An Appropriate Time for Fasting

Acts of Worship
Stewardship for Life

Feasting and Fasting

Psalm 69:5-18  The Message

Matthew 9:9-17  The Message

⁹ Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” Matthew stood up and followed him.
^10-11 Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?”
^12-13 Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”

Kingdom Come

¹⁴ A little later John’s followers approached, asking, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees rigorously discipline body and spirit by fasting, but your followers don’t?”

¹⁵ Jesus told them, “When you’re celebrating a wedding, you don’t skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but not now. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!”
^16-17 He went on, “No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put your wine in cracked bottles.”

 
For Reflection

The Bible is a book of truth.  Both of these stories the truth is found in the answers to fundamental questions.  Each of the answers is intended to reveal a major difference in Christian practice as contrasted to the traditional Jewish practice signified by the Pharisees.

The first answer indicates that Christianity is intended for all people.  There are no insiders to whom privileged favor is given.   The second instance shows that adherence ritualistic or institutionalized religious practice is not the only way to worship.  In the practice of the Way the celebration of joy should be extravagant.   The fast may still be practiced, but the fabric of the faith as practiced by the followers of Christ is not obligated to follow any single form of institutionalized ritual.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for salvation from the crippling bounds of institutionalized religious conventions.  Pray for all those who serve the Lord with witness to the freedom found in the Way of Christ.  Pray to be free to recognize that the unity of God's church does not mean uniformity of worship.  Pray to worship God.

Humble Yourself Before God

Acts of Worship
Stewardship for Life

Feasting and Fasting

2 Chronicles 34:24-33  The Message

^22-25 Hilkiah and those picked by the king went straight to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, who was in charge of the palace wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. The men consulted with her. In response to them she said, “God’s word, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you here, ‘God has spoken, I’m on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people. Every word written in the book read by the king of Judah will happen. And why? Because they’ve deserted me and taken up with other gods; they’ve made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making businesses. My anger is raging white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out.’
^26-28 “And also tell the king of Judah, since he sent you to ask God for direction, God’s comment on what he read in the book: ‘Because you took seriously the doom of judgment I spoke against this place and people, and because you responded in humble repentance, tearing your robe in dismay and weeping before me, I’m taking you seriously. God’s word. I’ll take care of you; you’ll have a quiet death and be buried in peace. You won’t be around to see the doom that I’m going to bring upon this place and people.’”
The men took her message back to the king.
^29-31 The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and then proceeding to The Temple of God bringing everyone in his train—priests and prophets and people ranging from the least to the greatest. Then he read out publicly everything written in the Book of the Covenant that was found in The Temple of God. The king stood by his pillar and before God solemnly committed himself to the covenant: to follow God believingly and obediently; to follow his instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to confirm with his life the entire covenant, all that was written in the book.
³² Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin commit themselves. And they did it. They committed themselves to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.
³³ Josiah did a thorough job of cleaning up the pollution that had spread throughout Israelite territory and got everyone started fresh again, serving and worshiping their God. All through Josiah’s life the people kept to the straight and narrow, obediently following God, the God of their ancestors.

 
For Reflection

What would you pay for a fresh start?  Would you give up your life for a fresh start?  That you give up your life for a fresh start is what God asks.  God asks that we give up our pride for a fresh start.  God asks that we give up our reliance on self for a fresh start?  God asks us to embrace humility for a fresh start. God asks that we embrace God's gift of grace for a fresh start.  God asks that we displace whom we have been for whom, following Christ,  we might become. 

Pray

for humility.  Pray that you will face life without fear knowing that God is beside you.  Pray that you will not doubt and embrace God's promise of hope realized.

If My People Humble Themselves

Acts of Worship
Stewardship for Life

Feasting and Fasting

2 Chronicles 7:11-18  The Message

God’s Confirmation

¹¹ Solomon completed building The Temple of God and the royal palace—the projects he had set his heart on doing. Everything was done—success! Satisfaction!

^12-18 God appeared to Solomon that very night and said, “I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on I’m alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I’ve chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I’m giving to you, namely, ‘You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.’

