Who Prays for Me?

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Nov 212011
 

Preparing for my next trip to Haiti, I am impressed with the topic of communication with God.  It is something I need to learn more about.  This approach seems to work pretty well.  God shows me something I need to learn and I share my learning experience with others.  That said, I invite anyone reading here to chime in with your thoughts on the subject.  You can reply to posts, or add replies to the Haiti retreat page I have created.   Today’s case-in-point is the following.

I have often been taught that we should pray for others.  In fact, there are many places in scripture where we are taught that we should.  But somehow I have gotten the impression that praying for myself is selfish.   That it should be “saved for last,” keeping God and others top priority in my prayers.   I think that may be wrong.  Jesus was asked how we should pray, so he gave an example.  The first part of the sample prayer was recognizing the greatness of God.  The rest of the prayer was all about . . . me.   Sure the prayer says “us,”  but I am certainly one of “us.”  Give us our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins.  Lead us not into temptation.  Deliver us from evil.

As another example:  In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus takes some disciples with him to prepare for the cross that is ahead.  He asks them to pray.  If it were me about to go through an ordeal, I would be saying “Boys, you guys pray for me!  Pray hard!   Pray loud!  Ask God to deliver me from this trial!”  Instead, he tells them to pray for themselves.  Pray that they won’t “enter into temptation.”

So, here’s my thesis:  Praying for others won’t do much good unless my relationship with God is right.  Therefore, humbly pray for myself first, then I will be able to pray more effectively for others. 

If I am wrong on this, please pray in your prayers that God will set me straight.  I will certainly be praying the same . . . for myself.  😉

See Mathew 6:5-15, Luke 22:39-40

 Posted by at 7:39 am

Waking Up

 Consider This, Misc.  2 Responses »
Nov 082011
 

Last night I dreamed I was a thief.  I helped someone steal some building materials.  We didn’t get caught, but I felt so guilty I was miserable.  I wanted to confess, but I was afraid.  It was a nightmare.  Guilt was killing me . . . then I woke up.  I was so relieved.  The guilt was gone.  It was all a dream.  I wonder, is that how the criminal on the cross felt when he woke up to spend his first day in Paradise?

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”   Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”  And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
     –  Luke 23:39-43

 Posted by at 7:57 pm

Mounds of Trouble

 Consider This, Misc.  5 Responses »
Oct 272011
 

Fire ants are a part of life in Georgia.  If you have never experienced them, then all you are missing is a dirt mound full of the meanest, biten’est, hurten’est, most aggressive little insects that ever lived!  And unfortunately, they are all over Georgia.  You find them just about anywhere there is dirt.  They build huge mounds for their nest, which they defend ferociously, as anybody who has ever stepped on one can confirm.

A fire ant hill in our yard

Sam and I were walking down the sidewalk this past Sunday and just as we got to the end, spotted a fire ant hill.  “Can I step on it?” Sam asked.  “Sure.”  I said.  It was not my usual response.  I usually prefer not to stir them up.  Keeping them all happy and content in the mound makes it much easier to poison them all later.  But these ants at the end of the trail were in “no man’s land,” so we both stirred them up and watched them come pouring out of the mound looking for something to attack.

As we walked away from the havoc we had created, I wondered why it was so fun to stir up an ant nest.  Step on them.  Kick the nest.  Poke a stick in the mound.  Watch them pour out to defend the nest.  Why stir up trouble?  Was it malice?  Was it revenge for all the past ant bites?  Did it stem from a twisted desire to make life more difficult for another living creature?  Or perhaps it was a desire to show myself superior to the poor little ants?  It could be some of all of these reasons, but I think for me, it’s mostly just curiosity.  One of the first questions that pops in my mind when I see the ant mound is, “Is anybody home?”  Give the mound a little kick; see the inhabitants come swarming out.  “Yep.  They’re in there.”

If you think about it, the whole ant mound incident is a little like the story of Job.  Job was all happy in his big wealthy ant hill when along comes Satan asking God if he can kick the mound.  God gives him the OK, so he kicks it.  Stirs it up.  Pokes a big stick right in the middle of Job’s mound of comfort zone.  Now Satan and God stand back to watch what comes pouring out.

Satan expects a swarm of resentment and hate to spill out all over everything.  “Curse God and die” is the stinging bite he assumes to elicit. What he gets instead is “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”  Not at all what Satan expected to be in the Job mound.  But God wasn’t surprised.  He knew exactly what lived inside the center of that Job mound, and precisely what would happen when Satan stirred it.

