The Everyday Prayer

ReVerse passage – John 13:3-17 (day four)

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” ― Albert Schweitzer

Schweitzer had obviously read John 13 and recognized the truth of Jesus’ words.  Even though Jesus fully comprehended all that God had given Him, He was willing to give up all of His authority and glory to serve others.  He said it was to be an example to us!  That means that we should do the same…serve others.

How might ‘serving others’ look in our lives?  It could mean a gentleman rising to give his seat to a lady or elderly adult.  It could mean letting the person behind you in line at the grocery store, with only a few items, to go ahead of you when you have a full basket.  Or, it could mean helping with the dishes after a meal at another’s home.  Eyes up and look for ways to follow Jesus’ example!

Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day three)

“He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”

Jesus declared that Peter had already experienced radical (in the sense of all-encompassing) cleansing. He couldn’t be more saved than he was. Peter’s three years of apprenticeship to the Lord were truly a soul-bath. Every word Peter heard Jesus speak, every miracle he saw Jesus perform, every look he saw Jesus give, every road he saw Jesus walk, every lost person he saw Jesus find – this was Peter’s bath. And this work of Jesus cleansed Peter as Peter gave himself to that cleansing. He often came reluctantly or cantankerously into the water, but he came. Judas never let the water trouble him the way it did Peter and the others. He held himself apart – hygiene-adjacent, but never clean.

Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day two)

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. vs. 17

There are many ways to learn, and as you would imagine, many ways to teach. This last meal with the gathered 12 disciples was an opportunity for Jesus to leverage all that he had taught them over the last three years before the terror of the cross was realized. He would pray over them, he would instruct them, challenge their loyalty, and he would show them what love looks like. Examples matter. When you have exhausted all the words you have, sometimes the best teacher is to simply demonstrate. I imagine that there was initially general chatter happening around the table, then uncomfortable mumbling, silence, and then Peter’s protestations. The powerful lesson demonstrated by Jesus is one that all of us value. We value it in others, and hopefully, expect it of ourselves. These acts of servant leadership are often what motivate others far more than simple words ever could.

This grainy photo was taken my first year on staff at FBCSA. The conference room table had not been cleaned after a lunch meeting was there. Rather than expect anyone to clean, Pastors Don and Bryan wasted no time in doing what needed to be done. They didn’t need to do it, others could have, but they did it. To lead, they served. I have never forgotten this beautiful picture. I want to lead like this.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:5-13 (day seven)

The way you pray matters. Jesus clearly addressed that prayer does not have to be a rehearsed show like the pharisees’ public prayers, but in showing the disciples (and us) how to pray, Jesus also makes it clear that there is an order that is important: our wants are not supposed to precede His praise. The first half of this prayer Jesus focused on the preeminence of the Father. The second half He turned the focused to our personal wants. Why is this important?

When you pray, how long do you wait before you start asking for things? It is my guess that the majority of prayers that come before the Lord are in the form of supplication. People begin to pray off a Christmas list of wants  before ever even communicating with God. It is not just about the praise. God craves conversation with us. When we communicate with Him instead of at Him, things begin to shift. By following this model and starting off our prayers by praising God for who He is, it shifts the priority of the prayer from us to Him. When our priority is on Him, He begins to shape our heart through His words, and then His words begin to shape our wants.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:5-13 (day five)

This short passage in Matthew acts as an invitation. An invitation from Jesus to move from the shallows into the great depth of life in the Spirit. As Jesus is describing how His people should pray, he invites them into a secret place. A place that you enter knowing you’re walking on holy ground, where you shut the door, and you commune with the eternal, majestic, loving God of all creation. There’s a sense of wonder in that secret place, where the noise of the rest of the world is silenced and we get to hear from One who loves us. We get to lay out our burdens and watch as He takes each one of them from us. We get to hear the vision of the life that He has for us. Our disillusionment with the world turns into amazement of how the Spirit is bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

If you want to journey into the depths of the life God has for you, start in that secret place. Start with this prayer that Jesus teaches us to pray. As you continue to pray faithfully in this way, you’ll find splendor in that secret place.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:5-13 (day four)

The word ‘hallowed’ is not a word we use very often.  The dictionary definition for it is “holy and consecrated’.  When Jesus gave us instructions on how to pray, this is the first phrase of His example.  Hallowed gives us insight into the character of God.  When we understand that the very nature of God is holiness and how wide-reaching this description truly is, all the rest of this “Lord’s Prayer” makes sense.

The infinite holiness of God is really beyond our full comprehension.  Our finite minds cannot take in all the aspects of infinity.  Stop and reflect on how an understanding of God’s character can impact what we do as a church.  We are Better Together, and when we portray an accurate picture of God to the world around us, He is glorified.  A unified picture is multiplied when we walk together, serving our hallowed God.  How will serving a holy God impact a lost world?

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:5-13 (day three)

“They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.”

Jesus had witnessed the Pharisees’ public theological oratory and prayers. It didn’t do anything for him. Reaching for a way to describe what he saw as spiritual theater, Jesus came up with “actor,” which is what “hypocrite” originally referred to in the ancient world. “What you see there are Academy award-winning performances,” Jesus might as well have said, “but it certainly isn’t true intimacy with God.” Jesus knew that people have pretty good phoniness detectors. They likely already knew that what they saw was often hogwash. But hey, what’re you gonna do? Jesus’s revolutionary teaching declared that they could find God without these thespians. He showed the way to raw, risky, and real life with God through genuine prayer.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:5-13 (day two)

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. vs. 6

This verse speaks of the intimacy of prayer. Oftentimes we think of the public, corporate prayers that accompany worship services. But Jesus is speaking about our one on one time with the Lord. It is an opportunity to confess those sins that no one is aware of except God. Our language and posture change when we know that no one else is listening. The words we use may lack varnish, but they tend to be more sincere. When we are alone to confess those times where we have grieved the Lord, it is not a time to show your command of language, it is a time to be honest. We need to spend more time in private confession and see how it impacts every other conversation and public prayer.