Improving My Prayers’ Signal to Noise Ratio

In radio communications, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is a measure of how well the information can be understood. When I pray, perhaps I can improve my understanding of what God is saying to me. So I can think about specific actions in this paradigm. For example, God often speaks through Scripture, so if I study the Bible more intently, this might help me hear Him better. If I take seriously things He has said in the past, and do what He told me, this also could strengthen His voice to me. Personal worship opens my heart to Him. On the noise side, there are the distractions of daily life that I need to set aside. Unconfessed or unrepented sin makes His voice fainter. Struggling with temptation is more like spiritual warfare, since Satan will find very clever ways to compromise my heart and drown out God’s voice. The triad of the world, the flesh, and the devil often work in concert to try to drown out that heavenly voice.

If someone is in the room speaking to me, it is much easier to focus and also hear what they say. SNR is not a factor. And so if I am in the same room with Jesus, His voice is unmistakeable. How often do I leave that room because I don’t want to hear what He is saying? Not the physical room, but the spiritual room of communion with Him.

Fasting is a potential step to hearing God better. But if I were to fast, would I be trying to earn His favor, or focus myself on Him and His? Would I think I can overcome my lukewarmness with self-denial and self-discipline? Even though not trying to impress others, would I be trying to impress Him? To persuade Him to do something? Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23) This is His prescription for the abundant life!

 But there is another step that I fear I fall far short of. On occasion I have had profound experiences of His presence. These are divine intersections of my seeking Him fervently, and His eager response to my ardor. SNR is not a consideration in a lovers embrace. If I truly, sincerely want to know His voice by experience, I need to have that level of desire for Him. Desire that is heartfelt and not ritual or rule-based. It is a choice, but more than that, a choice to want Him and His kingdom presence above all else.

 As we receive God’s blessings, perhaps we become used to them and take them for granted.  For example, Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the temple was answered in power. (2 Chronicles 7:1) That was followed by a warning (2 Chronicles 7:12-22). In his old age, Solomon reflected on the consequences of having riches (Ecclesiastes  5:13-20). He does not explicitly say that when the blessing of God is wealth, it creates lukewarmness in one’s relationship to God, but probably is a reflection on the events recorded in 1 Kings 11. This type of test is probably quite common for believers who the Lord prospers and blesses with success over the long term. The temptation to formal religion and rote prayers, trusting in the rewards of faith as signs of God’s favor, can lead to lukewarmness. Whether that is perceived as a low SNR prayer life, or as distance from God, the real challenge is to rekindle the fervor of our first conversion. Both Rehoboam and Jeroboam were blessed but drifted away from God. (Jeroboam actually went immediately to syncretism in setting up golden calves). The challenge is that effective prayer is a two-way conversation with God. We can only pray with effect when we agree with God on what He wants, praying specifics of His will into a context or situation, which means we have to really hear Him.

 Returning to the practical challenge of hearing and recognizing the voice of Jesus, perhaps the most important factor is that of responding in obedience when we do hear Him.  (John 2:5) We worship Him, praise His name, recognize Scriptural truths. Do we worship His name (hashem) as a euphemism because we know that if He is really present, then we experience His holiness and cannot but fall in worship? (Leviticus 9:23-24) But most important, when He offers to share His holiness with us, will we receive it? (1 Peter 1:16) That will improve our SNR.

Israel, Hamas, the World Central Kitchen - Where is Jesus when we need Him?

Benjamin Netanyahu rightfully labels the Hamas assault on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023 as evil. Unfortunately, in the attack on the relief convoy on April 1, 2024 the IDF has fallen for the demonic temptation to imitate the level of depravity that they experienced. As a military tactic to deter other aid workers from helping the Palestinian civilians who are on the verge of starvation, it may succeed. But although Gaza civilians might disown Hamas to get food, they will more likely hate Israel even more for stooping to such depths of immorality.

