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Prayer: The Power of Christian Hedonism | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the deep dive. Reformed thinking.
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We're looking at a collection of sources today that I think offer
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a view of Christian obedience that might just reset how you
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think about duty, joy, and, well, spiritual action in
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general. This deep dive is really zeroing
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in on a theological position that says the highest way to
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honor God isn't through our own effort for Him, but instead it's
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through a humble dependence and just an open handed receiving
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from Him. That perspective is it's really
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the center of all this material, and it runs completely counter
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to our natural human instinct. You know, so absolutely the
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instinct to earn merit or prove our worth through doing things.
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Exactly. But what we're looking at here
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is how our absolute dependence, which comes out most clearly
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through prayer, actually elevates God.
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How so? Well, by positioning him
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entirely as the giver, the benefactor, he gets the glory.
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For one reason. We're acknowledging that we are
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the needy ones. We're the recipients.
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Sources set this up with attention.
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A paradox, really, and it's a wonderful one.
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We're looking at how seeking our own maximum happiness, what the
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Bible calls fullness of joy, can be perfectly aligned with
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seeking God's ultimate honor. Which is something most people
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assume are two different goals. Or even competing goals, like if
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you pursue your own happiness, you must be taking away from
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God's honor. But Jesus himself binds them
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together. He links them completely in the
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act of asking for things. If we look at the Gospel of
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John, we see both of these mandates sitting right next to
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each other. OK.
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Let's look at those. In John 14.13, the goal for the
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Father is spelled out. Whatever you ask in my name,
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this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
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So the direction of that request is entirely outward.
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It's all about God's honor. Right then you flip over a
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couple of chapters to John 16.24 and the objective seems to shift
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to the person doing the asking. It says ask and you will receive
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that your joy may be full. And now the request is entirely
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inward. It's focused on the delight of
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the human soul. And the genius of it, which
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these sources bring out so well, is that both of these aims are
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met in a single action. The simple act of turning to God
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in our need. That's it.
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We ask for our joy to be complete.
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And in answering that very request, God's glory is
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magnified because the provision comes entirely from Him.
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That meeting point, that convergence.
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That's the mission we're unpacking today.
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Let's start with the very definition of Labor or service,
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because I think this is where the whole system really pivots.
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The sources draw a distinction that's rooted in what Jesus
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said. You cannot labor for God and for
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money. Right.
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So if you can't do both at the same time, it suggests that the
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type of Labor has to be basically the same, even if the
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object of that labor is, you know, wildly different.
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OK, so let's follow that logic. What does it mean to labor for
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money? Well, it's all self-directed.
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Money makes a promise, right? It whispers I can make you
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happy, and you attend to it by believing that promise.
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And you take actions, you work, you borrow, maybe you even
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steal, all based on the faith that money will satisfy what you
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want. And here's the point we can't
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miss When you do all that for money, you aren't assisting
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money itself. You don't make the dollar bill
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richer. No, money doesn't become your
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beneficiary. You are doing what's needed so
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that money strength is at your disposal for your good.
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The whole reason you do it is to secure your own personal
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happiness through the benefits that money gives you.
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So if you take that same model and you apply it to God, well,
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it just flips the common idea of Christian labor completely on
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its head. If the type of Labor is the
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same, then we honor God by believing His promise of joy,
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which is infinitely better. And we do what's necessary so
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that his strength and his resource are at our disposal for
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our good. And what is that necessary
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action? What places God's resource at
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our disposal? It's petition, it's asking.
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Ask and you will receive. And that just completely
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redefines our whole posture. We're not the ones giving
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assistance. We're the recipients.
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Always. We don't honor God by trying to
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provide for His needs. He has none.
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We do it by praying that he would provide for hours and then
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trusting him to answer. This leads to a conclusion that
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honestly, it can sound a bit jarring when you first hear it.
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It can, the sources say we have to be extremely careful about
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laboring for God, and instead we should focus on allowing him to
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labor for. Us, lest we accidentally
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diminish His honor. That feels like the great
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discovery of this whole theological viewpoint.
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God is the Workman. He's the benefactor, He's the
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giver. And the very essence of His
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honor is found in the fullness of His grace, just overflowing
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in kindness to creatures who are defined by their need.
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So any attempt to come to God as if you were lacking something or
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as if you required our human resources, that's the big
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theological mistake. It is when we are always the
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beneficiaries and God is always the giver.
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He gets the glory as the source of all good things.
