Bryan Richardson

40 Days of Prayer – Renew

The word of God, the deeds of God, the love of God, the works of God – these are things on which the Bible admonishes us to meditate. Meditation is a dimension of prayer. How do we do it, though? We already know.

Day 33 – Where is your mind?

We are quite familiar with a form–a negative form–of meditation. It’s called worry. Consider: Worry focuses our mind on every contour of the object of our anxiety. We call to mind all conceivable scenarios of further loss, failure, and trauma. Dread expands in our minds until it crowds out all other thoughts and feelings. This is exactly how the mechanics of meditation work. Therefore, to “be transformed by the renewing of [the] mind”, we take these mechanics and put them to work as we pray and contemplate God’s goodness: We focus our mind on every contour of whatever is good. We call to mind all conceivable scenarios of all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy. And God’s glory expands in our minds until it crowds out all other thoughts and feelings. We can do this.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 10:25-37 (day three)

40 Days of Prayer – Office

If you’ve worked with the same people long enough, you might be able to describe each person in one word. We often find humor in distilling an entire life down to a single descriptor, but people are deeper and richer than that. Sadness, hope, grief, fear, joy, accomplishment, vulnerability—God knows all these things about each soul.

Day 26 – What are you saying to God about your co-workers?

When we put people in categories of “whiner” or “optimist”, it’s easier to get on with our job. But we lose souls in the process. Perhaps a “golden rule for the office” would be good: Pray for your co-workers as you would have your co-workers pray for you.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 12:13-34 (day three)

40 Days of Prayer – Complaint

Jeremiah claimed to God that God had deceived him. Jonah declared to the Lord that he had every right to be angry with God. At least one psalmist questioned God’s sense of justice. No one told these people that prayer is supposed to be nice, neat, and clean.

Day 20 – How will you struggle with the Lord?

Complaining, or lamenting, to God was often the way the work of prayer got done in the Bible. And when people voiced their grievances in times of stress, they often got much more than they expected, because their laments served as points of revelation of God’s character and work in the world. Because they struggled with God, they came to know–as we can come to know–God’s ability to sustain the exhausted, show compassion to the lost, and reassure the downtrodden.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 10:25-37 (day three)

40 Days of Prayer – Ask

“For everyone who asks receives.” Is it true? Jesus revealed to us a universe that operates on the power of the request. We often become anxious when we know someone will ask something from us, and we find it unpleasant to say no, precisely because a request carries such power. This is how God designed things.

Day 13 – Will you ask God to act?

Although God is not under any obligation to do so, he has revealed that he, too, will respond to requests. In fact, he will give us whatever we ask when we make our requests conform to his character—that is, when our requests come after thoughtful consideration of what is loving, good, and representative of God’s kingdom. This is what it means to ask for things “in Jesus’s name.”

Re: Verse reading – Luke 7:1-17 (day three)

40 Days of Prayer – Good

Prayer is the first step toward coming to know that this is not looking to devour you. That’s the devil’s mission, the Bible says, not this good creation of God’s. Jesus told us the pagans run after things they believe are in short supply, because they see the universe as a chaotic, hostile realm. But Jesus knew better. That which God called good, we need not fear. When we pray, we come out of chaos and move toward this good God who hears and responds.

Day 6 – Will you ask this good God, who created this good universe, to reflect his goodness in you?

“Whatever is good,” think on it, Paul says. Goodness is alien to our sinfulness, but as we hunger for goodness through prayer, we will learn it again.

Re: Verse reading–Luke 5:12-26.

History

Re: Verse reading– 2 Peter 1:16-3:18 (day three)
“We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” The Transfiguration of Jesus heralded the reality of God’s life-giving work in the world; the resurrection confirmed it. The fact that Jesus’s resurrection is a non-reproducible event confuses historical method with scientific method. Indeed, for anyone who cares to take the time to look into the matter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is verifiable by every stringent standard that establishes all accepted accounts of human history. It’s not history that stands in the way of belief. Once again, it is the will that refuses—or agrees—to bend.

Add

Re: Verse reading–2 Peter 1:1-15 (day three)
“Make every effort to add to your faith…” By faith we turn towards the saving grace of God. There are things that faith then makes possible for us to take part in so that the character of Jesus Christ gets formed in us. Goodness in our thoughts keeps our minds open to the world around us. Knowledge of the way the universe really works–spiritually and physically–adds stability to our faith. Self-control channels knowledge in a direction that helps others instead of puffing ourselves up. Perseverance maintains our presence with one another in community. Godliness shows us others in light of how God sees them. Mutual affection (“brotherly love”) seeks to act on what we see in that light. And love gives us the ability to rise to the level of desiring the good for others.

Roar

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 4:12-5:11 (day three)
“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” In our admiration for a lion’s power and elegance, we can forget that the animal is a killer. Likewise, we justify our decisions to sin in order to pursue the power and elegance we think we see. But it is the devil we pursue, and he is a killer. The sin you are justifying today you justify to the devil’s sympathetic ears–and you will hear only approval from him. That sound of approval will build to a roar, and the devil will turn on you without remedy.

Return

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 2:11-3:9 (Day Three)
“Now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” You can do whatever you want—unless you want to find the cure for a heart that runs after lies, turns a blind eye to beauty, fears its own shadow, and helps others dig their own graves. Without a shepherd, we are dangerous to ourselves and to others. Without an Overseer, we attempt to rule over everyone else with no thought for love. We end up with the world we have when the human spirit has its own way with the universe. But there is a Shepherd. There is an Overseer. He knows your soul. You can return to him.

Weathered

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:13-2:10 (Day Three)
“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” Jesus gave Simon the nickname “Rock”—Peter. For a time, it seemed as though Peter attempted to live up to what he thought the name signified: Tough, hard, unwavering, unshakable. He was none of those things, no matter how hard he tried. It took years of training with Jesus—not trying, but training—to teach him that God was not building a monument out of Peter’s life, but a community. In this community, the raw materials are the lives of all of us—all “rocks” that Jesus will use when as we leave behind our aspirations to “monument-hood”, and instead accept the weathered beauty that comes as the Lord leads us through difficulty and joy in friendship with him and with one another.