Lighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, O Lord;
and by Thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night;
for the love of Thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Be present, O merciful God,
and protect us through the silent hours of this night,
so that we, who are wearied by the changes and chances of this fleeting world,
may repose upon thy eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The first prayer is the third collect from the Order for Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. The second prayer is also sometimes used at Evening Prayer, and can be found here.
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Pray
From Tim Challies, summarizing Iain Murray at a Banner of Truth Conference:
This really is the only strategy I'm interested in.
The Need to Pray for a Great Awakening
We can become so accustomed to the status quo that we stop anticipating great change. The keenness of our expectation slowly disappears. Very few ministers keep up the edge on their spirit that was there at first. There is a sense in which being dissatisfied with the present is sinful, but we can still eagerly anticipate God’s works. The extraordinary is not ordinary and there is a real sense in which we need to be satisfied with what God is doing now. But at the same time it is true that we need to expect great things from God.
This really is the only strategy I'm interested in.
Friday, 16 May 2008
To blog or to pray?
Sometimes I think about whether to blog or to pray about some pressing matter, and I realize that it is more effective just to pray.
It's one of the difficulties about talking about Christian inaction in the face of certain issues, especially political ones. For those who have a strong trust that God keeps his word, we are persuaded by that word that the most effective 'action' of all is to ask God for things.
Now this doesn't preclude the possibility of other action being taken as well. But it does mean that a great deal more might be happening that is unseen than our meagre minds can think or imagine.
Zechariah 4:10 says " For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel." It's about the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which will be effective against massive political odds because the LORD has decided that it will happen. The plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand is the sign that the small thing will grow into the big thing.
Prayer is smaller than a plumb line, but the God who stands behind it is a great God. v 10 continues "These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth."
That's a rather random cogitation and not really a model for how you read Zechariah 4.
(which I'm reading at the moment. If you forced me to explain I'd say my talk of prayer and plumb lines was a tangential application that highlights the key idea of the passage, which is that God sovereignly achieves everything he ever sets out to do, in accordance with his word)
But it struck me that it was more important to blog about prayer than about Burma, just this morning.
And also to pray.
It's one of the difficulties about talking about Christian inaction in the face of certain issues, especially political ones. For those who have a strong trust that God keeps his word, we are persuaded by that word that the most effective 'action' of all is to ask God for things.
Now this doesn't preclude the possibility of other action being taken as well. But it does mean that a great deal more might be happening that is unseen than our meagre minds can think or imagine.
Zechariah 4:10 says " For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel." It's about the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which will be effective against massive political odds because the LORD has decided that it will happen. The plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand is the sign that the small thing will grow into the big thing.
Prayer is smaller than a plumb line, but the God who stands behind it is a great God. v 10 continues "These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth."
That's a rather random cogitation and not really a model for how you read Zechariah 4.
(which I'm reading at the moment. If you forced me to explain I'd say my talk of prayer and plumb lines was a tangential application that highlights the key idea of the passage, which is that God sovereignly achieves everything he ever sets out to do, in accordance with his word)
But it struck me that it was more important to blog about prayer than about Burma, just this morning.
And also to pray.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Prayer
One of the things I most appreciated about today's MTS (Ministry Training Strategy) day was Stewart Binns' report on his work amongst Muslims.
They are not hostile people, they are friendly, if you bother to speak to them. Stewart not only bothers to speak to them, he prays for them, and over 20 years has had marvellous conversations and seen many of them come into God's heavenly kingdom, through the Lord Jesus. Why hasn't he been assassinated? Well, most Muslims aren't as crazy as some Australians like to make out. The are lovely, warm people who put our efforts at hospitality to shame.
The religion of Islam is as loopy and ridiculous as Mormonism, but most Muslims realize this in their heart of hearts and are relieved to find someone who will talk to them about truth, but with prayerful compassion.
They are not hostile people, they are friendly, if you bother to speak to them. Stewart not only bothers to speak to them, he prays for them, and over 20 years has had marvellous conversations and seen many of them come into God's heavenly kingdom, through the Lord Jesus. Why hasn't he been assassinated? Well, most Muslims aren't as crazy as some Australians like to make out. The are lovely, warm people who put our efforts at hospitality to shame.
