Prayer

It takes practice.

“Peace is the will of God for you in every situation.” – Fenelon

Do you ever get caught in a downward spiral as you deal with day-to-day problems that are part of our lives? If we pray during a time like this, our prayers tend to be cries for help, requests for God to change our circumstances. Sometimes he answers those prayers just as we want him to do.

At other times, though, he doesn’t intervene. Instead he walks with us as we trudge through the mud and mire. I’ve lived long enough to have experienced many of those kinds of times. I did pray. I did try to be obedient. I surrendered my will to his. But he didn’t fix things every time.

Here’s what I am still learning: In every situation there’s something to be thankful for. We search until we find that one thing and then we thank God. Another will come to our minds and another. If we keep doing that every day and every hour, we get better at it, we begin to feel calm, and our minds turn gradually away from ourselves and toward God.

But it doesn’t come easy. We have to make a choice to be thankful. There are musicians in our family and, when we hear them play, they sound great. But they have to practice to develop their skill. The more they practice, the better they get.

The same thing is true of praise. We have to practice it is if it is a skill be be developed. It’s hard to give thanks when things are not going well, but we do it in obedience to God, in reliance in his love, and, ultimately, as we keep on practicing praise, peace creeps in.

“I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” – Psalm 69:30

Encounters with Jesus

True encounter with Christ liberates something in us, a power we did not know we had, a hope, a capacity for life, a resilience, an ability to bounce back when we thought we were completely defeated, a capacity to grow and change, a power of creative transformation.  
—Thomas Merton 

How can we live in such a way that encounters with Jesus, as Merton describes above, are possible for us?

We start by wanting to know everything we can know about him. As Christians, one of our missions should be to read and reread the Gospels to keep gaining insights into Jesus – not only his teaching, but also his actions, attitudes, and habits.

Then we will want to know him, not just intellectually, but experientially through a one-on-one relationship with him. We will want personal encounters with Jesus – times when we can sense his presence or hear his voice as a thought in our mind or feel his love reaching out for us.

These moments with Jesus are possible, but they cannot be commanded. They can only be received. We can prepare space for them by walking in obedience to Jesus, desiring to please him in every possible way. Such a moment might happen when we pause in our prayer to listen, or when we’re driving to an appointment, or as we sleep at night. Every encounter with Jesus will cut to our heart, it will change us, we will never forget it, and we will want more.

Jesus, in the person of the Holy Spirit, lives within everyone who has put their trust in him. If we tune in to his presence and his power, he will respond in his own way and time.

“. . . “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” – John 14:2

How well do you know him?

“We are all desperate, and that is in fact the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace.” Philip Yancey

Jesus, when you were on earth, you were busy, but never hurried. You stayed calm even when your closest disciples didn’t understand what you were trying to teach. How did you do it?

Even as a human, I knew the Father better than you do. I went to him all the time when I was tired or stressed or afraid. Yes, I was afraid. Remember Gethsemane?

And there were times I was so frustrated, like when I saw God’s people as sheep without a shepherd. Their shepherds were their religious leaders and they were leading people away from the Father, not toward him. I was angry!

And many times, I just needed help making decisions, trying to understand what the Father wanted. So I went to him a lot. Praying, asking, listening for direction. It always came and, when it did, I acted. I wanted nothing more than to do what he wanted, not what I, as a human being, wanted.

So, little one, if you are frustrated by what you see in the world around you, or angry at injustices, or afraid of what is to come, turn to the Father. Turning to him will help you know him better and the better you know him, the more you will rely on him and the more you will want to please him.

Let him love, lead, encourage, and correct you. That’s what loving fathers do. And our Father in heaven does all those things perfectly!

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” – Psalm 68:19

Healing

God alone is qualified to answer prayer, and at some point we have to let go and trust God, who can transmute our self-focused requests into an unimaginably larger plan.  – Philip Yancey

Do you have anyone on your prayer list right now for whom you are praying for healing? Most of us do. We read about Jesus healing people everywhere he went, and we believe he can still do that today. And he does – sometimes. Often, though, we wait in vain for the physical healing to happen.

These are the times when, as Spurgeon says, “we must meekly bow to his will by whom life and death are determined.” Wait! Bow to his will when the life of someone we love is at stake? That sounds hard. And, it is.

