Categories
Life

Pray For Them

The messages at church are sometimes consoling, confirming, inspiring, challenging, or convicting. And sometimes a message can be a slap upside the head, something that I’ve needed to hear.

At my church, King Of Kings, Pastor Mark Zehnder delivered a great message on September 11, 2011. It was not focused, as I had half-expected it to be, on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks on Washington and New York. That event was mentioned, but the major focus of the sermon time was on the importance of prayer. Specifically, prayer for our leaders. It recalled to me this comment on the Scott Ross Show over 30 years ago:

Here is the text of what Ross said here:

First of all, Paul the apostle says, I urge that entreaties (requests) and prayers and petitions (that’s asking) and thanksgiving – thanksgiving! – be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority (no matter what you think of his politics) in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. That’s 1st Timothy 1, I’m sorry, 1st Timothy 2, one through three.

Right now, we need to be praying for the president of the United States; for the vice-president; for the cabinet; for the Supreme Court; for Congress. Lord Jesus, we pray for our leadership, and we pray, Lord, that you raise up godly men and women, that this country would be turned from its ways. Lord we turn to You, we look to You to deliver this nation. In Jesus’ name, thank you Lord, Amen.

Consider the context of the time when he spoke those words. We had just come out of the Watergate scandal, President Ford was in the White House, and we were facing the 1976 elections. Ross, using this scripture from 1st Timothy, points out that all of our leaders are in need of our prayers, even if you disagree with part of all of what he stands for. Pastor Zehnder, when discussing this verse, pointed out the context in which Paul originally wrote those words, during days in the Roman Empire when Christians were being actively persecuted and imprisoned for their beliefs. And yet, despite these evil actions, Paul here urges his readers to pray for those in authority.

Pastor Zehnder reminded me of this important truth, and brought it up to the present. Whether I am a fan or or a critic of President Obama and his policies, this scripture urges me to pray for him, for his wife and family. The same applies to leaders of my local community, or church council, or club board, etc. And he pointed out that this command applies not only to leaders, but can be extrapolated to other people in my life. Pastor Zehnder found an excellent commentary about the 1st Timothy 2:1-3 passage, and read from it. This is from The Expositor’s Bible, and the volume The Pastoral Epistles, edited by  W. Robertson Nicoll, M.A., printed in 1900. From “Elements of Christian Worship“, pages 91-92, consider these words:

Only in the attitude of mind which makes us pray and give thanks for our fellowmen is the tranquillity of a godly life possible. The enemies of Christian peace and quietness are anxiety and strife. Are we anxious about the well-being of those near and dear to us, or of those whose interests are bound up with our own? Let us pray for them. Have we grave misgivings respecting the course which events are taking in Church, or in State, or in any of the smaller societies to which we belong? Let us offer supplications and intercessions on behalf of all concerned in them. Prayer offered in faith to the throne of grace will calm our anxiety, because it will assure us that all is in God’s hand, and that in His own good time He will bring good out of the evil.

Are we at strife with our neighbors, and is this a constant source of disturbance? Let us pray for them. Fervent and frequent prayers for those who are hostile to us will certainly secure this much – that we ourselves become more wary about giving provocation; and this will go a long way towards bringing the attainment of our desire for the entire cessation of the strife.

Is there anyone to whom we have taken a strong aversion, whose very presence is a trial to us, whose every gesture and every tone irritates us, and the sight of whose handwriting makes us shiver, because of its disturbing associations? Let us pray for him. Sooner or later, dislike must give way to prayer. It is impossible to go on taking a real interest in the welfare of another, and at the same time to go on detesting him. And if our prayers for his welfare are genuine, a real interest in it there must be.

Is there anyone of whom we are jealous? Of whose popularity, so dangerous to our own, we are envious? Whose success – quite underserved success, as it seems to us – disgusts and frightens us? Whose mishaps and failures, nay, even whose faults and misdeeds , give us pleasure and satisfaction? Let us thank God for the favour which he bestows upon this man. Let us praise our heavenly Father for having in His wisdom and His justice given to another of His children what He denies to us; and let us pray Him to keep this other from abusing His gifts.

