Prayer is one of those things of faith that has an appeal beyond the borders of religion. I've rarely run into someone who when I asked if I could pray for them, said "no thank you." In times of tragedy, public officials will often call citizens to pray for specific people or circumstances. In moments of death, it is often said by even the non-religious, "our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones." Truly, there is an appeal to prayer that tugs at the hearts of so many who wouldn't shadow the door of a church, or profess to be a Christian of any sort.
I wonder often to who or what directionless prayers are offered, and if they're received, how they are responded to. Does Jesus Christ receive all prayer regardless of who its directed to? I believe the God of the Holy Bible is the one true God, so is it Him who hears all of it? It's a curious consideration, but since I know the one to whom I pray and expect him to receive it maybe all that sort of thought is meaningless. I know that as a follower of Jesus, he promises to be the mediator and take my prayers offered in faith into the throne room of the Creator of the universe.
So if that's true and I know enough about prayer and that they are heard and are received by the Almighty God how should that shape and form my prayers? How should that knowledge move me to pray perhaps differently that I do?
The phrase that echoes in my mind in response to these questions is to "pray boldly". If I know who is receiving my prayers and I acknowledge that his ways are higher than my ways and his thoughts are higher than my thoughts; if I understand that his Will will be done if it agrees with my prayers or not; if I know that prayers offered in faith can change the mind of God (Ex. 32:14, Jonah 3:10), then for me to step up boldly in prayer and ask the incredible, the impossible, the thing that's 10 steps beyond rational seems absolutely appropriate.
To pray for comfort from cancer for a sick person is something that I regularly do. But to pray for full and miraculous healing that points all who bear witness to the only, loving God who can heal like that is not something that I do regularly. To pray for opportunities to share my faith is a regular prayer, but to pray that the person in the restaurant who I do not know might have a Saul/Paul/road to Damascus experience so that they might come face to face with God is not a prayer I offer.
Why not? Don't I believe that God can do that? Don't I understand that God wants to do that sort of thing in his world? He doesn't want to do it for my sake so that I can feel like a prayer giant. He wants to the amazing, the miraculous, the thing beyond explanation because when he does it, it pushes the witnesses to wonder what sort of incomprehensible being could do something like that. When God takes the shutters off and lets loose with the abundance of his power, Creation takes notice. Some might explain it away, some might ignore it, but some won't. Some will watch, and wonder, and know that God is real and that he continues to be active in the world that he gave to humanity.
Of course scripture reminds us to ask of God rightly. "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives..." James 4:3. Then for me to pray boldly, I need to ask the incredible of God with the right motives: God's glory and his alone. "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:7,8
As I pray without ceasing today, may God expand my heart to believe in his incredible power. May Christ enlarge my mind to believe that he who came to redeem the world continues that work, in part, through people of faith who are willing to really believe in what he's done and expect him to continue that work to its completion. May the Spirit empower me to the belief that his love for his people is bigger, wider, longer, deeper and more amazing than I could ever imagine. May my prayers be God sized prayers where he does what only he can do and takes all the glory to himself.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Meditation: A Strange Word to Most Christians
When we hear the word 'meditation' it often brings to mind people sitting around in the lotus postion humming mantras and rolling their eyes into the back of their heads while they attempt to move their being into a higher plane. It's sad that our minds go there as quickly as they do. Especially as Christians, we should have a different image that comes to mind when we think about meditiation, shouldn't we? After all, meditation is straight out of scripture isn't it? Aren't there numerous passages that mention meditation on God's law and on who God is?
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:1,2. "Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders." Psalm 119:27. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8.
And there are others. Meditation is not something that any New Age cult or wacky self-betterment group owns. It's one of many ways that God communes with his people, if we are willing to enter into it.
It's striking to me that I don't think that I've ever met a Christian who meditated on scripture.... or on God.... or on Creation.... or on the person of Jesus.... or on..... well..... anything. Maybe I wasn't listening well (a distinct possibility!), or maybe the solitary discipline of meditation is solitary and doesn't necessarily get shared within the community of faith, but it seems to me that if scripture commands it and if it's an important means of communing with God then there should be some mode of sharing what meditation is and how we should do it.
Why don't we talk about it much?
Maybe it's because meditation doesn't jibe with our culture, at all, even a little bit. Our culture is hustle and bustle and noise and marketing, and stuff, and everything that meditation isn't. Our culture wants to fill every space with advertising or with sound or with iPods, iPhones, and iStuff. The idea of quieting things down and filling ourselves with, well with nothing except God and his presence uncogs the wheels and doesn't work for our society. That's so outside of our experience. It's so unusual. It's so... weird.
