Three Things I Pray…

In the Broadway musical, Godspell, there is a simple ballad, “Day By Day,” in which the singer(s) express a desire to be closer to Jesus. Day By Day/YouTube There are three “prayers”– 1) to see thee more clearly; 2) Love thee more dearly, and 3) follow thee more nearly. I have heard various opinions and critiques of the musical, from the use of clown makeup and vaudeville tunes, to the marginal grammar of this song. But I’d like to spend some time digging in to the three simple prayers.

Today, I want to look at (literally) the first prayer– “to see thee more clearly”. There is one prayer, but I think it can be broken down into two parts.

First, I want to SEE God. God is Spirit–an invisible essence– and yet he manifests himself in a million different ways all around us. God is in the inky, endless blackness of a moonless night, and in the vibrant colors of spring blossoms; in the glaring reflection of the sun off the lake, or the gray and palpable mist over the meadow. He is in the wrinkled face of my neighbor, and the exuberant smile of a toddler, and the beauty of a horse running or an eagle soaring. But I can see all of this and more and still not see God. I can focus on the creation and miss the creator. I can focus on the beauty and learn nothing of the artist. I can see the amazing variety of people in the world– skin tones and eye shapes, facial expressions, and body language, dimples and hairstyles and nose-wrinkling, and hand-wringing, and miss the Love of God for each one.

Sadly, I can sing this prayer, pray for insight, and still miss seeing God. I can trample His creation, dismiss His presence, and hate the people He loves enough to die for; people who bear the stamp of His image.

And I want to see Him “more clearly”–I want to see him as he really is, and not as I imagine him to be. We live in an age of glossy retouched photos of models and celebrities; we “see” their image, without knowing what they truly look like, and without knowing anything about who they really are inside. In many ways, God is only slightly less invisible than the real people around us. How many people do we ignore in a day’s time? How many do we glance at, only to get stuck on a single detail (a hair on their sweater, or something caught in their teeth, or a receding hairline or blotchy face). How many people surprise us by not being like the image they project? I don’t want to see a Photoshop Jesus; a glossy, smiling image of someone who says only what I want to hear, and looks like nothing ever touches him. I want to see the Jesus who wept over the death of his friend; the Jesus who laughed with delight as he talked with children; the Jesus whose eyes were full of compassion even as he was dying on the cross. I want to see the Living Word of God.

Jesus is close– closer than we think. I want to spend today seeing him more clearly.

June 2, 2025 0

Who’s on First?

Baseball season is off to a great start! I love baseball, and I love word-play, so it’s probably no surprise that I really love the Abbot and Costello routine, “Who’s on First?” (watch here)

The idea behind the famous routine is that Abbot is trying to explain the positions on the baseball team, but the players’ names lead to all sorts of needless confusion. You don’t really have to know a lot about baseball to be entertained by the comedy routine, but the more you do know, the funnier it gets. Baseball depends on coordinated team effort– knowing who is playing where can make the difference between spectacular plays and disasters– both offensively and defensively. But as much as I would love to talk about both baseball and comedy today, I really want to use baseball as a metaphor for prayer.

Prayer is very personal, especially confessional prayer, but often it is also communal and a coordinated team effort. Every player (pray-er) wants to play our best, and we are gifted for certain positions on the “team.” Some of us are great at pop-ups– catching people “in the moment” and praying with them, sharing their burdens and joys with concise sentence prayers. Some are sluggers– prayer warriors who “knock it out of the park.” Some are outfielders, patiently persistent in praying for the lost, and ready to chase down a line drive or jump up to make the save. Some are basemen– praying to keep the enemy from gaining ground, or catchers, defending home base from all attempts to score. Some are good at bunting–providing the necessary support and sacrifice so that someone else can advance. And some are master pitchers–crafting prayers that strike out or even shut-out the enemy. Our coach, our mascot, our general manager and MVP? The Almighty, Triune God! He knows our strengths, weaknesses, and how we can improve our performance and standing. He also wants to help our team become closer and stronger. After all, baseball is wonderful, but Christian living is even better– it has eternal consequences!

When we ask, in relation to prayer, “Who’s on First,” we need to remember a few things:

Always listen to the coach!
Remember you are not alone.
PRAY to win!
Look out for and support your teammates.
Each inning is a new beginning– don’t live in the last inning.
Don’t let the current score determine your play.
Don’t let the other team’s players or their fans take you “off your game.”
(Spoiler alert)– We are the champions!

