Tag Archive for Prayer

The Blind Man of Jericho

2015-05-24 Devotional with Hymn No comments

As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 

He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 

Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” 

“Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 

Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. (Luke 18:35-43, NIV)

What if you were the blind man, doomed to spend every day begging as life went on around you? Then suddenly you learn that your only hope for healing is passing nearby, right now, at this very moment. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Jesus…have mercy on me!” (v.38)

It was a cry of weakness and need, of complete helplessness. “Jesus, I’m desperate! Please notice me! Help me! Lord, care about me!”

Have you ever noticed what happens when someone speaks too loudly or has an emotional outburst that seems inappropriate? It disrupts decorum, and the whole atmosphere becomes tense. Everyone is suddenly uncomfortable…and annoyed.

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet. (v.39)

But he was desperate, so he yelled even louder and more insistently:

Son of David, have mercy on me! (v.39) 

This cry arose from the depths of his heart, all the way up through his being. Propriety, reputation, and embarrassment didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered. He was in the presence of One who could give him his sight. “Jesus, HELP ME!”

We can approach God like that man. All of us have felt some measure of what the blind man felt before God: crushing need, helplessness, desperation. When you feel that way, cry out to God. He is not offended by honesty, no matter how brutal. Read the Gospels. Read the Psalms. He honors faith.

Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” (v.42)

No poverty should make us too ashamed to come to God. Whether the need is moral or emotional, large or small, you are welcome in His presence. You are an invited guest. And He will look you straight in the eye, straight in the heart, and work in your life. He may not act according to your plan or on your timetable, but trust Him through your pain. His wisdom and love will prove themselves perfect.

He received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. (v.43)

Listen and sing:
Hymn: From These Depths, O Lord
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

God Answers Prayer

2014-07-29 Devotional 2 comments

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:5-7, NIV).

Many years ago I started writing out my prayers. After I read the Bible, I write a prayer in response to what I’ve read. It’s a practice I highly recommend!

One day I read back through some of those prayers. To my amazement, I saw a recurring pattern: I would pray about a need, often in desperation, and a short time later, that need was provided. I prayed; God answered. But by the time the answer came, I was already concentrating on another concern. Thus I sometimes didn’t recognize the answer when it came. And I completely missed the pattern until I looked back.

I rediscovered what I was taught as a tiny child in Sunday School: God answers prayer. When I trust Him enough to bring Him my concerns, He responds. But as James says,

You do not have, because you do not ask God (James 4:2, NIV).

Read once again Philippians 4:5-7 above. I’ve found that these straightforward verses are beautifully true and abound with practical teaching about prayer.

The Lord is near (Philippians 4:5, NIV).

Remember, we are never out of God’s presence. Thus we can pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), turning to Him anytime, anywhere, as to a Friend right next to us. Prayer can be our constant and natural response to need, or to blessing, or to just realizing that God is with us.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6, NIV).

I’m weary of the “worry cycle” in my life: small problems arise (often the same ones over and over); they start to gnaw at me; then, little by little, they consume my thoughts, chewing up my energy, my joy, and my peace. To fight this cycle, the Lord has led me to vow:

1.       I will present my concerns and needs to Him immediately before they start eating at me. I will bring them to Him every time they come to mind.

2.       Right then I will thank and praise God for the answer He will bring in His own wisdom and time, even though I cannot yet perceive it.

Note that this matches the Scripture’s teaching. Try it. You’ll be surprised how comforting it is to face God person-to-person and trust Him with each concern.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7, NIV).

The result is one of the warmest and most practical gifts possible: God’s peace. This peace is so deep, so all-encompassing that we cannot even imagine it enough to ask for it. And this peace will guard our hearts and minds, keeping them in Christ Jesus.

This is a wonderful way to live. But it only happens as we simply and consistently bring our concerns to our Father, the One who is always with us, waiting to help us.

Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you
(Psalm 55:22, NIV).

