Devotion.al

Tag: prayer

  • Prayer Fighting

    Exodus 3:1–10, Psalm 4, Isaiah 56:7, 1 Timothy 2:1–4 (read online ⧉)

    Phrases such as“fight your battles on your knees” and “win your battles on your knees”, along with terms such as warrior, along with movies such as “War Room” all have an underlying assumption…prayer is a battle.

    There is far too much truth in it. First, the battle is against the powers of . Now, to be blunt, we often those same powers too much credence. Yet, from our limited and weak , the darkness seems powerful.

    Battle is also applicable when it comes to ourselves. Sometimes it is weariness. Sometimes it is . We fight our desire to do something more. We get distracted (even before phones that was a problem). We fight ourselves when we pray.

    This leads to the next part of this battle…never go it alone. The greatest we have is when we pray . We can lift one another up when we fall. Together (as we are called to be, anyway) we can bring each other rest when we’re tired, encouragement when we tend toward despair. We can even hold each other accountable regarding transactions.

    The biggest struggle when it comes to prayer is the length of time to receive and the answers themselves. Think of the Israelites. Their prayer wasn’t answered for generations, and by a guy who was (effectively) cast out of his Egyptian and Israelite relations. Their prayer was answered…eventually. How many prayed for liberation, and died not seeing it.
    Whether we are praying for healing, spiritual healing, or relational healing, it can be demoralizing to receive an answer we didn’t actually want. There are so many reasons why prayer may or may not be answered, but remaining in our prayers is what we are called to be.

    1) What is the biggest prayer you remember making and being fulfilled?

    2) What is the biggest prayer you remember making and not being fulfilled?

    3) What is currently the biggest item on your prayer list?

  • You…Priest…You

    Malachi 2:1–9, Colossians 3:5–17, 1 Peter 2:1–8 (read online)

    In a number of bibles (both translations and iterations), this passage in Malachi has the header of Warning to the Priests. You may have read that yourself. This passage is indeed to the Israelite priests, who fulfill the forms of , prayer, supplication, and , but do not fulfill the heart of any of it. Tying the heart of worship to honoring God’s should any of us pause. Look at what God is equating to the behavior of their hearts: animal poop and entrails. In other words, what’s coming out of them is crap. Pretty harsh.

    The problem that many Christians have reading this passage is, “this doesn’t apply to me.” Except if you read ‘s and Peter’s letters, the category of Israelite/Jewish Priest actually does apply to all of us. Paul’s letter removes the human-based barriers between people. Peter removes the concept of non-priest. In other words, the warning of Malachi does apply to each of us.

    Now, we could say that the Law doesn’t apply to us. Okay. Yet, the “Law” of (love the Lord your God) would seem to wipe that argument out in context. While we use and have the titles of priest, pastor, reverend, minister, and while they have a certain place within the , that does not spare us from the priesthood of all believers.

    Re-read Malachi. Replace “you” with “me”, and “your” with “my”. Take this personally.

    1) How have you violated what God calls on us to do/be according to the words in Malachi?

    2) Scripture is pretty down-to-earth. This passage in Malachi shows it (along with a little rephrasing). Why is it important that the are so down-to-earth? What happens when we over gentle the of God?

    3) Barriers are a common tactic. Why do you think it is important that Paul and Peter removed them? What barriers need to be removed in your , particularly with how you categorized and interact with other people?

  • Humble Knowledge

    1 Samuel 2:1–10, Job 36:1–4, 2 Peter 1:3–8 (read online)

    is , so it is said. One of the great gifts of the Enlightenment was indeed the removal of knowledge from the monopoly of the . Knowledge, when freed from the shackles of human power and control, can .

    Knowledge, by the way, does not mean . Wisdom is something completely different (though it often looks similar). Societally, we value knowledge. We lift those up with lots of education. We often put them on a pedestal as if they are of greater value than we are. The problem truly comes when one views the knowledge they have as giving some authority, insight, and/or power that is not theirs.

    Hannah’s prayer covers that to some degree as she talks about not boasting, or speaking arrogantly. She notes that God has all the knowledge. As God has all the knowledge, God is able to weigh everyone’s actions. No matter how much knowledge we have, or anyone has, we will never have all the knowledge of God even with all the technology we have now, and will have. Only God has the knowledge of all people and all situations.

    As Elihu speaks, we should all be cringing. How could anyone be so arrogant they have complete knowledge? Sadly, this is exactly how many people and . In fact, such speakers are given accolades. Lest you forget, that is exactly what we are getting in our politics these days, and it will probably be worse next year. That is unless we take a stand. This is not the stand of my way is THE right way, but the stand of I may not be right and should be open to others. This doesn’t mean we will all agree, all of a sudden. Often if we are willing to listen, the of our approach may change hearts. However, even if opinions aren’t changed, bridges can still be built instead of walls.

