Helpless? Helpable.

Hey, Y'all,

Today we're again checking in with Yancey and more of his thoughts on Prayer...

Norwegian theologian Ole Hallesby settled on the single word 'helplessness' as the best summary of the heart attitude that God accepts as prayer. "Whether it takes the form of words or not does not mean anything to God, only to ourselves...Only he who is helpless can truly pray."

What a stumbling block! Almost from birth we aspire to self-reliance...As adults we like to pay our own way, make our own decisions, rely on no outside help...All the while we are systematically sealing off the 'heart attitude' most desirable to God and most descriptive of our true state in the universe. "Apart from me you can do nothing," Jesus told His disciples, a plain fact that we still attempt to deny.

The truth of course is that I am not self-reliant. I rely on public utilities to bring me electricity, vehicle manufacturers to provide me transportation, ranchers and farmers to feed me...I live in a web of dependence, at the center of which is God in whom all things are held together. Prayer forces me to catch sight of this, my true state...Prayer is thus a declaration of dependence on God.

In a world that glorifies success, an admission of weakness disarms pride at the same time that it prepares us to receive grace. Meanwhile, the very weakness that drives us to pray becomes an invitation for God to respond with compassion and power...In the presence of the Great Physician, my most appropriate contribution is my wounds.

You've been prayed for today...

Real

Hey, Y'all,

We're back to Yancey's book on prayer in today's thought--check it out...and BTW, you've been prayed for today.

"The prayer preceding all prayers is this:
May it be the real I who speaks.
May it be the real Thou that I speak to."
C.S. Lewis

Sometimes I wonder if the words I use are the least important part of prayer. Who am I? Who am I really? Who is God? Who is He really? If I can answer those questions, the words I pray recede in importance.

Prayer invites me to lower my defenses and
present the self that no other person fully knows
to the God who already knows.

"All His Benefits" (Psalm 103)

Hey, Y'all,

Our regularly scheduled RST (returning to Yancey's book on prayer) has been preempted by this Audio RST that hit me this morning during some quiet time with God--it's from Psalm 103 which I've included below in part. Funny how David says "forget not"...so I guess I'm not the only one who might have some occasional trouble remembering how truly blessed I am! God is good, and that's the truth. Here you go...


Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.


You are blessed--forget not!
That's my prayer for you (and me!) today...

Franciscan Benediction

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST was sent in by Art (thanks, dude!)--here's praying for some more discomfort, anger, tears, and foolishness for me (and for you).

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain,rejection,hunger,and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
And to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen

You've been prayed for today...

No Corner On Truth: The Village Blacksmith

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is a bit of a change of pace (some of you may need to fasten your seat belts for the punchline :-)

Over the past few years I've had this very cool running conversation with a good friend about Truth, about its enormity and universality and transcendence. A corollary of this discussion has been the realization that, if we keep our eyes and ears open, God and Truth are in evidence everywhere around us, even in some pretty unusual and unexpected places (and people).

Take a few days ago, for example; I was on the Pacific Surfliner (riding the rails instead of dealing with traffic--sweet!) on my way to see these very friends (who are in every meaningful way family). It was a gorgeous day, families and surfers alike crowded the beaches all up the coast, the sun was glittering on the Pacific--and suddenly the thought occurred to me, "Man! I am SO blessed!" Where did that come from? Who created in me (and apparently in everyone at the beach that day) that sense of well-being and joy that we associate with "beauty?"

I also think of innumerable moments not merely listening to but profoundly experiencing music (of all sorts, BTW--no snobbishness here :-) From music in church to Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" to Bill Evans' "We Will Meet Again" to Casting Crowns' "Your Love Is Extravagant" to...well, I could go on and on (and I'm sure some of you are cracking "as opposed to what?!?" right about now :-) Then there's this serendipitous "Truth Moment" (which actually begat this RST).

Ages ago, I don't remember when exactly (probably about the same time as we were "asked" to memorize The Gettysburg Address :-) we were given Longfellow's poem "The Village Blacksmith" to read and discuss, and I distinctly remember how it seemed to impact somewhere deep in my soul with an almost audible "Thud!" It was this palpable, living, breathing thing, and it moved me.

