Prayer

Table prayer

/ The Pastor

Earlier today I submitted this to Twitter:
Don’t just teach your children specific prayers or how to pray; teach them to know whom they are praying to. #parenting #God #Jesus #Lord

So that is where this table prayer came from.

I started thinking about this because I want to develop a prayer habit in my kids that is genuine. I want prayer to be something that is not rote; a formula prayer that we just spout off before we eat. I want my kids to think about why we pray and what we are praying for. But even more than that, I want my kids to know this awesome God to whom we are praying. I want my kids to have a relationship with our provider God and learn to give Him genuine thanks.

So here it is. I do not claim any artistic ability in writing poetry. I’m only a father trying to teach his children:

Jesus, we invite you to this table,
to bless this food so that we are able,
to live and serve you,
to praise and give you
honor and glory,
telling your story.
So bless this food, Lord, to help us live now,
Oh Jesus we praise your holy name now.
Amen.

What do you think?

The Pastor -|—

Doing Prayer Right (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. [1 Timothy 2:1-2]

As a man of prayer, one of the things I struggle with is prayer. Sounds like a contradiction but if, as a Christian, you are not struggling with prayer, then you might be doing it wrong.

What do I mean by this?

Paul is teaching his young companion, Timothy, to pray for ALL people, not just family or the people you like. Not just for those you want to manipulate, but for ALL people. And Paul says that “all people” includes kings and those in high positions. Today, the “all people” would include our president, lawmakers, judges, state and local leaders, school board members, your church council/session.

All people, no matter how you feel towards them.
politicians
that cranky neighbor
that ex who cheated on you
ISIS
ruthless dictators
that parishioner who is spreading lies about you

All people

Paul says that we ought to do this that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. But also, we ought to be doing this because God desires to see all people saved. This doesn’t mean that all people will be saved, but God desires it. God knows whom he has elected for salvation but you and I don’t. So therefore we are to pray for all people. But your prayers shouldn’t be selfish in nature but rather that they may come to know God or have their faith strengthened or that they may not fall into temptation or that they may lead with wisdom or…(and you get the point).

We are to pray for all people not to get ahead but rather that they may come to know salvation through Jesus Christ.

But I have also come to discover a “selfish” side effect of praying for all people. Is there is a person in your life who has hurt you or raises your blood pressure to a point that you feel chest pains?

Pray for them.

I have discovered that it is really hard to be mad at someone that you are praying for. And if you are still mad while praying for that person, then you might be doing it wrong.

Pray for ALL people that GOD may be glorified.

Holy God, I desire to have a relationship with you but I also know that your heart is for all people. May my heart be like Yours, oh God, that I may see others as people worthy to be prayed for as You would like. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

I Call Upon You (Psalm 18:3)

/ The Pastor

I call upon the Lord , who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. [Psalm 18:3]

Oh Lord, I call upon You this morning as I rise from bed to enjoy another day; for this is indeed the day You have made so therefore I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Oh Lord, I call upon You this morning as I rise from bed to face another day; for it will be filled with temptations to run away from You. May You grant me strength and courage and faith to seek Your lovely and beautiful face and run into Your mighty arms.

Oh Lord, I call upon You this morning as I rise from bed to face another day to immediately commit everything to You. There is much to be done in Your kingdom and on my own I would be overwhelmed with the tasks that I would certainly bring all to ruin.

Oh Lord, I call upon You this morning as I rise from bed to face another day; knowing that I am afflicted with the spiritual cancer of sin. In the name of Jesus, please heal me and forgive me and lead me in ways of holiness and righteousness that I may glorify You today.

Oh Lord, I call upon You this morning as I rise from bed to face another day; ready to battle the forces in this world that are hell-bent on leading as many people away from You as possible. Help me to see that I don’t fight alone but rather as David faced Goliath so I face this world with You.

Oh Lord, I call upon you this morning as I rise from bed to face another day; ready to receive those who You will place in my path. May I make the most of every opportunity to share my faith in You through Jesus Christ.

Oh Lord, I call upon you this morning as I rise from bed to face another day because You and You alone are my Lord and Savior and God; and you have saved me from my enemies. All praise to You this day and always. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

May God bless your day as you enjoy and bask in His awesome love.

The Pastor -|—

Good Friday Prayer

/ The Pastor

As you contemplate the cross on this Good Friday, I offer this prayer for you:

Holy God; loving, compassionate and merciful,

we were not actually there when they crucified our Lord, but we were there, for it was our sin that Jesus died to take away. And when I think about this it indeed causes me to tremble and shudder and be ashamed that Your Son would suffer and die as he did so that we could live.

What an awesome show of love; Jesus laying down his life for us all.