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So any act of obedience that truly honors God must at its
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root be an act of receiving sustained by prayer.
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And this isn't just a preference, The sources show
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it's a biblical command, and they use Acts 17 to argue why
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trying to attend to God in the way we normally think is
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actually, well, it's disrespectful.
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That passage is so clear. God does not live in temples
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made by man, nor is he attended to by human hands, as though he
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needed anything. Since he himself gives to all
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mankind life and breath and everything.
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So if we approach God with this mindset that our human actions
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or contributions can somehow assist Him, we're basically
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saying he's incomplete. You're suggesting his all
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sufficiency has a hole in it that you're qualified to fill.
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And that just makes him smaller. It does.
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It takes the all powerful creator and it reduces him to
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the level of some limited needy Pagan God.
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The sources make that contrast, don't they, with the false gods
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who had to be carried because they cannot walk.
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Those idols demand that humans labor to keep them going, which
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just illustrates how weak they are.
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But our God is unique, Isaiah 64.4 says.
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He's the one who works for those who wait for him.
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That's the ultimate contrast. His honor is shown in his
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strength and generosity, which is perfected in our dependence.
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Our reliance is the very stage where his magnificent provision
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can be seen most clearly. And if we accept this, then the
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life and obedience of Christ Himself during His time on earth
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really confirms this posture. It does, he said.
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He came not to be attended to, but to pretend.
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But the sources push it even further, to a really astonishing
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picture from Luke 12 at his second arrival.
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It says he will dress himself for service and have them
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recline at table and he will come and attend to them.
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And this is Christ in his resurrected, glorified state.
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Yeah, still maintaining the posture of the servant and
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giver. So His greatness is defined by
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the fullness of His grace overflowing toward His people.
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Our real act of obedience is always at its core, one of
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receiving mercy, not trying to render assistance.
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OK, but hold on a minute. That sounds incredibly passive.
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If the greatest act of obedience is just receiving, how do we
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square allowing God to attend to us with all the clear biblical
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instructions for believers to actively labor to be diligent to
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produce good works? That's a very fair question.
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Are we just supposed to sit back and wait for blessings to fall
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on us? No, and the answer comes down to
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what motivates that labor. The source material is not
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arguing for passivity, it's arguing for dependent activity.
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Dependent activity. OK, what's the difference?
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True biblical labor is the overflow of what God has already
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supplied. If we work in our own strength,
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we rob God of honor, but if we pray for strength, receive it,
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and then work. The honor for what happens goes
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back to the giver, right? So the labor itself becomes an
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act of worship, but only if it's starting point is petition, not
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self-reliance. The labor is the result of
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receiving, not the condition for receiving.
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That is the whole distinction. It's the difference between
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working to earn God's favor and working from God's favor.
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One diminishes him, the other exalts him.
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And that leads us right into this doctrine of dependence,
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which seems to be the the foundation for this entire view
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of the Christian life. It is if God is the ultimate
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giver and if service is really about receiving, then petition
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becomes the main way we receive. This act of asking is central.
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It's the open, visible, humbling admission of our total
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inadequacy. It's the moment we stop
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pretending we can handle it all on our own.
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It's our public agreement with John 15.5.
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Without Christ we can do nothing.
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That's the essential starting point, then.
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It has to be when we turn away from confidence of ourselves and
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we turn toward God, trusting that He will supply the help we
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need, that one action does two things at once.
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It humbles us as needy. And it exalts God as infinitely
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wealthy and all sufficient. The sources used an analogy here
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that really helps make this clear.
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The one about the paralyzed friend.
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Yes, let's walk through that. OK, Imagine someone who is
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completely paralyzed. They can't move anything except
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say, their mouth to speak. Their entire life is defined by
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total reliance on other people. Total dependence.
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Now imagine that person has a friend who is exceptionally
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strong and has limitless kindness.
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How does the paralyzed person honor that friend?
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Well, not by trying to get up and get the friend a glass of
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water. That's impossible.
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Exactly. The paralyzed person honors the
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friend by constantly needing him, by asking him for help, and
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by counting on him for everything.
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So if a visitor came and saw this, they wouldn't see the
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paralyzed person contributing anything.
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No, they would see the friend's strength and the friend's
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kindness magnified through the paralyzed person's total
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reliance. The more the paralyzed person
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asks, the greater the friend looks when he meets those needs.
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We glorify God in the very same way.
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We don't put our own ability on display.
