Prayer

A Thanksgiving Prayer

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. Psalm 145:4 KJV

O Father, I seek you this morning with a heart filled with memories of your love and faithfulness to our family through the years. You have blessed us, helped us, forgiven often, given comfort in sorrows, and through everything we have lived through You have given us hope.

So, on this day, which is set aside for giving thanks, we pray that you would show your great love and faithfulness again, especially to the next generation. May they accomplish more for You, trust you more deeply when facing their own challenges, oppositions and trials, and love you more unselfishly than we have, so that they will show your love and grace to a world growing darker and more hopeless every year.

Fill our hearts, not only our tables, teach us to humbly listen to your voice above all voices and look for your face among all the faces, because You are our only hope and the God of our Salvation. Thank you, Father, that You have brought us this far, kept us in spite of how often we have messed up, failed You and forgotten Your goodness. So, now we come to praise, You, and ask for Your strength to show Your wonderful love, power and kindness to the next generation. And we ask this all in the name of our Great Savior Jesus Christ our Lord and give You thanks with all of our heart, our mind and strength!

Just as He Had Done Before

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Daniel 6:10 NIV

In this hour, when there has been handwringing, frustration and anger among some conservative Christians about the recent election results we need to remember the story of Daniel. He certainly faced an election defeat far greater than ours. I doubt that any of us, at least here in the United States are worried we will be thrown into a den filed with hungry lions: but Daniel did. He knew the decree had been signed, he understood the gravity of the punishment, and yet we do not hear him complaining, making a public scene or running away. Instead, Daniel did exactly what he had always done before: He prayed! Daniel didn’t run to God in a panic, He got on his knees and asked for help, just as he had always done, and he did it three times a day. Maybe our trouble is that, when our ideas have won elections, been popularly trumpeted on social media and gained us acclaim, we have gotten to like being patted on the back. But if our courage is based on the world’s acceptance, we are building our house on a bed of sand. Today the rains are falling, the storms are rising and just as promised, they will beat on our houses of faith. Whether we stand or fall does not depend on the severity of the storm but on the strength of our foundation. Knowing that the world’s decrees are signed against us must not make us fearful but should inspire us to pray. We can trust always Him, because He has promised to be with us not only in a lion’s den, but in every situation, both today and forever!

The Lord is Near

/ pastorpete51 / 11 Comments

 The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5b-7

In my lifetime there have been times that we prayed, and God miraculously answered, by healing my back so that I could return to work, blessing our children and grandchildren, so that nine out of ten are still serving the Lord and attending church regularly. But I have also begged for a daughter-in-law to be healed and yet she died, prayed for a son’s marriage, yet it still ended in divorce. At those moments, the promise of today’s Bible reading and God’s peace felt far away. But as I was listening to this chapter the other night, I noticed something which I had missed all these years. I missed it because I forgot that when Paul wrote his letter, he did not use chapters and verses. Now, usually those nifty divisions give us a great way to find a passage, but as I listened to the chapter being read, I realized that the end of verse five, gives us the reason we should have hope. He is at hand! (or in other translations, “He is near.”).

Paul urges us to pray with confidence, but not because we have great faith. Yes, faith was and always will be important, but not everyone that Jesus healed had a lot of faith. He raised a widow’s son from the dead, and we can be sure that fellow had zero faith because he was dead! But something else was at play even greater than our faith or our lack thereof. Jesus came so close to where they were that He could reach out and touch the funeral bier. Or, remember on the road to Emmaus, when two of the disciples were walking along, talking about the death of Jesus and strange reports they had heard about his resurrection. They had a lot of questions and doubts, but the Bible tells us, that Jesus came and walked along with them. We also see Mary standing outside the empty tomb weeping and asking the “gardener” where the body of Jesus was. Did Jesus show up and try to make her feel terrible about her doubts or ignore her tears? No! Jesus drew near. Do I understand all of what these passages mean? No! But they give me a peace that reaches far beyond anything that I understand. I remember that the Lord is near; He won’t allow hopes to be buried forever, he walks with us when we struggle with doubts, and he stands nearest when tears stream down our cheeks and He calls us by name!

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