Lenten Devotions – Day 32

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 11:1-4

“He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1)

“If you pray and ask God to make bananas red, God won’t, because there is nothing wrong with bananas being yellow. If you pray and ask God to change your health, finances, relationships, employment, and possessions to make you happy, God won’t, because changing them won’t make you happy. Not only is there nothing wrong with the impermanence of the world, Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is present in this world of impermanence.” ― Jim Palmer, Notes from (over) the Edge: Unmasking the Truth to End Your Suffering

  Based on our opening quote today. Prayer does not mean that particular personal petitions do not matter, or go unanswered. The results we might gain from prayer needs considered from a perspective beyond the particular requests we make of God and whether God answer them. Over the years, I have heard others say, “Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.” or “We cannot avoid pain, but we can avoid joy.” and also, “God has given us such immense freedom that he will allow us to be as miserable as we want to be.” Prayer helps us deal with the pain, hurt and difficulties life brings our way by building our relationship with God the Father.

  The Lord's Prayer points us to the big picture and the long run of being more prayerfully focused on honoring God, yearning for God's kingdom among us, relying on God's daily providence, seeking God's forgiveness, forgiving others, and trusting God's protection. The Holy Spirit's presence in our lives sustains this focus. Though often when we pray we discover ourselves at loss for words.

  In our scripture today from Luke, the disciples of Jesus may fear this very same dilemma in finding the right words in their future, so they ask him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (11:1). Jesus responds by instructing them to speak to God as they would speak to a member of their own family, calling God “Father,” an expression of intimacy and familiarity and suggests that they make three requests. They should ask for bread, for forgiveness and for deliverance, and they should trust God to give them whatever they need.

  Intimacy, trust and expectation. These are the attitudes that Jesus advises his disciples to adopt as they begin to learn the language of prayer. He encourages them to approach God in the same way that they would approach a loving parent, and to trust God to hear their prayers and answer them in ways that meet their needs.

  Jesus goes on to encourage us to pray with persistence, using the language of prayer to plead for what we need (vv. 5-8). And then he assures us that God will hear our prayer and answer us, for if we human parents know how to give good gifts to our children, then “how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (v. 13). But there is one important dimension to these requests that disciples need to keep in mind — all appeals need to be consistent with the words “Your kingdom come” (v. 2). God is not going to grant any request that doesn’t conform to the priorities of his kingdom of love and peace and justice.

Lenten Devotion – Day 21

Friday, March 13, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13       Part 2

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10)

“Christ makes Heaven the standard for God's will be done on Earth. What a high ideal is this! What power it would take to bring such a thing about! Nothing short of the Kingdom of God pulling down strongholds, overthrowing bastions of deeply entrenched sin, and then conquering this present world in such a way as to establish righteousness – nothing short of such things as these can meet the standard that Christ sets before us.” ― Geoff Banister

  The Lord's Prayer teaches us to strive first for the kingdom of God and to pray that God's will be accomplished in our lives. The Lord in turn, gives us what we need to live each day for his glory. Do you pray to the Father with confidence that he will show you his will and give you what you need to follow him?

  To be in the kingdom is to do the will of God. Immediately we see that the kingdom is not something which primarily has to do with the nations and people and countries. It is something which has to do with each one of us. The kingdom demands the submission of my will, my heart, and my life. It is only when each one of us makes his personal decision and submission that the kingdom comes.

  "Your will be done" is what we are saying. We are asking God to be God. We are not asking God to respond to our wants and needs. We are asking God to allow us to conform to God’s will and what God wants. We are asking God to make manifest the holiness that is now mostly hidden, to set free in all its terrible splendor the devastating power that is now mostly under restraint. "Your kingdom come . . . on earth" is what we are saying. And if that were suddenly to happen, what then? What would stand and what would fall? Who would be welcomed in and who would be thrown into the darkness of hell? Which if any of our most precious visions of what God is and of what human beings are would prove to be more or less on the mark and which would turn out to be phony as three-dollar bills? To speak those words is to invite the tiger out of the cage, to unleash a power that makes atomic power look like a warm breeze.

  Placing ourselves squarely in the hands of God is difficult because it is so hard for us to give up control of our choices. And we know that submitting to God's will can be a hard and perilous thing! But without our willing submission to him and a ready conference with his will through prayer and meditation, all of our choices fall at last to dust.

Lenten Devotion – Day 20

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13   Part 1

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10)

Those who have prayed the Lord's Prayer with an open heart, as an act of humble discipleship, know that the prayer is powerful and even dangerous. In praying the Lord's Prayer we ask God to lead us down some risky and unfamiliar paths. Praying the Lord's Prayer compromises the sense of security we fumble to maintain within our own power. - Victoria Rebeck, The Christian Ministry, Jan-Feb 1995, 2.

