pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Growing Closer

Reading: Psalm 71: 1-6

Verse 2: “Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me”.

The psalmist is calling out to God, seeking refuge in God. In verse two he also asks God, “Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me”. He goes on to ask for saving and deliverance. The psalmist wants God to act. This same theme is found in our gospel reading for this week. In Luke 4 the people of Nazareth want Jesus, the home town boy, to perform a miracle to prove who He is. They want Him to act.

Our lives parallel the scene we find in the Psalm and in Luke at times. When life brings us an unwanted change or an illness or loss, we too seek for God to be our refuge, to save us from the trial we are facing. We want God to rescue us from the suffering that we are unduring. We too want God to act, to do something to prove who He is.

Most of our lives, however, are not spent in trial or suffering. Most of our lives are spent in the normal routine. We work, eat, and sleep. We spend time with family and friends. We pursue the activities that bring us joy. There is also a critical component that affects how we face the times of trial and suffering. Carving out time to read our Bibles, to worship, to spend time in prayer are essential. These day to day rhythms are what connect us to God. They deepen our faith. They build a foundation for when the rains fall and the flood waters rise. Through our faith practices we learn that God will never forsake us, that God will always be there for us. It is in the day to day living out of our faith that we come to know and believe these things. It is through these practices that we come to know that we are a beloved child of God.

If we walk daily and regularly with our God, then we live out verses 5 and 6 from Psalm 71. God is our hope and our confidence. From birth – from new birth in Jesus Christ – we rely on God. Like the psalmist, we too can say, “I will ever praise you”. When we walk daily with Him, then in the good and in the bad, in the joy and in the sorrow, we can ever praise God. Yes, you are my God and I will ever praise you.

Prayer: Lord, may I always seek you – in the quiet of the morning, in the sanctuary, in all times and in all places. Step by step may I follow you, O God. Amen.


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Maybe It’ll Grow

Today I read about Benedictine monks.  Each day and week and year is filled with the same pattern – they work and pray and work and pray and work and pray and so on.  Each day is filled with this pattern.  They sleep at night and start the pattern over day after day.  Each prayer time is followed by a period of work.To praythey first center themselves and then they chant Psalms back and forth.  In a month, they pray through the book of Psalms.  Then they start over.

Paul writes often about the same integration of prayer and work.  The idea of regularly stopping our work to pray is found in others.  Daniel, for example, prayed three times a day at his appointed times.  Jesus even went so far as to suggest His disciples pray without ceasing.  But I think Jesus was suggesting we be attuned to praying here and there, whenever we felt led to pray for someone or something.  For the monks, Paul, and Daniel it was spontaneous prayer and also about engaging in formal times of prayer regularly each day.

What would that look like in our lives?  Could we set aside a time to pray upon arriving at work, during morning break, at lunch, during afternoon break, and before departing for the day?  Each prayer time could be specific and focused.  Perhaps this is a great experiment to try for a few days.  Maybe it’ll grow into weeks, months, years…

Scripture reference: 1 Thessalonians 2: 9-13