Thought

It takes a problem with no clear solution to force us to look at our priorities

Jesus said: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

John 13:34-35 NLT ‬

Is God listening?

When life throws up a problem and there seems to be no way through, what do we do? Pray, obviously. Perhaps we were already seeking God and we’re just not hearing an answer. And it’s getting more difficult, not less.

One conclusion might be that God isn’t listening — but that lie of the enemy is exposed by Scripture’s overwhelming witness of how attentive the Father is to us, His children.

Or we might, in despondency, conclude that God is just not talking to us.

But if God appears silent, it is for a reason, and love is behind that reason. And so, perhaps reluctantly, we ask the Good Question. I call it that because it is never wrong, never misplaced, never irrelevant. But it’s the uncomfortable one — and so it’s the question we’re reluctant to consider.

Waiting for us to ask

It gives new meaning to the old catchphrase, “I thought you’d never ask”.

What is God teaching us here?

I’m writing this in what may be the grimmest week in the worst pandemic in recent history. We’re all watching the graphs and charts and comparing our region with others, hoping for an improvement.

I like to be in church, in praise and worship and fellowship, coming away with some good teaching to encourage and challenge me, and the good feeling of belonging and being among friends. And some churches are doggedly maintaining a semblance of their weekly routine, with spaced out chairs, taking your temperature at the door and no singing, perhaps humming behind your mask. And the message? That’s been cut down to a brief ‘do-this-and-don’t-do-that’ homily “in the interests of time”.

Change of priorities

What is God teaching us here? Perhaps, at a time when our priorities are up-ended, He is prompting us to take a good look at what those priorities are. Is keeping the routine going really important to anyone other than the one leading it? What about the pastoral need to be keeping contact with, supporting (and praying with!) those who are anxious, at home — especially those in a higher age range or with health conditions and therefore feeling more vulnerable.

Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

Our relationship with Jesus is personal and individual. It doesn’t rely on a building, a minister, a praise band, an order of service or a sacrament. Salvation is not found in any of these things. Salvation is found in knowing a person we can relate to, who made a way for us to know God: Jesus. So to love people as He loved, is personal and relational. People who are isolated and anxious need personal reassurance and hope from God’s love expressed in the Bible, not the reciting of liturgy.

The drive to keep things going is attempting to find security in routine, as if nothing has changed. But security in anything other than God will always prove insubstantial.

The one thing that never changes, is God’s nature and the confident hope He gives to anyone who takes hold of Jesus and what He has done. This reveals God’s nature as the One who IS love, the compassionate, faithful, forgiving kind.

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.

People see how we are before they hear what we say. The witness that reveals what God is like to others, is in how we relate, how we reach out without condition, us sharing God’s love by being there for others.

Prayer

Here’s a suggested prayer to use as the basis for your own:

Lord, what are you teaching me through this terrible time? I want to be close to You, to hear what You say and to be doing what You are doing.

Thank You for Your love for me, shown in the awful reality of Jesus dying on the Cross out of love for me. May Your love so fill my heart that it cannot do other than to overflow it to others You show me or put across my path.

I hear and take hold of Your commandment to love others. Show me who needs a telephone call or a note through the door or some act of kindness I can safely do — that others will know Your love, too. In Jesus’ name, Amen

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What is the point of prayer?

Verse

Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.

1 Timothy 2:8 NIV

Good News

As believers, our prayer carries authority, especially as we align ourselves with Jesus and with each other. In the world, agreement is difficult, but the Holy Spirit leads us into agreement with Him — and with others who are praying.

Reflection

The context of this verse is about believers praying for those in civil authority or leadership. The section starts: “I urge, then… that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for… kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives…”

This is regardless of our perceptions of their beliefs or faith! Hardly any rulers in Timothy’s world had believed in Jesus.

This draws a picture of a partnership. They hold the responsibility for action on the ground. But we are given the responsibility for spiritual intervention in the heavenlies, so we — I hesitate to use this word but will say it — have a duty to bless them with guidance and wellbeing.

The Church of England, the established church in My part of the UK, has its set prayers for the Queen and royal family.

Parliament in Westminster begins every sitting with Speaker’s Prayers in which MPs of Christian faith, divided politically, intercede in agreement for God’s guidance in the day’s business.

We have plenty of opinions about the ministers, advisers and health service leaders in the present crisis. But how ready are we to talk to God with words that harmonise with other believers’ prayers, and bring the help those figurehead people would ask for, if they knew how?

Christians praying for scientists and medical profession leaders this year, have sought God for a way of stopping coronavirus spreading, and treating those with severe symptoms. And successful, tested vaccines are now being distributed. What couldn’t be done in less than ten years, has been achieved in ten months. Effective treatments have been developed, mortality rates have dropped and hospitals have withstood the strain.

We have more influence than we might think — greater than those we see on television, answering questions and proposing protective measures. We can talk to the ultimate government in heaven and know that our voice is heard there.

“Politics”, when we say we “don’t like all the politics”, is our word for disputing attitudes. They are so destructive of church and community. Anger rises up when people disagree, and especially when they are fearful.

However, praying, spiritually-agreeing Christians are the antidote to what the devil feeds on.

Jesus said: “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in My name, there am I with them.

Matthew 18:19-20 NIV

The context is politics! Or disputes, anyway. The principle is wider. This is what we do because it just works. It pleases our Father. Our Jesus-centred agreement is like an invitation to the Holy Spirit.

Those who are elected, or appointed, are given the power of decision-making. And we nod and agree with others who say, “Good luck to them with that!”

But we don’t believe in luck, we believe in divine authority and heavenly wisdom.

And we are the ones who know how to ask for that. We are the ones who can get it for them.

