lenten disciplines

Crossing the Finish Line

Posted on by Betsy

One of the blessings of observing Lent for six weeks is the focused anticipation of Easter. Some of us anticipate it with the breathless excitement of a child waiting for her Easter basket full of jelly beans. Some of us anticipate it like a child attending an Easter egg hunt….we know there are hidden treats there somewhere, but we are still looking through the high grass. Most of us just want the six weeks of self-deprivation to end.

Whatever your perspective is as we begin this last week of Lent, Easter is coming. The hour approaches. The finish line is in sight! The culmination of this season of disciplined waiting is about to end.

How are you doing?

Have you kept up with the commitments you made on Ash Wednesday to be more diligent in your fasting, prayer, scripture reading, meditation, repentance, worship, and serving?

Yeah, me neither.

You might be like me. I have been satisfactory in one area. I picked up two Cokesbury contracts this Lent, so I am writing and studying Scripture for hours on end. But I totally bombed in another. I committed to not snacking in the evening and that has been a big fail. My definition of “evening” keeps getting pushed back…all the way to midnight.

Today’s Scripture is a glimpse of how Jesus spent his last hours before the crucifixion. Notice his complete and total commitment to what was about to happen.

John 12 (English Standard Version)


20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

The hour has come. This must be finished. A grain of wheat must die in the ground to produce seed for the fruit. You must die to your life to produce seed for eternal life. Jesus invites us to follow him in this last hour.

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

Jesus didn’t waver at the end. Neither should we. Let us push on with our Lent practices and finish strong. Remember that the whole point of Lent is to bring us closer and deeper into God’s Holy presence. It’s not so much about “giving up” as it is “focusing in” on who God is and whose we are. That focus allows God to be glorified in our lives and the crowd of people around us will know we are Christ-followers by our example.

The finish line is in sight! No turning back.

Almost There

Farming Faithfulness

Posted on by Betsy

Did you read Hamlet in high school? Many of us were exposed to this monumental Shakespearian “revenge tragedy” in our youth. Hamlet is a story of revenge gone wrong. Instructed by his father’s ghost to avenge his death, young Hamlet devises a way to kill his uncle for the murder. So Hamlet fakes madness, rejects his intended love interest Ophelia (who later drowns), stabs loyal attendant Polonius by accident behind a tapestry, and watches his mother die from poisoned wine intended for him. It ends with duel that kills both Laertes and Hamlet. The lesson of Hamlet is that revenge is a dish best not served. 

David’s Psalm 37 teaches the same thing. This wisdom psalm is reminiscent of Proverbs and follows a rough acrostic pattern where the first words of each line flow alphabetically from Alpha to Zed.

Psalm 37 (Common English Bible)

Don’t get upset over evildoers;
    don’t be jealous of those who do wrong,
2     because they will fade fast, like grass;
    they will wither like green vegetables.

David tells us not to fret. We all recognize that fretting is harmful and unproductive, and yet when evildoers prevail, it is hard not to fume. David teaches us instead to “farm faithfulness” by waiting on God to avenge us. God will eliminate the evil doers who fade fast like grass on a hot summer day. We don’t need to take action, for God will avenge us.

3 Trust the Lord and do good;
    live in the land, and farm faithfulness.
4 Enjoy the Lord,
    and he will give what your heart asks.
5 Commit your way to the Lord!
    Trust him! He will act
6     and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
    your justice like high noon.
7 Be still before the Lord,
    and wait[b] for him.
Don’t get upset when someone gets ahead—
    someone who invents evil schemes.

Verses 3 through 7 are a list of directives that will help us from being distracted by our desire for revenge and enable us to farm that faithfulness that David encouraged. Look at the first words in each verse. We are instructed to enjoy the Lord, commit our way to God, trust God, be still, and don’t get upset. The invitation to delight in God reminds us that even in prison, Paul and Sirus sang as they awaited justice. God intends to give us the desires of our heart if we commit our ways to him. 

