pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: intense


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Glory, Hope, Joy

Reading: Romans 8:18-25

Romans 8:22 – “We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now.”

Turning to the second part of this week’s Romans 8 passage, Paul makes a powerful statement: the suffering of this age is nothing compared to the glory to come. The glory we will one day experience in heaven will make our suffering in this world seem meaningless. Paul uses birth pains as an analogy. There are a couple of levels to this. As it relates to Paul’s opening statement, when holding a newborn child, those recent birth pains seem a distant and meaningless event.

The present reality of living faithfully in this world can be like birth pains in another way. Almost all mothers experience intense and undeniable birth pains. Some fathers experience is vicariously by being fully present in the birthing moment. Paul would argue that all of creation experiences these same birth pains. In verse 22 he writes, “We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now.” All of creation longs to be set free from this suffering. Creation groans as it waits to be set free.

As believers we also wait with longing and groaning, eager to be adopted into the new creation, to be set free from bondage and decay. And as we wait, we do so in hope. And with patience. To wait with patience, we must have discipline. To know that glory will be amazing and wonderful helps in this regard. So we wait in hope, living daily in joy, looking forward to our final adoption. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, suffering is never easy. We do not do it alone though. And we do not suffer without the knowledge and promise of the life to come. Walk with us, strengthen and encourage us, carry us in our greatest moments of need. Fill us with joy and hope each day, O Lord. Amen.


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Pleading Earnestly

Reading: Mark 5: 21-24

Verse 22: “Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him”.

Photo credit: Patrick Fore

Today we begin to enter into this week’s passage from Mark 5. Jesus returns to the Jewish side of the lake and is greeted by a large crowd. A man named Jairus is in the crowd. He is one of the leaders at the local synagogue. He has encountered Jesus before. Now he comes to speak with Jesus. In verse 22 we read, “Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him”. What causes us to fall at Jesus’ feet, to plead with Jesus?

For Jairus, his daughter is dying. That would cause any parent to plead earnestly. In the same situation we would pray and pray and pray. And then we would pray some more. We can assume that Jairus has tried everything else to save his daughter. Why else would a respected, well-known Jewish leader come to this Jesus? Jairus is desperate. Jesus is his last and only hope. At least a small part of him believes and hopes that Jesus can “put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live”.

When we get to this point – to the place of desperation – have we tried everything else but deep, intense prayer? Only then do we come to Jesus with belief and hope? Do we approach him, fall at his feet, and plead earnestly? Yes, at times our prayers do get ratcheted up to this level. Yet a faithful walk with Jesus is at its best at a steady, daily, regular pace. May this be the routine of our prayer life, building us up for those times of intimate, powerful, intense prayer. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, may my daily time with you be strengthening and encouraging each day. In steady faith, may I grow in you and in my trust in you. In those moments of great need, may I really lean into you, kneeling upon my rock and my hope. Amen.


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Our Prayer Life

Who or what do you most often pray for?  At this point, who or what is your main prayer focus?  Are these things constants or do they change?  If these answers do not come pretty quickly, consider how you could develop a deeper, more consistant, more meaningful prayer life.  If your prayers seem to focus on just a few people or items, please consider for a few minutes the people in your life and the situations in your world that would benefit greatly from being lifted up in your prayers.

One of the most powerful ways that we can pray for another is to invite the presence of the Holy Spirit into their lives.  In Acts 8 the people of Samaria have been baptized.  John and Peter go to them and pray over them and invite the Holy Spirit into the lives of these new believers.  The Samaritans receive the Spirit as a result of these prayers.  Just like the people that John and Peter prayed for, those that we pray for can be opened up to the presence of the Spirit.  They must still receive this gift, but our prayers can begin this process.

When we go deep in prayer, we are also inviting the Holy Spirit to be present with us.  When we invest time and energy into our prayer life, it is like any other practice or relationship – it grows.  And if we allow space and invite God to be present, the connection we have can reach new levels and can impact us powerfully.

In closing, let us return to the second question.  There are people and situations that I pray for daily. This is a good thing.  But in our prayer lives we must also have a few people or items that we focus on for a time or a season.  To do so we must be sensitive and seeking.  If we do this, God and the Holy Spirit will lay these prayer focuses upon us.  Then we have the holy and awesome privelege of lifting another person or situation up in intense and focused prayer.  Blessings on your prayer life this day!

Scripture reference: Acts 8: 14-17