God knows what’s in every mound.  Satan, on the other hand, does not.  And unfortunately, he is still in the business of stirring up trouble wherever he can.  We build our little “me” mounds and ready ourselves to defend them ferociously.  Satan comes along and kicks the dirt around so he can watch what happens.  He wants to know what’s inside.  The real question is, if Satan comes messing with the “me” mound, what comes pouring out?  Stinging, biting hurt?  Or the Holy Spirit of God?  When he kicks the nest, checking to see if anybody is home, what will he find?  Will he cackle with delight at the chaos his hardship caused?  Or will God smile while a defeated Satan backs away mumbling,  “Yep, HE’s in there.”

 

And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, “thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.   “All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
    – Mark 7:20-23

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.   Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.   For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
       – Romans 8:11-14

 

Elite Travellers

 Consider This, Misc.  1 Response »
Oct 182011
 

Whenever I travel by air, I fight a tinge of I-don’t-know-what while waiting to board the plane.  The gate attendant announces for the “elite” travellers to board first.  They march right past the rest of us second class travelers and board the plane at will, zipping through the “priority lane” while the rest of us wait in line, jocking for position until our number is finally called.  I make fun of their aloofness, but I think it’s just a pitiful attempt to mask the envy.

How dare they be better than me.  I wanna be elite.  I wanna be first.  And that, I think, is near the heart of the matter.  Not just for me, but for most of the people on the planet.

 

10:35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 10:36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 10:37 They said to him, “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.” 10:38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?” 10:39 They said to him, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience, 10:40 but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give. It is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

10:41 Now when the other ten heard this, they became angry with James and John. 10:42 Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. 10:43 But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
                         — Mark 10:35-45  Netbible.org

Who Does the Cleaning?

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Sep 192011
 

We received a brochure in the mail this past weekend.  The catch-phrase on the front said, “Life’s too short to clean your own home.”  I had to read it twice.  It sounded crazy.  Now it has me thinking, and I am coming up with more questions than answers.

If life is too short to clean your own home, then who do you hire to do it?  Someone with a long enough life to clean both their own home and yours?  Jesus had a short earthly life, yet he spent 30 out of 33 years as a carpenter’s son.  Was his life not too short to spend most of it helping Joseph build furniture or Mary clean house.  This was the guy who washed his disciples feet.  Do you think he never washed a dish? I wonder, are we told so little about the first 30 years of Jesus’ life because . . . there just isn’t much to tell? Someday I will get the chance to ask Him what He did all those years. I wont be surprised if he says he mostly just worked in a wood shop and helped out around the house.

Life is too short to waste a single moment doing something other than what God wants.  The tricky part for me is figuring out what that is.  Sometimes, it might be going on a mission trip.  And sometimes, it might just be helping clean the house . . . with a good attitude.  Whether it is working, playing, helping others, or cleaning house, I want to strive to always be about the Father’s business.   A wasted life may be determined not so much by what I do, but by how I do it, and who I do it for.

 

So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old.  – Luke 3:23a

Now Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.  When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did he get these ideas? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands?  Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him.
– Mark 6:1-3  NET

I Never Eat There

 Consider This, Misc.  1 Response »
Aug 032011
 

I ate at McDonalds for lunch today.  I proudly marched right in and I didn’t even have a kid with me.  I even liked the food.

There.  I’ve said it.  What almost no one else will admit.  Ask just about anybody about McDonalds and they will get this high-brow look on their face as they tip their head ever so slightly back, looking down their nose at you.  “McDonalds?  Uuggh!  We hardly ever go there unless the kids insist.”  It’s what they say, but I don’t think it’s what they do.  If it were, McDonalds would be a lot less busy at lunch, and nearly everybody there would be under the age of 10.

At lunch today I saw kids and parents, single people, business people, people in ties, people in uniforms, hippies, yuppies, red necks and high brows. They were all there, but none of them like McDonalds.  If you ask them, none of them eat there.

So what makes people this way?  Why do we all refuse to admit that we actually like to eat at McDonalds on occasion?  I think I know.  It’s pride.  We think people will think less of us if they know we indulge in a Big Mac, so we fall victim to an issue that got the Pharisees in so much trouble over 2000 years ago.  A pet sin that grew so ugly it demanded Jesus’ death rather than admit its own existence.  The sin that tries to hide all others.

