Prayer of Peace

Everyone I talk to says something like  “I just do not know what to think.” No one does. The phrase ‘uncharted waters’ finds its way into the various press briefings when officials are pressed for details. 

This is an unnatural state for me, a do-er, a man who looks for solutions, who likes to fix things and people. I have struggled through anxiety, wrestled with anger, beat back the desire to just do something, anything.

Yesterday, I sat in silence, letting myself feel my powerlessness, willing to enter into brokenness, until I came to a place of repentance – for pride, for self-will, for failing to desire God wholeheartedly. I confessed my lack of trust, my desire to control my life to God, and relaxed into His grace. Once and done? I think not!

This is a kind of praying that is called ‘centering.’ In this prayer, Christ Jesus is made the focus. It is not a time for petitions or beautiful praise. It is a heart-cry, an act of adoration, a time to receive a gift of His peace. It’s like those moments when you see someone you love and you reach out in embrace, holding each other close, wordlessly, just being together. 

Ah, my friend, this is a time for being with Jesus. Trying to figure out the ‘why,’ may come, but not today. Trying to find some silver lining may help at some moment, but maybe today we must be content with just being His, centered in our confession of faith, knowing that HE is present. That can be enough.

The key to this is something Americans particularly struggle to do – being submitted to the Spirit and entering into silence of the soul. Paul urges us to dismantle "every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and (to) take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV)  In the story of Job, when his suffering drives him to angrily demand a confrontation with the Lord, God comes, not with explanations, but to reveal Himself in greater majesty. Job’s response is humility. He says, "I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth." (Job 40:4, NIV)  

Centering prayer helps us to re-enthrone Christ Jesus as Lord of life, our hope, our God. I return often to the words of Isaiah inviting us to holy submission. When Assyria threatened them, the people of God wanted to run off and try to find help from the armies of Egypt.  The Lord called them to re-center their hope on Him! "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." (Isaiah 30:15, NIV)  He invites us to the same kind of faith that is actively focused on Him rather than on a solution of our own making.

Waiting can be much more difficult than working!

The angst is real. The threat is not imaginary. The crisis is unlike any we have ever known. Now, there is a choice about how to live. We can attempt to control it all and find ourselves full of frustration. We can look endlessly at the challenges trying to rationally explain them and find ourselves battered by doubts. We can trust someone official and when their response proves inadequate will be overcome with panic and/or anger. Or, we can enter into His Presence - centered on Christ! The Spirit is inviting us to a new and deeper spirituality, beyond the comfort of our religion.
Engage your whole person in this kind of praying.

• Sit quietly.
• Place your hands open, palms up, in front of you.
• Draw your breath in slowly. 
• Pause, then then breath out as you say the name of Jesus.
• Tell Him simply, “I receive your peace.” 
• Stay there!

For most of us such praying, entering into His Presence is so unnatural that we will feel foolish, or nothing at all – at first. But, He is there.  It is likely that your mind will initially reject this ‘quiet’ and you will want to reach for your phone, turn on some music, just ‘do something.’ Choose Jesus! It’s simple, but it is not easy! Keep handing yourself to Him, giving the Spirit mastery as you meditate on His Word and Promise.

Here’s the word from the Word.

"O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. …
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning." (Psalm 130:2-6, NIV)

_________________

Be The Centre

Jesus, be the centre.

Be my source, be my light,

Jesus.

Jesus, be the centre.

Be my hope, be my song,

Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart,

Be the wind in these sails,

Be the reason that I live,

Jesus, Jesus.

© 1999 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire) (Admin. by Vineyard Music UK)

Michael Frye

CCLI License No. 810055

Paradigm Crash

Many of us are disoriented, as if we are actually living in one of those wacky dreams where nothing seems to work, where every attempt at a remedy creates yet another problem. We cannot help but wonder how the world will look when this crisis is over.  We are experiencing a paradigm crash, a phrase I borrowed from Dr. Earl Creps. "A paradigm expresses my basic orientation toward how life works; it is my 'operating system' of unspoken premises that runs in the background unattended. ... A crash happens when pain makes the frailty of those assumptions impossible to ignore... sometimes violent, sometimes gradual.” Sounds bad doesn’t it?

Consider this – “Paradigm crashes create an opportunity for God to take us off road, awakening us to mission by crucifying aspects of our culture and spirituality that need to die."

This Monday morning when I look out over the coming weeks, my prayer is for new vision to emerge from the wreckage. I want to remain open to the possibilities that are created by this interruption of ‘normal.’ Will you join me in that quest?

Let’s ask ourselves some tough questions about our relationship with God.

Were we content to be ‘religious’ thinking that we had a deal with God?  Was this unspoken assumption underlying our choices: “I’m good, moral, kind, and say my prayers. You bless me!”?

As the assurances of the life we hoped for are much less certain today, are we leaning into knowing Him, our hearts and mind open before Him? 

My desire is to pray, with faith,  “Lord, I want to know YOU” even more fervently than “Lord, fix this mess so I can be comfortable again.”

When we experience a 'paradigm crash' our assumptions about Him, ourselves, and the way that life should work disintegrate. It is a dangerous time and we must not try to navigate a renewal alone.

1. Build strong friendships with people who are passionate about Him, too.
2. Go back to the core Truths about God’s grace and goodness.
3. Let key Scriptures remind you that HE knows you, your weaknesses, your strengths, your failures and successes- and loves you with a love that no human love can equal.