The religion of Islam is as loopy and ridiculous as Mormonism, but most Muslims realize this in their heart of hearts and are relieved to find someone who will talk to them about truth, but with prayerful compassion.
Thursday, 3 January 2008
Jesus' prayers
Did Jesus ever pray with his disciples?
I can't think of a single example.
He prayed in their presence. He taught them how to pray. He went off by himself and prayed. We know this, because they write about it. In Gethsemane, they overhear him praying and he tells them that they, too, ought to pray. But he never ever prayed with them, as far as I have been able to discover.
I don't know what to make of this. For purposes of what I'm currently writing—stuff about how leaders should lead others—it is quite frustrating and it would be a lot easier for me if I could find what I'm looking for.
Thankfully for the case I'm trying to make, there are a number of times where Paul prayed with others, and if we can't imitate Christ, we can at least imitate him.
So there are plenty of precedents, not to mention commands, to suggest that Christian leaders ought to pray with each other.
But this makes me wonder even more: Why did Jesus never pray with his disciples? (as far as the gospel accounts record)
There is something terribly alienating about this. Not only for us, at outsiders looking in; but for Him, who faced the terror of death and wrath alone:
Some thoughts: when we do see Jesus praying, we are being given insight into the very nature of the Trinity. the Son always prays to the Father. The Father never prays to the Son. But the Father graciously gives all things into the Son's hands, both because he sovereignly wills to do so and because the Son, in faith, asks and receives. The Son trusts the Father perfectly for all things, even life itself. (But I am going to have to think some more about whether the Hebrews passage proves this)
And, given that the disciples did not yet have the Holy Spirit, did Jesus refrain from praying with them because they were not yet friends, but servants?
Even so, if Jesus now allows and commands us to pray to the Father as he has prayed, then we are being given admission into a very great privilege.
Although we are not God, we are being invited to share in Trinitarian delight.
I can't think of a single example.
He prayed in their presence. He taught them how to pray. He went off by himself and prayed. We know this, because they write about it. In Gethsemane, they overhear him praying and he tells them that they, too, ought to pray. But he never ever prayed with them, as far as I have been able to discover.
I don't know what to make of this. For purposes of what I'm currently writing—stuff about how leaders should lead others—it is quite frustrating and it would be a lot easier for me if I could find what I'm looking for.
Thankfully for the case I'm trying to make, there are a number of times where Paul prayed with others, and if we can't imitate Christ, we can at least imitate him.
Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them...
Acts 20:36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
2 Cor 13:7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.
2 Cor 13:9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.
Col. 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
Col 1:9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
1 Thess 3:10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith...
2 Thess 1:11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power...
So there are plenty of precedents, not to mention commands, to suggest that Christian leaders ought to pray with each other.
But this makes me wonder even more: Why did Jesus never pray with his disciples? (as far as the gospel accounts record)
There is something terribly alienating about this. Not only for us, at outsiders looking in; but for Him, who faced the terror of death and wrath alone:
Heb. 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Some thoughts: when we do see Jesus praying, we are being given insight into the very nature of the Trinity. the Son always prays to the Father. The Father never prays to the Son. But the Father graciously gives all things into the Son's hands, both because he sovereignly wills to do so and because the Son, in faith, asks and receives. The Son trusts the Father perfectly for all things, even life itself. (But I am going to have to think some more about whether the Hebrews passage proves this)
And, given that the disciples did not yet have the Holy Spirit, did Jesus refrain from praying with them because they were not yet friends, but servants?
Even so, if Jesus now allows and commands us to pray to the Father as he has prayed, then we are being given admission into a very great privilege.
Heb. 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Although we are not God, we are being invited to share in Trinitarian delight.
Blessèd 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.
Thursday, 1 November 2007
The "prayer" of "St Francis"
Does anyone else dislike this piece of kitsch as much as I do? Anyway, I subjected the longsuffering members of another forum to this rant, so you blog readers might as well get it too:
The prayer was discovered (and possibly written) anonymously in 1912. As the wiki article on it notes (you can find the words there too), the prayer has been used and promoted by Roman Catholics, although it has become popular in other circles.
It is an essentially Christ-free poem that makes the individual pray-er the focus of God's work on earth, and where the true source of grace—the cross—has been eclipsed. In its place, I have become the channel of God's grace and the one whose work will bring knowledge of God.