  As we have been examining the kingdom of God and its role in our discipleship as we follow Jesus Christ, we come today to the Lord’s Prayer. Today will be Part 1 of a two part devotional looking at Matt. 6:10 of the Lord’s Prayer. We will examine the beginning of the prayer, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.” (vv. 9-10) The kingdom was important to Jesus in his teachings and parables and now he teaches his disciples to pray a prayer that begins with the kingdom as its first focus.

  The Kingdom of God or Heaven was central to the message of Jesus. Jesus himself described the preaching of the Kingdom as an obligation laid upon him: “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” (Luke 4:43; Mark 1:38) Luke’s description of Jesus’ activity is that he went through every city and village preaching and showing the good news of the Kingdom of God (Luke 8:1).

  We find that Jesus spoke of the Kingdom in three different ways. He spoke of the Kingdom as existing in the past. He said that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets were in the Kingdom, “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out.” (Luke 13:28) “I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,” (Matt. 8:11) Clearly, therefore, the Kingdom goes far back into history.

  Jesus spoke of the Kingdom as present. “For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you," Jesus said. (Luke 17:21) Jesus also said the kingdom was near, “cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'” (Luke 10:9) The Kingdom of God is therefore a present reality here and now.

  Jesus also spoke of the Kingdom of God as future, Jesus taught his disciples to pray for the coming of the Kingdom in the Lord’s Prayer. How then can the Kingdom be past, present, and future all at the same time? How can the Kingdom be at one and the same time something which existed, which exists, and for whose coming it is our duty to pray? We discover an understanding of this in the double petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Let your Kingdom come:
Let your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. (v. 10)

  One of the commonest characteristics of Hebrew style is what is technically known as parallelism. The Hebrew tended to say everything twice. The writer would said it in one way, and then he said it in another way which repeated or amplified or explained the first way. Almost any verse of the Psalms divides in two in the middle; and the second half repeats or amplifies or explains the first half. For example, in Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Lenten Devotional – Easter Sunday

Q. 100. What doth the preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?

A. The preface of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, “Our Father which art in heaven,” teaches us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

“The difference with this prayer is that its ending tells us more about God than it does about us. It's a conclusion that voices confidence in the present and the future because it understands who is in charge and in whose presence we live all our lives.” - William J. Carl III, The Lord's Prayer for Today, President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

  Dr. Kenneth Bailey is a marvelous Middle Eastern scholar who lives in New Wilmington, PA and lived in the Middle East for many years to better understand the cultural background from which the New Testament was written. Dr. Bailey who had the brilliant idea of going around in these remote villages, and there he would tell them the parables of Jesus and get their reactions.

  One day Kenneth Bailey was sitting around with some sheep herders and farmers and he spun the tale of the prodigal son. He got to the part where the son goes to the father to ask for his share of the inheritance, and these men who were sitting around just doubled over with laughter. They thought that was the funniest thing they ever heard. They said, "In our village, that would never happen. The father would conk that boy on the head." Then the son goes away, sows his wild oats and comes back, and Kenneth Bailey told how the father, seeing him at a distance, ran to his son. The sense of the Scripture here is that the father sprinted to his son. It was here that the men became furious and even disgusted. They said, "This man had no dignity! For a man to run through the streets, his robe would kick up around his thighs; his legs would be exposed to the children. That would be shameful. He would be the laughingstock of his village. No father would run to his son. It would never happen." But, my friend, I'm here to tell you it happens every day whenever we pray, "Our Father who art in heaven." God comes running. God, the Father as described to us by Jesus does what no earthly father would do for us. God was willing to come in the flesh to reach out to us and tell how much he loves us, so we might have a restored relationship and enter into the Kingdom of God.

  What we call The Lord's Prayer is more properly called The Disciples' Prayer. Have you ever noticed that the perpendicular pronoun is missing from The Disciples' Prayer?

You cannot pray the Lord's Prayer and even once say "I."
You cannot pray the Lord's Prayer and even once say "My."

Nor can you pray the Lord's Prayer and not pray for one another,
And when you ask for daily bread, you must include your brother.

For others are included ... in each and every plea,
From the beginning to the end of it, it does not once say "Me."

Lenten Devotional – Day 40

Q. 99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?

A. The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called “the Lord’s Prayer.”

“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Matt. 6:7-9)

Those who have prayed the Lord's Prayer with an open heart, as an act of humble discipleship, know that the prayer is powerful and even dangerous. In praying the Lord's Prayer we ask God to lead us down some risky and unfamiliar paths. Praying the Lord's Prayer compromises the sense of security we fumble to maintain within our own power. - Victoria Rebeck, The Christian Ministry, Jan-Feb 1995, 2.

