Odometer Milestones

 A few weeks ago the odometer reading on our 2019 Toyota minivan rolled over to six digits. I remember when a vehicle with 100,000 miles on it was usually nearing the end of, if not its lifespan at least its reliability. Not so with our van. At least I hope so. It shows no sign of imminent catastrophic failure for which Joyce and I are grateful. Not making a car payment is a wonderful thing. Cars are a lot more reliable than they used to be.

Three days ago marked another odometer milestone for me. On December 29 I turned 70. Having a birthday four days after Christmas was always a drag. As a kid I never had a birthday party. By this point in the holiday season people tend to be weary of sweets and parties. One year my “birthday cake” was actually a meat pie. And since it fell in the middle of Christmas break I even missed the perfunctory classroom celebrations that my classmates enjoyed. In fact, more often than not my present was wrapped in Christmas paper.

But this birthday was truly special. It fell in the midst of a ten day long holiday in Hawaii, compliments of our son and daughter-in-law.

The day dawned for me on the 10,023 ft. summit of Haleakala, the highest point on the Island of Maui.

It ended with the sun setting west of Maui with the Island of Molokai visible across the strait.

It was a wonderful day and a wonderful trip. But vacations don’t last forever. I write this in the Minneapolis airport awaiting the final leg of the flight home. We left behind the sea mist coming off the rolling breakers of paradise. In exchange we got to see our breath as we trudged up the jetway here in Minnesota. The sound of the pounding surf has been replaced with the rumble of jets.

Paradise lost.

One has a lot of time for reflection while relaxing by the sea, watching the waves come rolling in. The waves are always the same yet always different. Sometimes they are small, sometimes large, but they never stop. Like birthdays, they just keep coming. Some are easily forgotten. Some are forever etched in our memories.

70 once seemed ancient to me. And in truth, it was not that many decades ago that 70 WAS old. But better nutrition, better healthcare, and safer working conditions have  enabled my generation to enjoy a far better prospect of a far longer lifespan.

But simply adding days to one’s life isn’t much of an accomplishment. What we do with those added days makes all the difference. There is one advantage to having a late December birthday. For it falls just in time for those New Year’s resolutions. A new year of life reinforces a new year on the calendar as a propitious time to make changes. So I’m in a reflective mood as I wait for our flight to O’Hare to be called. Like our old minivan I’ve got my share of dings and scratches. But God willing, I’m still good for a lot more miles. I’m not sure what all those resolutions will be, but I want to make the most of what God gives me. Seize the day!

Can These Bones Live?

A Guide to Thirty-five Days of

Prayer for Spiritual Awakening

 

 

Using This Guide

 My purpose in developing this prayer guide is quite simple: To help lay the groundwork for the spiritual revival of our church. Nothing that you or I do can create revival. Revival of a local church, or the more widespread awakening of a larger region, is always a grace gift from God, given at His pleasure. All we can do is remove obvious hindrances to the Holy Spirit’s work.

 Church history tells us of many marvelous outpourings of God’s Spirit. These can happen at the level of an individual believer, a local church, or beyond. Terms such as renewal, revival, and awakening are used to describe these events. In every case it starts with repentance. Not the repentance of unbelievers but the repentance of Christians who have fallen into sin. Revivals are God’s way of fixing broken churches.

 Distinguishing between these terms is difficult because usage varies. For my purposes, when an individual experiences repentance and a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit I refer to it as spiritual renewal. When it happens to an entire congregation I call it a revival. When it moves beyond the confines of one church it becomes an awakening. Extraordinary awakenings on a large scale are called great awakenings. The First Great Awakening during the 1730s and 40s had a powerful impact in both England and the American colonies on Presbyterian and Baptist churches and helped give birth to the Methodist Church.

 In 1904 there was a dramatic regional awakening known as the Welsh Revival. Evan Roberts was one of its key leaders. He led a series of meetings in which powerful waves of intercessory prayer swept over those present. During those meetings the Holy Spirit gave Evan four requirements that were later to be used throughout the coming revival:

1.      Confession of all known sin.

2.      Repentance and restitution.

3.      Obedience and surrender to the Holy Spirit.

4.      Public confession of Christ.

 The outpouring of the Spirit began. There was weeping, shouting, crying out, joy and brokenness. God’s presence seemed to fill the air. Many were prostrated with conviction, others cried for mercy and many were so filled with the Spirit they pleaded with the Lord to stay His hand. Some would shout out, “No more, Lord Jesus, or I’ll die”. This was the beginning of the Welsh Revival.

During this season of prayer, as you use this guide I hope that you will:

1.      Ask the Holy Spirit to awaken you to any unconfessed sin in your life and that once you are aware of it, repent. As you go ever deeper into repentance you may find that this becomes a process that takes some time. Like a nurse in a burn unit repeatedly debriding a wound, it may take a while for the Spirit to get to healthy tissue. You may have to face sins long festering in your soul. Expect pain.

2.      Commit to a deeper level of personal discipleship. To begin with, this means daily prayer and Bible reading as the touchstones of a devotional life. Discipleship needs to become a lifestyle. Getting into the habit of daily devotions is a start. Adopting good habits take time. 35 days is probably not long enough but it should give you a good start.

3.      Seek to discover and use your spiritual gifts. You are a part of this church for a reason. The key to understanding that reason may be found in learning how the Holy Spirit has uniquely prepared you for ministry. Spiritual gifts do not come with an expiration date. You are never too old to exercise those gifts.

4.      Pray for our church! That means praying for our individual members. Pray that they will join you in this spiritual pilgrimage. Pray for our leaders. Pray for all of us during this time of transition. Pray for the person who in time will become our permanent pastor that this person will prove to be God’s person for the task.

5.      Pray for the salvation of the lost. You know people who are not prepared to enter eternity. Some are family members. Some are neighbors. Some are co-workers or fellow students. Make a list of these individuals as the Spirit brings them to mind and make prayer for them a daily practice. Pray for them by name that God would soften their hearts, preparing them to hear the gospel. Pray for openings to share the good news with them. Pray that the Holy Spirit would hound their steps so that at every turn they are confronted by their lost condition and their need for Jesus.

6.      Pray for an awakening. Pray for the residents of Belgrade, Caledonia, Belleview, and all the people of the Bellevue Valley. Pray that our sister churches in the area would join in seeking the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that a true awakening might take place.

7.      Consider finding a prayer partner or forming a prayer group. Jesus promised us that where two or more or gathered together in prayer, he is present. So called “cottage prayer meetings” have been a recurring phenomenon during the revivals and awakenings of the past.

8.      Consider keeping a spiritual journal to help you keep track of what the Spirit is teaching you.

 Make these prayers a part of each day’s devotions. In addition, with each daily devotional you will find a suggested prayer related to that day’s readings.

 It is my prayer that God will speak to you through this guide and that through you He will bless our church and our community.

 Glen Land

 

 

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Can These Bones Live?

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

     ¹The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. ²And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. ³And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” ⁴Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

     ⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. ⁹Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

     ¹¹Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ ¹²Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

 

     Can these bones live? That was the question that God put to Ezekiel after he placed the prophet in the valley of dry bones. The scene was of a long abandoned battlefield where the dead of the defeated army were left to rot where they fell. It was a scene of utter hopelessness, defeat, and despair; despair that matched that of Israel, a nation in Babylonian exile because of their faithlessness.

     God answered his own question. The answer is summed up in one brief phrase, “I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live…” (Ezk. 37:14a) It reminds us of a recurring cycle in Scripture, a cycle of sin, judgment, repentance, forgiveness, and renewal.

