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What can be done to help??? The greatest thing… prayer!
Jesus in Pray (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 1 Tim. 2:1-4
439 Prayer is the most powerful weapon a Christian has. Prayer makes us effective. Prayer makes us happy. Prayer gives us all the strength we need to fulfil God’s commands. Yes!, your whole life can and should be prayer. (1)
In the last day, I have been asked a hundred times if there was anything that could be done to help, that I would let them know. Messages from friends, phone calls, hugs given quietly, the words over and over….
if there is anything I can do….
There is of course very little, but helping others when they are traumatized is a need we all have. It is a way of coping…. of dealing with the trauma and suffering we so hate to see friends endure. Some of us are good at it… we see our lives turn into doing this very thing.
And yet – nothing,… a small task here, a small thing there….. in some cases those in trauma find themselves making up tasks… or at least in the last days I have found myself in that situation. I truly appreaciate the care – and the sincerity and yet, from the world’s view, there is so little to be done.
Yes, my father is dead, and yes it hurts… and yes, I know everyone cares.. deeply cares for my family…. and I know there is a desire to help…
And there is something that can be done…
Something that makes more a difference, something that is wondrous, even glorious…
Pray… simply that… pray.
For in doing so, you call on the Lord who does interact in or lives, a Lord who desires that no one of us be lost – and if His love is that powerful, that strong in its desire to care for us, then prayer is not a “well at least I can…” but it is the primary thing, as St. Paul tells us. It is our power for salvation and therefore our power to live in His presence.
So for my mom, for my brother, and sister, and yeah for me….. pray, but not just for us…
for my friends Bob and Nancy, who also lost a dear friend on the same day as my dad…
for my friends, KB, and Hugh and Steve, who have had surgery in the last two days…
for others whom you know, who also suffer… and most importantly… those whom you know who don’t know Jesus, who don’t know His love and mercy…
St Josemaria has it right – prayer is our sacred opportunity, for it reminds us of His presence, His love, it is our weapon, to defend that which is alive in us… in Christ… to deliver those who God has sent us too…
You want to help those who are mourning? Pray… that God would make HIs presence and mercy known… and that the faith fhat sustains us… would sustain those who ill come to know of His love…
and…
Thank you..
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1690-1693). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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A Sermon on the Lord’s Prayer
Why is Prayer Answered?
Luke 11:1-13
† In Jesus Name †
As you are overwhelmed by the mercy and love of Jesus Christ, in you may there develop an unquenchable desire to commune and communicate with our Father, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit!
We can’t understand if… if we don’t understand why…
Of all the times I have taught about prayer in sermons, in Bible Studies, in classes, on retreats and in conversations over meals, I have never taken the approach I will in this sermon.
For that, I ask your forgiveness.
For I think that the question the sermon title asks and answers is the only question that really needs to be answered. This question can confidently be answered; one, without cliché’s or well-meaning stock answers that avoid the responsibility of saying, “I do not know.” This question, why are our prayers answered…silences many of the other questions.
This question causes us to see His heart… we need to grasp how much He loves us, how much He is our Father…and how much at relationship is the reason our prayers are answered.
Or our prayers are simply rote and in vain…as empty as praying to some gold lacquered statue.
So let’s answer the question – why are our prayers answered?
The Burden of Life – Melancthon
Instead of just a prayer sheet this week – I included two short excerpts about prayer. The first is by someone that Luther was a father figure for, the deacon Phillip Melancthon. Asked why we should pray when we don’t want to… he responded with 9 reasons. Look at number II.
II. The great and manifold need by which we are burdened in this penitentiary of the world, and which we cannot sufficiently understand or comprehend by thinking, must less guard against or avert by our effort, should properly move us to pray even all by itself.
In simpler language – we need to pray because this life isn’t easy, and it can overwhelm us all to easily. Whether it is the challenge of our sin and the struggle to overcome temptation, or the effects of others sin, or the brokenness of the world and even the church, prayer is what will make the difference, what helps us get through the day.
Melancthon is right – we are burdened in this world, and there are times where prayer is barely able to be said, never mind can we grasp what we are saying. This isn’t something new, it isn’t something we are the first generations to encounter this. Remember what St Paul said to the early believers in Rome/
26 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. 27 He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our (pregnant) condition, and keeps us present before God. 28 That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28 (MSG)
It is often in such desperate times we remember to pray… yet would we pray sooner if we understood why prayer is answered?