 
For Reflection

How do you react to people who are puffed up in their faith?  How can one be credible if his faith advocates humility and the faithful person is not?  Maybe it is just because of inconsistencies in faith and action like this and others that is resulting a reduction in religiosity but not in spirituality.  " I believe in God," they say, " but i'm just not religious."  What does the ever increasing numbers of people that indicate they feel this way mean for the survival of God fearing people?

Pray

for those who claim the name of God either in a faith community or not.  Pray that they will not doubt in the face of fearful circumstances.  Pray that all who claim God's name will unite to meet the terror of common place cultures.

Humility before God

Acts of Worship
Stewardship for Life

Feasting and Fasting

Luke 18:9-14 The Message

The Story of the Tax Man and the Pharisee

^9-12 He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’

¹³ “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
¹⁴ Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”

For Reflection

How many people did you try to become before you became yourself?  I suspect that if you have discovered who you are it was because you became engrossed in something larger than you.  You found out who you are because you lost yourself in a superordinate calling.  Folks rarely find themselves when they seek to do so. 

 

Did the Pharisee find himself by looking into a mirror that reflected only the costume of pride that hid his true identity?  Did the taxman look at himself in a more authentic way?
 

Pray

for the ability to look into God's eyes to find your self mirrored as God sees you.  Pray to discover God's grace at work in your life.  Pray for a humble life in the hollow of God's hands.

Draw Near to Me, O Lord

Acts of Worship
Stewardship for Life

Feasting and Fasting

Psalm 69:5-18  The Message

⁵ God, you know every sin I’ve committed;
My life’s a wide-open book before you.

⁶ Don’t let those who look to you in hope
Be discouraged by what happens to me,
Dear Lord! God of the armies!

Don’t let those out looking for you
Come to a dead end by following me—
Please, dear God of Israel!

⁷ Because of you I look like an idiot,
I walk around ashamed to show my face.

⁸ My brothers shun me like a bum off the street;
My family treats me like an unwanted guest.

⁹ I love you more than I can say.
Because I’m madly in love with you,
They blame me for everything they dislike about you.

¹⁰ When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting,
All it got me was more contempt.

¹¹ When I put on a sad face,
They treated me like a clown.

¹² Now drunks and gluttons
Make up drinking songs about me.

¹³ And me? I pray.
God, it’s time for a break!

God, answer in love!
Answer with your sure salvation!

¹⁴ Rescue me from the swamp,
Don’t let me go under for good,

Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;
This whirlpool is sucking me down.

¹⁵ Don’t let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole
Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.

¹⁶ Now answer me, God, because you love me;
Let me see your great mercy full-face.

¹⁷ Don’t look the other way; your servant can’t take it.
I’m in trouble. Answer right now!

¹⁸ Come close, God; get me out of here.
Rescue me from this deathtrap.

 
For Reflection
What you believe is telegraphed by how you act. What choices you make; the quality of relationships you build; your tendency to react to events in ways contrary to the conventional wisdom, the common culture, all signal the integrity of your belief and practice.  You have been admired for it and despised for it.  For some, it makes you trustworthy; for others, treacherous.  Contempt may follow you.  The Way is not always easy, but, it is always consistent with God's intention for humankind.

Pray

prayers of lamentation when the culture closes in on you.  Pray prayers confessing your weakness in the face of the ungodly.  Pray prayers adoration and praise when others would curse.  Pray prayers of supplication and intersession when life overwhelms you.  Pray authentically to deepen your relationship to the living God.

The Prophets' Suffering and Patience

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

We Pray for One Another

James 5:1-12 The Message

Destroying Your Life from Within

5 ^1-3 And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment.

^4-6 All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it.

^7-8 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.

⁹ Friends, don’t complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner.
^10-11 Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
¹² And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you.

