Prayer

The Power of Praying Beyond Your Words, Part 2

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ChristCandle“You took the words right out of my mouth.”

You’ve either said or thought this before, haven’t you?  Surely you have heard someone speak something that you were scrambling to articulate. There are those times when one expresses the very thing that moves beyond thoughts forming in your mind to a deep place  within your soul.  It amazes me when someone who I have never met speaks to my situation so well that I know that I am not alone.

While original prayer has its place, there is strength in praying words that someone else somewhere else has prayed.  We can find rest in the words of the psalmists (“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me” Psalm 23:4a), and wrestle along with the prophets (“O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you do not hear?” Habakkuk 1:2a).   As I mentioned in my previous post, praying beyond your words can be a powerful experience.

Autumn 2016 brought its share of stress.  I felt bare, like a tree that lost its leaves. The presidential campaign and election left me disillusioned and drained.  Even before that, I had faced new challenges that found me second-guessing myself.  I battled what many call the imposter syndrome.  But then I found the words I needed, and prayed these words as my own:

“Since it is by your mercy that I am engaged in this ministry, I do not lose heart”
2 Corinthians 4:1 (adapted)

“When I am tempted to doubt myself and question my gifts and experience,
remind me, God, of all that I know and that which I don’t know that I know.
Remind me who I am and whose I am.
Even when I hide behind my piety to avoid doing what must be done,
and use you as an excuse for indecision, for lack of action, for silencing myself.
Love me enough to lift the lid off my basket, order me to stop crouching in the dark,
like a woman without a God.”
Renita Weems, Showing Mary:
How Women Can Share Prayers, Wisdom and the Blessings of God

Words from the mouth of an eternal God can transcend time and meet you where you are.  Yes, it is good to pray in your own words, but there is also sacred space for prayers that are loaned and don’t have to be returned.  These borrowed prayers become kept prayers, and for that, I am grateful.

Your Call: What are some of your go-to prayers when you can’t find the words to fully express what is in your heart?  Send one up to God today and feel free to share below in the comments.  Consider using resources such as the Psalms, the Book of Common Prayer, and Pray as you go to as you seek other prayers that can become yours.

 

The Power of Praying Beyond Your Words

/ Sharon / 2 Comments

ChristCandleWhat is your relationship with words?  I have loved words for as long as I can remember. Emerging from my neighborhood library with an armload of books was my weekly ritual as a child.  Now that I’m good and grown, words are my livelihood.  I get paid to speak and write, and my ability to put words together is often assessed in one way or another. My core spiritual practices and gifts are wrapped up in words and I typically delight in that.

Then there are those moments when words are both not enough and too much, like after a week when celebrations of freedom on July 4th were followed by unspeakable incidents of oppression, injustice and violent death in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis.  It is moments like these that remind me that God invites us to simply show up.  No need for pious phrases or even coherent sentences.  God beckons us to come … in whatever shape we come. And the presence of Jesus meets us.

Over the past few weeks, I have been drawn to unplugging after work by sitting in silence to release some things to God and receive some things from God.  Who knew that this would prepare me for a time when putting the words together, even in prayer, would have been too exhausting?  So this week, I just sat before God.  As I lifted up my burdens to God with my arms,  I allowed myself to feel the weight of it all and then the release, as my cupped hands parted to make room to receive.  The wonderful thing was that I didn’t have to articulate what I needed to release or receive.  God knew.

Your Call: Consider a time when words did not seem to be the way (or at least the only way) to pray.  How can other parts of your body (besides your mouth) be more active in your prayers?

When Snow Speaks

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SnowyTree

The psalmist announces that “the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.”

The snowstorm from last weekend confirmed this reality.  Crystals of moisture that seem so fragile somehow stay and gather to make a statement on earth that says:

You.   Must.   Slow.   Down.  

 And as you do, admire my beauty and embrace the stillness.

Until recently, I had never connected this first verse of Psalm 19 with the last one:

“Let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.”

If the heavens and skies can declare God’s glory and display the work of God’s hands, how much more should we do the same as we live our lives?

Your Call: How is God’s glory and handiwork being declared and displayed in your life now?

Q&A

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“I’ll take ‘Fix my life Jesus’ for $1000, Alex.”

And so it goes in the imaginary Jeopardy! episode that airs in my mind from time to time. I have always found it odd that contestants on Jeopardy! have to come up with the right questions to the answers.

For the past seven years, Memorial Day weekend has marked the time when I lost my father.  As I recall that time of grief, I realize that my question “Why now?” went unanswered.  Yet an answer came in the form of a sermon that I heard months later titled, “Be Not Afraid.”  Another answer was in the text preached in that sermon, “The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deut 33:27)  So what were the questions?  Maybe, “How will I get through this?” and then, “God who are you anyway?”  The significance of all of this had escaped me until this past Holy Week.  On Good Friday, I sat with Jesus’ haunting question from the cross – “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46)

The next day, an incident, while relatively minor in of itself, nevertheless awakened a deep vulnerability and sense of loss that made me feel forsaken.  I had left home fairly upbeat but returned home crestfallen, only to find that a dear sister in Christ tagged me in a video that she posted on Facebook.  The song in the video, “Try” by Colbie Caillat, was clearly God’s answer for me that day.