The Blessing of Presence
If we pray only in such oppressive times, we do because we hope someone will hear us. Maybe we realize it can’t hurt, or we vaguely remember a promise that God has made. Melancthon mentions this as well,.
IV. Very sweet divine promises draw and incite us, namely that God the Father embraces us with such great love in Christ His Son, that He regards it as pleasing and acceptable if we approach and address Him with our prayers, and He has promised to incline His ears and hear us.
I love this point – and how clearly it is seen in the Lord’s prayer, as God promises to take care of our physical needs (like providing bread) and spiritual needs – helping us with knowing we are forgiven, helping us forgive, dealing with temptation and protecting us from evil.
I love the verses that follow the prayer – those that cause us to think of how we love our kids and our grandkids. They compare the Creator of the Universe to us – to help us realize our love for them is but a small example of His love for us. If we want the best things – imagine the “best things” that He has planned and created for us!
But if reason number IV, is true, then look at number V.
V. Likewise, that our mediator, Christ, has bound Himself with the firm promise that He would be present when we pray (Mt 18:20) and as our advocate and High Priest Himself bring our supplications to the Father, and intercede for us, and ask the Father together with us.
Remember Matthew 18:20 (TEV) 20 For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them.”
Jesus has promised to be here – where we pray, the Father has promised to answer our prayers. Not because of some incantation or form, or because we are holier than the people praying down the street, or on the other side of the world.
He answers our prayers because He loves us, because He is here, because we are His.
So Let Prayer Arise from within
On the prayer list, along with the quote from Melancthon, is a description of a type of prayer and devotion that is indeed ancient. It is called Lectio Divina. The quote is from one of Chris’ mentors. The man who is the reason he is the Rev. Dr. Chris Gillette. It’s a great way of doing devotions – one Luther used as well. Look at the part I underlined:
Let the word touch your heart (prayer, Oratio). In Oratio, the Word of God goes deeper into the self and becomes the prayer of the heart. In this prayer, open your heart so that his light may enter. The goal is like that of St. Augustine, who cried, “O God, our hearts are made for thee, and they shall be restless until they rest in thee.” There emerges within the heart a holy desire, a longing for the text, the Word of God, to be concretized in reality.
Enter into contemplation (Contemplatio). Contemplatio shifts praying the Scripture into a new language (silence). This silence does not ask us to do anything, it is a call to being. Thomas Merton says, “The best way to pray is: Stop. Let prayer pray within you, whether you know it or not.”17
This concept is especially true, as we work through the Lord’s prayer, or even the Old Testament account where Abraham learned to pray for those who were lost. As we know these words, they well up within us, they become part of our life, because God makes them live in us, even as He quickens life in us.
The words ingrain is us these promises – they cause us to desire to pray even more. They bring the words to life in us, when nothing else brings comfort – a message from God. When thought through… they cause us to realize this important thing..
Why does God answer our prayers…
Because He is our father… because He loves us… because He is with us….
Use His name, not in vain my brothers and sisters…but as He encourages us to, to talk to Him – to know Him as our Father… to know His love and mercy…for us.
AMEN!
English: Lectio Divina Português: Leitura Orante ou Lectio Divina Latina: Lectio Divina (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
17 Thomas Merton, Seeds, ed. Robert Inchausti (Boston: Shambhala, 2002).
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Meditating on God’s Love
10 “Stop fighting,” he says, “and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Psalm 46:10-11 (TEV)
8 Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away. 9 But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me. 10 I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (TEV)
A little diversion! You’ve got to have a change! So you open your eyes wide to let in images of things, or you squint because you’re nearsighted! Close them altogether! Have interior life, and you’ll see the wonders of a better world, a new world with undreamed-of color and perspective … and you’ll draw close to God. You’ll feel your weaknesses; and you’ll become more God-like…with a godliness that will make you more of a brother to your fellow men by bringing you closer to your Father. (1)
Yesterday, my sermon was on one of those passages that requires us, not just to hear it and go -“Okay”, but one that goes deeper. One that calls us to really stop, and think through the depth of the image that is revealed to us in scripture.
It is the reason that we know God, it is the very concept that underlies why there was an incarnation, why there were miracles and sermons on mountains and from boats a little off shore. It gives us a glimpse at the height and depth and breadth of width of God’s loves, revealed to us in Christ. Probably one of the greatest pictures in scripture of our relationship with God is that in Isaiah 66:10-14 – of the joy and intimacy between a mother feeding her infant. Such is our relationship with God.
