Tag Archives: prayer

The Devil Is In The Details

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The devil is in the details. I know I might be taking some liberties here, but isn’t that kind of what Jesus told Martha? (Luke 10) She was busy preparing dinner – not a bad thing because she had guests in her home. But she was so intent on serving the perfect meal, she neglected her guest: Jesus Himself!

I don’t think this Scripture is teaching us to not plan, not pay attention to details. I know I certainly get frustrated if I’m in a class where the teacher has not spent time preparing, or at a meeting that hasn’t been organized, and wouldn’t it be silly for a football team to run onto the field without someone planning strategies and teaching the plays before they meet their opponent?

I think this passage teaches us about priorities. Jesus HAS to come first. Sure there are demands of the day, obligations we must meet, things to do that require careful planning. But none of that should have precedence over our time with Jesus.

Someone once said, “if you’re too busy to read the Bible, you’re too busy”. Choices, my friend. Choices.

Bill Hybels wrote a book entitled, “Too Busy Not To Pray”. Google Grace L. Naessens, and read her poem: “I Didn’t Have Time.” I think that’s the attitude Scripture would have us have.

So get busy doing work for the kingdom. But not before you spend time with the King.

Nothing is more important.

The Show Must Go On

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I remember, when Mom was dying of cancer, I would drive to work with a heavy heart. Most mornings I would cry as I talked to God about Mom. But when I got to the stop light a mile from school, I would dry my tears and take a few deep breaths. And before walking into the office, I’d put my hand on the doorknob, breathe again, put a smile on my face, and pray, “God, let’s do this. I need you to go in there with me today.” I didn’t want to be there. I wanted time with Mom. I wanted to be alone in my grief. But I was a middle school counselor, and I had a job to do.

It was hard. And listening to the familiar complaints of 11-year-olds tested my patience like never before. Suzie took my pencil. Billy made fun of me. Nobody likes me. The teacher yelled at me. Even the: Mom grounded me or worse, didn’t separate me from my own pain.

But I loved my job, loved those children, and it wasn’t their fault my mother was dying.

I realized today Jesus knows exactly how I felt. His cousin, John, was murdered. His heart must have hurt like mine did. And he needed to be alone. He needed time to grieve. So he went off to a remote place to be by himself.

But the crowds followed him. They had needs only Jesus could meet. So Jesus put a smile on his face, and preached, and healed their sick.

Did you know the feeding of the 5,000 from five loaves and 2 fish happened in the midst of Jesus’ grief? (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9) He had compassion on those needy, demanding, insensitive people, even when his own heart was broken.

I know some of you are going through hardships of your own. Sickness, finances, relationships can cause us to live with the burden of grief on our shoulders. Yet that doesn’t stop the “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy”, or “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” demands from your children, or the deadlines your boss gives you at work, or the electric from being turned off for lack of payment. Life goes on even when we want it to just stop for one minute.

Jesus knows what that feels like. Jesus shows us by example that sometimes the show must go on. Sometimes we have to choose to let God pick us up and help us meet our responsibilities even if we don’t feel like it.

But here’s something else Jesus teaches by example. He made time to get alone and pray. (Matthew 14:23) He didn’t go off to “find himself”. He spent time talking to God.

That’s where our society might be wrong. It says we’ve got to be happy before we can make someone else happy. Put yourself first and things will get better.

But doesn’t Jesus teach us something different? Didn’t he take “self” out of the picture? Didn’t he place God first, others second, and himself after that? I’m thinking if it worked for him, it probably will work for us, too.

Pray, dear one. Pour yourself out before God, give him yourself and your circumstances. Ask him to empower you to be who he wants you to be in the midst of your pain. Bathe yourself in prayer, then trust God to be exactly what you need him to be. Yes, the show must go on. But you don’t have to go on solo. If you know Jesus as your Savior, you have someone who has been there, to guide you, to strengthen you, and to love you like no one else can.

