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“that through death he might. . .deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”  (Hebrews 2:15)   On Saturday of Holy Week, we remember that Jesus was dead.  He  never leads us into darker rooms than He, Himself, has gone.  Having tasted death Himself, He can support us while we taste it. He can guide us through it to the other side.  “Death without Christ is the ‘king of terrors’, but death with Christ loses the sting, the power to hurt that it otherwise would have.”  (J.I. Packer)  This is why the Apostle’s Creed says “He descended into Hell”.  Not because the Lord went to the place of retribution for the godless, (Gehenna)  but because He went to the place of the dead (Hades).  He really died, and can , therefore,  really guide us when that day comes for us.  We pray today to a God who understands!  He leads us by walking the path with us.

“He Himself partook of the same things (flesh and blood), that THROUGH DEATH He might DESTROY the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil”.  (Hebrews 2:14) Today is Good Friday.  Good because the Lord’s death on the cross was a GREAT VICTORY.  With spiritual eyes, we see through the injustice and cruelty of the crucifixion to the purpose of God.  “The cross was the devil’s great blunder.  By bringing Christ to the cross, he was defeating himself and bringing about his own ultimate doom.”  (Martin Lloyd-Jones)  The devil has no power over man except that man is estranged from God.  Once the price is paid, and the reconciliation affected, the false kingdom of the evil one crumbled.  Sometimes, Christians think of the Resurrection as the victory, the cross being  the sad and necessary preparation for the happy day to follow.  Not so.  The cross was the victory!  Today is GOOD Friday.

On Thursday of His last week, Jesus met with the disciples in the upper room.  How sweet to think of Him desiring time with us as He did with them!   Later in the night, He went to Gethsemane for prayer.  Gethsemane is proof that Jesus is truly man.  Like us, He wants to avoid suffering if possible.  “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” (Matthew 26:39)  Have you ever prayed something similar?  Gethsemane is also proof that Jesus is truly God. “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  Prayer, for the Lord, was the opportunity to learn what may be asked from God with confidence.  It is both talking and listening.  It is being honest and being courageous when the will of God points in a difficult direction.  As we pray today, remember this “other version” of the Lord’s Prayer. . .”not as I will, but as you will”.  Teach us to pray, Lord!

It is a strange silence.  Most scholars find no report of any activity of the Lord on Wednesday of the last week.  Was it a “day off”?  For Jesus?  For the disciples?  Did they rest?  Did they pray?  Likely.  Rest for the believer is not a luxury.  It is a necessity.  One of the ways to “get your job done” is to “get away from it” so as to find renewal of body and soul.  This will not be the first time Jesus has exampled this wisdom for us.  “Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus arose and went out to a lonely place where He prayed”. (Mark 1:35)  “He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple”.  (Isaiah 50:4).  In preparation for our service to God, may He give us the wisdom to find rest.

It must have been exhausting!  All day Tuesday, on the last week of the Lord’s life,   He faced a series of ugly conflicts with the religious leaders of Jerusalem.  (Read Luke 20)  At the end of the day, He gave the Olivet Discourse predicting the destruction of Jerusalem and the Coming of the Son of Man.  His last word to the disciples  was, “Keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things. . .and stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)  Jesus KNEW that the only way to survive and serve in the days that were coming was to PRAY.  How true this still is!  Like the Lord, we stand in the collision between two worlds, two systems.  Even when our Spirit is willing, our flesh will be too weak apart from prayer.  God Bless you, friend, for your devotion to the Lord.  I am praying with you today, so are thousands of others!

Today is Monday of Holy week–the day when Jesus cursed the fig tree for not bearing fruit and cleansed the temple for not being a place of prayer.  (Matt 21)  It was a day for the Lord to declare His JUDGEMENT.  Do you think the Lord might confront us for the same issues?  Is our church a place of prayer?  Are we bearing fruit to His glory?  These two are always linked together.  “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and BEAR FRUIT. . . so that whatever you ASK of the Father in My name He may give you.”  (John 15:16) Thank you, dear friend, for your dedication to this year long prayer journey.  When you pray this morning, you will be joining thousands around the world who this Holy week are praying for His kingdom to come.  Because of Calvary. . .

“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN SECRET, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”  (Matthew 6:6)  Today is Sunday of Holy Week.  Palm Sunday.  Jerusalem’s chance to welcome her King.  A day of public praise.  But public profession must always rise from private experience.  None of us will have the strength for public praise who does not regularly find the Lord in private.  The Jewish leaders attitude had been decided long before this day arrived.  It is the small and secret moments  that we set the direction of our lives.  Friend,  in this busy Holy week, how determined are you to find time in a quiet place?  How anxious are you for the Father’s reward?  He hears what we say in public through the filter of what we have said in private.

Tomorrow begins Holy Week.  My heart is filled with hope for this week and it’s impact on our lives.  I am praying for every member of our congregation as we prepare for Easter Sunday.  I will use this blog this coming week to focus our attention on Christ as He moves toward the cross.  It will be a “prayer rich” exercise.  We will hear the Lord pray in the upper room.(John 17)  We will watch Him pray in the Garden of Gethsemane.(Mark 14)  We will listen as He prays on the cross, “Father forgive them”(Luke 23) and “My God why have you forsaken me?”(Mark 15) and “Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit”(Luke 23).  Years before, when the disciples first asked Jesus to teach them to pray(Luke 11), it was because they saw Him pray and sensed the power of it.  How much more should the prayers of Christ in His last week inspire us.  Lord teach us to pray!  Help us to learn by watching You!

“For real business at the mercy seat, give me a homemade prayer, a prayer that comes out of the deeps of the heart, not because I invented it, but because God the Holy Spirit put it there and gave it such living force that I could not help letting it come out.  Though your words are broken and your sentences disconnected, if your desires are earnest, if they are like coals of juniper burning with a vehement flame, God will not mind how they find expression.  If you have not words, perhaps you will pray better without them than with them.  There are prayers that break the backs of words; they are too heavy for any human language to carry.”  A good reminder that saying the words of the Lord is no substitute for learning the heart of the Lord.  Thanks Wade Andrews!

“He always lives to make intercession”  (Hebrews 7:25)  It is something we should remember every time we sing “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow”.  The ongoing life of Christ is now spent in intercession.  The whole work of redemption has now passed into prayer.  What occupies the Lord is to maintain and dispense what He purchased with His blood. The courage that God pours out on us is in answer to His prayer. And He has invited us, His people, to be fellow-workers in this Godly task.–not just recepients but participants.  Sharing His life, we also share His work.  Lord, teach us to pray.  So fill us with your compassion for the world and your faith in God that we join you-not just at the level of your words, but at the level of your heart.  You are “with us” as Immanuel.  You are “for us” as Mediator.  You are “in us” in the person of the Holy Spirit.  May we be “with” and “for” and “in” you as we pray.