Tag Archives: Prayer

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 2 Kings 1

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Auditions20lr The king then sent a third captain with his fifty men. For a third time, a captain with his fifty approached Elijah. This one fell on his knees in supplication: "O Holy Man, have respect for my life and the souls of these fifty men! Twice now lightning from out of the blue has struck and incinerated captains with their fifty men; please, I beg you, respect my life!" 2 Kings 1:13-14 (MSG)

My wife and I have been involved in community theater for several years. We've served administratively on the board of directors and have directed and produced a number of shows. One of the challenging parts of directing a show is choosing a small cast from a large host of people who audition. Most actors in my community are wonderful people to work with. There are those individuals, however, who walk into the audition with attitude to spare, expecting you to cast them in the leading role. If you don't, they throw a tantrum and threaten legal action (right, as if that's just the kind of person I want to work with every night on stage for six weeks).

Throughout the journey, I've had opportunity to be in positions of leadership in family, church, work and community. As a leader or manager, nothinge turns me on edge faster than being approached by someone with an attitude of disrespectful expectation. Requests are phrased as demands, as if they are rights. Humility is absent as appeals are made as a challenge to your authority.

The first two captains sent to Elijah approached him with attitude, demanding his audience with the king. The subtext of their attitude was that the spiritual should bow to the temporal. God, and his servant, should bow to the king's demand. Pride. Expectation. The first two captains' attitude was a word-picture of the root problem. The king and his men had no respect for God and His power.

How do I approach those in authority over me? How do I approach God?

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 1 Kings 18

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Fire from heaven. Then Elijah told the people, "Enough of that—it's my turn. Gather around." And they gathered. He then put the altar back together for by now it was in ruins. 1 Kings 18:30 (MSG)

I have, at times, prayed for fire from heaven as I stood next to the ruined altar of my life.

Silly me.

God didn't answer Elijah until the altar, which lay in ruins, was repaired.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Elijah

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 1 Kings 17

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Running on empty. This is the word of the God of Israel: 'The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought. 1 Kings 17:14 (MSG)

It's been a long week and I'm tired. The physical and emotional batteries are on empty.

As I read the chapter today, I was struck by God's promise to the woman of Zarephath to replenish the oil and flour in her home each day so that she, and her son, and Elijah could eat.

Just as Jesus would replenish the loaves and fish until everyone had their fill of fish sandwiches.

Just as Jesus taught us to pray "Give us this day, our daily bread."

God is in the business of replenishment. He provides what we need when we need it. And, that's a good thought as I head out the door this morning.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 1 Kings 3

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Sears Christmas Wish Book.  "Here's what I want: Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil. For who on their own is capable of leading your glorious people?" 1 Kings 3:9 (MSG)

As a child, there was nothing quite like the Sears Christmas "Wish Book" catalog that showed up in our house every autumn. Within days of its arrival, the extensive section of toys and games at the back of the catalog was dog-eared and worn from grubby little fingers flipping through the pages. My eyes poured over all the possibilities with an eye to figure out what to ask Santa to deliver.

As humans, we like to contemplate what we would ask for if suddenly given the opportunity to be granted whatever we wished. As children we play this game with Santa. We continue to contemplate the possibilities as we read stories about a genie in the bottle. As adults we contemplate our list of wishes as we buy a powerball ticket or enter the sweepstakes. And, we often approach God as though he is a similar sugar daddy type character.

The question is raised again as we read today's chapter and find Solomon weighing his option. When faced with the question Solomon looked at the enormity of the task before him and asked for wisdom to lead. I look into my own heart and ask if I can honestly say I have similar purity of intention. Too often I think that my heart has the same childish, self-centered motives it did when I sat in front of The Brady Bunch after school and poured over the Sears Wish Book for hours.

God, grant me purity of heart, that I might have the motivation to honestly ask you for the right things with the right intentions.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Daniel 4

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No accident. All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Just twelve months later, he was walking on the balcony of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted, "Look at this, Babylon the great! And I built it all by myself, a royal palace adequate to display my honor and glory!" Daniel 4:28-30 (MSG)

While in college, my sister and I were in a bad car accident. It was a late night on an icy road and our car spun out of control into oncoming traffic. In the panic of the moment as the car spun and I comprehended the headlights of cars coming at us I was stripped of any conscious thought. I reacted in panic. I cried out the name of Jesus in a sudden, guttural one word prayer for help.

Moments later it was eerily still and I remember blood flowing down my face. I was in shock as I reached over to make sure my sister was still alive. Again, the only word I could utter was the name of Jesus.