If we take the world’s advise and concentrate on ourselves, we are concentrating on the wrong person. Concentrate on God. Notice the opportunities he gives you to minister to someone else. Take him up on his offer to never leave or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5-8)

Is that a recipe for a trouble-free life? What do you think?

It is, however, a recipe proven by Jesus himself, to be exactly what we need to face the worse life hands us. And to be victors. And to let others see Jesus in us.

God, I pray for grieving people today. Some have burdens that are breaking them. Father, I pray they will come to you and lay that burden down. Give them strength. Give them purpose. Help them to look to you instead of looking within themselves. And may they find peace from allowing you to be exactly what they need to get through today. May they feel your love right this minute. And may Jesus be seen in and through them as they walk through this storm.

Priorities

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The men brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus because they had faith Jesus could heal him. When the crowd was so large they couldn’t get inside to where Jesus was, they cut a hole in the ceiling and lowered their friend right in front of Jesus. (Matt 9, Mark 2, Luke 5)

What did Jesus do? He forgave the crippled man’s sins. In this act, we see where Jesus places his priorities.

It reminded me of the prayer boards in many Sunday School rooms, and prayer lines active in many churches. They are full of requests for God’s intervention for every ailment known to man:

Pray for Susie’s sinus problems. Bill’s cancer, Clyde’s cough, June’s surgery, Donna’s new job.

God wants us to bring our requests to him and I am not criticizing anyone for praying for another. It’s our responsibility and our privilege to bring our requests to the Lord. But if our priorities were the same as Jesus, wouldn’t our prayer boards be at least equally filled with requests for the salvation of souls:

Pray for Sandy as she has lunch with her cousin on Tuesday, pray for the cousin that her heart would be open and she would be willing to listen. For Chuck as he goes fishing with his coworker. For Laura as she witnesses to her husband.

Oh, Jesus healed the crippled man. And he still answers our prayers for physical needs. But physical healing is still a temporary fix. A repentant heart is a healing that is eternal.

Let’s pray. Pray for the health and physical healing of our loved ones. Jesus reveals himself through those answered prayers. But let’s not neglect the more important thing: the salvation of souls.

Father, I pray for those in my life who are facing physical challenges, emotional problems, relationship difficulties. Reveal yourself in their healing and may Jesus be praised. But I would pray for those who don’t know you. I pray for broken hearts when faced with the reality of sin, I pray for the softening of hardened hearts, for ears that will listen. May your Holy Spirit have free reign in the hearts of…. and …. today and may they come to the Savior to receive the healing that will last eternally. Show me what role I can play in their salvation, and may you find me faithful for Jesus’ sake.

Inquiring Minds

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Habakuk wasn’t afraid to question God. “Why, God?” he asked. He listened to God’s reply, then went on to ask “What about this?” Habakuk is an example of an inquiring mind, and God made inquiring minds.

I’m not interested in pouring over ancient history to put a time-line on these prophecies. But some people are, and that’s ok. I think Scripture teaches that God wants us to dig, to learn, to be awed by creation, and to love him enough to get to know him. The problem is when we assign human attributes to God, when we try to define him by ways we understand.

We can’t know anything about God that’s not revealed in his Word. Studying history, or reading commentaries (as helpful as they are) to come to an understanding of God isn’t necessary. Reading the Bible is.

God isn’t afraid of our questions. He created us with the ability to think and wonder. But he will reveal only a portion of Who he is, give only the answers we NEED to know this side of heaven.

So go ahead and ask. Then accept the fact that there are some things we cannot know. If we were able to know everything God knows, he’d be us.

Underneath His Wings

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I love the picture painted in Psalm 91 of God’s protection. There is something very comforting about nestling in the shelter, in the shadow of my Heavenly Father. He is my refuge when he covers me with his feathers and I rest beneath his wings. Tucked in, protected, I don’t need to fear the night. I don’t need to fear my enemies.

