The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:1-4 (day four)

Jesus dictated to the disciples what many of his prayers consisted of, but it’s not just a stream of consciousness or a few nice thoughts strung together. Jesus gave these instructions on prayer with intentionality in every word. He begins with, “Father, hallowed be your name.” He instructs us to begin our time in prayer by declaring that God is holy.

Of course, we know that God is holy. But when we declare it in prayer, it does something in our hearts. It orients us to who we’re praying to. It helps us remember that while we are finite, limited, and sinful, God is infinite, boundless, and perfect. At first it may seem intimidating to approach a perfect God, but Scripture reminds us that God in his perfect holiness is also perfect in grace. He invites us to approach him boldly in prayer because he is a perfect Father, who sent his son as a perfect sacrifice to reconcile us to God. This is perfect grace.

When we begin by declaring God’s holiness, we can then pray in confidence for our daily needs, for forgiveness, for freedom, because we already know the One we’re praying to is perfectly able to do all these things for us. Let God’s holiness draw you into his presence.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:1-4 (day three)

“Lord, teach us to pray…”

You might ask why it would ever be necessary to pray that God wouldn’t lead you into temptation. It would seem to go without saying that God would refrain from such a thing. But you could say the same about other components of the prayer: it would seem to go without saying that God would care that people regard him and his activity highly; that heaven would prevail; that God would provide for one’s needs daily; that God would give mercy and forgiveness to human beings. And yet, here’s this prayer asking that God do all these things. If all that goes without saying, why pray? Because you don’t live in an impersonal, algorithmic universe. You live in a personal one. Life proceeds in conversation with this person – God – or it doesn’t proceed at all.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:1-4 (day two)  Give us each day our daily bread. Vs. 3

Just enough; sufficient. That is how Jesus teaches us to pray. Before we read a list of must-haves, we simply need to take stock of what is necessary. We talk a lot about gratitude in our house. It has become a recurring joke when my children ask me what I want for a birthday they know my response will be, ‘grateful children.’ When we are so cared for, and we truly are, things like breath, health, shelter are expectations rather than blessings. How quickly any of those can change is evident all around us, and yet our tendency is to forget to acknowledge how much of a blessing they are. Jesus prays specifically for what is required for that day. He isn’t saying don’t make plans for the future, but he is clearly saying don’t make them at the expense of this day and all that God has provided for it.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1-11 (day seven)

“and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down” vs 3

The wall is the life support for the city. A broken wall means that the city is vulnerable to its enemies with no defense and no protection. Can you imagine going through your day with the expectation of being attacked at anytime? Can you imagine trying to sleep at night knowing that if you were attacked, there is nothing you could do to protect your friends and family? This is what broke Nehemiah.

Does it break you? Walls are just as important to spiritual warfare as they are to physical. When we allow our spiritual walls to be remain in shambles, we leave ourselves susceptible to attack. With no defense or protection, the enemy can infiltrate our homes and take over our lives. These walls are both personal and corporate. Nehemiah showed us that when each person took care of their part of the wall, the city was fortified faster and stronger. When we each do our part, we strengthen the Church. So where do we start? How do we rebuild the broken and weak places in our spiritual lives? We start like Nehemiah. We start in prayer.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1-11 (day six)

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Mathew 11:28

The news of Jerusalem burdened Nehemiah. The thought of the people there and the hardships they faced consumed him. His response was immediate and prolonged, and all the while, he prayed.

Prayer is not informing God of what he already knows; it is not issuing God maintenance requests. Prayer is actively entrusting God with the burdens we carry. Prayer is rest

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1-11 (day five)  

“But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’”

Have you wandered away from God? Feel distant? Feel spiritually weak and confused?  Maybe that’s where you find yourself now.

God’s Word gives hope and guidance to Nehemiah to us. Our task is to return to him- search, read, and obey God’s Word. Puts our focus and attention away from ourselves and on the Lord- His truths, and promises. God’s role is to do the work. “I will bring you back”.  “It is God who works in you…” -says Paul in  Philippians 2. Does that give you hope?  Does that bring a sense of calm and comfort?  He even knows the place He will bring you to “to the place I have chosen”. He knows that the process of returning,  if left entirely up to us, would be completely overwhelming. So in His loving kindness, He does the work. We return and obey. God works.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1-11 (day four)

One of the best ways to know that your prayers line up with the Lord’s will is to pray Scripture. That’s what Nehemiah is doing here – he is remembering the covenant God made with Moses, and believing in faith that what God had said long ago still holds true for him and his people. Nehemiah remembered that God made a promise for scattered people: if they return to the Lord, he will gather them up again into his presence.

But what does it mean to “return to the Lord”? We often convince ourselves that returning to the Lord means a long, hard journey, or that it would be like returning to a disappointed parent, ready to scold us. When this is what we imagine lying ahead of us, it feels too daunting to take a step towards the Lord. But Scripture paints a different picture. Returning to the Lord means doing just as Nehemiah did here – bowing before him in prayer, and standing on his promises. It only takes a moment to return, and in that moment, you won’t be greeted by a disappointed parent, but a good Father rejoicing over his child.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1-11 (day three)

“The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.”

Whatever your experience of your actual home, there’s a longing in you for a place where people welcome you, where they are patient with you because they know you and make space for you and wait for you. That longing is what lends weight to the words hometown, homecoming, homeland, homesick. Nehemiah had heard all his life of the place from where his people had come, and though he had never been to Jerusalem, that was his home. If the dream of home is shattered, the soul is cut to the quick. Have you lost your dream of home? The Savior has lived that sadness. Our Lord had no place to lay his head. He will cradle yours.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1-11 (day two)

‘but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ Vs. 9

Isn’t this a powerful text? I love Nehemiah’s boldness as he prays. Often as we come before the Lord, the Spirit will remind us of his promises. The Prophet Nehemiah is using the promises of deliverance given by the Lord as a catalyst for repentance. The Lord surely did not need reminding, but as we pray it is always good to cleave to scripture as a signpost for where we need to be. The picture of corporate repentance is also one that we can learn from. We must daily pray for our individual walk, but we should also be a people who acknowledge sin on a larger scale. The call to turn back should indicate that we have moved away from the purposed path as a people. This picture of a repentant people is a great model for the contemporary church.