“Be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints”. (Ephesians 6:18) Let’s do something together this morning. Knowing that real prayer is never self-centered, let’s pray for the people of Egypt, specifically our brothers and sisters in Christ. ( There are many). What do they need today? Ask God to supply bread, water, jobs. “Give us.” Who do they hate/resent? Ask God to forgive them and teach them to forgive so that they can be instruments of His peace. “Forgive us.” What do they fear? Ask God to lead them and deliver them. “Lead us.” If Jesus has commissioned us to “go into all the world”, part of our obedience is to pray for the people in it. Somewhere in Egypt there is a teenage boy/girl whose future and outlook is being shaped by the events of the past few weeks. Will you pray for him/her this morning? Will you pray for Egyptian families and pastors and churches? They are part of us.
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One surrendered soul at a time
I wrote yesterday of the kingdom being global and governmental. Today, I hope you will think of it in terms that are personal and moral. To sincerely pray, “Thy kingdom come”, a believer must embrace the “daily dictatorship” of the Holy Spirit. (Alan Redpath) If the kingdom is not based on democracy, and it isn’t, then the Christian life is an example of the “world that will be”. We are living in the future now! “Those who are being led by the Spirit are the sons of God”.(Romans 8:14) Contrary to my expectations, the LORD does not consult with me re. His decisions or my assignments. He commands. I follow. How strange! How exciting! The kingdom of God established on earth one surrendered soul at a time. You in?
Strong shoulders
Christians are optimistic people. When we pray, “Thy kingdom come”, we are imagining (just as Jesus did) a time in the not-so-distant future when the government of the world will be Christ. ( A kingdom is a very effective, efficient style of government when the king is good and wise. The ancients knew this. ) It is always a shock, to those of us who love democracy, to realize that it is only a temporary fix– a necessary safeguard for now, but not eternal. Isaiah said “The government will be upon His shoulder”. (Isaiah 9:6) HE will bring protection and freedom, law and order. The upheaval in Egypt the past 3 weeks is a reminder of the longing of the human heart for good government. It is also a reminder of our sad history finding it. I wonder whether you really believe the kingdom will come? I wonder if it fills you with hope?
Love covers
It is a common tragedy. A Christian stuck in the “ditch of disappointment” aka unforgiveness. We rarely say “He hurt me and now I have retained a resentment toward him”. We give ourselves too much credit for passing through the stage of “boiling hatred” not admitting that the simmering “record of wrong” stage is still with us. The tragedy is the impact on our own life and energy. “Keep fervent in your love for one another for love covers a multitude of sins”. (1 Peter 4:8) If abundant life is what you desire, one of the disciplines is to release others fully from your judgement re. their failures. Imagine a dry, bare spot in your backyard. Think of the work required (planting, watering, fertilizing) so that it can be covered. Think of the daily effort, the determination. Now think of doing that with your brother’s sin. Hard work? Yes. Love? Same answer. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Above all we ask
“Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly above all we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20) Part of prayer’s purpose, I believe, is to help us embrace a dream. The Bible reveals a God who is able to act in the world for our good and His glory in ways that we cannot imagine. So, perhaps we should (imagine). One of the affects of sin is severely lowered expectation. We become “earth-bound”, desiring only to “get by”, empty of any dream of glory. When Jesus taught us to pray “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory”, He was insisting that His children think again of what God has and is willing to share with those who are surrendered to Him in obedience and faith. What is God able to do? For us? For others? Part of our privilege is to ask and then to imagine even more.
Don’t Quit!
In Luke 18:8, Jesus wonders out loud whether He will “find faith on the earth when He returns”, and the indicator that will tell Him whether faith is still present on this planet is persevering prayer. (Read Luke 18) True faith (just like true love) expresses itself. It speaks! It does not pout or withdraw. It does not give up or get discouraged or drained away by other distractions. We have been praying the Lord’s Prayer every day, now for 6 weeks. Are you experiencing fatigue? Has the newness worn off this daily discipline? Probably a good thing! This is a life-long love that we are learning! I saw kid with a T-shirt recently which said, “Pain is fear leaving the body”. If so, “prayer is faith not leaving the task” until His kingdom comes. What if patience is the proof that we really believe? Thanks for hanging in there! I am praying with you.
A perfect Father
Parenthood, perhaps, is the closest we get to loving in a divine way–love that wakes you up in the night to feed a baby, or keeps you up to wait for an after-curfew teenager, love given freely, love given even when it is not appreciated. When we pray “Father” we surrender to the life-altering fact that we are loved by God in this same way! We are not defined by our hurts. Our lives are love stories. “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, long, high and deep His love really is.” (Ephesians 3:17-18) Dear friend, today as you pray, will you sink your roots deeper and deeper into the soil of God’s love? Will you open your heart to the concern and help of a perfect Father?
Just for today
What would happen if we could focus our attention on today? Whether it is a diet or a desire to share our faith, what if we asked God to help us, just for the next 24 hours? Isn’t a lifetime of discipline just a collection of successful days? Isn’t it the focus on outcomes that usually become so overwhelming that we give up? I do not think that Jesus was thinking about diet or discipline when He taught us to pray “Give us this day our daily bread”. I do think that He knew the human heart and what it takes to move successfully through life. Maybe He was teaching us to start with small victories and then to string them together like pearls. What would happen if we asked God to give us what we needed for life . . .just for today?
Feeling faith
One of the unspoken values of daily prayer is that it “reconnects” us with ourselves. As you probably know, it is possible to believe one thing and feel another, sometimes without even being aware of it. (We can believe that God loves us and at the same time feel very anxious or nothing at all). While faith is not ruled by feelings, neither is it God’s will for our minds and hearts to be permanently disconnected. Part of prayer’s purpose, I’m convinced, is to facilitate a daily renewal of hope and trust and courage (the feelings that God intends for us). As you pray today will you take note of the places where you are saying one thing but feeling another? Will you hold this “disconnect” up to the One who can fix it? “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience. . .” All of these are choices, true, but aren’t they also feelings?
Radical readjustment
“A radical readjustment to my perspective on this life and the next” is what Nancy Guthrie says she needed when two of her children died in infancy from a rare genetic disorder. ( The One Year Book of Hope, Tyndale Press) It was not a luxury for her. It was a survival necessity. Perhaps, this is why Jesus teaches us to pray. He knows that we live in a “pain-saturated, sin-soaked, darkness-loving world” and that only a vision of a “pain-free, perfect place ablaze with the glory of Christ” will sustain us. Today when I pray “Thy kingdom come” I will ask God for this radical readjustment in my own life. I will ask Him to change my perspective on where I am heading and what ultimately matters. Friend, will you join me in saying these words, not with your lips, but with your heart.? Do you need a radical readjustment to your perspective?