prayer

God, If You Loved Me . . .

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I think you’ve had prayers that started with “God, if you loved me . . .” I have. I’ve probably prayed variations of that prayer at least a thousand times. Maybe you’ve prayed something like this.

“God, if you loved me, you would have given me a spouse, or at least given me hope for one.”

“God, if you loved me, you would have saved my marriage and kept me from all this pain.”

“God, if you loved me, you could have saved my child and he would still be alive today.”

“God, if you loved me, you could have provided for me and my family to stay in our home and not have to go through the embarrassment of bankrupcy.”

There are probably hundreds of other prayers you and I could think of. Essentially, we pray, “God, if you loved me, you would have come through and not left me alone in this.”

I think maybe if we were silent and still long enough, we might hear this response.

“My child, I do love you. Haven’t you seen countless examples of my blessings and observed times too many to count of my intervention? I do love you.

I love you too much to let you settle for lesser dreams and be satisfied with you-sized goals. I want so much more for you.

I love you too much to let the things in your life possess you instead of you possessing them. I want to teach you how to hold things and people with open hands, because closed hands can’t receive what I have to give you.

You may not always understand my ways. If you did, that would put you above me. But as far as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than yours.

If you are troubled by what you seem to see of my actions, know that my character is good. Know that I am with you and beside you and in you and for you. Know that my love cannot do anything less than what’s best for you.

Above all, look to the cross where I gave Jesus for you. Jesus was me in your human form, living your life, sharing your sorrows, fulfillling all my requirements, and taking your place in death. You who deserved death get to live and my Son, who had done nothing wrong, died.

Remember that this is a broken world. Remember also that one day I will set all things right. I will restore to you what you have lost a thousand times over. My love for you will triumph against everything that stands against it.

My child, I do love you. Never forget that. I am your Abba and I am very fond of you.”

-God

A Borrowed Prayer

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“Dear God,
I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
and to discover that I am not what I own,
but what you want to give me.
And what you want to give me is love,
unconditional, everlasting love.
Amen.” (Henri Nouwen).

Lord, when will we be able to let go of rule-keeping and sin-management and live in Your free and abundant grace? When will we stop condemning the sins in others that we don’t struggle with and admit that we ourselves are always in need of grace and forgiveness? When will we realize that the greatest power for change is not in picket signs or persuasive arguments or correct morality, but in full-on, unconditional, unlimited agape love?

Lord, You have told us that because of Jesus You are pleased with us. You have told us that You love us and even like us just as we are in all our unholy mess. You said You would keep loving us until all that is unlovely in us is gone and only what is lovely, what is pure, what is worthwhile, will remain. In other words, until all that is in us is You.

Help us to believe. Help us to remind each other of Your grace and be living examples of what that grace can do. Lord, I don’t think the world needs another person telling them what’s wrong with them and with the world. They don’t need to be told how they will bust hell wide open.

They need to be told that You can save them. They need to know it’s never too late to turn away from futile and empty lives and find all the beauty and joy and contentment and peace they could ever hold (and then some) in You. They need to know You will find them and rescue them and never let go. Ever.

Help me to live in a way that shows them how good and great You are. Help us all to live that way. May our lives be the prayers that you answer to bring the lost sheep home. Help us to be honest and broken and messed-up and crazy and willing to go wherever you lead. May we remember that the gospel is, after all, good news. Not more rules to follow or guidelines to live by, but the announcement that the debt has already been paid and the righteous requirements met and the victory won.

That’s the gospel. That’s good news. That’s grace.

The Way of the Heart . . . So Far

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I think I’ve established the fact that I am a supreme book nerd. I pretty much start salivating when I walk into Borders. For some reason, I don’t get quite the same effect at Barnes & Noble. Not sure why.

Anyway. I’ve been reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen, titled The Way of the Heart. The book is based on the teachings of the Desert Fathers of the 4th and 5th century. The idea is that in order to grow in your salvation you must “flee, be silent, and pray.”