That site where they serve all those x-rated pictures?  Uuggh!  I never go there!  Juicy gossip?  Are you kidding me?  That’s so unhealthy!  I would never consume that!  Dishonesty?  Never.  We meet our Christian friends at church then head to lunch for some holy fellowship.  We pass right by the busy McDonalds, but nobody even suggests we go there.  Why would we?  Nobody eats at McDonalds.

 

“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: `I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, `O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
     – Luke 18:10-14 NLT

Why Cut a Tree?

 Consider This, Misc.  1 Response »
Jul 082011
 

The tree is gone.  The big hackberry tree.  The one that lived and grew in my back yard for 30 years or more.  The one that provided so much shade.  The one that provided food for the birds.  The one that held the rope swing that we all enjoyed, flying through the air in long swooping arcs, toes pointed to the sky.  The tree is gone, and I will miss it.

We had to cut it because it had begun to split and crack from it’s aged and weakened forks.  It seemed we were only one gusty thunderstorm away from major backyard disaster.  I was afraid of how it’s frailty might cause me harm, so we did away with it before it had a chance to collapse.

Sometimes I feel like that tree.  Weak, barely holding it together.  Starting to crack and split apart, I feel like just one more storm might do me in.  I wonder why God doesn’t just take me out before I fall apart and do great harm in the process.  But I suppose He has more patience than I.   And I suspect He knows a bit more about how to deal with such things.  Perhaps He has a bit more knowledge about holding weak trees together . . .  and a lot more strength to do so.

 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
   – Mathew 12:20-21  NKJV

 

Say What?

 Consider This, Misc.  1 Response »
Jun 222011
 

So I’m praying on my way to work this morning.  Praying, and complaining a little.  “God, why can’t I know you in a more real way?  I want to talk WITH you as a friend, not TO you.  Why does it have to be so hard to hear your voice?  I wish you would speak directly to me in a more practical and concrete way.”  My prayer ends with a puny bit of praise, then I walk in the office and get started with the “practical” and “concrete” part of my day.

Lunch time comes.  I decide to go to Wendy’s, which I do every now and then.  As I pull into the parking lot, the urge hits me to go in the Dollar General Store that is at the other end of the small shopping center parking lot.   I walk into Wendy’s, thinking I might head into the Dollar General AFTER I eat, if I still have time.  The line at the Wendy’s counter is way long.  Change of plans.  I walk over to the Dollar General and go in.

It’s probably been at least 6 months since I was in here last.   I wander about a bit, killing time, waiting for the Wendy’s line to diminish.  I walk down a little aisle containing a few cheap books.  One catches my eye.  It’s titled When God Winks At You.  It’s only $3.  I feel impressed to pick it up.  Something tells me “It’s why you are here.”  I buy the book and head back to Wendy’s.  The line is gone, so I buy lunch.

As I munch on lunch, I crack the book open and begin to read.  It’s perfect.  I scribble this story on napkins.  I stuff the napkins in the book and walk out with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.  I have tucked under my arm, a little book with a few inky napkins in it.  The book’s title is When God Winks At You.  But I am especially drawn to the subtitle:  “How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence.”

Sand

 Consider This  2 Responses »
May 252011
 

I hate suffering.  Especially when it’s near me, and most definitely when it is me.  Unfortunately, many of us are called to do it.  I used to think that the only good suffering was the kind where I was suffering for being a Christian.  Persecutions and such.  Now I think there’s more to it than that.  There may be times when I suffer for Christ’s sake and don’t even know it.

Take the case of the man born blind in John chapter 9.  People asked Jesus why the man was blind.  Jesus said, “… so the works of God might be displayed in him.”  That’s pretty tough to swallow.  This guy was born blind and lived to adulthood without sight so that God could be glorified.  I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing this guy didn’t feel like he was suffering for God’s glory.  I’m betting there were lots of days, especially as an older child, when he was wondering why he could only sit and listen to the sounds of the other kids running and playing.   But even then, he was sitting there blind, for God’s glory. 

The day was coming.  A pivitol moment in history when this blind child had grown to be an adult.   Jesus would use this man to display his power and authority to the Pharisees.  The point where the line was drawn in the sand and people had to choose which side they were on.  By healing him, Jesus drew the line.  This man’s lifetime of suffering was the sand.

The point to me is this:  Sometimes I suffer for God’s glory and maybe I don’t even know it.  It doesn’t feel good at the time.  Nobody likes to suffer.  But whether I know it or not, whether I like it or not, it happens for God’s glory, and believe it or not, that is a priviledge.  Sometimes, I am called to be the sand.

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
     Phillippians 2:3-4

So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”  He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
      John 9:24-25

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