And so I ask that if anyone here tonight does not claim Jesus as their Savior, that Your Spirit may speak to their spirit and convict them of their sin and show them the truth of Your mercy and grace. May they run to You and fall into Your loving arms.

For those who have placed their trust in Jesus may they feel drawn ever closer to You and strive to live a life worthy of the Gospel; bringing You praise and glory.

May the cross convict us and may the empty tomb on Easter bring forth joy from our hearts.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

New Covenant ~ A Lenten Prayer

/ The Pastor

Tonight is the final Wednesday Lenten worship service of the season. And tonight we get to hear from my brother in Christ, from First Presbyterian, as he brings the Word from Jeremiah 31:31-34. We have been talking about covenant throughout Lent and tonight we end on the sweet note of the New Covenant.

And  so, this is the opening prayer I wrote for worship tonight. Let’s pray…

Behold, the days are coming, oh Lord, the days are coming, when You will fulfill the New Covenant promised to us through Jesus. And how we look forward to that day; that when the trumpet sounds we will be made brand new; glorious new bodies that will shine with Your Glory.

In the mean time, sting us with reminder that death is our rightful punishment but through Your grace, New Life is the amazing gift we have through faith in Jesus. May the sting convict and humble us and may Your response bring us to our knees in worship.

Teach us Your ways
Lead us into all truth
Guide us in obedience,

that we may show our love for You, for all to see, that You and You alone may be glorified.

May this worship be pleasing to your ears and may Your word fill our hearts to overflowing. In Jesus awesome and amazing name I pray, Amen.

God bless you as you prepare yourself for Holy Week (which begins on Sunday).

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

Your Breathed Out Word ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

This is the prayer I wrote to be prayed before the sermon is preached. As I have said many times before, to approach God’s word is an awesome privilege and to proclaim God’s word is an awesome task. One should never enter God’s word without prayer; seeking the Spirit to guide you and open you ears to truly listen.

So may God bless your hearing of His word today.

Holy God,

Your holy word tells us that all Scripture is breathed out by You, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that we may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Your word has a holy purpose and therefore needs to be held in utmost respect.

And there is no where else to turn for words of life; for in the words of Peter to Jesus: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.

So may we take this to heart and not try to tinker with Your word, but listen to it and submit; trusting that You are righteous and true; no matter how hard it is to receive such a word.

And so may our hearts be right that we may receive Your word and therefore be transformed. In Jesus holy name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Word and Authority ~ An Opening Prayer

/ The Pastor

Here is the opening prayer I wrote for worship. I offer it to you as you prepare to worship this awesome God of ours…

Holy God, creator and sustainer and giver of Life; there is no god quite like You. There is no authority quite like You. There is no other truth; no other lord and no other way quite like You. And we praise You that You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You are our Father. You are our Life. And so we bring our worship and praise here this morning. We also come seeking Your Word of Life; for it is THE authority in our lives. So may Your Spirit speak to our spirits that we may receive this word in all it’s glory and truth for it is from You, oh sovereign God. And in the words of Romans 12, may we not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds; which comes through Your holy word. So here we are, oh God, to worship You for You are worthy. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

May your day be an act of worship.
May your words bring glory to God.
May your acts reflect the Savior.
And may you be blessed that you may bless others.

All praise, glory, honor and worship be to our God for ever and ever. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Don’t Kill Jesus (John 11:48)

/ The Pastor

If we let him (Jesus) go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” [John 11:48, ESV, Bible.com/app]

Earlier on in this chapter, Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and greatly troubled over the people’s lack of hope. Later, when at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, Jesus wept. He didn’t weep because his friend was dead and gone, but rather  Jesus wept because the people were in a state of hopelessness; they didn’t believe that Jesus could do anything. But Jesus knew what he could do and therefore wanted the people to have hope that death is not the end. Jesus wanted people to believe in HIM.

Following the raising of Lazarus scripture says that many people believed in Jesus but others went and reported this to the pharisees; the religious leaders of the day. Their response was troubling (the verse above) as…

They were only concerned about their jobs and not the people.
They were only concerned about their “Church” instead of the Kingdom.
They were only concerned about their job descriptions.

The people were coming to faith in Jesus and that would change the course of the “Church”; the course of history, and (as they feared) the course of their nation. So something must be done (as we read in the rest of the chapter):

[53] So from that day on they made plans to put him (Jesus) to death.

Kill Jesus
Stop this Gospel
Get control of the situation
Stay relevant

Wow, that sounds familiar (and not because I have read this text before). This is familiar because this is happening today in a couple ways:

(1) The Gospel, the Church, biblical interpretation are changing because many feel if they don’t change these then the Church will get left behind. And so in order to “protect” the church; 2000 years worth of doctrine is changing, interpretation of the Bible is “evolving”; and all in a effort to help the Church become/stay “relevant”. So this Pharisaical concern is nothing new as leaders are trying to protect their jobs, positions and status.