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We demonstrate God's readiness and strength to act for us.
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Our weakness becomes the canvas for his strength and this
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partnership, our need and his provision.
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It's summed up so well in what Charles Spurgeon called Robinson
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Crusoe's text. Psalm 50.15.
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Call upon me in the day of trouble.
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I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
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Spurgeon pointed out the the delightful distribution of
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goods. There He did shares the
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deliverance and the delight that comes with it.
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God shares the honor. And he gets the honor because he
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shows himself to be complete and strong enough to deliver us into
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joy. This covenant officially makes
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God the Workman, the one who does the heavy lifting.
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So if you follow this principle, the consequences of being
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prayerless become a lot more serious than just, you know,
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being lazy. If we don't ask, it says
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something about our view of God. It communicates a deep distrust,
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or maybe ignorance of the one we're supposed to be asking.
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There's a straight line between knowing Jesus well and asking
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much from Him. So prayerlessness is often just
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a symptom of not really knowing God as the great generous giver
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that He is, wise, merciful, and powerful.
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If we truly grasped who he is, we would spend a lot more time
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and petition. The sources use the story of the
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Samaritan woman at the well to illustrate this kind of
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spiritual blindness. John chapter 4 Jesus told her
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that if she knew the gift of God and knew who he was, she would
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have asked him for living water. Her inability to ask was because
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she misunderstood who he was and how generous he was.
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And there's a modern parallel for this that the sources use
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which is really helpful. The gift certificates.
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The gift Certificates Fearless Christian is like having a room
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wallpapered with gift certificates from the best
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stores but always shopping at Goodwill because they can't
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read. They possess immense wealth in
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Christ, but they choose spiritual poverty because they
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don't see the value of the gift or the boundless resource of the
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giver. If we really understood Christ's
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capacity, we wouldn't be begging for scraps.
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We'd be asking for everything necessary for life and piety.
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This means we have to constantly redefine what our obedience
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looks like. It has to be always at its core,
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receiving mercy, not trying to render assistance.
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And this is so critical for maintaining the biblical
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doctrines of justification and sanctification.
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Also. Well, if we try to labor for
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wages, we give up the gift of justification.
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Our right standing with God, which is received entirely by
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faith, not by works petition, is the opposite of earning
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something. So looking to God for mercy,
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that act prevents our service from turning into pride or some
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kind of works righteousness. It protects justification by
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reminding us that we are utterly reliant on Christ's finished
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work. OK, so that's justification.
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How does it fuel sanctification, the actual process of becoming
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more holy and doing good works? It fuels it because all real
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spiritual growth, love, patience, endurance, sharing the
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gospel, it all requires resources we just don't have on
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our own. It's the work of the Holy
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Spirit. And the Spirit is given to the
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of those who ask. So any good work we accomplish
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is only possible because we first prayed for the strength,
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we received the mercy, and then we acted.
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And that ensures that when the good work is done, the glory
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goes not to us, but to the divine giver.
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Receiving mercy is the mechanism that ensures God gets the honor
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for both our status justification and our behavior
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sanctification. So the essential activity of the
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Christian life, then, is to wait for him.
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Which means we pause, we soberly consider our own inadequacy and
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the Lord's all sufficiency. We seek counsel and help from
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Him before we just rush into doing things.
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The foolishness of not waiting for God is that we miss out on
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the blessing of having the Almighty Workman laboring for
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us. The alternative is spiritual
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pride, which is a great evil because it goes against God's
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stated will to exalt himself in mercy.
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God is looking for people who will allow Him to work for them,
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not people who try to do His job.
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And this humble dependence is the necessary prerequisite for
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real God centered happiness. That transition is key.
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Humble dependence has to lead somewhere, and the sources argue
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it leads straight to maximum joy.
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Which is the heart of what the source is called Christian
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hedonism, and we really need to address the common objection
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right away. The idea that this place is
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human happiness above God's honor, right?
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That objection only works if you think God and humans are in a
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competition for happiness. But Christian hedonism, as it's
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presented here, corrects that. It says that God's greatest
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objective is to display the boundless wealth of His grace by
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making sinners happy in Him. So our pursuit of happiness
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isn't above God's interest, it's actually in God's interest.
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When we humble ourselves and run happily into the joy of our
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Father's embrace, the honor of His grace is magnified because
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He is the satisfying source, and the deep, real longing of our
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soul is satisfied. Our interest and his honor, they
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actually merge. They become one single purpose.
