pure

God’s saving acts allow me to pray and praise

 

It is because of what God has done in my life already that I can pray today, no matter what my circumstances, knowing that He will once again bring a change for good in my life.

To you alone, O Lord, to you alone,
    and not to us, must glory be given
    because of your constant love and faithfulness. – Psalm 115:1 GNT

This prayer from Isaiah has this kind of motivation behind it.

Wake up, Lord, and help us!
Use your power and save us;
    use it as you did in ancient times.
It was you that cut the sea monster Rahab[a] to pieces.
It was you also who dried up the sea
    and made a path through the water,
    so that those you were saving could cross.
Those whom you have rescued
    will reach Jerusalem with gladness,
    singing and shouting for joy.
They will be happy forever,
    for

The Lord says,

“I am the one who strengthens you.
    Why should you fear mortals,
    who are no more enduring than grass?
Have you forgotten the Lord who made you,
    who stretched out the heavens
    and laid the earth’s foundations?
Why should you live in constant fear
    of the fury of those who oppress you,
    of those who are ready to destroy you?
Their fury can no longer touch you.
Those who are prisoners will soon be set free;
    they will live a long life“

I am the Lord your God;

“I am the Lord your God;
    I stir up the sea
    and make its waves roar.
My name is the Lord Almighty!
I stretched out[b] the heavens
    and laid the earth’s foundations;
I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people!
    I have given you my teaching,
    and I protect you with my hand.’” – Isaiah 51:9-16  GNT

 

Here is a prayer that would invite God to become involved in my life. He is wide awake when it comes to engaging with me as I pray.

I am encouraged to plead with Him as I recall precedents, and experiences of those who had already experienced God in their lives. I am encouraged to recall as many experiences as necessary for they build up my faith and my hope as I continue in prayer.

I love God’s answer. The prayer was for God to act and He shares with me His grace – therein lies His power.

It is no surprise when reading about the new creation in Revelation 21 that God will make us all pure.

I posted the video above – it is a song that Charles Wesley wrote that parallel’s this chapter in Revelation. Here is the verse that catches my ear and my eye.

Come, Almighty to deliver, Let us all Thy life receive; Suddenly return and never, Never more Thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, Serve Thee as Thy hosts above, Pray and praise Thee without ceasing, Glory in Thy perfect love.

The spiritual intense fixation of the mind, by contemplation on God in
Christ, until the soul be as it were swallowed up in admiration and
delight, and being brought unto an utter loss, through the infiniteness of
those excellencies which it doth admire and adore, it returns again to its
own abasements, out of a sense of its infinite distance from what it would
absolutely and eternally embrace, and withal, the inexpressible rest and
satisfaction which the will and affections receive in their approaches
unto the eternal Fountain of goodness, are things to be aimed at in
prayer, and which, through the riches of divine condescension, are
frequently enjoyed. The soul is hereby raised and ravished, not into
ecstacies or unaccountable raptures, not acted into motions above the
power of its own understanding and will; but in all the faculties and
affections of it, through the effectual workings of the Spirit of grace and
the lively impressions of divine love, with intimations of the relations and
kindness of God, is filled with rest, in JOY unspeakable and full of
glory. – John Owen

 

 

 

Sanctified prayer life

prayer as worship leading to sanctification

I love the shepherd analogy of Psalm 23. God fully keeps His promises, He faithfully sees them through to the end. He leads people until each one finds their place to settle. At the end of the day, when the plans are complete, we are better off than we were before. Here are the four unmistakable traits of a shepherd that I can meditate on in my devotional prayer life.

He will cause us to:

  1. move when we need to
  2. lead and protect us along the way
  3. bring us to new and fruitful lands
  4. fully establish and settle us in them

These are big things to consider along the way, but God cares about the little things as well. For instance, praying before a meal – it matters to God what that looks like.

Everything that God has created is good; nothing is to be rejected, but everything is to be received with a prayer of thanks, because the word of God and the prayer make it acceptable to God. – 1 Timothy 4:4-5 GNT

The first thing I notice is that the actual emphasis is not on God blessing the food, but on thanking God for the blessing of providing food to eat. While it is good and proper for me to pray before a meal, it should not be done in a ritualistic, superstitious way. Nor should it be done to show others how spiritual we are. I remember my pastor taking me out to lunch one day and he suggested we not pray over our food as it was an unnecessary tradition. I quickly rejected that idea and am thankful that this was confirmed today as the right attitude to have and not to neglect prayer just because one thinks it could be traditional.

While the food we eat may not be pure – everything we eat is holy when received as His gift with thanksgiving and with prayer – that is what sanctified means. In other words, all food is sanctified by a grace before a meal. There is no formula as to what that prayer should look like, but if I keep referring everything to God as the giver of all – taking everything as a gift from God – I come with thanks to God from my heart and my prayer will reflect this.

Not that this is a formula prayer, but I found a prayer written, they say it may be the oldest form of Christian grace before a meal recorded in the Apostolic Constitutions. It is simple and not too long.

“Blessed be Thou, O Lord, who nourisheth men from very youth up, who givest meat to all flesh; fill our hearts with joy and gladness, so that we, always enjoying a sufficiency, may abound unto every good work in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom be ascribed to Thee glory, honour, and power unto the ages. Amen.”

“In speaking of our daily bread, we do not bid farewell to God’s glory, but we ask only what is expedient for Him. We come with our needs, expecting a positive response, but we do so, changed by our satisfaction in Him and our trust of Him. Because of that, we do not come arrogantly and anxiously telling Him what has to happen. Many things we would have otherwise agonized over, we can now ask for without desperation.” – John Calvin