But what do we learn when we humbly bow to his will? We learn he is loving, kind, and good, even when we don’t understand. We learn that his power is not limited to physical healing. Sometimes he’s working on something of far greater value – something we will most likely not understand this side of heaven. In the process, though, we realize there are some things more important than physical healing and, if we could see the bigger picture, we would not trade the spiritual blessing for anything – not even healing.

I have heard people testify to this very thing. That the sense of God’s presence, the knowledge that he’s walking beside them in the pain, and the confidence that his will is best for them and for those around them is worth the suffering they are undergoing. I want that kind of peace and the comfort it gives. Maybe the only way to get it is by having some of my most earnest prayers go unanswered.

“Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” – Job 13:15a

Things God Never Says #1

“Almost certainly God is not in time. His life does not consist of moments one following another…Ten-thirty– and every other moment from the beginning of the world–is always Present for Him. If you like to put it this way, He has all eternity in which to listen to the split second of prayer put up by a pilot as his plane crashes in flames.” – C. S. Lewis

Do you ever wonder how God does it? How he can listen to thousands of prayers at the same time and be personally involved in every one of them? How he can care, truly care, about every human being ever created? He is never like the frazzled parent who says to a demanding child, “Sorry, I’m busy right now.”

Why does God never say that? He’s eternal. He’s not hampered by 24-hour days or frustrated at having only 60-minutes in an hour. He doesn’t have a calendar with appointments on it. God created time when he created the earth with a sun to mark the days and years. He can enter time whenever he chooses, but it does not restrict him. He actually can answer our prayers before we pray them because being outside of time means he already knows what we will ask for.

Do you find that hard to wrap your mind around? I hope so! If we can fully understand God, he’s not God. But we do know he always has time for us. We never have to stand in line to talk to him. The instant we begin to think of him or talk to him, he responds – always willing to listen. Always caring. Never impatient. Never in a hurry.

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” – 1 Timothy 1:17

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Need encouragement?

“He said ‘Love…as I have loved you.’ We cannot love too much.”—Amy Carmichael

We’ve had some difficult health news in our family recently – the kind of diagnosis no one wants to hear. And that’s hard. But, you know what? We have God-following friends who are praying for us. Asking after us. Wondering if we need help. Asking God for his mercy and grace toward us.

And all of that means everything on a day when we’re tired or anxious: Just to know our friends and family are lifting us in prayer to our Father in Heaven, the one who sees, hears, heals, loves, and has promised never to leave us.

And do you know what all that support does for me? It makes me stronger. It helps me feel God’s love through human friends. It lightens my load and brightens my day.

And then, here’s the really good part: It makes me want to encourage someone else. There are many worse off than we are. Many who don’t know Jesus as Lord. Many who are suffering without the encouragement we are receiving. Paul, who suffered more in his lifetime than I ever will, tells us this: “Therefore encourage one another, and build one another up as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

We all know someone who needs some “building up” today. They need a gentle word, a loving touch, or a simple text message. They need us to offer to pray for them (very few will say “no” to that). Let’s be aware, as we go through our day today, of the people around us. Do we see or sense someone struggling – someone we can encourage? Let’s just do it. We’ll never know the difference a few words might make.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2

NOTE: Photo above was taken by a pastor friend of ours in Pakistan.

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I don’t want to bother God about this.

“It is but a small thing for Me, thy God, to help thee.” – Charles Spurgeon

Do you ever hesitate to pray about something because it’s just too little a thing to bother him about? Or too big to ask for? Or because you don’t deserve his help? I think we’ve all been there.

Then I read this (below). It was as if a switch was flipped, and I had an entirely different perspective of what God thinks of my human requests. This is from Charles Spurgeon. He lived a long time ago, so you’ll have to put up with some “thee’s” and “thou’s”, but take a deep breath and read what he sees as God’s response when we ask for help:

Consider what I have done already. What! Not help thee?

Why, I bought thee with my blood. What! Not help thee? I have died for thee, and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less?

Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for thee. I have done more and will do more.

Before the world began, I chose thee . . . I laid aside my glory and became a man for thee; I gave my life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now.”

