prayer

Happy Ash Valentines Wednesday Day

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“Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever” (Collect, First Day of Lent Commonly Known as Ash Wednesday, The Book of Common Prayer).

In case you got confused, today is both Valentines Day and Ash Wednesday. Apparently, it happened before in 2018 and will happen again in 2029, so this is just practice.

As I have learned, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, a season of repentance and fasting. Typically, the participant will choose to fast from a kind of food or an activity for the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. I have traditionally fasted from social media.

Practically speaking, that means that I catch myself mindlessly opening up my Facebook app numerous times before I quickly minimize it and remember that it’s Lent. I try not to be uber-legalistic about Lent, but I also recognize how easy it is to slip into a social media addiction if I’m not constantly vigilant.

The purpose is to give up something that means something to you so as to free up more time to focus on preparing for Easter. I’m really good at the giving up part but not so much at the preparing part. It’s easy to replace one mindless activity with another if I’m not careful.

Easter and Christmas need each other. Without Christmas and the virgin birth, there is no Easter. Without Easter, Christmas has little or no meaning. Without either, we are still stuck in our sins and without hope.

This Lent season will hit different because I am once again in career transition. This year, I will have no excuse for not making time to really get ready for Easter Sunday. I will have more time to devote to prayer in seeking the face of God.

Hopefully, I will be wiser this year and actually use the time well. Hopefully, we all will.

Wise Words from Amy Carmichael

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Amy Carmichael was a missionary to India for over 50 years without ever taking a furlough. She was involved in rescuing women and children from temple prostitution, so basically she was on the front lines against human trafficking way before that was a term.

She also wrote some beautiful and profound books. Here’s a taste of something she wrote that many of us will find helpful and timely in this day and age:

“Let us end on a very simple note: Let us listen to simple words; our Lord speak simply: “Trust Me, My child,” He says. ‘Trust Me with a humbler heart and a fuller abandon to My will than ever thou didst before. Trust Me to pour My love through thee, as minute succeeds minute. And if thou shouldst be conscious of anything hindering that flow, do not hurt My love by going away from Me in discouragement, for nothing can hurt so much as that. Draw all the closer to Me; come, flee unto Me to hide thee, even from thyself. Tell Me about the trouble. Trust Me to turn My hand upon thee and thoroughly to remove the boulder that has choked they river-bed, and take away all the sand that has silted up the channel. I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. I will perfect that which concerneth thee. Fear thou not, O child of My love; fear not.’

And now…to gather all in one page:

Beloved, let us love.

Lord, what is love?

Love is that which inspired My life, and led Me to My Cross, and held Me on My Cross. Love is that which will make it thy joy to lay down thy life for thy brethren.

Lord, evermore give me this love.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after love, for they shall be filled” (Amy Carmichael).

A Prayer for Anxiety

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“Dear God, as I lay me down to sleep, relax the tension of my body; calm the restlessness of my mind; still the thoughts which worry and perplex me. Help me to rest myself and all my problems in your strong and loving arms. Let your Spirit speak to my mind and heart while I am asleep, so that, when I wake up in the morning, I may find that I have received in the night-time, light for my way; strength for my tasks; peace for my worries; forgiveness for my sins. Grant me sleep tonight, and tomorrow power to live” (Author Unknown).

Sometimes, the anxiety just won’t go away. The sad truth is that worry is the default setting for most of us. We don’t how to train ourselves on how to fret — that comes naturally. We do have to discipline and train ourselves in ways to relax and destress.

But we have the promise of the Prince of a peace that passes all understanding. We have Jesus’ invitation for all who are burdened and heavy-laden to come and find rest. We know that God’s truth is more real than anything that we think or feel.

The best news is that any anxiety is temporary but the true peace and joy that comes from God is forever. This light and momentary affliction will soon yield to an eternal weight of glory far beyond anything we endure that brings anxiety. Hope and help are on the way.

When It Seems Jesus Doesn’t Care

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Here I am with another mostly borrowed blog post. But this one spoke to me as deeply as the one I posted yesterday. Some days, God can feel distant and silent. If we trust in our feelings, we’re very much tempted to give up on God. But if we trust in the promises of God that are all Yes and Amen, we will find that God is present even in the silences and we can see Him near just as our eyes adjust to the darkness around us:

“Martha came to him Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care?’ (Lk 10:40).

Lord Jesus, when Martha called your empathy and compassion into question, thank you for giving her grace and not taking offense. Though she ‘only’ felt under-appreciated, there are times when we experience crises, stories, and heartaches that seem to contradict your compassion, care, and control.

When ‘darkness hides your lovely face’ we become vulnerable to all kinds of graceless voices:

•The devil’s toxic whisperings … ‘Where IS your Jesus now?’.

