Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Genesis 23-24; Matthew 17
My goodness, there is so much in today's reading! Where to begin! This is almost like a mini-movie. We have death, action, love and spectacular events! Wow! The word of God is so full of life, is it not?
I am always comforted in reading that Sarah lived a long life even after the birth of her son. She really got to know him, to raise him to a man and to see who he would become. I believe the Lord blessed Sarah for her faithfulness even in spite of her disbelief and mistrust of Him. This again shows the generous side of our Lord in that, He is not vindictive, but is gracious and loving toward us. He wants to give us good things, as Matthew 7:11 tells us "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" We do not know the prayers that Sarah may have prayed, but we can guess, as most of us are mothers and have prayed the same prayers, that she wished and hoped to be around for a good long time to get to know her son and to raise him. The blessings of children are not just in having them, but seeing them grow and being a part of that. Sarah was blessed in this.
The 'courtship', shall we call it, of Rebekah and Isaac has always interested me. I love it how specific the servant is in his prayers about finding this woman. He lays it all out to God, so that he will know for sure this is the one. I don't know about any of you, but I was specific in my prayers too about finding a husband. I had made a list of 10 attributes that I sought in a husband. And I kid you not, the Lord answered each and every one of those attributes. He even had a little fun with it. I asked that my future husband play some sort of instrument, I was thinking piano, or guitar. I should have been more specific. This was the last one to be 'revealed' to me while dating Andrew. I found out that Andrew played a flugabone in marching band. Yeah, that's what I said. I learned that day, as we can see here in scripture, to be careful what we pray for, we just might get it. And that it's ok to be specific in our prayers.
I believe the Lord hears ALL our prayers, the ones that are general "Lord, help me!" and specific. I don't think there is a 'formula' for praying. Sometimes I get so bogged down by trying to pray the perfect prayer. And that's not going to happen! I do believe there is a reverence that is lost in today's generation, but I also believe that the Lord wants us to come to Him open and honestly. Granted, He's not a genie in a bottle to obey our every wish and whim, but I believe He wants to know what is on our hearts. I believe when we open our hearts and are truthful about what's there, our desires, our hurts, our passions and our sins, it is then He is able to cleanse and mold us to His making. If we keep those things closed in He cannot change us. Ah, but being transparent with the Lord also means accepting the reality that He might not answer how we think He should. But I think the portion of scripture that comforts me the most in regards to prayer is from Ephesians 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..." So no matter what I say, or ask for it is according to His power that He will answer and to more than I can imagine. I'm sure the servant of Abraham was more than thrilled that his prayers were answered so precisely. The man prayed with boldness! Do we pray that way? Do I? Hebrews 4:16 tells us "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Woah, we are told we can speak frankly and honestly with the Lord God. So do we? Why not? Are we afraid? Am I afraid? How does this knowledge change our prayer times? I wonder how different my walk would be with the Lord if I were more honest in my prayer times. Something to think about.
Lord,
You taught us how to pray in Your word, continue to teach us how to pray. Continue to draw us to You that we may practice and grow our relationship with You. Please continue to be patient with us as we learn about You. You are so complex, yet You make things so very simple for us. Thank you Father God. We do love You. Amen.
Tomorrow's passage: Genesis 25-26, Matthew 18:1-20
8 comments:
Good post Kathryn! I often struggle with transparency in relationshops and I find that this reflects directly in my prayer time. I find it so hard to be consistently open and lay my heart on the table. You are so right, we ARE told to speak frankly and honestly! Thanks for the encouragement this morning.
I have grown to really love my "Father/daughter" walks each morning. I love that time alone with Him and the ease with which I can talk to Him. It wasn't always as natural-feeling as it is now ~ I guess a bit of practice pays off!!
There are often times when I have to admit to God that I don't really want to say what I'm saying because I'm a little afraid of how He'll answer, but over the years, He's been teaching me that He is enough. His love, His protection, His grace, His provision, His mercy, His strength.... I always have exactly enough for any given day or circumstance.
Now WHAT, exactly, is a FLUGABONE???!
Okay, I'm impatient and I looked it up. Why does the double-trumpet get its own fancy name while other instruments are just called double-something-or-other, or distinguished by their tone or key? And why FLUGABONE??!
I guess it's probably a better conversation starter this way... ;)
This comes via my husband: It's a low brass instrument that sounds a lot like a trombone. It looks like a trumpet on steroids. It is usually used as the marching version of a baritone horn. I googled flugabone and found a nice video on youtube with a guy playing it.
Or do you want to know why he played it?
Thanks, Kathryn! Great post. I have to say, I was in band in junior high and high school - 6 years - and I've never heard of a flugabone. Of course, our band didn't march, which could be why.
Anyway, at Bible study a couple of weeks ago we talked about the Holy Spirit, and this has become one of my favourite verses about prayer: Romans 8:26 - In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
There are lots of times where I'd like to pray for someone or something but don't know what to say. This verse comforts me that I don't have to be detailed and spend 5 minutes on each thing I want to pray for. A simple phrase or a couple of sentences is enough. He knows already. And when I don't know what to say or how to say it, the Spirit does. It's a huge relief to me to know that the Spirit can express my thoughts and feelings much better than I can myself, in the language of heaven.
No, I was just wondering how it got its name. I mean, with saxophones it's alto and tenor, and with French horns it's F and B-flat (or "double"), but each variation doesn't have its own fancy name like the FLUGABONE does!! Like, why isn't it just called a baritone trumpet?
Sorry this is so off-topic. I'm just a bit geekish and I have this bizarre need to know these sorts of things!
Thanks for your thoughts on prayer Kathryn. My prayer time is something I'm finally starting to work on, and I'm struggling a bit with exactly how to pray and what to say and getting it "perfect". Thanks for the encouragement to simply be real, to be specific, to be bold!
Great post. I always loved the story of Isaac and Rebekah's "courtship". I wonder what she was thinking when she approached that well and I wonder if she was always that thoughtful or if she had a nudging that day to go above and beyond to water the camels of a stranger. I wonder what kind of life she had that she was willing to drop everything and go with a strange man to a strange land and agree to marry a stranger. Yet, she does not hesitate...she doesn't even enjoy the 10 days that her family requested, she just goes.
I liked what you wrote about specific prayers when talking with God. A friend of mine prayed about a job promotion and he prayed that if a position came available that it would be posted in the top corner of the bulletin board where postings were posted. A great job came up with all of the things he was looking for BUT it was not placed in the top corner. He agonized over the decision but decided to not go for it because it was not answered in the way he had prayed. It would have been easy to rationalize that he should apply for it but thank goodness he didn't because within a year the company had merged with another and that "promotion" would have meant that his job would have been eliminated. It was a good choice to not go for that job!
As a list maker, I made a list of things I would want in a job when I graduated. I don't know if I consciously prayed for each specific thing but they were certainly on my mind as I prayed for a job. God blessed me with all I had asked for and more. God is so good.
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