In the words of this commentator, I see one of the most important basics of prayer itself that I find myself forgetting from time to time. It points out that prayer intends, even expects, that I pray for others, whether they deserve God’s help or not. And the result of that pray may be that the other person changes, and it may be that it results in a change in me. The important thing is that I need to pray.

Categories
Life

U Maija?

Ever feel like nothing is going right, nothing goes your way? Every day seems to be a struggle, a fight just to get through everything? You can have that feeling if you don’t have all of your instructions; you can’t do your job if you have not been told how to do it. Or maybe you’ve been told how to do it, but you didn’t listen very closely or you just plain forgot.

You’ve got pressure on all sides – your boss is wanting more work out of you, and your customers are wanting answers to their questions. Here you are in the middle, trying desparately to please both sides, and quite sure that you are failing both miserably.

Getting yourself centered can help. And I don’t mean “sit on a mat on the floor with your legs in the lotus position and find the center of your being”. The center of your being might very well be rather empty, and what you are looking for is not more emptiness. The “center” you need is to connect with the One who made you.

Connecting with God – there seem to be a million ideas on how to do that, from the very traditional to the very weird. The only God and the only connection that is satisfying and fulfilling is that connection with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Your connection with him is through prayer. And prayer doesn’t have to be a flowery, well designed, grammatically correct statement that your English teacher would be proud of. It simply has to be a statement from your heart.

Your prayer might just be one word: “Help!” Or possibly two words: “I’m lonely” or “I’m scared”. Or it could be tears that don’t stop.

The prayer you need starts with this: “Jesus, I know I’ve screwed it up again. I need your help desparately. I admit my mistakes – my sins – to you. I’m sorry for those sins. Please come into my heart, and make it your own home. Clean out the garbage there, put yourself in control of my life, and I will follow what you want me to do.”

And whether this is a prayer you’ve never prayed before, or whether this is a re-aquaintance with the savior that you have been ignoring, God will gladly welcome you back. And if you’ve offered that prayer in sincerity, with a determination to make that connection with God on a daily basis, through prayer and through reading his Word, the Bible, you are on the road to getting those struggles and pressures in life to start being easier to handle.

Terry Clark released his first solo album in 1978 called Welcome. On that album is a song with a visually strange title: Ugadano Thawanu Maija. Read it (or listen to the song below) and you’ll know what he means. And carefully read the words: It tells in brief what I’ve labored to say here with many more words.


If you wanna find out who you are
Ugadano thawanu maija
If you wanna wish upon a star
Make sure you choose the one he gave ya

Take his love down in your heart
Let him fill your life with purpose
‘Cause if you really want to make a new start
Ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano thawanu maija

He’s the one that we all wanna know
He’s the love that we all wanna show
He’s the one that we all wanna know
He’s the love that we all wanna show

If you wanna know what’s right and what’s wrong
Ugadano thawanu maija
If you wanna feel like you belong
Just give him time to persuade ya
 
Take his love down in your heart
And let him fill you life with purpose
Cause if you really want to make a new start
Ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano thawanu maija

He’s the love that we all want
He’s the love that we all want
He’s the love that we all wanna show-ow-ow

Ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano ugadano
Ungadono thawanu maija

Ugadano ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano thawanu maija
Ugadano thawanu maija


 

Categories
General

Heal our land

The United States is again facing a presidential election. As we anticipate the outcome, everyone is hoping for their candidate to win. Some are dreading the dire possibilities that might occur if the “other” one wins. I’ve seen this kind of drama played out in the news media in every election that I’ve paid attention to, from 1976 when I had my first opportunity to vote, to the current campaign. And if what I read in history is true, there have been many elections with similar drama.

A leader is an important thing for a country. Even if he or she is not the one who makes every decision that affects that country, the actions taken by that person can still be very influential. If enough people are swayed to follow the direction that leader takes, it can turn an entire nation, for better or worse.

That same story is told repeatedly in the Bible. The Old Testament books of 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles tell the stories of the kings of Israel and Judah over the centuries. In most cases, a godly man who became king was an influence for righteousness in the land. An evil king resulted in the further downward spiral of the people into greater and greater sin.