    For Christians, it should be a deepening knowledge of God through and the Holy that we should seek, both in ourselves and in others. Peter reminds us that this is how we deepen our faith. If we keep increasing our knowledge of God…we won’t be useless. That means if we do keep increasing in our knowledge we are useful to God. Sounds pretty good.

    1) Do you find yourself overly respecting those with knowledge?

    2) How are you deepening your knowledge of God? Is it with purpose, or is it aimless?

    3) How can we gently correct those full of knowledge, who are full of themselves?

  • Worship Heart-Fully

    2 Kings 23:4–20, Ezekiel 42:13‭-‬14

    King Josiah had a mess to clean up. Over the years, his kingly predecessors and the priestly predecessors had put a lot of stuff that didn’t belong in the . A lot of it was pieces for worshipping gods instead of worshipping God.

    If you really want to be overwhelmed, number the items, and then realize that the list was summarized (e.g., all the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba). It is not an exhaustive list! There was more that didn’t get listed! How far the people had fallen!

    King Josiah went so far as to desecrate graves so as to totally desecrate all the high places dedicated to other gods. Yet, the underlying story is how the religious leaders had added thing after thing to the temple, and the things they added had nothing to do with worshipping God. All the additions were to worship anything other than God.

    It might seem odd to go from this cleansing to a simple statement about proper priestly behavior in the post-exile temple (our passage in Ezekiel). However, there is something that needs to be addressed. Often, in our zeal (much of this inherited by Puritan thinking) to have a “pure” temple, we “” things because of their association with what we think is contaminated worship.

    Take the clothing of the priests mentioned in Ezekiel. The priests are supposed to wear special clothes that are only to be used during their priestly duties in the temple. If you didn’t catch this, in modern terms, that is seen in Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, some Anglican/Episcopal, some Lutheran, and some Presbyterian churches. The priests/pastors in these traditions will often wear special clothes that are only worn in the . They don’t, for example, wear them to the supermarket.

    Yet, we American “Evangelicals” have inherited a Puritan thought process that opposes such clothing, because the Roman Catholics and Anglicans (the Puritan primary opposition) wore them.

    We have two opposite mindsets presented here, which is something we as Christians and as a church need to think through, not just accept everybody else’s thoughts. “Right” worship has been a long-term issue in the church, from to extemporaneous , no music to A Capella to hymns to contemporary music. It is good and reasonable to ponder what “right” worship looks like. We just have to be careful that we don’t throw out (or bring in) good and/or biblical just because. And we have to be careful not to condemn practices that do just because.

    1) Where do you think you see non-God honoring practices entering worship? What makes it not God-honoring? Is your stance Biblical (find it) or is it cultural?

    2) Where do think more God-honoring practices could be introduced? Why do you think they are not being done? How do they build up the body of believers?

    3) Will adding prescribed and described practices in the Bible necessarily help worship? How do you balance so-called Biblical practices with cultural practices? Are you able to perceive the difference?

  • Pagan Response

    Ezekiel 27:1–36, Ezekiel 28:20–23, Luke 10:13–16

    To understand ‘ “woe” statements, one needs to understand history. While Tyre and Sidon were now (in Jesus’ time) prosperous cities, their pride, pagan behavior, and anti-Israel behavior had gotten them a lot of punishment. After Ezekiel’s , the cities weren’t washed clean, but wiped-off-the-map cleansed. Because of their geography, those locations would recover (and even retain their ), but the penalty received had been severe.

    In the time of Jesus, Tyre and Sidon were still very pagan, Las Vegas and New Orleans (during Mardi Gras) pagan. Devotion to gods or God was perfunctory at best. was the ruler. Yet…
    Jesus stated that those cities would have responded (positively) to the , while the so-called devoted of Judah were apathetic or antagonistic!

    We look at our culture and often sadly proclaim that if they could just see Jesus, they would convert. Or if they joined the church, everything would be fine. Or (yes, foot-stomping ahead) if only prayer and the Bible would be allowed in schools again…

    The Jews had prayer. They had the . They had “the church” (i.e., the temple and synagogues). It was all tightly integrated into their culture and their politics (more foot-stomping). Look where that got them! Chided and lectured by Jesus!

    1) Truly…are we all that different now than the Jews were then?

    2) Politicians—of all stripes—are rightly pulling and poking at our religious- and -strings. They see what we aren’t good at seeing…our inconsistency. They use it to bolster their . How can you the religious and faith truths from the political lies? How will you do that as each political group takes some, but not all, of the ideology for political talking points?

    3) If the world is like Tyre and Sidon, and we are like the Chorazin and Bethsaida (the unrepentant Jewish cities), what do they (the world) see that we don’t about Jesus and the Kingdom of God?

  • Closing the Gap

    Exodus 32:1–14, Numbers 14:11–24, Ezekiel 22:30-31, Matthew 18:18–20

    Standing in the gap has long been a phrase used for intercessory , and it is fitting. Sometimes, however, standing in the gap doesn’t always mean what we think it means.