8 Let go of anger and leave rage behind!
    Don’t get upset—it will only lead to evil.
9 Because evildoers will be eliminated,
    but those who hope in the Lord—
    they will possess the land.
10 In just a little while the wicked won’t exist!
    If you go looking around their place,
    they won’t be there.
11 But the weak will inherit the land;
    they will enjoy a surplus of peace.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous,
    grinding their teeth at them.
13 But my Lord just laughs at them
    because he knows that their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows
    to bring down the weak and the needy,
    to slaughter those whose way is right.
15 But the sword of the wicked will enter their own hearts!
    Their bows will be broken!

Psalm 37 offers pointers on how to live in and live as the Kingdom of God. We can see correlations between David’s writing and Jesus’ Beatitudes found in Matthew 5, particularly in the revelation that the meek shall inherit the land/earth in Psalm 37:11 and Matthew 5:5. All of the spiritual reversals in the Beatitudes are reflected in this psalm’s contrasts between the wicked and the righteous. Our Lord knew his Scriptures and certainly Psalm 37 served as a foundation to the words he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are we when we trust God’s justice and wait patiently for God to act.

Do you trust God enough to be patient or do you need to get revenge? What would it take for you emulate meekness? Be still. God is on your side.

Still Water by Stacy Murphy

Not Fair-You-See

Posted on by Betsy

This morning we return to the story of a blind man who was healed by Jesus by mixing dirt and spit together and putting it on the man’s eyes. Our focus today is on the blindness of the Pharisees. You will quickly see that they live up to their name and are not fair-you-see. (Google “I Just Wanna Be a Sheep” for further explanation.)

John 9 (The Message)

13-15 They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, “He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “Obviously, this man can’t be from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others countered, “How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?” There was a split in their ranks.

17 They came back at the blind man, “You’re the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

24 They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind—and told him, “Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor.”

25 He replied, “I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see.” 26 They said, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 “I’ve told you over and over and you haven’t listened. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you so eager to become his disciples?”

28-29 With that they jumped all over him. “You might be a disciple of that man, but we’re disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from.” 

30-33 The man replied, “This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It’s well known that God isn’t at the beck and call of sinners but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn’t come from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

34 They said, “You’re nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!” Then they threw him out in the street.

So immediately the crowd started to buzz about the miracle and begin to deny what was evident right before their very eyes. “Wasn’t this the blind man?” “No, it couldn’t be the blind man. It just looks like him!” So even though he gave a clear account of what Jesus had done, they couldn’t see it for what it was and dragged the man before the Pharisees.

The Pharisees, you recall, suffered with their own kind of blindness. It was a spiritual blindness to the needs of the community due to their laser point focus on the Law. The word Pharisee comes from the Hebrew word “perushim” meaning separated. They separated themselves from everyone else by living in strict accord of the sacred writings and the oral traditions that laid down very exact rules for living. They hoped to keep their religion pure and wanted to ward off any influence of pagan and gentile thought and culture.

But it isn’t an overstatement to suggest that sometimes they carried this too far and their rigidity blinded them to the acts of God that were happening all around them. Because of this blindness, they were highly offended that Jesus healed on the Sabbath, which broke the Law, even going so far as to proclaim that this alone disqualified Jesus from being a “man of God,” for surely someone truly sent by God would have let the blind man remain blind in order to honor the Sabbath. In their self-righteousness, they were totally blind to compassion, humanity, and God’s priorities for his people.

The story ends with Jesus finding the man again after his argument with the Pharisees has landed him out on the street. Now we need to remember that the last time they were together, the man walked away to the pool with mud pies on his eyes, so he had not seen Jesus until that very moment. When he put the voice to the face, he recognized that he was seeing Jesus for the first time, he cried out “I believe!” Seeing is believing, but also believing is seeing.

Friends, Lent is all about seeing God more clearly. Lent is a good time to do an “I” exam. Lent teaches us to look for God in ordinary places and things like mud and spit and water. Lent adjusts and sharpens the lens of God’s healing power and what we must do to help ourselves get better, physically, spiritually, relationally, and nationally. Lent invites us into a pool of purification so that we might be cleansed and sent. Do you see what I’m talking about?