It was as if that Jesus reached into my soul and turned on the faucet, washing away residue of performance anxiety and quests for approval.  So what was the question?  Some time ago, I was meditating on Zephaniah 3:17 where it states that God would rejoice over God’s people with singing.  In response, I journaled and asked – “What song are You singing over me?” The answer came to me a little over a year later by way of the video.

Whenever I ponder Jesus’ cry to God on the cross, I can’t help but consider how His question is echoed at the beginning of Psalm 22.  And just about every time, what captivates me is the psalmist’s declaration in verse 21b (NKJV) – “You have answered me.” While not always answering the questions I pose, God is often in the habit of responding to questions that I haven’t asked.

The answers come how they come. Sometimes in word.  Sometimes in silence.  Always with Presence.  I worship an answering God.

Your Call: What questions are you wrestling with right now?  Could it be that God is offering answers to different or deeper questions?  

Advent Reflections: Veni Emmanuel

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candle

Oh come, Oh come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.*

In lonely exile like:

panhandlers desperate for food and dignity;
immigrants isolated in culture and language;
the fearful and the awkward, simply trying to find their place;
those wrestling with voices that insist that this is all there is;
those discarded, oppressed or silenced.

May it be that we make room
for hope,
for the Son of God to appear
with us,
in us,
through us.

Veni Emmanuel.

Amen.

(*From the English translation of the Latin hymn “Veni, Veni Emmanuel.”)

Your Call:  Recall a time in your life when you have “mourned in lonely exile”; pray for those who find themselves there now. Consider how you can make more room for the Son of God to appear in your life.

A Thrill of Hope, The Weary World Rejoices

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In recent years, I haven’t been particularly drawn to Christmas music the way I used to be. I’ll go further and confess that, this year, Advent served as more of a countdown to vacation time than anything else.  But while I was in church for Christmas service, I listened to a song that I have heard a million times and something changed.  All it took was one line from O Holy Night:

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices…

A gracious God met me in my weariness with Hope in hand, just as on that “Night Divine.”  In response, I was drawn to the story of the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20).  In Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels, Kenneth E. Bailey points out that “the first people to hear the message of the birth of Jesus were a group of shepherds who were close to the bottom of the social scale in their society.” As I pondered this, I found myself wondering what it would be like to enter their world.

Hello. My name is Mary.  Not that Mary.  I am…another Mary. My father is a shepherd. He works very hard, so hard that I can hear the weariness in his sighs when he comes home every night. It’s amazing what can happen in just 24 hours.  Last night, my father came home. As usual, he had worked hard, but there was something different…

All of a sudden, he picks up my sister and whirls her around and around and around until their laughter fills the house from top to bottom.  Then he says,

“Everybody come here! Come here right now! I have something to tell you!” 

As we gather around him, I see a twinkle in his eye that he hasn’t had in a long time.  He pauses. Then he says:

“You won’t believe what happened to us today while we were tending our flocks. Out of nowhere, an angel appeared and said:

 ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

 And so we practically ran to Bethlehem and we found Him, just as the angel said. We saw Him. The Messiah.  We.   saw.   Him.”

My father’s voice begins to waver and he just looks up, lifts his hands and shakes his head. And the tears come.  I run to the corner of the room. And I sit. And I look up.  And I say:

Maybe I don’t have to be a son of a rabbi for You to see me. Maybe You are listening to me after all.  Me. The daughter of a shepherd.   If that Mary was from Nazareth, maybe You have a purpose for me too.   

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Hear my prayer, O Lord.  

Amen.

Your Call: Read Luke 2:8-20.  Read it again. Sit with it. Imagine how you would feel if you were a shepherd or a part of his family and had been given hope for your weariness. Perhaps you are weary. If so, receive the hope of Christ afresh.  Perhaps you know others who are weary.  Offer them this hope that you are privileged to possess.

 

The Shutdown

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But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”  Luke 1:13,18-20

After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” Luke 1:24-25

This year, Advent has found me a bit drained, mostly because of my fall schedule. But I must also confess that there’s been a restlessness within as I approach the end of another year in waiting mode. Perhaps this is why I find myself identifying with Zechariah and Elizabeth these days.  A few months ago, I asked my students to come up with questions to ask this couple as we studied the Gospel of Luke together.  One particular inquiry to Zechariah really struck me: “Did your relationship with God grow while you were mute?”  This question challenged my assumption that Zechariah’s inability to speak for a season was merely punishment for his doubt.  Suppose his mute state was a means of preparation?  In the meantime, Elizabeth did eventually conceive and went into seclusion for five months.  Whatever was going through her mind, surely the time without a multitude of voices in her ear was beneficial.  I can’t help but think that God set her apart and had her come aside for a reason.