 
For Reflection
Does God hate rich people?  No.  God loves us all.  God suffers with us.  God prays for us.  God's word gives us the option to escape the corrupting influence of the material world.  God gives us the opportunity to choose compassion over callousness, distributive justice over unfairness, peace over calamity, and forgiveness over vengeance.  Unjustness, calamity and vengeance extract their own toll. Godlessness yields suffering and false security.

Pray

to spend your time honoring God.  Pray for staying power in the Kingdom of God.  Pray for patience.  Pray to choose the righteous option.

Never Ceasing to Pray for You

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

We Pray for One Another

1 Samuel 12:19-25  The Message

¹⁹ Then all the people begged Samuel, “Pray to your God for us, your servants. Pray that we won’t die! On top of all our other sins, we’ve piled on one more—asking for a king!”
^20-22 Samuel said to them, “Don’t be fearful. It’s true that you have done something very wrong. All the same, don’t turn your back on God. Worship and serve him heart and soul! Don’t chase after ghost-gods. There’s nothing to them. They can’t help you. They’re nothing but ghost-gods! God, simply because of who he is, is not going to walk off and leave his people. God took delight in making you into his very own people.
^23-25 “And neither will I walk off and leave you. That would be a sin against God! I’m staying right here at my post praying for you and teaching you the good and right way to live. But I beg of you, fear God and worship him honestly and heartily. You’ve seen how greatly he has worked among you! Be warned: If you live badly, both you and your king will be thrown out.”

 
For Reflection
Fear and assumptions about self-worth can sometimes hold us back from seeking help.  In God there is little to fear.  In God is compassion.  In God each person is offered an infinite number of second chances.  One does not earn a right to the living God.  All people are offered grace on the same terms--no strings attached, obey and abide in God and you will live in the hollow of God's hands.

Pray

for those who assume that they are beyond salvation.  Pray that they will find the joy of a life lived in the hollow of God's hands. 

You Heard My Plea

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

We Pray for One Another

Lamentations 3:52-60  The Message

^52-54 “Enemies with no reason to be enemies
    hunted me down like a bird.
They threw me into a pit,
    then pelted me with stones.
Then the rains came and filled the pit.
    The water rose over my head. I said, ‘It’s all over.’

^55-57 “I called out your name, O God,
    called from the bottom of the pit.
You listened when I called out, ‘Don’t shut your ears!
    Get me out of here! Save me!’
You came close when I called out.
    You said, ‘It’s going to be all right.’

^58-60 “You took my side, Master;
    you brought me back alive!
God, you saw the wrongs heaped on me.
    Give me my day in court!
Yes, you saw their mean-minded schemes,
    their plots to destroy me.

For Reflection
When have you felt as though you were in a pit about to drown in the murky waters of life?  Remember your God.  Remember God's grace and compassion.  Remember God's promise of comfort and protection.  Remember God and pray.  Murky waters will be come clear.  You will bath in the healing water of your baptism.  You will not only survive, you will flourish!  Pray for rescue and you will find the pathway to righteousness.

Pray

for all those who are drowning in the murky waters of  life apart from the living God.  Pray that you will remember God's promise and find salvation in God's healing hands.

We Pray to God for You

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

We Pray for One Another

2 Thessalonians 1:5-12  The Message

^5-10 All this trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom. You’re suffering now, but justice is on the way. When the Master Jesus appears out of heaven in a blaze of fire with his strong angels, he’ll even up the score by settling accounts with those who gave you such a bad time. His coming will be the break we’ve been waiting for. Those who refuse to know God and refuse to obey the Message will pay for what they’ve done. Eternal exile from the presence of the Master and his splendid power is their sentence. But on that very same day when he comes, he will be exalted by his followers and celebrated by all who believe—and all because you believed what we told you.
^11-12 Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.

 
For Reflection
Vengeance is the Lord's not ours.  Vengeance can consume our souls.  God has made you fit to reject vengeance.  God has made you fit to walk in the shadow as a beacon of peace.  Have confidence in God.  God will make your life amount to something.  You do not suffer in vain.

Pray

that you will not be tempted by vengeful acts.  Pray that you will have the confidence in God who makes all things work for good.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for the grace of God that is in you.