  "Lord, teach us to pray!" So spoke the disciples to Jesus. In making this request, they confessed that they were not able to pray on their own, that they had to learn to pray. The phrase "learning to pray" sounds strange to us. If the heart does not overflow and begin to pray by itself, we say, it will never "learn" to pray. But it is a dangerous error, surely very widespread among Christians, to think that the heart can pray by itself.

  For then we confuse wishes, hopes, sighs, laments, rejoicings - all of which the heart can do by itself - with prayer. And we confuse earth and heaven, man and God. Prayer does not mean simply to pour out one's heart. It means rather to find the way to God and to speak with him, whether the heart is full or empty. No man can do that by himself. For that he needs Jesus Christ. - James Burtness, Shaping The Future: The Ethics of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 9.

  The archbishop of Canterbury wants kids to be taught the Lord's Prayer in school. In the U.S. at least, constitutional issues render that unlikely, at least as part of the official curriculum. But we don't need to wait, and, for our own kids at least, we don't need to leave it to the schools. Centuries ago, God told Israel, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." He then told the Israelite adults to not only "keep these words" themselves, but also to "Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:4-7). As Christians, we can do the same with the Lord's Prayer.

  Let's not overstate the case. Helping our kids know the Lord's Prayer isn't likely to turn the world around spiritually or be the start of a worldwide religious revival. But let's not understate the case either. The Lord's Prayer is a spiritual starting point, a way to reach out toward God when we're too numb, too much in pain, too blind, too angry, even too tired to do much else. Our kids and we will benefit from it, and God hears us when we pray it.

Lenten Devotional – Good Friday

Q. 98. What is prayer?

A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.

“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” (Psalm 62:8)

Prayer is not "going to God" (he's already in you), or "seeking God" (he's already found you), or "opening yourself to God" (you couldn't keep him out if you tried), or "becoming spiritual" (he's already sent you the Spirit -- who would rather show you Jesus than help you display your spiritual prowess). And it's certainly not buttering God up with abject apologies for your existence - because in his Beloved Son, he already thinks you're dandy. Prayer is just talking with Someone who's already talking to you. - Robert Farrar Capon, The Foolishness of Preaching (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1998), 68.

  Our problem is that we assume prayer is something to master the way we master algebra or auto mechanics. That puts us in the "on-top" position, where we are competent and in control. But when praying, we come "underneath," where we calmly and deliberately surrender control and become incompetent... The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by it, we live by it as well. And we pray by it. - Richard J. Foster

  Prayer is not a way of making use of God; prayer is a way of offering ourselves to God in order that He should be able to make use of us. It may be that one of our great faults in prayer is that we talk too much and listen too little. When prayer is at its highest we wait in silence for God's voice to us; we linger in His presence for His peace and His power to flow over us and around us; we lean back in His everlasting arms and feel the serenity of perfect security in Him. - William Barclay, The Plain Man's Book of Prayers

  We all pray whether we think of it as praying or not. The odd silence we fall into when something very beautiful is happening, or something very good or very bad. The "Ah-h-h-h!" that sometimes floats up out of us as out of a Fourth of July crowd when the skyrocket bursts over the water. The stammer of pain at somebody else's pain. The stammer of joy at somebody else's joy. Whatever words or sounds we use for sighing with over our own lives. These are all prayers in their way. These are all spoken not just to ourselves, but to something even more familiar than ourselves and even more strange than the world.

Lenten Devotional – Day 34

Q. 88. What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?

A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer, all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.

“So those who welcomed his message were baptized, ... They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:41-42)

“...sacraments are more plainly designated, as when they are called the pillars of our faith. For just as a building stands and leans on its foundation, and yet is rendered more stable when supported by pillars, so faith leans on the word of God as its proper foundation, and yet when sacraments are added leans more firmly, as if resting on pillars. Or we may call them mirrors, in which we may contemplate the riches of the grace which God bestows upon us. For then, as has been said, he manifests himself to us in as far as our dullness can enable us to recognize him, and testifies his love and kindness to us more expressly than by word. - Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin, Book 4, Chap. 14, Sec. 6

  They “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The word “devoted” is a rather long, compound Greek word. It means to “be strong toward.” The early Christians were “strong toward” certain things, namely, the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer.” In other words, they were people of the Word and people of Community.

  Notice that the apostles and the new Christians spent a lot of time in prayer. In prayer we’re able to express our longing for a deeper walk with God. We’re able to “picture” what kind of experience we want and hope for during the day ahead. Morning prayer helps us set the tone for the entire day. Evening prayer allows us to express thanks, review the day, to look for the surprises God has left us to teach, instruct and lead us to His Holy Presence.

  The apostles as disciples in the gospels were not really known for their clarity of thought and the richness of their vision. They didn’t get it most of the time. They seldom had ears to hear what the Spirit was saying to them. But the resurrection and Pentecost changed all that. Now they taught with authority. The pieces had all come together. And the early Christians couldn’t get enough of what they had to share. They were people of the Word — unabashedly and without apology.