(2) This Pharisaical concern is also happening in the local church. This appears through churches afraid to take a stand for what they believe. “Let’s just go along with how things have been done and not upset the apple cart”. “Let’s just continue with what the higher ups tell us is the truth,” The fear is that change will cause a disruption in the peaceful status quo.  And so the status quo is fought for, tooth and nail, when fighting for THE Gospel should be the way.

We can not allow things to go on like this. THE Gospel of Jesus Christ is what we should be clinging to and not this Pharisaical concern of relevancy. The Church can not let the culture dictate it’s doctrine. Our doctrine comes from God and God alone through Jesus Christ. Our doctrine is the unaltered Bible; the Word of God. This hasn’t changed and it is not going to change. People need to hear THE Gospel and not some watered down version that meets their needs. To do that causes great harm as anything watered down loses it potency.

Jesus (and him alone) is the Resurrection and the Life. All who believe in him, though they die, will live; and all who lives and believes in Jesus will never die. That is the Good News. Do you really believe this?

If so…

Worship GOD through Jesus Christ
Spread THE Gospel
Give GOD control of the situation
Stay in Scripture

Cultural relevancy is something Jesus never advocated but rather Gospel faithfulness; no matter what the culture thinks or says.

So with Jesus I weep and thus pray…

That the Church remains faithful/returns to faithfulness
That Christians stand strong for what they believe against all odds
That the authority of scripture is held high and untarnished
That the unaltered Gospel is proclaimed with boldness
And that in the face of relativism, the Church does not budge

JESUS is Lord and King. Let’s boldly and proudly announce this and stick with this confession…

…and not kill Jesus.

God, King of all creation, make us bold in our faith that we may boldly proclaim Your glory. Make us strong to stand, that when push comes to shove; as relativism tries to assert it’s so-called claim on the culture, that we stand. Make us unashamed of the Gospel that our hope may be secure in Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

A Fiery Lenten Prayer

/ The Pastor

For Lenten worship tonight, with our brothers and sisters from First Presbyterian Church, I get the privilege of preaching. The text is Numbers 21:4-9 and below is the prayer I wrote to be prayed before I preach.

This Numbers text continues our Lenten theme of Old Testament texts dealing with covenant (Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Moses). Tonight we get the fiery serpents and then next week my brother in Christ from First Presbyterian will be closing our Lenten worship series with the New Covenant from Jeremiah 31. It’s been a great series and one of my favorites.

And so I leave you with this prayer tonight…

Father God, You have made Your expectations clear but yet we have turned away from You. You have made salvation a reality through faith in Jesus but we get impatient on our way to the promised land. You have given us Your holy law but yet we go our own way; speaking against You through our rebellion. You provide for us yet we whine and complain about what we don’t have; detesting Your holy provision. And therefore Your fiery judgment is right and we are deserving of it.

Oh God, turn our hearts to You that we may follow faithfully; placing our trust in You and our faith in Your son, Jesus Christ. May the sting of death remind us of our sinfulness but also of Your faithfulness. It’s not a bronze serpent we look at to be healed but rather the cross of Christ. May that produce a fiery faith in us as we praise you for Your grace.

And so I humbly appeal to You to bless these words we hear tonight that we may be transformed. And as we turn away from the fiery consequences of sin in obedience to You, may we see the way to eternal life through Your Son and may we give You all praise and honor and glory, forever and ever. In Jesus’ holy name I pray, Amen.

Have a blessed night 🙂

The Pastor -|—

Groaning and Sighing ~ A Romans 8 Moment

/ The Pastor

Have you ever had one of those moments when you felt drawn to God and then you start praying…

God….

…and then nothing?

Have you been there before? Am I preaching to the choir? I’ve been there. It’s a strange feeling because I know what I want to pray for but the words won’t come out because something inside of me says,

That’s not it.

And so I sit there with a dumbfounded expression on my face (luckily those moments generally happen when I’m alone so no one can see my dumbfounded look).

So as I sit there searching for words and almost every time my mind and heart goes to Romans 8:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [Romans 8:26-28 ESV]

Weakness? Sounds about right.
Groaning? Yup
Love God? Absolutely

And so this pastor is convicted.

I need to relent and release my selfish desires and mingle my spirit with the Spirit. For I know what I want to pray for but I don’t really know what I ought to pray for now.

Sin
Frustration
Anger
Sadness
Jealousy
Disappointment

Always seem to get in the way of good prayer time with God. So sometimes we just need to shut our mouths and brains off and let the Spirit speak with our spirit.

Would you pray with me…

[groan, sigh, groan, sigh…] Amen

The Pastor -|—