Let Us Seek God's Favor Together

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

We Pray for One Another

Zechariah 8:18-23  The Message

^18-19 Again I received a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“The days of mourning set for the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will be turned into days of feasting for Judah—celebration and holiday. Embrace truth! Love peace!”

^20-21 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“People and their leaders will come from all over to see what’s going on. The leaders will confer with one another: ‘Shouldn’t we try to get in on this? Get in on God’s blessings? Pray to God-of-the-Angel-Armies? What’s keeping us? Let’s go!’
²² “Lots of people, powerful nations—they’ll come to Jerusalem looking for what they can get from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, looking to get a blessing from God.”

²³ A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“At that time, ten men speaking a variety of languages will grab the sleeve of one Jew, hold tight, and say, ‘Let us go with you. We’ve heard that God is with you.’”

For Reflection
Worship of God is not a somber activity full of chastisements and warnings.  Christianity is not about the threat of eternal punishment in Hell.

Christianity is about the fullness of life found in the pursuit of the Kingdom of God.  Christianity is about forgiveness, compassion, justice and truth. Christianity is about mutual support of each other and of a loving God.  Christianity is about finding the joy in a sour world.  Salvation is the freedom  to choose joy!

Joy is contagious!

Pray

joyfully!  Pray that you are so filled with the Holy Spirit that you cannot escape joyful exuberance even in the face of dire circumstance.  Pray to live a life of unexpected joy.

Boldness and Confidence through Faith

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Intercedes for Us

Ephesians 3:7-13  The Message

^7-8 This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.
^8-10 And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!
^11-13 All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

 
For Reflection
We all have a variety of natural abilities.  But, natural ability is not the only, or even the primary, mark for successful living.  Aligning one's life to God's intention for us will focus our natural abilities righteously.  We are free to choose the path we walk.  We are free to choose God's path.

Pray

that you will follow God's plan for your life.  Pray that your natural abilities will be focused on righteous action.

Jesus Prayed in Anguish

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Intercedes for Us

Luke 22:39-46  The Message

A Dark Night

^39-40 Leaving there, he went, as he so often did, to Mount Olives. The disciples followed him. When they arrived at the place, he said, “Pray that you don’t give in to temptation.”

^41-44 He pulled away from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, remove this cup from me. But please, not what I want. What do you want?” At once an angel from heaven was at his side, strengthening him. He prayed on all the harder. Sweat, wrung from him like drops of blood, poured off his face.
^45-46 He got up from prayer, went back to the disciples and found them asleep, drugged by grief. He said, “What business do you have sleeping? Get up. Pray so you won’t give in to temptation.”

 
For Reflection
Knowing what was to come, Jesus grieved.  When we face the most terrifying times, we, also, grieve.  We are tempted to abandon God. 

Pray

that you don't give into temptation.  Pray so that you abide in God.

Our Faithful High Priest

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Intercedes for Us

Hebrews 3:1-11  The Message

The Centerpiece of All We Believe

3 ^1-6 So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house.

^6-11 Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! That’s why the Holy Spirit says,

Today, please listen;
    don’t turn a deaf ear as in “the bitter uprising,”
    that time of wilderness testing!
Even though they watched me at work for forty years,
    your ancestors refused to let me do it my way;
    over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked, oh, so provoked!
    I said, “They’ll never keep their minds on God;
    they refuse to walk down my road.”
Exasperated, I vowed,
    “They’ll never get where they’re going,
    never be able to sit down and rest.”

For Reflection

We do not know the author of Hebrews, but clearly the intent of this book is to argue the superiority of Jesus.  Many will read this as, "my god's better than your god."  However, in my opinion, this interpretation misses the point.  It is not about who has the better god.  The argument is about the placement of Jesus in Judaism and the world.  Christianity derives it's fundamental belief system from Judaism.  Christ illuminates the tradition and tempers it with grace, love, compassion, peace and justice.  The result is that the whole world is offered a place in God's household.  We all are part of an inclusive faith centered in God.

