pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Seeking God – Regularly

Reading: Psalm 105:1-6 and 37-45

Psalm 105:4 – “Pursue the Lord and his strength; seek his face always!”

Photo credit: Rainier Ridao

Psalm 105 spans a vast swath of Israel’s history. The author recounts God’s acts on Israel’s behalf from the time of Abraham through their entry into the Promised Land. The Psalm, however, does not recount every act of God recorded in the scriptures. In this Psalm we find more of a highlight reel. Our remembrance of God’s activity in our life usually works the same way. We quickly recall the big blessings and the great rescues. But when we put in some effort, when we really reflect on our journey of faith, we realize that there are many more times when God became present to us – many more than on our highlight reel.

In the second half of our reading, the psalmist recounts the time just after the final plague through Joshua leading Israel through the Jordan River. The author also recalls the manna and quail and the water from a rock. These are but four of many times that God was present and active during their time in the wilderness. The psalmist does not include the golden calf and other rebellion, grumbling, and complaining. If we told our whole story of faith, we’d have stories like these too. The times of sin, of no faith, of struggle – all parts of our journey that shape and form us into who God created us to be.

Verses 1-6 are mostly about praising God for all that God has done for Israel. But tucked in these verses is a great encouragement: “Pursue the Lord and his strength; seek his face always!” In life, we naturally do this in the highs and lows. But life is mostly lived in between. So we need to be intentional about pursuing and seeking God regularly. We pursue God by creating times and places set apart for daily time with God. It can be a quiet time in the morning. It can be worship on Sunday. We seek God by being intentional about pausing at moments throughout our day to reflect on God’s presence in that day. Maybe it is a quick moment of thanksgiving before your meals. Maybe it is on the commute. May we all be intentional about pursuing and seeking the Lord our God.

Prayer: Lord God, we praise you for the many ways that you have been with your people through the ages. And we praise you and offer our thanksgiving for your involvement in our daily lives. Lead and guide us to see you often, bringing us to spontaneous moments of praise. Amen.


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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