As I was preparing this entry on the Lord’s Prayer, I mistakenly thought I would be wrapping up with at most one or two brief entries. Instead, after reading Evelyn Underhill’s explanation of the concluding sections of the prayer, I find that there is much more to consider and practice. So instead of one or two brief entries, there will be several more. Here is the next in the series of reflections on the Lord's Prayer, focusing on the daily request for our “Daily Bread.”
”In the first part of the Lord’s Prayer, we are wholly concerned with God’s glory . . . In the second part, we turn from the Eternal Splendour to our earthly limitations, and bring before God our burden, neediness, and sinfulness of our state. Give us this day our daily bread.
“With this proclamation of our utter dependence, the presentation before God of the simplest and most fundamental of our needs, we pass from adoration to petition, and enter into the full paradox of Christian prayer: the unspeakable majesty and abiding perfection of the Infinite, and because of that majesty and that perfection, the importance of the claim of the fugitive, the imperfect, the finite.
‘The Heavens declare the Glory of God
Lord, I call upon thee, haste thee unto me!’
“There is a natural tendency in man to reverse this order of approach; to come before God in a spirit of heaviness, greatly concerned with his own imperfections, needs and desires—‘my soul and its shortcomings,’ ‘the world and its wants’—and defer the putting on of the garment of praise; that wedding garment which introduces us into the company of the sons (and daughters) of God and is the only possible beginning of real prayer.
“Here, Christ’s teaching and practice are decisive. First, the heavenly, then the earthly. First ascend in heart and mind to the Eternal, adore the Father, seek the Kingdom, accept the Will; and all the rest shall be added unto you. Again and again the New Testament insists on that. The contrast of the two worlds is absolute; but their interpenetration is complete. No human need, however homely, is negligible; none lies outside the glow of God”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 37-39; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
An Athlete Prays . . . Lord, hear our prayer!
I recently saw photos of two football teams gathered in prayer. The photos appeared in the media during the same week for vastly different reasons.
One team came together to pray because one of their star players was knocked unconscious and had to be stretchered from the field. The other team had gathered to pray following a victory on the field.
Two teams, both praying—but experiencing vastly different emotions. I found myself wondering who led prayers for the injured ballplayer? Did a team captain call the team together, or was it another player? How do you pray when a teammate is badly injured in the midst of a game? And what motivates a team to pray after an important win? Does the team also pray after losing? Do the same players lead the prayers on each occasion? Or do the coaches initiate prayer times on the field?
If you’re an athlete, do you pray when you step onto the field, or ready yourself for the start of a race? Are you known as one who prays as well as being known as a competitive athlete? Do you pray for your opponents as well as for your own team? Do your teammates know they can ask you for prayer when they are struggling on or off the field? Is your life different because you pray daily?
“Lord, teach us to pray!” was the request made by some of Jesus’ first disciples. Like them we can let out an urgent cry when an injury brings down a teammate: “Lord, have mercy!” “Lord, help!” “Be with the trainers and doctors who are treating my injured friend!” “Lord, help our teammate regain full health and strength!”
In celebrating a victory, we can express our gratitude: “Thanks, Lord, for the joys of winning!” “Thanks, Lord, for coaches who’ve helped us train and prepare!” “Thanks, Lord, for the referees who enforce the rules of our game.”
While processing a tough loss, we can pray for God’s wisdom: “Lord, help us learn from this loss!” “Help us accept this setback without unfairly blaming our teammates.” “Bring us together as a team, Lord. Help us make adjustments and prepare well for our next game.”
"Lord, help us to pray! Lord, teach me to pray!"
One team came together to pray because one of their star players was knocked unconscious and had to be stretchered from the field. The other team had gathered to pray following a victory on the field.
Two teams, both praying—but experiencing vastly different emotions. I found myself wondering who led prayers for the injured ballplayer? Did a team captain call the team together, or was it another player? How do you pray when a teammate is badly injured in the midst of a game? And what motivates a team to pray after an important win? Does the team also pray after losing? Do the same players lead the prayers on each occasion? Or do the coaches initiate prayer times on the field?
If you’re an athlete, do you pray when you step onto the field, or ready yourself for the start of a race? Are you known as one who prays as well as being known as a competitive athlete? Do you pray for your opponents as well as for your own team? Do your teammates know they can ask you for prayer when they are struggling on or off the field? Is your life different because you pray daily?