Frontiers of Prayer

2014-07-08 Devotional No comments

For years I held a “this is all there is” view of Christian living. I assumed, though not consciously, that the spiritual blessings I enjoyed were more-or-less all that existed. I was saved enough to get to heaven. What else was available? What else was necessary? The horizons of my Christian life were near and narrow. Its frontiers were rather tame, and all the best blessings were someday and far away.

I had accepted complacency for peace, indifference for true satisfaction.

But some years ago God began to show me again the man Jesus, teaching me that Jesus was all that He was because He simply, completely trusted His Father. Realizing this, I began to see in Him the possibilities of abundant life here and now. The new creation I had experienced in Christ at salvation was only the dawn, only the first glow of an eternal lifetime of wonders.

My soul began to respond to the Creator’s breath like a tiny seed wakens to soil and sun. As I peeked through the surface, I saw the garden, the blossoms, the graceful trees. I caught a glimpse of how great the miracle of redemption was, and could be, and would be in me.

Though still a small seedling, I realized the limitations of my spiritual life were self-imposed. His love, His patience, His light, and the tiniest response of faith on my part (the size of a mustard seed) had started a cycle of growth. Gradually, the horizons of life became broad and beautiful, lit by the magnificent glory of the living Christ. He was alive within me, offering me His peace, His joy, His love, His oneness with the Father.

But as I look forward with fascination toward those promised horizons, His Spirit gently reminds me that spiritual frontiers are only reached by prayer. I must have the mind of Christ for my own thoughts, His presence shaping my perspective, His Spirit continually breathing His life within. I need a closer and more constant communion with Him. I need to depend more heavily on the Father, as Jesus depended on Him.

I need to live a life of prayer.

What will this require? I don’t know, but with His help, I have resolved not to shrink from the unknown. I will look to Him whose love and strength have always been sufficient, always greater than I could have imagined. I will not fear the silence of standing before God. With His help, I will fill it with simple faith and with a song of His goodness.

I do not want comfort to form the boundaries of my life or to be a barrier that limits His love from working in me. I will trust my needs to my Creator.

The Evil One paints spiritual possibilities as frightening, too radical, beyond us, only for the elite. But the Father’s love doesn’t work that way. His Spirit cultivates the simplest response of faith, then patiently reforms the fibers of our innermost beings, creating His will within us.

In the face of such unfailing love, He simply asks us to turn to Him, to talk to Him, to keep trusting Him moment by moment.

Our Father, we look to You now. Teach us to pray.

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3, NIV)

Praying for Fellow Workers

2014-06-26 Congregational Song, Devotional, Hymns No comments

This is the 22nd in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21, NIV)

I urge… that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone–for … all those in authority. (1 Timothy 2:1-2, NIV)

We all have to work with other people, whether on our jobs, at home, or in the church. Some are our co-workers. Some are our supervisors. In both cases, our work is interconnected with theirs. If the other person doesn’t do a good job, our work is damaged.

This is particularly true in music. Singers, instrumentalists, writers, directors–none of us is an island. The quality and effectiveness of our work is dependent on other people. That can be very stressful!

In dealing with such situations in my own life, the Lord has brought me back to what the Bible says about submitting to one another and praying for one another. I’m discovering that is great, practical advice.

Instead of fretting about whether another person will do a good job or whether a supervisor will make the right decision, I’m learning to pray for them. I pray that God will guide them and work through them to accomplish His will.

Then, having prayed for them and trusted the Lord to work through them, I can more easily rely on them and be submissive to them. And when I still feel I must disagree, I can do so in a non-defensive, non-territorial manner, remembering it is God’s work, not mine, and He will accomplish it.

Sometimes we feel that if everyone would just leave us alone, if we weren’t so dependent on others, everything would be terrific. The Bible declares that that simply isn’t so. Each of us has a particular role to play. By ourselves, we are so limited. We were designed to work most efficiently and productively in relationship to others. We are each like one part of the body that must work with other parts if the whole body is to function successfully. God created us to be dependent not only on himself but on each other.

