Blessings

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I love the idea of giving away blessings every day because blessings come from God. A blessing is a spoken prayer or prophecy.

Jesus calls us to be a blessing to those who need the gospel, healing and deliverance.

“Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all people. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange tongues; if they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be harmed; they will place their hands on sick people, and these will get well.” – Mark 16:15-18 GNT

“For as there is no place in which it is more proper to seek Thee than in Thy words, so is there no place where thou art more clearly discovered than in Thy words. For therein Thou abidest, and thither Thou leadest all who seek and love Thee.” – John Scotus Eriugena 

Keep awake and pray

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Here is Mark 14:38 presented in three different ways:

GNT: “Keep watch, and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Greek: γρηγορεῖτε καὶ προσεύχεσθε, ἵνα μὴ ἔλθητε εἰς πειρασμόν: τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα πρόθυμον ἡ δὲ σὰρξ ἀσθενής.

Literal Verse: Keep wake everyone and pray for yourselves because you don’t want to show up in a trial. On one hand the breath [of life is] eager, on the other hand the flesh [is] weak.

I believe Paul spoke right into this and how important it is for me to be self-aware and to follow that with prayer.

In the first twelve verses of Romans chapter fourteen, Paul is suggesting that places of friction and disagreement may in fact be the places that God is using to deepen our faith, purify our love and bind us more closely as family. When I sin against someone in Christ I have the opportunity to confess. When I am hurt by someone in Christ I can be open to the Spirit’s working in new ways. What gets me the most though is that the moment I start to feel a touch of self-righteousness that is the time to pray all the more fervently for humility.

“It’s astonishing that God would listen to what we say to God. God is the creator and sustainer of our incredibly vast and intricate universe with its astounding diversity and order; you and I are mere specks within this universe. Why would God bother to listen to what we say to God? . . . Indeed, would God have bothered to make creatures who can speak to God and to whom God then can listen?” Nicholas Wolterstorff, The God We Worship: An Exploration of Liturgical Theology (p.76)

 

 

 

The almighty God

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 “As El Shaddai, or ‘the almighty God’ the deity is seen to be not only creator and sustainer of the universe, but also the initiator and keeper of covenants. As such He is seen to move clearly in the human sphere shaping natural forces to spiritual ends.” “God, Names Of,” H. B. Kuhn, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975, 1976), II, p. 763.

Jacob referred to God in this manner when he prayed. He was in such a state that it maybe he only wished it.

“May Almighty God cause the man to have pity on you, so that he will give Benjamin and your other brother back to you. As for me, if I must lose my children, I must lose them.” – Genesis 43:14 GNT

What gets me the most was the fatalistic attitude he expresses regarding his children. It gets me because it reflects me. I have so much of this in my life that I fail to even recognize it sometimes. Lately I have been in a few interviews and have expressed this to the point the interviewer has commented (not positively) on my fatalism.

I wonder if Job was in the same boat too.

Though I am innocent, all I can do
    is beg for mercy from God my judge.
Yet even then, if he lets me speak,
    I can’t believe he would listen to me. m- Job 9:15-16 GNT

He knows he has sin, but it is spiritual integrity that he is talking about – a pure heart to love, serve and obey God. But he has this understanding that if he prayed and asked God to help him, okay. But would he have the right to do this? God’s will is God’s will, right? He knows everything anyway, right? What is my desire anyway to Him? I am so far beneath Him it is all but a dream or fancy, nothing real. At the end of the conversation, if he had one with God, it would be revealed to have been the will of God all along. So the prayer would have been mute for the will of God would still be carried out. I mean, He is the Almighty.

So how do I look at Jacob’s prayer differently as he looks at the Egyptian rulers he is sending his children to? Paul takes some time to talk about our need to keep leaders in prayer. For those who think this might be ridiculous, I trust we are being careful to not being pharisaical towards them. At the end of the day we want all to know Him.

Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God. – Romans 13:1 GNT

Because God is almighty, and He cares, we should find healthy ways to pursue justice and hold people accountable for their actions. God is a just God as well as a loving God. My prayer will sound something more like lifting our leaders to the Lord and to give them wisdom, to softened their hearts, and to show them what justice truly is.

