Prayer

The Word of God ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

This is a prayer I wrote to be prayed before the sermon today. I am intentional with these prayers because to preach God’s word is such an awesome task and opportunity. To listen to God’s word is also an awesome thing. Its something you don’t want to take for granted. So I invite you to receive this prayer and really think about this gift that we have in the Bible:

THE…WORD…OF…GOD.

Wow! Amazing, isn’t it?

So let’s pray…

Oh Father God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; to listen to Your word is such an awesome thing as Your words are life and salvation. Your words provide comfort and peace in a dark world. Your words are hope and strength as Satan seeks to bring us down. And so it is with all humility that we seek Your Holy Spirit to break through the walls of our hardened hearts, that we may receive Your word. For it is only through your grace that we can hear this Good News and be transformed to Your will. So bless our hearing this morning that Your words may take up residence in our hearts. Bless our lives that we may serve others and therefore glorify You for You are an awesome God. All praise and worship and honor and glory be to You, oh God, our Rock and Redeemer; in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

May God bless your hearing of His holy Word today and always.

The Pastor -|—

Opening prayer ~ O Majestic and Awesome Lord

/ The Pastor

The opening prayer this morning for worship is basically Psalm 8. This a wonderful Psalm that reflects the fact that God is awesome and we are not, but yet God  cares for and love us. It’s amazing, really,to think about that; that the Creator God would have any regard for us puny humans, but He does.

And therefore ~ Praise be to God!

And so I echo, this morning, the words of the psalmist:

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which YOU, Creator God, have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
[Psalm 8]

And therefore, O Lord, you are worthy of our praise here this morning. So receive our worship and send us Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Prepare your hearts for worship this morning by meditating on the awesomeness of God and the amazing love He shows you through Jesus Christ. God IS worthy so let’s praise and worship His holy name.

May your day be filled with love and grace.

The Pastor -|—

God Can Use Someone Like Me (and You)

/ The Pastor

image

Yeah!

I am out of the stone age finally. A Star Trek wormhole appeared on Friday afternoon and I was instantly brought to the 21st century with the arrival of my Nexus 9. But unlike the fictional, but hope-to-be-true-soon TV show/movies, this wormhole looked a lot like a UPS truck.

And what a beautiful sight that was.

Now I know that God can use anything at my disposal for preaching His holy word. God can use paper manuscripts, tablets, smoke signals, sign language, interpretive dance (which I would never attempt unless the Holy Spirit took control of my body). God can communicate His holy word despite my sinfulness and shortcomings. And God will be glorified even when I do whine and complain about situations being “tough” (i.e. technology crashing).

The Holy Spirit can take my messed up words and attitude and use them to bring glory to God. The Holy Spirit can take a disastrous situation and use it for good (just ask Joseph as his brothers sold him into slavery but God used that to save millions and millions of people). God, through the Holy Spirit, can use any and all situations and people.

And God can use this whiny pastor as he complains about a piece of technology failing. God can even use this (near idolatrous) pastor as he gets googly…

(pun intended, get it? Google Nexus)…

…eyed over his new toy (I mean work tool). And praise be to God that the success of God’s kingdom advance is not dependent on me and me alone.

This world and everything it contains is fragile and thus are passing away; but not God and not His holy word. God’s word and promises are forever and will never fail or crash. And thank God for that.

Holy God, knock me down a peg or two (or more) when I get too whiny about situations. Humble me and help me see that it is Your Holy Spirit that gives power to Your words that proceed from my mouth. Knock me up across the head so I may not get too full of myself and depend on my so-called abilities. May You be glorified. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Evening Prayer ~ My Son

/ The Pastor

My five month old son…

…is resting peacefully in my arms.

…will gaze into my eyes and smile.

…will sit in his bouncy seat but definitely prefers mommy or daddy’s arms.

…depends on us for food and care.

…can do nothing to cause me to love him less.

…did nothing to earn my love.

…sleeps much better when mommy or daddy is near.

Oh God, if only I would look at you in the same way. If only I would trust you and depend on you like my son trusts and depends on me. If only I could learn a child-like faith like my little boy’s.

Oh God, draw me close that I may see you as a child sees their mommy and daddy.
Draw me close that I may learn to trust you with my life.
Draw me close that I may see the joy of resting in Your arms and know true love.
Draw me close that I may know and remember true peace.

And so may I rest tonight as a child sleeping on their daddy’s chest and may I awake in the morning with a new lease on life; praising and glorifying You. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Lenten prayer ~ Your Holy Law

/ The Pastor

Tonight I get to lead worship as my brother in Christ from First Presbyterian Church proclaims the word from Exodus 20:1-17. What a joy and privilege it is to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ; not getting caught up in denominational lines, but focusing on the fact that we worship an awesome God in Jesus Christ.

