Tag: pray

Posted on

Seeing what seems impossible.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals. You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure. It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut and whose stakes are firmly fixed. The Lord will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no enemy ship can sail upon. For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭33‬:‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Our eyes may not deceive us when we look around and see chaos and its cousins mayhem and misery. Yet, our eyes do not have the ability to see what is beyond their physical realties. How do we see what seems to be impossible? How do we direct our soul, mind and strength towards a future that currently projects itself as futile? This is faith which becomes reality, solid and secure enough to exchange a hellish existence for hope.

Faith believes, hope follows.

Earlier in this passage, Isaiah recorded the precision of which the Assyrians gained and gloated in their plunderous victories. The Assyrian officers took the time to record how many towers they destroyed and their bookkeepers followed up with scrooge-like glee recording each item in their piles of plunder!

Isaiah reminds the leaders and the people of God how far they have strayed that God would discipline them with these “fierce, violent people with their strange, unknown language.” He promises that the people of God would remember that “time of terror!” Isaiah tells them the truth of the days ahead before the truth was even a reality. Is God’s Word truth even before it’s experienced or even believed? Clearly that’s what history teaches us.

One of Isaiah’s famous phrases is “lift your eyes.” And, he’s not talking about physically looking up, but through faith, he encourages us to see with eyes of faith (Isaiah 40:26, 51:6, 60:4). Seeing the truth before us, means that we can, we must, see and understand what is happening around us. Discerning whether it is something of our own doing (sin and disordered desires), an attack from a very real enemy, who actively pursues our destruction, or from God as he lovingly corrects us, leading us to repent and move towards him rather than away from him. Then, the eyes of faith can look beyond current circumstances to see that God is faithful and forgiving.

Isaiah wrote that they “will see Zion,” in a completely new future. Jerusalem filled once again with feasts and festivals. To see it filled with peace and quiet because of the security with its gates, walls and towers!

This passage crescendos with, “The Lord will be our Mighty One” – Our “Yahweh addir.” Where Yahweh is our lawgiver, judge and King! He will “yasha” save us (where the name Joshua/Jesus comes from).

Within the context of what is happening in and around our life, we may only physically see that everything looks like it’s going wrong. My hope is that Isaiah’s words to Israel are a confrontational comfort to us – that things will not always be this way. For us to “lift our eyes,” to Yahweh with faith, like in Psalm 121:1; from where our help comes from!

Prayer

Dad,
So often I only see what is happening around me or to me, forgetting to lift my eyes to you! It always seems to be a challenge to pause and look up FIRST, before fear and anxiety sets in to steal faith, peace and even joy. Help me to prioritize my pause, remember your faithfulness and yield to your ways rather than my own.

Posted on

God is listening.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God. Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly. Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you. O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord; hear my urgent cry. I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me. Psalms‬ ‭86‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What would you like to say to God? What do you want to tell Him?

David, the beloved King of ancient Israel was no saint. It’s hard to say, but likely he was a way better sinner than you or I will ever be! Sure he was brave (or arrogant). Sure he was confident (or cocky). Sure he was charismatic (or manipulative). But, David gave us more insight into his own life AND a more authentic prayer life than any other character in the Bible!

David was prolific in being real before a Holy God! This Psalm is one of many where David is hurting and afraid, yet it does not stop him from pouring out his heart and soul to God. “Bend down, hear me, answer me – I need your help.” It’s raw and unfiltered, he’s certainly not pandering for spiritual points, trying to make it look like his life is all together!

It’s because these prayers, these pursuits of conversations with God that we too can let it all out, say what we’ve got to say, and know we are safe in our relationship with God. There is SO MUCH to learn from Psalms like this one. My question is, “do I talk with God with as much unpolished presence as David?” God is listening! I can’t say that God is waiting around, fretting about our prayer life. But I can confidently say this – God wants to hear from us when we are at our best and our worst.

When things are good, give God a shoutout of praise. Thank Him for His mercy and grace, blessing and favor. And when things are bad, TELL HIM. If you need some help with verbalizing or converting a mess of emotions into words, then PRAY David’s prayer in this Psalm. Don’t just read it – PRAY IT – OUT-LOUD. God knows our heart, He is willing to hear the wrestling in our soul. Talk to Him while driving through traffic. Talk to Him when you wake up in the night. Greet Him in the morning. And, say goodnight before you close your day. Just pray – He is listening. Maybe He will speak to you in the storm, in the quiet, in the battle, in the confusion or raging anger. Get it all out, then quiet your soul and listen.

Prayer

Dad,
I know you hear me when I pray! I know you answer me when I feel trapped, surrounded, overwhelmed or afraid. I am so thankful for your love and patience with me. I am so grateful that you know my sin and my frailty. I love everyone one of the moments when we talk. I pray, you listen. I listen and you speak to me through Your Holy Spirit. I am comforted by Your presence and have never regretted our time together. Plus, I can’t wait until I see you face to face and spend all of eternity with you and the people who love you. Amen.

Posted on

Who talks like this?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I can’t imagine any babbling conversation between two people going like this, let alone a talk with God. The only people I know that babble are my grandtodds. And they are adorable, btw. Jesus says “don’t do this.” Of course, we do anyways. There lots of denominations and different sects of Christianity that teach repetitive prayers and I feel it loses the whole point of praying. Praying isn’t only one directional, again – it’s conversational.

There is praise, declaration, requests or petitions, then there is also listening and being still to receive from God. There are even plenty of persistent prayers as if we needed to remind God of our urgency, but there are ways to consistently ask even as Jesus told the stories of the persistent requests from neighbors. I don’t think God minds persistent, consistent prayers, I think He loves knowing we’re serious about things – especially when it comes to others.

My prayer life exploded with wonder and delight when I prayed like the Psalmists prayed – gutsy, angsty, even angry prayers. Prayers of deep emotions and substance. Prayers that I’ve had to work at translating feeling into words. My prayers also changed when I finally realized that I could ask God anything. I could ask Him hard questions that no one else seemed to ask and definitely no one wanted to give answer to.

I love Jesus phrase, “your Father knows exactly what you need before you ask him.” Leading some to think, “well, why should I pray then?” Maybe like any quality relationship, words and communication are critical. When there is little or none, it is a signal that something is wrong. Maybe it’s also just the fact that God loves hearing our thoughts, words, questions and long conversations. When the world began God had communion and communication with humans. I just believe that God still desires to walk and talk with us. Start with the “Lord’s prayer,” although it’s really the children’s prayer. “Our Father who is in heaven, holy is Your name!” Start there to get you going and then just keep on going after reciting this beautiful memorized prayer.

Prayer

Dad,
I love our conversations in the morning when facing a brand new day. Thankfully it begins FULL of your mercy. I even love the conversations before drifting off to sleep when I have gone total mercy-bankrupt at the end of each day. I don’t necessarily like the 1, 3 or 4 am conversations that get a little creepy or desperate while wondering why I am awake. But even then, I know you hear me and often comfort me and pour out your peace. My favorite times are the drives into work, around town or to vacation locations. I have been preferring the quiet, no music and no verbally correcting other drivers. Prayer time has become much more like breathing, a regular refreshing time in your presence. If this is what “old-er” age affords me, well, I like it.