What are you being blind to? What situation in your family, your workplace, your neighborhood, or your nation are you deliberately not seeing that is crying out for your help? Where do you need corrective lenses so that you can see what God sees?

Today is a good to open your eyes. May God bring clarity and direction to our sight.

Do You See What I See?

The True Meaning of Family

Posted on by Betsy

I need to confess to you that there have been times in my ministry when I let frustration get the better of me. One time in particular stands out in my memory. A week before Thanksgiving I received a phone call from the adult daughter of one of our elderly couples. She called to inquire about our Care Ministry and asked if someone could go to her parent’s house on Thanksgiving and take them a home cooked turkey dinner. Our Care Ministry is always responsive to any kind of need, but I was hesitant to ask someone to leave their family on Thanksgiving day to do this task. The parents were mobile enough to attend worship every Sunday, so I asked if one of them was sick or if something had happened. No, she responded, I just want them to have a nice Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

I knew that this daughter lived in Virginia, less than an hour’s drive, so I asked her if she had plans to see her parents over the long weekend. She responded that she was hosting Thanksgiving dinner for her golf buddies and their spouses and couldn’t possibly get down to her parent’s house. She got a little annoyed at my questions and said, “I thought that was what the church is for!! I just want them to have a nice home cooked turkey dinner on Thanksgiving day!!” I told her that we would deliver a meal on Wednesday, but if she wanted them to have a nice home cooked dinner on Thursday, perhaps she could drive down and get them so they could join her party. I’m pretty sure she hung up on me at that point.

She thought that is what the church is for. I thought that is what family is for. I found out the following Sunday when I saw the parents at church that they had enjoyed a Thanksgiving buffet at a local restaurant and their daughter had surprised them on Friday by bringing them her leftovers. As pleased as they were, I was sad that all the daughter could muster was dropping off day-old leftovers.

John 9 (The Message)

6-7 Jesus said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “Sent”). The man went and washed—and saw.

8 Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, “Why, isn’t this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?”

9 Others said, “It’s him all right!” But others objected, “It’s not the same man at all. It just looks like him.” He said, “It’s me, the very one.”

10 They said, “How did your eyes get opened?”

11 “A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ I did what he said. When I washed, I saw.”

12 “So where is he?” “I don’t know.”

While the town was buzzing about who this man was and what was happening, Jesus had simply seen the man’s anguish and mixed some dust and clay and spit together and made a miracle happen. He sent the man off to the pool at Siloam to wash. This was the pool that was used to purify pilgrims before entering the Temple. The word Siloam means “sent”… here is Jesus, the one sent by God, sending the man off to the pool to then be sent back bright-eyed into the world to bring a word of testimony. And it is significant that the man has to actively participate in his healing. He has to accept the help offered and collaborate with Jesus in his miracle. 

The disciples and the crowd made a lot assumptions about the man’s identity and were totally blind to the need that stood before them. But I found it very unsettling to read in verse 9 that there were relatives among the crowd. And then later in the chapter in verse 18 we discover that this blind beggar has parents in town. This makes me pause and wonder why nobody in the family could house and feed this man so that he didn’t have to beg for a living. Like the daughter at Thanksgiving, they acted like it was somebody else’s job.

And that then makes me wonder if there are times in our lives when we are deliberately blind to a need in our own families that we could potentially meet but decide instead to just look away. It is a good moment right here to ask yourself if you are choosing to be blind to a relative who needs your help, and what could you be doing do to alleviate their distress? Are you going to be like this crowd, or like Jesus?

Open your eyes.

Glad I Saw Him Before He Saw Me

Blame Game

Posted on by Betsy

For the brave among us, turning on any of the “news” programs is like watching an extended version of the blame game. It is never anybody’s fault anymore. Actions and words that are on film and on the record are denied the minute the tide changes and what was said or done no longer fits the current agenda. It boggles the mind how callous and deceitful people can be. Rather than stand up for what they said or did, the finger immediately comes out and they point to their enemy with emphatic “It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it. They are the ones that did wrong.” Like two young brothers trying to avoid punishment for hitting each other, they deflect responsibility and falsely accuse the other of the crime. And it’s just as childish.