Below is the opening prayer I wrote, for worship tonight, to help us prepare as we confess our sins. We also need to recognize that God’s Law is still God’s Law; and that it is holy and perfect and sweeter than honey from the comb.

So I invite you into prayer and when you get to the part that says PAUSE, then do what it says; pausing to lift your confessions to God. Let us pray…

Holy God, we approach the throne of grace this evening as a community of believers. We also approach as sinners in need of Your grace. Your holy Law is very clear in that it demands obedience without fail. But we have failed. We have fallen short. We have turned away from Your holy Law. So as we prepare to bring our worship this evening and hear Your word proclaimed, receive now our confessions…[PAUSE]…It awes me to think that You just received the prayers of sinners. And it humbles and scares me to think that you know the sins that we didn’t confess. And so in the name of Jesus we throw ourselves at Your feet and appeal to Your boundless mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Forgive us, heal us and restore us. And through our restored souls may we bring glory to Your holy name. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

In the Valley

/ The Pastor

[28] And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” [29] And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
(Mark 9:28-29 ESV)

Mark 9:14-29; Jesus healing a boy with an unclean spirit, is the sermon text for this week. Last week I preached on the transfiguration of Jesus in verses 1 – 13; where Peter, James and John had an amazing mountain top experience; one that definitely tops anything I have ever had.

But following this mountain top experience, Jesus and the boys head back down the mountain; back to reality; into the valley, where life happens. Because lets face it, as awesome as mountain top experiences are, we aren’t meant to live on the mountain top.

The battle is in the valley and it’s into the valley that God sends you. So as I reflect on this reality and ponder this text there are three truths that are ruminating in my head and heart as I ponder preaching this text. So I share them with you here to ponder and reflect on:

(1) When Satan confronts you; turn to Jesus.
(2) When in “darkness”; turn to Jesus.
(3) When Satan is turned away; turn to Jesus.

It seems to me that the disciples were struggling with these while Jesus, Peter, James and John were on that mountain. Those disciple were confronted by Satan but tried to cast the demon out without their eyes on Jesus. The disciples were in the “dark valley” but they failed to look at Jesus. And earlier in this Gospel account, the disciples were successful in casting out demons but have now failed to turn back to Jesus.

As Christians, we are called to the valley, but don’t forget to turn to Jesus.

Dear Lord, you have called us to proclaim the Gospel, announce forgiveness and do battle with Satan and his forces. But as we confront that which we have no power to defeat, may we look to Jesus. May we have the faith the size of mustard seed that sends Satan running away as You, oh God, are glorified. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Preparing to Listen/Preach ~ Holy Words

/ The Pastor

The following is the prayer I wrote to be prayed before the sermon. This was inspired by a quote I heard from a person who used to be a faithful teacher of the Bible but now says that Scripture is from human origin; basically, not the inspired Word of God. Sad really. So I couldn’t help but lament the negative conversion of this pastor and seek God’s blessing as we listen to this holy Word.

Let’s pray…

Lord God almighty, holy scripture is breathed out by you; inspired by you; and therefore are words that come from Your holy mouth. This is nothing to take lightly but yet many take Your holy words and claim they are nothing more than mindless babble from human minds long dead and irrelevant. What a travesty. May we never see Your words that way but rather see them as words of life; revealing our salvation through faith Jesus Christ. And so, speak life, oh God. Create, strengthen and nourish faith here. May we heed Your words to listen to Jesus in order to bring glory to Your holy name. Send Your Spirit now and bless these words. May they come from Your mouth and not mine. All praise, glory and honor be to You, oh God, our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

And let’s continue praying that God’s Word is considered holy and true. It was written by men but inspired by God.

May God bless your hearing of his holy Word and the proclamation of that Word.

The Pastor -|—

Opening prayer ~ Listen to Jesus

/ The Pastor

The following is the opening prayer I wrote for worship where I am preaching on Mark 9:1-13; the transfiguration of Jesus. The words of that text that captured my attention are the words from God to Peter, James and John when God says, “This is my beloved son, listen to him” 

May you listen to Jesus this morning and always.

Let’s pray…

Oh God, through the transfiguration of Jesus, Your son, you gave those disciples, and us, a glimpse of Your glory. You showed us who Jesus is and for that we bring our worship this morning. You also commanded us to listen to him, but we don’t listen. We don’t obey. Instead, we go our own way. May Your Word draw us in and may we listen intently as You, and You alone, have the words of eternal life. May Your words send us forth to be Kingdom people in this pagan world. And may we not be so content to set up camp here, but may we bravely and boldly leave this mountain top and enter the valley; the shadow of death. But in the shadows may we be guided by the Shepherd’s staff. So holy God, receive our praise here this morning and speak those words of Life and instill in us the faith to listen to your son, Jesus Christ, in whom we pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

The Facebook Experiment (part 2) ~ Observations

/ The Pastor

It’s Monday morning and I just checked my Facebook account for the first time since 3 PM, Friday, Feb 27. It’s been a good weekend being away and reflecting. No twitching being off Facebook. No falling off the wagon. No cheating and justifying my cheating. Just a good weekend where I learned a lot.