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus went through something like a paradigm crash. "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry." (Luke 4:1-2, NIV) Led by the Spirit into the desert! The phrase shouts with meaning for me this Monday morning. God had a purpose for His Son’s encounter with the Devil, with temptation. Jesus emerged in the Power of the Spirit to be our Savior.

You will emerge from this time a different person. We all will!
What kind of difference will it be?  

Is Jesus the King of your life or is He King in name only?  Who is really determining how you live - Self or Jesus Christ?
That is a tough question, perhaps one you cannot honestly answer today.  Is confusion lurking in the darkness at the edges of your mind? Ask God to show you the truth about your self, your assumptions about the world, even your expectations of Him. Perhaps you believed on Him a long time ago as Savior, but only now are coming to grips with making Him Lord and King of your life. Trust Him! He will not write you off, throw you away, or forget you. There is a new grace to be discovered at the end of the life you have planned, when He is allowed to bring into existence the eternal life He has planned.

The word from the Word informs us about our foundation. When we are living through a paradigm crash we need a solid Rock.

“I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me. It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who listens and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins.” (Luke 6:46-49, NLT)

_______________________________

If there ever were dreams
That were lofty and noble,
They were my dreams at the start.
And the hopes for life's best,
Were the hopes that I harbored,
Down deep in my heart.
But my dreams turned to ashes,
My castles all crumbled,
My fortune turned to loss.
So I wrapped it all in the rags of my life,
And laid it at the cross.

Something beautiful, something good;
All my confusion He understood.
All I had to offer Him
Was brokenness and strife,
But He made something beautiful of my life.

Something Beautiful -
Gaither, William J. / Gaither, Gloria
© 1971 William J. Gaither, Inc. ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management CCLI License No. 810055

Walking by faith isn’t easy!

Keep the Faith! It’s a great line and an even better choice for life.  We have all heard enough bad news in the last couple of weeks to last a lifetime. Are you going to just camp in the awful, hang onto the dread, rehearse the losses? Don’t do it. Christ Jesus invites us to be led by our Great Shepherd giving us reason for hope no matter what is happening around us, to us, or inside of us.  

Yesterday, at Faith Discovery Church, I joined 5 other people, average age about 65, who spent the afternoon distributing food from our church pantry. (We were wise, practicing good social distancing.) What joy I discovered in giving supplies and a hearty “God bless and keep you” to those 45 families that showed up. I found further joy in remembering that effort was possible because of dozens of others who give, support, serve, and pray to keep hope alive and faith evident in our church.

I want to urge you to FOCUS upwards and outwards today- with hope formed in FAITH. Habakkuk, the preacher who was a contemporary of Jeremiah, living in Jerusalem about 600 years before the time of Jesus, wrote about living by faith. He pondered the question of fairness and God’s will. He was inspired to leave us a little book that shines bright for us with a message capsulated in this passage -  "the righteous will live by his faith— the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:4,20, NIV)

Listen to his aching heart and let the words become your cry in this season. "How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save." (Habakkuk 1:2, NLT)  Living in faith is not easy and it never has been!  

He continues his prayer for understanding this way. "God, you’re from eternity, aren’t you? Holy God, we aren’t going to die, are we? God, you chose Babylonians for your judgment work? Rock-Solid God, you gave them the job of discipline? But you can’t be serious! You can’t condone evil! So why don’t you do something about this? Why are you silent now? This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous and you stand around and watch!" (Habakkuk 1:12-13, The Message)  I feel his emotions, don’t you?

But, Habakkuk moved beyond that place to rest in FAITH and to LOOK UP.  He surrendered himself to God.  Don’t read that to mean that we should throw in the towel and walk away from the fight! Faith leads us to acceptance of God’s will and to hope that is anchored securely on His assurance that justice will be done.  This is the declaration that is the anchor of our faith. "Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And a righteous person will live by faith. . . . we are not like those who turn their backs on God and seal their fate. We have faith that assures our salvation." (Hebrews 10:35-39, NLT)

My late father often reminded me of the importance of faithfulness with this homely little phrase – “Remember, son, God’s payday is not necessarily this Friday.” Both reward and judgment are sometimes out of sight in our limited line of vision, but they are assured by the eternal purpose and promise of our Father!

Habakkuk sums up his faith walk in the words that reflect our earnest hope to see things made right and our determination to wait on the Lord.

Take this word from the Word today to heart and pray for faith to grow strong, faith that stabilizes you, that keeps you serving, loving, and looking for the Kingdom to come.

O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;

O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!

In the midst of the years make it known;

    In wrath remember mercy.

Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls—

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength;

He will make my feet like deer’s feet,

And He will make me walk on my high hills.

Habakkuk 3:2; 17-19 (NKJV)

_______________

Blessed Assurance

(actual song begins 2 minutes in

CeCe Winans will blow you away)

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine

O what a foretaste of glory divine

Heir of salvation purchase of God

Born of His Spirit washed in His blood

Perfect submission perfect delight

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight

Angels descending bring from above

Echoes of mercy whispers of love

Perfect submission all is at rest

I in my Savior am happy and blest

Watching and waiting looking above

Filled with His goodness lost in His love

This is my story this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

This is my story this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

Fanny Jane Crosby | Phoebe Palmer Knapp

© Words: Public Domain