Pray

Pray for the realization of the Kingdom of God.  Pray that you fulfill God's expectations for you in God's plan for reconciliation.

An Advocate with God

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Intercedes for Us

1 John 2:1-6 The Message

2 ^1-2 I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.

The Only Way to Know We’re in Him

^2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.

^4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.

 
For Reflection
Who is this Christ who is our advocate?  Christ advocates on our behalf to God.  Christ advocates that which is in our best interest to us.  Christ is not an activist who merely points out what is wrong in our spiritual and material lives, but he offers God-centered solutions to our mortal predicaments. Christ's life and death pointed out that all who separate themselves from God find restitution in the life of Christ.

 

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the living God, found in Jesus Christ.   Pray so that you remain in an intimate relationship with Christ.  Pray that you will emulate the living Christ.

The Grace of God Has Appeared

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Intercedes for Us

Titus 2:11-15  The Message

^11-14 God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.
¹⁵ Tell them all this. Build up their courage, and discipline them if they get out of line. You’re in charge. Don’t let anyone put you down.

 
For Reflection
Salvation resides in the Kingdom of God!  God's Kingdom is dominated by love, grace, forgiveness, compassion, peace and justice.  In God's kingdom there is no room for fear; no room for selfishness; no room for autonomy over community.  With Christ, the meaning of salvation extends far beyond the afterlife into the here-and-now.  Through Christ we are saved from the tyranny of the material world.

Pray

Enter the Kingdom of God through prayer.  Pray for those who struggle in the material world.  Pray for those who find no satisfaction in self-determination.  Pray for those who found salvation in the hollow of God's hands.  Pray to honor life.

Making Known the Lord's Name

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

John 17:22-26  The Message

^20-23 I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me.

^24-26 Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.

 
For Reflection
Christ prays for you!  Christ liberates you!  Christ informs you!  God's love is in Christ!  Christs love is in you!  Yes! Yes! Yes!

 

Pray

so that you are a worthy disciple of God.

Abide in My Love

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

John 15:1-15  The Message

The Vine and the Branches

15 ^1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

⁴ “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
^5-8 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
^9-10 “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.
^11-15 “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.

 
For Reflection
God is displacing all that is ineffective in you with wisdom and grace.  God lives in you. Listen to God whispering from your soul.  You will find joy beyond joy, love beyond love and salvation from the tyranny of our times. 

Pray

Sit still and listen to God. Pray one line prayers of praise and sit quietly.  Pray prayers of confession and sit quietly.  Pray prayers of forgiveness and sit quietly. Pray prayers of intersession and sit quietly.  Wait for the God Whispers.

Obey the Words of the Lord

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

Jeremiah 35:12-17  The Message

Why Won’t You Learn Your Lesson?

^12-15 Then Jeremiah received this Message from God: “God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, wants you to go tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem that I say, ‘Why won’t you learn your lesson and do what I tell you?’ God’s Decree. ‘The commands of Jonadab son of Recab to his sons have been carried out to the letter. He told them not to drink wine, and they haven’t touched a drop to this very day. They honored and obeyed their ancestor’s command. But look at you! I have gone to a lot of trouble to get your attention, and you’ve ignored me. I sent prophet after prophet to you, all of them my servants, to tell you from early morning to late at night to change your life, make a clean break with your evil past and do what is right, to not take up with every Tom, Dick, and Harry of a god that comes down the pike, but settle down and be faithful in this country I gave your ancestors.

^15-16 “‘And what do I get from you? Deaf ears. The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab carried out to the letter what their ancestor commanded them, but this people ignores me.’
¹⁷ “So here’s what is going to happen. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘I will bring calamity down on the heads of the people of Judah and Jerusalem—the very calamity I warned you was coming—because you turned a deaf ear when I spoke, turned your backs when I called.’”

 
For Reflection
The road to the Kingdom is clear.  Forgiveness yields forgiveness.  Compassion yields compassion.  Calamity is the result of not forgiving and not developing systems that are just and compassionate.  Are we following gods of self-determination?  Or are we to follow the God who asks us to depend upon Him?

