The Everyday Prayer

“Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them”  (Jeremiah 26:3)  This is the great power of the human race, the great hope for every nation, church and family.  If we turn, God will also.  Perhaps you have been concerned with a sense of the gathering storm of God’s disapproval and discipline on our nation.  Perhaps you know that things are not right in your family or heart.  Change!  Turn!  Amend your ways!  (Jeremiah 26: 13)  Rely on God!  Move from self-sufficiency to dependence and trust!  Count on His forgiveness!  Most people never discover the liberating power of this truth.  “If any may be in Christ, he is (will be) a new creation.”   Say to yourself this morning, “I am NOT STUCK.  I can change.  God will help me”  When we change, God, in his relationship toward us, changes too!

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength so that we despaired even of life.”  (2 Cor. 1:8)  It is a necessary reminder for us who are followers of Christ.  Even faithful people have very low moments.  Our text this week (Jeremiah 20) is painful to read.  Jeremiah is a believer so disappointed and lonely that he is accusing God of tricking him into ministry without disclosing how painful it would be.  ( These are true feelings, not true facts if you read Chapter 1)  Anyway,  Hebrews 5:8 says “he learned obedience through the things he suffered.”  For many of us this is the moment of failure.  We stop following when it becomes painful.  We never “get through” our low times, our dark nights.  More on this tomorrow.  I am praying for you and with you.  Don

“Those who sow in tears will reap with joyful shouting”  (Psalm 126:3)  We are reading Jeremiah this week.  He is known as the weeping prophet.  Without any argument, he had a hard life.  It is strange to consider, then, that one of the verses we know best from this man is an expression of unbounded hope.  “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare, not calamity; to give you a future and a hope”  (Jeremiah 29:11)    What a positive vision!  Perhaps Jeremiah knew what we sometimes forget.  Before joy can come tears have to be shed.  Before the harvest, hard work.  Before victory, sacrifice.  As we pray together, today, will you be sensitive to the points of the Lord’s prayer that are most difficult for you to sincerely say?  Difficulty is often the door toward God.  Avoiding hard things usually means that we never get past them.  I am praying with you this morning!  Don

Does God ever lead us onto difficult paths?  Does He send us into conflict and expect us to be faithful even at the expense of our happiness?  Our reading this week is in Jeremiah. (20 and 26) Called to speak for God to the nation of Judah just before their defeat and destruction by Babylon, Jeremiah encountered the resentment of his peers for what many considered to be an “unpatriotic” message.  Over the course of his ministry he was mocked, resented, threatened, criticized, and arrested.  As I study this week, I will measure my own willingness to speak truth when it is unpopular–even unpopular with other believers. (Most of Jeremiah’s opposition came from within “the church.”)  I will remember Paul in conflict with the Judaisers.  I will think of the criticism of the Pharisees and the courage of Christ.  Sometimes we can have peace OR progress.  One.  Not both.  I will be praying for you this week.  It is a privilege to be your Pastor.  Don

The requirement is clear.  Those who desire God must humble themselves.  The key verse in our FBC family reading plan this week is “because your heart was responsive and you HUMBLED yourself before God when you heard what He spoke. . .and because you HUMBLED yourself before Me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you declares the Lord”  (2 Chronicles 34: 27)   The real problem in our lives is pride.  The necessary question is ” What does humililty look like?”  Like prayer.  Like surrender of control.  Like praise.  Like not getting my way and not fussing that I don’t.  “He must increase.  I must decrease” said John the Baptist in a powerful expression of this timeless spiritual truth.  Only the humble (self humbled!) ever experience the true mercy and goodness of God.  I am looking forward to seeing you in a few hours!  Lord helping us, we can be small together.   I love you.  Don

As I write (Friday morning) the weather forecast is for rain!  It is a hopeful feeling.  Humans need hope.  It is oxygen of the soul.  In the face of a bleak prophesy re. his nation, young King Josiah still hoped.  He knew the mercy of God.  He knew that God had heard his cry for repentance.  So, he hoped for others!  He reached out to them to lead them to find hope too.  It is an inspiring story!  Do you have hope this morning? (Look at the nation, look at the church,  at your own heart.  Then look to God.  Do you?)  Do you believe that God’s promise and preference is to show mercy to those who return to Him?   Are you praying and reaching out to others to show them the path to safety?  “Three things remain; faith, HOPE, and love” (1 Corinthians 13) I will look for you tomorrow at church.  It looks like it is going to be a great day!

Is personal peace enough?  Once a believer is saved and safe (and his family) is it permitted to relax and enjoy the ride?  I have been impressed this week with the heart of King Josiah. (Thanks for reading the Re verse passage in unity with the FBC family)  2 Chronicles tells of his concern for the nation of Judah even after Huldah prophesies that he himself will be spared. “Your eyes will not see the evil that I (God) will bring on this place (Jerusalem)”  Like Abraham (Genesis 19) pleading the mercy of God, and unlike Hezekiah who in similar situation is satisfied to save his own skin (read 2 Kings 20 for this sad report),  Josiah presses forward to explore the available mercy of God for others.  He cares about His nation.  Today as we pray the Lord’s prayer will we do the same?  We will spread our net of concern over a wide circle?  Followers of Christ have a larger goal than personal peace.

(Sorry for the new word, but I think English can do better than heroine.  Sounds like a drug.)  Many, most? of the heros of the Christian faith are women.  It needs to be spoken given years of discrimination.  (We are still less than 100 years from women being able to vote in this nation! Other nations are worse.)  Our text this week tells of  Hulduh. (2 Chronicles 34) It is significant how “without fanfare” the scripture refers to her as a prophetess.  An innocent, biblical perspective on this capacity to know God and speak His word to others.   A gift from God that has NOTHING to do with gender.  Jesus had the same attitude re. prayer.  In Luke 18 when the Lord wanted to illustrate “persevering prayer” he told about a woman who was finally heard because she would not give up.  May the Lord send thousands!  The Kingdom is well served by women who speak to God and then speak for God.  I will see you Sunday.  Should be interesting. . .Don

“Tell the MAN who sent you to me”  (2 Chronicles 34)  The voice belongs to God.  The speaker is Huldah.  Normally she would have been very concerned to honor the King whose messengers have come to her for counsel.  Here, however, she refers to him by neither name nor title.  To God, Josiah is just a man.  It is a good reminder for me.  I can be so concerned with what people think that I forget how flimsy and short-lived we all really are.  I can lose sight of the Real Glory.  When I pray ” Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name”, I am (or should be) declaring my independence from any other consideration than what He requires.  Not critics, not friends matter the way He does. They are just men.

Good morning!  Today is our second day reading 2 Chronicles 34.  Thank you for being a member of this great family.  Our focus is on Josiah who loved God as a young child (vs 1) and began to seek the Lord as a teenager (age 16, vs 3)  At age 26 (vs 8) he begins a repair project for the temple in Jerusalem.  In the course of the renovation, the workers discover “the book of the Law of the Lord, given by Moses” (vs 14)  Here is where the story get’s good.  When the book was read to the King he tore his clothes. (vs 19) It was a sign of grief.  His immediate reaction was godly fear.  God’s word had its intended and beneficial effect.  It humbled him before God.  May it do the same for us.  “the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation.” (2 Corinthians 7:10)  Before God can save us, He must convince us that we need to be.