     Our church needs revival. Some of you already hunger for it. Others may sense a need but have not yet given the need a name. Over the next five weeks please join your brothers and sisters at our church in praying that God would send revival. This simple guide is intended to help in that undertaking. Each day there will be a Scripture passage for your meditation along with some brief devotional thoughts and a specific focus for that day’s prayer.

 

Lord, send a revival, and let it begin with me. Amen

 

 

Monday, May 29, Memorial Day 

Honoring Those Who Came Before

 

Hebrews 11:1-3

¹Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ²For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

 

Hebrews 12:1-4

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. ⁴In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

 

     Memorial Day, the day we remember our dead. First, those who died in the service of our country on distant battlefields. Second, family and friends who passed away and whose absence is still keenly felt. It is appropriate and proper that we should do so. As we pray for revival, let us add to these the memory of those spiritual giants who helped establish and grow our church. Some of these were laid to rest in our cemetery, where their bodies now await the Resurrection.

     The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, heroes of the faith who through ages past have inspired later generations to live lives of righteousness.

     Today we pray for revival. First, because it honors our Lord. Second, because it helps us fulfill the Great Commission. Third, because it will bring blessing to each of us. And forth, because it honors the sacrifices of those pillars of the church who came before us.

 

Lord, thank you for those who came before us, whose witness and sacrifice made possible our church. May I learn from their examples. Amen

 

 

Tuesday, May 30

A Broken Spirit

 

Psalm 51:1-17

¹Have mercy on me, O God,

    according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

    blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

    and cleanse me from my sin!

³For I know my transgressions,

    and my sin is ever before me.

⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned

    and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words

    and blameless in your judgment.

⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

    and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;

    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

⁹Hide your face from my sins,

    and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,

    and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹Cast me not away from your presence,

    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

    and sinners will return to you.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

    O God of my salvation,

    and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,

    and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

 

     Churches experience revival at the congregational level only after their members experience repentance and renewal at the personal level. If a man goes into cardiac arrest he will die unless he is revived. Churches experience revival not as a reward for exceptional faithfulness but as a remedy for their past faithlessness. Thanks to the matchless grace of God, they are revived as an act of sovereign love and forgiveness when enough of the members repent. Christ designed his church to be a vital, healthy, growing body of believers who are daily infused by the Spirit’s presence and power. Only sin prevents this from being our normal state of affairs. And sin, like repentance, is always personal. An institution such as a church can sin, but only because the people who make up the institution sin.

     Psalm 51 is the template for personal repentance. It was the cry of King David’s broken heart. “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, and you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be blameless in your judgment.” (Ps. 51:3-4) There was no, “I made a mistake.” No, “I’m sorry if I offended you.” No excuses, no hedging, no weasel words. Just “I sinned. God have mercy on me.” This same David was called a man after God’s own heart. One reason was David repented like a man.

     “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” To be filled with the Spirit, first our own sinful spirits must be broken.

 

Merciful Father, forgive me, a sinner. Call to my mind any unconfessed sin that I might get right with you. Amen

 

 

Wednesday, May 31

Spiritual Hunger

 

Psalm 63:1

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

    my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

 

     Every Sunday we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Yet how many of us have ever had to wonder where our next meal was coming from? We thoughtlessly announce, “Boy, am I starved!” Yet few of us have ever experienced real hunger. 

     To experience true spiritual renewal requires a different kind of hunger—a hunger for God’s presence—a hunger to sense the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus instructed us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Mt. 7:7) God does not impose himself on us. We must invite him in. In John’s account of Jesus’ resurrection appearances we read, “Jesus said to them, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” It is the indwelling Holy Spirit who gives the church the power to live the Christian life and fulfill the Great Commission.

     The forth beatitude proclaims, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Mt. 5:6) Our hunger for righteousness is ultimately a hunger for the Spirit.

 

Dear Jesus, give me this day my spiritual bread. - Amen

 

 

Thursday, June 1

Love Not the World

 

1 John 2:15-17

¹⁵Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

 

     “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” This is a tough command. The allure of this world is both real and powerful. It is not by chance that Satan dangled this very temptation before Jesus. Matthew 4:8-9 reads, “Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’” The world in this context is not the earth but rather the worldly system that controls life on this planet. It is a system designed and ruled by Satan himself.

     As Americans we face a special temptation here. We are blessed in so many ways to live in a nation where personal liberty, especially religious liberty, is protected by law. Because of this, it becomes easy to confuse and conflate love of God with love of country. It is a dangerous snare. Isaiah reminds us that “All the nations are as nothing to him [God], they are counted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.” (Is. 40:17) ALL nations, ALL governments, ALL political systems and parties, are ultimately a part of “the world” and are corrupted by the Evil One.

     When believers fail to remember this, the impact on the church is toxic. In far too many congregations having the correct political loyalty has become an unspoken condition for fellowship. As Peter discovered in Acts 10, even Roman soldiers, members of the very army that crucified our Lord, could receive the Holy Spirit and be welcomed into the church. Compared to this, the present differences between Republicans and Democrats are petty indeed! We are not called to only make disciples from “people like us”. Real spiritual awakening touches one and all.

 

Forgive me, Father, when I have been unwilling to cross political or cultural barriers in order to share the gospel. Never let me forget that the initiative to cross those divides always rests with me. Amen

 

 

Friday, June 2

Desires of the Flesh

 

1 John 2:16

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

 

Galatians 5:16-21

¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

     “Desires of the flesh…” Do you sometimes feel like there is a war going on within you? You are not alone. Every Christian struggles with the desires of the flesh.

     It’s not something that we are inclined to share with the members of our Sunday school class. After all, Paul lists the works of the flesh as “…sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” (Gal. 5:19-21a) Now maybe you would admit to your classmates to losing your temper when another driver cut you off in traffic, but seriously, would you ask for prayer because you are lusting after your neighbor’s spouse? At best this would be one of those “unspoken” requests. We are rightly ashamed to harbor such thoughts and fear—probably with good reason—that our fellow church members would think less of us were we to admit to such carnal desires.

     The desires of the flesh are one sad aspect of living in a fallen creation. They represent a temptation to one and all.

     The fact that these feelings stir conflict in your heart is actually encouraging. For the unrepentant sinner will eventually so sear his conscience that he no longer feels guilt. For such a person the war is over. Satan won.

     John offers us good news and bad news. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn. 1:8-9) Confession truly is good for the soul. You would think in theory that simply confessing your sin to God would be enough. After all, only God can forgive sin. But if confession is to lead to true repentance—a turning away from our sin—then confessing to another believer can serve to strengthen our resolve. This is especially true when dealing with persistent, recurring sin. AA members know this. What do they tell the other members of the chapter? “My name is ________ and I am an alcoholic.”

     On this point Roman Catholics may have something to teach us. The confessional—and the sanctity of the confessional—can help bring spiritual healing. James summed it up. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:16a) God will not bless our church with a fresh outpouring of his Holy Spirit if we harbor unconfessed sin in our hearts.

     But choose carefully the one to whom you confess. For this is the ultimate privileged information.

 

Merciful Father, forgive me, a sinner. I entertain thoughts and desires too shameful to share out loud. Help me to find a trusted counselor who can help strengthen my resolve to sin no more. Amen

 

 

Saturday, June 3

The Fruit of the Spirit

 

Galatians 5:22-24

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

 

     For centuries biologists have labored to develop a comprehensive classification system for all living things. The idea is to sort everything according to shared characteristics. The basic classification system today goes from domain to kingdom to phylum to class to order to family to genus to species: from the very broad to the very specific. Consider, for example, the classification of a dog. At the broadest category, domain, the dog is lumped in with all plants and animals. But as you drill down to greater levels of precision, animal life is distinguished from plant life, vertebrates from invertebrates. By the time you get to class, dogs are in the same category will all other mammals. At the level of order, dogs are carnivores, in the same category as cats. But dogs and cats are in different families. Dogs are members of the canidae family along with wolves, jackals, and foxes. But their genus, canis, excludes foxes. At the species level, canis lupus, you find only dogs and wolves. Dogs alone are members of the subspecies canis lupus familaris. All dogs are genetic descendants of wolves. Human beginnings are members of the homo sapiens species. We are in the same class, mammals, as dogs but in a different order, primates. Many of the characteristics that distinguish humans from dogs are obvious. We walk erect, we have opposable thumbs, our teeth are different, our body hair is different, our eyes are different, etc.