Pray

to serve God who asks you to loose your life in God's embrace.  Pray that you will rely on the promise of God.

Treasuring God's Word in Your Heart

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

Psalm 119:9-16  The Message

^9-16 How can a young person live a clean life?
    By carefully reading the map of your Word.
I’m single-minded in pursuit of you;
    don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted.
I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart
    so I won’t sin myself bankrupt.
Be blessed, God;
    train me in your ways of wise living.
I’ll transfer to my lips
    all the counsel that comes from your mouth;
I delight far more in what you tell me about living
    than in gathering a pile of riches.
I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,
    I attentively watch how you’ve done it.
I relish everything you’ve told me of life,
    I won’t forget a word of it.

For Reflection
What an important question!  How can the next generation become better than current and past generations?  For many, improving the human condition has taken a back seat to improving one's self.  It seems that these days the rights of self out rank the rights of the community.  If one Googles "spiritual growth"  one finds the first two pages of results are dominated by personal growth references.  There are no references to spiritual community.  Are we missing the point of a spiritual life?  Are we somehow obfuscating God's purpose of developing a community of spirituality where mutual outcomes are favored over individual ones?

Pray

for the community of believers.  Pray that the Holy spirit will direct us toward a compassionate community.

Revealing the Words of the Lord

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

Exodus 4:27-31  The Message

^27-28 God spoke to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” He went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron the message that God had sent him to speak and the wonders he had commanded him to do.

^29-31 So Moses and Aaron proceeded to round up all the leaders of Israel. Aaron told them everything that God had told Moses and demonstrated the wonders before the people. And the people trusted and listened believingly that God was concerned with what was going on with the Israelites and knew all about their affliction. They bowed low and they worshiped.

 
For Reflection
Where is the word of the Lord revealed?  Scripture is a good choice, as is fellowship.  However, reading the word and listening to others interpret it is ineffective unless  study and discussion is accompanied by solo time for meditation and prayer.  It is in prayer where we discover the meaning of Christ in our lives.  It is in prayer for others that we discover the depth of our compassion.  It is in prayers of intersession where we discover opportunities to practice justice.  It is in our prayers of confession where we discover forgiveness.

Pray

Pray.

The Lord Will Not Abandon You

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

A Model for Prayer

Psalm 37:27-34  The Message

^27-28 Turn your back on evil,
    work for the good and don’t quit.
God loves this kind of thing,
    never turns away from his friends.

^28-29 Live this way and you’ve got it made,
    but bad eggs will be tossed out.
The good get planted on good land
    and put down healthy roots.

^30-31 Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone,
rolls virtue around on his tongue.
His heart pumps God’s Word like blood through his veins;
    his feet are as sure as a cat’s.

^32-33 Wicked sets a watch for Righteous,
he’s out for the kill.
God, alert, is also on watch—
    Wicked won’t hurt a hair of his head.

³⁴ Wait passionately for God,
don’t leave the path.
He’ll give you your place in the sun
    while you watch the wicked lose it.

 
For Reflection
You may abandon God, but, God will never abandon you!   Abandon evil.  Abandon the common place wisdom of the world.  Abandon fear. Abandon want.  Abandon self-determination. Abandon the wicked thought. 

Embrace God passionately,  Embrace God's promise.  Embrace God's will for your life.  Embrace righteousness.

Pray

that you will never abandon God.  Pray for the courage to face evil and laugh at its folly.  Pray that you will live a compassionate creative life in the hollow of God's hands.

Do Not Worry about Your Life

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

A Model for Prayer

Matthew 6:25-34  The Message

^25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
^27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
³⁴ “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

 
For Reflection
The objective of our lives is not to end up with the most or the best,  God will see to it that we have what we need.  Life is not so much about getting but, rather, it is about giving.  Give up worrying about tomorrow.  Embrace serving God today and tomorrow will take care of itself.

Pray

for confidence in God.  Pray for trust in God's promise to provide for your needs.  Pray for the patience to serve In God's initiative.