“As an instinct, prayer is a response to our innate
but fragmentary knowledge of God. It is like a
note in a bottle to “whatever gods there be.”
As a gift of the Spirit, however, prayer becomes
the continuation of a conversation God has
started. If that conversation proceeds, as in the
best conversations, praying becomes meeting
with God — heaven in the ordinary.” – Timothy Keller

 

I’ll pray

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So my Esther and Paul vision just became a little more real when I am challenged to love my neighbour.

‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’  – Mark 12:31 GNT

I will love my neighbour by praying for them. I will pray for their circumstances, salvation and walk with God.

It would seem that I may have looked to others for advice, or for a book to read in what works when reaching out to neighbours. It would be similar to following the advice one of Job’s friend gave him.

Look for a moment at ancient wisdom;
    consider the truths our ancestors learned.
Our life is short, we know nothing at all;
    we pass like shadows across the earth.
But let the ancient wise people teach you;
    listen to what they had to say – Job 8:8-10 GNT

You will notice, as I just have, prayer is not included in that advice. Here is a great quote I found from Chambers that is spot on.

“The biggest benediction one man can find in another is not in his words, but that he implies: ‘I do not know the answer to your problem, all I can say is that God alone must know; let us go to Him’… The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the ‘greater works’ will be done by prayer.”

When I am praying for others I know it has to come from my own sincere walk with God. I pray this is what it looks like.

 Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. – Romans 12:12 GNT

It keeps me steady as she goes and circumstances do not determine my mood and the reality of life is just that – limitations. This I know – the last part makes the other two true. My faithful life of prayer enables me to have hope and supplies me with patience. Joy and troubles actually can be in the same sentence. What a great gift to have from God – since it is such a great gift – I’ll pray.

Prayer is an earnest and familiar talking with God, to whom we declare all our miseries, whose support and help we implore and desire in our adversities, and whom we laud and praise for our benefits received. So that prayer contains the exposition of our sorrows, the desire of God’s defence, and the praising of His magnificent name, as the Psalms of David clearly do teach. – John Knox

 

Prayer is an intimate conversation of the pious with God, yet reverence and moderation must be kept, lest we give loose rein to miscellaneous requests, and lest we crave more than God allows; further,, that we should lift up our minds to a pure and chaste veneration of him, lest God’s majesty become worthless for us. – John Calvin

Praying people

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Remembering Joseph again today who had to wait two years in prison before his prayers were answered.

After two years had passed, the king of Egypt dreamed that he was standing by the Nile River. – Genesis 41:1 GNT

That is a long time to wait for a rescue, a long time to wonder if a saviour is coming, a long time to pray for God to come through.

What do answers to prayer depend on ?

Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and throw itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. For this reason I tell you: When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for. And when you stand and pray, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive the wrongs you have done.” – Mark 11:22-25 GNT

The two key words here have to be “believe” and “whatever.” Does “whatever” mean absolutely anything? Are there no restrictions? And “believe,” does that mean prayer depends on faith?

I think prayer is an act in of itself of faith so that is good. How do we get to the place of believing? “Whatever” is a little harder because the Bible has some great teaching regarding God having a lot to say about what we are praying for. It is not so absolute and all-inclusive and it is not a blank check.

I was sharing, just yesterday, with someone remembering the acts of Elijah. In one of his prayers, Elijah mentions to God that he was the only one left who was faithful. He was at his lowest. Even the most wise and observing people may give up. Persecution was present. The reason he felt alone was that those faithful were lost in the crowd of idolaters, crushed and driven into corners by the rage of persecutors.

 

God has not rejected his people, whom he chose from the beginning. You know what the scripture says in the passage where Elijah pleads with God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me.” What answer did God give him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not worshiped the false god Baal.” It is the same way now: there is a small number left of those whom God has chosen because of his grace. – Romans 11:2-5 GNT

God has never rejected His people.

“The more clearly Job saw who God was, the fuller his prayers became— moving from mere complaint to confession, appeal, and praise. In the end he broke through and was able to face anything in life. This new refinement and level of character came through the interaction of listening to God’s revealed Word and answering in prayer. The more true his knowledge of God, the more fruitful his prayers became, and the more sweeping the change in his life.” – Timothy Keller