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A prayer for today

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Daniel PrayingI recently read Daniel 9 and it struck me that Daniel’s prayer for the Nation of Israel is a good prayer for any nation.

Here is his prayer as recorded in Daniel 9:4-19:

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

The people of Israel were a lot like us. They did not automatically do the right thing, nor were they very keen on obeying the word of God. They rebelled and reaped the consequences of their immoral behavior.

We can learn a lesson from Daniel’s prayer. Daniel earnestly interceded on behalf of his people and asked God to intervene and do something about it. God has provided the ultimate response by sending Jesus.

Jesus came to begin to repair the damage that has been done throughout the ages. We have been in rebellion since the declaration of war which took place in the Garden of Eden. Jesus has been correcting the damage done by our rebellion; he has done so, is doing so, and will do so by changing individual hearts.

In all my years of church attendance, I’ve not heard anyone offer a prayer like this for his church or his nation. But now would be a good time to start praying in this way.

In watching or reading the news, it is not hard to figure out that my country needs it, I assume that yours does also.

 

A check that won’t bounce

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The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 1:4 that Jesus was declared “the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead” He did not become the Son of God as a result of the resurrection. Rather, the resurrection demonstrated the fact that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

During a recent Bible study where we were discussing the resurrection of Jesus I thought of the analogy of writing a check. Jesus claimed to have power over death, he claimed that he would die and then rise again. Using the analogy of writing a check, Jesus wrote a large check to us when he promised that we could be raised to new life.

The analogy of a check

Blank CheckIf I wrote you a check for a million dollars and you went to the bank to cash it, after the branch manager stopped laughing, he would inform you that I do not have sufficient funds to cover the check. By writing that check, I would have made a promise that I could not keep.

Now, if Bill Gates wrote that check, the story would have a different ending. He could make such a promise because he has the ability to keep the promise that the check represents

The fact that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead proves that he had sufficient funds to cover that check. He made a promise and proved that he has the ability to keep that promise.

I’ve heard Ravi Zacharias make the point on several occasions that Jesus could have taken the easy route and promised that he would rise in a spiritual sense. Whether or not anyone rises spiritually is not a subject for empirical verification. There would have been no opportunity to falsify Jesus’ claim.

Jesus did not say he would rise spiritually, he promised that he would rise physically. If, he would not have actually done so, all of his promises and teaching would then become suspect. All the enemies of Christ had to do was present a body and Christianity would never have gotten a start.

Why this matters

If (since) Jesus proved his mastery over death, we can live with a different perspective as we meander through this life. At the end of his discussion of the resurrection and its importance in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes:

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:55–58, ESV)

As a result of this knowledge we are to be steadfast. We are to be immovable. Sure, we are not always this way, but when we are not, it is because we have lost sight of who God is and what he has promised to do for us.

The funds to cover the check have been in the bank waiting.

Joy is a life vest

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JoyJoy is like a life vest. A life vest does not keep you out of the waves, but keeps the waves from overwhelming you.

Happiness depends on avoiding a difficulty, but joy is deeper than happiness. One can infer from the word “happy” that it is dependent upon circumstances for the good feeling. The word happenstance comes from the same root. Happiness depends on what happens to us. So, to be happy, I need life to go well right now.

Joy, on the other hand, comes from a long-term view and an understanding that it all comes out well in the end. This is why Paul, in 2 Corinthians 7:4, can write:

In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

What I’m learning is that joy does not keep you from the trial, but it can sustain you through the trial.

For the Christian, joy is not rooted in some vague, self-generated sense of well being. Joy is rooted in the character of God and an understanding that Jesus has made a provision for us. Jesus makes a way through the trial, reminding us that it is God  who is at work “to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

This is not a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps self-will, nor is it a Pollyanna-like refusal to take the trial seriously. Joy is realistic about the difficulty and its consequences. but not willing to let the difficulty have the last say.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be spared from a trial; only a masochist would actually want to suffer. But there is everything right with asking God to show you how to have joy in the midst of the difficulty.

Why ask God for this? The best reason is that Paul tells us that joy is one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. Joy is something that God wants to produce in us. When we pray to receive joy, we are asking for something that we know is according to God’s will.

Because we are broken people living in a broken world, there are only three categories of people:

  1. Those who have come out of a trial
  2. Those that are in a trial
  3. Those are moving into a trial

So, in the likely event of a water landing . . . put on joy as your life vest to keep you above the waves.

 

Self inflicted wounds

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“But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.” (Ezekiel 36:21, ESV)

Self-inflicted woundWhat did the nation of Israel do to profane God’s name? In reading the Old Testament prophets I find these themes recurring:

  • They allowed the surrounding culture to corrupt their worship of the one true God.
  • They ignored Scriptural commands when they conflicted with their material gain or personal pleasure.
  • They became unconcerned about social justice issues.

Let’s be honest. On a personal level and as a group we struggle with these same issues. The very first temptation began with the words, “Did God really say . . .” and we have struggled to obey ever since.

My observation of Christendom in 2015 is that we sometimes profane the name of God by misrepresenting him in our dealings with those outside the church. We are seen as judgmental and unforgiving by much of the populace. As a group, we can be quick to denounce and slow to forgive. A cursory internet search will provide numerous examples of condemnation and “holier-than-thou” nonsense coming from Christians. The nonsense is not only targeted at non-Christians, we have a tendency to condemn other Christians over the slightest provocation.

When those outside the church criticize our lack of love and hypocrisy, we respond as if we are being persecuted. But much of the perceived “persecution” is self-inflicted. We are rightly condemned by the culture around us when we fail to represent Jesus well.

We will fix this when we become less concerned about our own reputations and more concerned about God’s name. We need to be less inclined to misrepresent God to the people who do not claim a relationship with him.

In John 17:1 Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you . . .” Jesus was all about bringing glory to the father.

The next time you feel like going on a rant about your pet issue, ask yourself these questions:

  • Who gets the glory? Am I concerned about my reputation or am I concerned about people recognizing the glory of God?
  • Does my action misrepresent the character of God as displayed in Jesus?

I keep coming back to the fact that the only group toward which Jesus was harsh were the Pharisees. Jesus was harsh with them because they should have known better.

They say that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. I agree and freely admit that I have a long way to go and God has a lot of work to do in me so that I can more accurately reflect the character of God. So, this post is not in condemnation of anyone.

What this post is intended to condemn is unrighteous anger, stony hearts and self-righteousness. All of which I put on display at the most inopportune times.

Perhaps if we all look in the mirror and admit that we fail to accurately represent God, we could then begin the process of restoring the damage and show people in 2015 AD why the Jesus who walked the Earth was so appealing to people in 30 AD.

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