Prayer is the best way to make such relationships work. Through prayer, we lift up those on whom we are dependent. Through prayer, we maintain the right attitude toward them. Prayer for fellow workers fosters the unity and interdependence essential for all of us to be and do our best together.

And through prayer, we keep our faith focused on God’s will and on His ability to accomplish that will through us, not just through me.

Prayer in Gethsemane

2014-03-30 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” 

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” 

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 

Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (Matthew 26:36-46, NIV) 

As Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples, we sensed His burden. Now it seems to be almost crushing Him. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (v.38). Physically, He is facing extended torture and an excruciating death. Emotionally, He is already under tremendous pressure, and soon complete isolation and humiliation will be added. Spiritually, He is about to experience a sense of separation from the Father Who has been His constant companion and strength.

It is Jesus’ final hour or hours before his arrest. How does He spend them? He prays. His life has been filled with prayer. He has seemed in almost constant communication with His Father. He came to Gethsemane to pray so regularly that Judas knew where to find Him, even though he had left during the meal.

What can we learn about Jesus from His prayer in Gethsemane?

  • When burdened or pressured, pray. Jesus didn’t resort to recreation or diversion or bodily rest. He prayed.
  • He was honest with God about His feelings. “Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me” (v.39).
  • It’s OK to struggle, IF we keep our eyes on the Father and continue to trust Him and stay committed to Him.
  • You may have heard people say that we’re supposed to give our concerns to God in prayer, then leave them there; don’t ever go back to them. But here Jesus kept coming back, repeating the same prayer. Some burdens are so heavy that we can’t just pray about them once and forget them. They keep pressing on our minds and emotions. Jesus’ example teaches us to keep bringing our concerns to God whenever they come to mind. That’s not doubt. It’s faith. Jesus didn’t have anything new to communicate, but He kept bringing His burden to His Father.
  • “Your will be done” in v.42 is the exact same Greek phrase used in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:10. Jesus modeled and lived out the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer isn’t just words. It is an attitude toward God, a relationship with Him, a lifestyle. If you want to understand its meaning for life, look at the example of Jesus.
  • “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (v.41). When Jesus’ hour of great trial came, He was ready. The disciples, who had spent the time sleeping, crumbled. They scattered in fear. Watch and pray.
  • When every fiber of Jesus’ being was screaming to run the other way, He submitted because He remained focused on the Father and continued to trust Him, step by step. We can too.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: A Garden in the Night
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Father, Glorify Yourself

2014-03-11 Devotional, Prayer One comment

John 11:41-42

Why were Jesus’ prayers so powerful?
Because He trusted His Father completely.
He always wanted only
to please His Father and
to glorify Him.
He only wanted what His Father wanted.

That is the key to prayer for us as well.
The focus of prayer should not be changing His will to ours
but reshaping our will to His.

The next time some problem stirs up your anxieties, pray this way:
Father, glorify Yourself through this need.
Bring your concern to Him, simply and honestly,
but make His glory the focus of your prayer.
When God is glorified—
that is, when people see how loving and wonderful He is—
the greatest good is always the result.

Dependent on Prayer

2014-02-18 Devotional, Prayer No comments

I have set the Lord always before me…
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure. (Psalm 16:8-9, NIV)

I can’t describe how exciting and satisfying it is to discover Christ as a real Being, One who is always with me and in me. He is taking a more and more active role in my daily life. The Lord is teaching me to depend on Him more constantly and more practically in all I do. I’m learning to turn my time over to Him, letting Him direct my schedule. I’m learning I can look to Him for guidance and enabling in all my responsibilities, resting in Him to accomplish through me all that needs to be accomplished.

Having started to experience this way of living and serving, I want so much to be this way only and always. It’s wonderful—more productive, more fulfilling, and more natural. God is becoming more real and dear than ever.

But I’m also finding that, accordingly, prayer is more essential. Depending on God is dependent on prayer. Prayer is the very breath of the relationship. In daily life, with so much pressing us and distracting us, prayer is necessary to keep our hearts and minds turned to Him. We must bring our needs constantly to Him, remaining open to His influence and prompting.

