Tag: prayer

2 Chronicles 20:1-22

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Today’s Old Testament lesson is a wonderful account for the Christian season of Lent.  King Jehoshaphat and Judah were facing the terrible circumstance of war.  They were about to be attacked.  So, the king admitted his fear, sought the Lord for help, and proclaimed a national fast for everyone in Judah.  The king prayed, God answered, and Judah put together a praise team and a worship gathering to go before the army because they believed God was good for his word and would deliver them as he said.
 
            King Jehoshaphat’s prayer was deeply felt and sincere in its belief that God could and would answer.  The meat of the prayer was this:  “O our God we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”  Now this is the kind of prayer that God delights to answer!  It was a prayer born of great need and desperation – a prayer upholding the name of God and discerning that unless he showed up, all would be lost.
 
            The foundational basis of all prayer to God is the recognition that we do not know what to do, other than look to the Lord.  We pray because we desperately need God to show up and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  We cry out to God in our affliction and believe that he will hear and save.  Afterwards, we are to stand firm, hold our position, and see the salvation from God on our behalf.  If we need some inspiration for prayer, and find ourselves in need of some faith to believe what God can do, then take the time to carefully and prayerfully read these verses.  Let prayer arise to the God of deliverance, and transform pressure into praise.
 

 

            God Almighty, you rule over all the nations of the earth.  In your hand are power and might, so that none are able to withstand you.  My eyes are fixed on looking for you to act on my behalf so that I might declare that your steadfast love endures forever, through Jesus Christ, my Savior.  Amen.

Nehemiah 1:1-11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Prayer is not a passive activity.  If done well, prayer takes time, a great deal of effort, and a sense of priority.  It is quite possible that biblical praying can be the most challenging, exhausting, laborious, and rewarding thing we do.  Through prayer we can become filled with the Holy Spirit, gain wisdom to make godly decisions, and access spiritual power that can melt the hardest of hearts and change the minds of the most stubborn of people.  In prayer we have the privilege of expressing our concerns and needs, as well as having God’s agenda revealed to us for what to do.  Our personal and corporate holiness is in direct proportion to the great task of prayer.
 
            When faced with the reality that Jerusalem was in trouble, Nehemiah prayed.  In prayer he owned the problems that Jerusalem faced.  He owned it through a prayer that emphasized and reminded God of his covenant with his people; he confessed the sins by which Israel violated that covenant; and held onto the promise that God would lift the curse on the city if the people would repent.
 
            Nehemiah had a compassionate heart that did not ignore what was going on in his native land, but wept, mourned, fasted and prayed.  He had a deep concern for and was profoundly disturbed by the news that Jerusalem was in trouble.  Rather than being preoccupied with himself, or turning his back on what was going on and focusing on his own new life in Babylon, he sought to do something about the security and spiritual health of his people.
 
            In his prayer to God, Nehemiah was genuine, persistent, confident, humble, and submissive to God.  He did not distance himself from the sins of the people, but clearly identified with them through a prayer of confession.  That confession was intense, honest, real, and urgent.  Sin always needs to be identified, acknowledged, and pardoned.  If it isn’t, there is no hope for things to be different.
 
            There is a season for everything.  Deer season may come and go, but it is always open season for prayer.  And Nehemiah’s prayer is a solid biblical model for us to emulate.  We all have our challenges to face.   Like Nehemiah, let’s own those challenges through prayer that is biblically focused, compassionately offered, and spiritually curious to know and do God’s agenda for our lives and for God’s people.
 

 

            Most merciful God, I confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.  We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  I am truly sorry and I humbly repent.  For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Psalm 145

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            I believe that every person on planet earth needs a healthy robust theology.  We all have a theology, that is, some understanding of a god, God, or no god at all.  In addition, we all have basic needs in order to thrive and flourish in life.  Physical, emotional, and spiritual needs can be and are met in God.  His grace sustains the universe.  Yet, sometimes we might feel as if God is aloof, distant, or disinterested.  This is where generous attention to the biblical psalms can help us.
 
            Let this psalm buoy a solid theology for you:  “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.  The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.  The LORD preserves all who love him.”  God actually bends his ear to hear us; he wants to listen to us acknowledge and cry out to him.  This is no indifferent God.  This is a God who hears and responds.
 
            I am taking time today to read this psalm several times over, to let it awash my soul with significant doses of truth and mercy.  There are simply times when all of us need to remember and be reminded that there is a God in heaven who is able, and is near to respond.  For true human satisfaction does not come through personal ingenuity or accumulation of more knowledge or more stuff.  Rather, our deepest desires and needs are fulfilled in the God who cares.
 

 

            Mighty God, you are both far and near, totally above us yet close at hand.  Preserve me with your mighty power so that I might not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity.  But in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purposes through Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Amen.

Psalm 80:1-7

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


            Military defeat had come to the Israelites and they were in grief.  This psalm of lament is a prayer longing for God to come and restore Israel, to no longer look upon them with anger.  The people realized through their vulnerability that they needed God.  It is the Lord who would bring a revitalized nation.  “Stir up your power, and come to save us.  O God, restore us; light up your face and we shall be saved.”
             In an age when we have instant access to information occurring all over the world, it can be overwhelming.  Wars, famine, terrorism, displaced people, refugees fleeing and just trying to survive, women and children in danger, and governments only concerned with holding onto control – all these things (not to mention our personal challenges and adversity) lead us to cry out along with the ancient Israelites:  “Stir up your power, and come to save us.”
             Often in the midst of awful circumstances and emotional pain it is hard to focus with concentrated prayer.  This is where simple short prayers, breath prayers, can help.  Throughout the day we can utter “stir up your power, O God; come to save us.”  The intention of saying it over and over is not to get God’s attention; we already have it.  No, the purpose is to connect with the God who can truly deliver.  It is to be in constant touch with the One who can ultimately restore, renew, revitalize, and reform the world with justice and righteousness.  It is to be longing for the flourishing of the earth and its inhabitants again, and to enjoy walking with God in the garden of fellowship, peace, and goodwill.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.
             Mighty God, as I anticipate the coming of your Son, may your power be active so that there will a restoration of peace, security, and prosperity for all.  To the glory of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.