In our Scripture today, we witness the miracle of Jesus’ healing a blind man with the simple elements of dirt and spit. One would think that this incredible, mind blowing thing would have people on their knees in awe and wonder. But other things take precedence, like trying to figure out who to blame for his blindness.

John 9: 1-41 (The Message)

 1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”

3-5 Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.”

We need to remember that in those times, disabilities like blindness were thought to be the result of sin. The Jewish understanding of the Levitical blessings and curses detailed in Leviticus 26 led them to believe that disobedience to God’s Word resulted in physical impairments. But even with that background, it is very disappointing to read that the disciples’ first reaction was to try to assess blame rather than to see how they might be able to help the man. They imply that the sin that led to the man’s blindness might even be the result of his parent’s sin, since he was blind from birth. 

I love Jesus’ immediate reaction. His sharp response left no room for interpretation. “You’re asking the wrong question.” They tried to impose their faulty theology on the situation when what the situation actually called for compassion and action.

I’m sure all of us are guilty of asking the wrong question from time to time. I remembered a scene from the old Pink Panther movie that illustrates this and still makes me laugh. Inspector Jacques Clouseau is checking into a hotel and there is a dog at the registration desk. 

Clouseau asks, “Does your dog bite?” The Hotel Clerk responds “No.” Clouseau bows down to pet the dog. “Nice doggie.” And immediately the dog barks and bites Clouseau’s hand.

Clouseau says,  “I thought you said your dog did not bite!” The Hotel Clerk responds, “That is not my dog.” Poor Clouseau! He asked the wrong question.

When we come upon someone who needs our help, maybe it is better and more Christ-like to ask, “How can I help” rather than, “How did you end up in this situation?” What we see can be severely clouded by our assumptions. We hear that someone has lung cancer, and we assume they are a heavy smoker. We see a teenager get arrested and we assume it is a result of bad parenting. We hear that someone got fired, and we speculate about what they did something to deserve it. We read a bad review of a doctor on Facebook, and we assume they are at fault.

Blame-casting and making assumptions have very little value when they replace just looking at situations with unbiased eyes and trying to see what God sees.

The challenge for us today is to be better than the disciples in this story and start asking the right questions. Next time you see someone in need, ask God to show you what he sees, and ask him to show you how you can help. Lent asks us this question: Can you see what God sees? Or do you need God to heal you of your blindness?

I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me by Michelle Robertson

Becoming God’s Dwelling

Posted on by Betsy

Many years ago I went on a pilgrimage to Israel with a group of people who wanted to experience God’s presence first hand in the land where Jesus walked. The highlight of the trip was a visit to the Temple in Jerusalem where we were able to place our hands on the remaining Western, or “Wailing” Wall to pray. The facade of the wall was filled with cracks and crevices between the large stones, and we were invited to stick rolled up pieces of paper with prayer requests there that we had carried with us from our families and our churches back home. There were people all around us praying out loud in their native languages: Hebrew, French, German, English …pilgrims from every corner of the globe had come to that sacred spot to pray. The minute my palms touched the ancient stones, something happened to me. Suddenly all the surrounding noise dulled in my ear and became a singular harmonic hum. I could feel a spiritual current of energy travel from my fingertips to my forehead and toes. The yip yip yips of the nearby women celebrating a teenager’s bat mitzvah faded into the background and all I could hear was a vibrating resonance that was other-worldly. There is an ethereal sense of God’s spirit in those stones, and I could envision the angels themselves descending to sing along with us. It was a moment of feeling connected to God that I will never forget. God dwelt among us that day.

We remember that God designed humanity with the purpose of dwelling with us in the perfection and sweetness of the Garden of Eden. But when sin happened, that fellowship was broken and God has been searching for a dwelling place ever since. In the book of Exodus we read that God instructed that a movable tabernacle be built in the wilderness of Moses’ time. Instructions were given to construct an Ark in which God would reside. When the people finally settled down in the Promised Land, the glorious temple was built in Jerusalem in Solomon’s time, and the Ark was moved there permanently. But then came the destruction of the Temple when the people rebelled and rejected God. Israel was sent into exile by the Babylonian king. Many years later, Cyrus of Persia allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and later still, King Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple in Jesus’ time, but the Ark was lost.