Well, the other day, literally years since I've given this poem any thought whatsoever, in a seemingly random and totally unexpected place, I ran across it again, and the funny thing was that the first part of the poem which had moved me most as a kid still did, but the last couple of stanzas--which I remember not really "getting" back then--really hit me this time. Funny, still moved, but by a different facet this time than last. Kind of like Truth--not some static monument, but a living, breathing, dynamic thing that I experience and learn from and revisit and am moved by again, and probably differently at that.

So here are the last couple of stanzas of the poem--mind you, you should Google the whole thing and enjoy it in toto--but here are the lines that this time impacted me with the unmistakable "Thud!" of Truth.

Toiling, --rejoicing, --sorrowing,
onward through life he goes;
each morning sees some task begin,
each evening sees it close;
something attempted, something done,
has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
for the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
our fortunes must be wrought;
thus on its sounding anvil shaped
each burning deed and thought.

So what's my point? Funny you should ask :-) It's ludicrous to say that only I and those who believe like me can understand beauty--in fact, there may be those who would do a better job of "getting it" and thus sharing it. It is equally ludicrous, not to mention frustrating and fruitless at best (and overly narrow-minded and arrogance-inducing at worst), to think that any one group of people can claim to have a corner on God or "The Truth." The vastness of God, of Truth, are manifested everywhere around us, we just need to open our eyes (and minds?) to see it.

You've been prayed for today...

Prayer Follow-Up

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is a follow-up to the previous ones on prayer and comes to us from Cesiah (thanks!) who also reminded me that it's been a long time since I posted the blog link and described RSTs for the list newcomers (must be that quality SWAU education shining through!).

So what are RSTs? The acronym stands for Random Spiritual Thoughts--though more likely they should be called "not-entirely-Random Spiritual Thoughts" since more often than I can count they've landed precisely on-target for someone. Basically they consist of things we read or hear or epiphanies we have that speak some spiritual truth to us--sometimes simple, sometimes profound, and less and less I think random. So read on...

I'll share what prayer does for me so far as I understand. Prayer is an escape from this 'reality' I live in (you know, like the feeling you get when you step out of the movie theater after being 'lost' in a movie? That's the feeling I have come to label as 'God calling me back to His reality.' Prayer is that movie that takes me back to that place). It's like Jaci Velasquez' song says, "Un lugar celestial, just a little bit of heaven...where the presence of my Father holds me in His love."

Prayer helps me to remember that I'm not alone in this horrible 'reality'...that the story of my life on earth has yet to have its 'happy ending'--but nevertheless no doubt ITS COMING. That the suffering HAS BEEN avenged--even if its not visible yet.

Prayer reminds me who I am--the words of Mufasa from "Lion King" ring in my ear now--"Remember who you are..." :-) and hat restoration day is coming! And that this fact is enough to keep me in the battle.

Prayer helps me to consciously drop the noise--and tune into Him (you know, like a soundboard... drop down the knobs to the volume of the other sounds). And finally say..."Lord, so speak to me... I wanna hear YOUR voice."

Thanks Cesiah (BTW, gotta love any RST that contains a "Lion King" reference--"Mufasa!" "OoOoOoOoh!...Say it again!" You're probably gonna try to lay this one on your kids, right? :-)

Words to live by:
Prayer helps me to drop the noise--and tune into Him.

You've been prayed for today...

God's View, God's Creation, God's Triumph

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is another thought from Yancey's book on
prayer--it's cool how many of the questions he raises
and points he makes resonate with so many of us. Read
on and mull over!

We live on a broken planet, fallen far from God's
original intent. It takes effort to remember who we
are--God's creation, and faith to imagine what we
someday will be--God's triumph.

Why pray? I have asked this question almost every
day of my christian life, especially when God's
presence seems far away and I wonder if prayer is a
pious form of talking to myself. I have asked it when
I read theology, wondering what use there may be in
repeating what God must surely know.

My conclusions will unfold only gradually, but I
begin here because prayer has become for me much more
than a shopping list of requests to present to God.
It has become a realignment of everything. I pray to
restore the truth of the universe, to gain a glimpse
of the world, and of me, through the eyes of God.

Prayer is the act of seeing reality from God's point
of view.

You've been prayed for today...

Be Still: Attention Is A Habit

Hey, Y'all,

Friday (and Sabbath) at last! Long week--looking forward to a change of scenery. Today's RST takes us back to Yancey's Prayer--and it starts out with one of my favorite verses--not because I'm any good at it, mind you, but because I aspire to it. :-) It's good stuff--check it out...and you've been prayed for today.