Let’s get suited up and ready to take the field for today’s game…after all, you or I may be on first!

May 30, 2025 0

ACT-ing On Prayer

Pursuing a lifestyle of prayer means more than just coming to God with a list of requests and a couple of scattered “Thank You’s” every now and again. Prayer is a discipline– that means being a disciple of prayer! How can I learn to pray for effectively? Commune with God in a richer and more satisfying way? There are many tools and methods that can help with this. One of them is called the ACTS method.

ACTS is an acronym for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. And praying in this order can radically transform the way we enter into prayer and the way we respond to God’s answers. On a busy day, I often start prayer with my supplications– my requests, my needs, my hopes and desires. I may be approaching God, but my thoughts and heart are all about “what’s in this relationship for me!” “I want healing for ______, and protection for my family, and a resolution to this problem at work, and…”

But the ACTS method flips this order–it starts with Adoration. It begins by coming to God and acknowledging who HE IS. Worship will outweigh worry. Adoration accentuates God’s Ability and His Authority over whatever is on our mind. It also leads naturally into

Confession. Not the kind that masks false humility– “Woe is me, I’m so unworthy. I am a worm, and I don’t deserve to be happy or free or victorious in Christ.” Rather, confession comes as we recognize who we are in relation to God. We are not worthy of God’s blessings in our own righteousness, but IN CHRIST, we are able to come boldly before God in dependence and joyful acceptance of HIS righteousness. And we can’t accept it if we are still hanging on to old habits and sinful ways of thinking. We must agree with God, let go of whatever is holding us back, and gladly prepare to move forward!

Now we are in Thanksgiving mode. We are reminded of God’s mercy, and His faithful care of us. He has been faithful to answer prayers in the past, and to be with us, even in times of trouble and seeming silence. He IS there. He DOES listen. His mercies are new every morning! (Lamentations 2:22-23)

NOW, we are ready to present our Supplications. In fact, we are ready to follow the direction of the Apostle Paul, when he told the Philippian believers: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV).

There are many times when we pray in desperation or in a hurry about a specific need, when this approach can be modified. But for deep prayers during a quiet time, or in a small group, the ACTS method can really boost our connection with the Holy Spirit. We begin by thinking we are praying about “something,” and are amazed to re-discover that prayer is really about “someone!”

I have found that such prayers also cause me to more readily ACT in the matters I bring up for request. I’m not just turning them over to God because I am helpless and He is my last resort. Even when I “know” that is not the case, when I focus on the problem and not the Provider and Protector, I forget that He can give me the power to “do all things” (see Philippians 4:13) in Christ’s strength and for His Glory!

May 28, 2025 0

Puzzling Prayers

Note: This is a re-post from seven years ago, but I thought it was worth revisiting…

Have you ever had one of those days where things just don’t seem to make sense? It doesn’t have to be a “bad” day, necessarily–just a day when things don’t seem to “fit.” I had one of those days yesterday.

I journal my prayer life– I have notebooks with names and places for each day of the year. Yesterday, my notebook included the city where my daughter lives and the names of three people celebrating birthdays, among other needs. One of the names was a complete mystery to me. I couldn’t remember who this person was, or how I knew either her or her name…I was drawing a blank and didn’t know how I should pray for her. Was she a former classmate? Was she a daughter or mother or sister of someone I knew better? I ended up praying a very general prayer– for her health, her family, etc., but it bothered me.

Hours later, speaking with someone on the phone, another name came up, along with a prayer request– a man suffering with an illness who happened to have the same surname. Coincidence? Possibly, but the name stood out, and I prayed again– for both. Now I was really curious. I did some digging. The first person WAS the sister of someone I knew, and their father is the one suffering from an illness.

God is amazing, and one way is how he gives us the opportunity for “a-ha!” moments like the one I had yesterday. I have spoken to several Christians who are sometimes separated by several time zones from those they normally call on for help or advice. In crisis moments, they have cried out to God. Thousands of miles away, someone will be awakened from a sound sleep with a sudden urge to pray for their distant friend, or another will be stopped in their tracks and send up a random prayer as their mind wanders. Often, this will be in the exact moment of the crisis, and God will intervene with a miraculous healing or rescue or provision. Days later, the two parties will connect and be astonished at the timing.

What used to puzzle me about such prayers was this– if God already knows the need, and plans to act, why involve the second (or third) party? Because stories like this, while impressive and inspiring for those who believe, rarely cause a skeptic to come to faith, and aren’t necessary for those who already believe.

