Tag: prayer

James 4:1-7

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that war within you. 2 You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people, but you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God. 3 Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things so you can use them for your own pleasures.  4 So, you are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God’s enemy. 5 Do you think the Scripture means nothing that says, ‘The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone’? 6 But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says,
‘God is against the proud,
but he gives grace to the humble.’ Proverbs 3:34
7 So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you” (NCV).
 
            There is a lot that can be unpacked here in these practical verses filled with dense meaning for our lives.  But a simple observation will suffice for today:  Prayer to God requires humility.
 
            The person who is captain of his own soul, moves and shakes the circumstances around him, controls and manipulates people, and who throws tantrums and verbally decapitates others to get his way sees himself as the way to get what he wants.  God only comes into the picture if he cannot seem to take for himself what he so desires.  Prayer is the last ditch attempt to control God.  And God will have none of it.
 
            All things must begin with prayer, be sustained by prayer, and end with prayer.  If we ask anything in the name of Jesus, it will be heard by God and answered by him.  God is God, and I am not.  Therefore, I must come to him with this understanding, with the humility to recognize that I desperately need him for everything.  Take some extended time today and meditate on these verses, letting prayers arise to God as a result.  For in the weakness of our surrender we find the strength of life.
 

 

            Holy God, you cannot abide with the ways of this fallen world.  Help me to connect with you on your terms in your way so that my faith might be active and effective in all I do for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Psalm 68:1-10, 19-20

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “Do something, God!” (verse 1, Contemporary English Version).  I think every believer has cried out that phrase at some point in their lives.  There are situations where evil seems to run on and on with no end in sight.  There are people who flap their tongues with half-truths, misinterpretations, and lack of evidence with apparently no one calling them out on their slander.  There are those that look like they are getting away with living however they want, no matter whom they hurt, with no consequence.  When such people inflict their ungracious ways on us, it is understandable that we would want to scream, “Do something, God!”
 
            Then there are circumstances that are just plain droll.  Nothing seems to be happening.  Church is boring.  Christians around us are unmotivated.  People don’t seem to care about anything but themselves.  The world is going to hell and there are spiritual couch potatoes only acknowledging God if it is in their best interests to do so.  It’s enough for a faithful believer to yell, “Do something, God!”
 
            Ah, but God is up to something.  He has acted in the past through giving the ancient Israelites freedom from Egyptian oppression; he has overturned evil kings; he has sent his prophets to call people back to himself; and, he has sent his Son, the Lord Jesus, to redeem humanity.  And he will come again to judge the earth and fulfill once-for-all his promises.
 
            With a God in heaven, the Son interceding for us at the Father’s right hand, and God’s Spirit present with us on earth, justice and mercy will rule.  We might only see the shadows, but God hovers over us and responds to our calls.  He has done something, will do something, and is doing something today to win the spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of people everywhere.
 

 

            O God, scatter your enemies but let your people be happy and celebrate because of you.  For you set people free, cause them to prosper, and judge the ungodly.  Open my eyes to see the ways in which your justice and grace are being played-out around me and in the world.  Amen.

Ephesians 4:1-6

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


             “I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:  one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (NAB).
             The whole unity thing is quite important to God.  It isn’t just an ancillary or side issue to the real work of the church and the Christian life; it is very much at the center of Christianity.  Christians have been fashioned through the Holy Spirit into a single harmonious religious community of redeemed people, called to exemplify a counter-cultural presence in the world.  There is a solid theological reason for this:  God is one.  Just as the triune God exists as one deity in three persons, so the church is to reflect God’s image through its unified oneness.
             Although unity has been accomplished through the finished work of Jesus on the cross, the practical implications must be daily worked out.  This is why we are to strive, or to put significant effort, into having unity.  Simply getting along but harboring animosity is not unity.  Because two people are not at each other’s throats does not mean there is peaceful unity.  Unity only occurs when the Body of Christ works together in its diverse gifts toward a common goal of knowing Christ and making him known.  
             Yesterday, I laid down the challenge of praying chapter one’s prayer daily for two weeks – doing it with another person in the church will bring about a common unity of purpose, mind, and heart.  If there is to be church revitalization, personal renewal, and national revival, it will begin in the prayer rooms of unified believers.
             Blessed Holy Trinity, the God whom I serve, may your church on earth be one as you are one.  I pray our unity of love and purpose will transform individuals, churches, organizations, systems, and the entire world for the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Ephesians 1:17-19

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit.  The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God.  My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you.  Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people.  I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers” (CEV).
 
            A few observations about this biblical prayer:  praying this makes every Christian a “Pentecostal” believer, whether you are in a Pentecostal denomination or not; and, God wants us to pray that his Holy Spirit will give us spiritual wisdom and understanding so that we will know his great power.  Out of all the things we might pray, we really ought not to fail in praying biblical prayers.  And this is a doozy of a prayer!
 
            Let me lay down a challenge to you:  pray this prayer every day for two weeks, beginning today.  Yes, every single day.  Maybe even multiple times in the day.  Pray it for yourself, your church, your family, your friends, and even for those who do not yet know that they need Jesus.  Pray this prayer for the Spirit and, after fourteen days (up to and including June 1) see if there is any change, any difference in your life, in your congregation, and in your relationships.  There is no need to keep bemoaning the state of religion and the lack of spirituality in this world when we have such a prayer as this to pray.  Let’s you and me have less complaining, more praying, please.
 

 

            Mighty God, give me your Spirit.  May the light of your gracious gospel flood my heart so that I will experientially know all of the blessings of Christ’s redemption and the incomparably great power available to me because of his finished work on the cross.  Amen.