As we start our journey through the Trisagion join me in taking some quite time alone. Alone, to open our hearts that we might hear God speaking to us as His children and messengers to carry the gift and promise that the cross symbolizes to a hurting world.
May we as His Children reflect the joy that new life in Christ brings.
I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.
John 13:34
Have you ever noticed that, if you're looking to buy a Volkswagen suddenly every second car on the road is a Volkswagen? That's what I'm noticing, unfortunately, with people in marriage crisis.
I've never been one to find a great focus on others with marriage problems. Oh, don't get me wrong; it's not that I'm dispassionate. It's just that I and those around me, by GOD's grace, have good marriages. So I'm not, well, focused on marriage problems. Until recently.
A Christian brother, married 20-plus years, has suddenly found himself living alone; his wife has taken an apartment to 'take time to sort things out' while she carries on an adulterous affair. A Christian sister blurts out an 'on the end of my leash' confession of a Christian husband who has been verbally abusing her to the point where she's going to be speaking with a divorce lawyer. Another Christian sister has checked herself into hospital suffering from severe depression, an eating disorder, and a loveless marriage with an unsaved spouse. And these are just the ones the LORD has opened my eyes to.
Is marriage under attack? You bet! Not that we haven't been inundated by culture and the world the last several years. What with the homosexual 'revolution' in full swing from next door to Parliament Hill, we've been beaten into believing that our tolerance and acceptance levels are way too low; our children need to be educated in all facets of the definition of "family" and like it, and some churches condone it. So, with that part of the lie taken care of and seamingly well intrenched in a generation, we're now being attacked from within; within our church walls. Brothers and sisters, quite very likely, it seems, sitting right next to us on Sunday mornings, are being attacked at the very core of their faith. What GOD has joined, the devil is now, more noticeably, tearing apart. I look at today's prayer sheet, shake my head and say, "What the what?!" In a word: unbelievable.
But. I. won't. lose. heart. You know why? 'Cause that's too easy, and it's just what the devil wants. Now I'm no great deep spiritual know-it-all; just a single child of GOD with an ache in my heart for those I know who are fighting a battle they thought they'd never have to face: separation from someone they love and, who they thought, loved them. The devil cries out, "Where's your trust now?! Where's your GOD now!!'
My GOD knows exactly where He is: right in the middle of every marriage crisis that involves one of His Own. And how do I pray? Honestly, I don't ever know. I only know when this ache in my heart gets so heavy I could die, I know that's when He's pushing me to talk to Him: now. And don't be fooled; He really does relay the right words through the Holy Spirit into my heart, and no, I can't explain how. I only know He does, and when He does, I am to receive them and pray them back to Him. And I know when I'm done, because the words stop coming, and I find myself speaking on my own. His presence is overwhelming; His appointment is sure. The rest is rubbish. And when He's done, I thank Jesus, get up, and carry on.
Life is real. Prayer works. GOD loves. Don't give up.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6
Pity arises when we are sorry for someone. Compassion is when we understand and help wisely.
Wash me through and through from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
Psalm 51:2-3
The further we go as a church toward becoming a "house of prayer", the more we understand that praying churches stand on the foundation of praying families - and praying families stand on the foundation of praying individuals.
It's easy to find resources for praying churches and it's easier to find resources for praying individuals. But it's hard to find a resource to help families become praying families. Books have been written to encourage families - and moms, and dads, and kids - to pray, but few prayer guides have been written with the family in mind. Few books are written to help a dad know what to say and do when it comes to gathering the family for an interactive prayer time.
As a church, we gathered together on most Sunday evenings throughout the year for a congregational prayer gathering. On the Sunday nights when we didn't gather (like Mother's Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, etc.) we wanted to develop a tool that families could use at home to facilitate a family prayer gathering. So, we began creating a variety of short prayer guides a dad (or other head of household) could use to help lead his (her) family in prayer.
Recently, we compiled forty prayer guides together into a book entitled Your Home A House of Prayer: A Scripture-Fed, Spirit-Led Prayer Guide for Your Family. The guides are to help dad know what to say to lead a 10 minute scripture-based prayer time that is fun and interactive. The book includes guides for special family days (birthdays and most major holidays), guides for special family issues (times of loss, illness and the sanctity of life), and general guides for any occassion. Each guide is based on a passage of scripture and follows a pattern of praying from that passage focusing on God, on yourself, and on others.
If you would like to get a book, just shoot me an email and let me know. Attached is a sample - Philippians 2.5-11.doc
It is a privilege to be part of a church that is committed to becoming a "house of prayer". We are seeking to saturate every aspect of what we do with prayer. It is a long journey and we've tried a few things that haven't worked all that well, but for the most part we have enjoyed taking a few positive baby steps along the pathway.