I think God has many answers, and I know I don’t have all of them, but here are three things I believe God is doing through such puzzling circumstances and outcomes:

While it doesn’t turn a skeptic into a believer, it DOES give the skeptic something to explain away– one such instance might be ignored as coincidence, but five? two hundred? And we have a Biblical precedent in the book of Acts, chapter 12, when Peter is rescued from prison and shows up at the very house where believers are praying for his release! Even they didn’t believe at first, and left Peter out in the cold!
It IS an inspiration and an encouragement as a follower of Christ to know that he not only hears our prayers, but he recruits others to think about us, bear our burdens, and share in our trials.
Last (on my short list; I’m sure God has many other wonderful answers I haven’t imagined yet), I believe that God’s purpose for us involves communion– eternally living, sharing, and loving together with Him and with each other. It is one of the highest honors and greatest privileges to be involved in God’s work through prayer…it is something we all can do, anywhere, anytime, but it requires being humble and willing to stop what we’re doing, commit our moments and our hearts in prayer for others (sometimes without knowing why!), and trust God to do all that we cannot.

Prayer sometimes seems puzzling, but that’s because we don’t see all the answers– yet. Someday, what a marvelous and miraculous picture will unfold– and we have the opportunity to fill in the gap; to be the answer to 34-down; to be the missing piece of the pine tree in the upper right corner– to answer the call and finish the puzzle!

May 23, 2025 0

“Powerful” Prayers

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. James 5:13-18 (NLT)

I heard someone the other day claim that a friend of ours “has a direct line to God.” The implication was that our friend’s prayers are more powerful and more effective, because she has an “in” with God that others just don’t have. The friend in question was quick to point out that God does not have “favorites.” He loves us all the same, and He listens to all our prayers with the same loving care and goodness.

There are, however, some prayers that are more “powerful” than others. There is an oft-quoted verse from James, chapter five that says, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James goes on to present the example of the great prophet, Elijah, whose prayers caused God to stop the rain for three and a half years and then caused the rain to fall again. Unfortunately, the lesson we often take from this passage is that Elijah was a powerful pray-er. If we were a great prophet like him, maybe we would pray powerful prayers as well. But James is clear– “Elijah was as human as we are”–in fact, this same Elijah, after his “powerful” prayer that brought the rain back, ran and hid in a cave and begged God to let him die!

There are two things that make prayer powerful, and neither of them have to do with WHO is speaking! The first is that prayer has to be earnest. Prayers that are sincere, heartfelt, and consistent with God’s will are powerful– regardless of the words used, the length of time the speaker has been following Jesus, or the “importance” of the subject. God looks at the heart; He sees (and hears) right through the words! He sees the motives. And if our motives are impure or selfish, our prayers will still be heard and answered, but perhaps not with the miraculous flourish that we expected.

Secondly, powerful prayers are lifted up by “a righteous person.” And this is where many people miss the blessing of this verse. Who, exactly, is “a righteous person”? NO ONE! At least, not on our own. If we think that our prayers will be powerful because of who we are, what we have (or haven’t) done in the past, or how religious we claim to be, our prayers will actually be LESS effective. Like so many things in the Christian Life, this concept is counter-intuitive and counter-cultural. Powerful prayers are not the ones delivered by those who think they are powerful. Powerful prayers come from those who accept that all power, and all righteousness as well, comes from Christ alone. Such people know they are not innately “righteous.” Their righteousness comes from Christ– through His death and resurrection– alone. And such prayers reflect a wholehearted trust that God knows best and will answer in His own loving and wise way.

Truly powerful prayers come from anyone who is fully trusting in God– not because of who they are, but because of who GOD is. My friend does have a “direct line to God”– but so does anyone who trusts Him completely! You don’t have to be an Elijah to have a powerful prayer life. And that’s a great comfort, because even Elijah wasn’t always a mighty prophet. Sometimes, he was frightened, defeated, and depressed. Sometimes, he was hurt and sullen. Sometimes, he was just plain worn to a frazzle! But God still heard him and used him to inspire a nation.

