his heart on seeking the Lord,” in the last verse.  Therefore, since “abandoning the law of God” is equal to “abandoning God,” the opposite is true, that ‘seeking God’ is equal to ‘seeking to obey God's law’ (as opposed to seeking some existential experience of the presence of God through worship).

            Worship is, in terms of priorities, of little value in God’s eyes when his commandments are not being obeyed.  The prophet Amos describes God’s attitude toward those who seek to gain his favor through some worship service, when their lives are characterized by disobedience.

"I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.  Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.  Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.  But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."  (Amos 5:21-24 NASV)

            Mr. Warren quotes Psalm 113:3 from the Living Bible (hereafter ‘LB’) when he writes that we should “praise him from sunrise to sunset.”  (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, p. 66)  However, this is not really what Psalm 113:3 says.  Again, Mr. Warren is using a loose paraphrase of the Bible, which conveys someone’s personal interpretation, instead of using an accurate translation of the Bible. Accurate translations read:  “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised” (NASV);  “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised” (NIV); “From the rising of the sun to its going down The LORD's name is to be praised” (NKJV); and “From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised” (NRSV).

            While it may seem possible that Psalm 113:3 means “praise God from sunrise to sunset,” we have already seen other Scriptures that tell us not to be praising God and thinking about Christ and uttering ‘breath-prayers’ all the time.  Those other passages teach that we are to work diligently in our employment, because, by concentrating on doing a good job, we are serving Christ.[5]  We have already seen that we are not to think about Christ all the time, but to think about “whatever is true . . . honorable . . . right . . . pure . . . lovely . . . good, etc.” (Philippians 4:8 NASV)  We have seen how Solomon, blessed with his God-given wisdom, thought and wrote about all sorts of plants and animals.[6]

            Then what is the proper interpretation of Psalm 113:3?  It means that God’s name is worthy of praise, and should be praised, by all men throughout the world, from whatever place the sun rises to whatever place it sets, throughout the whole globe.[7]  However, it cannot mean that all men are to be praising God all the time, because this would contradict the other Scriptures that tell men to serve Christ by focusing upon, and working diligently at their jobs, and that tell us that we should think about many things that are true and good, etc., instead of thinking about God all the time.

            Mr. Warren also declares that “praying without ceasing” means “conversing with God while shopping, driving, working, [etc.]”  (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, p. 87)  Obviously, as we have already seen from other Scriptures, this cannot be true.  So what did the Apostle Paul mean when he told the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing”?[8]  He meant that we should never give up on prayer, that we should not become discouraged about life’s circumstances so that we quit praying.  Instead, we should continue to go regularly to God in prayer, seeking his aid, and thanking and praising him for his blessings upon us.  He did not mean that we should quit our jobs and neglect our family responsibilities so that we could spend the rest of our life in prayer.[9]

            Can you imagine some servant of a king working half-heartedly in the service of his king, and coming up with the excuse, “O King, I was just so enamored with you and your glory, that I couldn’t help but think about you all the time, and to give praise for you being my king, and that is why I was not able to focus on my work and serve you to the best of my ability.”  The king would get rid of such a fool, and replace him with someone who sought to be rewarded by the king for diligent service, and who feared being fired by the king for negligent service.  So it is with our King, Christ.  Failure to serve your employer with diligence is failure to serve Christ with diligence.

Conclusion of “Purpose Driven Life”:  “How is it possible to do everything to the glory of God?  . . . by carrying on a continual conversation with him while you do it.  . . . By constantly thinking of her, I was abiding in her love.  This is what real worship is all about. . . ‘Praying without ceasing’ means conversing with God while shopping, driving, working, or performing any other everyday tasks.”  (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, pp. 67, 87-88)

Outworking of “Purpose Driven Life” Conclusion:  When people believe that they are glorifying God by taking their attention off their driving or their work in order to think about Christ or converse with God, God is dishonored.  The result is more car wrecks, ineffective labor, shoddy workmanship, and a poor witness to Christ by those who are supposed to make him proud by their diligence in everything they do.  This will result in Christians being fired from their jobs, being looked down upon by their fellow employees as people who are lazy and inefficient, and being seen by fellow citizens as a detriment to society.  Such behavior will also repel potential converts, instead of attracting them to the cause of Christ.

Conclusion from Scripture:  Christians “abide” in Jesus’ love by obeying his commandments, not by thinking about him all the time.  God wants Christians to be successful in arts, sciences, industry, in “whatever” they do, by their “working at it with all their heart, as working for Jesus.”[10]  This means Christians should not always be thinking about Christ, but, instead, thinking about whatever task they are working on at the moment.  This means that Christians should not be trying to have continual conversations with God, but be thinking about how to develop a new vaccine, or how to make a motor run better, or how to design a better house, or how to run the office more efficiently, etc.  It is work, with dedication, focus, and diligence that Christ considers as service to himself.  Also, God is much more concerned that you listen to him by reading and thinking about his Scriptures, rather than that you be speaking to him.  It is in hearing and obeying what God has to say to us that our primary source of blessing lies.

Outworking of Scriptural Belief:  If a Christian understands the importance of being diligent in his vocation, then he will become recognized by his boss and his fellow employees as an outstanding worker, and as someone valuable to keep around.  This helps ensure job stability and pay raises, which is important for a Christian, in order to fulfill his duty to provide for his family, and to save up surplus to provide for the future.  The Christian can find a sense of fulfillment in his job when he recognizes that his hard work is reckoned by Christ as diligent service directly to Christ.  This type of job satisfaction makes it easier for Christians to remain as steady and dependable employees, even in difficult jobs.  Thus, society is provided with stable workers who can support their families.  This is another demonstration to others that true Christianity is beneficial to society.

Memory Verses:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24 NIV)

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”  (Philippians 4:8 NASV)

“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”  (Matthew 6:7-8 NIV)

“Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”  (Ecclesiastes 5:2 NIV)

Rick Warren & The Modern Church:  Purpose Driven Disaster; 155 pages; 6" x 9"; paperback; $9.99; available for purchase from Amazon.com.