Danny Panter – Page 8 – The Everyday Prayer

God Cares

Re:Verse passage – Luke 18:1-8 (day six)

We can feel like God doesn’t care when our prayers go unanswered. We wonder if he hears us or even cares about our struggles. After teaching about the suddenness of his return, Jesus then reaffirms that God hears their cries and cares about justice.

Jesus concludes if an unrighteous judge, who could care less about God and people, can get it right some of the time, then a God who loves his people and guarantees justice will get it right 100 percent of the time.

Our persistent prayer is not begging God to act on our behalf, it is the fervent agreement with God’s holy decree against injustice and a joyful anticipation of the Son’s sudden return.

Delight

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:5-13 (day six)

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4

Heavenward prayer and delight in the Lord are cousins, or as Scott Lane might say, two sides of the same coin. Persistence and trust spring from a heart that is enamored with God’s Kingdom (Luke 11:2) and certainty of its reality. Or said another way, you only keep knocking if you are certain of the reward.

Heavenward prayer flows from a heart that delights in the Lord. God promises to answer that kind of prayer; any other is a clamoring gong.

Help

Re:Verse passage – Romans 8:26-27(day six)

For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Psalm 103:14

We tend to suffer disappointment on our worst days. We wish we could be more hopeful. We think if only I had more faith, I wouldn’t be so anxious or discouraged. Most often, we don’t stop there but project that disappointment onto others and even God. We can’t imagine him being anything but disappointed in our lack of faith.

BUT instead of disappointment from God, we receive help from him on those worst days.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. Jude 24

The Prayers

Re:Verse passage – Acts 2:42-47 (day six)

“They devoted themselves to…the prayers.” Acts 2:42 (ESV).

Most other translations drop the article, “They devoted themselves… to prayer.” That’s okay, but the most literal translation is “the prayers.” The more literal translation gives us a better idea of how they were praying. Jewish tradition provided the earliest Jewish Christians with daily formal prayers, along with many other formal prayers for special occasions. It is almost certain that it was these formal prayers that they were praying together during their fellowship. Most, if not all, the earliest Christians had been faithfully praying these prayers all their lives, every day.

It is encouraging to me that these early Christians did not abandon their Jewish faith and practice but recognized Jesus as the fulfillment of their faith. Their prayers were part of a deep and old tradition from a people trusting God would fulfill his promise of sending a messiah.

BUT while “the prayers” were deep and old, they had to have resonated with new and glorious meaning. Imagining their fellowship and their praying “the prayers” renews and strengthens my own faith as we await his return.

God Does

Re:Verse passage – 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (day six)

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3

Perhaps the most basic reason for prayer is that God does; he does all the work. He strengthens, he guards, he does. Paul believed that God had a vested interest in preserving the Thessalonian church-the full expression of God’s love resulting in the spread of the Gospel.

Remember, we pray because God is faithful. He is faithful to do above and beyond what we ask for his namesake. There is no greater commitment than that.

Church, we pray because we are in good hands. God does. He is committed to finishing what he has started.

Kingdom

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 6:17-20 (day six)

Did you notice what Paul didn’t ask them to pray for? He asks them to pray for words and boldness, all while he is imprisoned in Rome. Why doesn’t he ask them to pray for his release or to end his suffering? But Paul makes no mention of these personal needs.

It’s not that Paul didn’t want out of prison, but that he believed God was using him in the midst of his suffering. Paul doesn’t lose sight of God’s Kingdom purpose in his life, regardless of his circumstances.

I ask myself, will I look through my circumstances to see what God is doing, or will my circumstances keep me from seeing what he is doing?

Praying it’s the former.

For Such a Time as This

Re:Verse passage – Esther 7:3-7 (day six)

I’m a father of three young women. One of them is graduating from high school today. Reading Esther this week, my heart couldn’t help but turn its attention to my firstborn and wonder how God might use her.

Esther affirms that God also uses faithful, wise, and sacrificial women (not just men) in some of the most significant plays in his mission to remake the world. As my firstborn begins a new journey, I am confident she will not be sidelined but will have an important part to play in what God is doing. By God’s grace and leadership, she can and will rise above the status quo and cultural norms. She will press the envelope, ask the discerning question, and make the move(s) that matters.

Reading Esther gave me a God-sized vision for my high school graduate and her sisters. I couldn’t help it, it jumped off the page.

Compassion

Re:Verse passage – 1 Kings 19:3-8 (day six)

The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
¹⁴For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust. Psalm 103:13-14

I marvel at God’s compassion for Elijah. Coming off of one of the greatest displays of God’s power and glory, Elijah retreats in fear for his life. He is riddled with dire disappointment; he is emotionally spent. If one didn’t know any better, you would think he had run out of faith.

And yet God does not chastise him or judge; no, “Ye of little faith.” Instead, he tenderly and compassionately draws near, providing him exactly what he needs.

Life is not lived solely in Mt. Carmel moments but in the trenches where life is hard, fragile, and faith is stretched. But God is there too, not to condemn, but surprisingly, to compassionately nourish.

The Way of Idolatry

Re:Verse passage – 1 Kings 18:30-39 (day six)

Israel’s brazen idolatry began more subtly. Baal was the very popular local god of the weather (lightning and rain), manifested out of the Canaanites’ need for fertile soil and a fruitful harvest. Initially, the Israelites never intended to abandon God; they only thought it wise to cover their bases and worship Baal too, just in case God didn’t pull through. As the old saying goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

It was only a matter of time, slow at first, but then quickly, that the local very popular god of the weather was all they worshipped; their hearts enslaved to its demands-which were their very lives.

Divided loyalties never stay divided for long.

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money (or Baal).” -Jesus

Tempered

Re:Verse passage – 1 Samuel 17:38-51 (day six)

The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!- David, 1 Samuel 17:37

Tempered steel is so strong because it has been repeatedly heated and cooled just before its boiling point. This kind of stress on the steel hardens it beyond its original composition. David’s faith is like tempered steel.

I am amazed by David’s faith in God; his trust in God’s provision. This faith didn’t come by way of acquiring knowledge but by tempering. Over time, as a goat herder, he had increasingly entrusted himself to the Lord. Can you imagine the first time he had to defend his goats against a lion or bear? David had to decide at that moment, is God good for this? Each crisis put his faith under fire and strengthened it, hardened it for battle.

This made me wonder how often my faith is tested. Do I have a risky faith that heats it up just right before its boiling point? Do I allow my faith to be tempered, like David’s? If I am going to be hardened for battle in facing Goliaths, then I must entrust myself to him when I face the lions and bears along the way.