May 21, 2025 1

The Prince of Peace

They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. Jeremiah 8:11(ESV)

While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (ESV)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 (ESV)

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (ESV)

⁴Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains…²¹For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. Matthew 24:4-8; 21 (NIV)

One of the prophetic names given to Jesus in the book of Isaiah is “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). And yet, Jesus did not bring an end to the Roman occupation of Judea while He walked the earth. He did not end slavery or war or oppression. He did not bring the kind of “peace” that most of us look for even today. We live in a world of war, dissention, upheaval, and chaos. There is hatred, injustice, slavery, abuse, and oppression, and none of the efforts to bring peace in our world have succeeded in wiping out any of these evils. In the nearly 2000 years since His crucifixion and the rise of the Christian Church, these evils have remained. Great strides have been made over the years– slavery is officially outlawed in many areas of the world; human rights have been codified. Humanitarian efforts have greatly decreased the number of people who die of starvation and disease, homelessness and exposure to the elements. But there are thousands, and indeed hundreds of thousands of people around the world who are refugees from their home countries, who are denied human rights, who live in fear of bombing raids and terrorist attacks.

Where is the Peace?

Jesus spoke freely of the tribulations His followers through the generations would face. He never promised us a world without any trouble. He promised that, in this life, we WILL have trouble. And it will increase over time. People will grow suspicious, hateful, and cold. Nations will rise up against other nations; families will be divided in such a way that one’s greatest enemies will be their closest relatives! Wars and natural disasters will intensify. And ONLY Christ’s return will stop any of it. Human efforts may make a difference for a short while, or make a small difference for a long while, but nothing we can do, single-handedly or as a human race, will deliver us from the evil that lives in the human heart. In fact, we often delude ourselves into thinking that we can change the world on our own; we seek to force our plans on others “for their own good,” little knowing that we may be sowing the seeds of bitterness, backlash, and revenge.

Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. He will administer perfect peace and justice when He returns. And in the meantime, He offers us an inner peace that passes all understanding. We can experience peace as bullets whip around us; as we are being misunderstood, mistreated, and abused; as we face injustice and oppression. We can do this because Jesus gave us the example. He did not fight back or even complain as He was arrested, falsely accused, sentenced, and executed. He did not seek to force everyone to accept His rightful claims. He did not even protest the unjust treatment of His people by the Romans.

What He did instead was to focus on God’s mission– He interacted with those who were suffering; He healed the sick; He brought comfort to those who were grieving. He brought sinners to repentance and sought to make peace between individuals and God. Jesus is the Prince of real and lasting Peace– not just peace in “our time” or peace for a generation, but eternal and everlastingly joyous Peace. This is the kind of peace that sees trouble and tribulation for what it is– temporary and transformational. Suffering can make us bitter or better, and Jesus shows us how to experience the latter. When we protest instead of pray, we forfeit that peace. When we pray, we gain wisdom in how to stand firm against injustice without losing our own peace and perspective.

These are not peaceful times, but we can still experience peace, hope, trust, endurance, joy, and light in the days ahead, thanks to our Prince of Peace.

May 16, 2025 0

Jehovah Jireh– The God Who Provides

Often when I am praying, I’m asking for something– “Bless this food,” “bring healing to _______,” “help the victims of (insert recent natural disaster) to find shelter, food, water, etc.,”..

God is a provider. He is the owner of everything, yet He chooses to share good things with us. He provides for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. He provides for insects and elephants. He provides water and sunlight for all the plants– whether in the rain forest or the desert. He provides air for us to breathe and provides plants to recycle what we breathe out. He provides for the orphan and the widow, the homeless and the dispossessed. And for those who seem to “have it all”– God is the ultimate source of their riches, too.

In the book of Job, we meet a man who seemed to “have it all.” He was wealthy, healthy, respected, and surrounded by family. And when it all disappeared in a flash, his response was very telling. He said, ” Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21 CSB). Job had learned that in good times or bad, God was his provider. And Job’s faith in God’s provision and His faithfulness gave him hope, even in the worst of his troubles.

The first time we hear of Jehovah (or Yahweh) Jireh is in the story of Abraham and Isaac and the sacrifice at Mount Moriah. God asks Abraham to take his son– the son of the promise; the son for whom he had waited so long– and give him as a sacrifice. Nowhere else in the Bible does God ask for a human sacrifice– in fact, God says He detests the practices of the nations and religions who sacrifice their children to Molech or other gods. Yet, when Abraham obeys, in spite of whatever fear or horror is conjured up by the command, God stops him and provides a ram as an alternate sacrifice. Abraham names Him Jehovah Jireh– the LORD who will provide–as a result of that experience. (See Genesis 22)

But Jehovah Jireh means more than just God providing what we need in the moment or what we ask for in prayer. It also means, “the LORD who perceives, or experiences.” God does not just stand removed from our situation and write a blank check for us to cash when or how we see fit. God is with us (Emmanuel) and sees our deepest and most profound needs. He also sees our daily and even seemingly silly needs. He knows, He cares, and He provides good gifts. God did not send Abraham and Isaac alone on their perilous mission. He was right there, ready to step in and provide what was needed. What an amazing turn-around for Abraham. He went from anguish to absolute joy in those precious moments, and learned to know God in a personal, experiential, and powerful way.

