NOT PRAYING FOR PARIS

     OK.  So the title is true only in one particular sense and not totally true.  If you feel a little bit tricked into reading something just because of a catchy title please stay with me a bit longer and let's see if we can make this worth your while.  If by "praying for Paris" is meant some vague, general sense of "God bless the Parisians" or "Bless the people of France", I (and you) can do better.  But stop!  A prayer like those two examples is not to be despised.  All of our praying (even that of the 'most spiritual' among us) often needs editing by the Holy Spirit.  "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."  (Romans 8:26&27)
     The news came that France had been hit by the worst blow since World War II.  In fact they had lost more lives and suffered a worse national set back when the Vietnamese communists defeated them in 1954 in what was then called French Indochina.  The U.S. had been financing France's war against Ho Chi Minh's forces on the rationale that communism must be 'contained' in the post World War II years.  But communism or no communism the anti colonial spirit was working against the French and ultimately against the U.S.  The one bright spot in all that war and death was expressed to me more than 20 years ago by someone who had been in the Gospel ministry in an Asian country for many years.  He said that the sacrifices of the 57,000 plus Americans who died in Viet Nam had bought precious time for the believers in that land to prepare to live under Communist tyranny.  I never miss a chance to tell this to a Viet Nam veteran.
     So, what is a good way to pray at this moment.  "Lord please pour out Your Spirit in great grace and power on believers, the Body of Christ, in France.  Strengthen Your people there that they may speak Your word with great power into this moment of history.  Give them, Father, many open doors of effective witness.  Open the hearts of many thousands of French men, women and children to the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus.  Father, may this moment of great grief, fear and uncertainty in that country not be wasted.  May it be redeemed by many thousands turning to You through complete trust in Your One and Only Son, the Lord Jesus.  May this move of your Spirit extend to all of the French people, even the leadership of the dominant Church.  May they be profoundly moved to return to the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith apart from works.  May they be moved by You to turn away from hollow religious tradition and may they lead their people in this way.  And, Father, may that same gracious, all powerful move of Your Spirit extend to the United States, our leaders, our churches and the great mass of Americans who now have no place for You in all their thoughts.  May this extend to England, throughout western Europe and to Islamic lands where many thousands are already turning to the Lord Jesus.  In His Name.  Amen"
     The French people have had a lot 'stacked against them', in a spiritual sense, for many centuries.  Their country has seen very little of authentic, biblical expressions of Christianity.  Listen to what one historian said:  "In Gaul (now called France), Clovis, pagan king of the Franks, married a Catholic Christian princess and was converted to orthodox Christianity in 496 A.D.  This proved extremely significant for Christianity in the West. . . (but) it changed neither Clovis' character nor his reign, which continued to prosper on its treachery, brutality and murder."  So the attacks this week were not the first of that kind inflicted on the French people.  Listen to another historian speaking of Clovis' 'conversion' to Christianity:  "This event points up the general pattern of early medieval conversions.  The change to Christianity was essentially a matter of royal policy.  The ruler's conversion decided the religion of his subjects."  So, since the king is a 'Christian' that makes all of us 'Christians'. 
     The first Islamic invasion of Gaul (France) was stopped dead in 732 A.D. by Frankish armies under Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours.  The current crop of Islamic warriors are a kind of hybrid that combines the two evil empires of World War II with the demonic doctrines of Mohammed.  They are like Nazis ("death to the Jews") and they are like the Japanese Kamikaze suicide pilots.  How significant that Islamic leaders and countries were so sympathetic to Hitler.  And how significant that the President of the U.S. once referred to Mohammed as "the holy prophet".  
     "Both in individual nations and in the overall world the widespread use of political terrorism has become one of the phenomena of the age.  Random and indiscriminate terrorism is even more frightening.  Similarly alarming are the indications that terrorist organizations from all over the world have in some way coordinated their efforts.  We have already seen indications of how people give up liberties when they are faced with the threat of terrorism."   Those words were written nearly 40 years ago by the late Francis Schaeffer.  He also said, "In such circumstances, it seems that there are only two alternatives in the natural flow of events:  first, imposed order (loss of freedom) or, second, our society once again affirming that base which gave freedom without chaos in the first place -- God's revelation in the Bible and his revelation through Christ."
     "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."