Danny Panter – Page 45 – The Everyday Prayer

Obedience

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

Not sure if this is the case for everyone, but the word Obedience often has a negative connotation. In our culture, it can have the meaning of less then, subservient, or demeaned. “Subjecting yourself” is the very antithesis of the American Dream; we are told to “be true to yourself,” “do what you please,” “be subject to no one.”

The call to obedience is not a call to oppression and servitude. We don’t know much about Jesus’ childhood, but the Scriptures make one thing clear, he obeyed his parents. Of all kids, Jesus alone has the grounds to say, “no, dad.” He is the Son of God, he didn’t need Mary and Joseph bossing him around, and yet he “continued” to obey them.

The Scripture connects two truths when it comes to obeying parents, wisdom and love. Both the commandment and Jesus’ growth in wisdom teach us that it is not only right to obey parents, but there is wisdom to be had in it. Obedience is also an expression of love. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey me.”

Jesus obeyed his Father in heaven, by obeying Mary and Joseph. The call to obedience is not a call to be “less than who you are,” but rather by design to fulfill who you are to become.

Along the Way

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

The most significant thing any of us can do for our children, without doubt, is to teach (and model) them to love God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might. Not sure any of us would debate that. Deuteronomy 6 presents to us though, a particular value in discipleship that we do struggle with, a lot. And that is we are called to disciple our children in all of life. We are to disciple our children as we go, or when we rise or lay down. It gives a picture of discipleship that is very different from the one we are accustomed to; we tend to lean towards programming or events to be primary, but in fact as valuable as those may be they were never intended to be. Sunday school or VBS are best served as supplements to what we are called to do with our children in the ongoings of our normal hectic lives.

So, let us all be encouraged to point our children to see and love Jesus in and throughout all of life.

Seeing is Believing

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

Marriage is an amazing thing. It is beautifully complex, and yet there is nothing as simple (or whole) as the number one, as in one flesh. From the beginning God makes it clear that marriage is not the cooperation of two individual parts but a oneness, two parts combining into one, becoming something new. Paul affirms this reality, and then amplifies it. He makes the case that when a husband and wife become one flesh something remarkable happens, they unveil the mystery of the Gospel.

Perhaps the greatest evangelistic message in your home is your marriage. Perhaps the mystery is even unveiled beyond the threshold of your home into the neighborhood, or the workplace. Could it be that God designed our marriages to powerfully portray His love for His church? Could it be that how you love your wife just might help your neighbor see and know the love of Jesus? Loving my wife (laying down my life for her) just became that much more important!

Lord Knows

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

“You knew me thoroughly, my bones were not hidden from you… Examine me and probe my thoughts! Test me and know my concerns.” Psalm 139:14-15,23

You cannot know, relate to, or love yourself as you ought apart from God. Period. It is not that you are not capable of knowing the ongoings of your heart and mind, it is just that only God can provide proper perspective; he offers you the right view. Left to ourselves we see a distorted picture, a Picasso of the human self. We emphasize some things, and diminish others. We exaggerate; we are dishonest with ourselves. And enamored with what we can see with our eyes, we accommodate the expectations of the world by trying so hard to look the part. We idolize the outside with no consideration for the whole.

David asked God to search him (God needs no invitation), to shed light on who he really was, to offer the right perspective. Are you doing the same? Do you know yourself? Or is the world your guide? Run to Him, consume His Word, take a deep breath of the divine perspective, and you will see Him, and then see yourself. You cannot know yourself without God; anything else is a shallow facade.

Peace

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day Six)

Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “God is seeking worshippers who worship in Spirit and truth.” (John 4:23) We are those worshippers, and not of our own making, but God’s. In Jesus’ death we have forgiveness of sin for all time, but in the resurrected life of Jesus we find our righteousness. In other words God required more than forgiveness for us to be at “peace” with Him; He required a righteousness that forgiveness alone could not provide (Romans 4:25). God transferred the infinite and beautiful righteousness of His resurrected Son onto us, those who by faith rest in the Son. So our slate was not only wiped clean from past and future sin, but our sin was replaced with the righteousness of God’s Son! That jaw-dropping transfer gives us “peace” with God, giving us the privilege to come to God as worshippers.

And by the way, this is no tenuous peace, but a true peace. It is not like King Saul, who changed his relationship with David on a dime. David never knew what Saul he would encounter. An angry Saul? Friendly? Ally? Enemy? Not so with God. The resurrected life of Jesus affords us true everlasting peace with God; we can “boldly approach the throne of grace!” (Hebrews 4:16) God made that happen; He sought after you and made a way!

He Leads, We Will Follow

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 39:32, 42-43; 40:1-2, 16-17, 32-38 (day six)

The presence of God is synonymous with His leadership. The Tabernacle not only served as a visible reminder that God was with the Hebrews, but that He also intended to lead them every step of the way; expecting them to follow. This serves as a great reminder to us that God is always in the business of leading us as individuals and as a people, His church. It is intended that we not only feel his presence, but also follow his leadership. When he moves we move.