 Perspectives:

•      Hamas comes from the Islamic perspective under which the Islamic empire was first established, that violence in defense of, or to advance the faith is justified. That goes back to the sixth century after Christ. The crusades of the tenth and eleventh centuries shared the same perspective, that victory in battle would demonstrate who had the true understanding of God. Hamas apparently sees kidnapping and murder of civilians, and using the cover of aid workers to conceal their whereabouts and activities, or as human shields as just part of war.

•      It appears that Israel has a perspective from the reign of King David, approximately one thousand years before Christ, seeing the Palestinians as indistinguishable from the Philistines of three thousand years ago. In this paradigm, military force was used by David to complete the charge given to Joshua to purge the land of pagan idolaters.

•      The modern world’s perspective is of two ethnic groups fighting for the same land, with varying degrees of ethical and moral constraints, or lack thereof. Why can’t they get along, find a compromise they can live with? In fighting a war, the Geneva convention is cited, but ignored when military necessity dictates.

•      Jesus’ perspective was articulated in the Sermon on the Mount. To say that His view has been rejected by the world is to implicitly admit that both Israel and Hamas have the world’s perspective thoroughly embedded in theirs. How does Jesus view this situation in the present? Most likely, He grieves that people on all sides of the conflict use His revelation and twist it to justify worldly and depraved actions, distorting His Word to advance their own self interest instead of building His kingdom.

 Until Jesus returns as promised, He is not going to sovereignly end the conflict, but only plead with us through His Word and His Spirit. Instead of pleading with Him to intervene, we need to receive what He has already given us; we need to be about His parting words, the Great Commission (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20) bringing it to completion.

War in the heavenlies, Peace on Earth - Easter?

 Daniel 10:13 & 20-21, and 11:1, allude to conflict between spiritual beings in heavenly realms, and the wars described next that are the earthly component of these battles in other dimensions. This passage gives us a hint that gruesome conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza are neither new nor inexplicable.   Why does war continue? Why does God not sovereignly end these conflicts?

•      Perhaps because although Jesus did His part on the cross to bring peace on earth, He told us to take the good news to every nation. (Matthew 28:19-20) We humans have not yet completed the Great Commission. Simply put, the ball is in our court.

•      Another thought is that God uses earthly trials to test and refine His people. Our sins are forgiven and our eternal home secured when we receive Christ, but His work in shaping us takes place when we must deal with adversity. Our moral character and our trust in Him become aligned with His plan for us as we suffer as a result of sin (our own sin or those of others).

•      Another possibility is that God is using His grand plan and eternal events to visibly demonstrate the superiority of His nature and character for all to see. For Satan (née Lucifer) and those who follow him, it is a convincing proof that sacrificial love is a better paradigm for existence than self-love. For those who have allegiance to God, this shows us how He manifests His nature and character. The incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God to rescue fallen humans is inextricably the manifestation of His very essence, so that we can learn to emulate Him. And it shows the fundamental, eternal emptiness of Satan’s approach.

 How and why the light-bringer (Lucifer) became Satan (the accuser) is a mystery. The life of God, in Christ, brings light to men. (John 1:4) This suggests that originally Lucifer had a calling to participate (somehow) in bringing God’s life to humankind. But the accusatory nature of his current behavior shows that instead of an approach of ‘you made a mistake here, this is how to make it right’, Satan chose the path of saying ‘you are a bad person, guilty before a holy God’. (Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5).

 The reason for Satan’s rebellion is really irrelevant to us, except for the temptation for us to follow his footsteps. It’s not just that Satan lies to deceive people into rebelling against God, but that he cleverly and carefully tailors the lies to appeal to our human nature, and we buy into them and hold onto them even when God reveals Truth to us. Jesus emptied Himself to take on the form of man and show us the path to eternal life, not just by teaching and preaching, but by living and dying. The  consequences of that life choice are eternal life and peace, as opposed to endless self-serving battles to get what we think is rightfully ours. Zoe (God’s eternal life) trumps bios (biological life) just as eternity trumps time. 

Although war continues now, one day the essence of Jesus’ resurrection will bring peace, not just to our soul, but ultimately to the heavenly realms and to our planet. It is sad that although Israel and Russia have vastly different value systems, they have this in common: both have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord, and will reap the fruit of choosing the world’s ways.