Are we praying for each other?

Interesting that this thought should cross my mind. How often have I said to someone, ‘pray for me.’ Did they (you) pray? Are we praying for each other or has it too become just something we say?

Prayer doesn’t take long, but I believe it should be focused. Not just a general, “Lord bless so and so,” but taking a moment and ask, ‘what two or three things, do you want me to pray for?” And then spend some real time with God in prayer. It’s okay for you to ask me, “Tony, what’s pressing you right now?” Beyond the finances, (most of us have that one, I think.)

Let’s get real here, I know you can’t be that transparent with everyone, so pick somebody, anybody and say to them, will you pray with me about . . .? Yes, even I struggle, some of you may find that hard to believe, but I’m not ‘there yet’ myself. I’m sorry if that let you down, but the truth is I’ve got some closets I’d rather not you open, and only God can clean them out or up. Okay, there I’ve said it ‘out loud!”

I need your support as well as you need mine, maybe a little more or less, but frankly who cares? We need each other. And if you don’t need me, that’s okay, but I need you! I’d love to hear from you, over the net or over the phone, why even ‘snail-mail,’ will work, it takes a little longer but I’ll be glad to get it.

God has not called you to be ‘The Lone Ranger,” “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Eccl. 4:9-10.

Nor am I suggesting that something is wrong with or about you, it’s the fact that you are important to me, and I don’t like a great deal of silence. It’s fine and I often enjoy it, but went it comes to my brother and sisters in Christ, I want to heard from them as often as possible. I can’t do this without you and frankly I don’t want too.

That’s my prayer for this week Jesus, you know what to do with and how to handle it. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

An Anglican Prayer

"What we know not, Teach us;

What we are not, Make us;

What we have not, Give us."

Quoted by Alistair Begg

Praying for you on Monday

Father,

I thank you for theses my brothers and sister who work for you. We forget we’re not employed by the church or its board, but by you. You called us, and you promised to provide for us, so I thank you for enough. I can’t see, where or how it’s coming, and I’m not asking for more than you know I (we) can handle, but I thank you for enough.

In the church and ministry I lead and work with, for those who labor with me, I thank you for enough. You are my and our provision, long before I answered your call, you understood I would be here now. You’re not surprised by where I am, so I thank you for the comfort of this moment. I continue to have questions for which I have no answers, but I thank you for the resources you are making possible.

Bless I pray our minds with clarity for what must be done, and that which only we can do; thank you for help from unexpected sources; courage for what you say “NO!” too; strength to take the next step and the one after that; faith in the face of the impossible, and yes, to what seems most difficult. I thank you

I thank you for walking with us throughout this coming week, help me to listen and hear you voice in places I never expected. This is my Fathers world, I am His child and you care for me. I love you Jesus, I can’t do this alone, and you don’t want me too, so THANKS!

In the strong Name of Jesus I pray, amen.

 -- 

T.A.B.

Somewhere along the road . . .

I’ve made mistakes, errors and as a result I’ve hurt, wounded and offended those I’ve walked with. It may have been a word, or an idle remark or a thoughtless comment. It’s too late to try to take it back or hope you can forgive me. So it is, I ask for your forgiveness and hope there is room in you heart to grant forgiveness.

Too often I can go merrily along, never thinking of damage I’ve done, without meaning to. You endure it, but it’s often painful and those wounds often go deep. The Lord reminded me of how much He has forgiven me and He expects that I, where possible repent and ask forgiveness to those I have wounded or offended. There will be those who won’t forgive regardless of how sincere I might be, because they ‘just can’t see how that is possible.’ Even that is okay and I will try my best to move on, hoping that someday God’s grace will be sufficed even for the worst offense.

My love for you is real, I can only pray God’s riches blessing upon you, not just today, but everyday of your life.

Respectfully,

T..A.B. 

The power of Lament

Until I attended Pastors of Excellence at The Sandburg Leadership (ATS), I had not heard about the "Psalms of Lament." I know, I live a time when we have nothing to lament, HA! Let's get real. "Our English word lament comes from the Latin word for weeping. Psalms 6, 13, 22, 35, 43, 88, 102, 109, and 137  are examples of this type of psalm. You'll know you've come across one when you feel like you've turned the corner in a hallway and bumped into someone kicking, punching and screaming at a locker door; the psalms of lament are that intense.