Sometimes, we lose sight of that. Sometimes, it seems as though God is far away and indifferent, or even cruel. When Job accepted the loss of his wealth, his health, his status, and all of his children, it was not easy for him to say, “Blessed be the name of the LORD.” God had taken away nearly everything– in fact, the only things Job had left were some unhelpful finger-pointing friends and a complaining wife! But God restored everything that Job had lost, and then some! God does take away. And it hurts. He doesn’t stop us from experiencing heartache and grief. But even then, He is Jehovah Jireh– the LORD who experiences; the LORD who perceives. He does not leave us without hope or comfort, if we seek His face. As the Psalmist says: “The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter.” (Psalm 30: 5b The Message)

The story of Abraham and Isaac; the story of Job and his losses– each points us to another truth about how God is our provider. He provided His own Son to be our sacrifice– to pay the debt for our Sin, and to give us Eternal Life (see John 3:16). God experienced all the anguish and loss of death so that we would only have to taste it once. Jesus lost everything to gain our redemption. And He rose victorious over death, so we can have hope and joy in this life and in the life to come!

Recently, I was worried about finances– not because we had no money, but we had unexpected bills. I asked the LORD to provide, knowing that He could, but expecting that we would have to raid our “rainy day” fund to get through the week. But God had an amazing surprise– an unexpected gift of $100! Just when we needed it. God could have provided ten dollars, or a thousand dollars. He could have allowed us to dip into the “rainy day” fund and provided some unexpected money the following week. But I believe God saw, not just our monetary need, but my need to be reminded of His loving care and faithfulness. God knew what we needed. He provided what we needed. And He shared in our experience of dependence on Him and joy in His creative answer.

I don’t know where I will be today or tomorrow. I don’t know what needs are on the horizon. And I don’t know how or what God will provide. He may not provide healing for a disease, but strength for the fight. He may not provide a cash gift for our material needs, but He may provide opportunities to trade with neighbors or earn extra money when we need it next. Whatever God chooses to do– whatever He gives or takes away– He is my provider of abundant life. “Blessed be the Name of the LORD!”

(For more about this Name of God, see https://www.christianity.com/wiki/god/what-does-it-mean-that-god-is-jehovah-jireh.html)

May 14, 2025 0

When “Mother’s Day” Hurts

Yesterday was Mother’s Day here, celebrating and honoring the mothers in our lives. Mother’s Day can be a wonderful day of celebration. But it can also be one of the most painful days of the year. Millions of women each year face acute heartbreak on this day– instead of celebration, they face the haunting memories of abandonment or separation, infertility, miscarriage, infant deaths, broken relationships, missed opportunities, regrets, suicide, and the loss of their own mothers. There are no cheery greeting cards or perky flower baskets that can erase that kind of gut-wrenching pain– no pithy words or consolation gift that makes this day easy or comfortable.

I have an awesome mother-in-law, the world’s best sister, world-class sisters-in-law, a remarkable step-daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and a host of other wonderful women in my life. I love being an auntie, step-mom, daughter-in-law, (step) grandma, great-aunt, and great-grand-aunt! I love that I am still in touch with former students and story hour kids, Sunday School and Bible School attendees, and others I have had the honor to mentor. So I celebrate Mother’s Day and honor those people and all the ways their lives have impacted mine, and (hopefully) my life has connected with theirs.

But none of that chases away the ache of never having a child of my own– never knowing the joy of tucking my own child into bed; never being able to kiss away a boo-boo or a bad dream and say the words, “Mommy loves you.” None of that will bring back my beloved mom or grandma my favorite aunts, mentors and friends who are gone. I miss them more each year; I miss their wisdom, their strength, their comfort.