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Take away

Keep on praying for wisdom and blessing those in authority — perhaps especially if you don’t like them very much! Blessing those we may perceive as enemies is a particularly powerful spiritual strategy, and we have God’s grace to do this.

LINK

For a suggested prayer and also a video based on this verse, head over to this page on http://glowweobley.com

What is the best way to approach God?

Verse

Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His Name. For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.

— Psalm 100:4-5 NLT

Good News

Life has its challenges but God is constant, entirely good, loving and ate naive to us, His children. In faith we can honour God with our praise — and put ourselves spiritually and powerfully in agreement with His solution.

Reflection

The news recently has been all about the worst economic downturn for 300 years, with the shared burden meaning lower income and higher tax for all. And we are told that there’s a long way to go before the pandemic restrictions can be lifted.
What we are experiencing is not good. However, God IS good through and t through, and on the basis of that goodness we approach Him with thanks and praise.

Emotionally, that is confrontational. What we see in front of us is one picture. What we join with in heaven seems like a different reality, detached from our struggles. It doesn’t seem honouring to the ones who have lost their jobs, who have lost in come and also the sense of belonging that comes from being part of a workforce. Part of us would rather agree with the problem.

But praise IS honouring to God. His character has not changed. His goodness is not diminished. His love, which unlike ours doesn’t come and go with circumstances, is still as strong as ever. And in praising Him in the words of this verse, that “His faithfulness continues”, is placing ourselves in spiritual agreement with the solution. Faith tells us there is a solution. Faith tells us that God is already at work with His remedy, even though we may not have seen it yet.

Where we are, in our world, doesn’t feel like a solution. Even when we are queuing up in the winter cold for the jab that brings us relative immunity, it is a global disaster that put us there.

But let’s not forget that just a few months ago, we were praying for a breakthrough. We were doing our best to bless the work and insight of researchers. And in a fraction of the usual development time, effective vaccine have been developed and are being released for public use.

The traditional experience of church has been impacted. We have to keep at a distance and we can’t sing. But people unfamiliar with technology have overcome their anxiety and become amazingly proficient at video conversations. Many churches have discovered new creativity in their live-streaming. They have found the small screen to be a more intimate and less formal way to connect with people, than standing in front of a lectern looking over a crowd. Preachers have discovered short, sharp messages. There’s no dress code, social barrier or cultural expectation in joining in via a link.

Many people are asking faith questions and having spiritual conversations that weren’t part of their lives before.

God in His goodness, faithfulness and merciful love has His answer to our many combined prayers for His help. Praise, through the exercise of faith, makes a connection with that answer before we see what it is. Some of that answer will look different from what we have been used to. The time is well overdue for churches to change, and become relevant to those who don’t belong to their particular club. The climate is such that people who have not known God are realising their need of Him. Where there is seeking, there is also finding.

A revival of personal, life-giving faith in God through turning to His Son Jesus might turn out to be the real healing that God wants to bring. An answer to the presenting problems around lockdowns. But also a healing from the greater pandemic of spiritual apathy and humanism.

Take away

Praise is powerful. There is real spiritual power in expressing praise to God for His goodness, in the face of an experience of pain and difficulty. Find opportunities to praise God for who He is and seek how it changes.

Link

For a suggested prayer based on this verse, head over to this page on http://glowweobley.com

Why should I pray?

Verse

“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. He sent out His word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death. Let them praise the LORD for His great love and for the wonderful things He has done for them.

— Psalm 107:19-21 NLT

Good News

God is loving and He is also powerful — powerful to save us when we cry out to Him. In Jesus, death has lost its sting.

Reflection

One of the earliest things we learn as children is to “ask nicely”. It is a fundamental way of relating. We soon learn that the way to get what we want is to frame the request the right way. Demanding, stealing, and expecting to be given without asking (and grumbling when it doesn’t happen) are ways that, if they work, come with a penalty. It’s not mature behaviour.

The description of us as children of God — the way those who have received and trusted Jesus are seen in heaven — is apt. We are in a Father — child relationship. We have free will, we can behave with respect or in rebellion, we can take notice of Father’s guidance or push the boundaries of our own independence. What we learn as children belonging to parents, holds good in this spiritual relationship. It is even more the kind of love which is unconditional.

“Asking nicely” is good. It expresses our attitude in this relationship. It is not demanding, or grumpily expecting. It shows us, who are doing the asking, are willingly reliant on the Giver. It also shows we have the understanding that we will always be received well and heard. The Giver is renowned for His generosity.

I am writing this on a day when 519 more deaths have been reported. Nearly 55,000 people have now died prematurely from the effects of Covid-19. Everyone who is older, or in less robust health, or both sees this threat as stalking them. It feels like war. And in this one context alone, these words right out like a joyful peal of church bells on a cold winter’s day.

“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. He sent out His word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.”

There’s a human-centred attitude that argues, if God is good, why doesn’t He just save us from this? Some might speculate whether He sent it in the first place. There’s a sense of entitlement in us which feels we should be on a better deal — like the council should mend the potholes and provide free parking at Christmas. But there’s a big difference. We pay our council tax and expect a level of service in return.

The heavenly relationship is the opposite way around. God has given everything for us. He has given His one and only Son, to live in our world and take on Himself our world’s harshest treatment. That led Him to an undeserved, horrendous death in our place.

So we are not entitled to anything! But it pleases God immensely if we turn and recognise what He has done — and then “ask nicely”.

“So lift your hands and give thanks to God for His marvellous kindness and for His miracles of mercy for those He loves!”

Psalm 107:21 TPT

Take away

• God doesn’t need us to ask, as if He didn’t know everything, but He likes to hear us ask, and know we take nothing for granted. How will you do that differently?

LINK

For a suggested prayer based on this verse and theme, head over to this page on www.glowweobley.com

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