But then the psalm goes on to say if I hide there, in God, nothing bad will happen to me. No evil will conquer me, no plague enter my home. I can step on lions and cobras, and not get hurt. And I’ll live a long, healthy life.

Is that what God is saying? Should I go to the zoo and kick a lion? If that is so, and I am to interpret the psalm materially, then I must believe God has feathers and somewhere on this planet is a giant nest we can all hide in. Are we to interpret these psalms as though God is speaking materially, or is he painting a picture of spiritual truth?

Well, because I am not going to be the one who decides which verses are spiritual truths and which are meant to be taken materially, I’m going to read them all with God’s spiritual kingdom in mind.

I love Psalm 91’s picture of God’s protection over my soul. He assures me that no matter what happens, God is there to protect me from Satan, and to give me strength to face the “lions” in my life. I may face disease, heartache, pain. But my God promises to protect that spirit within me. He promises me a long and healthy life… an eternal life… forever sheltered underneath his wings.

Dearest God, Thank you for the pictures you inspired the psalmists to write so many years ago. Thank you for the times you have answered prayers I’ve prayed for physical healing for myself and others, for traveling mercies, for material requests. But, God, I know this and other psalms speak of something more, something more precious than the flesh and blood body I live in today. You promise to protect my soul, you promise to wrap your arms around me so that Satan’s arrows have no effect on my eternity, because I have asked you to be my Savior. Keep me safe beneath your wings, dear Lord.

Nineveh’s Story

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Jonah’s story excited me this morning. Usually I look at the man Jonah, and the lessons he learned through his experience recorded in this book. But today I saw the city of Nineveh. It was a city full of sinful people. 120,000 idol worshipers living in spiritual darkness. But God had been working behind the scenes in the hearts and lives of the residents of Nineveh. They were ready to hear the Truth. As soon as Jonah preached God’s words, they repented. They repented! They realized their sin and called on God – and they were saved.

Many of us believe the US is too far gone, that destruction is inevitable, that this is the end. Is it? Or is God preparing hearts to break in the face of sin? Is he waiting for a Jonah (or Jonahs) to speak his words, then step back and watch God at work? Can there be a mass turning to the Savior in the US? There was in Nineveh.

May we pray believing. May we obey God’s call and not waste any time in the belly of a fish. May Satan be defeated in this land in such a miraculous way that all the nations will recognize God is who he says he is. May God pour his Spirit out on the people living in spiritual darkness right here in the United States of America. And may we turn to him like the people of Nineveh turned to God thousands of years ago.

Pray, dear one. Pray!

A Lesson From Solomon: Pray!

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Solomon does some things in his prayer that convicted me this morning when I read it. (I Kings 8, 2 Chronicles ) His prayer began with telling God what he meant to him. God, there is no one like you. You keep your promises. Your love is unfailing.

Then Solomon lays down his specific requests. And while Solomon is asking, he’s still praising God. Solomon’s prayer ends in praise, too.

I have to confess I don’t have a good prayer life. Oh, I whisper short prayers throughout the day, thanking God for this, asking him for that. But I don’t often sit still and talk to my Heavenly Father. 

I want to pray like Solomon did. I want to remember to praise God every day for WHO he is and not just a quick, “thank you for today”. I want to lay my requests down at his feet with more than, “God bless so and so”. I want to learn to tell him how much he means to me with something other than a two word, “thank” and “you”.

So if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to enter the throne room and have a private conversation with my King. I hope you’ll do the same.

God Loves The Impossible

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Joshua 10 records a pretty amazing event. From a human perspective, Joshua took quite a leap of faith when he prayed a public prayer asking God to stop the sun dead in its tracks. Even if prompted by God, saying something so outrageous would have sounded insane. We know scientifically that if the sun stands still it’s because the earth quit spinning and if that’s the case there would be no gravity and… well… it’s impossible.

But we have a God who loves the impossible! The sun stood still and Israel’s army defeated the enemy.

God loves the impossible.

