Morning Prayer

"Already, Lord, prayers are rising toward You like the incense which fills the sanctuary as Your people gather.  The sun has once again cast its soft morning light upon us breaking the hold of darkness on the land.  In Your mercy, Lord, so come upon us.  Break the hold darkness has upon our lives.  We struggle against powers we cannot see and cannot overcome in our own strength.  We know what to do and choose what we do not want to do.  

Forgive us, Lord, for choosing the darkness of sin for the light of Your love.  Come now upon us.  Rescue us from the power of darkness and enable us to live inside the eternal light of Your Kingdom so that we might know again at the beginning of this day Your forgiveness and the joy of our salvation.   As Your grace touches our lives, may You know through our prayers that we once again would present everything which is a part of us to You as living sacrifice.  May You receive it as a holy sacrifice, one that is pleasing and acceptable.  

We ask, Holy Father, that Your Spirit would grant us peace in this day.  There are many things which we allow to trouble us.  There are many things which bring fear to us at the beginning of this day.  Help us where we are weak.  Help us to live without the fear that overcomes and enable us to so open our heart to you that Your Holy Spirit finds a place to dwell freely.  Help us to live the life of the surrendered heart so that those we encounter in this day will see evidence of Your love and grace, Your forgiveness and acceptance.  Create in us a clean heart, Lord, so that we might walk blameless and so that others might know You by the way we live.  Thank You, Lord, for the freshness of a new day and a fresh touch of Your Spirit in our lives.  So bless us now in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen."

The Gift of Grace

June is my birthday month.   In a few weeks I will be entitled to have seventy eight candles on a birthday cake should one show up for this day of personal note.  While I cannot profess to accumulating the wisdom of Solomon, I have learned a few things along the circuitous road that has brought me from where  I used to be to where I am.  When I left my preaching days, I lost my captive audience.  When I find someone who seems prepared to listen for a moment, I have more to say than needs to be said.  I have watched more than one person who paused long enough to listen leave before their body got up and left.  

One among the many things I have learned is that life is about grace.  Actually, it is not just about grace; it is about the grace of God.  I am a debtor to the abundant grace of God.  I understand why the Apostle Paul would write to young Timothy, "There is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of which I am chief among sinners." (I Timothy 1:15 KJV). One of the great mysteries of this faith journey is the grace which called me from my sins, set my feet on a different path, and then gave me the privilege of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ for over forty years.  

When I look at myself in the mirror, I say, "unworthy," and God says, "loved."  How can we not live in a constant state of gratitude?  How can we not rise in gratitude and end the day with it still rising from our heart?  Once when I was complaining to God about where I was, I remember saying to Him, "I deserve better,"  and He quickly told me I did not deserve even the least significant pulpit.  Of course, God was right as He always is.  How grateful we should be that life is not about getting what we deserve, but is instead, about the gift of the grace of God.

Morning Thoughts on Prayer

Prayer is something we all do.  Even those who show no evidence of believing in God will in unguarded moments call out, "God, help me!" Perhaps, it means nothing, but then it may be something which comes from a deep unconscious level.  Admit it or not, we are all made with the imprint of the holy upon us. Choosing to delegate the creation story in Genesis to a myth does not change the reality of what the Word of God is declaring to be true.  We are all conceived in that eternal light spoken of in Genesis and the gospel of John.   

There are surely many things happening in prayer.  Some people only pray in moments when life rages out of control.  Some seem to have come to a place of praying without ceasing.  Prayer has within it the elements of worship, petition, intercession, repentance, forgiveness, and guidance.  Sometimes it looks like a laundry list of needs and other times it looks like a love letter being spoken to God.  Reading the book of Psalms brings us into a room where the many dimensions of prayer can be seen.  The prayers we read in the Psalms are not about artificial expressions of religious ritual, but about the blood and guts of real life. 

Jesus assumed prayer would be a natural response to the Heavenly Father.  In that passage from Matthew He did not say, "If you are praying..."  What we hear Him teaching in Matthew 6:7 is, "When you are praying..."  In this instance there is a huge difference in "if" and "when."  Jesus never debated the necessity or the value of prayer, He just did it.  It is not just by His teachings that we are brought to an understanding of its place in our daily lives, but even more in the way He modeled this spiritual discipline.  It is easy to see Him as the healer and giver of forgiveness, but there were many moments when He was out there alone in some deserted place praying.  We can do as He says do and also we can do as He did.

Blessings of Grace

Not too long ago around here, church and community groups were praying for rain.  When the prayers were being prayed, there had been only a thimble full of rain in over five months.  The land was suffering.  Crops needed to be planted.  Wildfires were raging due to the extremely dry conditions.  Things have changed in the last few weeks.  I am beginning to wonder if there was too much praying.  Buckets of rain are falling day and night.  The land is saturated.  The rivers are full.  Churches now are showing some renewed interested in providing instructions for building arks.   