Thus the three tenets of the book are solitude, silence, and prayer. We need each one to be able to tune out the distractions and tune into God’s heart for us.

Solitude keeps us from passively drifting along with society and its values and being conformed by the world around us. It takes us out of the world, so we can be in the world and not of it. We’ll never have time to get away to spend time with God unless we make time.

Silence is in response to what Nouwen calls the “wordy world” where we are constantly being bombarded with messages all day long. Silence means that the words we do speak have more meaning because they are fewer and more deliberately chosen. It means we avoid the pitfalls of words spoken flippantly or angrily or vainly. It allows us to hear God speaking to us.

Prayer is not so much finding out more about God and gaining knowledge of His will, but in immersing all of our being into God and being transformed by Him there. It is an acknowledged dependence on God in everything for everything always.

I am 79 pages in, and I am almost tempted to start the book over when I get finished. I can’t say that about too many books I’ve read, and I’ve read plenty. Remember me the uber book nerd?

I recommend anything by Henri Nouwen or Brennan Manning to speak directly to your world wherever you are. At least that’s what happens for me when I read either one of them.

I think I’ll close with a quote from Henri Nouwen:

“It is in solitude that compassionate solidarity grows. In solitude we realize that nothing is alien to us, that the roots of all conflict, war, injustice, cruelty, hatred, jealousy, and envy are deeply anchored in our own heart. In solitude our heart of stone can be turned into a heart of flesh, a rebellious heart into a contrite heart, and a closed heart into a heart that can open itself to all suffering people in a gesture of solidarity.”

Another prayer from Henri Nouwen (with my own commentary added)

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“I pray tonight for all who witness for you in this world: ministers, priests, and bishops, men and women who have dedicated their lives to you, and all those who try to bring the light of the Gospel into the darkness of this age. Give them courage, strength, perseverance, and hope; fill their hearts and minds with the knowledge of your presence, and let them experience your name as their refuge from all dangers. Most of all, give them the joy of your Spirit, so that wherever they go and whomever they meet they will remove the veil of depression, fatalism, and defeatism and will bring new life to the many who live in constant fear of death. Lord, be with all who bring the Good News. Amen.” (Henri Nouwen)

As the old saying goes (or maybe a new one that I just made up), when you can’t think of anything original, borrow and steal from smarter people than you. Actually, this prayer of Henri Nouwen’s is my prayer, said better than I could ever say it on my own, for my friends who are going out and making disciples of all nations, starting in Nashville and ending up in the uttermost parts of the earth. You inspire me to want to do a lot more than I’m doing right now.

Who knows what God has in store for me or you or anyone? I’ve learned that whatever it is, it’s usually way different than what we thought it would be, and way better. So go with it. Jesus calls us to die every day to our rights and desires and dreams and hopes, so that we can live in God’s greater dream for us. As Oswald Chambers wrote, “Trust God and do the next thing.”

As always, I believe. Help my unbelief.

Some not-so-original thoughts on prayer

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“To pray, I think, does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, or to spend time with God instead of spending time with other people. Rather, it means to think and live in the presence of God. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events, we remove God from our daily life and put him into a pious little niche where we can think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings. … Although it is important and even indispensable for the spiritual life to set apart time for God and God alone, prayer can only become unceasing prayer when all our thoughts — beautiful or ugly, high or low, proud or shameful, sorrowful or joyful — can be thought in the presence of God. … Thus, converting our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer moves us from a self-centred monologue to a God-centred dialogue” (Henri Nouwen).

Prayer is not about me letting God in on information He was unaware of, or getting Him to do or change things for me. Prayer is about getting to know the heart and mind of God. It’s about seeing my problems and issues with His eyes. It’s about me being conformed into His image, which is ultimately God’s will for all of us.

Prayer is not just about me alone with God. It’s about me and other believers coming together in one accord before God, praying as one. It’s about seeing and seeking God in every waking moment.

All that to say that I am not really that good at prayer. I can pray in emergencies or crisis, but I forget to pray when I feel I am in status quo normal mode. Sometimes, I even forget about God and all He’s done for me. But I’m learning not to come at God all the time asking for things and not sticking around for His responses. I’m learning to come to God and be open to whatever He has for me. I’m learning to be still and listen. I’m learning to quiet my mind and be still. I’m learning to pray not my will, but Thine.

I am a student in the school of prayer who has a very patient Master who won’t ever flunk me or get frustrated with me or give up on me. He is pleased with my weak efforts and my directionless monologues out of a mind that is so easily distracted by anything and everything else. I have an Interpreter who will take the groans and sighs of mine that can’t find words and turn them into perfect prayers.

As always, I believe. Help my unbelief.

The Gospel according to Greg

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The story of the gospel is that God is in the business of making masterpieces out of messes, beauty out of chaos, life out of death, and wholeness out of your broken and shattered pieces. No matter how high into the heavens you go, or how deep into hell, Jesus can still find you. And the good news is that Jesus is not out to get you or against you, but that He is with you and He is for you. He took your ruin upon Himself and gave you robes of righteousness.

He will never stop pleading your case, cheering you on, or fighting for you. He will never stop giving and blessing and loving you, no matter what you do. No matter how you screw up or walk away from Him. He will never give up on you until you are exactly the person He made you to be. Until you are exactly like Him.

What can you and I do in response? The greatest response, our very best act of worship, is to show Jesus gratitude– to never stop saying “Thank You”– and to show compassion–to declare with our lips and our lives tha absolutely no one is too low or too messed up or too far gone for God to reach down and redeem, which is another way of saying God can turn something worthless into something priceless, my trash into His treasure.

We worship by living with open hands, open hearts and open homes. We say to Jesus, “All that I am and all that I have and all that I do is Yours.” We become fully awake and alive and aware of God at work all around us. We see how precious and beautiful is this life He has given us, and that time is too short to not stop every once in a while and smell a rose or watch a child play and breath a prayer of thanksgiving.

We worship by giving ourselves away to the lost, broken, and hurting, expecting nothing in return because we know that God will give us back a thousand times whatever we gave up or lost for His sake. We worship by looking at people and not seeing their circumstances, but seeing through their circumstances to Jesus and what He in His resurrection power can do through those circumstances (thank you, Brian Ball, for that!) We worship when we seek and hope and believe the best about every one we meet.

Christ is in you. He is your hope. He is your glory. Always and forever from the very beginning to the very end and every moment in between, Jesus not only loves you but is in love with you. And nothing has or can or ever will change that.

Believe and live and love and sing and dance in the grace of God. May the love of God penetrate every part of you and fill you so that you become transparent vessels that show forth the awesome wonder of God to the world around you.

As always, I believe. Help my unbelief.

What God Says

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You don’t ever have to be ashamed of who I made you to be. You don’t have to apologize for being you.

You are special. I created you exactly the way I wanted you to be and when you were hopelessly lost in sin and misery I redeemed you for My own.

You have a purpose, a reason, something that makes you come alive. Even if no one else thinks you matter, I DO!

Believe that I love you, not because I have to, but because I choose to.

Hear the sound of my Voice singing over you tonight and know how deep that My love for you goes.

I will never change and My love for you will never change, so you can rest in it.

I will not leave you as you are, but will through trial and tribulations make you who you were always meant to be– My perfect image-bearer.

My prayer for this Wednesday

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O Great Lover of my soul, so captivate my senses that all I see is You, all I hear is Your voice and all I long to do is Your will. Make every breath a prayer, every thought a praise and every action an offering. Speak, O God, through my daily life so that everyone may know how You can turn ashes into beauty, dross into gold and something worthless into something priceless.  Remind me that there is no such thing as a lost cause or a hopeless case with You, because NOTHING is impossible for You!