     But distinguishing between a Christian and an unbeliever is more difficult. Instead of physical differences we are talking about differences in behavior. Matthew’s gospel provides us the key. In chapter 7 Jesus declared, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” (Mt. 7:16a) In verse 21 he further elaborated, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

     Today’s passage in Galatians provides us some of the specific identifying characteristics of a Christian. Their lives are defined by, “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” Growing up in a Christian home in a Christian culture is not enough. Calling yourself a Christian is not enough. Joining a church is not enough. Most shocking of all, even acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God and calling him ‘Lord’ is insufficient by itself. If your repentance was real and your profession of faith heartfelt, it changes the way you live your life. When the fruit of the Spirit is evident in the lives of our members you will know that we have been revived.

 

Holy Father, may the fruit of the Spirit define who I am and all I do. – Amen

 

 

Sunday, June 4

The Way of Love

 

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. ⁴Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

     Did you notice that in yesterday’s passage from Galatians 5 “fruit of the Spirit” was singular? It was fruit, not fruits of the Spirit. How does that change our understanding? It has been suggested that the best approach is to place a colon after love. It would then read: But the fruit of the Spirit is love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… Thus, the fruit of the Spirit is love. Joy, peace, etc. then simply further define what Christian love looks like. 1 Corinthians 13 supports this idea. The famous love passage has been read at many marriage ceremonies. While it is most desirable that love as Paul describes it should characterize marriage, what is described here goes far beyond romantic love. This is agape love, the self-giving sacrificial love that God demonstrated in sending his Son to die for our sins. When you submit your life to the lordship of Jesus and his Holy Spirit indwells and infuses your life, you begin a process of sanctification—becoming ever more like Christ in how you live your life. John summed this up in his first letter: ⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12)

 

Loving Father, may the love that you first showed me radiate from me to those around me, that I might demonstrate Christlikeness to one and all. Thus may I show Jesus to my unbelieving friends, family, and neighbors that they might come to repentance and experience new life. – Amen

 

 

Monday, June 5

The Mind of Christ

 

Philippians 2:1-10

¹So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ²complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

     The ancient world considered humility a weakness. Honor—having your merits recognized and your name praised—was what people sought. You were expected to boast of your accomplishments and social status. Humility was something for children and slaves, not honorable men and women.

     In many quarters the virtue is still unpopular. For those of us who grew up watching John Wayne movies, humility was never something you associated with “The Duke.” Too often humility is equated with weakness and a lack of confidence. Worse still, a common but distorted concept of humility is built on a lie. As C. S. Lewis put it in The Screwtape Letters, “… thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools. And since what they are trying to believe may, in some cases, be manifest nonsense, they cannot succeed in believing it…”

     Humility, as a Christian virtue, does not mean thinking less of yourself. Rather, it means thinking less about yourself. It is about a change of focus. Again, quoting Lewis, it is about a man reaching, “… a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another.” It’s about doing good without worrying about who gets the credit.

     The early church father, John Chrysostom, once wrote that just as pride is the root of all sin, so “humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue.” In describing the mind of Christ, Paul points to his extraordinary humility: “⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” The essential virtue of the Incarnation was humility: God become man. Compared to this for you or me to become a cockroach of a garden slug would be no sacrifice at all.

     Becoming humble in this biblical sense is a tricky business. A final Lewis quote says it all. “If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means that you are very conceited indeed.”

 

Almighty God, I am nothing without you. Each breath I take is a gift from you. Crush my pride that I might obtain the mind of Christ. – Amen

 

 

Tuesday, June 6

Holy Imaginings

 

Philippians 4:8-9

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

     That old proverbial saying, “You are what you eat,” reminds us that our diet affects us in many ways. Spend the day consuming high-calorie, empty carbohydrates and by day’s end you’ll feel awful. One of the first questions I used to ask people coming in for counseling was, “Tell me about your eating and sleeping habits.” Without good nutrition and adequate rest everything else in life tends to fall apart. Another saying, this from the computer age, warns us of “garbage in, garbage out.” Initially it referred to the “human element” in computer programming. Enter the wrong data and you will get inaccurate results. But in time we saw that the truth of the statement had broader application beyond computing. Any process was only as good as the information it was based on. So before you invest your life savings on a stock tip, make sure that the person who shared the tip knew what he was talking about!

     Paul warns us in this passage from Philippians that the stuff of our thought life has a direct and predictable impact on the rest of our life. As food feeds our body so our thoughts feed our soul. If our thought life is garbage, we should not be surprised if we find ourselves living in a dung heap. If you want to be able to lie down at night with peace of mind, “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

 

Gracious Lord, protect me from thoughts and worries that do not honor you. I commit my thought life to thee. May your indwelling Holy Spirit serve as a guarding to my imagination, that I might be protected from sin. – Amen

 

 

Wednesday, June 7

The Anxious States of America

 

Philippians 4:4-7

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Matthew 6:25-34

²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 

     While the Covid-19 pandemic has finally subsided, another pandemic is afflicting the U.S. and it far surpasses Covid at its worst—the pandemic of anxiety. Over 27% of all adults suffer from anxiety. Among young adults (18-29) that number skyrockets to 42%. Among children the number is 9%. Women are disproportionately affected, 31% compared to 24% among men. Anti-anxiety drugs are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the country. Anxiety was already a major problem before Covid but the pandemic caused an explosion in the number of people affected. It is a statistical certainty that some of you using this prayer guide are among those anxiety sufferers.

     The many root causes of anxiety in our society are too complex to get into here. In many cases recovery from crippling anxiety requires medical treatment. Some (and I want to emphasize this) but by no means all anxiety has an underlying spiritual component.

     Jesus spoke to those whose anxiety centered on concerns about their mortality and the provision of basic needs of life, things like food and clothing. Our days are numbered and none of us knows their sum. Worry about our own mortality accomplishes nothing. The best advice is to live each day like tomorrow we will stand before our Lord to give an accounting. Regarding our basic life needs, Jesus assured us that these are things that God provides to those whose first concern is the Kingdom of God. He also warned against the classic trap that the habitual worrier falls into: worrying about tomorrow’s needs instead of focusing on the present. The past is forever frozen, unchangeable. The future is unknown and unknowable. The present is where we touch eternity.

     Paul adds the insight that an attitude of rejoicing provides the proper framework for a life without anxiety. God will provide your needs and with them, he will bless you with peace of mind.

     Anxious, worried, troubled people are all around us; people in need of the saving grace of our Lord. A church in revival is one that reaches out in love with good news to these anguished souls.