There are a few other surprises in it, too. It is news to me, for example that I will be the one who brings about "true faith in you", as the ditty purports to request.
Like many fluffy and ambiguous hymns and choruses that we tend to sing in churches today, a good lawyer could probably get it off the charge of semi-pelagianism by appealing to the ambiguity and general vagueness of almost all of the words. "He didn't mean it, yer honour. In fact, he didn't mean anything." On these grounds, of course, most of our TV advertising and jingles could be sung in church with only the slightest of tweaking.
eg. ‘Oh what a feeling! Lord Jesus!’ might well be sung to the tune of the Toyota ad.
It's my slightly belated Reformation Day wish that we might extirpate this pseudepigraphal prayer of St Francis from all Protestant hymnody and, incidentally, from the walls of some of the houses of our elderly aunts, where it sits in all its cheesy needlepointed or tea-towelled glory under a picture of those praying monkish hands.
The prayer was discovered (and possibly written) anonymously in 1912. As the wiki article on it notes (you can find the words there too), the prayer has been used and promoted by Roman Catholics, although it has become popular in other circles.
It is an essentially Christ-free poem that makes the individual pray-er the focus of God's work on earth, and where the true source of grace—the cross—has been eclipsed. In its place, I have become the channel of God's grace and the one whose work will bring knowledge of God.
There are a few other surprises in it, too. It is news to me, for example that I will be the one who brings about "true faith in you", as the ditty purports to request.
Like many fluffy and ambiguous hymns and choruses that we tend to sing in churches today, a good lawyer could probably get it off the charge of semi-pelagianism by appealing to the ambiguity and general vagueness of almost all of the words. "He didn't mean it, yer honour. In fact, he didn't mean anything." On these grounds, of course, most of our TV advertising and jingles could be sung in church with only the slightest of tweaking.
eg. ‘Oh what a feeling! Lord Jesus!’ might well be sung to the tune of the Toyota ad.
It's my slightly belated Reformation Day wish that we might extirpate this pseudepigraphal prayer of St Francis from all Protestant hymnody and, incidentally, from the walls of some of the houses of our elderly aunts, where it sits in all its cheesy needlepointed or tea-towelled glory under a picture of those praying monkish hands.
Monday, 16 July 2007
Abuse of aborigines
It isn't just happening in the Northern Territory.
We ought to pray for indigenous Christians and other Christians who are directly involved with them, that they may be able to continue to battle against these situations, and that the Federal government's interventions will be wise.
We ought to pray for indigenous Christians and other Christians who are directly involved with them, that they may be able to continue to battle against these situations, and that the Federal government's interventions will be wise.
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Confession
I'm really sad that in our public prayer, confession seems to have disappeared.
Here's what we used to say each week in the days when we used the prayer book:
I'm leading church tonight, so I might get us to pray this together. If I can get that most excellent PowerPoint set up in time.
Here's what we used to say each week in the days when we used the prayer book:
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
maker of all things, judge of all people,
we acknowledge with shame the sins we have committed,
by thought, word and deed, against your divine majesty,
provoking most justly your wrath and indignation against us.
We earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for all our misdoings.
Have mercy on us, most merciful Father.
For your Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake
forgive us all that is past,
and grant that from this time forward
we may serve and please you in newness of life,
to the honour and glory of your name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I'm leading church tonight, so I might get us to pray this together. If I can get that most excellent PowerPoint set up in time.
Monday, 4 June 2007
Answered prayer
I had some really lovely and wonderful answers to prayer at church yesterday.
Gary preached an absolute blinder of a sermon on...prayer. One prayer in particular; the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3:14-19. What a marvellous model of what we should, can and must pray for:
It is both a privilege and a delight to pray, and one of the reasons we pray is because we can! Gary reminded us that not everyone can pray, contrary to popular belief. Only those who have access into the Heavenly Father's throne room, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, can enjoy this privilege.
Then that evening I had a quite unexpected conversation with H, who is seriously close to committing himself to the lordship and forgiveness of Jesus. We prayed; or rather I prayed with him. We will talk again in a week or two, and he will keep reading his Bible and may start to pray.
I pray, Heavenly Father, that H will do just that—that H may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, and may be filled with all the fulness of God.