But I think there is a need to do more than just hear the words and then go about our day. For the thought passes quickly, even for those who spent a week processing the concept, and trying to put into words this love of God. Phone calls, drop in visitors, the trauma’s that occur, and the victories ( like getting a email from my worship minister who is in Cambodia teaching a course for some 200 pastors!), or the challenges of taking a Doctoral level course in preaching from the Old Testament (where the above verses came into play!)
I think we need to take more than a moment thinking deeply about the meaning of such wondrous descriptions of God’s love for us! I think we need to savor it slowly, drawing from it every drop of His grace. Hearing His love, basking in the glory of knowing this is our God! He has called us to be His family! We dwell, not in the anxieties and stresses of this world, but in His presence, nourished and comforted by Him. That’s what Escriva is talking about, as he tells us to close our eyes and look within, not to see our souls – but to realize the presence of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us.
He is here…
This we need to know….revel in, relax in…….think through…
Be Still, quiet, relax… and know that I am God.
Take the time to hear the answer to your cries, “Lord have mercy!”
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 749-752). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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The Compassion of God
Isaiah 66:10-14
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace of God of Father and our Lord Jesus Christ bring you comfort and strength, as we journey through this life… in the presence of the Holy Spirit!
An Uncomfortable Reading?
Every week I face a choice, which of the three readings should I use as the basis of the sermon. As I pick which to preach on, one of the things I look for is the biggest “gulp factor.” That is, which of the passages will be the hardest to preach on, because that is where the best message may be. The passage that causes you to “gulp” as you read it, that makes you uncomfortable as you read it… can have the lesson you need, but will struggle to hear.
It is… odd…funny…perhaps, but as I studied the passage – what became the gulp factor wasn’t that God was portrayed as being a compassionate mother… or the frequent descriptions of female anatomy and nursing. Those are awkward at best… but the gulp factor is…more challenging.
What is more challenging is this description of God being so compassionate, so comforting, so caring, for His people….
So much so, that instead of using a father as an illustration, God chooses to use one of the most intuitively intimate descriptions that we know of in life.
The question that faces us today is, are we able to be the infant in that picture? Can we be that completely dependent on God, not just for the sustenance that will give us life, but for the comfort, that will overpower our anxieties, our inabilities.
So – let’s all take a big gulp – and see how deep the love and compassion of God is for us.
Are We Willing to Be Comforted?
If I am to take this passage seriously, I have to come to grips with this picture of God. He is the God who provides for us that which is necessary for life, but also, even as He does, He brings comfort to His children, to His people. With such care, such tenderness that the picture of a mom nursing her baby… is what describes His love best!
It seems to me that we shouldn’t ever outgrow this “phase”, as infants eventually grow into toddlers, then children, the teens and into adulthood. But maturing as a believer isn’t about becoming more independent of God, even though we might like to define it that way!
That’s counter-intuitive, and even more counter-cultural. Our world tells us we should become stronger, more self-sufficient, more driven, that we should grow and that means we should need less. Our culture dreads the loss of independence. Most of us dread the days we will have to depend on someone else completely. Yet, Israel – even after the height of growth, would come to need God more – yes for sustenance, but even more for comfort.
Perhaps this is why we struggle with this so much – if you asked us if we are willing to be comforted by God, most of us would have the same answer we would to having to depend on anyone else.
“Not today – I think I’ve got it handled”
“Let me try and fix it one more time… then I’ll pray about it and ask God for help.”
I think that is why God pictures us here as infants, not as toddlers or preschoolers!
There is something in us, that finds trusting in God difficult, because we want to make it a decision, a choice, rather than the intuitive relationship, like that that exists between a mother and a newborn.
We’d rather do it on our own, to not be known as those needy for God’s presence and provision. If we were asked, most of us were to stubborn to take what God brings to us, we would rather starve and die than eat of His heavenly nourishment. That’ why Jesus says we must have faith like and infant.
It’s my prayer that the church everywhere, and especially here, embrace God’s provision and comfort, as easily as a newborn babe. That we would be so overjoyed in God’s presence – that we just relax in His arms, and as ecstatic as an infant on his mom’s lap.