But first…

Why the experiment?
I read an article earlier on Friday called: Facebook Obsession and the Anguish of Boredom. And a line in that article caught my attention: “When life gets boring, we increasingly turn to the surprises (and diversions) of our newsfeeds, not to prayer.”

And so I began to think, “Does that happen to me? Do I turn to Facebook instead of God in prayer? When I get bored, do I seek other things to fulfill me other than God? Is Facebook my source of validation or is God”

This concerned me so hence the experiment to do some soul searching. So I logged off Facebook and turned off my mobile notifications on my phone and tablet; only posting faith related material from other platforms such as this blog and Bible verses from my YouVersion app. I did continue to maintain my church’s Facebook page; but only through my mobile app as to not be tempted to log on and check my newsfeed.

Then ~ whenever I would get the urge to check my Facebook account I would stop and pray instead. And so I did. All weekend this went on; as I jotted down some observations.

Observations:
(1) Early on, whenever I sat down on the couch I instinctively reached for my phone to check my newsfeed (but I never cheated).

(2) Early on, whenever I got on my computer I instinctively pulled up another tab in my Chrome browser for my Facebook account (once again, I never cheated).

(3) Early on, I prayed a lot because I was thinking about how many notifications I had waiting for me. I almost felt guilty for not checking in.

(4) Later on, I still prayed a lot, but not because I was bored or thinking about Facebook but because I wanted to. This experiment served as a reminder to “Pray without ceasing”. What a pleasant outcome.

(5) Later on, I realized that didn’t think about my newsfeed as much as I thought I would but I still prayed. I was pleasantly surprised.

(6) I missed the people I correspond with on Facebook but not Facebook itself.

So now what?

This experiment has prompted me to make some changes to my Facebook habits. My hope and prayer is that they are long term changes:
(1) Instead of going to Facebook to “waste time” I am going to peruse my newsfeed looking for prayer requests (ones explicitly stated or not).

(2) I am going to keep my notifications turned off on my phone and tablet (expect for messenger). I want to control when I check Facebook and not let a notification tell me when to check. Technology and social media have good qualities but who controls who?

(3) I am only going to check Facebook when I have an identifiable purpose; not checking to see how many people have “liked” something.

(4) No more mindless perusing of my newsfeed. Pray instead; continuing the “experiment”.

And so we’ll see how this goes; this continuation of “the experiment”. This has indeed opened my eyes to how social media can have a huge impact on your life. Like I said earlier, social media is not bad but like anything else, it’s how you use it. And if you’re using Facebook to receive validation from people you barely know; remember that God has already “validated” you through Jesus Christ.

So…

~ Seek God
~ Peruse God’s promises
~ Update your status with God through prayer
~ Know that God has already clicked your “like” button
~ And remember to “log in” and check you “Godbook” (Bible) often.

Thank you, God, for a great weekend and for opening my eyes to new habits. May you be glorified. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Entering God’s Holy Word ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

This is the prayer I wrote to be prayed before I preach on Sunday. This is not a text specific prayer but rather a plea that one be faithful in the awesome task of entering God’s holy Word.

When I think about what I do week in and week out, it is mind-boggling and a little scary. I have been charged with the task of opening God’s Word and proclaiming the very words of God. And therefore I don’t want to be lax in my preparation or timid in my proclamation. I don’t want to steal glory from God or water anything down. And so I prayed and will pray as such each and every time I enter the pulpit or stand before others to teach the Word of God. Let us all do the same, for God’s holy Word needs to be taken seriously.

Let’s pray…

Holy God, it is an awesome privilege to have in our hands the very words that you have spoken. It is mind blowing that you would grace us with Your words that we may come to know Your heart and your plan for salvation. For the Bible is not just an instruction book on how to live, but it’s Your holy Word on what You are up to for us through Jesus Christ and how we can bring You glory.

And therefore to enter Your word like this is an overwhelming thing because we don’t want to get it wrong.

And so I humbly ask that you may grant me insight to proclaim this Word.
And then I ask that you may grant to those listening, the ears to hear and the faith to receive.
And then if it is not too much to ask again of You, Holy God, may you grant us boldness as we leave this place to live for you no matter what.

Thank you for the privilege to listen to your Word. Now may the words of my mouth be heard as Your Words and not return to you empty, but accomplish that which you sent them to do. All glory and honor to you, oh God, through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—