The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Mark 7:1-23 (day four)

Jesus draws a very clear distinction between two forms of the inner life. One is prideful and self-absorbed, making an idol of oneself and “righteous” to a T. The other is one that prays Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

Ironically, the Pharisees would have known this Scripture. It is a vulnerable thing to ask the Spirit to search you, but the more you do, the more you experience God’s gentle conviction and loving kindness. The Pharisees in their pride were not gentle, though. They bullied others with their law-keeping and  condemned them with their self-righteousness.

Which inner life will you choose? What areas of your life do you need to ask the Spirit to search?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:45-53 (day seven)

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.

Jesus loved the masses. If he didn’t He wouldn’t have performed such a miracle as to feed them all. Yet, the crowds were draining. Even the Messiah had limits to what he could handle. This day, ministering holistically to the masses He loved, had taken a toll on His battery. He recognized that He needed some time to recharge those batteries. He needed time to rest and refresh so He could continue this ministry, perform more miracles, and fight spiritual battles, so Jesus went to pray.

How do we rest? We probably think of sleeping in or a day of no chores, but it seems like our ideas of rest are often borderline acedia (slothfulness). We run to our devices instead of running to the Lord. Jesus recharged His batteries in prayer. Maybe instead of a lazy day in the name of rest, we should spend a day praying on a mountain (or hill, or neighborhood). Maybe we will figure out a new way to recharge our batteries so we can continue His ministry, be a vessel for His miracles, and fight spiritual battles. Maybe we will find a better way to rest.

Mark 6:45-46 (NLT) “Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. After telling everyone goodbye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.”

They were in between ministry. Jesus had dismissed the people, sent the disciples ahead to Bethsaida, and then withdrew to pray. It was in this in-between space that the disciples ran into trouble—again. And for some reason, the last thing they expected was for Jesus to meet them in their struggle. Yet, he did. And in the most unexpected, miraculous way.

He showed up in the in-between.

Sometimes, we limit Jesus to the big moments—the church services, the mission trips, the obvious spiritual highs. But what about home, work, the long commutes, the ordinary days? What about the seasons of waiting, transition, or uncertainty?

Jesus doesn’t just move in the moments we expect. He is present in the in-between. And that’s often where we need him most.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:45-53 (day five)  

It might be easy to become critical and skeptical of the disciples and their inability to perceive who their Rabbi actually was. Perhaps they’re not so different than we are- even thousands of years later. The words and thoughts of Donald English are too profound and convicting to try to summarize or restate.

“We are often no better. We may be fine when God comes to us in Christ along the recognizable avenues, even if they are miraculous, so long as they are good and affirming. How awesomely splendid to have distributed bread to a crowd, knowing how little Jesus began with and yet seeing that there was more than enough for everyone. Many of us have our own version of that experience. But how different it was in the middle of the night, when the wind was high, and rowing hard, and safety threatened, to see a ghostly figure dimly passing you by on the water!

Most Christians have our own version of that, too. It happens when events conspire to disappoint us, or trusted friends hurt us, or illness and loneliness overtake us, or spiritual dryness oppresses us. The bread-providing master at the center of the crowd is often then more like the ghostly figure on the stormy sea ‘wishing to pass us by’. It is much easier then to take fright and cry out. But such experiences are meant to have the opposite effect. They are intended to strengthen our faith, to assure us that we are growing, to signal that Jesus can trust us to go through such storms, not needing to have our hands held all the time, but knowing that the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who feeds his people and stills the storms and walks on the waters, will never leave us or forsake us. It is in that sense that the darkest days we go through can produce the greatest degree of inner illumination”.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:45-53 (day four)

It’s passages like this one that help me understand Jesus’ words in John 16:7, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

Jesus’ very presence changed the disciples situation. As he spoke to them on the sea, their fear turned to peace, their chaos turned to calm. Jesus climbed into the boat with them, and they immediately felt courage and comfort.

When Jesus rose from the grave and ascended to his rightful place with the Father, he sent us the Holy Spirit. Now, the very Spirit of God dwells in those who believe. Through the power of the Spirit, people across the world and across time are now afforded the courage and comfort that the disciples experienced on the boat that day. When the Spirit abides in us, we have everything we need to weather each storm. The Spirit speaks the very words of Jesus, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:45-53 (day three)

“Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea; and he intended to pass by them.”

What to make of Jesus’s apparent non-interactive close encounter? There are various viewpoints on this, but perhaps Jesus intended merely to look in on them to see how they were handling a potentially dangerous situation, not necessarily intending to interfere if things were fine. If so, that action would indeed be in keeping with Jesus’s tender shepherding. Where there is danger, the Savior is near. But he also desires us to the greater things – he says so elsewhere in the gospels – and so he leads us to live with power and ability. His nearness, though, means that in our cries for help we can discover he’s already there.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:45-53 (day two)

for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” v. 50

We have studied Mark for several weeks, and one of the angles we have been studying is how people respond to Jesus. Week after week, Pastor Chris calls everyone to some sort of response in worship. He is giving voice to the work of the Spirit in each service. We are always responding in some way or other. A response that gets a lot of text in scripture is one of fear. When you read the birth narrative in the gospel according to Luke, almost every encounter with the divine is preceded by the statement do not be afraid. That has to mean something, right. When you witness something supernatural there is a fight or flight response that is triggered. When you don’t know how to process what you are experiencing, a common response is fear. That is how we are wired, it’s ok. It is what we do next that matters. When we hear the words ‘do not be afraid’ we are called to trust the messenger and put that fear into action. It is our privilege to be a part of the Kingdom building that is happening all around us, but we must first get out of our own way. The fear response likely tells us that we are not up to the task that we are facing. True statement. The next step for believers is to trust that the Lord will equip you to do just what he has called you to.