When Solomon, Israel’s third king, completed the temple of God in Jerusalem, he offered up an earnest prayer of dedication to the Lord. In that prayer, he asked God to bless the temple and the land. God appeared to him at night, and agreed to do this. And the Lord made many other promises that answered Solomon’s prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:14 mentions an important promise God made, a promise that he would hear when his people humbled themselves and prayed, and sought after God with all their hearts.

I won’t presume to endorse one candidate or another. I know who I am going to vote for, and I have hopes that my candidate will win. But whether he does or not, I know that the most important result will not be who leads this land. The critical factor in this or in any election is whether or not God’s people will turn from their ways, and seek God with all their heart, asking him to heal their land. This promise is not just for Israel of long ago, nor is it something that just America can obtain. Any country or city in the world can be blessed in this way, if God’s people will earnestly dedicate themselves to prayer.

And those prayers have a greater impact on the future than any political platform will ever have.

Ted Sandquist (with the help of Phil Keaggy) expressed this desire musically, back in 1976 (as I mentioned above, an election year). The album Higher Up And Further In included this song, If My People Will Pray:

If my people, called by my name
Will humble themselves and pray
And seek my face, to turn from their ways
I will hear them

Yes I will, forgive their sin
And I will heal their land
Yes I will forgive their sin
And I will heal their land

If my people, called by my name
Will humble themselves and pray

Categories
Jesus Life

Friends

In my church this past Sunday, the message delivered included the story from Mark 2:1-12. This passage deals with a man paralyzed, who wanted to be healed by Jesus. The problem was in getting access to Jesus. He was in a house, teaching, surrounded by a standing-room only crowd that spilled out the door. So the paralyzed man, who had been brought there by his friends, ended up coming face to face with Jesus by being lowered down to him through a hole they cut into the roof. And Jesus healed him!

Now, the purpose of this post is not to get into the details about healing and prayer and how God works. Suffice it to say that faith is a necessary component for God’s work in the world. And this passage does not indicate that the paralyzed man had any faith. Instead, it reads in verse 5, “When Jesus saw their faith [that of the men who lowered the paralytic to him], he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.'”, and then in verse 11, “‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.'”

Jesus didn’t heal the man based on that man’s faith; he did it after he saw the faith of his friends, that they stopped at nothing in bringing their friend to Jesus. This paralyzed man’s need was greater than theirs; indeed, his only hope was to come to Jesus. And his friends made it possible.

As I listened to that message in church, I was reminded of Steve and Annie Chapman’s song from their 1986 album, Times & Seasons. The song, Faith Of A Few Close Friends tells the very story I’ve just related above. But it is more than just scripture put to song. Both the message I heard in church, and the remainder of the Chapman’s song takes this a step further. The extra step was pointing out that I can bring someone to Jesus, whether it be through my words, or my actions, or my prayers. And when brought to Jesus, it is not necessary for the faith (or lack thereof) of that person to result in God’s intervention in his or her life. My faith can be the key to unlocking a touch of Jesus for that person, the touch that could change a life!

There was a man laying paralyzed
He had no power, no hope in his eyes
He lay there waiting for his turn to die
But a miracle was about to begin 

Cause all a sudden, his bed began to move
They were lifting him up, and he didn’t know who
He could hardly say it, but he whispered “Who are you?”
And they said, “We’re just a few close friends”

They took that man to Jesus
He had no faith of his own
But when Jesus saw the faith of a few close friends
He said, “Take up your bed, man
Take up your bed and go home.”

Now there are homes filled with husbands and children and wives
Who feel like the man who was paralyzed
They have no hope they will ever survive
But let the miracles begin

Let those who are strong, and those who care
Lift him up to Jesus through the power of prayer
Take him to the Healer and on your way there
Don’t forget about the man and his friends

They took that man to Jesus
He had no faith of his own
But when Jesus saw the faith of a few close friends
He said, “Take up your bed, man
Take up your bed and go home.”

But when Jesus saw the faith of a few close friends
He said, “Take up your bed, man
Take up your bed and go home.”

Faith of a few close friends