possessions

Prayer points

There is an interesting perspective on prayer from the story of Noah.

God had not forgotten Noah and all the animals with him in the boat; he caused a wind to blow, and the water started going down.  The outlets of the water beneath the earth and the floodgates of the sky were closed. The rain stopped,  and the water gradually went down for 150 days.  On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the boat came to rest on a mountain in the Ararat range. The water kept going down, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared. – Genesis 8:1-5 GNT

Despite the fact that God could have made the water to disappear instantly – He did not. In fact, the initial setting was that it took 150 days. Here is my thinking – my challenges are not usually solved instantly. There usually is a gradual process and for now those best reasons are known to Him only. I am encouraged to not give up praying as somehow I am somewhere in that gradual process and so why mess up a good thing.

I know this is in contrast, for example, with the model of prayer shown to us through the centurion who approached Jesus.

When Jesus entered Capernaum, a Roman officer met him and begged for help:  “Sir, my servant is sick in bed at home, unable to move and suffering terribly.”

 “I will go and make him well,” Jesus said.

 “Oh no, sir,” answered the officer. “I do not deserve to have you come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well.  I, too, am a man under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” – Matthew 8:5-9 GNT

I know I have talked about the things that touch Jesus’ heart and this dialogue definitely did. I want to touch Jesus heart when I pray like this.

I can imagine our prayer life being more like the disciples as they were going through the storm.

Jesus got into a boat, and his disciples went with him.  Suddenly a fierce storm hit the lake, and the boat was in danger of sinking. But Jesus was asleep.  The disciples went to him and woke him up. “Save us, Lord!” they said. “We are about to die!”

 “Why are you so frightened?” Jesus answered. “What little faith you have!” Then he got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and there was a great calm.

 Everyone was amazed. “What kind of man is this?” they said. “Even the winds and the waves obey him!” – Matthew 8:23-27 GNT

Is it not a comfort to know that I have a Saviour to trust in and pray to? He knows what it is like to be on the water and to be in storms. In fact, would it not be true that if I am walking with Jesus over the ocean of this world, that there would be storms? I will have my own set of fears in a stormy day – that may include thoughts that are dismal or even worse. What a blessing though to see these great storms, even those that are under the spirit of bondage end in a wonderful calm, created and spoken by the Spirit of adoption. There was nothing gradual in this story.

When it comes to storms, Ezra had the right idea – include a fast.

There by the Ahava Canal I gave orders for us all to fast and humble ourselves before our God and to ask him to lead us on our journey and protect us and our children and all our possessions.  I would have been ashamed to ask the emperor for a troop of cavalry to guard us from any enemies during our journey, because I had told him that our God blesses everyone who trusts him, but that he is displeased with and punishes anyone who turns away from him.  So we fasted and prayed for God to protect us, and he answered our prayers. Ezra 8:21-23 GNT

I do not look at fasting as an escape from a problem, but rather an attempt to ask the Holy Spirit to come and be part of solving the problem. I think that whenever I am going through a major change in life, fasting makes a difference.

Ezra provides a powerful example of how fasting and prayer go together. I believe we have to chose who we want involved in the fast. When our children became older, my wife and I set a fasting and praying time every Wednesday afternoon. Of course, whoever you invite into the fasting and praying time, you will have to share the problem with them. Fasting without prayer is just a diet plan. For it to be serious, prayer has to happen because I believe we are looking for spiritual breakthroughs.

“Originally, when people faced a life-threatening situation, they were too frightened or distressed to eat. They adjusted their diets out of agony and deep struggle of soul. The cause was the problem; the effect was diet adjustment. Eventually, people began to see that they needed this deep spiritual exercise to pray properly. Thus they reversed the effect—fasting, so everyone might enter into the cause—spiritual travail in intercession.” – Elmer Towns

Is it not true that we find ourselves attempting the solution before the praying and fasting? Only when that does not work do we resort to what should have been the main direction in the first place. Prayer walking could have been part of Ezra’s plan when he went to the banks of the river – so let’s consider the idea of walking in our problem areas and pray while we walk.

Back to my earlier thoughts on a gradual process – Ezra here shows the step-by-step guiding principles of what makes a good fasting/praying session. Outcomes are important but maybe the process needs our prayers too.

Dear God, I cannot love Thee the way I want to. You are the slim crescent of a moon that I see and my self is the earth’s shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon. The crescent is very beautiful and perhaps that is all one like I am should or could see; but what I am afraid of, dear God, is that my self shadow will grow so large that it blocks the whole moon, and that I will judge myself by the shadow that is nothing. – Flannery O’Connor

Building relationships

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Lord, as the day begins and as it ends and in all the moments between, I pray You will remind me of the beauty of being one flesh, of holding fast to one another in our marriage.  Draw us ever closer to one another and, even more, draw us continually nearer to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one. – Genesis 2:24 GNT

So it becomes important to me to believe the power that is in prayer. In my life it sustains me and the relationships that God has given me. I found this encouraging video on Ezra. See how answered prayer worked in his life.

How important is it for me to pray for the relationships that He has given me in church leadership? Can you imagine church leaders today who would give freewill offerings in order to rebuild the Temple? It happens and I do not think it happens naturally. I believe it was part of Ezra’s prayer and answer to it.

When the exiles arrived at the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem, some of the leaders of the clans gave freewill offerings to help rebuild the Temple on its old site. – Ezra 2:68 GNT

How do we build relationships in the church?

They spent their time in learning from the apostles, taking part in the fellowship, and sharing in the fellowship meals and the prayers. – Acts 2:42 GNT

Spending time works in building relationships. Whenever I want to build a better relationship with someone I can feel it happening just because I am praying for them.

Spending time praying together, especially when sharing a meal, that creates something that spiritual barometers can measure.

Giving shows up here in Acts just like in Ezra.

They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed. – Acts 2:45 GNT

This idea of sacrificial giving keeps showing up as a result of praying. Prayer seems to help establish relationships that allow us to give up time, money, and even convenience to ensure others have what they need.

Not only does prayer build relationships, it also makes those relationships attractive to others. They in turn want to have relationships with us as well.

And every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. – Acts 2:47b GNT

That is a good thing because it means we are loving and welcoming and many are being introduced to Jesus. It means that God is at work in our lives and our worship becomes amazing because as a form of prayer, we are acknowledging what He is doing in the lives of His people. By praying, we are declaring where we are putting our faith and that faith is in His saving work.

In the view of an honest conscience, it is not the vernacular speech of their experience. As compared with the joy which such language indicates, prayer is, in all that they know of it, a dull duty…. It is a duty which, they cannot deny, is often uninviting, even irksome….

There are very few that feel the relish, and are enticed with the deliciousness, and refreshed with the comforts, and acquainted with the secrets, of a holy prayer.’ Yet, who is it that has said, ‘I will make them joyful in my house of prayer?’

Excerpted from The Still Hour by Austin Phelps.