Maybe because of my own experience, I’m more attuned to it, but I see and hear a lot of pain around this time each year. My heart goes out to all of the women with empty arms– the women who had to bury a huge chunk of their heart along with a child they can never hold; the women who had to say goodbye to the only one who could ever reassure them that, “Mommy loves you.”

My prayer today is that you would know that even in those moments when your heart is crushed, and your arms ache to hold or be held, that you are not alone; you are not forgotten. God knows the aching loss of seeing his only son on the cross as he took his last gasping breath before he died. Jesus experienced the sting of rejection from the people who should have called him brother, and “Father.” Throughout the Bible, God gave us examples of women (Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Rebecca, Leah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary and others) who knew the ache of barrenness, rejection, strife, and loss of children. God saw their pain; he heard their cries of distress and their prayers. He sees you too. He hears you. He loves you beyond anything you can imagine, and beyond where any grief, guilt, or despair can take you.

More than this, he has promised to be close to the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the broken-hearted, and to those who need rest and comfort. He promises his presence, and he promises to turn our mourning into joy and bring us peace. He is eager to restore us, to renew our strength, and to reassure us that we are loved with an everlasting love. God created us in his image– and that includes the image of a mother hen gathering chicks, It includes the image of Mary who wrapped the God of the Universe in swaddling cloths and tucked him into a manger of hay, and who watched as that same God of the Universe died for her.

God knows the passion, the pain, and the pure love of a woman’s heart– even when “Mother’s Day” hurts.

May 12, 2025 0

Ask, Seek, Knock

God knows our innermost thoughts, wishes, and needs. So why do we pray? We’re not telling God something he doesn’t already know. He asks us to seek him, though he is omnipresent. He tells us to knock, and the door will be opened, yet he also says he stands and the door and knocks. Is this another Bible mystery? An oxymoronic enigma?

I don’t think so– I think it is a case of God laying out some ground rules of relationships– his with us, us with him, and even us with each other. God is spirit, but he ask us to build dwelling places where he can meet with us– temples, tabernacles, churches. He wants to abide, to live in relationship and companionship. Ultimately, he offers to dwell in each of us. But he has created each of us as a unique being. And just like a unique building, we have walls and windows and doors. When we reach our eternal dwelling place, this will still be so. We will be changed, purified, sanctified, and glorified, but our souls will not be subsumed or merged into a single temple or a single “soul.” Heaven is not like Nirvana. God is eternally God and we are eternally his creation. Living in communion is not the same as merging or evolving into something not ourselves. We remain uniquely individual, and as such, we need to learn to take initiative to open our doors and windows– to interact, to serve, and to honor each other.

Have you ever been blindsided by someone who expected you to read their mind? You know they are hurt and angry, but you find out later (sometimes much later!) that they wanted you to comment on their new hairstyle, or they expected you to ask them out for coffee. Maybe you know the pain of being on the other end– wishing someone would notice your weight loss or ask about your day. God wants us to learn to reach out, to ask, seek, and knock, instead of isolating ourselves behind locked doors. We are to be active, not passive, about noticing others, sharing with and including others, and serving others. But we are to do it in love and humility– with grace and mercy and love, not with bullhorns, fists, or combat boots.

God is the Almighty one– yet he stands at the door and knocks. He could barge through our stubbornness and rebellion, and drag us kicking and screaming to the altar. He could tear down the walls of isolation and storm crush our pretentious justifications and excuses. But he stands, waiting for us to open the door, and seek his face. The one who spoke the universe into being waits for us to begin the conversation!

May 9, 2025 0

Following Christ Like You “Meme” It

For a change of pace, I thought I’d pass along a few memes and sayings about prayer and the Christian Life:

The best vitamin for a Christian is B1!
It’s harder to stumble when you’re on your knees.
Church isn’t the same unless U-R in it!

A clear conscience makes a soft pillow.
God answers “knee-mail”
Christians “keep the faith” by sharing it with others
Prevent truth decay– brush up on your Bible!
Can’t sleep– try counting your blessings.
If you don’t want to reap the fruit of sin, stay out of the Devil’s orchard.

Seven days without prayer makes one “weak.”
Son screen prevents sin burn.
Is prayer your spare tire or your steering wheel?
God’s Garden: Lettuce be kind; pray for peas; squash gossip; turnip for church!

Some people forget how to pray until the cop makes a u-turn…
Come to Church as you are– you can change inside!
Waiter: “Jesus, how would you like your steak?” Jesus: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
God wants spiritual fruit–not religious nuts.

May 7, 2025 0

Tag: Faith