Prayer-conditioned life

Where Have All the Manners Gone?

Posted on by Betsy

Etiquette has all but gone out of style. In a world focused on selfies, pot-stirring posts, road rage, and entitlement, the “niceties” of our grandparents’ era have flown out the proverbial window. When I was first married, my mother-in-law gave me her copy of the Military Wives’ Etiquette Handbook. I scoffed when I read passages that referred to gloves and the girdle-wearing directives that were common in her generation of Navy wifing, but some of the foundational instructions were spot on. Courtesy, manners, proper small talk at large events, the appropriate use of forks and elbows at the table … there was a code, and we all lived by it.

Now people wear pajamas in church, fight (sometimes with their fists) with flight attendants over FAA regulations, drive as though they are the only ones on the highway, and think nothing of cutting you off at the gas station or the grocery check-out line.

Where are our manners?

In the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus gave us instruction on prayer and giving to the poor etiquette. In short, he advises that we approach these things with sincerity and avoid attention:

Matthew 6 (Common English Bible)

6 “Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

Showy prayer

5 “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 6 But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

I once heard a wonderful speaker named Terry Tykle liken prayer to playing the lottery. He said that just as people buy more tickets to increase their chance of winning, some of us use more words when we pray to try to increase our chance of getting God’s attention. Jesus agrees that this is not a good or necessary practice:

Proper prayer

7 “When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard.8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask.

I love that last sentence. Your Father knows what you need before you ask. A plethora of words isn’t necessary … just a sincere word that comes from a genuine heart.

God loves when we approach our religious life with humility. After all, his son approached the cross that way. So when you have the opportunity to give, share, lead, and pray, remember Jesus’ example and do it quietly. That is the best way to shine a light on your relationship with God.

After all, he knows.

God Knows by Lynn Benson

Teach Me

Posted on by Betsy

We are officially in the season of Lent. This 40-day time of solemn preparation for the celebration of Easter Sunday is often marked by “giving something up.” This is always a good practice for those of us who have slipped into a spiritual lethargy since last Lent, methinks! I encourage the plus/minus form of Lent-making. In other words, don’t just give something up, but add something new in its place.

This year I decided to teach a Lent Bible Study in my congregation. It is my own personal “adding to.” I know that the discipline of preparing for class each week will add to my own discipleship and shake me out of my complacency. Our first lesson is on prayer, and already God is working in my spirit to teach me things I need to learn about prayer.

So imagine my joy when Psalm 25 came along in today‘s lectionary. Not only is David’s psalm a prayer, but it also teaches us about prayer! Let’s find those teaching points together today.

Psalm 25 (New Revised Standard Version)

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
    do not let me be put to shame;
    do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
    let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

We can’t enter a conversation with the Lord without lifting up our soul. This first sentence reminds us that we need to be deliberate in seeking and entering God’s presence. To lift up one’s soul is to expose everything we are dealing with in our hearts and minds to him. We enter a sacred chamber and wait, trusting God’s immediate presence. Through prevenient grace, we know that he is already in the chamber. We wait for OUR spirit to catch up with his presence.

4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
    teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all day long.

So often our prayers are mere lists of needs and wants. Indeed, God inclines his ear to hear our wailing, but David reminds us that if we pause our litany of woes long enough, we can also be taught and led into God’s ways and his truth. The difference is LISTENING. God gave us two ears and one mouth. They should be used proportionally in prayer. Speak once. Listen twice.

6 Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
    for they have been from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
    according to your steadfast love remember me,
    for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Reminding God of his goodness is a psalmist’s trick to remind the reader of God’s mercy and steadfast love. When we remember those truths, our prayers are more honest and forthcoming. And remembering that God forgets our sins gives us permission to also forget them.

8 Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
    and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
    for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

The Psalmist ends with more references to instructing, teaching, and leading.

What are you learning about prayer today? How will your prayers during Lent be different than before? Being humble in your approach to God is the first step. Humility calls us to be listening learners rather than loud demanders.

May we all rejoice in practicing listening, and may we celebrate a Holy Lent this year.

Our Prayers Take Flight by Michelle Robertson

Prayer-Conditioned Life

Posted on by Betsy

I am working on a sermon on the subject of waiting and how we should spend our time when we are made to wait. I think I am pretty safe in saying that nobody likes to wait. I know people who hate to wait in line so much that they study the check-out lines in the grocery store very carefully as they finish their shopping. As they approach, they choose a line but still watch the other lines. If one suddenly seems to be moving, they dart over.

But you know you are really bad when you keep watching the other lines even when your groceries are on the conveyer belt. Some of us get mad if the guy we would have been behind in another line ends up finishing fast. I may or may not be married to someone like that.

I discovered someone who I think could be labeled as a “Champion Waiter.” We meet her very briefly in the second chapter of Luke, at the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. It was a Jewish tradition that forty days after giving birth, mothers went to the Temple to be purified. Firstborn sons were presented at that time in recognition of their position as the spiritual leader of their siblings. Anna was in the temple that day because, well, Anna was in the temple everyday:

Luke 2 (New Revised Standard Version)

36”There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 

As a first-century widow, Anna certainly knew prejudice, neglect, sorrow, and loneliness. But Anna spent her days worshipping and praying in the house of the Lord. She is remembered by Luke as a prophet, for she saw the Messiah that day and praised God with her joy and her witness:

38At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Anna had a ”prayer-conditioned” life. She prayed every day, all day. In her 84 years of living, she prayed and fasted night and day. That habit prepared her for encountering the miraculous. The minute she saw him, she KNEW.

Anna’s daily acts of service in the Temple put her in the right place at the right time…because she already was in the presence of God. She filled her time of waiting for the consolation of Israel with active service. God is active in our waiting when we open our hearts, our thoughts, and our prayers to his Holy Spirit.

What would happen to you if you prayer-conditioned your life? What difference would it make? Are you putting yourself in the presence of God day and night?

Anna’s story only took three verses of scripture to tell, but she will be remembered forever. As we wait for the second coming of Christ, may we wait with the same patient expectation of encountering the miraculous.

Wait Upon the Lord By Kelley Lynch