When we walk through a difficult stretch of life's journey, it's almost natural to cry out to God. We are in need. We are in pain. We are stretched and weary and feel our spiritual reserves on empty. We cry out to God and cling to Him.

However, when things are good we tend to forget. When the road seems easy and all that we do seems to succeed we don't feel the need. Our tank is full and we are blessed. How easily we forget to recognize that the blessing we experience is not of ourselves.

The story of Nebuchadnezzar is a wonderful word picture reminding me that all that I have, all that I enjoy, and every blessing I receive is a gift of God. It is not of myself. Today, I'm reminded to recognize my utter need of God in good times as well as bad. I want my heart to react in a desperate prayer whether I'm spinning out of control or leisurely driving down smooth, straight roads. 

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and samkim

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Exodus 11

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God saw to it that the Egyptians liked the people. Also, Moses was greatly admired by the Egyptians, a respected public figure among both Pharaoh's servants and the people at large. Exodus 11:3 (MSG)

I have long been intrigued by the idea of God's "favor." Growing up, I noticed that there were many capable children in my class, but every once in a while there was one or two who seemed to have "favor" with the teachers, adults, and their peers. It wasn't that they were rich kids. It wasn't that they came from powerful families. It wasn't that they were particularly smarter or more gifted than other kids. They weren't even brown nosers. Nevertheless, you could see that they had a certain affinity with those around them.

As I read through God's message, I see a tiny thread woven through the fabric of the story. There is a string of God's favor that is given to certain individuals at certain times that God's purpose can be accomplished. Abraham had it with his neighbors. Jacob did, as well. Moses had it with the Egyptians. David had it with the people, as did many of the leaders in the book of Judges. I don't believe favor can be acheived by effort, nor can it be attained through some recipe of our own desire and good works. There is something much deeper and more spiritual involved.

Like Jabez, however, I believe we can seek God that He might grant us His favor at the right time and place to accomplish His purpose in us.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 150

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The Divine Hours Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, praise him under the open skies; Psalm 150:1 (MSG)

Over the past two weekends I've been able to spend a lot of time "under the open skies." It never ceases to amaze me how our little place at the lake is as much spiritual refuge as it is vacation play place. For several months now I've been enjoying "The Divine Hours." It's a selection of daily prayers divided into four daily offices. It's a return to the ancient idea of taking time each day, at different times of the day, to stop what you're doing and pray.

At the lake, the daily prayer times took on a deeper meaning for me. I felt the depth of the water, the rootedness of the trees, and the expanse of the skies as I quietly prayed through each office in the morning, mid-day and evening. As I read the opening lyric to Psalm 150 this morning, I caught the contrast of the author. Praise God in church, but praise Him under the open skies, too. There is much to be gained from learning to praise God inside church and out.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 134

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The blessing of daisies. Lift your praising hands to the Holy Place, and bless God. Psalm 134:2 (MSG)

The other morning I walked into my home office. Other than a few pieces of artwork on the walls, my home office is a fairly stark room. Three desks, three computers, and books. This particular morning I walked in and found a gorgeous arrangement of beautiful daisies on my desk. Below it was a sticky-note on which was written "Praying for you!"

The flowers and note were not from my wife, but from my youngest daughter, Madison. What a blessing to her old man. The daisies are still there, beginning to wilt but I'm loathe to throw them away. The blessing from my daughter continues to bless, even as the leaves wither and flowers fade.

It's easy, in our gimme, gimme, gimme world to constantly ask for our Heavenly Father's blessing. "God bless me with…" is a pretty consistent cry from my lips. I'm reminded this morning that we have opportunity to actually bless our Heavenly Father.

How am I going to be a blessing to God today?

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and aesum

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 126

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Do it again, Daddy! And now, God, do it again— bring rains to our drought-stricken lives So those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, So those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing. Psalm 126:4-6 (MSG)

On Sunday night we spent a lazy evening enjoying dinner and a visit from our friends. At one point in the evening the guys were wrestling around on the living room floor. I held my three-year-old playmate up by his ankles and dangled his head in the scruff of his daddy's neck. This illicited joyful laughter from my dangling friend, and when I lowered him back to the floor he immediately screamed, "Do it AGAIN!" So, we did it again…several times!

It's good to look back and remember what God has done. I believe it's important to recall specific instances when God answered our prayers, times when He gave us our heart's desire, and moments in our lives when blessings unlooked for and undeserved rained down upon us.

It reminds us that our Dad in heaven likes to bless His chidren. It gives us faith to say, "Do it again!"

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and KhayaL