But what if meditation isn't something that's supposed to just leave us relaxed and streesfree and calm? What if it has little to do with us and everything to do with God in us? Perhaps if we understood meditation as a deeper, wider, vibrant and growing opportunity to build relationship with God then it wouldn't be so weird to us. Perhaps it would become an opportunity to listen and be still and truly enjoy God's presence in a new way that would empower and equip us with his Spirit in completely different ways then we've ever known before.
Richard Foster puts it this way. "If you feel that we live in a purely physical universe, you will view meditation as a good way to obtain a consistent alpha brain-wave pattern. (Transcendental Meditation) But if you believe that we live in a universe created by the infinite personal God who delights in our communion with Him, you will see meditation as a communication between the Lover and the one beloved."
Oh how I want more of that! How I need more of that! To find stolen moments to receive God's love in a deeper, more meaningful way? To know his grace more fully so that I might share it with others? Sign me up.
That being said, I'm going to have some learning to do. I don't know how to meditate well. In fact, I don't think I know how to meditate on God's Word at all. I'm going to have to learn. I'm going to have to find some resources.
And most importantly, I'm going to have to learn to be still and know that he is God. And that might be the hardest work of all.
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:1,2. "Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders." Psalm 119:27. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8.
And there are others. Meditation is not something that any New Age cult or wacky self-betterment group owns. It's one of many ways that God communes with his people, if we are willing to enter into it.
It's striking to me that I don't think that I've ever met a Christian who meditated on scripture.... or on God.... or on Creation.... or on the person of Jesus.... or on..... well..... anything. Maybe I wasn't listening well (a distinct possibility!), or maybe the solitary discipline of meditation is solitary and doesn't necessarily get shared within the community of faith, but it seems to me that if scripture commands it and if it's an important means of communing with God then there should be some mode of sharing what meditation is and how we should do it.
Why don't we talk about it much?
Maybe it's because meditation doesn't jibe with our culture, at all, even a little bit. Our culture is hustle and bustle and noise and marketing, and stuff, and everything that meditation isn't. Our culture wants to fill every space with advertising or with sound or with iPods, iPhones, and iStuff. The idea of quieting things down and filling ourselves with, well with nothing except God and his presence uncogs the wheels and doesn't work for our society. That's so outside of our experience. It's so unusual. It's so... weird.
But what if meditation isn't something that's supposed to just leave us relaxed and streesfree and calm? What if it has little to do with us and everything to do with God in us? Perhaps if we understood meditation as a deeper, wider, vibrant and growing opportunity to build relationship with God then it wouldn't be so weird to us. Perhaps it would become an opportunity to listen and be still and truly enjoy God's presence in a new way that would empower and equip us with his Spirit in completely different ways then we've ever known before.
Richard Foster puts it this way. "If you feel that we live in a purely physical universe, you will view meditation as a good way to obtain a consistent alpha brain-wave pattern. (Transcendental Meditation) But if you believe that we live in a universe created by the infinite personal God who delights in our communion with Him, you will see meditation as a communication between the Lover and the one beloved."
Oh how I want more of that! How I need more of that! To find stolen moments to receive God's love in a deeper, more meaningful way? To know his grace more fully so that I might share it with others? Sign me up.
That being said, I'm going to have some learning to do. I don't know how to meditate well. In fact, I don't think I know how to meditate on God's Word at all. I'm going to have to learn. I'm going to have to find some resources.
And most importantly, I'm going to have to learn to be still and know that he is God. And that might be the hardest work of all.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Desiring the Spiritual Disciplines
I'm recognizing more and more that discipline is a challenge for me. It's not that I'm off track or out of sync with what I should be doing, I just know that there are things that I want more of that take work, and that work is hard. It's sacrificial. It takes time from other, easier things. It means that sometimes I turn the computer or the television off. It means that there are times when I give up things that are good so that I can spend time moving toward things that are better.
This truth is no more real to me then during this time of year. This time after Thanksgiving and before Christmas is full. It's busy. Concerts, soccer games (gotta love Southern California in November), parties, programs, shopping, decorating, great meals, and my favorite Christmas movies on television are all right there ready to take time and energy to enjoy. And they truly are enjoyable. Who doesn't love a Christmas program with kids dressed up in their Christmas finest, singing songs and playing instruments? These are fun things; they're good things. Missing them seems to never be optional, but I wonder if in the fullness of all these good things, I miss some of the greatest things of this time of year.
