Tag: christian discipleship

Christ’s Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Wheat Fields with Stacks, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.

“The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’

“‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.

“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

“‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn….’”

Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.”

Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.

“Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! (New Living Translation)

As you have likely noticed, not everyone in this world is supportive of you and what you’re doing.

The good work we do – no matter how competently and expertly done – will be undermined by others. There will be people with selfish and sinister agendas who put roadblocks in our way to frustrate our ongoing work. They don’t like what we are doing and what we’re trying to accomplish.

Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is. So then, one of the big questions for all of us is this: How do we live with others trying to subvert the good work we are doing for the Kingdom of Heaven?

One of the most popular responses is to strike the enemy on their cheek just as hard or harder in the way they slapped you. It is responding to evil in kind.

But if we will ponder for a moment, we shall realize that is makes no sense to repay evil with evil. Why? Because then the Kingdom of Hell has just snagged this one with doing evil in order to defend good work – which ends-up ruining the whole enterprise.

No, instead let’s heed the words of Christ to turn the other cheek and not retaliate; and live the words of the Apostle Paul who reminded us to overcome evil by doing good. (Matthew 5:38-42; Romans 12:14-21)

Yes, all judgment belongs to the Lord, and not us. In today’s Gospel lesson the reasoning Jesus provides for non-retaliation and non-violence is both reasonable and practical.

Field with Stacks of Wheat, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

Christ told his disciples that the enemy’s efforts at thwarting our good works are sinister enough to bring about a situation where evil is so close to the good that to eradicate the evil is to therefore also do away with the good.

If you have weeds in your field or your garden, you know that some of those nasty weeds cannot be pulled out of the ground without yanking-up the good plant along with it. Instead, you’ll have to wait until you can harvest the plant, and then you can safely get rid of the offending weed.

Let’s think, then, about our own situations right now in this world. For myself, it seems that every single day I am upset and angered over decisions made by those in political power, because they almost always involve oppressing and/or harming powerless people.

Yet, to immediately stop the offending persons and organizations would involve some wicked methods. Instead, if I want to maintain doing good, I will have my time to unseat them through the vote, or writing my Senators, or directly contacting the offices of the institutions, etc.

Some of our responses may seem tepid in comparison to the evil being perpetrated, yet we can be sure that there is a time coming in which the reality of divine judgment will handle the wicked once and for all. At the proper time, heaven’s angels will do their own good work of removing evil and eradicating it forever.

We need to put our efforts into doing the very best at living in harmony with one another, promoting peace, and being peacemakers – using our greatest and most effective tools of humility, gentleness, grace, and love. These are the proper fertilizers which will keep the plants of righteousness and justice growing and thriving, even though they are surrounded by a bunch of close weeds.

As maddening as it is to see those weeds grow up alongside the plants, nowhere in Holy Scripture are we called or encouraged to become judge, jury, and executioner to the wicked.

Furthermore, Christians are nowhere called to force onto others Jesus as King through a theocratic nation, using authoritarian means. We are called, rather, to put our faith where our fear is and exercise a faith that does good work through love. (Galatians 5:6)

Equipped by the Spirit, we urge oppressors, tyrants, and egotists to turn from their selfishness and amend their evil ways. And we are not called to force the Kingdom of Heaven on others by trying to ensconce a form of Christian nationalism. For Americans, many of our ancestors came to the New World in order to flee their home Christian nationalist countries who persecuted them and did evil to them.

“To identify any particular form of government with Christianity is a dangerous error, for it confounds the permanent with the transitory, the absolute with the contingent.” T.S. Eliot

It takes very little prodding for Christians with political power to move into glorifying violence and ignoring biblical injunctions to love enemies, seek peace, and grant grace.

God puts a high premium of looking after the poor and needy, and rescuing them from oppression and violence. The last thing we ought to be doing is becoming the violent oppressors ourselves!

Giving ourselves as ambassadors of reconciliation, speaking truth to power, and doing the work of peacemaking is a narrow and hard road to hoe. The easy way is typically the road of destruction. (Matthew 7:13-14)

As citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are to labor toward the things Jesus himself did: Challenge the arrogant religious types; offer mercy to the lowly and forgotten ones; warn of judgment; encourage faith; forgive generously; and speak words of truth in all places, including the halls of political power.