“Lord, teach us to pray!” was the request made by some of Jesus’ first disciples. Like them we can let out an urgent cry when an injury brings down a teammate: “Lord, have mercy!” “Lord, help!” “Be with the trainers and doctors who are treating my injured friend!” “Lord, help our teammate regain full health and strength!”
In celebrating a victory, we can express our gratitude: “Thanks, Lord, for the joys of winning!” “Thanks, Lord, for coaches who’ve helped us train and prepare!” “Thanks, Lord, for the referees who enforce the rules of our game.”
While processing a tough loss, we can pray for God’s wisdom: “Lord, help us learn from this loss!” “Help us accept this setback without unfairly blaming our teammates.” “Bring us together as a team, Lord. Help us make adjustments and prepare well for our next game.”
"Lord, help us to pray! Lord, teach me to pray!"
Thy Will Be Done . . . Praying the Lord’s Prayer
Evelyn Underhill helps us practice the next movement in the Lord’s Prayer with these words:
“‘Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.’ We do not know what possibilities, what mysteries, may still be hidden in the unexpressed design. Yet because each step of this descending prayer is a movement of faith, obedience, and love, we bring the Infinite with us as did Christ Himself when He came down from His nights of communion on the mountain to His redemptive work among men. Here, again, the life or prayer follows the path of the Incarnation.
“The Wisdom that came forth from the Mouth of the Most High entered deeply into the common life, and there accomplished His transforming and redeeming work. We too are not to experience eternity and take up our obligations in respect of it in some exalted, other-worldly region; but here and now, right down in that common life which is also dear to God, finding in our homely experience the raw material of sacrifice, turning its humble duties and relationships into prayer.
“Be it unto me according to thy Word—here, where I am. Not my will but Thine be done. This is the act of obligation which puts life without condition at God’s disposal; and so transforms and sacramentalizes our experience, and brings the Kingdom in.”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 31-32; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
“‘Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.’ We do not know what possibilities, what mysteries, may still be hidden in the unexpressed design. Yet because each step of this descending prayer is a movement of faith, obedience, and love, we bring the Infinite with us as did Christ Himself when He came down from His nights of communion on the mountain to His redemptive work among men. Here, again, the life or prayer follows the path of the Incarnation.
“The Wisdom that came forth from the Mouth of the Most High entered deeply into the common life, and there accomplished His transforming and redeeming work. We too are not to experience eternity and take up our obligations in respect of it in some exalted, other-worldly region; but here and now, right down in that common life which is also dear to God, finding in our homely experience the raw material of sacrifice, turning its humble duties and relationships into prayer.
“Be it unto me according to thy Word—here, where I am. Not my will but Thine be done. This is the act of obligation which puts life without condition at God’s disposal; and so transforms and sacramentalizes our experience, and brings the Kingdom in.”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 31-32; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thy Kingdom Come . . . Praying the Lord’s Prayer
Mark tells us that Jesus came into the world proclaiming good news: “The time has come the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). Later Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10). But what did He mean by using those words? What do we expect should happen when we pray like this?
Our pastor recently defined God’s Kingdom as “Right relationships under God’s gracious rule.” He described Kingdom Prayer as a way of praying that is:
• Grounded in a trusting relationship with God
• Radically God-centered
• Revolutionary (God overturning the effects of sin and changing lives in radical ways)
As Evelyn Underhill writes: “Thy Kingdom come. Here man’s most sacred birthright, his deep longing for perfection, and with it his bitter consciousness of imperfection break out with power. We want to bring the God whom we worship, His beauty, His sovereignty, His order into the very texture of our life; and the fundamental human need for action into the radius of our prayer.
“Thy Kingdom come! We pray for this transformation of life, this healing of its misery and violence, its confusion and unrest, through the coming of the Holy God whom we adore.
“The Christian turns again and again from that bewildered contemplation of history in which God is so easily lost, to the prayer of filial trust in which He is always found: knowing here that those very things that seem to turn to man’s disadvantage, may yet work to the Divine advantage. On the frontier between prayer and history stands the Cross, a perpetual reminder of the price by which the Kingdom is brought in. Seen from the world’s side it is foolishness; seen from the land of contemplation it is the Wisdom of God.