When you find a psalm of lament that expresses what you're feeling, take that psalm and read it out loud to God. Pray that psalm. Read it with as much force and anger and depth as you can muster. A mentor of mine told me that when I'm unable to pray, I should let someone else pray for me - let the psalms become your prayers." Second Guessing God - hanging on when you can't see his plan by Brian Jones. 

I don't know about you, but I've had a great deal of pain and wounding in my 65 years of life. I received a lot of what I didn't need and very little of what I really needed most. Things I should have received were withheld, whether it was on purpose or the fact they didn't know how to give me what I needed I can't tell. Perhaps you where blessed with wonderful people around you who made sure you were given all the love and affection you needed and wanted, sorry I wasn't one of those. I too ". . . was wounded in the house of my friends." (Zech. 13:6)

I didn't understand that it was and is alright to cry out to God and yes, perhaps at God for how I've been treated. According to much of the material I've read, there are three parts of a lament: accusations against god, hatred toward enemies, and vows of praise. I've notice of late that very few in any of the preaching and teaching I've heard or read deals with any of this, if at ALL!

Perhaps you think I've fallen of the wagon, or read one too many books, but I'm convinced there is an unknown (or unspoken) truth here that needs to exposed. First let me be clear, I believe God love me, and that without question! I am His son for whom Jesus bled and died for, and nothing and no one can pluck me out of His hand. I'm SAVED, not by what I do, or don't do, I'm SAVED, because of Christ's death on Calvary. If that's too preachy for you, you're reading the wrong blog.

"Accusations against God. The first thing we notice when we read the paslms of lament is that those praying felt free to accuse God of not caring about them. There accusations are, at times brutal. Consider Ps. 44:24
. . . The author essentially tells God to wipe the sleep from his eyes and quit being lazy! How could these psalms writers talk this way? I think the reason they were so bold is because they were being honest. They wrote what they felt." When was the last time I was willing to be brutally frank with God about how I'm feeling, or was I just being polite? You know what I mean, When addressing the Almighty one should be on there best behavior. Sorry, I'm past that now, He knows me, He knows my thoughts, (before they are connected to me,) I'm a fool is I think I can hide my real and true feeling from Him. Yes, yell, screm, get honest with Him, He is God and he's heard it all before, i won't be his first child that has said, "right now I'm not happy with you God!"

"What has so completely broken your soul that you wonder if you'll ever be able to recover? Tell that to God. Dispense with the polite, positive self-talk and ask God directly, Where were you when this happened? Were you sleeping? Are you lazy? Are you too chicken and you're hiding? Take the psalms of lament as your permission slip to be honest with God.

Hatred toward enemies.
Oh, yeah, how about that"love your enemy stuff? Have you read any of the Psalms? Ps. 3:7; 55:15; 143:12; 137:8, 9, don't sound like "love your enemies . . . that Jesus talked about in Matt. 5:44. "Maybe the reason the psalms of lament portray people praying for the destruction of their enemies because we can't love our enemies until God gives us the ability to love them. And maybe God can't give us the ability to love our enemies until we expressed to him, in specific detail, the full brunt of our rage and hatred for our enemies. Maybe it's not until we've pulled the every last ounce of hatred out of our hearts and flug it into the lap of God that we can authentically love our enemies."

Vows of praise.
"Interspersed among the kicking, screaming, and pleading is something biblical scholars call "a vow of praise." We see a perfect example of this in Psalms 43:1, which begins with a desperate petition, . . . but ends in v.5   . . . "

"The contrast is so stark, you wonder if the same person is writing the first and the last verses. How can someone go from such desperate circumstances to a position of confidence in God's goodness?

A vow. In just about every psalm of lament, you'll find a statement that expresses, "No matter how dark my circumstances get, no matter how much rage I feel toward God or those around me , not matter how much everything I think and feel tells me to give up on God, I will not. I will not give up on God." Have you ever made a vow like that?"

Here's a prayer from Brian Jones:
Yes, Father, I still believe in your goodness, despite What I see with my eyes:
Yes, Father, I still believe you have a plan for my life, despite what I feel in my heart;
Yes, Father, I still believe my best days are ahead of me, despite what my enemies and friends and loved ones say to me;
Even if you ask me to live in mystery the rest of my life, I will wake up every day and say yes, Father, I sill believe in you.
 Second Guessing God - hanging on when you can't see his plan by Brian Jones. Chapter 8 Mystery




 Buy this Book! Read this book!
Love ya,
T.A.B.

In Memory of those Who Died

It is at Memorial Day, we as a nation pause to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our county and our freedom. It is right therefore, that as Christians, we too should pause to remember those who like our service men and women gave their lives for the Kingdom of God.

We too are involved in warfare against a great adversary, the devil. Many of our brothers and sisters in arms give every day of their lives for the cause of Christ at home and on the foreign field. They sacrifice everything we hold dear, time, talent and treasure for the name of Jesus. I would like to take a moment and remember them.

Many of us who have never ‘served’ in the armed forces, yet we too serve under the banner of Christ, and His banner over us is love. We are called to serve, to give our lives for the one who gave His life for us. When our life’s work is done, there are no parades, muffled drums, flag ceremonies or pipers playing a lament over us. We are fortunate if a few friends come and gather around our families to sing the praises of our loving Lord. The minister will remind those of us who live of the life our loved one offered.

Many of our fellow believers suffer greatly for the cause of Christ, and often they suffer in silence and unknown by the vast majority of the world even fellow believers. Pastors, their wives and family suffer (bravely) alongside them, even while they too don’t say or speak of the pain they too endure. No grand memorials are raised in their memory; often their graves have no marker or tombstone to mark their final resting place. It is as they too are “the Unknown Soldier, or as our British cousins say, “the unknown warrior.”

Well today I want to pay tribute these “unknown soldiers.” First they are not unknown, our God know everyone of their names, because “no one can pluck them out of my hand;” You Lord were with them at their calling and falling; you swept them into your presence at the moment of their death. They rest with you, even now.

I thank you for their testimony, their lives and their gifts, even those I don’t their name or how and where they served. Help me and those that follow them to live as honorably as they did, to work as hard and be willing to sacrifice as much for your glory.

Today Father, I honor you for the gift you made of these to me and countless others; they didn’t know me or know I would be born, but they knew you and dared to believe your Word and live in the power and presence of your Holy Spirit. They are warriors and victors, they have fought a good fight, they have finished they course, and now they wait for the promise of the reward they’ve earned, not for themselves, but for your glory.

Father, I bless their memory and pray I and others will live up to the example they have left for us. 

Becoming Vulnerable

Wednesday, 11 May 2011 12:00 AM EDT R.T. Kendall Daily Devotionals - By Love Transformed

For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him to serve you. —2 Corinthians 13:4

Being vulnerable is not cowardice or being a "wimp." In fact, it is the opposite—it is being a tower of strength. It is what Paul means by becoming a man (1 Cor. 13:11). It is when you are so strong inside that you do not take yourself so seriously. Vulnerability means the ability to be hurt, being unprotected. Our friend Alan Bell says that love is "moving forward without protecting yourself." Becoming vulnerable is therefore the opposite of the sin of self-protection.

Jesus was the strongest man who ever lived. He had the power to stop the entire crucifixion proceedings. He proved that by manifesting only a degree of His power when the chief priests and soldiers came to arrest Him. The Word tells us that when the soldiers surrounded Him in the garden, suddenly dozens (some scholars think it was hundreds) all "fell to the ground" (John 18:6). But Jesus chose to be vulnerable.

Many marriages on the rocks could be healed overnight if both husband and wife would become vulnerable, stop protecting himself or herself, and stop pointing the finger.

Taking myself too seriously grieves the Spirit and robs me of anointing. The issue of "who gets the credit" paralyzes many ministers today—so many want to be noticed and given due recognition.

Many a person forfeits greater usefulness because he or she can't bear the thought of not getting deserved credit for something. Neither can many people tolerate someone else's getting credit for something they did themselves. I can understand this. But it is a wonderful inner release—and glorifying to God—to be utterly self-effacing and to abandon the praise of people. God can trust such a person with a wider ministry.

Excerpted from The Sensitivity of the Spirit (Charisma House, 2002)