It is perfectly legitimate to disagree with others, but only if we ourselves are willing to defend their equally legitimate right to be disagreeable.

So, instead of always trying to snuff-out and vanquish our opponents with overt tools of evil, let us do the good work of winning their respect, living in peace with them, and affirming our shared humanity together.

We all have the right to be different; we don’t have the right to do evil and reprise evil with evil. The organizations, institutions, faith communities, corporations, and governments of this world are only as good as the people guarding that goodness through their good work, utilizing good means toward good ends.

Anyone with ears ought to listen and understand.

God of steadfast love and grace: Teach us your way and your truth. Root us in you alone, and help us to grow in grace and love, so that we may fulfill our role and our work in the reign of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thy Kingdom Come (Matthew 13:10-17)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
“The Lord of the Parables” by Argentine artist Jorge Cocco Santangelo

His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don’t really see.
    They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.

This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,

‘When you hear what I say,
    you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
    you will not comprehend.
For the hearts of these people are hardened,
    and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
    so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and let me heal them.’

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it. (New Living Translation)

In the beginning, God spoke, and the world came into being. Jesus spoke in parables, and the Kingdom of God came into the world.

The Kingdom of God is universal in its scope and intent. God’s rule and reign over all creation is meant to encompass everyone and everything. The problem, however, is that not everyone wants to be under this divine rule. Therefore, they refuse to see the reality in front of their faces; and do not listen to the words being spoken within their hearing.

God’s Kingdom is meant for good. It is a benevolent, merciful, and loving kingdom. Yet, if one is not attentive to observing and listening, they will miss out on the good things being said and done. Such persons end up becoming like worldly pigs who trample the valuable pearls in front of them in order to go for the slop.

The gift of the Kingdom is faith in Jesus. Christ’s parables about the Kingdom communicate that God is with us; the good Lord is near to the world through Christ the King.

“Thus what we pray for when we pray ‘thy kingdom come’ is ‘Dear Father, please help us to understand your powerful little gospel with gentle, non-violent faith and then, in the joy of that faith and in the light of the coming great judgment, to change our lives to be obedient to your Son’s commands.’” Frederick Dale Bruner

A Gospel parable is something like a riddle: Some will grasp the truth of it, while others won’t get what’s being conveyed. This is why Christ’s disciples seemed to be confused as to why Jesus would speak in parables, instead of plainly stating with clarity his point and message. So, they asked him about his approach.

Jesus responded that they (his disciples) have been given the secrets, the mysteries, of God’s Kingdom. And the key which unlocks it all is Jesus himself. Those who follow Christ, have Christ. Those who don’t follow, don’t have him. And they’ll never understand a thing until they pick up the key – until they give everything they have to possess that key.

No one really knows about God the Father, except God the Son, who chooses to reveal what’s going on in the universe.

For a lot of people, it is a hard teaching to know that Jesus gives to some, but not to others – that Christ refuses to reveal the mystery to some. None of it makes sense, that is, until we will first allow God to be God, and let Christ be Christ, knowing that God is God, and I am not. I do not free myself, nor do I bring deliverance to anyone else; but Christ does.

The ones who possess freedom are the ones who have been given it, not the ones who figure it all out on their own – because that’s not really possible.

It is a deep privilege to be gifted the grace and understanding of the Kingdom and how it operates. I think this is the reason why I see so many people, especially several current “Christian” politicians, who just don’t get why anyone would talk about living-out the words and ways of Jesus in this nation.

I really and truly believe that to have Jesus is to have everything. Christ is all I need. As hard as it is to lose positions, privileges, and even people, they all pale in comparison to having Jesus.

I may suffer in body, and even in spirit, but my soul is forever given and protected by Jesus, my Lord and my God.

I am so glad that everything in this life is not up to my whimsical understanding of mercy, but hinges completely on the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

The real deal is that Jesus spoke in parables because we people have such a difficult time with listening. We just don’t listen well, at all. One of the biggest reasons why Jesus didn’t speak plainly all the time is that a full frontal speaking of truth into a person’s face was just too much for them.

