In our Shepherd Group we actually pick one person that we will pray for that week and then sometimes we will write the prayer to them during the middle of the week. I know I have been so encouraged during the week when I receive a written prayer from one of the guys that shows up in my email. I love writing prayers and sometimes model them after the Psalms. I know my kids and my wife have some of the prayers that I have written over the years in their Bibles and that encourages me to continue to write my prayers for them.

I feel a little mixed.  I like the idea of writing prayers for people. It’s very possible I may have e-mailed a prayer(s) before, but I don’t regularly send people written prayers. I am not a prayer warrior. Writing out prayers in a journal or praying aloud with another person(s) are techniques that may generally tend to produce a wordier and perhaps more substantial or heartier prayer out of me. But words aren’t everything.

In Matthew 6, praying in secret is commendable. What is not commendable is “many words” & “empty phrases”.

But it must be okay to write out a prayer for someone. In Bible gatewaying, I can see that Paul has mentioned the content of some of his prayers, and perhaps some of those are his actual prayers. 

And there’s something about communal prayer, so perhaps writing out a prayer for someone and giving to them could ‘count’ as a sort of communal prayer and means of encouragement.

Anyway I like the idea, though perhaps with a little hesitation…

24:7 – “I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.”

3:22a – ” ‘Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.’”

3:23b – “Truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.”

3:12-14

Power of God’s Word / Power of God:

23:29 – “Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

1:19 – “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.’ “

1:6-8

False Prophets & Omnipresence of God:

23:21-27

Trusting in the Lord & Deceitfulness of the Heart:

17:7-10

The God Who:

15:22b – “Are you not he, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.”

Hypocrisy:

5:2 – “Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ yet they swear falsely.”

Heart Matter:

4:4a – “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts,…”

*Scripture quotations from the ESV

Sullenberger’s wife, Lorraine, at a homecoming celebration for the hero in their home town in California, said with tears in her eyes, “I have always known him to be an exemplary pilot.  I knew what the outcome would be that day because I knew my husband.  But mostly for me, he’s the man that makes my cup of tea every morning.”

and

Jesus said that if we give a cup of water to a disciple we’ll be rewarded.  If we receive a child in his name he takes special note.  Jesus said a poor widow who gave her last penny gave more than all the rich who gave out of their abundance.  Most Christians’ lives are made up of thousands of small, faithful acts of service which glorify Jesus more than we know.

Like my friends Bob and Twila. For the past twenty-two years they’ve been foster parents to 43 children, and adopted 6. How many thousands of acts of kindness and service have Bob and Twila done that only Jesus remembers?

For the past 2 years, Twila has been battling cancer. She’s been in the hospital a lot.  And many nights, Bob, who drives a coal truck, comes in after work at 8 at night, stays with Twila till 2 a.m., then quietly heads out into the darkness for another day on the road.

A true hero is a servant. He makes his wife a cup of tea every morning. Ordinary.  Faithful.  Incredible.

But what would it be like to treat each day as if it were something special?

In Happy Valentine’s Year, Christina Holder writes:

Jesus and His followers didn’t have to create days to motivate or to force or to even guilt-trip people into encouraging or thanking or appreciating one another. Jesus simply loved people where they were. He gave people what they needed during their most grievous times. He surprised them with simple acts of generosity and compassion.

He didn’t wait until International Widows Day (June 23) to reach out to vulnerable women who felt unloved and abandoned or World Leprosy Day (last Sunday in January) to heal men and women who had been pushed out of society because of a skin disease (Luke 5:12-14) or National Hunger Awareness Day (1st Tuesday of June) to feed people who were starving (Luke 9:12-27). He just showed up at people’s houses—to eat dinner with them, to heal them, to teach them.

Every day, He made himself available to people. He went out of His way to bring them comfort and healing and security. He left His family as a young boy and spent hours discussing God in the temple with religious leaders. He traveled a far distance to be with Mary and Martha when Lazarus died. And in the biggest display of love, He endured a brutal death, dying on a cross so that you and I could be saved. Jesus spent His days sacrificing for other people. He made the little things count, and that made the big things count even more.

And think of ‘forever moments’ in non-holiday contexts:

Transitions….life is a transition…it’s not just the momentary moves, job changes, or life stages…once we ______ , life will be good. No. There will be the next transition, and the next….but for perspective, this whole life is vapor mist…

Ministry. Ministry is not limited to service projects and technical ministry, but should be a way of life. I need Thee every hour. A similar thing could be said for worship.