What is there for me in the quiet contemplation of what happened at the first Christmas? What is there for me when I fast from some of the great cookies and bars sitting in the kitchen at the office so that I might be reminded to hunger after the things of God? What does God have to say to me when I give up a night "Christmas Vacation" on television for the 3rd time, and spend time journaling on Isaiah 42:1-4 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth." This is the hope of Christmas and often times I get so caught up in the 'stuff' of the season that January comes and I march on into whatever's next, having missed a wonderful opportunity to commune with God. I missed it simply because I lack the discipline to stop, look, wonder and listen.
I deeply desire for that change. I hope that we as part of God's Creation can look at the things around us and wonder if things can be different. It's striking that right now there's a movement in this country to battle against corporations and government who control so much of what we know, have and experience. There's a desire to push back against all the money, power, greed and excess that controls our culture, but this movement seems to want things done externally to make change happen. I wonder if that's the best way.
Leo Tolstoy said, "Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself." I like that. In fact, I like that a lot. Real change, real transformation begins internally, not with some political revolution or business remodel. Those things may happen, but frankly, they begin with.... well, they begin with me. They begin with my willingness to allow God's grace to come in and change my heart towards the things that he loves. They continue with the Spirit coming and moving me to compassion for others and for the world that he's given me to live in. They show themselves best when I allow Christ to come in and clean house in my heart so that I might be a part of doing his work of kingdom building in my home, my neighborhood, my city and my world.
And the circle completes itself because this change comes through discipline. It comes through me putting myself into a place where God's grace can do the work that my Savior desires for his people. It comes in the quiet, in the meditation, in the fasting, and the prayer that reflects a hope to truly grow in who I am in Christ.
It will be a good Christmas season, I have no doubt. My prayer is that this Christmas is a better one because I'm willing to sit, listen, pray, hope and wonder in the lap of Christ while the hustle and bustle goes on around me. That's my hope, and if the Lord wills it, he'll do that in me.
This truth is no more real to me then during this time of year. This time after Thanksgiving and before Christmas is full. It's busy. Concerts, soccer games (gotta love Southern California in November), parties, programs, shopping, decorating, great meals, and my favorite Christmas movies on television are all right there ready to take time and energy to enjoy. And they truly are enjoyable. Who doesn't love a Christmas program with kids dressed up in their Christmas finest, singing songs and playing instruments? These are fun things; they're good things. Missing them seems to never be optional, but I wonder if in the fullness of all these good things, I miss some of the greatest things of this time of year.
What is there for me in the quiet contemplation of what happened at the first Christmas? What is there for me when I fast from some of the great cookies and bars sitting in the kitchen at the office so that I might be reminded to hunger after the things of God? What does God have to say to me when I give up a night "Christmas Vacation" on television for the 3rd time, and spend time journaling on Isaiah 42:1-4 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth." This is the hope of Christmas and often times I get so caught up in the 'stuff' of the season that January comes and I march on into whatever's next, having missed a wonderful opportunity to commune with God. I missed it simply because I lack the discipline to stop, look, wonder and listen.
I deeply desire for that change. I hope that we as part of God's Creation can look at the things around us and wonder if things can be different. It's striking that right now there's a movement in this country to battle against corporations and government who control so much of what we know, have and experience. There's a desire to push back against all the money, power, greed and excess that controls our culture, but this movement seems to want things done externally to make change happen. I wonder if that's the best way.
Leo Tolstoy said, "Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself." I like that. In fact, I like that a lot. Real change, real transformation begins internally, not with some political revolution or business remodel. Those things may happen, but frankly, they begin with.... well, they begin with me. They begin with my willingness to allow God's grace to come in and change my heart towards the things that he loves. They continue with the Spirit coming and moving me to compassion for others and for the world that he's given me to live in. They show themselves best when I allow Christ to come in and clean house in my heart so that I might be a part of doing his work of kingdom building in my home, my neighborhood, my city and my world.
And the circle completes itself because this change comes through discipline. It comes through me putting myself into a place where God's grace can do the work that my Savior desires for his people. It comes in the quiet, in the meditation, in the fasting, and the prayer that reflects a hope to truly grow in who I am in Christ.
It will be a good Christmas season, I have no doubt. My prayer is that this Christmas is a better one because I'm willing to sit, listen, pray, hope and wonder in the lap of Christ while the hustle and bustle goes on around me. That's my hope, and if the Lord wills it, he'll do that in me.
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