Archive for the ‘Prayer’ Category

Day 332: The Comfort of Prayer

Sunday, November 28th, 2010

I hope that you will forgive me for this, but today’s post isn’t about the scripture assigned to this day. We are in the midst of 40 Days of Prayer and I thought I would share with you about what this endeavor has meant to me.

For the past several weeks my Grandmother (Gigi) has endured several strokes, kidney failure, liver failure, depression and dementia. It was a slow and terrible way to go. Sadly, I’m quite sure that almost all of you have had a family member go through this. This past Wednesday morning my family was driving to Lubbock to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our family. As we were nearing Lubbock, I received the call from a family member to get there as soon as we could. Leah and I arrived at the nursing home in time to spend some time with Gigi. She couldn’t see me. We’re somewhat sure she could hear me. I told her I loved her so much and that I was so happy to see her. She waited until all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were home. At 9:45PM on Wednesday night, she went home to our Lord.

Brothers and sisters, for the past few days I have dedicated time for prayer in accordance with our 40 Days of Prayer. In that time I have spent a considerable amount of time praying for Gigi – praying that she wouldn’t suffer, praying that I would see her one more time, praying for our family, praying for a way to tell my girls and explain death. Of all the things that I prayed about, God has blessed me with an answer for them all.

We buried Gigi on Friday afternoon. I can tell you that we are all at peace and have experienced the comfort that only God can provide. Praise God for the power of prayer. Praise God that death is not the end for us! Praise God for his steadfast love!

May God bless you and keep you. Put your heart into 40 Days of Prayer.

Matt

Posted in Prayer | 3 Comments »

Day 295: Colossians 1:3-14 — A Beautiful Prayer

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:3-14 is so beautiful to me. Not because of flowery language, but because of the thoughts that Paul is so thankful for these people and is constantly asking God to bless them and fill them with knowledge and help them to grow and endure.

What a joy to know that someone is praying for you in such a way. I’m reminded of my mother who I know prays for me and my siblings every day since I was very young. She prayed for our mates and our children before we even met them.

Do you have anyone who prays for you like this? Even better, who do you pray for like this? I know that there are times where I have prayed for someone in this way but they are too few and too far away. Why is that? I don’t know but it’s something I must work on.

Tags:
Posted in Colossians, Prayer | 1 Comment »

Day 292: Isaiah 37:1-38:22; Philippians 2:1-30 — The Voices in my head told me…

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

What do you do when everyone around you tells you “Give up, it’s hopeless”? Even worse, what do you do when the voice(s) inside your head start to tell you to give up? The tell me that I’m not good enough, smart enough, and people do not like me (apologies to Stuart Smalley). That voice is fear and it comes from the devil.

King Hezekiah heard those voices in Isaiah 37. They came in the form of letters and messages from his enemies promising to crush him and denying him the help of God. Hezekiah’s example is one that we should all follow. For a while he too despaired his fate. But in his despair, he turned to the one whose voice always speaks truth. The voice spreading fear rarely speaks truth especially when it tells us that God does not care for us and is far off.

“But the voice of truth, tells me a different story. The voice of truth says ‘Do not be afraid!’ The voice of truth says “This is for my glory!’”

These lyrics are from one of my favorite songs “The Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns. This song has been such an encouragement to me when my own self talk stops me in my tracks. My fear doesn’t make me do the wrong things, it prevents me from doing the right things. Those things that will, as Paul writes in Philippians 2:15, enable me to “shine like stars in the universe.” I am not to be timid or fearful or apathetic. I am to shine brightly. And when the dark clouds start to gather around me, I must do as Hezekiah did and turn to the One who can part the clouds and fill me with His light.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Isaiah, Philippians, Prayer, Trust | 1 Comment »

Day 174: John 17:6-26 — Pray For Me

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Ever get embarrassed by someone who mentions you in prayer? You think to yourself “I wish they wouldn’t do that.” But it is simply an outpouring of concern for you because of the situation. We don’t mind praying for others, so why then is it that we back away from our name being held up before the Father?