 

Merciful Father, when my anxious thoughts betray me, may your indwelling Spirit calm my troubled soul and give me peace. – Amen

 

 

Thursday, June 8

The Armor of God

 

Ephesians 6:10-17

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹²For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…

 

     Yesterday’s text assured us that much of our worry about such every day concerns like food and clothing is needless thanks to God’s daily provision for us. Contrast this to today’s text, which informs us about the existence of unseen hostile forces arrayed against us. Now here’s something to really worry about! There’s a war going on all around us involving malevolent spirit beings that actively seek our destruction. What’s worse, on our own we are utterly defenseless against these cosmic powers. That’s the bad news. The good news is we are not on our own! We are not defenseless. Using the metaphor of armor and weaponry of a Roman soldier, Paul spells out just how the believer is protected from the attacks of satanic forces:

·        Truth – Satan is the Father of Lies. But we can see through his deceptions because we know the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

·        Righteousness – Christians who live lives that are faithful and true are above reproach. They are known as persons who are just, fair, equitable, and upright in their dealings. Their righteousness, and the reputations that they therefore earn, preempt many of the Evil One’s attacks.

·        Readiness given by the gospel of peace – Because our hearts are filled with peace that salvation brings us, we need not fear anything, even death. Therefore we can face with confidence the worst that the Devil might throw our way. This was the confidence that allowed General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, a deeply committed Christian, to face battle without fear. When asked about it, Jackson replied, “Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.”

·        Faith – Our faith in Christ is a shield that will protect us from anything in Satan’s arsenal. What’s more, it is the very foundation of unity in the church.

·        Salvation – Like the helmet in Paul’s metaphor, our salvation protects us from otherwise lethal blows. While it is ours, nonetheless we need to appropriate it constantly in faith.

·        Word of God – Paul uses the image of the short bladed sword—almost a long dagger—that was standard equipment for the legionnaire. It was used for both defense and offense but only in close combat. The nature of the combat that we face as Christians demands that we close with the enemy.

 

Almighty God, may I be found faithful and courageous in the face of the enemy. May the knowledge that you protect me banish all fear. – Amen

 

 

Friday, June 9

Gifts of the Spirit

 

1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-31

⁴Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. ⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

     ²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

 

Romans 12:3-8

³For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

 

Ephesians 4:11-12

¹¹And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…

 

     Much has been written about spiritual gifts and the subject is far too complex to delve deeply into here. I just want to make a few pertinent points:

     First, spiritual gifts are grace gifts. They represent a special blessing that the Spirit entrusts to Christ’s followers. They are to be distinguished from natural talents or leaned skills. The ability to sing is a talent that may be enhanced by training. Knowing how to overhaul an engine is a skill that is learned. Exhortation, often demonstrated as the gift of preaching, is a spiritual gift—an ability that the recipient did not have until after he or she became a Christian.

     Second, all Christians have at least one spiritual gift. Some have many.

     Third, we are permitted to pray to receive spiritual gifts that we presently lack. In at least one case, the gift of wisdom, we are told that it is ours for the asking. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5)

     Fourth, though entrusted to individual believers, spiritual gifts are given to the church for the church’s ministry.

     Fifth, if you struggle to identify your own spiritual gifts, often those around you will recognize it first.

     Sixth, if you are a Christian and a member of the church, if you fail to utilize any spiritual gifts that you possess, you are hampering the work of Christ’s church. God has entrusted you with something vital to the ministry of the church, something that cannot be accomplished properly without the exercise of your particular gift.

 

Dear Lord, help me to recognize and put into practice any and all spiritual gifts that I may possess. And forgive me for any past failures to do so. I want to serve in whatever role you have selected for me. – Amen

 

 

Saturday, June 10

One Body, Many Members

 

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. ²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

 

     In this passage from 1 Corinthians Paul takes the metaphor of the church as the Body of Christ and expands on it, using it as a lesson in church unity.

     First, it matters not where you started from. Whatever your race, your nationality, your family background, your social status, your income, all are equally welcome as members of the family of God. We are intimately united by one indwelling Holy Spirit.

     Second, we all have a job to do. We are all essential components in the business of church. That job is summed up in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, both found in Matthew’s gospel.

     ³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

     ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

     If our church is to be obedient in fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, you must first be obedient in fulfilling your spiritual calling as a member of the body. It matters not who you are or what you have done in the past. It matters not how old you are or how well you know your Bible. The ignorant can be educated. The inexperienced can be mentored. Spiritual gifts can be discovered and honed. But the will to act is all yours.

 

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” – Amen (Isaiah 6:8)

 

 

Sunday, June 11

Wisdom Toward Outsiders

 

Colossians 4:5-6

⁵Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. ⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

 

     The Church in America is suffering from a public relations disaster. Unfortunately, it is one of our own creation. We forgot our mission: making disciples. Instead, we got into the business of cultural transformation. To be sure, seeing a culture adopt Christian values is a good thing. Just lessening a culture’s hostility to Christian values is a welcome and positive step. But Christ never taught, and the First Century Church never maintained, that cultural transformation was our task. Rather, cultural transformation happened as a desirable by-product of evangelizing and making disciples. Make enough disciples and the impact on a culture can be dramatic. Consider the effects of the 1904 Welsh Revival. As one newspaper reported at the time:

 

Profanity silenced, public-houses deserted, theatres closed, betting books burned, football teams disbanded, police courts idle, family feuds pacified, old-standing debts paid, sectarianism and ecclesiasticism submerged, the family altar re-erected, and Bible study become a passion – it is certainly a wonderful record.

 

     So dramatic was the change in peoples’ lives that the ponies pulling carts in the coal mines stopped working. The colliers had so cleaned up their language that the ponies no longer understood their commands!

     It’s bad enough that we forgot our mission. But it gets worse. Instead of placing our hope in the Holy Spirit we have placed it in secular politics. As a consequence of this unholy alliance, many of our countrymen now view the church as nothing more than a political action committee of the Republican Party. In other words, we have completely alienated half the population, making them harder than ever to reach for Christ. Even among our newfound allies we are often viewed cynically as tools to be used and forgotten. And sadly, it’s all been for nothing. The culture is far less accepting of Christian values now than when the Moral Majority was launched some 45 years ago. You can’t vote a society into godliness. We’ve lost the culture war. We never should have fought it.

     The late New Testament scholar, F.F. Bruce once wrote, “The reputation of the gospel is bound up with the behavior of those who claim to have experienced its saving power.” We are to be in the world but not of the world. Jesus called us “…the light of the world.” He instructed us to, “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14, 16)

     Peter called us “sojourners and exiles.” Paul said that “our citizenship is in heaven.” He also instructed Timothy that bishops “must be well thought of by outsiders.” This is but one of a number of places in the New Testament that stresses the importance that Christians conduct themselves with grace, dignity, and understanding in their relations with unbelievers. We must never forget that our task is to woo them ever closer to our Lord. Peter admonished, “…always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…” (1 Peter 3:15)

 

Lord, may our church experience a fresh understanding and commitment to our mission. And may unbelievers that I know see Jesus in me. – Amen

 

 

Monday, June 12

Love Your Enemies

 

Matthew 5:43-48

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

Luke 6:27-36

²⁷“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. ³²“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ³⁶Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

 

     Few of Jesus’ teachings have received more resistance and push back than his command that we love our enemies. To obey is seen by many as foolish at best and cowardly at worst. It is completely at odds with the popular culture. Our movie heroes from John Wayne to Clint Eastwood to Bruce Willis to Liam Neeson teach us that our enemies are to be dispatched without mercy, the more brutally the better. Love for their enemies never entered the picture. And watching them, we get a vicarious thrill, subconsciously wishing that we could so deal with our own enemies.