But by then, the Temple was unnecessary. Jesus was sent to be our temple, our priest, and our sacrifice. Jesus was God’s dwelling incarnate and became the new and forever temple. His sacrifice on the cross makes all the rituals of the former priesthood obsolete. As he told the woman at the well in John 4:23-24,

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and in truth.” (New International Version)

Paul continues this teaching in Ephesians, proclaiming that all in whom Jesus dwells are now being built into a holy temple in the Lord. God dwells in us!

Ephesians 2:21-22 (New International Version)

21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

How is your temple doing? Are your walls strong and able to withstand invading conquerors or is your faith weak and in need of some mortar and stone to shore up your foundation? Do people see the light of Christ shining through the stained glass windows of your actions and words? Are you pursuing holiness this Lent with your spiritual disciplines? Would God want to dwell in your temple?

Lent is a reminder that our temples are fragile and require daily upkeep. May God bless our building and re-building efforts as we move along toward Easter.

The Wailing Wall by Faye Gardner

Psalm 95 The Warning

Posted on by Betsy

And now, the warning.

The first 7 lines of Psalm 95 are a joyful rendering of what it is like to gather together in an assembly of worshippers and bow humbly before God in worship and adoration. Indeed, God created us for worship and this natural outpouring of admiration and appreciation for our maker is the very least we can do. David highlights the blessings that come when we sing and shout for joy to our incomparable God.

Then his tone shifts with the admonition to “listen to God’s voice right now.” He refers to Meribah and Massah, two places where the children of Israel displayed open rebellion and mistrust of God’s plan to deliver them to the Promised Land. After the miracles God had bestowed on them, after helping them escape Egypt, after bringing them through the Red Sea, destroying Pharaoh and his army as they tried to pursue them, after everything God did through Moses to save the people, their response was rebellious, unbelieving, and dismissive. They rejected God’s intervention, complaining that they should have been allowed to either die in Egypt where at least they had food, or die right there in the wilderness.

God offered them the choice to take the Promised Land by faith, and they responded with hearts that were hard with unbelief.

Psalm 95 (Common English Bible)

If only you would listen to his voice right now!
8     “Don’t harden your hearts
    like you did at Meribah,
    like you did when you were at Massah,
        in the wilderness,
9     when your ancestors tested me
        and scrutinized me,
    even though they had already seen my acts.

God won’t suffer our rejection for long. Refusing God’s ways is a sign of a twisted heart that has gone astray. As Spurgeon put it, “be not willful, wanton, or repeatedly and obstinately rebellious.” God honored their choice and left them to perish in the wilderness as Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land.

10 For forty years I despised that generation;
    I said, ‘These people have twisted hearts.
    They don’t know my ways.’
11 So in anger I swore:
    ‘They will never enter my place of rest!’”

The question this poses for us today is, are you resisting God’s will for your life? Are you rebelling against his voice and refusing to hear him? Are you putting God to the test? Take a page from Israel’s book. Bow down in trusting acceptance and sing songs of joy, or rebel against God at your own risk. Listen to God’s voice right now.

The Promised Land by Lola Hilton

Psalm 95 The Promise

Posted on by Betsy

Today’s lectionary passage is the beautiful Psalm 95. Hebrews 4:7 attributes this psalm to David. It is filled with both promise and warning. Today’s reading will focus on the hopeful aspects of David’s writing in verses 1-7a. Be sure to log on for the next devotional, which will delve into the warnings found at the end of Psalm 95 in verses 7b-11.

As I read this psalm today, my thoughts immediately went to the many and varied worship experiences I have participated in over the years. I was raised Methodist (we did not become “United Methodist” until I was about 9 years old) and so of course most of my experience has been formed by my denomination. But I have also worshipped in a “black box” non-denominational church where a fog machine and heavy metal guitars were dominant. As a kid I attended services in camp settings, where church was outside and we sat on logs and scratched bug bites on our ankles. And then there was that transcendent Christmas Eve service in Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral where the service was in French. And Catholic. Of course we have all done church online thanks to the pandemic, and as I travel, I either visit nearby churches or log into my home church in Kitty Hawk to worship there.

