What petitions do you bring to God? (Ephesians 1:15-19)

Today’s Readings: Ephesians 1:15-19; 1 Timothy 2

This is why, when I heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus that is present in your community and of your great love for all God’s people, I haven’t stopped thanking Him for you. I am continually speaking to Him on your behalf in my prayers. Here’s what I say:

God of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, Father of Glory: I call out to You on behalf of Your people. Give them minds ready to receive wisdom and revelation so they will truly know You. Open the eyes of their hearts, and let the light of Your truth flood in. Shine Your light on the hope You are calling them to embrace. Reveal to them the glorious riches You are preparing as their inheritance. Let them see the full extent of Your power that is at work in those of us who believe, and may it be done according to Your might and power.

So many times in my prayers I ask for deliverance from something for those for whom I pray. I ask for healing. I ask for jobs. I ask for deliverance from some circumstance that causes the person difficulty in this life. The list of petitions I lift to Christ seems to get longer every day. Perhaps your prayers do the same.

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We have a tendency to ask for ease and better circumstances in the lives we lead and for those we love. We don’t want those we love to suffer through life. So we pray for deliverance from the ills, the pressures of life, the things that cause us to endure hardships day after day. It’s our nature to pray to God since we know He is able to free us from those things.

As I examine Paul’s prayers, though, I see a different pattern. The scriptures for today give us only two examples, but combing through his prayers, they all follow the same pattern. Paul never asks for healing. He doesn’t ask for better economic circumstances for congregations. Paul doesn’t ask for the persecution to stop or for the suffering to end in their lives.

Paul asks for power and strength for them to endure. He petitions God for His Spirit to fully encompass and indwell in their hearts to mature them and keep them holy in His sight. He asks that the people who follow after God keep their faith in times of trial and tribulation. Paul asks God’s Spirit to give wisdom, a glimpse of heaven for hope, enlightenment for teaching and discipling. He asks they become strident followers and disciplers of others so God’s Kingdom would grow.

The difference between Paul’s petitions and ours is sometimes striking. I don’t think our petitions are necessarily wrong. After all, Jesus healed the sick, allowed Peter to find money in the fish’s mouth to pay the taxes, fed the hungry, did all sorts of miracles to meet the physical needs of those around Him. But Jesus also encouraged, strengthened, and promised the coming of God’s Spirit to empower His disciples for service.

Maybe we should look at the focus of our prayers and see if we ask for the best things for those we love.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

Prayer confirms our position as God’s children (Romans 8:15-16)

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Today’s Readings: Romans 8:15-16

You see, you have not received a spirit that returns you to slavery, so you have nothing to fear. The Spirit you have received adopts you and welcomes you into God’s own family. That’s why we call out to Him, “Abba! Father!” as we would address a loving daddy. Through that prayer, God’s Spirit confirms in our spirits that we are His children.

I like the conversations I have with my kids. Sometimes it’s only about what’s going on today. Sometimes they tell me about the grandkids and the funny things they do or say.

The oldest told his mother, “I’m glad Mamaw [my wife’s mother] is staying with Mimi and Papaw.”

“Why is that?” she asked.

“Because she doesn’t remember and I like to repeat my stories.”

Mama really does remember them, but plays along. But Jonathon does like to tell his stories repeatedly. He just likes to have friendly conversations with Mamaw. The grandkids have the same kinds of conversations with us, and with their parents. My kids have those kids of conversations with us. Their talks are comfortable. Since they were little they would ask questions and we would give them answers. They would tell us their stories and we would listen to them. They would make requests and sometimes we would grant their request and sometimes we would tell them no in their best interests.

I think that’s what prayer is about and the description Paul gives the Romans as he describes the relationship between God and those who believe in Him for everlasting life. As we come to know Him, we build a relationship with Him like the loving Father He is. We can come to Him and share with Him in conversation about anything. We can bring to Him our funny stories, our greatest heartbreaks, our deepest hurts, our most complex problems, our highest joys, our broken hearts. He takes it all.

Like a father, He wants to hear us. He wants to know we care about Him like He cares about us. He likes to know that we comfortably share all things with Him – good, bad, sad, happy, whatever. He just wants to build relationships with us. The only way to build relationships with God is like we build relationships with others and that is to talk with each other.

God talks to us through His word, through His creation, and through others. We talk to Him through prayer. Then as Paul tells us in these verses, God confirms through His Spirit, we are His children. He wants to talk to us. He wants to have the kind of relationship with us in which we are comfortable talking to Him like a daddy. Start talking to Him that way in your conversations with Him and see if it doesn’t make a difference in your prayer life.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

Servant Leadership (John 13:16)

Today’s Readings: John 13:1-17

I tell you the truth: a servant is not greater than the master. Those who are sent are not greater than the one who sends them.

One of the things I learned as a young leader in the military was to never assign duties you were unwilling to do yourself. Although many of those duties I ended up not doing because of other tasks I needed to perform that my subordinates couldn’t, I was always willing to stand beside them and do them if necessary. Most of the time, my subordinates would ask me to get out of their way because they could do their tasks much better than I could anyway. Still, I never asked anyone to do anything I wasn’t willing to do myself, whatever it was or however poorly I might execute it.

The fact that I would willing do any of those tasks also means any of the staff between me and the person down the line assigned the task should also be willing to do the task. Others would find us under trucks doing our own preventive maintenance. We would help clean vehicles when we came from the field. Tents, equipment, inventories, were all joint projects. We all got involved to get the job done faster, but also to let privates know officers understood the importance and were not above getting their hands dirty to get the work done.