Rejoice, Be Glad, Rejoice
You see, that’s what this is all about – a relationship that we have with God, that goes beyond our ability to explain – one that we pour the energy of our voices into in song, in our praises as we realize His presence.
I want you to notice, that it’s not the infant that Isaiah describes rejoicing – even though the joy and peace is evident. The contentment of a nursing infant is incredible – even for dads who took the late night feeding. The mother’s joy is also incredible, as life flows from one to the other, and so it is for God, as He nourishes us. Isaiah asks others to witness the joy, to share in the joy as well – to be glad (remember – that’s to dance!) for the people of God who have been comforted, who drink deeply of God’s provision, who know little to put to words, but turn easily to Him, and His love.
Verse 14 talks of witnessing this – and our hearts rejoicing – and our lives grow like the grasses that shoot up in the desert after a rain. Much as we rejoice when God claims another here at the baptismal font, much as we rejoice when we come to the altar – and are fed by Christ… as we are fed through His word and through prayer.
I mentioned a little bit ago, that for the infant – it isn’t a matter of thinking and deliberation when it turns to his momma, or when it cries for her attention. It is instead an intuitive action, as it is for the mom to go to her child. That my friend is how we need to react with God, we turn to Him because we know He will answer our need – even if we can’t put words to it. I love how Luther put it as he explains the First Commandment in the Large Catechism:
“You shall have no other gods.”
1 That is, you shall regard me alone as your God. What does this mean, and how is it to be understood? What is to have a god? What is God?
2 Answer: A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need. To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe him with our whole heart. As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol.
I always wondered why a newborn knows the difference between the females that hold him or her. How does it know the difference between mom, and auntie, and grammy or cousin? For that matter, why does the baby scream when some guy picks him up?
The infant just knows, the same way we know God is God. He provides what we need, there is a desire to bring us peace and comfort, to provide what is needed. There is a joy that is beyond description as He feeds us, as He strengthens us, as He comforts us.
Which is why growing in Christ is not about growing in freedom from God, but recognizing our need for His interaction in our life. We grow to depend on His nourishment, and His comfort, for it is through that we grow to adore Him more and more.
For in bringing us comfort, it pours out on us as His peace, the peace that passes all understanding, and in which we are kept safe, our hearts and minds – by Christ…
AMEN
The God Who Comforts….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 The Sovereign LORD has filled me with his Spirit. He has chosen me and sent me To bring good news to the poor, To heal the broken-hearted, To announce release to captives And freedom to those in prison. 2 He has sent me to proclaim That the time has come When the LORD will save his people And defeat their enemies. He has sent me to comfort all who mourn, Isaiah 61:1-2 (TEV)
“You shall have no other gods.” 1 That is, you shall regard me alone as your God. What does this mean, and how is it to be understood? What is to have a god? What is God? 2 Answer: A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need. To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe him with our whole heart. As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. 3 If your faith and trust are right, then your God is the true God. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you have not the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God. That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God. (1)
It is for most men, one of the hardest images of God to grasp onto, because our pride gets so in the way. We want to be the ones who endure, the ones whom secure the victory, the ones who at the end of the day, soaked in sweat and blood, can rejoice that we are alive. The last thing we want to admit – we need this God, because He does the exact thing we don’t want to admit that we need.
Comfort.
The God who comforts, the God who consoles. The God who is so adept at comforting us, that the prophets don’t describe Him just as a father-figure, but use the illustration of a mother comforting her infant. But throughout the Old Testament, and especially in the major prophets, this is a strong picture of God – the one who comforts and strengthens (a number of times strengthens replaces the same word for comfort..and the word picture is a great sigh of relief)
It’s knowing we can’t go on anymore, we can’t take another step, or we feel like we can breathe. Then, we realize His presence, and the breathe is one of relaxation, as we realize we can rest in His presence. All is well.. or so our hearts know, even as our minds still anxiously struggle with the implications of something. We breathe deeply of the Spirit, we know we’ve found, as Luther says – refuge, sanctuary.
Our God has once again proven Himself to be God. He shows us we can trust in Him, even when we can’t believe the wars that surround us. Even though we struggle with what seems to be the world, or our nation, or our church, going to pieces.
A God of comfort – one who brings us to a place of peace, a place of nourishment, a place of blessing, as He comforts us, as He consoles us… as He reminds us that He is God.
Lord have mercy on us all, and help us to find comfort in that mercy… even us guys…
HOLY SPIRIT – FOIX (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(1) The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 1959 (T. G. Tappert, Ed.) (365). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Worship for Barren and Empty Souls
Flatiron from Brown’s Peak Saddle – Four Peaks Wilderness (Photo credit: Al_HikesAZ)
Discussion thought of the Day:
“The wilderness is still the place of worship. (as it was for Israel) But for you and me ist is a matter of dunes and dry ground. In fact, it may be deceptively gree. Our Hunger and thirst are more spiritual realities than physical ones. The desolation we often experience involves our yearning for a more palpable feeling of the Presence of God. We need spiritual bread every it as much as they needed the manna in the wilderness. Our deep need for Living Water is as intense as any thirst their parch throats ever knew.
As so we look to the One whose coming incranated for us the Manna, the Living Waterand the presence of God. Jesus has entered into the wilderness of our wilderness and found us…. ” (1)
In a few hours I will be mentioning this passage in class. This morning – as most morning goes – the revelation that Michael Card mentions above was why we gathered for church. And even there, as I preached about the bondage caused by sin, and talked about our helplessness and need for Christ, I could “see” those who were burdened for others or by their own problems. We are, in many ways – so similar to Israel wandering in the desert – awaiting a promised land.
I wonder how many of us realize the fertile ground that exists in the desert – just a little water – and it blossoms with plants and flowers, incredible beauty – in the midst of what was thought to be barren. It just takes the touch of heaven to bring it forth.
So to in our lives….I’ve seen it too many many times to count. There is great beauty in the wilderness – there is a dance that comes from mourning, there is always life and reconciliation where we thought there was only darkness and despair. The key… simply is worship – worshipping the One who invades our wilderness, who brings light into the darkness. Who comes with compassion and comfort.
And in that darkness, in that solitude – as we find Christ finding us… we find life – and a life that praises – that glories – that begins to recognize the healing brought to us. …
And oh – how we need it. O how I need it – even though I know it is there…
If I can help you find it – this hope, this incredible mercy, this love and the presence of God, I would love to….
For as I see you find it – I am reminded it is there for me as well.
Lord Have mercy on us, and help us realize Jesus, that you have!
(1) Michael Card, The Sacred Sorrow – page 24
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Posting, Tweeting and the Real Source of Comfort.
“The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you. 27 “Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid. John 14:26-27 (TEV)
“Don’t look for consolations apart from God. See what that priest wrote: There should be no unburdening of your heart to any other friend when there is no need to do so.”(1)
There is a cartoon of a priest, sitting in the confessional. In the booth next to him, a youth is saying, “Father forgive me, for I have sinned.” The priest, with a laptop open to Facebook nods his head and says, “Yes, I see you have!” While meant to be funny, there is a great deal of truth there – most of us would never say in person what we type into our computers, tablets, and phones. We would never purge our soul for all to see. (I note – I have a dozen or so friends with multiple accounts, so that they can tweet or post things that those they are posting about can’t see their gripes and complaints.
The problem is of course, that such posting rarely leads to reconciliation, indeed it often prohibits it. it may feel like such purging is beneficial, but what does it say of your faith? What testimony does it give. If everyone agrees with you and has your “cyber-six” does it increase your peace, or lead to more anxiety? Will blasting your lack of trust in your boss, your parents, your president really help the situation?
Jesus has blessed us, by giving us the Helper, the Advocate, the Paraclete (the one called alongside to support and guide) rhw Holy Spirit. It is my thought that when Luther indicated that the commandment about no misusing God’s name also inferred that we must us His Name correctly, Luther had such in mind. Do we turn to God with our burdens,with that which causes us anxiety or pain? Do we let Him deal with us first, do we see Him reconciling the situation and causing it to work our for good, as He promised?
There are times where God will call someone alongside, someone through whom the Spirit will bring comfort, encouragement, I am not talking about that as much as our mass distribution of our gripes, complains, anxieties. Will we bring them to God before bringing them to the world? WIll we take it to the Lord of All, who can change the situation, or change us within it? (nor am I talking about asking people for prayer btw)
Or will we turn away… and let the entire world see how little we trust in God?
My friends- cry to God for mercy first – and watch how different things take on a different view…..
He always has answered, He always will…He will now….
So go ahead, He is listening..
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1645-1646). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