“When we said ‘Hallowed be Thy Name!’ we acknowledged the priority of holiness. Now we offer ourselves for the purposes of holiness: handing ourselves over to God that His purposes, great or small, declared or secret, natural or spiritual, may be fulfilled through us and in us, and all that is hostile to His Kingdom done away . . . It is here that the praying spirit accepts its most sacred privilege: active and costly co-operation with God—first in respect of its own purification, and then in respect of His creative and redeeming action upon life. Our attitude here must be wide open to God, exhibiting quite simply our poverty and impurity. . . but still offering ourselves such as we are. Thy Kingdom come! Here am I, send me” (Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 25-31; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
Our pastor recently defined God’s Kingdom as “Right relationships under God’s gracious rule.” He described Kingdom Prayer as a way of praying that is:
• Grounded in a trusting relationship with God
• Radically God-centered
• Revolutionary (God overturning the effects of sin and changing lives in radical ways)
As Evelyn Underhill writes: “Thy Kingdom come. Here man’s most sacred birthright, his deep longing for perfection, and with it his bitter consciousness of imperfection break out with power. We want to bring the God whom we worship, His beauty, His sovereignty, His order into the very texture of our life; and the fundamental human need for action into the radius of our prayer.
“Thy Kingdom come! We pray for this transformation of life, this healing of its misery and violence, its confusion and unrest, through the coming of the Holy God whom we adore.
“The Christian turns again and again from that bewildered contemplation of history in which God is so easily lost, to the prayer of filial trust in which He is always found: knowing here that those very things that seem to turn to man’s disadvantage, may yet work to the Divine advantage. On the frontier between prayer and history stands the Cross, a perpetual reminder of the price by which the Kingdom is brought in. Seen from the world’s side it is foolishness; seen from the land of contemplation it is the Wisdom of God.
“When we said ‘Hallowed be Thy Name!’ we acknowledged the priority of holiness. Now we offer ourselves for the purposes of holiness: handing ourselves over to God that His purposes, great or small, declared or secret, natural or spiritual, may be fulfilled through us and in us, and all that is hostile to His Kingdom done away . . . It is here that the praying spirit accepts its most sacred privilege: active and costly co-operation with God—first in respect of its own purification, and then in respect of His creative and redeeming action upon life. Our attitude here must be wide open to God, exhibiting quite simply our poverty and impurity. . . but still offering ourselves such as we are. Thy Kingdom come! Here am I, send me” (Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 25-31; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Hallowed be Thy Name . . . Praying the Lord’s Prayer
Since our pastor will be preaching on the Lord’s Prayer this weekend, I decided to read Evelyn Underhill’s Abba. Here is a quiet, reflective perspective on prayer and how prayer prepares us for action:
“Hallowed be Thy Name. The modern mind, living sometimes prudently and sometimes carelessly, but never theocentrically, cannot make anything of such words as these; for they sweep the soul up, past the successive and the phenomenal, and leave it in abject adoration before the single reality of God.
“This first response of creation to its author, this awestruck hallowing of the Name, must also be the first response of the praying soul, if we ask how this shall be done within the individual life and what it will require of us in obligation and adjustment, perhaps the answer will be something like this
‘Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed, revered, be Your mysterious Name in my dim and fluctuating soul, to which You have revealed Yourself in such a degree as I can endure. May all my contacts and relationships, my struggles and temptations, thoughts, dreams and desires be coloured by this loving reverence. Let me ever look through and beyond circumstance to You, so that all I am and do may become more and more worthy of the God who is the origin of all. Let me never take such words on my lips that I could not pass from them to the hallowing of Your Name. (That one principle alone, consistently applied, would bring order and charity into the centre of my life.) May that Name, too, be hallowed in my work, keeping me in remembrance that You are the doer of all that is really done: my part is that of a humble collaborator, giving of my best.’
“This means that adoration, a recognition of the life and action of God, subordinating everything to the Presence of the Holy, is the essential preparation for action. That stops all feverish strain, all rebellion and despondency, all sense of our own importance, all worry about our own success; and so gives dignity, detachment, tranquility to our action and may make it of some use to Him.”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 19-21; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
“Hallowed be Thy Name. The modern mind, living sometimes prudently and sometimes carelessly, but never theocentrically, cannot make anything of such words as these; for they sweep the soul up, past the successive and the phenomenal, and leave it in abject adoration before the single reality of God.
“This first response of creation to its author, this awestruck hallowing of the Name, must also be the first response of the praying soul, if we ask how this shall be done within the individual life and what it will require of us in obligation and adjustment, perhaps the answer will be something like this
‘Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed, revered, be Your mysterious Name in my dim and fluctuating soul, to which You have revealed Yourself in such a degree as I can endure. May all my contacts and relationships, my struggles and temptations, thoughts, dreams and desires be coloured by this loving reverence. Let me ever look through and beyond circumstance to You, so that all I am and do may become more and more worthy of the God who is the origin of all. Let me never take such words on my lips that I could not pass from them to the hallowing of Your Name. (That one principle alone, consistently applied, would bring order and charity into the centre of my life.) May that Name, too, be hallowed in my work, keeping me in remembrance that You are the doer of all that is really done: my part is that of a humble collaborator, giving of my best.’
