Prayer

Prayer Lessons – Day One

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Prayer Lessons: Day One

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place and when He finished one of His disciples said to Him “ Lord teach us to pray… Luke 11:1 ESV

My step father was a concert clarinetist and when I was entering first grade he decided it was the perfect time for me to begin to learn to play. Lessons were every Saturday and I was expected to practice every day after school. Now I confess I never liked clarinet but the lessons taught me the discipline of music and later I fell in love with singing.

No one; not even my very strict step-dad expected me to just spontaneously begin playing one of Beethoven’s Symphonies for a while.

man performing on stage

Photo by Gabriel Santos Fotografia on Pexels.com

So why do we think that praying is any different? Jesus wasn’t angry that the disciples didn’t know how to pray. He welcomes us to ask Him to teach us and He began by teaching what we call The Lord’s Prayer.

Pray then like this: Our Father who is in heaven hallowed be your name. Matthew 6:9

Lesson one in prayer is that we can only begin as a child of God. Jesus didn’t tell us to pray to the creator of the earth; the king of heaven or the master of the universe. Jesus invited us to come as children. We must accept His invitation to join His family before we can pray as we should. And as a part of a family we say “Our Father” humbly accepting that we are a brother or sister to everyone who comes to Him by faith. Are you ready for your prayer lesson today?

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Confidence

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And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 1 John 4:14-15

Once long ago when I worked for a tree company, we were sent to remove a large tree that had uprooted and fallen across a stream. The tricky part about getting it out of the water was that the main stem stretched over the water which was about 5 feet deep at that point. KIMG2127

So I boldly climbed up on the trunk; walked out on it with my chain saw and began cutting loose as much as I could. Finally all that was left was the largest part of the trunk which was supporting the weight of the tree against the bank. In theory, if I cut the weight from the remaining portion, the roots would pull the stump back into position. So as I began my final cut the crew foreman called over to me. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“No problem Mike. I’ve got confidence!” I boldly declared. A minute later suddenly the weight of the trunk dropped away, the roots holding me in place let go and I was tossed head over heels into the cold rushing steam. Miraculously I landing upright and unhurt chest deep in some of the coldest water I had ever been in. But my moment of joyful relief was immediately interrupted by Mike’s hysterical laughter.

“Oh I’ve got confidence! I’ve got confidence!” he shouted over and over.

In the hindsight gained by the passing of forty years I see clearly that the problem was not my lack of confidence but the one in whom I put my trust. But God is not like Me. He doesn’t miscalculate, nor thankfully does He laugh when make a mistake.  But instead when we put our confidence in Him we can trust  that He knows the right answer and that He will show us what to do. He is only waiting to see if we are ready to listen to Him and then we will find Him delighted to hear us and to answer our honest prayer.

 

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Peace and Truth

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Has anxiety kept you awake all night? Has fear stolen hours of sleep as you tossed and turned in what feels like a hopeless struggle to find peace? Don’t give up or give in because there is always hope that comes packaged in the form of truth. Think back to the endless peace talks that have failed again and again to bring peace in the middle east. They have failed because a true and lasting peace, whether among nations, friends or between people and God must be built on the foundation of truth.  Any falsehood is a roadblock to peace. The Apostle John gives us this startling vision of how God works the peace process between Him and each other.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

Everything about God’s peace begins with being honest. We have to tell the truth to God; to others and to ourselves. Dishonesty in any area works like an infection in a wound. Operating from even little white lies it is like trying to  bandage things over without cleaning out the source of our infection. But there is always hope in Jesus Christ! No catastrophe, no bungling or sin is too great for God to overcome once we open our doors and invite Him into every area of darkness in our lives.

God is working to bring about our healing but our part is to  tell Him the truth. He already knows everything; but for us to have His peace, we must come clean and confess. Confession is a vital part and the first step of faith. Just as in a court of law, any confession obtained under duress is invalid because it is less than fully truthful. We must confess because we want to from the very bottom of our hearts. We need to tell God, others and ourselves; the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Only God can clean our hearts and only clean hearts can be filled and ruled by His peace. You may feel irreconcilably separated from God, other people or even from yourself, but healing and peace are just a few honest words away. No lie no matter how convincing has the power to calm even the slightest ripple on the ocean of life. But a truth, no matter how small can command the wind and waves and it invites God to rule over our hearts. When God rules on the inside then His peace is assured because He alone can make us lie down in peace and being with Him is the safest place of all!

 

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