The telling of a parable is a merciful and gracious way of bringing some much needed Kingdom truth to the world. Yet, we have got to put on our spiritual ears and our spiritual glasses. Because if we don’t really hear, and don’t really see, we will miss what’s going on in the universe.

All of this nothing new. The prophet Isaiah faced the same issues of humanity that Jesus did, and that we do today. Hardness of heart is the major obstacle to proper sight and sound, and thus, proper action.

The Kingdom of God doesn’t take root in hard soil. And so, Christ’s message is simultaneously a communication of both grace and judgment, just like the message of the prophets of old.

We are blessed when we really look and really listen. Many of those saints of old longed to see the Christ as we have been able to observe him. Their faith was a forward-looking experience.

Do we truly discern how privileged we are to have the New Testament Gospels which communicate Christ to us, and the blessed Holy Spirit, who has been given to us by both the Father and the Son?

I am nobody special, and yet, before I chose God, God chose me! I’m here because of God in Jesus Christ. All that I have and all that I am is because of Jesus, the key to my entire life. I couldn’t even gin-up any sort of faith within myself; it all was graciously given to me by God, so that I could have the keys of the Kingdom.

So then, let us have the good sense to be profoundly thankful and grateful people. Even when we suffer, we’ve been given the privilege to suffer for the Christ who first suffered for us.

Perhaps this is all best summed-up by the hymn writer: “O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be.” From “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson (1758)

“Thy Kingdom come” occurs one person at a time, one heart at a time, through the amazing grace of God in Christ. If we want to become spiritually aware and enlightened, then the first step – and really only step – is to follow Jesus.

O God of mercy, in Jesus Christ you freed us from sin and death, and by your Holy Spirit you nourish our mortal bodies with life. Plant in us now good soil, so that our lives may flower in righteousness and peace. Amen.

Christ’s Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
“The Sower” by Vincent Van Gogh, 1881

…Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories.

“What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

“Are you listening to this? Really listening?”…

“Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.

“The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

“The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.

“The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.” (The Message)

It takes focused attention to listen well. Allowing the understanding of Christ’s words to awash over us – drinking-in the life-giving good news – is required for the act of listening to achieve its intended purpose.

It is most necessary that we all develop the skill of effective listening, so as to understand what is being said. And yet, understanding, as important as it is – all by itself – is inadequate. If hearing isn’t accompanied by obedient follow-through, then all the listening comes to nothing.

Christian discipleship (following the words and the ways of Jesus) demands that the believer takes Christ’s words and walks faithfully in the way of the good news, which has been absorbed into the mind and heart through effective listening.

Failing to both listen and put the words into practice is like the person who looks into the mirror and then walks away forgetting what he looks like.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. (James 1:22-25, MSG)

Appropriate and fruitful action begins with, and is dependent upon, attentive and effective listening – which is why the ability to hear the words of Jesus are so very vital to our lives.

“The Sower” by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

The Parable

Our ears are the soil of our lives. Ears that are attentive and devoted to listening to Jesus are good soil; ears that are distracted, inattentive, and/or stopped up with ear wax are the bad soil. 

Receptive listening to the Word of God brings a fruitful harvest of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Christ’s parable lets us know that planting the Word is important. It is sown on four different soils:

  1. The seed on the road. A path is for walking; and for us, a road is for driving – which is why the seed never takes root. Here there is no real listening. When we act without listening, our actions will inevitably be misguided. 
  2. The seed on gravel. Here there is no deep listening. A lack of attentive hearing results in a shallow person who perhaps relies more on Christian clichés or on one’s personality or abilities, instead of the planted Word.
  3. The seed in the weeds. Here there is some significant listening. However, there are too many voices being heard, and not enough singular listening to the sown Word. Listening to the wrong voices will cause an unfruitful life, so we must be careful to whom we choose to give our listening ears to!
  4. The seed on good earth. A devoted listening to the Word without distraction leads to a productive, fruitful believer.

The Parable Interpreted

The interpretation of the parable which Jesus provided to his disciples focuses on the experience of the seed in a variety of soils, as well as the outside powers which act on the message. It all demonstrates that the words of Jesus – the good news of Christ – is central to our lives, and needs to be received well.

  1. The road is the person who hears the message yet is unable to hear Christ’s words because their heart is hard. The forces of evil snatch up the message before any real understanding, and therefore action, can take place. We must observe that the forces of evil are real; they have the ability to influence people with listening issues.
  2. The gravel is the person who hears just enough to respond with joy but drops out when hard circumstances come around. “I didn’t sign up for this!” is their cry. What they needed was to count the cost of discipleship before responding to the message. This is the mere professing Christian, nothing more. Rather than listening well, and internalizing Christ’s words, there is only positive affirmation without any action or practice. Therefore tomorrow, the message is gone.  When difficulty comes, there are no supporting words to draw from. The person then fades away, unable to navigate life successfully.
  3. The weedy soil hears and responds to the message; and is also a professing Christian, nothing more. The issue with such persons is that they also listen to the voices of worry and wealth. Like some sort of spiritual A.D.D., there is no ability to filter all the voices calling out; and so, there is no growth. The words of Jesus for us must reign supreme; there cannot be two thrones of Wealth and Word, nor two Masters of both God and Money.
  4. The good earth listens with the full intention of understanding, and then puts into practice the message heard. This is what brings about the fruit of righteousness and peace in both the individual and the community. Receiving the implanted word through careful listening brings about spiritual growth.  The first priority must be to listening well to this word. And when an entire group listens well and acts accordingly, then it creates a greenhouse effect in which people cannot help but grow in the Lord.

Conclusion

Jesus was not saying anything new, or what wasn’t already in the First Testament:

How well God must like you—
    you don’t walk in the ruts of those blind-as-bats,
    you don’t stand with the good-for-nothings,
    you don’t take your seat among the know-it-alls.

Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
    you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
    bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
    always in blossom. (Psalm 1:1-3, MSG)

We live in a time of great conflict – largely due to the refusal to listen well to one another, and to Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament Gospels.

Esoteric and harmful interpretations of the Bible result from failing to hear what Scripture itself is saying to us, especially the words of Jesus. Ignoring the Gospels and myopically focusing on particular parts of the Bible is a sure prescription for poor hearing, and thus, misguided decisions and actions.

This is just one reason why reading Scripture aloud with others in a communal setting is important. Robust discussion around the spoken word is what helps us to move in the sort of directions which the Spirit is leading us.

It is what Jesus and his original disciples did. We must do no less.

O Ancient and Wise Gardener, your holy word is planted in our hearts as good seed in fertile soil. So, nurture us, so that we may bear fruit abundantly, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Pray with Persistence (Luke 11:1-13)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment

He [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” So he said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, may your name be revered as holy.
    May your kingdom come.
    Give us each day our daily bread.
    And forgive us our sins,
        for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
    And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (New Revised Standard Version)

If we desire to see the power of prayer become a reality in our lives, we will have to avoid drive-by prayers in favor of sustained and focused prayers taught to us from the Lord Jesus.

Prayer empowered Jesus in his earthly ministry. His disciples saw this, and wanted it, too. So, Christ encouraged them in what to pray, and to keep persistently praying, despite the circumstances.

We are instructed by Jesus to approach the heavenly Father just as he himself did – in a straightforward and intimate manner. The content of our prayers ought to encompass the following five petitions:

  • Let God’s name be made holy. In other words, we are to let the Lord’s name be seen by others as holy within us in our daily lives. This is a petition for God to establish divine sovereignty and holiness in the heart of the believer. When this happens, the name of God is exalted and set apart as holy before a watching world.
  • Let God’s kingdom come. This is a prayer that asks for the reign of God to extend over the entire earth in a very practical way – to have God’s rule draw near to everyone and everything, including ourselves.
  • Let us have our daily bread. That is, pray that God will give us everything we need for life and godliness in this present evil age, including physical sustenance, mental acuity, emotional intelligence, and spiritual food. None of us lives by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
  • Let forgiveness come. Sin is a reality. Therefore, every one of us needs forgiveness; and everyone needs to forgive others. Forgiveness is powerful; it releases us to freedom. And thus, we have the power to release others through the act of forgiving the egregious sins of others. The failure to do this is why the kingdom of God is so disestablished in this world.
  • Let us not become victims of the cosmic conflict. There is a continual struggle of unseen powers on this earth that no human is armed to deal with. Apart from God’s intervention, humanity gets caught in the crosshairs of the conflict. We are to pray that this trial does not overcome us.