"Be still and know that I am God." I read in this familiar verse from Psalms two commands of equal importance. First, I must be still, something that modern life conspires against...Mystery, awareness of another world, an emphasis on being rather than doing, even a few moments of quiet do not come naturally in this hectic, buzzing world. I must carve out time and allow God to nourish my inner life...

[Patricia Hampl wrote that prayer] "fundamentally is a position, a placement of oneself...Prayer as focus is not a way of limiting what can be seen; it is a habit of attention brought to bear on all that [truly] is." Ah, a habit of attention...Be still...In that focus, all else comes into focus. In that rift in my routine, the universe falls into alignment.

This stillness prepares me for the second command: "Know that I am God." Only through prayer can I believe that truth in the midst of a world that colludes to suppress, not exalt God." [Also, the obvious implication is that if He is God, I am not. Simon Tugwell says that] "God is inviting us to take a break, to play truant. We can stop doing all those "important things" we have to do in our capacity as 'god,' and leave it to Him to be God." Prayer allows me to admit my failures, weaknesses, and limitations to the One who responds to human vulnerability with infinite mercy.

To let God be God, of course, means climbing down from my own executive chair of control. I must uncreate the world I have so carefully fashioned to further my ends and advance my cause...If original sin traces back to two people striving to become like God, the first step in prayer is to acknowledge or "remember" God--to restore the truth of the universe, "that man may know he dwells not in his own," as Milton says.

Persevere (Follow-Up)

Hey, Y'all,

Hope things are good. Before getting back to the Prayer RSTs wanted to follow-up on the idea of perseverance--heard back from a few of you so thought I'd share a couple of your thoughts on that last RST (thanks Tom B. and Sharon!)--but first, I couldn't in good conscience not give you the intro to Isaiah 43:2 (verse 1)--it's an amazing thought, actually...

Now this is what the Lord says;
He created you, people of Jacob;
He formed you, people of Israel.
He says, "Don't be afraid,
because I have saved you.
I have called you by name,
and you are mine."

On to Sharon's thoughts...

Hi there! I too love Isaiah 43:2. Thanks! When I last read Isaiah, something else caught my attention along those lines, in Isaiah 41:10 and 42:16.

I like the thought of my God being big enough to handle my problems. After all he's the Lord Almighty isn't he? "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you." (41:10)

God knows the beginning from the end. God knows all and he loves us, so why do we question him? I suppose it's our humanness. Always thinking that we should have control of the outcomes or know how things should be (?!?). Perhaps when we "let go" then God can really work in our lives and take care of the struggles. "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth." (42:16)

My God is the LORD ALMIGHTY
My God LOVES ME
My God WILL NOT allow me to be OVERCOME...
no matter what comes my way (back to Isaiah 43:2)

Now, if I only would make God the "Lord of my Life!" :-)

Yep...words to live by--all of 'em.
You've been prayed for today.

Persevere...

Hey, Y'all,

Funny, the word "perseverance" from that last RST has been literally rattling around in my head since I sent it out, and I wasn't really sure why until today when it clicked into place. I guess I'd thought about it before, but not to this extent.

Obviously, you don't "persevere" on an easy or effortless path, but rather the opposite. This morning I unexpectedly heard from a friend who's passing through deep waters, and I realized that I now am aware of a fairly substantial group of people who are "walking through the fire" right now. Not to be trite (y'all know), but been there...

There are only a couple of things we know for certain: we will have to overcome adversity (and likely with some regularity) in this life--I mean James didn't say "if and when you perhaps happen to maybe encounter a trial or two," he said "WHEN you face troubles" (in the plural, I might add); Isaiah said God walks with you "WHEN you pass through the waters," not IF you happen to. Interestingly, the second thing we can take to the bank is borne on those same wings: God knows, God cares, and He's right there, in it, with you.

Funny, just realized that Paul (in that last RST) also gives us a "how-to" to take that first step: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."

So, my peeps--and you know who you are:
we're thinking about you, we're praying for you.
And yeah, God knows, and He cares;
He's right there with you, in it.
So lift up your eyes,
fix your eyes on Him,
and persevere.


You've been prayed for today (some of you earnestly so).
More on this tomorrow, but for today...

"When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze."
Isaiah 43:2