Of all the ways I worship, I honestly have to confess that online is my least favorite. I am grateful for the fact that online is available to us when we can’t physically get to a church and for many folks, it is the only option. So while it enables me to stay in touch with my church family at home, something is always missing, and that “something” is the community of people around me, singing, laughing, shaking hands, smiling, making eye contact … things I can’t get at home on my couch.

David begins his psalm with a tender invitation to come and sing out loud to the Lord. See, that’s the problem with online worship. I have never sung with my computer during a church service. Even though the words are on my screen and I can hear the congregation singing, I can’t bring myself to sit on my couch in a quiet room and burst out in song. Maybe it’s just me, but singing has got to be communal. Raising a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation from my living room seems weird and unappealing, not to mention how much it might startle the neighbors.

Psalm 95 (Common English Bible)

Come, let’s sing out loud to the Lord!
    Let’s raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let’s come before him with thanks!
    Let’s shout songs of joy to him!

David recognized that singing allows us to express our thoughts emotionally, especially as we experience joy. And the songs of joy are sung to God, not for the pleasure of the gathered people. We are reminded that when we gather, God is present and it is his presence that deserves our thanksgiving. When worship becomes performative and when worships leaders focus attention on themselves, everyone loses the real purpose of worship: To come before God and God alone. This cannot be pleasing to the Lord.

Pure worship directs our attention to God’s attributes. God is great. God is greater than any other god. God’s mastery of creation is to be celebrated. God’s ownership of his creation, including us, is to be remembered. Nothing around us came from human ingenuity or hard work. Everything and everyone comes from his hands and belongs to him.

In the Hebrew language, verse 3 highlights three aspects of God’s nature. God is EL, great, mighty, and strong. God is JEHOVAH, the great I Am through whom all things are made. And God is ELOHIM, expressing the covenant relationship to humankind as something that belongs to him.

3 The Lord is a great God,
    the great king over all other gods.
4 The earth’s depths are in his hands;
    the mountain heights belong to him;
5     the sea, which he made, is his
        along with the dry ground,
        which his own hands formed.

The invitation continues with a call to humility. Worship in essence is a bowing down to the Lord. By submitting to a prostrate position, whether physically or just in our hearts, we signal our acceptance of our place before the Lord. We kneel in acknowledgment that we are but frail sheep in his hands. We depend on his care. We exist because he keeps us safe, fed, and nurtured in the pasture. We are his, and he is ours.

6 Come, let’s worship and bow down!
    Let’s kneel before the Lord, our maker!
7 He is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the sheep in his hands.

We will tackle the warnings that follow in verse 7b next time, but for now, take a moment to worship God wherever you are. Sing, pray, kneel, and bow down. The Lord is here, even online.

The Lord is Here by Becca Ziegler

Ways to Pray

Posted on by Betsy

I was blessed to be asked to preach a sermon on prayer recently, and I developed this list of different types of prayer for that message. Even though we understand that praying is simply having conversations with God and can be just that, a two way dialogue, I find it helpful in my own life to alter how I pray in order to not get into a prayer rut. I think this list would be especially helpful to you if you are trying to increase your prayer life as a Lenten discipline. Take a look:

THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE PRAYERS: This is always a good place to start any prayer effort. When we articulate the things we are thankful for, it directs our minds to our blessings and allows God a chance to hear our gratitude. Even in the darkest moment, we can find something to praise God for if we start our prayer time with a little “Thank you Jesus” moment and offer these prayers throughout the day. Focusing on our gratitude helps us see what God is doing.

FLASH PRAYERS: These prayers are prompted by interruptions or distractions, like hearing ambulance or firetruck sirens, noticing people in line at Food Lion while you are waiting your turn, or even just by driving past neighbors houses and praying deliberately for them. Usually interruptions are annoying, but let God use them to call you into prayer!

