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Category: Prayer (Page 13 of 30)

Watchful & Thankful

November 5, 2015 / / 0 Comments

PrayerCorporate

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” ~Colossians 4:2

The earliest Christians made it a habit to pray regularly at specific hours every day. Some appear to have prayed twice a day, morning and evening; others three times a day, morning, afternoon, and evening. It was a continuation of the Jewish custom that had been practiced for centuries, and subsequently passed on to succeeding Christian generations.

But regular daily prayer was not just the result of tradition.

The first Christians confidently expected the return of Christ and the consummation of the Kingdom of God in the immediate future, within their lifetimes. And they believed they were called to be alert and watchful at all times for that final event. Just like servants were supposed to stay awake and watch for the return of their master, they were expected to remain vigilant for the return of their Lord.

Mark 13:32-37 quotes Jesus as telling us to “be on guard! Be alert!” and “Keep watch!” Christ tells us in Luke 12:35-40 to “keep your lamps burning like men waiting for their master to return.”

Several New Testament passages further reveal that prayer is the proper mode of this constant state of readiness. Prayer is the way that watchful attitude is best expressed. Jesus tells his apostles to watch and pray that they may not enter into temptation. Paul’s letter to the Colossians links the idea of watchfulness and prayer (4:2). And he tells the Ephesians to “be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (6:18).

The discipline of prayer at regular, fixed times was an expression of the Church’s constant readiness for the imminent return of Christ.

Shall we pray?

Allan

You Are What You Eat

October 22, 2015 / / 0 Comments

“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight.”
~Jeremiah 15:16EatTheWord

When we meditate on the words of God, they become a part of us. These words deal specifically with our souls and they’re written to transform us into people who reflect the glory of God. A daily diet of Scripture allows these holy words to enter our souls just like food enters our stomachs. It spreads through our entire system of blood and air and organs and nerves and functions. We assimilate it. And it becomes holiness and love and wisdom.

The same is true of prayer. It’s a complex act of speaking to and listening to the Creator of heaven and earth. It’s an act of submission. It’s a declaration of faith. It’s basking in the presence of our God, delighting in his love and grace, and taking comfort in his mercy and forgiveness.

Reading God’s Word and praying to the Father are not intellectual exercises. It’s not a hobby or a pastime. This is life and death. It’s urgent. It’s right now. It speaks to every facet of our everyday lives. It nourishes us. It transforms us. It gives us the Holy Spirit strength we need to live as mature disciples in a hostile world.

You are what you eat. When I look in the mirror, I can see that the Whataburgers and Oreos have become a part of me — the biggest part of me. Yesterday, we fasted and prayed together as a church family in preparation for our Missions Sunday. Fasting and praying. I was focused on the Word yesterday. I was zeroed in on prayer all day. I didn’t eat. And no Dr Pepper. But at the end of the day I was full. Satisfied. I was changed, if only a little. I assimilated a little more of God’s Word and his nature into my soul. I had grown.

Jesus made a habit of withdrawing “privately to a solitary place.” Our Lord spent much of his time in Scripture and prayer: listening to God, speaking with him, communing with him. As his followers, we too set aside a time every day for prayer and Bible reading. Thirty minutes. An hour. In the morning. During lunch. Bedtime. The time and place are not important. Making this communion with God a daily priority is very important. It’s a vital part of “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Peace,

Allan

The Holy Spirit to Those Who Ask

July 10, 2015 / / 1 Comment

One last thing about the DeAndre Jordan situation: it has made Mark Cuban a sympathetic figure. Crazy, huh? You know that Jordan has done an under-handed, diabolical, evil thing when it causes me to actually feel sorry for Cuban.

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FriendPrayers2

Now, back to our look at Jesus’ parable in Luke 11 and, today, what I find the most interesting about the story. Our Lord concludes his comments regarding the story with this often-overlooked line: “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Wait a second! Holy Spirit? I thought we were talking about bread! I thought this story was about our basic needs, the fundamental necessities.

We’ve seen in this story that God promises to give us everything we need and he promises to answer our prayers when we ask for what we need. Now Jesus closes it out by telling us that what we really need is the Holy Spirit. So ask for it! This is what you pray for: the Spirit. And when you do, God says, “Yes!”

This is not an open-ended teaching here. It’s not a blank check. It’s never been about asking for anything you want. God never promises to give us everything we want; but he always guarantees to give us every single thing we need. And what we need is God’s Spirit. So pray for it.

FriendPrayers3This is hard for us. We don’t really know how to do this. We know how to pray for sick people. We know how to get our names on the prayer list and how to pray for my relatives and friends of my relatives and for the second cousin of my insurance guy’s mother. Who lives in Kentucky. Yeah, we’re very good at praying for healing. We know how to pray for what we want.

