Preparing Our Minds for Action

As we have read through 1 Peter, we reached where we looked at the three areas that define us: someone who prays, .  And the history of the world is pointing towards God’s purpose and plan completion.

We are going to take a look at two words in this verse that relate to prayer.  To be alert and being of sober mind.  To look at the word “alert”, it means to have understanding about practical matters and then to act sensibly.  What it is describing to us is to have a frame of mind to see what is going on, not being overwhelmed, and then acting sensibly.  Peter is saying that because we are secure in Jesus, we can take a look around and be able to operate in the world around us.  We see Paul talk of the same mindset in when he speaks of self-discipline.  So it comes down to when you are alert, you are able to make right decisions in the midst of a tough environment.

The second phrase is “sober minded”.  While being sober means not allowing chemicals (such as alcohol) take control of your actions.  But the sober mindedness that is described by Peter, means to be in control of your own thought processes so not to be irrational in the way we think.  It is like practicing for a sport.  If you are going to play baseball, the best benefits will come from practicing and train yourself at baseball.  It would not work to practice football to play baseball.  If we take this into our spiritual growth (or practice) we have to ask what are we doing to appropriately prepare ourselves.

For New Testament writers, we often see them use two words that pair together.  Not meaning the exact thing, but fit together like two hands to complete an idea.  This is exactly how Peter has paired being alert and sober minded.  How are we going to prepare for circumstances that will come our way?  If we don’t train, we will be devoured because of our lack of discipline.  Just as we read in , it is training that takes us from immature to mature.  Because then our responses will be natural.  Have you ever see someone do something that they just looked like a natural?  What we sometimes forget is that those natural actions were the result of a lot of practice.

So we return to where being alert and sober minded pores into our prayer life.  But what do we find when we don’t prepare ourselves for prayer?  Our prayers end up being a wish list or a plea to get out of the situation.  But when prepared, we see those prayers point towards God and His will.

The second activity is to love each other.  It means that the sin in people and us will not be the defining factor of our love.  It does not mean that we over look those sins, or that by some way our love removes those sins, but that sin will not us loving others.  But we have to fight against turning people’s sin into the hatred for people.  Like , hatred creates conflict and it will consume.  But in the same way, we are not suppose to coddle people in the sin.   tells us that we are to bring people back from their sinful life.  That it not only gets them out of their immediate sin, but it keeps them from falling deeper into future sins.  Then we are to have hospitality as a part of our being.

We are called to use spiritual gifts for others.  It isn’t not important to inventory your specific spiritual gifts.  Because God will give us gifts in the moments and situations that we are place in.  That we are stewards of God’s grace to others.  To be a “steward” is being responsible for something, defined by the master.  So that in all we do, we do it as God would.  That God and Jesus are glorified in all things.

So we have three steps to get us ready:

1. We have to allow God to shape our mind.  To prepare us for what the world will throw at us.
2. We are then to allow God to shape our will and actions in every situation.
3. Don’t throw up your hands in despair.  No event or situation is ever bigger than the God that strengthens us.