    Twice Moses stands “in the gap” apparently between God and the Israelites. The Israelites have betrayed their agreements with God, even so quickly after their miracle-filled escape from Egypt. What possessed Moses to stand between God and the Israelites? Was it truly concern for God’s ? Scripture only really provides that interpretation. In fact, it happens twice. Moses stands between God and the Israelites.

    It’s Moses! Of course, Moses can do that! There is the time Abraham sort-of steps in between God and the city of Sodom, but it wasn’t the same.

    Yet, in Ezekiel, we see that perhaps it isn’t an Abraham or Moses task to stand in the gap. It’s anyone’s task (or even everyone’s). Re-read those 2 verses in Ezekiel. It seems as if God is disappointed that no one is standing between God and consequences. God was looking for a person to stand up and defend the sinners, lost, and unrighteous! Sound familiar? There is an inference that there was such a lack of believers and followers that they couldn’t, wouldn’t, or felt they shouldn’t stand in the gap.

    Where does that leave us? Let’s look at ‘ words. They have long been used by the Roman Catholic for certain practices of theirs. Abuses of it helped to trigger the Reformation. However, in so doing, these words are avoided by Protestant circles. Regardless of our personal feelings, these words of Jesus remind us that we are called to stand in the gap for .

    While we are especially to stand in the gap for those in the extended of believers, we are also called to do the same for those currently outside of the family of believers.

    1) What do you think of the “whatever” that is in Jesus’ words?

    2) For whom in the family of believers are you standing in the gap? For whom that are outside of the family are you standing in the gap?

    3) Looking at (Abraham,) Moses, Ezekiel, and Jesus, what does it mean to be standing in the gap?

  • Too Direct?

    John 17:9–19

    Jesus prayed for the disciples, a lot. There is something quite interesting here. He didn’t pray for the world (that he died for). He prayed instead for his disciples. Why? Why his disciples?

    Jesus prayed for his disciples. Jesus prayed for his friends. Jesus prayed for their protection.

    He prayed for them…for us.

    Without the disciples, we would not know Jesus. Without Jesus’ protection, we would not have the disciples. Jesus did pray for the world…just indirectly.

    All too often, we want to see direct effects. We want to know that the of God is active in our lives. We want to know that God loves the world…and even us.

    Ultimately, with Jesus’ death, the came to dwell in the 11 remaining disciples, along with all those who were with them in the upper room. From those 11, the was born. The church despite its brokenness. The church despite all the hurt that its imperfect people caused and suffered.

    We sometimes if our prayers are effective. Perhaps it’s not our prayers that we should be thinking about, but the prayers of those who are praying for us.

    1) Have you ever had the experience of learning that someone was praying for you, and it came to be? What was your ?

    2) Have you ever prayed for someone else (especially not ), and watched it come true? What was your response?

    3) should be the most uniting thing we as a church do. How can you be more with your church in prayer?

  • People Needed

    Isaiah 30:8–17, 1 Thessalonians 2:2–12

    “To make Christlike disciples in the nations.”—Church of the Nazarene Statement

    “Iron sharpens iron and one person sharpens another.”—Proverbs 27:17

    Discipleship is not a program, nor is it a class. It is a lifestyle. If we are not careful, Sunday School, Groups, Youth Group, Children’s Church, even Sunday Service become mere flattery of our wants and desires, rather than discipleship.

    If you aren’t being challenged by God’s and Spirit during or as a result of these (even as the leader), then it is all empty. Will the challenge always occur? No. If it rarely or never occurs, that is the “best” indicator.

    The problem is that we often just want easy, even at Church. Church, sadly, isn’t meant to be easy. Church, as framily, is meant to be transforming. Transformation can often be painful or uncomfortable.

    In Isaiah, we read the consequences of flattery and (pointless/false) positive words, and it isn’t pretty. Paul challenged the Thessalonians to listen for the , rather than be flattered by the speakers trying to turn them away from the Gospel and probably against Paul himself.

    We are to be challenged, not because our views are true or false, but through the maturing of our as it faces the real world is how we show the world the love of Christ, and become the light of the world.

    The hard part for our egos is that we often want people to be nice when we need them to be kind. What’s the difference? Think of someone standing on the railing of a tall skyscraper with a strong wind. Nice: “be careful.” Kind: pull them back, even if it hurts them. One is passive (doormat). One is life. In a true discipleship , we need kind people, and we need to be authentic. That is scary.

    1) What discipleship relationships and patterns do you have?

    2) It’s easy to say , bible reading, and attending church are your patterns. However, plenty of people do those, too, and we don’t them Christians. What is the difference?

    3) With the new Life Groups in the Fall, what new path will you take? Will you join (or lead) a Life Group? Or will you start a small band with the covenant to one another? Or will you stagnate?