I’ll admit when I became a major and a senior staff officer, my drivers wouldn’t let me help, nor did I have the time. I would gladly trade places and let them take my place in the meetings I attended to spend time cleaning my vehicle instead of listening to some of the mandatory briefings I heard. Putting away tents probably would have been just as profitable as some of the meetings I went to, but that’s beside the point. Duty called and I had responsibilities elsewhere, but my drivers always knew I would gladly help and did when I could. (I still couldn’t do as good a job as they did, though. I never learned their secrets.)

I think that’s the lesson Jesus gave us through His disciples that Passover night. The lowest of the servants got the job of washing the guests’ feet. Hygiene standards didn’t meet today’s standards in the city streets back then. People shared the same space as horses, camels, sheep, goats, cows, and often open sewage as chamber pot contents went out the door in the morning. So when guests came into a home, the first thing they did was take off their shoes. The second thing that happened was the lowest servant washed their feet to keep the “stuff” from the street from spreading through the house.

Since the disciples met in an upper room apart from the rest of the house, we can surmise the normal house servants missed this important task and Jesus took it upon Himself to teach His disciples this important lesson. If He will stoop to wipe the garbage and manure from His disciples’ feet, there should be no task so menial we would be unwilling to do it for Him.

What has He asked you to do for Him lately that you thought beneath you? Perhaps it’s time to re-look that task and remember the Master with His basin and towel.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

God’s gift to man (John 3:16)

Today’s Readings: John 3:1-21

For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life.

John 3:16 is probably one of the most recognized verses in the entire Bible. We learn it at an early age and can quote it without even thinking. Which is something of a problem for us when you stop and contemplate it. When it passes through our brain without stopping for contemplation or meditation, it can become so familiar it blows by without the awe it should inspire.

So let’s slow down and think about this famous verse a few minutes today. First, Jesus opens with the affirmation “God expressed His love for the world…”. He loves His creation. He loves the world He made. From the mountains and plants and animals to the men and women of every nation, God loves everything He created. That means He loves you and me specifically.

Second, Jesus ends that first expression with the words “in this way.” God showed us His love in a specific, singular way so we would not mistake the fact of His love for us. We would not get confused about His expression of love when the fulfillment of His prophecies happened. We would recognize God loves us by that expression because of the unique character and nature of what He did for us.

Next, Jesus gives us the description of God’s expression of love. “He gave His only Son…” God gave to us. He didn’t ask something from us, but gave a gift to us. There is nothing we can give Him in return that could compensate for the gift of His Son. Think about it. What would you take in exchange for one of your children? I would hope the answer is, “They’re not for sale!” Unfortunately we have too many children with For Sale signs around their neck in today’s world, but still most parents would never take anything for their children.

Then Jesus gives us two alternative end states. The first implies all of us are headed toward everlasting destruction. But God gives us a way out because of the love He has for us. Adam and Eve took care of our initial direction. We all sin. We all head toward destruction. But God says if we believe in His Son we will have everlasting life instead.

Meditate on that verse for a while. Think about what God has done for you. As we approach Christmas, let this holiday season mean more than parties and decorations and presents. Remember why we celebrate. God gave us an expression of His love for us and we celebrate His gift.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

God gives a lesson to leaders. (2 Chronicles 1:12)

Today’s Readings: 2 Chronicles 1-3; Luke 5

Because you thought of the welfare of My people, I have granted you this exceptional wisdom and knowledge. In addition, I will give you riches and wealth and honor greater than any king ever has possessed or ever will possess.

If you know much about the Bible, you’ve probably heard the story of Solomon’s great wisdom. You probably also know how he obtained that wisdom as a result of his prayer at the beginning of his reign as king of Israel after his father, David. God came to Solomon at Gilbeon, the site of Saul’s anointing, the first throne for the kingdom, and most important, home of the covenant chest during many of the early years of Israel’s history.

Solomon travels to this high place to give sacrifices to God and confirm his commitment to Him as the real leader of Israel. God comes to Solomon and grants him whatever he desires. I don’t think Solomon thought very long about his answer. I expect from the mentoring of his father he knew his greatest need was a deeper understanding of people to rule justly and fairly across the twelve tribes and conquered nations that comprised the kingdom his father put into his hands.

So Solomon asks for wisdom to rule. God would have given him anything, but because Solomon thought of the welfare of His people first, God gave him everything. Knowledge and wisdom, riches and wealth and honor. God gave him the things he asked for and the things he didn’t but most of his contemporaries sought.

So what leadership lesson does God teach us from this? It’s one I learned a long time ago working for my dad. He was the manager of a car rental company at the time and as a part-time summer job, he let me work for one of the mechanics toting tools and supplies, washing cars and trucks, and doing other odd jobs in the shop. He told the manager not to take it easy on me, I found out later. But he told me, “The best way to get ahead at work is to make your boss look good to his boss. Get your tasks done well because he is ultimately responsible for your job as well as his. If you don’t make him look good, he won’t know what a good report looks like to write a good one for you.”

I listen to my dad, but I also watched both him and my immediate supervisor bend over backwards to make me successful at what I did. I worked hard to complete every task well, but they also made sure I knew what I was supposed to do, what the end product was supposed to look like, tips on how to get it done effectively and efficiently. They made sure I had all the right supplies and everything I needed at the right place and the right time. I did the same for them whenever I could.

I learned leadership really means making sure you take care of the people you lead. When they know you care and do your best to take care of them. They will do anything in the world for you. I’ve seen it in my own life over and again throughout my military career and since. I’ve also seen “leaders” who say they care, but others see through the sham quickly and do what they have to and not much more.

Like Solomon, leaders thing about the welfare of the people! God honors that kind of leadership.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard