All-Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 6:17-20 (day five)
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,”

Does this verse stretch your perspective and approach to prayer like it does for me?  Notice the repetition of the word “all”. Four times.
John Bunyan called this “All-Prayer”. Speaks to: Variety- praise, petition/supplication, confession, intercession. Consistency- not just in a set “prayer time”, but moment by moment throughout the day we remain in dialogue with the Living God. Persistency/Intensity- determined, disciplined, and tenacious. Community- the believers we work, worship, serve, sing, play, fellowship, study, and live with.

The “Who, How, When, and Why” I pray gets challenged and corrected by the Re:Verse passage this week!!

“I’ll Pray for You.”

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 6:17-20 (day four)

“I’ll pray for you” is a common phrase around church. When we hear of a prayer request from someone in our Bible study class, or as we’re chatting in the hall on the way to worship, we respond, “I’ll pray for you.”

Many of us do bring that request to the Lord later in our prayer time. Sometimes we intend to but forget along the way. And sometimes, if we’re honest, the words are barely out of our mouth before our minds have moved on to the next thing. But if we’re not careful, we can make the phrase “I’ll pray for you,” into simply a nice sentiment.

Paul wasn’t asking for nice sentiments here. He’s assuming that his readers understand that prayer is the most powerful thing we can offer someone. When we put on the full armor of God, pray through the power of the Spirit, and partner with Jesus who intercedes for us at the very right hand of God, our prayers hold more power than this world knows what to do with.

Let’s consider the power that prayer holds this week, and pray for each other in that way. And if you’re worried you’ll forget someone’s request on the way home? Pray for them on the spot. Let us be a praying people.

See

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 6:17-20 (day three)

“Be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”

Some folks will tell others what’s really going on in their lives; many – perhaps most – will not. There are reasons for this: shame, fear, regret, confusion, distrust, or the like. Sometimes groups – even a church – will place a high value on conformity, which dissuades people from inviting each other into their questions, doubts, heartaches, and failures. How then can a church care for one another? Paul says to remain alert. Tune in to a person’s words, both spoken and unspoken. Is someone speaking about God’s goodness and yet clenching his or her fists? You have a clue about how to pray for that person. And that’s true when someone sees such body language in you. As we pay attention to each other, we can pray for each other.

In the Spirit

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 6:17-20 (day two) 

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit vs. 18a

This is a very short re:verse passage. Each day this week, take some time to reach each phrase and verse slowly. Re-read and let these words work in your heart. As I did this today the phrase from verse 18 struck me: pray at all times in the Spirit. What do you think that phrase means? It seems to place a conditional awareness to the one praying. The pray-er must be in a state that is sensitive to the Spirit. Does this indicate a state of preparation?  Do we need a time to prepare to pray? Forgive me if I pose more questions than answers, but I do believe it informs us that we are not to be flippant to our time of prayer. It does require of us a quieting, a slowing, a stopping the noise of our minds and the world. How can we pray in the Spirit if we don’t allow the racing in our hearts and minds to stop and surrender? Slow down. Wait for the Spirit. Pray

For Such a Time as This: Pentecost

Re:Verse passage – Esther 7:3-7 (day seven)

And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this? Esther 4:14

For those that like Bible trivia, Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not mention God. Yet, the whole story is written with language that shows us the faith of the individuals and how God was working through them. It is what makes this story so relatable. We can see ourselves in Esther and Mordecai as they overcome insurmountable odds to save their entire nation through their trust in God. They had faith that God had them where He wanted them for a specific purpose. It helps us to ask the very same question of ourselves: is God preparing us for such a time as this?

On this Pentecost Sunday, is God preparing our hearts for such a time as this? God has something big planned for you. He has placed you for this specific time for a specific purpose. Will you be attentive to the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance today?

For Such a Time as This

Re:Verse passage – Esther 7:3-7 (day six)

I’m a father of three young women. One of them is graduating from high school today. Reading Esther this week, my heart couldn’t help but turn its attention to my firstborn and wonder how God might use her.

Esther affirms that God also uses faithful, wise, and sacrificial women (not just men) in some of the most significant plays in his mission to remake the world. As my firstborn begins a new journey, I am confident she will not be sidelined but will have an important part to play in what God is doing. By God’s grace and leadership, she can and will rise above the status quo and cultural norms. She will press the envelope, ask the discerning question, and make the move(s) that matters.

Reading Esther gave me a God-sized vision for my high school graduate and her sisters. I couldn’t help it, it jumped off the page.

Honest Request

Re:Verse passage – Esther 7:3-7 (day five)

“While they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

Have you ever been asked a question like this from someone who could in fact completely answer and deliver on the promise connected to it?  Anything? Everything?  Queen Esther shows great wisdom and patience in her response. (Actually the second time she has been asked by the king). Made her think and process what she wanted, needed, what she was desperate to request. Separates the urgent from the important and the temporal from the long lasting. Her answer/request ends up being bigger than herself- her people and their lives.

Reminds me of Jesus’ words in Luke 18. “What do you want me to do for you?”

How would you answer Jesus’ question?  How would that sound in your prayers?  Can you say the words of an honest and desperate request?  Would they be all about you or something larger and longer?  Ask, seek, and knock for the Lord is listening and inviting an honest conversation and request!!

The Way You Thought

Re:Verse passage – Esther 7:3-7 (day four)

Have you ever looked around at your life and thought, “This is not how I thought it would turn out”? I doubt that as a little girl, Esther dreamed with any seriousness of being a queen. I doubt that Mordecai foresaw the role he would play in saving the Jewish people. On the flip side, though, I doubt that Esther ever thought she would have to risk her life for a nation, and I doubt Mordecai knew that there would be a plot from the palace to take his life.

Things often don’t turn out like we thought they would – sometimes there’s more joy than we imagined, sometimes there’s more fear and grief. Sometimes life makes a lateral move – leaving us with apathy or disappointment we didn’t see coming. In all of it, though, the Lord is present. Esther shows us that if we have heads up, staying alert to the movement of the Spirit, the Lord will use us to do miraculous things to accomplish his purposes – things we never thought possible.

If life hasn’t turned out the way you thought, that doesn’t mean the Lord is not near. He has not left you. How might the Lord be working in the circumstances you find yourself in? If you wake up to the movement of the Spirit, what surprising Kingdom work will lay before you?

 

King

Re:Verse passage – Esther 7:3-7 (day three)

“Who is he, and where is he, who would presume to do thus?”

Does it seem to you that people in power are often the last to know about any number of important matters? In the Bible, Achish king of Gath happily received David – in his outlaw period on the run from Saul – as a trustworthy vassal while David systematically executed raids on all the king’s allies, annihilating their cities. The king’s administration was dubious of David’s loyalty, but the king himself reveled in his supposed good fortune. David in turn, years later, turned out to be the last to know of his own infant son’s death. Those surrounding monarchs and potentates frequently shield their overlords from unpleasant news. The same held for Ahasuerus. He thought Haman was great. King Jesus is the one ruler who’s in the know.