Silence and solitude can pave the way for us to be more intentional about listening to and receiving from God. Yesterday, I attended a gathering for women in ministry and one of the hosts led us in a period of meditation on selected Scripture verses revolving around call (Jeremiah 1:4-10; Isaiah 42:5-9, 43:1-4). While I have read those passages before, there was something about having them read to me and over me.  Slowly. As if being served a meal to be savored. There were moments of silence in the room for reflection, but I also got quieter within as the Word of God refreshed my soul and reminded me of God’s grace in my life.

As I think back on the class with the “interview” of Zechariah and Elizabeth, I recall that it ended with a student praying “Lord, thank You for the Shutdown!”  I recall saying to myself, “This prayer is for real…” Elizabeth and Zechariah were about to bring forth a prophet, and a wilderness prophet at that.  They had to be strengthened and prepared for raising John the Baptist and releasing him to God’s call on his life.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth and Zechariah showed up.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”  Luke 1:41-45

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “… And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.  Luke 1:67,76-80

If we would birth and be faithful to the call that God has placed in us, we must submit to the shutdown, a space where we can hear God’s whispers in the midnight hour, the dry season,  or the valley.  To be clear, the shutdown is not for the purpose of isolation or self-protection. In fact, its goal is just the opposite.  The shutdown prepares us for the Show Up in all its fullness.

Your Call:  Can you recall a time when God was calling you to a season of “shutdown” in your life? What did you hear and receive from God during the process?  How has it helped you to “show up” more fully?

The Dilemma of Expectation

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Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.”  So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”  Mark 10:28,29  (NKJV)

Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?”  They answered Him, “No.” And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  John 21:5-7a (NKJV)

I have always appreciated Peter’s bold comment to Jesus.   In fact, I suspect that the other disciples were thinking the same thing and dared not speak of it.  But there’s no tiptoeing around the issue with Peter. He points to the disciples’ sacrifice and wants to know what to expect in return. Jesus’ response is promising, scary and mysterious all at the same time. Fast forward to a disillusioned Peter after his Rabbi’s crucifixion, headed back to what he knows best – fishing. 

This morning, my pastor preached on the disciples’ fishing trip in John 21, touching on Peter’s conversation with Jesus in Mark 10.  Anyone who’s familiar with my approach to Bible study and meditation knows that I advocate prayerful wrestling with the text as it relates to both interpretation and application.  Tasting the Word is just the beginning; digesting the Word is a longer, deeper process.  This morning’s message really hit home for me. I have echoed Peter’s sentiments on more than one occasion.  While I can’t say that I’ve sacrificed nearly as much as the disciples, or those in the Persecuted Church (then and now), what I have given up (proximity to most of my family) is significant to me.  And while I’d like to consider myself somewhat socially conscious, I confess that I’ve done my share of buying into the “American Dream.” When I was 21 (loving Jesus and all), you couldn’t have told me that 20+ years later, I would be unmarried, without children, and lacking a picket fence. 

Waking up and moving forward has been a journey. I’m at a crossroads, wondering what “family” is supposed to look like for me and pondering the notion of expectation quite a bit.  What does it really mean to walk in expectancy?  How do we claim the promises of God? Where do we cross the line into a sense of entitlement?  What happens in the midst of unmet expectations and disappointment?   How does this affect our prayers?  Is it presumptuous to be specific in bringing our hopes and dreams to God? Shall we stick with general, safe prayers?  What part do prayers of relinquishment play?  How do we maintain gratitude for what God has already done while still acknowledging unfulfilled longings?

However Peter wrestled with this, Jesus showed up, reversed the fishing failure and eventually kept His promise. Peter was empowered to be a “fisher of people”, even while facing persecution.  As I move into the next chapter of my life, please pray with and for me. The plot continues, it’s a cliffhanger, and the Author ain’t telling me much in the way of details.  In the meantime, what I’m hearing right now is — “It is the Lord!”  So be it.

Your Call: How does your prayer life look when you are disappointed or disillusioned? How can you fully embrace Jesus’ promise of an abundant life without idolizing or distorting that promise?

An Independence Day Prayer

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Almighty and Loving God,

We come to You,
Humbled that we can.
Thankful that in grace and power,
You created us in Your image.
Grateful that Your Son came, wrapped in flesh,
sacrificing himself to secure our freedom.

We confess that we have not always lived the liberty that You have provided.
Instead we choose to cling to the comforts of the familiar
or to chase after the spectacular.

Help us to confront the internal bondage
that hinders us from following You wholeheartedly.
May Your love replace our fear.
May Your grace replace our pride.
May Your call replace our complacency.

Let us not avert our eyes from the oppression around us,
whether in the form of human trafficking, discrimination or violence. 
May we sit with You and grieve this injustice,
all the while being renewed by Your Spirit once again.
May we sit still long enough to hear and accept Your assignment,
all the while being empowered to transform the wilderness that we face.
May we support one another on the journey,
all the while demonstrating the power of authentic community.

May more chains fall off in our midst because we’ve been with You.

In the precious name of our Lord, Savior and Liberator, Jesus Christ, we pray.

Amen.

Your Call: In what areas of your life are you operating with more freedom?  In what areas do you need to flow with more freedom?  What areas of spiritual and/or systemic oppression concern you the most?  How do you sense that God might use you as an instrument of liberty?