“This means that adoration, a recognition of the life and action of God, subordinating everything to the Presence of the Holy, is the essential preparation for action. That stops all feverish strain, all rebellion and despondency, all sense of our own importance, all worry about our own success; and so gives dignity, detachment, tranquility to our action and may make it of some use to Him.”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 19-21; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Timeless Word . . . on the value of recollection and sensitivity for Christians today
Millions of us are spending time interacting with social media. The global village hums with the sound of beeps announcing another contact sent or received.
How do we evaluate the benefits of investing our time and energy online?
Do our social media contacts improve our well-being?
Do our online activities contribute to our relationship with God?
Or are they a form of distraction subtly leading us away from God?
These questions are timely, and a powerful reminder comes to us from a passage in “The Art of Prayer” written by a man who lived centuries ago:
“This is how lukewarmness arises: it begins with forgetfulness. God’s gifts are forgotten, and so is God Himself, and our salvation in Him, and the danger of being without God; and the remembrance of death disappears—in a word the whole spiritual realm is closed to us.
“This is due to the enemy, or to the dispersion of thoughts by business cares and excessive social contacts.
“When all is forgotten the heart grows cool, and its sensitivity to spiritual things is interrupted: and so we fall into a state of indifference, and then into negligence and carelessness. As a result, spiritual occupations are postponed for a time, and afterwards abandoned completely.
“And then we begin again our old way of life, careless and negligent, forgetful of God and divine things, seeking only our own pleasure. Even if there is nothing disorderly in it, do not look for anything divine. It will be an empty life.
“If you do not want to fall into this abyss, beware of the first step—that is forgetfulness. Therefore, walk always in godly recollections—in remembrance of God and divine things. This will keep you sensitive to such things, and these two together—recollection and sensitivity—will set you on fire with zeal. And here will be life indeed” (Theophan the Recluse, as quoted in The Art of Prayer, London, Faber and Faber, 1966pages 122-123).
How do we evaluate the benefits of investing our time and energy online?
Do our social media contacts improve our well-being?
Do our online activities contribute to our relationship with God?
Or are they a form of distraction subtly leading us away from God?
These questions are timely, and a powerful reminder comes to us from a passage in “The Art of Prayer” written by a man who lived centuries ago:
“This is how lukewarmness arises: it begins with forgetfulness. God’s gifts are forgotten, and so is God Himself, and our salvation in Him, and the danger of being without God; and the remembrance of death disappears—in a word the whole spiritual realm is closed to us.
“This is due to the enemy, or to the dispersion of thoughts by business cares and excessive social contacts.
“When all is forgotten the heart grows cool, and its sensitivity to spiritual things is interrupted: and so we fall into a state of indifference, and then into negligence and carelessness. As a result, spiritual occupations are postponed for a time, and afterwards abandoned completely.
“And then we begin again our old way of life, careless and negligent, forgetful of God and divine things, seeking only our own pleasure. Even if there is nothing disorderly in it, do not look for anything divine. It will be an empty life.
“If you do not want to fall into this abyss, beware of the first step—that is forgetfulness. Therefore, walk always in godly recollections—in remembrance of God and divine things. This will keep you sensitive to such things, and these two together—recollection and sensitivity—will set you on fire with zeal. And here will be life indeed” (Theophan the Recluse, as quoted in The Art of Prayer, London, Faber and Faber, 1966pages 122-123).
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Start a Daily Habit--7 Minutes with God
For many years now, I have used The One Year Bible (Tyndale) as a helpful Bible reading guide because it assigns passages of Scripture by calendar date. It is a "no-brainer" for regular Bible readers. Just ask yourself “what is today's date?” then find those pages in the One Year Bible and there’s your reading for today (365 daily readings).
Once you get started, this is a great way to read the whole Bible through in a year, then repeat year after year after year--the Word of God never grows stale!
For those who have not yet established a daily personal quiet time, the One Year Bible is an excellent resource. If you already practice this spiritual discipline, you may want to share the following tips on getting started with a friend who wants to start spending personal time getting to know God better.