I still didn't find that library book, but. Perhaps the Lord wants me to boost the meagre income of the local library by paying for a new book at a ridiculously inflated price.
Gary preached an absolute blinder of a sermon on...prayer. One prayer in particular; the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3:14-19. What a marvellous model of what we should, can and must pray for:
Eph. 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
It is both a privilege and a delight to pray, and one of the reasons we pray is because we can! Gary reminded us that not everyone can pray, contrary to popular belief. Only those who have access into the Heavenly Father's throne room, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, can enjoy this privilege.
Then that evening I had a quite unexpected conversation with H, who is seriously close to committing himself to the lordship and forgiveness of Jesus. We prayed; or rather I prayed with him. We will talk again in a week or two, and he will keep reading his Bible and may start to pray.
I pray, Heavenly Father, that H will do just that—that H may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, and may be filled with all the fulness of God.
I still didn't find that library book, but. Perhaps the Lord wants me to boost the meagre income of the local library by paying for a new book at a ridiculously inflated price.
Sunday, 3 June 2007
Prayer
Heavenly Father, please help me to pray more!
Thank you for my family and our church. Help Gary, myself and the other people preaching today to tell the truth about you. Help us to preach Christ. Thank you also for the leaders at Munchkins, Sparks and Beagles, and that our three girls so much appreciate going and learning about you in those places. I pray that as well as the fun and games, they will see you clearly through your word. Thank you for the memory verse they keep being taught, "God keeps all his promises."
Thank you for the support group for Martin and Julie Field and the rest of the family, happening today. Please help us be good supporters. Thank you that Martin will be speaking on Zephaniah at 5.00 church for the next 3 Sundays. What a pain in the neck that their visa for Argentina hasn't come through. But how wonderful that in your grace you allow us to hear from Martin and to build our relationship with him in this way, through the teaching of your word.
Father, may your kingdom come, and your will be done. Please help me to remember to pray and act as if you are returning, because I keep forgetting. Help me to remind the family, and I pray for the people in my family and the people I know who don't know you, that they will prepare themselves for your Son's return in terrible glory. Help me to believe it too.
I'm so sick of working on my Masters, and Fiona's pretty bored of it too, so thank you that it's about to get handed in. I pray that the work I've done will be useful to someone other than just me, and remind people of the day-to-day reality of working out faith in practise.
Since it's Sunday: please bless Bruce, our rector, and his wife Rose and their whole family. Thank you for Bruce's many faithful years of gospel preaching at Carlingford, and his leadership of so many people in gospel ministry. I pray that as we hear your gospel of forgiveness, we may come to rely on it, and you, in ever increasing dependence, joy, hope and thankfulness.
Amen.
Oh, and please help me find that library book.
Thank you for my family and our church. Help Gary, myself and the other people preaching today to tell the truth about you. Help us to preach Christ. Thank you also for the leaders at Munchkins, Sparks and Beagles, and that our three girls so much appreciate going and learning about you in those places. I pray that as well as the fun and games, they will see you clearly through your word. Thank you for the memory verse they keep being taught, "God keeps all his promises."
Thank you for the support group for Martin and Julie Field and the rest of the family, happening today. Please help us be good supporters. Thank you that Martin will be speaking on Zephaniah at 5.00 church for the next 3 Sundays. What a pain in the neck that their visa for Argentina hasn't come through. But how wonderful that in your grace you allow us to hear from Martin and to build our relationship with him in this way, through the teaching of your word.
Father, may your kingdom come, and your will be done. Please help me to remember to pray and act as if you are returning, because I keep forgetting. Help me to remind the family, and I pray for the people in my family and the people I know who don't know you, that they will prepare themselves for your Son's return in terrible glory. Help me to believe it too.
I'm so sick of working on my Masters, and Fiona's pretty bored of it too, so thank you that it's about to get handed in. I pray that the work I've done will be useful to someone other than just me, and remind people of the day-to-day reality of working out faith in practise.
Since it's Sunday: please bless Bruce, our rector, and his wife Rose and their whole family. Thank you for Bruce's many faithful years of gospel preaching at Carlingford, and his leadership of so many people in gospel ministry. I pray that as we hear your gospel of forgiveness, we may come to rely on it, and you, in ever increasing dependence, joy, hope and thankfulness.
Amen.
Oh, and please help me find that library book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