Jesus, in John 17:6-26, spends 20 verses praying about those He loved. It doesn’t seem like they requested this prayer but Jesus thought they would benefit from it. Jesus had spent three years with them and knew them well. He would pray for God’s protection for them because they would be facing many trials without Him present, at least in a physical sense.

Have you ever wondered how it would be to have Jesus Himself pray for you? Wow! Wouldn’t that be something? The Son of God, the creator and sustainer of the universe praying for me. I may not always think God hears me when I pray. But I know God would listen to Jesus. Wouldn’t that be great!
Guess what — read John 17:20-21; He has already done it. Jesus went to His Father in prayer for you and me. How can I possibly forget that and turn away? Sadly, some will, but every time I read this passage I think “Wow! He really does love me.”

Tags: , ,
Posted in John, Prayer | Comments Off

Day 98: Joshua 9 — Who’s in charge here?

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Word sure seemed to travel far and wide in the days before the internet — and I’m not talking about the ’60s either. Think about what Rahab told the two spies — the people of Jericho had heard how God had parted the Red Sea, and how they had destroyed the Amorites. Their hearts melted and courage failed, she said (Joshua 2:10-11). Now we see a group of Hivites claiming to be “from a very distant country”, telling Joshua they too had heard about the Amorites’ fate, and that of Jericho (Joshua 9:3-13).

It had been quite some time since the battle with Sihon and Og (Numbers 21:21-35), and even longer since the crossing of the Red Sea, so I suppose it wouldn’t have been that big a deal for the legend of the Israelites and their God to have spread throughout the known world. But Jericho? That battle was a lot more recent, probably only a few weeks before Joshua’s meeting with the Gibeonites.

So when these men came to Joshua saying they’re from a distant country and have heard these things, he must’ve swelled with pride. That’s just my guess; Scripture doesn’t say. But he was a man, after all, and certainly subject to human pride. That would also help explain a critical error on his part.

The men of Israel…did not inquire of the LORD. (Joshua 9:14)

This is (I think) the first time this particular failure is mentioned of anyone, but it’s certainly not the last. We have…

  • King Saul, who sought out a witch so he could bring his problems to the spirit of Samuel (1 Samuel 28),
  • King Ahaziah, who sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub (which means Lord of the Flies, BTW) instead of asking God whether he would recover from his injury (2 Kings 1), and
  • King Asa, who relied on the king of Syria instead of God (2 Chronicles 16).

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

So what have we learned from the instruction of these negative examples? If you take nothing else away, take this — God is in control, whether we seek Him or not. We can neither add anything to God nor take anything away from Him because of our actions or our faith or lack thereof. But we can certainly make our own life a lot easier and stress-free if we seek Him first (Matthew 6:33).

Tags: ,
Posted in faith, Joshua, Prayer | 1 Comment »

Day 79: Mark 14:32-52 — Wake up!

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

“are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Mark 14:37-39

Personally, I think sleep is overrated, but I must admit I’ve fallen asleep in some pretty inappropriate places. Church pew, behind the wheel of a moving automobile, in an academic class. Uh huh. You’ve been there too? How about in the copilot’s seat of a military jet aircraft, during what the Air Force called a “critical phase of flight”, and with the Deputy Commander in the left seat? Ouch, I’m guilty of that one too (and the quantity of people who knew about that before today numbers in the single-digits).

I have what may seem like a couple of random observations about today’s New Testament reading…

First, I notice Jesus told Peter, James, and John to “Stay here and keep watch” (Mark 14:34). All right, I’m thinking they’re thinking “keep watch for what?” They weren’t, after all, in a high crime area, as far as we know. With the benefit of 2000 years of hindsight, certainly we know what The Master meant by “keep watch”, but as of yet the disciples still didn’t believe He was going to be crucified. In my situation, I knew what to watch for — we were soon to give several thousand gallons of fuel to 4 fighter jets, and I needed to know where they were. I believed; the disciples did not. We both were guilty of sleeping on the job.