Robert D. Foster, in his classic booklet: Seven Minutes With God (NavPress), provides very practical guidance for anyone who wants to begin a daily “morning watch” or “quiet time” alone with God. Bob writes that it was "in 1882 at Cambridge University” in England that “the world was first given the slogan: 'Remember the morning watch.'" He adds: "One of the missing links has been a workable plan on how to begin and maintain a morning watch." Foster's simple prescription for getting started spending daily time alone with God follows:
"I want to suggest that in order to get under way, you start with seven minutes . . . How do you spend these seven minutes? After getting out of bed and taking care of your personal needs, you will want to find a quiet place and there with your Bible enjoy the solitude of seven minutes with God.
"Invest the first 30 seconds preparing your heart. Thank Him for the good night of sleep and the opportunities of this new day. 'Lord, cleanse my heart so You can speak to me through the Scriptures. Open my heart. Fill my heart. Make my mind alert, my soul active, and my heart responsive. Lord, surround me with Your presence during this time. Amen.’
Now take four minutes to read the Bible. Your greatest need is to hear some word from God. Allow the Word to strike fire in your heart. Meet the Author!
"After God has spoken through His book, then speak to Him--in prayer. You now have two and a half minutes left for fellowship with Him in four areas of prayer that you can remember by the word ACTS. Adoration. Confession. Thanksgiving. Supplication."
Foster sums up the seven minutes as follows:
• 0.5 minutes Prayer for guidance (Psalm 143:8);
• 4 minutes Reading the Bible (Psalm 119:18);
• 2.5 minutes Prayer—Adoration (1 Chronicles 29:11); Confession(1 John 1:9); Thanksgiving(Ephesians 5:20); Supplication (Matthew 7:7).
He then concludes: "This is simply a guide. Very soon you will discover that it is impossible to spend only seven minutes with the Lord . . . Do not become devoted to the habit, but to the Savior.
"Do not do it because other men are doing it--not as a spiritless duty every morning, nor merely as an end in itself, but because God has granted the priceless privilege of fellowship with Himself. Covenant with Him now to guard, nourish, and maintain your morning watch of seven minutes."
Once you get started, this is a great way to read the whole Bible through in a year, then repeat year after year after year--the Word of God never grows stale!
For those who have not yet established a daily personal quiet time, the One Year Bible is an excellent resource. If you already practice this spiritual discipline, you may want to share the following tips on getting started with a friend who wants to start spending personal time getting to know God better.
Robert D. Foster, in his classic booklet: Seven Minutes With God (NavPress), provides very practical guidance for anyone who wants to begin a daily “morning watch” or “quiet time” alone with God. Bob writes that it was "in 1882 at Cambridge University” in England that “the world was first given the slogan: 'Remember the morning watch.'" He adds: "One of the missing links has been a workable plan on how to begin and maintain a morning watch." Foster's simple prescription for getting started spending daily time alone with God follows:
"I want to suggest that in order to get under way, you start with seven minutes . . . How do you spend these seven minutes? After getting out of bed and taking care of your personal needs, you will want to find a quiet place and there with your Bible enjoy the solitude of seven minutes with God.
"Invest the first 30 seconds preparing your heart. Thank Him for the good night of sleep and the opportunities of this new day. 'Lord, cleanse my heart so You can speak to me through the Scriptures. Open my heart. Fill my heart. Make my mind alert, my soul active, and my heart responsive. Lord, surround me with Your presence during this time. Amen.’
Now take four minutes to read the Bible. Your greatest need is to hear some word from God. Allow the Word to strike fire in your heart. Meet the Author!
"After God has spoken through His book, then speak to Him--in prayer. You now have two and a half minutes left for fellowship with Him in four areas of prayer that you can remember by the word ACTS. Adoration. Confession. Thanksgiving. Supplication."
Foster sums up the seven minutes as follows:
• 0.5 minutes Prayer for guidance (Psalm 143:8);
• 4 minutes Reading the Bible (Psalm 119:18);
• 2.5 minutes Prayer—Adoration (1 Chronicles 29:11); Confession(1 John 1:9); Thanksgiving(Ephesians 5:20); Supplication (Matthew 7:7).
He then concludes: "This is simply a guide. Very soon you will discover that it is impossible to spend only seven minutes with the Lord . . . Do not become devoted to the habit, but to the Savior.
"Do not do it because other men are doing it--not as a spiritless duty every morning, nor merely as an end in itself, but because God has granted the priceless privilege of fellowship with Himself. Covenant with Him now to guard, nourish, and maintain your morning watch of seven minutes."
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