These prayers are to be consistently and persistently prayed every day. Christ wants us to keep asking, seeking, and knocking.

Jesus, in his teaching ministry on earth, often used the lesser-to-greater argument in getting his point across. And that is precisely what he was doing with his disciples in today’s Gospel lesson by instructing them about the nature and motivation of prayer.

The lesser-to-greater argument implies a comparison of values. It’s grounded on a common sense and logical convention that if this lesser thing is true, then, of course, how much more is this greater thing!

If something less likely to happen is true, then something more likely to happen will probably be true as well. The technical phrase for this is an argument a fortiori – a Latin term meaning, “for a still stronger reason.”

Jesus wanted his followers to understand that prayer has value because God is a loving Father, not a begrudging friend. Whereas the friend in the story was badgered just so the person could get some real necessities, God needs no badgering to generously give good gifts that may or may not be considered as necessities by us.

Jesus desired to highlight that prayer has veracity because of whom those prayers are directed.

In the ancient world, it was common understanding you needed to get the local gods attention if you wanted something. Which is why, for example, in the prophet Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal, that Baal’s worshipers were yelling, gesticulating, and even cutting themselves for hours. They fully expected to put a lot of work into getting Baal’s attention, maybe even needing to convince him of intervening in their ancient version of a wild West shootout.

In contrast to four-hundred prophets of Baal, a single prophet of the Lord utters one simple prayer, then fire comes rushing down from heaven. Much like the person who badgered the friend for bread, the prophets pestered Baal for hours. (1 Kings 18)

In Christ’s story, it all comes down to who really cares. The friend? Not enough to jump out of bed right away and meet a need. Baal? Not so much. God? Now we’re talking.

We typically don’t ask, seek, or knock, if we believe we will not get a response – or if it will take a lot of energy, time, and effort we don’t have. Yet, if we are confident of being heard and our requests taken seriously with care, then we are likely to have a habit of asking, seeking, and knocking.

If a friend begrudgingly gives to you because of persistent knocking, how much more will God graciously, generously, and with gaiety give you goodness when you ask?

Because God is good, God gives. The largess of the Lord is willing and ready to dispense grace from an infinite storehouse of mercy.

This is why Jesus encouraged people to not pray like those who don’t know God, babbling on because they think they’ll be heard because of the sheer volume of words. (Matthew 6:7-8)

Two misconceptions of prayer existed in Christ’s day (and today); they come from non-Christian sources:

  1. There must be a lot of prayer before prayer “works.” Although I believe repetition is important for forming good habits, praying the same prayers over and over again so as to be heard betrays an ignorance of God, not to mention an actual lack of faith. Many ancient religions were based in learning how to manipulate the spiritual forces out there to get what we need. It’s kind of like a divine version of hustling for love in all the wrong places. Christians need to know they don’t need to have thousands of people praying in order to get God’s attention to answer prayer.
  2. I must convince God of the need to answer my prayer. God is not a reluctant listener. The reason the Lord already knows what we need before we ask is because God has been paying close attention to us well before we got around to asking, seeking, and knocking on the divine door. God’s ear is already inclined to hear us – expectantly and anxiously awaiting our petitions. This is a tremendously freeing idea, that I can come to God openly and honestly, without drudgery, and without wondering if I am heard, or not.

May we be encouraged to pray, to truly connect with God, because the Lord is available without appointment, and is waiting for us to ask with bended ear.

Eternal God, by whose power we are created and by whose love we are redeemed: Guide and strengthen us by your Spirit so that we may give ourselves to your service and live today and every day in love to one another and to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen.