Don Guthrie – Page 5 – The Everyday Prayer

He means what He says

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 15 (day one)

I must be very careful to listen to God. He is exact with His words and His expectations.

Poor Saul (foolish, stubborn Saul) thought that obedience to God was an approximate thing. If he did “some” of what God said, it would equal obedience.

“I DID obey the voice of the Lord”, he protested in 1 Samuel 15:20. “I went on the mission, brought back Agag and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.” Even when confronted, he did not recognize or repent the rebellion involved in doing only the part of God’s will that made sense to him.

God does not ask me to agree with Him. He does not allow me to pass His commandments through a filter of my own opinion. He calls me to obey.

I must be very careful to listen to God. Pray without ceasing. Pray for those who persecute you. Rejoice always. In every communication, He means what He says.

You had to be there

Easter Re:Verse reading–John 20:1-18 (day one)

“They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”–v 9

It is something we say when our words are inadequate. A story isn’t funny/or scary to people who only hear about it. “You had to be there”, we tell them.

The Resurrection of Christ is the same. Words aren’t enough. Not for the disciples and not for us. Until you experience the Savior alive you cannot know that He is. A real encounter is required. Sight or Spiritual power, conviction of the conscience– We must experience His powerful presence.

Faith doesn’t mean that we believe without evidence. It means that we allow the evidence to mean what God says it does.

“Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”–1 Thessalonians 1:5.

Happy Easter, my friends. May we know the “power of His resurrection”–Philippians 3:10

Re:Verse reading – 1 Samuel 13:1-14

Seeing myself through God’s eyes

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 9 & 10 (day one)

“Samuel answered. . . ‘And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for your father’s household?’ Saul replied, ‘Am I not. . .of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families in the tribe? Why do you speak to me this way?’ “– 9:20-21

It sounded like nonsense! Samuel saw Saul as a leader for God’s people, a recipient of all resources and authority. Saul saw himself as a member of an insignificant family and tribe. Samuel saw big. Saul saw small.

When I surrender to Christ, I give up the “me” I have known and receive by faith a new (true) identity. Past sins no longer identify me. (Forgiven). Former weakness is not who I am anymore (Empowered) I was Cephas. Now I am Peter.

If I am a new person in Christ, I must see myself through God’s eyes.

Repentance and rest

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 7 (day one)

“In repentance and rest you shall be saved.”–Isaiah 30:15

“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up. . . and named it Ebenezer “stone of [God’s] help”–1 Samuel 7:12

It was a sermon in stone. An object lesson. A reminder of the victory and rest that comes when God has all of my heart rather than just part of it.

Samuel traveled the length of the nation preaching his powerful sermon–v 3. As hearts began to soften, he called the nation to a solemn assembly at Mizpah–a moment of public repentance. When the Philistines were not amused and sent an army to break up this revolt-in-the-making, God came! Came to help. Came to give victory.

After the battle was over, Samuel wanted Israel (us) to mark and remember the lesson. When I repent ( honest with God, full surrender, single identity), God comes to help! What wasn’t possible before, now is. Then I can rest.

In need

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 3 (day one)

“And WORD from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.”–v 1

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”–Matthew 4:4

“Behold a day is coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the WORDS of the Lord.”–Amos 8:11

“I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy.”–Acts 2:17

As we read 1 Samuel 3 this week, please consider what resource (offered help from God) we are presently living without. What assistance has He promised that we regard as optional? Even allowing the high cost that will need to be paid in order to seek His face, what do we stand to gain?

Isn’t a WORD from the Lord what we really need?

Real prayer

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 1 (day one)

“I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.”–v 15.

“When we work, we work. When we pray, God works.”–Hudson Taylor.

Not all prayers are equal. Hannah’s experience proves it. “Saying your prayers” and “pouring your heart out to the Lord” are very different experiences. Somehow, and this by the grace of God, we reach the end of our own strength, inhibitions are cast aside and real prayer begins.

James 5:16-18 describes a similar moment. “The energized (energeo) prayer of a righteous man accomplishes (energeo) much! Elijah was a man just like us but he prayed (proseuchomai) with prayer (proseuche) and the Lord answered him!” He prayed with prayer! (really prayed)

Prayer does not equip for a greater work–prayer is the greater work.–Oswald Chambers.

God’s goal for us is real prayer. Like Hannah. Like Elijah.

Angels watching

Re:Verse reading–Luke 24:1-12, 33-49 (day one)

“Two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing. . .’Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee?’ “–v 4-5

It was a mild rebuke, an expression of the amazement and frustration angels often have with us. Why don’t humans listen to Christ? Why don’t we trust Him? These angels remembered exactly where Jesus was when He said the words. How could the disciples have missed it?

The Bible speaks often of the careful attention angels give humans. “We have become a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.”–1 Corinthians 4:9. Part of God’s purpose in the church is to demonstrate His wisdom to “principalities and powers in heavenly places.“–Ephesians 3:10.

It is one more reason for me to be brave. At all moments, all choices and opportunities, angels are watching.

Criminal on a cross

Re:Verse reading–Luke 23:1-27, 32-49 (day one)

“We are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”–v 41.

Traditionally we call him a thief. The word actually means “evil doer, so murder, robbery or kidnapping are just as likely. His story lifts up the grace of God. Mercy “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23) Patient God. Long-suffering. Pursuing a man to the door of death.

Marvelous miracle! In the chaos and pain of crucifixion, this man still has the perception ( gift from God) to perceive his own sinfulness and the perfection of Christ. As God opened His eyes, he called out to Christ in saving faith.

The Puritans said of this death-bed conversion, “To keep us from despair there is one story in the Bible, but to keep us from presumption there is only one.”

I must not delay! When He comes near, I must receive Him. Today is the day. Now is the moment.

God and money

Re: Verse reading–Luke 16:19-31 (day one)

“There was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with crumbs.”–v 19-21.

Some read these vivid words from Jesus as a general condemnation of rich people and a promise of universal blessing to the poor in the coming age. In a “class struggle” (Marxist view of history), God will side with the oppressed. So the narrative goes.

Others hear a more nuanced message aimed at the heart of every man. The man was not condemned because he was rich, but because he was extravagantly rich AND extravagantly unconcerned. (Lazarus was no stranger. The rich man saw him every day, or should have)

Do you think Heaven notices how we spend money? Is it a damnable crime to not care? Jesus thought so.

Why would He do it?

Re:Verse reading–Luke 15:1-2; 11-32 (day one)

“This man receives sinners and eats with them.”–v 2.

I would probably have been uncomfortable. You? Jesus received sinners. Ate with them. Didn’t that blur the line of moral certainty? Communicate acceptance or approval?

Why would He do it? Great question!

In three brilliant stories Jesus provides the answer. Lost sheep. Lost coin. Waiting Father. The bottom line of each is the same. Joy!

The reason that Jesus ate with sinners is rooted in the nature and purpose of God. Heaven rejoices over repentance. Even a single case! The great purpose of God is evangelism and rescue and repentance and restoration. Nothing makes Him happier.

To aim for your own happiness is one kind of life. To aim for the joy of the Father is another. “Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him.”–2 Corinthians 5:9. And the way we do it is evangelism.