     But Jesus never asks of us what he was not first willing to model. Thank God Jesus loved his enemies! Because the awful truth is that you and I were counted among those enemies. The whole story of the Incarnation, from miraculous conception to miraculous resurrection and ascension is the story of God loving his enemies and paying the ultimate price to demonstrate that love. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

 

Precious Lord Jesus, help me to love as I am loved by you. – Amen

 

 

Tuesday, June 13

Forgiveness

 

Luke 23:34a

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

 

Acts 7:59-60

⁵⁹And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

 

Matthew 18:21-22

²¹Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

 

     Loving your enemies demands that we forgive them. This doesn’t just mean forgiving some slight or insult. This means forgiving grievous injury and loss. The disciples had a hard time with this demand. Peter probably thought he was being cute when he asked the Lord if this meant forgiving someone seven times. You get the impression that he was expecting Jesus to say something like, “Oh, that would be carrying things a bit too far.” What he got instead, seventy-seven times, was actually Jesus way of say that there is no limit to forgiveness.

     You occasionally hear people suggest that we forgive and forget. Unless your brain is in some way damaged by injury or disease, that’s asking the impossible. The greater the harm experienced, the more deeply it is imbedded into our memories. The truth is, what we are asked to do is harder. We are told to forgive in spite of our memories. I can’t forget but still I forgive.

     We are not asked to pretend the harm never happened. Nor are we commanded to now trust the one who hurt us. Forgiveness is a gift. Trust must be earned. And there are circumstances where trust can never be earned.

     What we often fail to realize is that forgiveness is as much a gift to ourselves as it is a gift to the one who injured us. Hate, anger, resentment… these are heavy loads to carry around. Forgiveness frees us from that burden.

     Forgiveness carries with it great power for good. Stephen’s prayer to forgive those who were killing him demonstrated this when the young man who guarded the coats of his murderers, Saul of Tarsus, became the Apostle Paul.

 

Lord Jesus, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. – Amen

 

 

Wednesday, June 14

Weary of Doing Good

 

Galatians 6:9-10

⁹And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

 

2 Thessalonians 3:13

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.

 

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

 

     “Did we get there, yet?” Children are not renowned for their patience. What parent hasn’t heard that question and the complaints that follow? Kids don’t want it all now. They want it before they even know they wanted it! Sadly, adults are often not much better. Too often impatience and weariness describe our service to the Lord. What pastor or committee chair has not grown weary of trying to raise money for a building program? What Sunday school teacher hasn’t found herself tired of lesson preparation? Who hasn’t grown tired of bringing the same prayer request before the Lord with no apparent answer forthcoming?

     The cause can be fatigue, discouragement, a lapse in consciousness, disappointment, or even a lack of faith. Sometimes a person just decides, “I’ve done my part. It’s someone else’s turn.”

     Paul reminded the Galatians that when we work toward a Kingdom goal, completion of the task and reaching the goals are determined by our Lord. Even when we don’t seem to be making progress, we never labor in vain.

     How easily we forget that life is lived in the doing. “Doing good” is the very essence of Kingdom work. It requires continued effort. You may retire from your career, but there is no retirement from being a Christian.

     For our church to see true revival will require each of us to give our best to the task. Each member of the Body of Christ has a purpose and a calling. General quarters! All hands on deck!

 

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

    they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

 

Lord, when I grow weary, may your indwelling Holy Spirit renew my spirit and move me to action. – Amen

 

 

Thursday, June 15

Quenching the Spirit

 

1 Thessalonians 5:19

Do not quench the Spirit.

 

     Did you ever have what you believed was a great idea only to have somebody pour cold water on it? In a matter of seconds you went from all fired up and excited to defeated and discouraged. It can happen so fast. Sometimes it only takes a sentence. “That’ll never work.” “Too complicated.” “We tried that before.” “Too expensive.” Maybe it was a new way to increase productivity at work. But before you could finish explaining your idea it was dismissed out of hand as unworkable. And just like that, your motivation dried up and your spirit was quenched.

     It happens in churches all the time. Frequently it’s a confrontation between newer and older members. It might be a problem—real or imagined—that the newer member perceives and who then offers a solution. The older member either doesn’t see what the problem is or rejects the solution as unworkable. The younger member walks away feeling like they just got their hand slapped. This kind of problem is often seen in churches that experience a sudden influx of new members after years of stagnant growth. “First they sit in my pew, now they want to change things!”

     But as bad as it is to quench the spirit of another church member, far worse is quenching the Holy Spirit. The word translated quench in our text is the word normally used for putting out a fire. And of course, fire is one of the symbols used to depict the Holy Spirit. Christians are instructed to be fervent in our faith. “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” (Romans 12:11) One of the ways that this fervency is demonstrated is through the use of our spiritual gifts. Paul told Timothy to “…fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands…” (2 Timothy 1:6) The Holy Spirit manifests himself in our lives in a couple ways. He empowers us to overcome evil. This empowering is manifested by the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. (See June 3 devotion.) But in addition to this ethical component, the Spirit also equips us with spiritual gifts. (See June 9 devotion.) While some gifts such as the gift of service tend to work in the background, others are highly public in nature. One of these public gifts, the gift of prophecy, was the cause of Paul’s warning about quenching the Spirit. For the very next verse reads, “Do not despise prophecies…” The gift of prophecy is defined as the intelligible utterance of the will of God. In popular usage it is equated with foretelling. And sometimes prophecy is predictive. But far more common is prophecy’s “forth telling” aspect. Preaching at its best is prophecy of this type. “This is what the Lord said to us in the Scriptures and this is how those Scriptures apply to our circumstances today.” That is prophetic preaching.

     When those gifted by the Spirit are not allowed to use their gifts in the church or if what they say is ignored, then the fiery power and light of the Spirit is quenched and the church is not built up. Too often fear of excess charismatic activity has caused churches to control and restrict the proper exercise of spiritual gifts lest things get too shaken up. All too often, the moment the Spirit gets a little campfire ignited in a church, the guardians of propriety rush in with fire hoses and shovels and quickly stomp it out.

     Remember, the Holy Spirit doesn’t just speak through our older and more mature believers. Sometimes he speaks through the voices of new Christians—sometimes even children.

 

Lord, may I be ever vigilant to hear and obey your voice, even when you speak to me from an unexpected quarter. – Amen.

 

 

Friday, June 16

The Lord’s Prayer

 

Matthew 6:5-15

⁵“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ⁷“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹Pray then like this:

 

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

¹⁰Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us this day our daily bread,

¹²and forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.(Some manuscripts add: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”)

 

     ¹⁴For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, ¹⁵but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

     They are perhaps the most frequently memorized five verses in all of Scripture. In many churches they are recited in unison every Sunday morning, usually from the King James translation. The passage is known as The Lord’s Prayer though a better name would be The Model Prayer, for this is the template upon which our own prayers should be crafted.

     Jesus prefaced the prayer with some instructions on what prayer is not. It is not performance art designed to impress others. While by no any means does he condemn public prayer, Jesus makes it clear that our most important prayer life is intensely personal and private. This serves to help us keep our focus on God and away from distractions.

     Not only are we to avoid trying to impress others, we are also admonished not to try to impress God. Our parroted empty phrases and flowery words are wasted on God. Not only does this not impress God, it annoys him.

     The prayer is eloquent in its simplicity. It begins as all prayer should begin, focused on God. But at the time of its creation, the way Jesus addressed God was nothing short of scandalous. He dared to call the Creator God, the King of the Universe, “Father.” A relationship that we take for granted now was a shocking departure from how God was understood in that day. Through Jesus we are offered an intimacy with our Creator undreamed of at that time. But it was not a thoughtless intimacy to be taken for granted. For the very next phrase emphasizes God’s holiness: “Hallowed be your name.” God is your father. In times of crisis when you’re hurting and alone, he may even be your daddy. But he’s never your “Pop.”

     Next is our heart’s cry for God’s ultimate victory over sin. It is a prayer for heaven on earth. For when God’s will prevails on earth as it already does in heaven then the Kingdom will have arrived in all its fullness and Christ Jesus will reign on a new earth.