•Karma replacing the Gospel, telling us, ‘You’re sick because of hidden, unconfessed sin’.

•The narration of a cynical friend or weary family member, or nosy neighbor. Like Job’s wife telling Job, “Curse God and die” Job 2:9.

•Our own emotionally exhausted, pain-fueled monologue … ‘Maybe there is no Jesus. Maybe I’d be better off dead.’

Lord Jesus, though you don’t always explain yourself or fix things on our timetable, you will never “crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle” (Matt.12:20). The Scriptures are very honest about life between your resurrection and return: We will have days when mystery is more real than mercy, heartache is more tangible than hope, and pain is more convincing than providence. But, we will never have a Jesus-absent day.

When we’re angry like Jonah (Jonah 4:9), disillusioned like Job (Job.10:15), fearful like Elijah (1 Kings 19:3), doubt you like John the Baptist (Matt. 11:3), ‘beastly’ like Asaph (Psalm 73:21-22), despairing of life like Paul (2 Cor. 1:8)… you welcome us, and meet us right there… taking no offense, only giving us grace.

Jesus, no one cares like you. No one understandings suffering like you. No one has done more to eradicate all ‘death, mourning, crying and pain’ (Rev.21:4). Thank you. Meet us today, and meet our most weary friends through us. So Very Amen” (Scotty Smith).

A Prayer of Confession for 2024

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I found this prayer penned by Scotty Smith on Facebook and thought it was worth sharing. I think more than anything the Church in America needs to posture itself for the new year in a position of repentance and seeking forgiveness for not living up to biblical standards.

I think on one hand we’ve been too legalistic and self-righteous, looking down on others who sin differently than we do. I also think at times we’ve tried to look too much like the culture we’re called to reach out to and have compromised the message of salvation in the process.

So here’s my prayer for 2024:

“Abba Is Changing Us. Let’s Cooperate.

‘If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness’ (1Jn.1:8-9).

Heavenly Father, for your steadfast love, we bless you. For your patience and kindness, we praise you. For your daily mercies, we trust you. Hallelujah… you’ve already declared us righteous in Christ, and now you’re at work to make us as beautiful as Jesus. Here are some of the areas of heart and life for which we need grace and the Spirit’s work—clear manifestations we’re not as Christ-like as you intend.

•We confess thinking of ourselves too much and marveling at Jesus too little.

•We confess it’s easier for us to rush to judgment than linger in your presence.

•We confess over-believing our fears and under-resting in the Gospel.

•We confess scheduling ourselves into bad attitudes and diminishing health.

•We confess indulging a critical spirit more than we seek your Spirit’s filling.

•We confess being more upset by the news than at peace through your Word.

•We confess making more of other’s sins and weaknesses than our own.

Father, thank you for the full forgiveness we already have in Christ, and the sure hope of being like Jesus one Day. We look to you for strength to repent quicker when you convict us of these and other sins. Humble us. Change us. Heal us. Free us. Thank you… and So Very Amen (Scotty Smith).”

Faith in the Waiting

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I’m revisiting season 3 of The Chosen in anticipation of the new season premiere in February. I just finished the episode where Jesus has a talk with Little James about how God has chosen not to heal him but is sending him out to preach and to heal.

Jesus says that the testimony of Little James’ faith in the midst of his suffering is a greater witness than if he had been healed. God is trusting Little James to be faithful for a little while until the full and final healing comes in eternity.

How many of us are waiting? How many of us have desired that God should make us healed and whole but have yet to see it? How many have prayed for the healing of others and not seen the answer they prayed for and desired so earnestly?

If God granted us everything we ever wanted, our faith would seem like a natural response. It’s only when we hear the words not yet to our petitions, when we don’t get what we ask for, that trust shows itself as supernatural.

The prayers of the saints throughout history has always been along the lines of “Lord, I trust You, no matter what. Use me however You see fit wherever You see fit for as long as You see fit. Have Your way in me, no matter the cost.”

That is the prayer that God honors. That’s the prayer of lives who leave a legacy of faith behind for us to follow.

So you and I can rest in the promises of God even in the waiting and know that whatever God withholds is only because He has something much better in mind that we are not yet ready to receive. Best of all, what we find is that more than anything God could give us apart from Himself is God giving us Himself completely.

New Year’s Day 2024

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This is my favorite quote for the new year. It was written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer while he was in a concentration camp after a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He penned these words, knowing they might be some of his very last and that he probably would not live to see the next new year.

These words are timeless and just as needed in 2024 as they were in 1945:

“With every power for good to stay and guide me,
comforted and inspired beyond all fear,
I’ll live these days with you in thought beside me,
and pass, with you, into the coming year.