Second, how many “disciples” are included in verse 32: “Jesus said to His disciples…”? We have every reason to believe there were 12 on that trip to the Garden — Jesus and the 11 apostles (the 12, minus Judas). Jesus left 8 of them, and went farther into the Garden with the “inner 3″: Peter, James, and John. We don’t know the exact number who were sleeping, because it’s not important, but it’s my opinion it was all 11 of them. What we do know is who got the tongue-lashing — Peter. “‘Simon’, He said to Peter, ‘are you asleep?’”

I think there are at least 3 valuable lessons to take away from this reading:

  1. Because we believe, and we know what to watch for, we need to be ever-vigilant and watch for the devil and his temptations. It’s when we think we’re the safest that we’re the most vulnerable (1 Cor 10:12).
  2. The more you have been given, the more is expected of you. Jesus had already told Peter that He would use him to build His church (Matt 16:18), and Jesus clearly had more in store for those 3 than he did the other 8. Peter, of all people, He hoped would be strong enough to overcome the flesh. Which brings us to point 3…
  3. How many times have you heard, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”, and it was used as an excuse? I don’t think Jesus meant it as an excuse for his apostles, explaining that it was OK for them to have gone to sleep. I think He was merely stating the same reality that Paul was stating in Romans 7: we know the good we should do, we want to do the good we know we should do, but we still find ourselves unable to overcome our human weakness. It’s not an excuse, it’s reality — but that doesn’t mean it’s not sin! Notice in v. 38 it’s not Peter telling Jesus, “but Master, I just wasn’t strong enough to stay awake”. No, it’s Jesus acknowledging that Peter was indeed human, and though Peter made a mistake, the Divine Lord in His mercy knew it wasn’t because of Peter’s weak heart, but because of his weak flesh.

Longer post than normal today; hope you’re still with me this far. These were important lessons for me to learn; I hope we’re all better equipped each day to rely on the touch of the Master’s hand to lift us up and help us in our weakness.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Grace, Jesus, Mark, Prayer, Temptation, Worship | 3 Comments »

Day 1: Genesis 2:1-3 – What Does Rest Mean To You?

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. ” (Genesis 2:1-3, ESV)

As we begin our daily Bible Reading for 2010, we are blessed with the story of the creation. The creation story is pretty well-known, but as you read into chapter 2, it is obvious that we are reading the completion process of the creation.  On the seventh day, God finished His work and rested.  I know that there are many theological arguments that can be made and are made.  Putting them aside in the context of this brief posting, I want to focus on the model of resting that God gives us.  God models rest.  Rest is part of the created order.  It will later be commanded because of man’s fallen nature.  Rest is important to our created order.  Yet, we have lived and we continue to live in a world that pushes us further and further away from rest.  I myself have struggled with rest…endless deadlines…the demand to put more hours in…the weariness and exhaustion…selfishness… narcissism, etc.  Why? Many of the projects once important are no longer satisfying.  Is Genesis reminding us that God created all things and that we are under His control?  Rest is essential for us to be what God intended.

At our church, we have been participating in 40 Hours of Prayer.  In one of my prayer sessions, I was focusing on rest.  To be quiet and listen to God.  I had the hardest time.  I could not be still, I was constantly interrupting the quietness with thoughts of things that need to be done.  I felt as if my prayer had to be a to do list.  I had to mark off each person on my list I was praying for.  Is rest, is quietness, is being still and knowing who God is an activity or is the moment set aside for rest, a moment when we need to listen?  I believe that quietness is not a time of emptiness, or worthlessness.  In reality, these rare moments of quietness and stillness when we can really be still and rest, we come to know God.  It is that moment of rest that is holy, it is a moment when God speaks and we are in awe of the silence.  These are moments of substance!

Question:

What does rest mean to you?  How do you dedicate (make holy) time spent with God? If God modeled a time of rest, why don’t we?

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Creation, Genesis, God, Prayer, Rest | 1 Comment »