     What follows seems out of place. One would expect that the next order of business would be an expression of confession and repentance. Yet Jesus wisely understood our weakness and the urgency with which we ask for our basic needs. Empty bellies demand filling.

     It is only then that we get to the business of our sins. Just as we need food each day we need daily forgiveness, for perfection in this life is always beyond our reach. But the promise of forgiveness comes with a stern reminder that the rule by which we judge will be used to judge us.

     Finally there comes a request that God would guide our steps forward. Protect us from places where temptation will be too great for us. Put a hedge of protection around us so that our Lord will stand between us and the Evil One.

 

Thoughtfully, slowly, pray the Lord’s Prayer in whatever version you choose, pausing to let the meaning of the words find a place in your heart.

 

 

Saturday, June 17

Entering Heaven’s Throne Room

 

Isaiah 6:1-7

¹In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³And one called to another and said:

 

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

 

⁴And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” ⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

 

     “Prayer is the human response to the perpetual outpouring of love by which God lays siege to every soul. When our reply to God is most direct of all, it is called adoration. Adoration is the spontaneous yearning of the heart to worship, honor, magnify, and bless God.

     “In one sense adoration is not a special form of prayer, for all true prayer is saturated in it. It is the air in which prayer breathes, the sea in which prayer swims. In another sense, though, it is distinct from other kinds of prayer, for in adoration we enter the rarified air of selfless devotion. We ask for nothing but to cherish him. We seek nothing but his exaltation. We focus on nothing but his goodness. In the prayer of adoration we love God for himself, for his very being, for his radiant joy.” (Richard J. Foster, Prayer, p.81)
     Adoration has two aspects: thanksgiving and praise. Again, quoting Foster, “The usual distinction between these two experiences is this: in thanksgiving we give glory to God for what he has done for us; in praise we give glory to God for who he is in himself.” (Prayer, p. 83)

     When we adore God, in a sense we, like the prophet, enter heaven’s throne room. The deeper our contemplation of God’s glory, the greater our sense of our own sinfulness. This, in turn, gives rise to thanksgiving as we contemplate the greatness of God’s love for us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We tend to regard ourselves as the center of our own little universe. Adoration resets our perspective

 

Spend five minutes in a prayer of adoration, asking nothing of God, simply rejoicing in who he is.

 

 

Sunday, June 18

Thanksgiving Every Day

 

Psalm 100:1-5

¹Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

²    Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!

 

³Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

 

⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

 

⁵For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

 

Try to write down all the things you are thankful for. When you either run out of paper or your hand starts to cramp, pray through your list.

 

 

Monday, June 19

Petition

 

Matthew 7:7-11

⁷“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? ¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

 

     Sometimes our prayers sound like a child’s letter to Santa Claus. The late Flip Wilson summed up this attitude when one of his comic characters,  Reverend Leroy of the “Church of What’s Happening Now” declared, “I’m gonna pray now; anyone want anything?” Or perhaps these lyrics from Janis Joplin speak to you:

 

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends

Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends

So, oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

 

     This illustrates the warning in James 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Our Heavenly Father doesn’t run an Amazon Fulfillment Center and Jesus didn’t die on the cross to provide us a gift card with no limit. Not everything we want is in our best interests. An eight-year-old boy may earnestly want his own grenade launcher but it would hardly be an act of love to give him one for Christmas.

     Nonetheless, petition is at the heart of prayer. We are instructed to ask, seek, and knock. This describes not just petitionary prayer; it is persistent petitionary prayer. We will never run out of legitimate reasons for coming to the Lord with our requests because we are weak, carnal, sinful, creatures in desperate need of divine help just to get through our days. NOTHING is too small or insignificant to bring to God in prayer.

     The Bible is full of promises that God answers our prayers—that he actively desires to answer our prayers.  Yet the troubling truth is that not all our prayers are answered—and not just those prayers for a Mercedes or a grenade launcher. And yeah, I’ve heard that glib answer that God answers all prayers with “Yes, No, or Wait.” That’s just not good enough. As C. S. Lewis said, “Every war, every famine or plague, almost every death-bed, is a monument to a petition that was not granted.” How do we account for these unanswered prayers? We may never fully understand, at least in this life. But here are some possible reasons:

·        God in his wisdom may be protecting us from prayers that are not in our best interests—like the grenade launcher.

·        Our prayers may be detrimental to another or in conflict with their prayers. Your answered prayer may require that another’s prayer be refused. I’ll bet you never considered that. That prayer of yours for a Cardinal victory would demand that some Cub fan’s prayer be denied.

·        Our prayer may be inherently self-contradictory. “God grant me patience NOW!”

·        We may not be prepared to receive what we have asked for. Like some of the horror stories we hear about poor people who win the lottery and are unable to manage their newfound wealth. For some it has ruined their lives.

·        Many times our prayers are actually answered but we lack the eyes to see it. That can be due to our lack of perception. Or our timing and God’s may be different.

·        Sin in our lives can hinder our prayer. It can interfere with our ability to discern the will of God, thereby causing us to pray “amiss.”

 

As one Cambridge don expressed it, “…if prayer is the heart of religion, then petition is the heart of prayer.” God delights in hearing our requests and he delights in answering.

 

Gracious Lord, may my heart be so in tune with yours that my petitions become a perfect reflection of your will for me. – Amen

 

 

Tuesday, June 20

Intercession

 

1 Samuel 12:23

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

 

Job 42:8

“Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”

 

1 Timothy 2:1-4

¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

     A priest is one who stands between God and humanity. In that role he intercedes on behalf of the people, asking for God’s blessing. In turn, he then brings the word of the Lord to the people. Through intercessory prayer each Christian serves in a priestly role, representing the needs of others before God, asking God to intervene on their behalves. Where petitionary prayer was about our own needs, intercessory prayer focuses on the needs of others. It is selfless—even self-giving—prayer.

     In the work of intercession we are honored to labor alongside Christ himself. Romans 8:34 tells us that, “…Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Hebrews 7:25 promises us that Jesus “…always lives to make intercession for [us].”

     The Holy Spirit is also our prayer partner when we intercede. Romans 8:26-27 reads, “²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

     “All I can do is pray.” How many times have you heard someone utter those words with a sigh of resignation? You’ve probably said it yourself. All I can do is pray??? One might as well say that all I can do is run a 3-minute mile or all I can do is recite the Bible from memory or all I can do is fluently speak a language that I’ve never studied. When all you can do is pray you can do a great deal. When all you can do is pray you join in the very work of God!

     Churches that experience revival do so in an environment bathed in prayer—intercessory prayer. When God’s people pray, miracles happen.

 

God, forgive me for neglecting so great a tool for the establishment of your Kingdom on Earth. Teach me the work of an intercessor! – Amen

 

 

Wednesday, June 21

Praying for the Lost

 

John 3:16-21

¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

 

Matthew 9:37-38

³⁷Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

 

     To pray for the lost is to enter into the heartache of God. It is to taste the agony of Calvary. It is to agonize over the lost condition of others and to plead for their souls. It is to stand before God with the likes of Abraham as he interceded for Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33) or Moses as he pleaded with God to turn from his wrath against Israel (Exodus 32:11-14). And it is to wrestle with one of the deep mysteries of the faith: the tension between God’s sovereignty and human free will.

     It is a touchstone of Christian doctrine about the nature of God that he is omnipotent—all powerful. On the surface that would mean that there is nothing that God cannot do. But that’s not quite true. For instance, God cannot do the logically absurd, such as create a stone so heavy that he cannot lift it or draw a square circle. But more importantly, God cannot act contrary to his own nature. Thus, God cannot be the author of evil, which would itself be a logical absurdity for evil, by its very definition, is the perversion of the will of God.