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And this isn't a new idea. It has deep roots in reformed
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thinking. Jonathan Edwards wrote about
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this with such clarity in his resolutions.
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He resolved to pursue as much happiness in the next life as he
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possibly could with all his might.
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But that pursuit wasn't selfish because it was grounded in the
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knowledge that God's glory is infinitely magnified through
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spilled over mercy and generosity to His people.
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Happiness that's found in God is the highest form of worship.
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But we have to make a distinction here, a big one.
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We're talking about craving God Himself as the ultimate
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satisfaction. Not craving the things God
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provides for our worldly comfort.
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And this is where the difference between the two faces of
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self-centered prayer becomes so vital.
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The first type, let's call it righteous or radically God
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centered self centeredness is not just OK, it's encouraged.
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If being self-centered just means passionately wanting to
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experience maximum happiness. That desire is righteous when it
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craves the happiness of seeing God's name hallowed, His rain
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swaying, His will being done gladly on earth as it is in
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heaven. It requires us to admit that we
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have this, this gaping hole of emptiness without God.
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And that only he, as the ultimate resource, can fill that
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role to make our joy complete. We're craving the fullness of
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the Creator because anything less just leaves us empty.
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But that second phase is the evil or adulterous self
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centeredness and that is condemned without question.
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James 4 gives us the explicit warning.
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It condemns asking wrongly to spend it on your passions or
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pleasures. The sources interpret this
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through a very strong covenantal lens.
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They call it spiritual adultery. Let's spend a second on that Why
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is it called adultery? Well, the Bible often describes
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God's relationship with his people as a marriage covenant.
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God is our husband, and in this covenant He commits to supplying
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all our needs and satisfying our deepest spiritual longings.
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OK, so when we take the generosity, he provides His
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resources, His grace, His gifts, and we use them to chase
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satisfaction and worldly pleasures apart from Him, we're
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basically using his money to hire prostitutes.
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Wow, we're being unfaithful. We're seeking satisfaction from
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the world when we should be seeking it entirely in God.
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That's why James calls the people praying this way
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adulteresses. That's a stark warning against a
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transactional faith, isn't it? Just seeing God as a vending
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machine for comfort instead of the object of our devotion.
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Absolutely. If we're using God's provision
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to get further away from him, that prayer is rejected.
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But this brings up a practical question you touched on earlier.
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If we're relying on God and asking Him for things, food,
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clothing, healing material goods, how do we enjoy creation
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without it becoming idolatry? How do we keep every request
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from becoming an adulterous one? We have to make sure that the
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delight we find and created things is always also a delight
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in the Maker. Created things are temporary,
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but they have to be seen and enjoyed as temporary gifts of
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God that function as mirrors of His glory.
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If we just enjoy the gift without seeing the giver
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reflected in it, then we're guilty of idolatry.
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Thomas Drehern, the 17th century writer.
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He captured this so well, he wrote, that you never enjoy the
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world the right way. Till you see how a sand
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exhibiteth the wisdom and strength of God.
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And you have to prize the purpose they fulfill in showing
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His honor far more than just their visible beauty or how
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useful they are to you. The focus shifts from the object
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to its source. And Saint Augustine gave the
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theological solution that makes this a single act.
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He loves the too little who loves anything together with
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thee, which he loves not for thy sake.
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So if we pray for things for God's sake, meaning we don't
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want anything that doesn't show us more of him or equip us
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better to honor Him, then even those requests for mundane
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things can remain radically God centered.
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CS Lewis explained this dynamic as a tiny theophany.
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It's not a two step process. You don't get the pleasure and
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then later offer thanks. No, it's the reception of the
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pleasure, the immediate, simultaneous recognition of its
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divine source as one single act of adoration.
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The pleasure itself should be instantly redolin of the orchard
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where it grew. If we only look at the surface
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of creation, it becomes an idol and our prayer for it is
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adulterous. If we see it as a bearer of
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messages from the Divine Source, that act of receiving is
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worship. And this perspective validates
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all our requests for physical needs as long as they remain
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dependent. God glorifying acts.
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This complete dependence, then, rooted in petition and leading
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to righteous joy, connects right into how we live out our
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obedience in the world. And the sources make a very
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blunt connection here. A life that lacks petition
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produces joylessness. It's a simple rule that seems to
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hold true across spiritual experience and scripture.