  And they were also people of Community. They hung out together, which no doubt was a source of strength, courage and support. They ate in each other’s homes. They sold their possessions and shared with each other. How strong is that! They knew that to find their way in the world, they needed support from the community. So they ate together, prayed together, studied together, and no doubt began to observe the sacraments together.

Waiting, All Day Long - Advent Devotional

“Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.... Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.” (Ps. 25:3, 5)

Daily Scripture Reading: Psalm 25:1-10

  The Psalmist in today's passage speaks of himself as one who waits for God in Psalm 25:3, and later in verse 5 says, "you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long." What does this mean, to wait for God? What is it that the psalmist expects? By waiting for God, the psalmist is acknowledging that he cannot continue on without the Presence of God. He cannot win against those who would put him to shame; he cannot save himself; there is nothing for him to do except lay aside his struggles and wait.

  When a situation gets out of control, we need to determine what can we realistically control in our life and determine what other things, we must give over control to God and say, "God, in this one you need to intervene."

  But to wait is not passive, nor is it simply hanging around waiting for God do it all. It is the time to call on the Presence of God. It is coming to God in the moment to receive God's wisdom and direction.

  When we come with open, empty hands, no longer under the illusion that we can do anything worthwhile outside of communion with God, we become open channels for God's wisdom. In this sense "waiting" is actually a sustained act of listening, of letting God continually flow in and through us. In the very act of deciding to wait for God, we find God immediately there. When we bring our attentiveness, our openness, and our release of control, then all that is necessary will be accomplished in union with God, "all day long."

  If our "face time" with family, friends and neighbors is dwindling, our time spent one on one with God is on the endangered list. Our busy world with endless to-do lists challenges the notion of the importance of quiet time with our Creator. Waiting is not big on our to-do-lists, we don't like to wait. We don't like to wait in lines, wait for spouses, wait for responses, etc.

  Advent invites us to turn that life-draining pattern upside down. Advent celebrates the incarnational, the Word-becomes-flesh, God moves into our neighborhoods, our family and our lives. Advent announces that God was not willing to have a distant, arms-length relationship with us. Advent is all about God's willingness or even God's insistence to be vulnerable, accessible, reachable, and attainable. Advent breaks down the barriers between the created and the Creator.

  God's desire was to deliver the Good News of mercy, love and hope in person. God chose face time in a way that would change the world. God spoke to the hearts of the people through Jesus, God's son.

  Not only does God yearn to communicate deeply and intimately with God's people, God chose the perfect way to slide into our lives by showing up in person. Sometimes, we need to wait to receive the gifts, because it might be the only way we will appreciate the gift and be instructed in the way that leads to truth and life.

  “Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.” (Ps. 25:4-5)

Where is Your “Thin Place?”

“But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matt. 6:6)

Those who have learned to pray, have learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life. - William Law, Christian Perfection

  The ancient Celts believed that there existed on earth places they called “thin places”. These “thin places” where locations upon the earth where they believed God's Spirit was more accessible. A place where it was easier to pray, because they felt the distance between God and themselves seemed somehow thinner.

  This same concept exists within the minds of people today. People find comfort in finding a special place to pray. A place where we sense God's Spirit is more real to us. These places can be a special prayer room, a church sanctuary, a special place in the woods, their patio or deck or by a lake or river or on a hiking trail. One of my brother-in-law's has a special room in his home where he prays daily.

  Even though, we can pray anywhere, because God is always present, a special place does seem to create a “thin place,” where prayer comes much easier to us. Jesus recommends “going in a closet in secret to pray.” I don't find praying in a closet very comforting, but I do understand the point Jesus is making about our prayer life. I do find a few places more comforting toward nurturing my prayer life. My office at the church, the church sanctuary (when no one but me and God are present), in the back yard with the quiet of the night time stars above or the morning sun is raising, or some community or national parks are my favorite locations.

  I also have discovered that praying while driving alone to be most helpful, though this is done with my eyes wide open. Rather than getting upset with the poor driving habits of the other drivers, I find peace in praying for them and whatever spiritual needs they may have that day.

  What makes a “thin place,” like, a prayer room either in the church, home or elsewhere, helpful to us is that it gives us a place to be intentional about our prayer life. We want to pray, but often we find ourselves attempting to find the time to pray. Our lives seem too filled with other things to pray. If we are waiting to find the time to pray, it will never come. We have to be just as intentional about our daily prayers, as we are about eating. If you went without eating long enough you would die, so we eat to live. If you went long enough without praying, your spiritual life begins to die, so we need to pray to maintain our spiritual nourishment and continue to live and thrive in our discipleship to Jesus Christ.

  So where are your “thin places”, where do you find God's Spirit more present to you? Where can you go to intentionally place yourself in a state of prayer and communion with God.