To that end, we create a Congregational Prayer Summit experience for our church family twice a year. Several of these weekend forays have been experiments into encouraging families to pray together in the context of a larger "summit" feel the we call "Family Prayer Summits".
The venue of one Family Prayer Summit was at our Senior Pastor's horse farm. We took a Friday night and Saturday morning, invited families to bring their kids grade 3 and up to come to the farm. We provided childcare at the church for the younger kids. Friday night was a fast-paced "Fresh Encounter" (Daniel Henderson / Strategic Renewal - style www.strategicrenewal.com) gathering with a worship band, a focus on scripture and prayer in short segments. Phil Miglioratti (www.nppn.org) facilitated our time together. We were committed to keeping the evening high-energy and fun. We had a roaring bonfire and all the accoutrements of an outdoor, "at the farm" feel. The next morning we reconvened at the farm for a morning of large group prayer, family prayer while walking through the farm's beautiful acreage, and life stage group prayer - for a different feel. Praying was the focus, but we also did some life stage training on how to pray more effectively as a family. The morning ended with a great barbecue lunch.
Another Family Prayer Summit had more of a "prayer journey" feel that focused on our city - Birmingham, Alabama. We gathered Friday evening at the church, where we played a fun family quiz game about the history of Birmingham. We then shared communion together in a creative way: Each family was given a copy of the day's Birmingham News and asked to find an article to which they could relate. The articles pointed toward a sin issue or an issue of need. The families were asked to pray about that sin or need and then bring the article and lay it at the foot of the cross as they came to receive the communion elements. In this way, they were identifying with the sin or needs of our city. The next morning, we reconvened at the church to load into buses and vans to travel to four different downtown parks: the civil rights park, the park at the county courthouse and city hall, a park in a spiritually challenging area of the city, and a park that overlooked the entire city that sits on a mountain. Prayer guides were created for each park and different issuses were addressed in prayer at each stop. The last stop included lunch. While we encouraged families to pray together, at some times during the morning we broke into life stage groups - mostly so the kids and teens could pray with their friends.
At both of these Family Prayer Summits, our families left excited about what God had done. It was so encouraging to see dads, some of whom were a little intimidated by the thought of leading a family prayer activity, really enjoy the process. Producing prayer guides to keep it simple was important. Staying focused on short segments that moved at a fast pace was also important.
For more information, resources and to see some photos check out www.FirstOfAll.org .
Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by His cross and passion be brought to the glory of His resurrection.
-Collect for the feast day of The Annunciation
-Book of Common Prayer
Alright, here’s my thought. My thoughts are limited to us as Christians, not the political issues.
See where I have highlighted below (the portion that says “should strike fear”).
WE ARE CHRISTIANS!!! We should not have fear over anything!
And the verse quoted, 2 Chronicles 7:14 has nothing to do
with the non-Christian world. What the verse is saying is that us,
the ones that are praying, we have the sin in our life!
We, the ones who are praying need to come to
the Lord and ask for forgiveness.
God is in control and I for one am excited about seeing what He plans to do. Quit this idea of fear!
Also, below is a small portion of the entire email that was sent to me.
The direction
this
country is headed
should strike fear in the
heart of every Christian.
Especially
knowing that the
Muslim
religion believes that if Christians cannot be
converted
they should be
annihilated
Remember, I am NOT stating a position for or against any political party, politician, religion, etc. I do NOT believe that this is the forum for that and would ask any of you that respond to keep your comments relative to how we are to pray. I realize that we may get a bit close to a line every now and then as we dialogue on this subject, and that's okay. But I ask you, please do not express your political opinions, rather, keep your opinions to how we as pray-ers should pray based on what scripture says.
As men and women who pray, this should give us a great opportunity to encourage believers that get wrapped up in praying "their own ideas" rather than what scripture says...but that is another blog and for another day.
Here's the bottom line friends. We do not have to fear.
Looking into the Word
God has given us his Word, the Bible, to guide us through this earthly life. Jesus is the Word of God. The Bible tells us in John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
In Genesis we see that God spoke everything into existence. It was his Word that made all things. How amazing that is. God did not make things with his hands, he did not have to craft the world, but he spoke and it became. I often get a mental image of God just imagining something and then speaking and it becomes reality. How powerful is his Word? More powerful than we can even imagine.
I heard a saying once that I have never forgotten. The Word of God is like a lion, we don’t have to defend it, we just have to let it out of its cage. Everytime we speak God’s word over a situation, we claim the promises that are within that word and it becomes reality. That is an amazing concept.
God gave us his Word in the Bible. I have heard it said that Jesus shows up in every chapter of the Bible somewhere, if we look for him there we can find him. The Bible is not just words written on paper and put in book form, it is the inspired Word of God. The men who penned the Bible were not just writing historical events, they were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write specific accounts. Most of us who have taken different Bible classes can agree that the same word that we didn’t understand last year, now makes sense to us. We can read a passage every day and find something fresh and new each time we read it.
