Tag: prayer

Psalm 124

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            A healthy way of viewing the biblical Psalms of the Old Testament is to look at them as the church’s prayer book.  The Psalms give voice to the experiences of our lives, especially when we have become mute with overwhelming circumstances.  One of the ways in which the ancient Israelites remained faithful was to take at least one annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  As they walked the slow journey to the city, and ascended the mountain to its pinnacle where the Temple stood, the Jews used the psalms of ascent to help them remember the Lord’s faithfulness and praise God.
 
            The actual physical trek up the mountain would mimic the spiritual experiences of the Israelites coming from the valley of the shadow of death, only to rise above seeming tragedy to the heights of God’s deliverance.  Israel was often alone in the world, with many enemies and only God to help them.  Imagine a large coterie of Jews joyfully ascending the temple mount shouting to heaven:  “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”  Picture them searing the character of God on their hearts through loudly proclaiming:  “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side… then they would have swallowed us up alive.”
 
            If you have a flight of stairs in your house or your church, try a little exercise in this week:  leave a small copy of the Bible at the foot of the staircase and each time you ascend to the next floor say Psalm 124 or one of the other psalms of ascent aloud as you go up.  At the end of the week, take some time to discuss your experience with your spouse, friend, or pastor.  Think about how to further engraft the Psalms into your life so that they form and shape you in fresh ways.
            Saving God, just as you delivered the ancient Israelites from their bondage and brought them into a good land, so help me to rise above my circumstances and see your guidance in all things, through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.

Spiritual Warfare and Prayer

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
When I think of the Apostle Paul, the man who wrote most of the New Testament epistles, I think of a guy who had a bucket-load of boldness, a man who did not sidestep or try and step out of situations, but who fearlessly stepped into the world with the good news of God’s grace in Christ.  Maybe Paul was that way because of prayer and the prayers of God’s people (Ephesians 6:18-20).  Maybe what stands in the way of people coming to know Jesus and the church maturing in the faith is not a lack of resources or programming, but a profound lack of intense, consistent, and sustained prayer.  Maybe too many of God’s people have been duped by the enemy of our souls to retreat in a bubble of fear, unable to effectively engage God’s big world and Christ’s church with confidence.
 
            The truth is that there is an unseen world all around us that cannot be observed with our physical eyes.  We serve an invisible God, and we have an invisible enemy (Ephesians 6:10-12).  Satan and his wicked spirits actually exist and they are organized for war with schemes, methods, and devious strategies designed to blunt our spiritual development and the expansion of God’s kingdom.  The devil seeks to render us ineffective in our walk with Christ, be unproductive for God, and be all knotted up inside in a broken mess so that we are weak, not strong.
 
            The names of our invisible enemy in Scripture tells us the kind of diabolical and methodical work he is doing to snare us:  Satan, the adversary; Lucifer, the shining one who comes looking like the light but only delivers darkness; Beelzebub, the lord of the flies, who is a false god promising protection and help apart from the one true God; the evil one, who seeks to have us engage in sin instead of righteousness; the tempter; the accuser; and, the prince of this world.  The unseen wicked spirits of this dark world pull out whatever technique they can to turn us from knowing who we are in Christ and how we are to really live.  They seek to distract us from our mission, to keep us busy fighting among ourselves, and to put our confidence in anything (i.e. particular ministries; certain people; good ideas) but Jesus Christ.
 
Prayer is to undergird everything we do.  The early church was effective and successful in many ways through prayer.  They all joined together constantly in prayer(Acts 1:14).  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42).  After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly (Acts 4:31).  The early apostles re-arranged their busy schedules so that they could give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).  Everywhere we go in the book of Acts, believers in Jesus are praying.
 
            As Christians, we might think of ourselves as people of prayer, but compared to our spiritual ancestors we are not engaging in the same kind of intense, sustained, and strategic prayer that pushes back the enemy and graciously talks about the good news of forgiveness in Jesus Christ.  If you do not believe this, just call a prayer meeting and see how few people show up.  We are too afraid to pray in front of others.  We are too fearful of saying the wrong thing or looking unspiritual.  Let me ask:  who wants you to think that way?
 

 

            The business of Christ’s church and all its leadership is prayer, and we need to re-arrange our lives to make it happen so that we give God our focused attention.  When prayer takes a back seat to everything else, we end up fighting the wrong battles and the result is a lot of friendly fire where people get spiritually and emotionally hurt because we are not in touch with God.  Our battle is not with flesh and blood human beings; it is with Satan and his wicked spirits (Ephesians 6:12).  Fight them, not each other!

Psalm 61

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            The Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible.  Sometimes evangelical Christians might forget the simple reality that not every prayer they utter has to always arise spontaneous from the heart.  There are many times, especially when overwhelmed or under duress, when speaking aloud a psalm perfectly captures the state and intent of our prayers. 
 
            As I sometimes do, today I offer my own contemporary paraphrase of a psalm that can be prayed by God’s people in times of difficulty:
 
O God, listen to me as I cry out to you from the depths of my heart,
            and bend your ear toward what I am saying to you;
from this emotionally faraway place I call to you,
            because I am about to faint with stress.
Lead me to the place
that is higher than my fears,
for you have been my refuge,
            a mighty fortress against the enemy of my soul.
 
Let me live in your safe-house forever!
            Let me be in a secure room with you standing guard!
O God, you have heard all the commitments I have made for your name’s sake;
            and you have given me a special place along with others whom you love.
 
Prolong the life of your committed servant;
            and may my years on this earth multiply with you in charge.
May I be seated with you forever in your glorious presence;
            command your grace and faithfulness to continually watch over me!
 
I will not stop singing about your great name,

            as I live for you with all my heart day after day.  Amen.

Daniel 9:15-25a

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
          Today’s Old Testament reading continues Daniel’s prayer of confession from yesterday.  Reading through this prayer is like having a privileged glimpse into one of the most beloved persons in all of Scripture by God.  Indeed, while Daniel was praying the angel Gabriel came and communicated to him that “you are greatly loved.”  Daniel’s prayer is at the same time grand and majestic, yet humble and simple.  It would be a worthy activity to take this prayer and write one’s own confession based upon it.
             Too many times in our lives we feel the misguided notion to hide our sin.  We want to look good to others, so we take pains to make the outward appearance godly and attractive.  We may be careful in only letting another see our good side.  We might even do this with God by failing to pray and confess sin.  In doing so, we inevitably neglect the vast interior life.  But Daniel was greatly loved not because he had it all together, but because he was sensitive to sin and was courageous to bring it before God.
             It is easy to have delusions of grandeur about doing great things for God and being a leader among God’s people.  The hard work is one of prayer, particularly confession.  And the consequences of sin are not always magically erased.  But the mercy of God becomes operative and guides us into truth and grace toward ourselves and others.
             Merciful God, listen to my plea for the gospel of grace to take root in my inner self.  Incline your ear to listen to me and grant me forgiveness that leads to new life in Christ in order that I might stand in the gap and intercede for others.  Be gracious to your church and bring healing to all wounded by her neglect of mercy.  Amen.