Help me to see with your eyes, feel with your heart, reach out with your hands, and run with your feet toward the broken, outcast, and hopeless ones. Break my heart like your heart was broken over what sin does to Your people. Give me Your passion to see Your people unified, singing with one voice the praises that are due You, lifting up holy hands in prayer and laying down their lives for Your kingdom.

Forgive me the times I have slandered Your name by professing Your name with my lips and denying the same with my lifestyle. Forgive me for seeking to curry favor with the popular when You have always sought after the widows and orphans and outcasts of the world. Forgive me for making so much of myself and so little of You. Forgive me the times when I was silent out of fear instead of being Your voice to the lost and hurting. Forgive me my weakness and unbelief.

Send your Spirit in a mighty outpouring over this land. Let your revival sweep over your Church and let it begin in me. Awake your peoples to be glad and shout for joy at the Eternal Song that is You. May the buildings were Your people meet be shaken to the core, and the people inside broken and mended into new creations. Let us never quit until we have testified of Your goodness to every tongue, tribe, and nation on the planet.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

My pledge to all of you

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I pledge to always give the benefit of the doubt. I pledge to look at you in the best way possible and to see you in the best light at all times. If I have a discouraging or disparaging thought about you, I will renounce it in the name of Jesus as a thought from the Enemy and I will not agree with it. I will believe the best about you, hope the best for you, pray God’s blessing upon you and stand with you even when you feel like giving up on yourself.

I will probably fail at this. A lot. But I will keep trying. I will love each of you like Jesus loved me. Whether or not you notice or care is not my concern. What is is that I keep my end as best I can. Of course, I can only love you with God’s love flowing through me. I want to see you fully alive in God as He meant you to be.

I want to pray for you, so feel free to share whatever concerns or issues or anything that is on your heart, or on the heart of anyone you know. I will not stop until I die or Jesus comes back. This is my pledge to you.

Talitha koum

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“After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished” (Mark 5:40-42).

First of all, I’d like to preface this by quoting a Derek Webb song that pretty much sums up all my blogs: “I am like a mockingbird, I’ve got no new song to sing. And I am like am amplifier, I just tell you what I’ve heard, oh I’m like a mockingbird.” There’s nothing really new or original here, but hopefully there’s truth here and God can speak through what I’ve written.

When Jesus spoke the words “Talitha koum” to the dead little girl, she came to life. She didn’t think about choosing to come to life. She was dead, which pretty much means she wasn’t thinking about anything. But Jesus spoke life into her and she had no choice but to live.

What does that say to me here in 21st century America? It says to me that no matter what the situation, there is never such a thing in God’s mind as a lost cause or a hopeless situation. It means there is no part of my life– no struggle, no relationship, no stronghold, no lie– that Jesus cannot redeem. There is never anything or anyone beyond hope that Jesus can’t step in and speak life into. I have never lost anything or anyone that Jesus can’t either bring back to me or give me something 1,000 times better.

There is nothing broken that Jesus can’t make whole. There is nothing defiled that Jesus can’t make clean. There is nothing forsaken that Jesus can’t find and bring back. There is nothing dead that Jesus can’t make alive. To that broken friendship, Jesus says, Talitha koum, be restored! To that wayward loved one, Jesus says, Talitha koum, arise and come home. To that shattered dream, Jesus says, Talitha koum, I have a better dream for you. To that shameful past, Jesus says, Talitha koum, I have born the shame so you can have healing and freedom.

To those who have lost their path, Jesus says, Talitha koum, I am the Way. To that lie that has gripped your soul, Jesus says, Talitha koum, I am the Truth. To that part of your faith that has died, Jesus says, Talitha koum, I am the Life.

What should we do with this? I think for me it means I should never ever give up on anyone, because God never gave up on me (and never will!) It means I should be faithful and follow, because nothing I do for God is ever in vain. It means that every day, every second and every breath is a second chance and that no failure is ever final. It means that if God is for us, then no one or nothing can ever be against us.

As always, I believe. Help my unbelief.