Including each of us. No one is too far gone for his love and grace to penetrate a heart still beating. The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

And just as God revealed his power that day in what we read in the book of Joshua, he reveals that same power in a changed life today. Nothing is impossible for God. When I read this portion of Joshua I don’t see God asking us to pray for material signs of his power. Moving mountains into the sea or stopping the earth from spinning isn’t the point. I see God telling us to pray for the souls of those we think are too far gone.

President Obama? John Travolta or Tom Cruze? That neighbor down the street or that rebellious person who lives in your home?

God loves the impossible. Let’s pray believing. He can do it.

Dear God, I would ask you to forgive me for not praying like I should. I think way too small for a God as powerful as you. I do pray for our President. Father, even now I would ask that you would bring yourself to his mind, that you would touch his heart, that you would find him ready to give his life to you. I pray for public figures like those who are caught in the lies of Scientology. I pray that they will find Jesus as Savior and would use their celebrity to point others to him, too. I pray for those people close to me who are living ungodly lives, who have drifted from you or denied you. I pray believing that you are able to break through the hardest heart and I’m asking you to do that. Thank you for loving the impossible. Show me what you would have me do to accomplish these things in Jesus’ name.

Be Careful

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Deuteronomy records Moses’ final words to the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. He told them that they would have success overthrowing the seven tribes who were living there at the time. Then they would enjoy the blessings the land provided. Plenty of good food and water, riches, comfortable homes would all be theirs.

But, Moses warned, that’s the time to be careful!

“Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God… For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!” (Deut 8:11-12 NLT)

Sound familiar? Whether it is on our own personal walk with the Savor or a nation once built under God, good times can be the most dangerous. Times of blessings and prosperity put us at the most vulnerable position. And Satan begins to sneak in through the cracks, sin enters our hearts, our lives, our nation. We get so comfortable we forget how much God has done for us. 

We forget we need him.

And when that happens, the covenant is broken and God can no longer bless us. Not as individuals.  Not as a nation.

Are you blessed? Be careful. Don’t get proud. Don’t forget God. If you do, “you will be destroyed”. (Deut 8:19)

Father, I pray that your people will cling to you in good times and in bad. We tend to run to you when things get difficult because we know you are able to strengthen us, that you answer prayer. It’s easier to see your hand at work when we give you our problems. But we are often guilty of forgetting you when life is going well. Forgive us. May we protect our relationship with you every day by spending time in your Word, praying, talking about you to others, making choices that honor you. And may we be careful not to take any of your blessings for granted.

If I were you…

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Have you ever given or been given advice that begins with, “If I were you…”? How was that advice received? The thing is, grief, anxiety, worry, suffering, whatever the problem – it is personal. I can try to put myself in your shoes but my frame of reference is me. The only way I can really know what you are going through is to become you. Me in your shoes is still me.

Does that mean we should never give advice? Honestly, unless the hurting person asks for advice that is exactly what I’m saying. But even when asked, we shouldn’t assume anything. We should not assume we know how that person feels or know what they are going through. We should not assume we know why that dear one is suffering. Even if you have experienced similar circumstances you cannot know how they are feeling. You can only know how you felt in your experience.

I am reading the book of Job, a book filled with all kinds of bad advice from friends who really did mean well. But Eliphaz, in Job 5:8, actually does give what I consider some good advice for all of us. He told Job to take it to God. You see, God is the only one who really knows what you are going through. He knows how you feel because he reaches into your deepest, darkest places where no one but you can go. 

I guess I would say if you are going through something, go ahead and listen to the advice given by well-meaning friends. You might hear something useful amid all the garbage. But listen with a filter. Then take your problem, maybe even the advice, to God and see what he thinks. Read God’s Word with an open heart. Pray. Thank God for his love even if you feel unloved. Praise him for his blessings even if it’s hard to do. Lay your requests at his feet, then trust him to take care of you.

God promises to give us all we need and he is true to his Word.