Bryan Richardson – Page 45 – The Everyday Prayer

Request

Re: Verse reading–Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:17-18 (day three)

“Pray for us.”

There is nothing better that church leaders can ask of their congregations. The request for prayer places leaders in the posture of humility and honesty before the people, and it acknowledges limitations that only God can help leaders go beyond. And there is nothing better that congregations can do than to pray for their leaders. Such prayer reminds congregations that the church will represent God’s kingdom to a world that’s afraid no one is running the universe.

Steward

Re: Verse reading–Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (day three)

“The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Here’s a question: Do you listen to the voices of MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, the New Republic, National Review, etc., with a mind shaped by the Bible—or do you listen to the Bible through a mind shaped by one of those voices? Which is it? When our nation is wounded by flaws in our governing entities, let’s let the Bible be the first responder to our souls. That way, we become people who remain concerned with how we can steward together the system of authority God has placed over us.

Order

Re: Verse reading–Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-25; 1 Timothy 6:1-2; Titus 2:9-11 (day three)

“Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.”

Those in positions of power must wield it justly, and those in stations of weakness must leave room for God’s retribution. In Paul’s thinking this balance is necessary to preserve in this fallen world a social order that allows people to flourish. But in our fallenness we are unbalanced. So people in power begin to practice oppression, and people in weakness get exploited by those who would throw off all traces of authority. The powerful attempt to become God, and the weak forget God’s vengeance. In the resulting chaos, only the church can teach this world to live together in a social order that brings peace and plenty. Let’s get to work.

Ready

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 20:13-17; Leviticus 19:16-18; Zechariah 7:8-10; Matthew 5:13-16 (day three)

“I am the Lord.” If God is in fact the Lord, then you are not. That’s more than an exercise in basic logic. It’s a statement of your place in this universe under God. Paul reveals that we will each stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Jesus says that time of standing before the Lord will take into account the way that we have lived with one another: “What you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” Therefore, each moment that we encounter our neighbor is a moment that we encounter the Lord. It is a moment in which he reminds us: I am the Lord. If you’re not ready to stand before your neighbor, you won’t be ready to stand before God.

Case

Re: Verse reading–Luke 6:27-36, Romans 12:17-21 (day three)

“Leave room for God’s wrath.” When an enemy has hurt you, that offending party must be brought to justice. But if you’re the one in charge of jurisprudence, is there much chance for thoughtful and wise remedy? You would have to answer to God for any judicial malpractice. You are not without recourse, though. Here’s what the psalmists learned: Hash it out with God. Now we see why the Psalms contain such violent imagery: Break the arm of the wicked, happy is he who dashes your infants against the rocks, etc. These are people pouring out their case to the Lord—all the anger, all the rage, all the pain. You will find no one who takes you as seriously as the Lord. He will judge.

Friends

Re: Verse reading—Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 1 Samuel 20:1-17, 27-42 (day three)

“They kissed each other and wept together.” In a world where sex is the highest and best form of togetherness, nothing else is never good enough, and all other pursuits wither–especially the pursuit of friendship. We read that “Jonathan loved [David] as his own soul”. We hear David grieve Jonathan by declaring “Your love to me was more wonderful than the love of women.” In our day, such things indicate sexual expression–that these men became “more than friends.” That kind of language cheapens friendship and blinds us to its power. Jesus taught us that there is no love greater than that of the deepest, most sacrificial friendships. If Jesus exalted friendship in that way, should we not question what our society has taught us about friendship?

Grow

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 20:12; Luke 2:45-52; John 19:25-27 (day three)

“Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.”

It is no coincidence that two sentences after we about Jesus’s obedience, we read that Jesus grew in all aspects of his personhood—body, mind, spirit, social context. Children are not physically smaller versions of adults. They are not capable of the complex moral reasoning required to help shape the social order for the common good. Obedience is the discipline that helps children develop such capacities. To teach children to obey is not to burden them with an oppressive power structure; rather, it is to take seriously their potential as moral creatures—capable of great good or great harm. Obedience is the only pathway towards the good life God created each child to live. Are you teaching children to obey?

Childcare

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 127:3-5; Proverbs 22:6; Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (day three)

“Children are a heritage from the Lord.” Pop culture tries very hard to make childhood disappear. Movies often portray children as people who have the most wisdom of all the characters in the story. Child celebrities often get celebrated and congratulated when they finally leave behind all the “kid stuff” and present themselves as sexually savvy. We want people to be smart, cool, sexual rocket scientists who rule the world. Who has time for children who actually act like children: innocent, vulnerable, and trusting, but also selfish, grumpy, and undisciplined? If the world has no room for children, the world will eventually have no room for you, because caring for children is what makes people able to care for each other. How are you caring for children?

Incarnate

Re: Verse reading–Ephesians 5:21-33 (day three)

“‘…And the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

Man and woman marry, and the children born to that union are one flesh from the two. This is how the human race goes on. And God participated in that fleshly union when he joined himself to human flesh in the womb of Mary. Without human marriage creating and perpetuating the nation of Israel, Christ would have not entered human history—and without Christ, there would be no church. Therefore, even our salvation was made possible by flesh (Christ’s flesh) that came from the long history of the union of man and woman. When we use sexuality rightly—through the union of man and woman or through celibacy—we declare with God that his creation is good.

Inventory

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 16:1-7; Psalm 139 (day three)

“Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord?” The hardest type of leadership is self-leadership, experts conclude. You don’t say. “If only you, God, would slay the wicked!” That comes easy enough. Then, a sobering turn: If God is everywhere, he is surely privy to one’s innermost thoughts. What if those innermost thoughts harbor malice, greed, dishonesty? Has the psalmist just condemned himself? He realizes the high probability that his own heart shares the same traits as the hearts of the people he has asked the Lord to annihilate. Self-leadership demands a fierce moral inventory: God, search me, test me, see me, lead me. We will never preach God’s forgiveness without the poison of arrogance until we have humbled ourselves enough to become the forgiven.