I’m not just talking about time alone devoted only to prayer, as important as that is. I’m finding I need a heart given to prayer on a constant basis, learning to turn to Him quickly, moment by moment, in petition and thanksgiving, looking to Him for guidance in everything I face.

As with human families and friendships, communication is a key to more satisfying relationship. To improve a relationship, we must improve the communication. We must make it more open and more constant.

To get a feeling for such openness, read about Christ in the Gospels. You get a sense of that unbroken communication between the Father and Jesus. Jesus seems to be always listening, always aware of His Father’s presence and power. You can almost feel the bond of trust between them.

That’s the kind of praying heart He wants us to have. His love wants that kind of relationship with us. And having just begun to taste such a life, that’s what I want as well.

Constant Prayer

2013-12-05 Devotional, Prayer No comments

Be joyful always;
pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God’s will for you.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Father, I haven’t set my mind on You enough lately, and
I’ve missed You.
Without You, I’m left with me, and
that’s not nearly good enough.

Father, I love You.
Father, I worship You.
Father, I need You.

I long to live in the privilege of constant prayer.
You offer it.
You keep calling me to it.
Lord, help me make each moment Yours.

This moment I turn my thoughts to You.
They are Yours.
Take them where You want them, Lord:
to praise;
to intercession;
to simple quietness in You.

A Living, Present Being

2013-10-24 Devotional, Prayer 2 comments

One of the first things we’re taught as children in Sunday School is that God is everywhere, He is always with us. I remember that thought being impressed on me by the song, “O be careful, little eyes, what you see…” But the feeling I got was, “Big Brother is watching you!” It made me afraid of God and uneasy, even when I wasn’t doing something sneaky.

Then as we get a little older, we’re hit with the unwieldy term omnipresent. But that’s what my son would call a “back-of-the-dictionary word.” I don’t remember it ever making God seem near or dear.

And as adults, most of us profess that God is everywhere, but we generally think and live as if He is not. Our attitudes clearly state what our mouths will not admit—that God is either not really here, or if He is, it is in some vague, impersonal sense. Rarely do our hearts perceive Him, and just as rarely do we personally interact with Him, or react to Him. When we react, it is usually to “the rules” rather than to Him.

Sometimes we try to recreate His image in our minds, piecing together memorized words and vague memories. But the result is unreal and fades quickly.

But over the years, God has begun to patiently impress on me that He is a real being, who is immediately and personally and constantly with me. The very breath I breathe is His life-force. His Spirit lives and speaks and works within me. Incredibly, I spend every moment of my existence enfolded in His presence and His care.

This growing awareness has brought with it some intriguing and exciting questions:

How would my thoughts, feelings, and actions change if my heart were always fully aware of His presence?

How would that affect my attitude toward sin? How would I react to Him when I do sin if I realized He is present, still loving me, longing to immediately restore our relationship?

How would I be affected in times of trouble, fatigue, or confusion if I realized I don’t have to find God or even reach out to Him—that He is already with me, and I only have to look to Him?

As a matter of fact, how would it affect my prayer life? Can I imagine the simplicity of opening my heart to One who is as close as my breath, who takes pleasure in hearing from me?

How much more flavor and spice would it add to this life, and how much would it sharpen my anticipation of the next life?

You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11, NIV)

How would our hearts and our lives change if we simply realized what is already true—that our loving God is personally, presently, unfailingly with us?

Called Aside

2013-10-17 Devotional, Prayer No comments

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters.
(Psalm 23:2, NIV)

Jesus, I feel You calling me aside this morning.

Sometimes I sense You calling me in stressful times,
inviting me to seek and find rest in Your presence.

But sometimes, like this morning,
when I have done my normal devotional practice,
I feel You calling me aside further.
You prompt me to put away other good things and
spend more time with You.
You invite me to experience closer fellowship with You.

Jesus, I come to You now with joy.
Thank You for wanting me,
for enjoying me,
for desiring to bless me and be close to me, and
for wanting me to be close to You.
I come, Lord.

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