LAMENTATIONS: In deep grief and overwhelming anger, God can feel distant. We may feel abandoned. But that provides fertile ground for prayer. We can feel comfortable telling God exactly how we feel! Trust me, he can handle it. Lamenting is always perfectly appropriate in our relationship with God.  

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS: To intercede means to stand in the gap for others. It is good to keep a list of people who need your prayers and pray through the list daily.

HEARTBEAT PRAYERS: These are simple, repetitive prayers that sound like a heartbeat. My favorite one is “Fix it, Jesus!!” I pray this a lot in the dentist’s chair.

CENTERING PRAYERS: A centering prayer starts with fifteen to twenty minutes of listening in silence. We start with saying “Fill me with your presence, Holy Spirit. Speak to me Lord” and then wait. After centering ourselves in this silence, we can then begin to pray. I confess that as an extrovert, this is especially hard for me.

LECTIO DIVINA: (Sacred Reading) Rather than pray in your own words, use a prayer book or online prayer resource. Read it several times or pray yourself or someone else into the Scriptures. The Psalms are great for this.  

EMBODYING PRAYERS: This involves actively using your body as you pray. I remember watching the Jewish men ‘dinking’ at the Wailing Wall, bowing from the waist with hands clasped before them. Getting on your knees, lying prostrate on the ground, lifting your arms, or opening hands to receive are ways to practice embodying prayer. Just make sure you can get off the floor when you’re finished!

PRAYING WITH OTHERS: This is probably my favorite way to pray: gather people around for prayer groups, prayer circles, or find one person to be your prayer partner. Remember what Jesus said: “When two or more are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Matt 18:20   

May your prayer life flourish as you try new ways.

Prayer Rising by Michelle Robertson

Don’t Give Up

Posted on by Betsy

Are you someone who is tenacious and refuses to give up, regardless of the obstacles you encounter? Are you like a dog with a bone? Or is it in your personality to assess a situation and decide to move on if things aren’t going your way? Take a look at today’s Scripture and see what Jesus says about overcoming obstacles with prayer:

Luke 18 (Common English Bible)

18 Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people.3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, ‘Give me justice in this case against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused but finally said to himself, I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me.” 

6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?”

In this Scripture, Jesus told a parable about what happens when we pray continuously. This story demonstrates the power of persistant prayer and NOT GETTING DISCOURAGED in our prayers. We can be sure that if an unjust judge will acquiesce to the persistence of a widow’s plea, how much more will a God who loves you enough to sacrifice his son for you hear and answer your prayers!

Luke 11: 13 reminds us:13 If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

God is never slow to help us. He hears us immediately when we pray and answers according to his will and what is good for us. Sometimes that can be confusing if we are praying for things that God knows are not good for us. And sometimes his immediate answer is “wait” or “no”. But Scripture is right. Just keep on praying, and when you’re done, pray some more. 

I find it curious that Jesus used an ungodly, non-believing judge who was unjust in his court as his main character. But the instruction to persist in prayer comes through very clearly. “She keeps bothering me!” the judge complains before he gives up and gives in. 

Looking through different translations for this phrase “bothering me” expands our understanding of what happened. Here are a few other ways this has been written: She troubleth me; she keeps annoying me; she keeps pestering me; she keeps driving me crazy … and the judge was ready to give her justice because she was wearing him down and beating him down with her persistence.

Let’s pause there for a moment and think about a cause you feel deeply about. I think God is telling us to fight injustice and oppression by not backing down and being persistent, loud, and steady, especially when you are up against someone who, like the judge, “neither fears God nor respects people.” So perhaps today’s lesson on persistence goes beyond just prayer.

Our United Methodist baptism liturgy includes a vow to “fight evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever form they present themselves.” This is a heavy charge. So often we want to shy away from the task of standing up for justice and helping people find freedom. But the call is clear, and Jesus’ words about persisting can be applied here, too. Whether it is in the local schools, the county boards, or the national governmental authorities, our duty is to fight evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever form they present themselves when we encounter leaders who neither fear God nor respect people.

When you go to your father in prayer today, don’t give up. We all want our Lord to find us faithful on earth when he returns to reign in justice.

Persist by Kathy Schumacher