Who among us remembers that old gospel song, "There shall be showers of blessing?"  All this rain makes me wonder if we can ever get flooded with blessings.  It is likely that most of us have felt that we were blessed more than we deserved.  I have a friend who often responds to ""How are you?" with "Better than I deserve."  The truth of the matter is that the blessings of God have nothing to do with what we deserve.  If it did, some of us, would have a cup empty of blessings instead of one filled to overflowing.  Blessings are expressions of grace.  If there is a price tag for the abundant grace of God it would be found on the hill called Calvary.   The Apostle Paul made it clear in his letter the Ephesians that the blessings of grace are not about what we deserve, but about what God chooses to give. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God..." (Ephesians 2:8).  

When the prodigal son came to his senses and turned for home, he was greeted not by a father who would give him what other people had said his son deserved, but love that was forgiving and forgetting and most of all, unconditional.  He did not count the blessings in the boys pockets when he left home, the blessings that had been taken for granted and squandered.  Instead, he poured out overflowing blessings upon the son who folks said deserved nothing.  Is it not a good thing that God gives blessings to us not according to what we deserve, but according to His unconditional love?

Waiting

These recent days have been a season of listening for a Word from God which seems to be spoken; yet, is somehow unheard.  Listening has been like straining to hear the sound of a breeze that is obviously blowing out yonder, but is not yet here.  It is not that I have not listened intently.  It is as if there is a voice speaking in another room.  The sound of the speaking can be heard, but it is more a sound like a murmur or a whisper than a speaking that turns the sound into words.  This season has seemed to last forever.  

I am aware that the season has slowly changed from one of listening to one of waiting.  To wait on the Lord is certainly a Biblical discipline. Many are the times when the Word of God calls us to wait.  "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" (Psalm 27:14). There can be no doubt that waiting brings with it spiritual benefits.  "...those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."  (Isaiah 40:31),  Neither is there any doubt that waiting is a part of God's plan for our blessing, "While staying with them, he (Jesus) ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father." (Acts 1:4).  

What I have come to know is that the Word which seems hanging out there just beyond hearing may not be as important as the season of waiting.  God has not yet revealed the Word, but He has clearly brought me into this season of waiting.  Perhaps, at the end of the season of waiting, the Word which is beyond hearing will be heard.  It is also possible that at the end of the season of waiting, the Word which I am straining to hear will still not be heard.  Who knows?  Maybe the longing for the not yet heard Word is His way of bringing me to a season where His unfolding will is to be experienced. 

Visions and Dreams

Many have been the times when I wondered about the contrast implied within the image of young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams. (Acts 2:17).  I have come to understand fairly well the difference between young men and old men, but why one sees visions while the other dreams dreams is perplexing. It has also caused me to ponder about dreams and visions.  Dreams are moments when the conscious mind is sleeping and the sub-conscious mind climbs on the throne which belongs to consciousness.  Visions are different.  Dreams speak of revelation and visions speak of things seen, but not seen.  

This is not an effort at some spiritual double talk, but an acknowledgement that visions unfold slowly and we are aware of them before we able to see them.   Perhaps, it can be said that dreams come from within and visions come to us like gifts.  We are aware of them before we are able to know what it is that is unfolding.  Dreams may require some interpretation, but visions come shrouded in both mystery and clarity.  More so than dreams, visions are troubling.  

They are troubling because they position us to see that God is about to do something which may involve us.  When we are caught up in the aura of something new which God is about to do, it is both exciting and frightening.  While dreams may be put to bed with the rising sun, sensing that God is unfolding something new before us will weigh heavy until the moment of revelation comes.  When that moment of revelation comes, we will have to choose to walk into the vision or simply go back to dreaming.  

The Biblical Stories

The Acts of the Apostles contains so many inspiring stories.  What must not be forgotten is that they are not just stories told for our entertainment.  These wonderful stories within the pages of Acts are stories that speak the Word of God.  His Holy Spirit led Luke to choose the ones included in this sequel to his gospel from the many stories he knew and could have written.  Thus, it is safe to assume that the Spirit had some reason for these narratives to be told again and again through the centuries.  They are included to equip us for the work of God. (II Timothy 3:17).  

Reading these stories through the lens of our own situation tempts us to challenge God to work in the same way He worked in a day that is long ago.  This is not to say that He cannot and will not work in such a way, but is instead a reminder that it is risky to impose what we want to happen in some situation which touches our life upon the story in such a way that we are demanding God align our circumstances and need according to the story.  The stories in the Acts of the Apostles are not there for us to duplicate, but to hear a voice from God and to understand His ways.  

The ninth chapter of Acts tells us of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.  Does it mean that every road toward conversion has a blinding light from the heavens and the the power to knock us off our feet?  It could happen, but it is more likely that it reveals to us that no one is beyond the reach of God and that the touch of Christ can bring about a powerful, surprising, and life changing experience.  It makes more sense to pray for God's life changing power to touch someone than to set them out to walk some road holding a lightning rod.  Unlike doctrinal teachings, stories have truth within them and in the case of the Biblical stories, they have eternal and divine truth within them.  It is best to read them with a heart open to whatever it is that God has to say to us.