Sometimes we don’t always appreciate this. We enjoy sensing the presence of God, but we aren’t always keen to follow Him when He moves. Maybe because He leads us away from what we are used to, or perhaps His leadership exposes our sin; areas of our life that need redeeming. Regardless we can’t have one without the other. We cannot hope for His presence, and ignore His leadership in our lives. It simply cannot be so, for to delight in the presence of God is to follow wherever He leads.

Real Image

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 35:4-10; 20-35; 36:2-7 (day six)

And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. Exodus 35:21

God’s all-sufficiency is not in question. At first glance it would seem that God is in need; that He needs their stuff, along with their time and energy in order to build the tabernacle and its furnishings. This simply isn’t true, after all God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. God was quite able to fashion a tabernacle of his liking in the blink of an eye. So what was God doing if he didn’t need anything from the people?

I think we find the answer all throughout Exodus 35-36. Moses reminds us over and over that the people gave because their hearts were stirred to do so, and they were able to do the work only after the filling of the Holy Spirit. I believe God was calling them back to their deepest nature, being fashioned in the image of God. God not only was invested in establishing a symbolic and tangible presence among His people, but also was doing the work of restoration. This whole business of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the new covenant with an enslaved people has everything to do with God restoring all things unto himself. This restorative work began in the earliest days after the Fall and ends with Jesus’ return, but God is clearly working towards that end in building the tabernacle.

Could it be that the giving of ourselves, whether things or time or skill, taps into our truest nature? Could it be that both the inspiration to create with artistic skill, and the work itself is the reflecting of God’s image in us? After all who gives like our God? Or who creates like Him? When we give out of the stirring of our hearts, or create with our hands by the power of the Holy Spirit we begin to realize what it truly means to be human, men and woman made in the image of God.

The Prayer of Moses

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 32:1-19, 30-33; 33:12-17; 34:1-7 (day six)

After reading Moses’ conversations with God this week, it made me consider my own. Moses was clearly bold, passionate, and persuasive; it was as if he were arguing with his best friend. I believe there is much to learn from these conversations between Moses and God. As I reflect on my own prayer life, it begs a few questions:

Is my prayer life bold? Are my prayers filled with meaningless repetitive phrases, or am I having real and regular conversations with God? Do I pray believing that He has the power to act on my behalf and on the behalf of others? Do I remind God of His promises? Do I pray knowing that only God can save? Do I pray as if it really matters that I pray at all?

The Bible describes Moses’ conversations with God as “face to face.” This paints a beautiful yet fearful picture of their relationship. Moses boldly spoke with the Creator, believing that He alone had the power and the will to shape his destiny and that of His people. Perhaps, even more awesome is that God invites us to do the same. He calls us to “boldly approach His throne of grace.” (Hebrews 4:16) He invites us to have real and meaningful conversations that have consequence, that matter!

Father, teacher us to pray like Moses!

Presence

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 25:1-11, 17-18, 23-24, 31-32; 26:1-2, 7-8; 27:1-2; 29:43-46 (day six)

For a brief season when Emma was a toddler, she needed a visible reminder of my presence in order to fall asleep. She needed to know that I was in the room. Every so often she would open her eyes to find me, and the moment she laid eyes on me she would rest her head and go back to sleep. My presence brought her peace.

The Tabernacle served the people of God in the same way. It was to be a constant reminder of the presence of God. The Tabernacle also provided tangible symbols of how God would relate to his people. He would listen to them, speak to them, provide for them, and most importantly, make atonement for their sin; all of that was communicated through the Tabernacle and its furnishings.

The Tabernacle also instructs us as to our new covenant relationship with God. Through Jesus we experience the presence of God in the truest sense, one that the Tabernacle could only allude to. Jesus made it possible for intimate renovations of the heart; transforming us broken cisterns to temples of the Spirit of God. As followers of Jesus we can be at peace that God is always present with us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit powerfully teaches us, intercedes on our behalf, puts sin to death for us, gives gifts to us, all on the basis of our faith in Jesus. As believers we can rest in the presence of God; he will never leave us or forsake us.

The People’s Response

Re:Verse reading Exodus 24 (day 6)

The people heard the written words, given to Moses by God, and they said “we will do all that you have said.” Worship is forever tied to the hearing of God’s Word and the people’s response. It was true over 4000 years ago, and it is true for us today as His church gathers. It begs the question, can we truly worship without a corporate response? Does it constitute worship if the church listens to the words of God and yet does nothing? I would contend that the answer is no; it does not constitute worship if the people do not respond.

Of course the people failed to obey God almost immediately; they fell into hypocrisy before the ink was even dry. God was not surprised by their failure, he anticipated it. Their sin did not rob their corporate response of any significance, nor should it ours- ever. Not only is our response to God appropriate and necessary, but it points to Jesus, the Word, who fulfilled every covenant promise on our behalf!

So, let me encourage you to do two things, first ask God this question, “Father, what must I do? Show me how I must follow your Son today.” Secondly, pray on behalf of the First Baptist family, asking God to move in mighty ways that we might all respond to His Word in unity.

Rejoicing that I have the privilege of joining my response with yours!