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A shallow existence with very little prayer leads to very
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little delight. While a deep, earnest life of
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petition leads to fullness of joy, we keep coming back to
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Jesus's promise. Ask and you will receive that
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your joy may be full. And the sources give 2 core
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reasons for this unbreakable link.
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The first reason petition is the nerve center of our fellowship
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with Jesus. Fullness of joy is tied directly
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to a personal, vital, sustained fellowship with Christ.
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It's not enough to just have knowledge about Him or to be
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busy with labor for Him. Without that vital personal
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communication, the Christian life can quickly become a
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joyless burden. Separation from Jesus means
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sorrow, restoration of fellowship means delight, and
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petition is the way we speak to Him, listen to His Word, and
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express our deepest longings. The personal writings of
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Jonathan Edwards give us a glimpse of this kind of intense
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communion. He described petition as feeling
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natural, as the breath by which the inward burnings of my heart
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had vent. It's not a formal duty, it's the
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essential spiritual ventilation system for the soul's desires.
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OK. So that's the first reason.
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What's the second? The second reason is that
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Petition supplies the essential equipment for the mission of
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love. The fullness of joy we're
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looking for isn't found in an easy, protected life.
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It's found in the strength and the capacity to love others and
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bear spiritual fruit. And Jesus links the
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effectiveness of petition directly to fruit bearing.
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In John 15. He tells us that the Father will
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answer petitions for those who are actively pursuing fruit for
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His honor. We're commanded to go and bear
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fruit so that whatever we ask the Father, he may grant it to
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us. The resource we request through
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petition is tied directly to the command to love one another.
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So the real purpose of petition is mission oriented.
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It's not mainly about our own comfort.
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And this brings us to one of the most memorable analogies in the
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source material. Petition as the wartime
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walkie-talkie. The wartime walkie-talkie.
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It's a really helpful metaphor because it completely reframes
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the spiritual life. Petition is not a domestic
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intercom for seeking personal convenience.
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It's not for calling the staff to bring another cushion to the
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den. Or for asking for perfect
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weather for your vacation. It is a strategic provision for
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active spiritual warfare. We have to remember the biblical
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context. Life is war.
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We struggle not against people, but against spiritual forces of
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evil. So petition is our Direct Line
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to the General's headquarters. We use it to call for tactical
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advice, for guidance and, very critically, for air cover for
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reinforcements when we face conflicts that threaten our
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faith and the advance of the mission.
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And if we try to use this specialized military equipment
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just to increase our earthly comfort or personal ease, we've
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completely misunderstood A strategic design.
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And as a result, our prayer life feels weak, our motivation
22:07
stalls, and our joy becomes shallow.
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The joy we're looking for is the delight of overflowing love
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directed toward other people, and that love is fueled entirely
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by the strength God supplies through that walkie-talkie.
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The sources have another great line here.
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If the pump of love runs dry, it is because the pipe of petition
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isn't deep enough. Petition sustains the essential
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spiritual parts needed for genuine, enduring love.
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The spirit is given in response to petition.
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Faith is sustained by petition and hope is preserved by
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petition. When we neglect this vital
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communication, the wellspring of love runs dry because we've cut
22:44
off the supply line. And this mission of love, which
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is activated and sustained by petition, is the direct road to
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the final joy when the honor of the Lord fills the earth and His
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children are gathered from every nation.
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Our private devotion has global, eternal significance because it
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funds the love that reaches the frontier.
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To ground all this theology of dependent petition in real,
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lived human experience, the sources offer a compelling
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historical example. The great Prayer revival of 1857
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in America. And the context here is just so
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vital. By the 1850's, the spiritual
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enthusiasm of earlier generations had really faded.
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America, and New York City in particular, was enjoying
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enormous prosperity and speculative wealth.
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The whole atmosphere was one of self-sufficiency.
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People felt very little desperate need for God, and so
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petition just sort of dried up. And into this environment comes
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a man named Jeremiah Landfair. He was a city missionary who
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started his work in the downtown business district in July of
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1857. And he was really burdened by
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the spiritual indifference he saw and by how transient the
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population was that he was trying to reach.
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So Landfair decided to try something very simple, an
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experimental noonday petition gathering.
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It was meant to last an hour, and he invited local merchants,
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clerks and businessmen to just take a break and focus on
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spiritual things. The very first meeting was set
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for Wednesday, September 23, 1857.
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And the initial results were, well, they were humbling.
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For the 1st 30 minutes, land fear was completely alone, just
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pacing between self doubt and theological conviction.