While all the powers of Good aid and attend us,
boldly we’ll face the future, be it what may.
At even, and at morn, God will befriend us,
and oh, most surely on each new year’s day

The old year still torments our hearts, unhastening:
the long days of our sorrow still endure.
Father, grant to the soul thou hast been chastening
that Thou hast promised—the healing and the cure.

Should it be ours to drain the cup of grieving
even to the dregs of pain, at thy command,
we will not falter, thankfully receiving
all that is given by thy loving hand.

But, should it be thy will once more to release us
to life’s enjoyment and its good sunshine,
that we’ve learned from sorrow shall increase us
and all our life be dedicate as thine.

To-day, let candles shed their radiant greeting:
lo, on our darkness are they not thy light,
leading us haply to our longed-for meeting?
Thou canst illumine e’en our darkest night.

When now the silence deepens for our harkening,
grant we may hear thy children’s voices raise
from all the unseen world around us darkening
their universal paean, in thy praise.

While all the powers of Good aid and attend us,
boldy we’ll face the future, be it what way.
At even, and at morn, God will befriend us,
And oh, most surely on each new year’s day!” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

Fix Your Eyes

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“Fix your eyes on the rising Morning Star. Don’t be disappointed at anything or over elate, either. Live every day as if the Son of Man were at your door, and gear your thinking to the fleeting moment. Just how can it be redeemed? Walk as if the next step would carry you across the threshold of Heaven. Pray. That saint who advances on his knees never retreats.”

Those were words quoted by Jim Elliott to his 15-year old sister Jane. These words still ring true in this day and age, long after Jim was martyred for his faith by the people he was trying to reach for Christ.

These words seem like a real Christianity as opposed to the emasculated form of niceness that passes for faith these days. If you read the words of the saints of old, you realize just how far the bar has fallen for the American churches.

But ultimately it’s not about us now versus us then. It has always been about fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Morning Star and the Author and Finisher of our faith. That’s always been the true litmus test of faith — following Jesus and obeying His words, no matter what.

May that be true of those of us who claim the name of Christians.

Do Thou for Me

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“Do Thou for me, O God the Lord,
Do Thou for me.
I need not toil to find the word
That carefully
Unfolds my prayer and offers it,
My God, to Thee.

It is enough that Thou wilt do,
And wilt not tire,
Wilt lead by cloud, all the night through
By light of fire,
Till Thou has perfected in me
Thy heart’s desire.

For my beloved I will not fear,
Love knows to do
For him, for her, from year to year,
As hitherto.
Whom my heart cherishes are dear
To Thy heart too.

O blessèd be the love that bears
The burden now,
The love that frames our very prayers,
Well knowing how
To coin our gold.  O God the Lord,
Do Thou, Do Thou” (Amy Carmichael).

There are times when we simply don’t know how to pray for a circumstance or a loved one. Try as we may, the words will not come.

I think even then God hears the groans and sighs of our petitions and knows what they mean. He hears the deepest desires of our hearts and knows best how to grant them.

Even when we have words, they aren’t always the best ones. Sometimes, we ask without such a limited point of view. Sometimes we ask selfishly. Sometimes we have too small a view of God and ask too little.

In Jan Karon’s Mitford series, Father Tim Kavanaugh always has his go-to prayer, or “the prayer that never fails,” as he calls it. The prayer goes “Thy will be done.”

You can never go wrong with leaving the matter in God’s hands.

Praying the Unattainable

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I was in a Bible study this evening, sitting at a table with some people that I barely knew or had just met. We were discussing why it is that thanksgiving isn’t more of a part of our lives of faith.

One girl said that when she prays, she starts off by thanking God for those certain attributes of His that she will never have.

That took me by surprise. At first, it sounded like she was copping out, but I figured I’d hear her out so I tuned all the way in to the rest of what she said.

She basically said that she praises God for attributes like His omniscience and omnipotence. That centers the rest of her prayers around the fact that God knows way more than she does and can see from a bigger vantage point than she can.

I wonder how that would change my own prayer life. If I was mindful of God’s ability to know and see things I can’t, it might change my perspective toward what I think God needs to give me. It might shift my focus from what I don’t have to what I do.

I might even choose to ask for less and pray more “Thy will be done,” leaving the choice to God to provide what He knows I need instead of what I think I want (that often times I don’t really want once I get it).

Thanksgiving comes first. It changes my mindset from entitled whiner to grateful praiser. It reminds me that everything I am and have is really only God’s doing, so I have no reason to think I’m all that and a bag of chips. Then I can rightly see myself as God sees me and understand that when God sees Jesus in me, that’s a very good thing.