Wow, right? What we think is too much to ask of God is a small thing to him. If he loved us enough to save us, won’t he love us enough to listen to every prayer, no matter how big or small? Won’t he love us enough to give the answer to our prayers that will ultimately be the best thing for us? Yes.

So, let’s ask!

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” – Psalm 145:18

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Can’t win the battle?

“God helps those who cannot help themselves.” – Charles Spurgeon

Do you feel like you’re trapped in a situation you can’t find your way out of? Or that everything’s going wrong and you can’t seem to stop it? Sometimes we just feel helpless!

The people of Judah felt that way, too, when scouts returned with the terrifying message that a huge army was heading their way and they were about to be attacked. King Jehoshaphat called all the people together and began to pray. He reminded God of their powerlessness against such a great army and then said this: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12b).

A prophet was then inspired to tell them to go to the watchtower the next morning and wait. Here’s what they saw: Another army came in and ambushed the army that was about to attack Judah. Instead of moving toward Jerusalem, they fought each other. Many were killed. Others fled. God intervened and the threat was gone. Just like that!

When we’re struggling and getting nowhere, we need to acknowledge our helplessness. Then we redirect our eyes away from the struggle where all we see is darkness and all we feel is fear. If we can turn our eyes to God, hope will replace fear and light will come. God’s strength is always there, but usually we don’t see it in action until we realize we have no hope without him.

So, let’s not sit around worrying. Let’s admit our helplessness to make any lasting change and then plead with him to fight for us and to lead us to the light. Now let’s step back and see what he will do.

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10

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A Blessing for You

“However many blessings we expect from God, his infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts.” – John Calvin

Need a blessing? Accept this prayer, written by a friend of mine, as a gift meant especially for you:

“Abba Father bless all your faithful children and keep them; make your face shine on them and be gracious to them; turn your face toward them and give them your peace.

May each of them always be aware of your presence, Lord, in their lives, leading, guiding and caring for them with your amazing love, grace, and mercy. May they always remember that greater is the one who is in them than the one who is in the world. Remind them that they are more than conquerors, that they are sons and daughters of the most high God, and that before the beginning of time, you, Lord, set in place plans to prosper them and not harm them, to give each of them hope and a future.

Lord, watch over them and their families and keep them from the temptations of the enemy. Lord, continue to challenge them, strengthening their faith and growing the fruit of the Spirit within them to overflowing, enabling each of them to show the love you have for them to all who cross their paths.

Father, fill them with your peace from the tops of their heads, to the ends of their fingers, to the bottom of their feet. May every step they take be filled with your blessing, may every challenge be filled with your mercy, and may every night be filled with your peaceful, restful, regenerating sleep. In the name of our savior Jesus Christ – Amen!”

I hope you can receive these words as promises of God. Now, let us go and bless someone else!

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” – Ephesians 1:3

*Thank you, Jane Sironen!

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First, a bath . . .

“God sometimes takes us into troubled waters not to drown us but to cleanse us.” – Andrew Murray

God hears our prayers and sometimes chooses to intervene directly in our lives to answer them. There are times, though, when he thinks it’s important to do something inside us before he responds to our cries for help.

The Bible tells us about a proud Syrian general named Namaan who had leprosy. He came across the border into Israel because he heard the prophet Elisha had power to heal. But when he was told that he had to bathe in the muddy waters of the Jordan River to be made well, he was angry. Him? A military general? Bathe in the Jordan? No! It took some convincing, but finally he humbled himself, dipped in the waters, and came out cured from his disease.

We ask God to intervene in our lives, to make us well, or to meet some other overwhelming need. He hears and answers, but, as we see with this leper, he sometimes has a bigger plan in mind: A plan to draw us closer to him, a plan for our spiritual good and not just for our physical good.

And, for many (most?) of us, what God addresses first, as he did with Namaan, is the problem of pride. It sneaks up on us, and it gets in the way of our ability to know and respond to God. It’s a barrier to relationship with him and with others.

Let’s not let pride, or any sin, keep us from dipping in the waters of his grace and being restored to a place of humility and spiritual wholeness. Then we can confidently bring our prayers to him. It’s worth the bath!

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. – Psalm 51:10