Since God’s word is alive, it seems to speak to us differently each time we read it. And God’s Holy Spirit helps us recall his word when we really need it. Sometimes we can be in a situation and not know what to do, then the Spirit of God can speak to our hearts and share a scripture that helps us through the trial. In Daniel we read about three young men who refused to bow down to a foreign god. They were put into the firey furnace, but before they were thrown in, they said this, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:17-18. They refer to Psalm 27:1-2 “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.” The spirit of God reminded them of a promise. And as a result, Jesus showed up in the furnace with them. When they came out, they didn’t even smell like smoke.
When we ask God’s Holy Spirit to teach us from the Word some wonderful things happen. Our eyes see things in a new light. Our ears hear the voice of God leading us where he wants us to go. Our hearts are encouraged and amazed by the way God has worked his plan over the ages. Our spirits convict us of sin in our lives and direct us to repent and seek forgiveness.
The more we read God’s word, the more we want to read it. He has placed in us a desire to know him better, but we can never get to the end of his word. It is eternal. The Word, Jesus, was with God from the beginning and will be with God long after everything else is gone. When we look into the Bible we can get a glimpse of God from the beginning. His heart is there for us to see, his love is there for us to know, his wisdom, his creativity, his mercy, his grace, his power and might are all displayed there. But most importantly his glory is there, shining above all else.
I have been spending time with the Lord nearly every morning now for more than 15 years. I think I have a good relationship with God, but no matter how much I read and know the word, I still long to read more and know him better. We can never get to the end of God.
The Word of God not only reads like a good novel, with many beautiful stories and historical accounts, but it also has depth to it. When reading the Bible over and over we begin to see how all the accounts interact with one another. The story of Ruth is a beautiful illustration of Jesus as our kinsman redeemer, the bridegroom of the church. The story of Joshua is a wonderful example of Jesus leading us into the Kingdom of God, destroying the enemies who would seek to imprison us.
We see ourselves in the shortcomings of some of the notable saints. We realize that God has always chosen the least likely candidates to be leaders. The Bible gives us such hope for ourselves. As we read the accounts over and over we have new insights because our faith is growing and maturing with each passing year.
The Word of God gives us instruction in our daily lives also. Just as Solomon said in Ecclesiates 1:9b, “there is nothing new under the sun.” The promises of God are as good today as the day they were given. The wisdom that God gives is available today just as it was during the rule of King Solomon. Psalm 119:105 tells us, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Try God on this. Ask him a question, he has every answer.
From financial responsibilities, family structure and work ethics, God’s word will help us. His word can help us through difficult physical pain and grief that comes with the loss of a loved one. All we have to do is open his word and look. Seek guidance from God when you have a problem, instead of running to friends for advice, ask the maker of heaven and earth.
We are instructed in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” How can the word of Christ dwell in us if we don’t read it and know it? In order for something to become a part of your life and dwell in you, it has to be something that you live with daily. You can’t just read your Bible for 10 minutes during a worship service and expect to have enough of the word in you to sustain you all week. It must be a daily routine, somehow, someway you have to allot God’s word time every day to have it become part of you.
Years ago, when I was a "baby" Christian, I didn’t understand this concept of daily devotions. I would go to church on Sunday, ask forgiveness, pray a little and maybe read a few chapters in my Bible. Then the rest of the week I lived my life the way I wanted to and I just couldn’t understand why God was allowing some things to happen in my life. I was not being faithful to him and he was letting me live my life the way I chose to.
Now I realize that I need to speak to him about everything I do. Every decision I make should be a result of asking him what to do. Right down to making phone calls, picking out my clothes for the day and I’m really trying to consult him with my eating habits now. He really wants to take an active part in my life, but I have to actively seek him and ask for his advice.
With his word dwelling in me it is easier to know the right thing to do. I still don’t do everything right, but I’m a work in progress and I truly do want to be an obedient child.
If you haven’t read the Bible through from cover to cover, I urge you to do so. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you, get into a Bible study group. If you are not a reader borrow the CD version or cassette tape version from your local library or church library. There are so many ways to get fed on the Word and so many versions that are understandable. It will amaze you and you will never be the same.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your Word. Thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for Jesus Christ. We want to know you better and there is no other way to know you more than through your Word. Bless you God for inspiring those who wrote the Bible. How wonderful that you would give us your Word in a form that we would understand. Thank you for all those who have translated your Word and put your Word on different forms of media for us. How amazing that you would be able to reach so many people in so many different ways and that you would use one spirit to do so. We praise your Holy name and we thank you in Jesus name. Amen