Being Nice. My mom has given the advice to  ’remember the Safeway checker.’ We can be momentarily, superficially nice to people we don’t know in public; we should also treat those close to us nicely. I believe she’s also given the advice to not let your hair down.

Also, we should not only be nice when it is advantageous for us or to the ‘targeted’ people being outreached to. I believe there is a verse in the Bible that tells us to do good to everyone, especially to the saints.

Am I good at practicing ‘special moments’ in a ‘forever’ sort of way? No. But this is just a mindset to consider…

2/20 update: I guess the ‘big picture’, ‘top down’, ‘wholistic’  type stuff might relate to this…it’s easy for me to focus on tiny unnecessary things while neglecting the big picture…

Words from the following e-mail that got posted up at Boundless:

Hi there,

My family (Mum, Dad, myself and my three little sisters) lived in the small town in Victoria. There were warnings that bushfires were 5 kilometres away and we were getting ready to evacuate. We had grabbed the family photos, important documents, blankets for the night in the evacution centre and some extra clothes but just as we were about to leave the fire came surging over the hill north of our property. We all scrambled for the car and sped off along the south road from our property. My two youngest sisters were crying and screaming about the pets my dad forced them to leave behind. Mum and I were trying to calm them down and praying God would spare our house. But just as we turned around the next corner we saw fire coming up on the south of our property. We were being closed in on both sides. We all began to panic but Dad said nothing and turned the car around and started heading towards the dam, there wasn’t enough time to take any other route out.

We got to the dam, by this time we were coughing really badly and sky was black with smoke. Dad made us all get in the water, he grabbed the blankets and wet them and we all started to swim out to the raft ancored in the middle of the dam. We could see the fire coming and started to feel the heat. My parents and I dragged my sisters through the water because they were too distraught to swim properly. Finally we climbed on the raft, we lay there with the wet blankets on top of us. The plan was that when the fire came we would all slide off the raft into the water with the blankets over our heads and tread water until it passed around the dam. My dad kept looking out the side of blanket to see how close it was. He could see headlights in the distance through the smoke and realised that our neighbours were also driving to our dam.

He said he had to go and help despite our pleas. He said he’d be back in a few minutes and jumped off the raft swam to the edge and got into the truck and started out towards the lights. That is the last we ever saw of him. We don’t know what happened … we know they didn’t make it. Him and our neighbouring family of 5 were caught in the fire 1/2 a km from the dam.

The fire came and we slid off the raft into the water, the smoke and heat were incredible and but the wet blankets were amazing in keeping the air breathable and the heat manageable. While we tread water we all cried, we all knew Dad hadn’t made it, there was no way. In all honesty I didn’t feel like treading water, this was a nightmare and I could have easily just let myself slip away. I know that sounds selfish because I was there with my mum and sisters but that’s the way it was.

The fire passed. We survived and climbed back onto the raft, we didn’t know what to do next we couldn’t go back to shore because the ground was too hot. So we just sat in silence, holding each other. After a while my youngest sister started to ask questions ‘Do you think the dog is alright? Do you think our house is ok?’ all my mum said was ‘Sweethearts, it is well with our souls and that’s all that matters’ I’m sure she was saying that to herself as much as she was saying it to us. We were rescued half an hour later by the Fire Service and taken to a shelter. That night at the shelter is a story in itself. The death toll stands at 181 and still climbing.

We are now staying at my Aunt’s house 3 hours away. The amount of support is incredible but nothing replaces the horrific memories and my sisters have nightmares every night. We are left wondering what is next. What is the point of rebuilding if my Dad is gone and can’t farm and support us? Where do we go? Most of our friends are dead, half our church is dead, what life do we have left? Do we sell? and if so will we make enough money to pay out our mortgage, who wants to buy black burnt piece of land?

Everyday is a battle to see God’s faithfulness and righteousness above the loss we have experienced. I’m not quite there yet, I’m angry, confused and bitter. We all miss Dad, he was quiet but strong man who loved the Lord. He put his family first and lead us with incredible wisdom, he saved or lives that night and died trying to save more. There should be some comfort in that but I haven’t found it yet, I wish he was selfish and had of just stayed with us. If he were here to lead us now things would feel that much more secure but he’s not and I feel abandonned, everything secure and familiar is gone. I am immensely thankful for my family but even that feel different right now.

I am reminded of the Gaither song Because He Lives.

          Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
          Because He lives, all fear is gone;
          Because I know He holds the future,
          And life is worth the living,
          Just because He lives

- Cate

God, please be with all those who have lost in the wildfires in Australia. Comfort, provide, and bring them close to you…thank you…

“…life is worth the living, Just because He lives”

     “‘Sweethearts, it is well with our souls and that’s all that matters’ “

Like Job, in Job 1 after receiving grievous news:

 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.  And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I  return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Blessed be the name of the Lord…there’s something about one choosing to bless the name of the Lord in the midst of adversity…

The last lines of  the well-known chorus “Blessed Be Your Name” sing:

You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Once again, a videoclip featuring some powerful words by John Piper comes to mind. I found it online and have put it on the blog before, but here it is once again:

26:3-4 – “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”

50:10b – “Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”

The blessings of waiting:

30:18 – “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

Interesting phrase:

32:6 – “[...] and his heart is busy with iniquity, [...]“

Stability in the LORD:

33:5-6 – “The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.”

Deliverance:

38:16b-17 – “Oh restore me to health and make me live! Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.”

43:1b-3a – ” ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

50:9a – “Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who will declare me guilty?”

Power of God and waiting for the LORD:

40:28b-31: “He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Lots of “who”s describing the Redeemer: 44:24-28

50:2b – “Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?”

God’s faithful care:

46:4 – “even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”

People can still be sinful even if they seek God and delight in His ways. Our seemingly spiritual acts can be unrighteous. See Isaiah 58:1-3.

*Verses quoted here are from the ESV translation.

And he will SWALLOW UP on the mountain THE COVERING THAT IS CAST OVER ALL PEOPLES, THE VEIL that is spread over all nations. He will SWALLOW UP DEATH FOREVER; and the LORD GOD WILL WIPE AWAY TEARS FROM ALL FACES, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, THIS IS OUR GOD; WE HAVE WAITED for him, THAT HE MIGHT SAVE US. This is the LORD; WE HAVE WAITED for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

(ESV)

This is our God…

I wrote out the words to these verses on a notecard, and my hope is to look at them and allow them to sink deep into my heart.

And now I’m listening to a version of “I heard the bells on Christmas Day” by Casting Crowns. (Found here on my blog)

Here are part of the lyrics:

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep

On giving ear…

1:10-11: Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.

Wash…, make…clean, remove…evil…, cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppresion; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. (1:15-17)

Hope of redemption:

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: , though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. (1:18)

As for a purpose of church, 2:3 includes the concept of going to the house of God “that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

What is man…”of what account is he” (2:22)? “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” (5:21)

And even Isaiah knew that he was ‘woe’ because of his sin. Here’s a curious story of his redemptive vision detailed in 6:5-7:

And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

-On the importance of being firm in the faith: “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all” (7:9b).

-Prophecy about Jesus at the end of 7, and in ch. 9.

-Hope in 12:2: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

-God’s purpose will stand (see 14:24, 27).

-God’s deliverance: “When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them” (19:20b).

-God as refuge: “For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;” (25:4a)

-And another on hope:

And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (25:7-9)

(all Scripture quotations from the ESV)

 For IF God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

IF he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

IF by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

and IF he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);

THEN the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,…  (–2 Peter 2:4-9a)

Okay…but what about when I’m ungodly? What then? When ’something’s wrong’, is He still able to rescue me? What about when my sin overwhelms?

David felt encumbered by the weight of his sin, as evident in Psalm 38:

there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me” (vs. 3b-4).

I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart (vs. 8).

But what does he do? He shares his longing with God; He understands his “sighing is not hidden from” Him (vs. 9). He waits for God and trusts that He will answer (vs. 15).  He confesses his sin (vs. 18).  He pleas with God not to forsake him, to not be far, to make haste to help (vs. 21-22). He recognizes that God is his salvation (vs. 22).

I, too, should reflect upon salvation, which resurrects deadened hearts:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trepasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- (Eph. 2:4-5)

There must be a relationship between remembering His forgiveness and having the qualities of faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love as 2 Peter 1:5-9 reveals some connection between forgetting His forgiveness and lacking these qualities.

If God exists, and His word is true, and if His hand has been involved in the formation of the world and the resurrection of Christ, then surely has the power to transform my heart.

God, please remind me of Your forgiveness and reveal its power in me. Please crucify my flesh and let your life in me shine through. Please grow your love and related qualities exemplifying Your love in me. Thank you…

photo by willandbeth