     What, you may be asking, has this to do with praying for the salvation of the lost? Quite simply this: God does not coerce us to believe. He never forces a person to repent and profess faith in Christ. For he created us with free wills and he will not superimpose his will upon ours. He did not create us to be unthinking robots. He wants sons and daughters who return his love by their free choice.

     We might wish things were different. “Make him believe!” But God will not. He works through invitation and attraction, not compulsion. As one writer expressed it, “…the Holy One must clear the path of grace in ways that do not contradict human freedom.”

     So what are we to do when we pray for the lost? First, as our Lord commanded, pray for harvesters—those who through gifts and/or opportunities can effectively present the Good News to people in need of salvation. Just as today every trucking company is looking for more truckers, the Kingdom of God is always looking for more evangelists. As you lift that lost friend, family member, co-worker, or neighbor before the Lord in earnest prayer, ask that God surround the person with winsome, effective, loving evangelists. May this be especially true when the object of your prayers is in crisis, for it is then that people are typically most open to the gospel.

    Pray that the Holy Spirit would soften hard hearts, making them more receptive to the gospel message. Be aware that this may require extreme measures. God may have to use a hammer to break that sin-hardened heart, a hammer that would make Thor’s mythical hammer look like a child’s toy. If a crisis is required then God will create one. Illness, tragedy, personal loss of all kinds may be necessary.

     Remember that this kind of prayer is spiritual warfare. Demonic forces are in play, evil intelligences that are seeking to drag the object of your prayers with them into hell and damnation. Beseech the Lord to protect the object of your intercession from their snares and temptations. At this point you are simply asking for a fair playing field. “God, give my loved one a fighting chance to choose wisely. Silence the Devil’s lies.” And don’t forget to include a prayer for your own protection. Satan holds a special grudge against intercessors.

     Ask God to show you what you may need to do personally in bringing this lost sheep into the fold. If the Holy Spirit has laid this concern on your heart he may also be leading you to be the one who shares the good news with the object of your concern.

     Pray for time. Ask God to protect this lost soul so that he or she will have abundant time to respond in faith to God’s invitation.

     Keep praying. Many a husband or wife has prayed for a lost mate for decades before they finally saw them repent. Always remember that as much as you want the salvation of that lost soul, God wants it even more.

 

Holy Spirit, quicken my soul that I might perceive which of the many lost souls around me are to be the special objects of my intercession. May I faithfully lift them to you in prayer until you release me from that obligation. – Amen

 

 

Thursday, June 22

Steadfast Prayer

 

Colossians 4:2

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

 

Ephesians 6:18

“…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…”

 

Luke 18:1-8

¹And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

 

     Earlier we looked at that famous passage from Matthew 7:7: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. As Jesus expanded on the idea in Luke 18 we discover that what he was really saying was “Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.”

     Luke introduced the parable with the explanation that Jesus used it to teach his followers the importance of persisting in prayer without becoming discouraged when the answers don’t arrive on our timetable. We want what we want when we want it. Ours is an impatient society. “Instant” is a word that sells. But God never promised us instant answers.

     The word that describes this kind of prayer is supplication. Supplication is prayer with earnestness, intensity, and perseverance. John Calvin said of such prayer, “We must repeat the same supplications not twice or three times only, but as often as we have need, a hundred and a thousand times. . . . We must never weary in waiting for God’s help.”

     Steadfast prayer is prayer undergirded with fortitude—an all too rare commodity in our age. Fortitude is that steadiness of the will in doing good even in the face of difficulties.

     Much to our surprise we learn that it is this very persistence that is a channel of blessing. It is the kind of action that will one day be rewarded with the greatest of all honors when our Lord proclaims, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

 

Have you ever experienced an answer to persistent prayer offered over a long period of time? Reflect on your answered prayers and offer thanksgiving to God.

 

 

Friday, June 23

Prayer without Ceasing

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

 

Colossians 4:2

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

 

Ephesians 6:18a

…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

 

     Pray without ceasing. What, exactly, does that mean? Is prayer without ceasing what Tevye was doing in Fiddler on the Roof as he went about his work day?

 

Oh, dear Lord!

You made many, many poor people.

I realize, of course, it's no shame to be poor.

But it's no great honour either.

So what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?

 

     Well, maybe. He seemed to be on the right track, anyway, the idea of a continual conversation with God. This is not something that comes easily or quickly for most contemporary Western people. Our lives are filled to the brim with activity, noise, and a thousand and one distractions. And that was before the advent of smart phones. All the more reason why prayer without ceasing is so necessary.

     Like any new habit or discipline, expect a lifestyle of continual prayer to take some time to develop. The first steps may seem artificial and even contrived. Some people chose some memory device such as frequently recurring sound or color or action to remind them to whisper a quick prayer. In time this works its way into the subconscious. At about this time you may notice changes in your behavior as you become less stressed by everyday annoyances. As you progress in prayer without ceasing this new reality moves into your heart. More and more love—charity—agape love—directs your thoughts and actions.

     In time praying without ceasing permeates your entire personality. Or so the Church Fathers led us to believe. Sadly, I cannot yet speak from experience. I’m not there yet. One writer describes the goal in terms of the “inner sanctuary of the soul.” Sounds like a nice place to be.

 

Dear God, help me to move to the next level in my prayer life—a lifestyle of prayer. – Amen

 

 

Saturday, June 24

Strategic Prayer

 

Ephesians 6:18-20

¹⁸…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ¹⁹and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

 

     Ephesians 6:10-20 is a very familiar passage of scripture describing the whole armor of God. (See June 8 devotion.) Using the metaphor of the equipment of a Roman soldier, Paul compares the legionnaire’s belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword to the various spiritual resources of a believer. But curiously, Paul left out one important weapon of the Roman soldier: his javelin. Where the other items served primarily a defensive purpose, the javelin was designed for offense. With it a skilled legionnaire could reach beyond an enemy’s defenses, striking at the vulnerable heart of a formation. But notice how Paul concludes his metaphor about the armor of God. He concludes with a fervent admonition to pray.

     I would suggest to you that this kind of prayer—strategic prayer—offensive prayer—is the equivalent of a believer’s javelin. This is the weapon we use to take the fight to our ancient foe, to strike deep into the heart of enemy held territory and thereby disrupt the schemes of the Evil One.

     For our church to experience true revival we must up our game so far as prayer is concerned. The typical church prayer service focuses almost exclusively on prayers for the sick and the bereaved. Such prayer is perfectly appropriate and should continue. But our prayer needs to be so much more. We need to be praying that the devil’s strongholds in our community crumble in the face of God’s people.

     Jesus said, “…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18b). This does not describe an army huddled in a bunker. This is an army on the offensive, laying siege to a city. A church infused with strategic prayer can lay waste to hell itself.

 

Lord, reveal to me Satan’s strongholds in our community and give me the courage and aggressive spirit to take the battle to the devil, not in my strength but in yours, through strategic prayer. – Amen

 

 

Sunday, June 25

Opening Doors

 

Ephesians 6:19-20

¹⁹and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

 

1 Corinthians 16:8-9

⁸But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, ⁹for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

 

Colossians 4:3-4

³At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—⁴that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

 

     Not all opportunities to share the gospel are created equal. Sometimes you are presented with an opening so obvious that it was clearly preordained. The person you are talking with knows and trusts you. She is actively looking for answers to a crisis in her life. She is open to the possibility that the answer is spiritual in nature. You are in a relaxed and unhurried setting free of distractions. As you present the gospel message she’s hanging on every word. Her repentance and the commitment of her life to Christ are almost foregone conclusions.

