Prayers to Live By

Prayers To Live By – Ephesians 3

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Our Christian history and tradition is just full of gold: stories, people, traditions and prayers that have inspired and nurtured peoples’ faith and helped them on their walk with Jesus through life. Here is one such prayer…

One of the things I find most fascinating about God is the way He constantly wants to include us in His plans. If what we believe about God’s omnipotence is true then surely He could click His fingers and change everything in an instant, making everything, including us, exactly the way He wants it to be. Now God does desire for things to be different – He is the God of redemption, new life and resurrection – but it seems He is not interested in forcing people todo what He wills. Rather He woos us with His love and the goodness of following in His way. And that brings us to this weeks Prayer to Live By.

St Paul is sending a letter to the church families that have been planted and grown up in and around the city of Ephesus. A group of faith communities that St Paul is so encouraged by, and so in turn wishes to encourage them with the truth of who God is and what He has called them (and us) to do. The letter is interspersed with these prayers, and here is perhaps the best: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Now here we have a prayer that confronts us with what a life surrendered to Christ looks like. God does not make anyone have a life like this, but this is what He desires for us. A life that is resilient, that has influence, is filled with love that reaches beyond understanding, a life filled with God Himself, and a life where unimaginable things happen. 

A few weeks ago we looked at the prayer of Confession. A prayer that confronts us with our failures. It is healthy to know where we need healing and repentance, but it can seem when faced with such failure and brokenness how could we ever have the kind of life that St Paul prays about here? However, this is a prayer that invites us to dare to go beyond the limitations of our own failure and brokenness, because we have a God that can do far more than we can ask or imagine.

God is not held back by our sin. He has overcome this for us. We can put it to rest and spend a life focused on God, and His love and power, knowing that He dwells within. And because of that we can have confidence to take on an epic life of discipleship. Because of these promises we can take on the tasks that seem to much for us or too foolish to take on.

Overall, this prayer is a prayer of encouragement to inspire confidence in our calling to follow Jesus. What has Jesus called you to do lately that seems impossible or overwhelming? Know that God will strengthen the foundations of your character with His power and love. And that through Him you will experience things you could never have dreamed of. This is the promise for those who follow Jesus.

Prayers To Live By – Psalm 37

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Our Christian history and tradition is just full of gold: stories, people, traditions and prayers that have inspired and nurtured peoples’ faith and helped them on their walk with Jesus through life. Here is one such prayer….

There is so much in life that can leave us feeling frustrated, angry and powerless. The Psalmists were no strangers to the suffering and injustice that leaves us feeling these ways. In many of the Psalms they are quite happy to let loose on God their anger and frustration with the state of the world. This shows that we need never be ashamed of our feelings, even the ones we are not proud of. God is big enough to handle all our thoughts and feelings. In the face of such feelings, Psalm 37 is a prayer that gives us perspective and practical advice our how to deal with life’s frustrations and powerlessness.

At its heart the message of the Psalm speaks to the temptations we have to act out of our anger and frustration.  It is okay to feel particular ways, but not all feelings are good to act on. The Psalm contrasts the evil people commit out of anger and frustration to make them powerful and get ahead in life. These are people who take the short cut to getting what they want. However, the Psalm makes it plain that in the end the evil and injustice of the world will all come to nothing. Evil doesn’t lead to the results it promises.

Therefore, from this Psalm’s perspective it is best to be on the side of righteousness, that is faithfulness to God and His way. This is the true way to life and dealing with our problems. God knows our situations and the desperate places people find themselves in, and the good news is He promises that we don’t have to turn to evil ways to deal with them. The advice is to simply offer all our desires to have things sorted out to God, and then wait patiently for Him to act. God can be trusted to do the right thing for us.

It is interesting though that the Psalm encourages us to take some action and gives us expectations about how we will need to have patience if we take this approach to life.

The action it invites is for us to act with integrity no matter what. To continue doing the right thing even if it doesn’t seem to be helping us. Jesus himself took this way of life to its logical end, and in the face of extreme persecution and evil it led him to his death. In the face of our own difficulties (and difficult people) it is easy to be tempted to give up the way of integrity and trust. Perhaps it would be easier to just keep our mouth shut in the face of that problem, or tell a little lie there, or manipulate that person here, or push people around with our words if it means it will sort things out? That would be better than us getting hurt or missing out, right? 

The Psalm says that we take this path of integrity and trust in God in the hope that we will be the ones who will triumph in the end. We are the ones who in the end will prosper, have safety, and receive peace and our hearts desire. However, the Psalm seems to think that this way of life will require patience. In some ways it is very simply invitation, give it all to God and then wait. We wont’t see all those promises fulfilled straight away. It is not an answer to the immediate difficulty and suffering, the anger and frustration we feel. It may even seem like we have lost, and all our integrity and trust was in vain. But it is an answer if we are willing to wait.

Just think of Jesus going to the cross. What was he thinking and feeling in those moments? Would his Father save him? I suppose he didn’t know the answer to that question till he woke up on Easter morning. He did not suffer in vain, he did not do what was right in vain, and his trust in God saw him become more that a conquer!

So this prayer gives us the perspective of Jesus on our lives. And invites us to take action by keeping our integrity in the midst of anger and frustration, take it all to God, and wait patiently, trusting that He will make all things right.

Prayers to Live By: The Confession

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Our Christian history and tradition is just full of gold: stories, people, traditions and prayers that have inspired and nurtured peoples’ faith and helped them on their walk with Jesus through life. Here is one such prayer….

Merciful God,
we have sinned
in what we have thought and said,
in the wrong we have done
and in the good we have not done.
We have sinned in ignorance:
we have sinned in weakness:
we have sinned through our own deliberate fault.
We are truly sorry.
We repent and turn to you.
Forgive us, for our Saviour Christ’s sake,
and renew our lives to the glory of your name. Amen.

This week our prayer to live by is the most commonly used confessional prayer from our A New Zealand Prayer Book. A prayer, that under normal circumstances, we say every week. But with things we become familiar with we can forget there meaning and significance. Familiarity can breed ignorance. So let’s look at why this prayer might be one to help guide our lives.
 
Sin really is not everyone’s favourite topic and it would be a worry if it was. However, Sin is a reality. Even for those who are not believers there is a sense that things are not the way they are supposed to be. However, there is a lot of confusion about what Sin is and how it effects the world around us. 

A close reading of Scripture shows at it’s most basic Sin is about relationship. Sin is the loss of love in relationships. Sin is the thing(s) that destroy loving relationships. The problem with the world and the reason things are not the way they should be is because our relationship with God, one another and the earth has broken down. Especially because we have lost loving relationship with God, the source of all life and goodness. Therefore, we are cut off from the life of love that was meant for us.

The famous painting by Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, is a good illustration of Sin. Adam, a symbol for humanity, simply seems to not care about God, barely lifting a figure to touch Him. This shows that Sin is not just the more extreme ends of human behaviour, but simple indifference to God, and His love, guidance and wisdom. This quiet indifference is tantamount to full on rebellion and rejection of God.

However, on the other side of this picture we have God who is desperate to connect with His creation, reaching, stretching out, to touch Adam. The story of the Bible is the story of a God who loves us, and made us for loving relationship, and will not quite till loving relationship is restored. And He will really do anything to prove His love, faithfulness and trustworthiness. Even going as far as to come as a human to die, taking all the sin upon Himself. Taking the worst consequences of Sin on our behalf, so that we might have a chance at restoring loving relationship with Him, with one another and with this planet. Our God is a God of forgiveness and reconciliation.

So with all that in mind that brings us to our prayer of confession. This prayer is a prayer to keep us honest. A prayer recognising our part in creating Sin. It is only by being honest about where we have broken relationship that we can come back into loving relationship. And so, like a medication, receiving the forgiveness, reconciliation and healing to the broken places it is needed.

Us humans have an emotional need to feel innocent. We find it painful to own our fault and brokenness. It can seem counter-intuitive to purposefully invite pain into our lives. But Sin is there whether we like it or not. And if Jesus is to be believed and trusted, we can only overcome Sin, find healing and become innocent by being willing to admit and own our Sin.

Therefore, we can embrace this painful way knowing that we are forgiven and accepted by God. And God does not accept us because we said the right words, and He does not accept us begrudgingly (as if He secretly wished we hadn’t), but accepts us as a Father loves and accepts His children. He is proud of us and loves us and our lives, and wishes to see us to grow and mature into honest and loving people, the way that it is meant to be.

So know that you are forgiven and be at peace. May God strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in life eternal.

Prayers to Live By: The Lord’s Prayer

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Our Christian history and tradition is just full of gold: stories, people, traditions and prayers that have inspired and nurtured peoples’ faith and helped them on their walk with Jesus through life. Here is one such prayer….


You might say this is THE PRAYER. This is the one that Jesus taught his followers when they asked him to teach them to pray. This prayer is a window into what is most concerning to Jesus.

In Jesus teaching he is not just concerned with what words to pray, but how to pray. In Matthew 6, Jesus sets out that prayer is to be done in secret. Our main reason for prayer is to connect with our Heavenly Father, therefore there best place to do it is in a secret place, where it is just you and God, one else. Now that might be a room or a chair, but also know that we can pray where ever we are and what ever we are doing in the secret of our thoughts and hearts.

The words of the prayer are still important though. In this prayer we see that Jesus invites us to first worship God and acknowledge His identity as our Holy Heavenly Father. He is our father who provides and protects us. He is heavenly in contrast to our earthly dads, and therefore greater in power, love and wisdom. And He is Holy, He is other and different, spotless and perfect. A God worthy of our praise.

The next words are profound, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done.” Jesus teaches us that our prayers are to be about what God wants and wills. We believe God is perfect in knowledge, wisdom and love, therefore who better to have their will be done? Our prayers are to be about seeking what God wants to see happen in our lives and the world. In this we have to acknowledge that there are times when our agenda is not the same as His.

