Prayer

God’s Wide Angle Lens

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In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:4-6

One thing I love about going to the beach is taking photographs from the edge of the water that take in the wide expanse of the Gulf of Mexico – especially at sunset! There is something both overwhelming and at the same time assuring about being one tiny part of that enormous expanse. But to catch the magnitude of that scene I have to switch my camera from the portrait setting to a wide angle lens.

That reminds me of a song we like to sing at church with the line, “I know breakthrough is coming.” Usually while I am heartily belting out the lyrics I am thinking of some issue that I am hoping God will help me or maybe someone in our family with. Now it is true that God does want to meet our personal needs, but the amazing thing about the Apostle Paul’s prayer is that it is completely focused on others. He wasn’t only clinging on to that hope that God wasn’t finished with him yet (Remember Paul is sitting in prison while he is writing). No! In fact Paul writes to encourage the Philippian church not to give up on what God has started with them. He is trusting the God of breakthrough, but not just for himself to get out of jail. He is believing that God has great things in store for His friends back in Macedonia.

Praying like Paul is like switching from looking down at our feet while we stand on the seashore, to looking at the people around us through God’s wide angle lens. That is not to say that our own battles are insignificant, but that the breakthroughs which God has in store include far more than just us. We are one small part of God’s big plan. His amazing love includes so much more than we can imagine and so many more people than we could ever dream of. So in switching over to using God’s wide angle lens, think about who you can pray for this morning. Maybe that someone else needs a breakthrough that only you can ask God for today.

The Doctor is In

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The prodigal’s return reunited him not only with his father but also with his brother. In the same way as we turn our hearts to seek God’s grace as a nation there will be a restoration of relationships both with God and each other. This cross always unites God’s people from every race, because we all have the same father. It heals division because religion separates but true relationship with Jesus Christ restores. The cross heals but until we recognize how desperately sick with materialism and selfishness we have become we will never get past the waiting room of God’s spiritual health clinic. The doctor is in. He is waiting for us. The question is will we come to Him today.

Two or Three

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Yesterday when I got home from the store I discovered three doves by our front door. They reminded me of the scripture of two or three gathering in Jesus name. They were so peacefully hanging out that I hated to disturb them by getting out of the car. Of course Jesus isn’t surprised by finding us together because He knows all things, but I get the sense that He delights in finding us praying together. Can’t you picture Jesus quietly tiptoeing in so as not to scare us away?

This coming weekend I would love to have some of you to pray for a small prayer gathering at a fountain in a senior village by a long term care facility. As some of you know our nursing home ministry has been limited to sending videos, cards and flowers since March. But wonder of wonders I was invited to play some hymns for this outdoor meeting on Saturday. Some of the folks from our home group are coming and we are excited to see this small beginning. I hope everyone is having a good week. God bless and I hope to be back with a great report on Saturday. Blessings all!