     At other times nothing seems to go right. The person is skeptical and hostile. There are constant interruptions and distractions. You fumble around looking for your bible and suddenly you can’t remember where to find Romans! You get flustered and embarrassed and feel like a fool, an opinion obviously shared by your would-be convert.

     What’s the difference? Often the difference is prayer; prayer for an open door. Paul obviously thought this important as he repeatedly asked the churches he served to pray for those opportunities to effectively share the good news.

     What does an open door look like? A great example is found in Acts 16. Ironically, it begins with a door being closed. Paul and Silas were preaching in the streets of Philippi when they were arrested on trumped up charges, stripped, and severely beaten—all without the benefit of so much as a hearing—and then cast into a dungeon with their feet chained in stocks. Under such trying circumstances most of us would have been scared, exhausted, and feeling thoroughly sorry for ourselves. But what did Paul and Silas do? They had a prayer meeting and hymn sing! Then, when you’d think things couldn’t possibly get any worse, there was a powerful earthquake! I don’t know about you, but deep in the bowels of a Roman dungeon is the last place I’d want to be when the ground starts shaking!

     But sometimes open doors come in the context of hardship and suffering:

 

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:25-30)

 

     I’ll conclude with a personal open door that I experienced that was directly related to this same passage. Many years ago I was sharing the gospel with Dan, a man who worked as a corrections officer in a maximum security prison. His duty station was the isolation block where they kept the rapists and pedophiles; men who had done things so loathsome that for their own safety they had to be separated from the general prison population. I had shared the gospel with Dan and he was clearly close to a decision. But then he stalled out. He understood that if he became a Christian he would be expected to love his enemies. He could not conceive of how he could ever be able to love the men he guarded. He was so close! But it looked like he would slip away. Then God opened a door—a door in my mind. I asked, “Dan, did you know that there is a story in the bible about a corrections officer who became a Christian?”

     Never once in my life had I ever associated “Philippian Jailer” with “corrections officer” but God made the association for me at the just the right time. He opened the door. And when he did, before I said a word, I knew it was game over. Moments later Dan became a Christian.

 

Pray that all across the Bellevue Valley doors of witness would open and that Christ followers would faithfully share the good news with the lost. – Amen

 

 

Monday, June 26

In the Name of Jesus

 

John 14:13-14

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

 

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 

     Some Christians seem to equate appending “in the name of Jesus” to their prayers with a magical formula that, if you forget to say it, then your prayer won’t rise higher than the ceiling. This is silly nonsense. The late theologian Donald Bloesch succinctly defined what the term really means:

 

To pray in the name of Christ means to pray in the awareness that our prayers have no worthiness or efficacy apart from his atoning sacrifice and redemptive mediation. It means to appeal to the blood of Christ as the source of power for the life of prayer. It means to acknowledge our complete helplessness apart from his mediation and intercession. To pray in his name means that we recognize that our prayers cannot penetrate the tribunal of God unless they are presented to the Father by the Son, our one Savior and Redeemer. (Quoted by Richard J. Foster, Prayer, p.194)

 

Father God, may the Holy Spirit remind me daily that praying in Jesus name is an act of utter humility before Thee. – Amen

 

 

Tuesday, June 27

Thy Will Be Done

 

Matthew 6:10

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

 

Matthew 26:38-39

³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” ³⁹And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

 

     It is tempting to add, “Thy will be done” to our prayers as a way of letting God off the hook in case our prayers go unanswered. If that is our motivation then it reflects a serious lack of faith on our part. Heaven needs no escape clause.

     What it ought to mean is just the opposite. It is an expression of faith in God’s love and judgment. It is our way of confessing that we don’t always know what is in our ultimate best interest. It is our admission that we never understand any situation as God sees it and that what we really need may look entirely different from what we think we need. It is our submission to the ultimate source of wisdom and knowledge and it’s an expression of our complete confidence that God always has our best interests in mind.

 

Lord, strengthen my faith that I can confidently place my petitions before you in the knowledge that your will is always best for me. – Amen

 

 

Wednesday, June 28

Submission before God

 

1 Samuel 3:10

And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

 

Isaiah 6:8

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

 

     Over these past few weeks we’ve considered many biblical truths about prayer and our walk before God as followers of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you’ve gained some helpful insights.

     But Bible knowledge is not enough. We could memorize the Bible and it would do us no good if we do not act on what we learn from its pages. When God speaks to us through his word we must, like the boy Samuel, listen attentively. And when he calls for us to act, like Isaiah we must respond, “Here I am! Send me.”

     We have been praying for revival for our church. We continue to pray for spiritual awakening across the Bellevue Valley. But for these larger blessing to materialize requires the personal repentance and spiritual renewal of many individual believers. As you read these words remember that your personal spiritual condition is critical to the greater spiritual condition of the church. Your spiritual gifts, your insights, your prayers, your tithes, your service is key. The great tragedy of much of contemporary Christianity in America has been the advent of spectator sport religion. We attend worship services in the same way that we attend concerts and sporting events. And we delude ourselves into believing that this is enough; that this is actually pleasing to the Almighty.

     God, speaking through the prophet Amos, condemned worship that did not reflect repentance and a changed life:

 

²¹“I hate, I despise your feasts,

    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

    I will not accept them;

and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,

    I will not look upon them.

²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;

    to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,

    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:21-24)

 

Gracious and Holy Father, I present my life to you to do with it what you will. I hold nothing back. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and use me up in your service. – Amen

 

 

Thursday, June 29

Our Church

 

Ephesians 3:14-21

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 

Revelation 2:2-5

²“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

 

     Thank you, Lord Jesus, for our church. Thank you for how it blesses my life. Thank you for all those who came before us, whose many prayers and sacrifices made this church possible. Thank you for the many good and gracious acts that our church has done and continues to do. We have much to be thankful for.

     But I must confess, as a member of this congregation, that we repeatedly fall short of what you would have us to be. We speak when we ought to be silent. We remain mute when we ought to speak. Even our gifts are sometimes given not alongside our service but in place of our service, as if we could buy your pleasure.

     Forgive us for our shortcomings. In particular, forgive me for my part in hindering your Spirit’s work in our midst. I humbly ask that this selfsame Spirit would search me and try me. And where I fall short, especially in relationship to this church, may he bring those sins to mind that I might repent.

     Dear God, may I not be the one whose unrepentant heart deprives this people of revival.

     In Jesus name, Amen.

Friday, June 30

The Bellevue Valley

 

Acts 1:7-8

⁷He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

 

     God, in your lovingkindness you have granted us the privilege of living in one of earth’s beauty spots. This valley may well be the loveliest place in Missouri. Thank you for your extravagance! Thank you that this is our home.

     But like Eden long ago, our valley is spoiled by sin. We see its ugly scars all around us. We see it in broken homes. We see it in crippling addictions. We see it in senseless violence. We see it in greed and avarice. We see it in men and women who live lives of open rebellion against you.

     Enough, O Lord! We are weary of our sin-soaked society. It is beyond our ability to fix. We war against dark spiritual forces that seek our destruction against which we are powerless apart from you. We beseech Thee to intervene. We place ourselves at your disposal as tools in your hand—agents of change—agents of repentance—agents of redemption.

     May our sister churches in the valley join in our pleading before Thee. May the cry for repentance and awakening unite us as one. May each congregation, through their own networks of relationships, proclaim the Good News of Christ Jesus in every corner. May none miss the message so that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

     Use us! Use us up! May the white-hot fire of the Holy Spirit burn in us like living torches! May you accomplish your will through us to redeem this valley that its people might be as lovely in your eyes as its hills and streams are in ours.

     In Jesus name, Amen.

 

 

Saturday, July 1

Awakening

 

2 Chronicles 7:14

…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bring awakening to our land! – Amen.