Give me this new job, Lord. Help her fall in love with me, God. Father, get me out of this traffic. We pray for what we want.

Lord, keep my children safe. God, help our church to grow. Father, help our candidate win the election. Lord, help our Wednesday nights to be successful. We know how to pray for what we want.

Jesus tells us to pray for what we need. And what we need, he says, is the Holy Spirit.

What would it look like to pray for the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit convicts hearts of sin, right? Can you pray that? “Father, please convict me of the sin in my life. Please shine a bright light on the sins in my heart, God. Convict me of my sin. Expose it, Lord. And deal with it.” That’s not necessarily what I want. But it’s certainly what I need.

What would it look like to pray for what we need instead of what we want? The Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, right? Can you pray that? “Father, maybe I need to go through some suffering. Maybe I need a season of washing and purifying. I know your Spirit will help me, Lord. You know what I really need, God. Maybe I need to be weak for a while.” Not what I want; maybe what I need.

What would it look like? Jesus calls the Spirit the “Spirit of Truth.” Can you pray that? “Lord, give me your Spirit of Truth. Show me what’s really true in my life, the things I can’t see, the things I ignore, the things I neglect. Show me the truth about myself. And force me to deal with it, God.” Not what I want, but what I need.

What if you went this whole weekend, from this moment through Sunday night, and only prayed for what you really need and did not pray at all for what you merely want? What if you took our Lord Jesus completely at his word? What if you really trusted him with what he says about prayer: that God provides everything we need, that God will answer us when we pray for what we really need, and that what we really need is his Holy Spirit?FriendPrayers4

What would it look like?

Maybe you’ll need help. Maybe flipping to the “fruit of the Spirit” passage in Galatians 5 could be a good starting place for you. Pray for more of that Holy Spirit character in your own life.

Pray for joy. Not joy because you sold your house or you got the raise. Joy because even though you’re going through a very difficult time, God is mercifully sustaining you. Or joy because the blood of Jesus is washing you.

Pray for patience. Yeah, I know, you’ve heard your whole life not to ever pray for patience. Jesus says pray for what you need, not what you want. It’s the Spirit. Pray for patience.

Pray for kindness. You know that person you’re not nice to. Be specific. Ask the Holy Spirit to break your heart for that person.

Pray for self-control. Part of your life is probably out of control. Part of your life is led by your impulses, your urges and desires, not by God’s Spirit. The way you eat, the way you experience sex, the hours you work, the hobby you pursue — pray for the Holy Spirit to bring those things under his control.

What would it look like?

Peace,

Allan

It Will

July 9, 2015 / / 0 Comments

PrayerSunsetThe sleepy friend in Jesus’ story in Luke 11 doesn’t want to help out his neighbor. “Don’t bother me,” he says. “Are you crazy? My kids are asleep!” The way this guy responds to the late night knocking is what makes this story so real. All of us who’ve ever spent two hours wrestling with the kids to finally get them to sleep can relate.

He doesn’t want to be disturbed. He doesn’t want to get up. The only reason he does is so he can get some peace and quiet. “I’m not giving you the bread because I love you; I’m giving you the bread so you’ll go away and leave me alone.”

Yes, this story is about prayer. But God is not the grumpy guy in bed. The guy in bed is a human. That’s why we can relate to him so easily and maybe almost feel sorry for him. The story is an exercise in contrast. Jesus is telling us, “Look, this is your experience when you’re asking for something you need from a neighbor; but this is not what happens when you ask God for something you need.”

If you, even though you’re evil and sinful and selfish; if you, even in all your failures and sins and shortcomings; if you know how to give good gifts, how much more your Father in heaven? If this grumpy guy in bed finally got up and responded, how much more your Father in heaven? We can trust that God cares for us and that he hears us and that he will answer us when we pray.

“I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Your prayers will be heard and answered. Jesus repeats the same promise three times. He says almost the exact same thing three times, so distinctly: it will, it will, it will.

Why, Lord?

Because that’s how things work in the Kingdom of God. That’s how my Father operates.

“For everyone who asks, receives; everyone who seeks finds; everyone who knocks, the door is opened.”

That’s the rule.

Jesus speaks so unconditionally here. It’s so clear. Let’s not ever water this down with our human understandings. When Jesus tells us things this clearly, let’s not distort it with our own wisdom. Let’s believe him. And if questions and difficulties come up — if it ever feels like God’s not answering or not listening to our prayers — let’s keep trusting these promises. God is taking care of the questions and difficulties. Our job is to fully accept and hold on to his word. And keep praying. He’ll answer.