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The finally 6 people showed up and the meeting began.
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The next week, 40 people came, but it was still very modest.
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This small dependent gathering was like a spark, but it needed
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some external force to really catch fire.
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And that external factor arrived very quickly.
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In October of 1857. The economic stability of the
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entire nation just shattered. This was the third great panic
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in American history. The crisis was immediate.
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It was devastating. Major banks failed all over the
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country. Railroad companies went
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bankrupt. Manufacturing just shut down.
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In New York City alone, all of a sudden 30,000 men were
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unemployed and idle. The whole atmosphere of
24:52
speculative wealth just vanished and it was replaced by
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desperation, hunger and despair. And this desperation had a huge
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spiritual effect. People's hearts were weaned off
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the illusion of self-sufficiency, and they were
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forced to turn toward the only real source provision.
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The crisis proved the very thesis we've been talking about.
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Our greatest acts of obedience start with admitting our need.
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The result was just staggering. Within six months of the
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economic crisis, 10,000 businessmen were gathering every
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day for petition in New York City.
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And the movement spread like wildfire across the country.
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Within two years, a million converts were added to American
25:29
churches, which was a huge number for the population back
25:32
then. And.
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What's so remarkable, as the sources note, is that this
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revival was characterized almost entirely by an incredible
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spontaneous movement of petition.
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It didn't have the fanaticism or the emotional hysteria that had
25:45
marked some of the earlier revitals.
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It was just a massive, humble dependent calling upon God that
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was born out of acknowledged need.
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It showed that when human strength fails and dependence is
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finally recognized, God will move for those who wait for Him.
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And this historical reality brings us to the final, very
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practical admonition that the sources insist on.
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The necessity of planning for petition.
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The sources make a pretty provocative claim here.
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They say the main reason many believers don't have a robust
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life of petition isn't a lack of desire.
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It's a lack of intentional planning.
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We approach most other big parts of our lives, our careers, our
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finances, even a four week vacation.
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With strategic planning. We set a time, a place, a
26:25
method. But many people approach their
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spiritual existence very casually.
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They realized day after day they should have prayed more, but
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they never made any specific preparation.
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No set time, no designated location, no portion of
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Scripture to guide them. And the sources warn us that the
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opposite of intentional planning is not some wonderfully flowing,
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spontaneous spiritual experience.
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The opposite of planning is the rut.
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The natural, unplanned flow of spiritual life, driven by
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convenience and busyness, will inevitably sink to its lowest
26:57
egg of vitality. So to achieve spiritual renewal
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and to receive the joy and the resources needed for the
27:03
mission, it requires intentional resolve.
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You have to set a time, set a place and choose a portion of
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scripture to guide the petition. This intentionality make sure
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that we engage that wartime walkie-talkie strategically, and
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we don't let the tyranny of busy days starve our necessary
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fellowship with the giver. This is the application of
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dependence. We depend on God to give us the
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desire and strength to pray, but we also have to plan the
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structural framework where that dependent action can happen.
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So this deep dive has really reframed what Christian labor is
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all about. We started with what looks like
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a conflict between God's glory and our joy.
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And we've seen that petition is the unifying essential action.
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It uniquely preserves this unity.
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It forces us to acknowledge our desperate need, which rightly
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humbles us, and by trusting in God's provision, it exalts Him
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as the all sufficient giver. True God honoring obedience is
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at its core receiving mercy, and this makes sure that the giver
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gets the honor for every good outcome.
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Our pursuit of satisfaction isn't in competition with God's
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honor, it's found entirely in Him.
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This creates a holy God centered self centeredness that magnifies
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His provision and His generosity.
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And this petition is the lifeblood of our fellowship.
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It's the essential way we receive the strength we need to
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fulfill the mission of love in a world defined by spiritual
28:20
conflict. So we'll leave you with this
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final provocative thought, drawn right from the principles we've
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been discussing. If God's honor is secured not by
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our human contribution to Him, but by our humbly asking Him for
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the strength to love and bear fruit for His name, what
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specific action of selfless giving will you pray for Him to
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enable in your life this week? This isn't about trusting your
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own strength, it's about calling for his air cover for the most
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difficult mission you have in front of you.
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The choice is always there for us.
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Will we try to carry the spiritual burden ourselves, or
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will we wait for the God who promises to work mightily for
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those who wait for Him? Thank you for taking this deep
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dive with us. We'll see you next time.