Then the rest of the prayer sets out what God’s agenda is. We find that he wishes all people to have their bodily needs met. We find He wants people to be forgiven and reconciled to Him and one another. And we find that He wants people to be free from Evil and suffering. These three are not the full scope of His will, but they are the broad brush strokes. These three things therefore become a guide for our own prayers, as we discern what God might want and will for our lives: How would he like to meet your needs today? Who would He like you to reconcile with? Where is there suffering and temptation that need to be dealt with?

In conclusion this prayer sets out the Good News. We have a Good Father who loves us and wishes to look after us and take care of our needs. He seeks to establish His Kingdom, His will in the world and our lives. And that means acting in justice to see Evil and suffering dealt with. In means making away for reconciliation so deep loving relationships can form between humans who would otherwise try to harm one another. When we pray this prayer in our secret place, we are praying the Good News over our lives and world!

Prayers to Live By: St Augustine’s Prayer for Rest

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Our Christian history and tradition is just full of gold: stories, people, traditions and prayers that have inspired and nurtured peoples’ faith and helped them on their walk with Jesus through life. Here is one such prayer….
This prayer is taken from St Augustine of Hippo’s book Confessions. Not our St Augustine, but the North African theologian of the 5th Century. He was a person who constantly sought after truth. This led him to unique insights into his own, as well as human character, and the culture and philosophy of his day, and Scripture and God. Much of Western theology and wider culture can find its heritage in St Augustine’s teachings.

This prayer is testament to his depth of understanding. A prayer so simple and short, yet so profound and rich, disciples have spent lifetimes reflecting on it. It encapsulates what it means to be human. We were made to rest!

This prayer reveals that one of the keys to discipleship, to a life lived to the full, is rest. I think this is a lesson we need to learn now more that ever. As some of us start working from home, the place we commonly find rest, it can become increasingly hard to find space for rest. And it can be hard to find rest as we are bombarded by news of Covid-19 and the lack of stability for the future. It does not take much before we feel restless and uneasy within ourselves. But, if we are courageous enough to look closer at ourselves, we might find there are deeper questions about who we are and what we ought to do that are the source of this restlessness.

According to this prayer we have these questions unanswered, and are restless and uneasy because we are disconnected from our original purpose; we were made for God. Made to take joy and delight in Him, as He takes joy and delight in us. Made to live for and with Him. This is true rest.

To rest in God we need to understand His opinion of us. To understand this I invite you to read Matthew 3:16-17 and you will find that we are God’s Children with whom He is well pleased. You might also want to read 1 Corinthians 13 and replace the word “love” with the word “God.” You might also want to mediate on the fact that God became human, dwelt with us, experienced all that we experience and then died for us, and offers us the gift of eternal life. You might also want to reflect on the fact that God knows you better than you know yourself, yet still wishes to make His home inside you through His Holy Spirit. In God there is perfect love, safety and acceptance.

So what practical steps can we take to live in and from His rest? At it’s most basic it is about doing those things which help us to build a deeper loving relationship with God, and making them routine!

It is important to remember we are all made unique and different, and there is no one sizes fits all for finding rest in God. You might already know the ways in which you connect with God, but if you are struggling here is a resource and questionnaire to help you find insight into the way God has made you.

We all need routine. Just like a married couple need to be intentional about spending time together, with daily catch ups and regular date nights, to keep the relationship healthy, we need to make spending quality time with God a priority in our days, weeks, months and years.

So next time you notice yourself feeling restless, say this prayer and be open to what God wants to reveal to you about how He has made you and how you might find rest in Him.
 

Prayers to Live By: The Prayer of Serenity

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Prayers To Live By.
Our Christian history and tradition is just full of gold: stories, people, traditions and prayers that have inspired and nurtured peoples’ faith and helped them on their walk with Jesus through life. Here is one such prayer….
The Prayer of Serenity was written sometime during the early 20th Century. It is often attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and was taken up by the AA movement as their prayer.

Serenity means peace. Jesus promises to give us peace, even if he does not promise to stop all our troubles. The opposite of peace is stress. Stress comes from situations we feel we can’t change. Covid-19 is just such a situation. Personally we don’t have the power to change this Global crisis. We are not that powerful. However, stressing about such things, although a natural reaction, is not a personally helpful response. When we are faced with things we can not change this prayer invites peace. A peace that comes from knowing that one day all things will be well because of Jesus.

When we are stressed we might miss what we can do to make a difference. Therefore, this prayer invites God to reveal to us the ways we can influence change and the courage to actually do it. During this crisis the most powerful thing we can do to change things is to simply stay home! Does not seem heroic, but is actually incredibly powerful.

This prayer is not just for a crisis like this though, but is relevant to so much of our lives. How much do we stress everyday about things we have no control over or even connection to? And how often do we miss the opportunity to make a difference because we didn’t know our own power or did not have the courage? Therefore this prayer invites God’s wisdom into our lives. We need wisdom daily to discern what we can and can’t change. We need wisdom to reveal to us what we should and shouldn’t be focusing our thoughts and emotions on.

Overall, this is a great prayer for our own mental health. It helps us to truly discern how we should approach life.

Here is a full text of the prayer:

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.