Peace,

Allan

Daily Bread

July 8, 2015 / / 0 Comments

“Give us each day our daily bread.”
“Lend me three loaves of bread.”
“If your son asks for bread…”

BreadChoicesIn Luke 11, Jesus gives his disciples a model prayer, a short story about prayer, and some comments that tie the prayer and the story to us. And we don’t have to read too hard to hear that Jesus is talking about our most basic, most fundamental needs. He’s talking about bread. Daily bread. What I need every single day to survive. Bread. Like our ancestors in the desert, if God doesn’t give us the bread today, we are going to die. And we have no choice but to go to bed tonight depending on God to provide that same bread tomorrow.

This attitude of complete dependence on God for everything calls for us to acknowledge that we are poor. We are needy. We are totally dependent on the Father for every breath we take and every bite we eat. Every molecule of air and every drop of water is a gracious gift of our God’s provision.

Look closely at the prayer Jesus gives us. He tells us to pray for our daily food, for forgiveness from sin, and for protection from evil. WE don’t make any of that happen. Only our God in his mercy grants us these gifts. There is no moment of any day, no minute of any hour, that we are not depending on God.

But we don’t act like it.

It’s hard to pray for food when my belly is full, my fridge is packed, my pantry is stuffed, the supermarket is open 24-hours, and I get paid this Friday. I need God for lots of things, but I don’t need him for food. I’ve got that covered.

It’s hard to pray for forgiveness when I’m so much better than most of the people at work or on my street. I’m no saint, but I haven’t killed anybody. Besides, I’m usually the one being wronged! I need God for lots of things, but I don’t need him for forgiveness. I’m pretty good.

It’s hard to pray for protection from evil when I feel so safe. I would never cheat on my taxes or my wife, I would never steal from my boss or sell drugs. I’m not in danger. Of course, I don’t have a complete handle on my greed or lust or anger, but I can deal with it OK. I need God for lots of things, but not protection from evil. I’m not going to slip.

We don’t pray for rain because we’ve heard the forecast: there’s not any. We don’t pray for healing because we’ve seen the MRI: I’m not sick. We don’t pray for peace because we’ve got our 401(k)s: I can live comfortably until I’m 103!

Jesus’ story says we have to realize and embrace our poverty, our neediness. When we pray from a position of wealth, all we do is ask God for what we want instead of what we need. And we use prayer to just raise our standard of living.

Father, give me each day my daily bread. God, forgive me for the unkind words I used with a sister just this morning. Lord, please lead me this very hour so that I walk with you in faithfulness. Praying this way is how we hold on to God, how we press on with God, how we wait for God. It’s how we.do.not.let.go.

But very few of us wake up in the morning as hungry for God as we are for corn flakes or eggs and sausage.

Peace,

Allan

A Prayer from Charleston

June 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Bystanders and mourners cast shadows on the walls and the makeshift memorial at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston

To the God who made one human race from the dust of the ground,
who made us after his image that we might reflect his nature
and that we might reflect his character,
we come to you with minds that are confused and hearts that are broken,
in a tongue that is laboring to give birth to words and emotions
too powerful to be constrained by our impotent vocabulary;
so we cry and stomp and tremble, hoping you hear.

Again, Father, our conscience has been pricked by the angry bullets of hate;
the blood of the victims and the tears of their families cry out to you for justice.
We beg for your wisdom, for we do not know where to go or how to get there;
we beg for your courage, because we allow our fear to paralyze us from doing what is right;
we beg for your mercy, for we often turn back from what we set out to do.

We pray for the families of the victims whose loved ones were slain in cold blood,
that your healing love will keep their hearts from becoming frozen
by the pain of bitterness and resentment.
We pray that you will comfort them in the middle of their pain
and give them the resolve to continue
when they will be tempted to give up.

We pray for the shooter, that his heart will soften
and that he will repent and seek your forgiveness.
We pray for the shooter’s family, that you might comfort them
and that we might show mercy toward them.

We pray that this tragedy will serve as another wake up call,
an alarm that will wake us from a racist nightmare of indifference.
Help us, Lord, not to push the snooze button and continue to sleep,
but to wake up and soberly face the struggle before us.
Help us, O God, to work on the problems together,
because many hands make the work light.

Help us work together, because the problems are too big
for any one person or ethnic group alone to fix.
Help us work together, because the humanity that unites us
is stronger than the perspectives that divide us.

Help us to lean on you, because at the root of all evil,
whether passive or purposeful,
is a sinful heart that can only be cleansed and strengthened
by the blood of your Son.

Amen

~ a prayer by Bobby Green, minister for the Metropolitan Church of Christ in Charleston, SC

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