It is so unfair!

 I had a conversation this week with some friends in which we were lamenting the increased dishonesty in our society, dishonesty that is known and accepted with nothing being done (so it seems) about it.  Honesty no longer seems to be the best policy.  Consequently, in some settings, hones people are a great disadvantage.  This has been the case for a long time, we all know, but it seems like in recent years it has become more "acceptable."  It is frustrating to the one who is trying to live a godly, Christlike life to be thwarted in your effort to be honest, but that is increasingly often the case.

This morning when I read Psalm 141, I immediately thought of that conversation.

Psalm 141:5 yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

David had a lot of trouble that came from wicked people who for one reason or another wanted to harm him and destroy the good he had done or was trying to do.  He was determined to not become like them.  His prayer often included words such as found earlier in this psalm (verse 4): “Do not let me incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!”  In fact, not only did David pray for his own spiritual protection, he went so far as to pray against the evil deeds going on around him.  I thought of a conversation I had yesterday with some friends about the unfairness we see in our own 2021 society where being honest in one’s dealing so often put you at a great disadvantage.  It is hard to remain honest when you see those who are dishonest gain what looks like the advantage, and nothing is done about it.  How can a Christian manage in such a situation?  I think I see at least a partial answer to that question in this psalm.,  You pray two things regularly: 1) pray that you will not compromise what you know God wants you to be and do as a child of His to be a good example to those around you, and 2) you pray that He will thwart the efforts of those who are dishonest.  We cannot control what others do like we can control our own actions, so we do what we can and leave the rest in God’s hands, just as David did in Psalm 141, we pray against the evil deeds of those around us while we pray for their spiritual renewal.

Teacher encouragement

 This year is an exceptionally challenging year for teachers, with all the changes in school with COVID-19.  I cannot imagine how challenging it could be, even for seasoned teachers, having to change how they teach, sometimes drastically.

When Russ and I began counting up the family members and close friends we have in the field of education, either as administrators or as teachers, we were surprised to count seven in our immediate family!  We have been praying for them, and yesterday I decided we needed to send each one a card with an encouraging note in it.  Some of them have already started school, some start this coming week, and some another week later, so now is the time.

I have a new stamp set called "Home Sweet Home" from Simon Says Stamp

I have really enjoyed using it and I thought the sentiments on it were appropriate for what I wanted to say on the cards.  I made different cards for each person/family but put the same "Praying for you" sentiment on the inside with lots of space to write personal notes to each one.

 Here is a close-up of each one.  You will notice some shiny spots.  That is where I put some pale glistening ink just for a little sparkle.  It shines a lot in the photo because of the reflection, but in real life it is less noticeable in that it doesn't glare as it does in the photos.  So much for my photography skills!!  Anyway, here they are...

Faith, hope and love

I Thessalonians 1:3 Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

There were three things that encouraged Paul as he prayed for these believers in Thessalonica: their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in Christ.  These encouraging aspects of their Christian walk were also the object of his prayers for them.  I was thinking about this – he was praying about things in their lives that were already manifesting themselves, so why was he praying about those same things?  These are the same three items listed in I Corinthians 13 as characteristics most important in the life of a believer: faith, hope and love.  Faith that creates works that please and honor God, hope that keeps one’s faith strong and forward-looking, and love that forms the basis of all a believer is or does.  Prayer was necessary because these three characteristics of a believer are also fragile and easily weakened or lost by a loss of vision or spiritual life.  Paul understood that principle so he prayed for them even while thanking God for those being displayed in their lives.

Confident prayer

Psalm 86  David’s Confident Prayer  

    His Request                                               His Reason for Confidence

Incline Your ear and answer            v.1            I am poor and needy

Preserve my life                               v.2            I am godly

Save me                                            v.2            I trust in You

Be gracious to me                             v.3            I cry to You

Answer my prayer                            v.6            I call on You

Teach me Your way                         v.11           I want to walk right

I give thanks to You                         v.12-13     Your love is great, and,

                                                                           You have delivered me

David prayed confidently expecting answers because he knew why he could ask God for these requests, proven by the reasons he included in his prayer.  In fact, at the end of the prayer, in v.17, he says he knows that those who hate him and wish him ill will see God’s answers and be put to shame.  He did not yet know how that would happen but he was confident that it would.  I want to pray as confidently as he did.

Don't be like "them"

Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The previous verse tells us what “like them” means: babbling lots of words in prayer, and in earlier verses it is praying in a way so as to be noticed by others.  These two things constitute what I see as two basic principles in prayer: humility and simplicity.  Humility in recognizing that we have nothing except our humility to offer to God, and there is no other “public” to offer Him.  And Simplicity in recognizing that He already knows our needs and our praise but He just wants us to  express that to Him … more for our benefit than His!

Asking for directions

Jeremiah 42:2-4 …Pray to the Lord your God for us … that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, … Jeremiah the prophet said the them, … “I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request…”

This is a sad account for numerous reasons.  The Israelite people who have been under the control of the king of Babylon have an opportunity to see God help them be freed from that servitude but they have an idea of how to do it on their own.  One has to wonder why they even bothered to seek out Jeremiah the prophet when they already knew what they wanted to do.  Maybe they were attempting to show some semblance of reliance on the religion of their forefathers in order to ease their consciences.  Or perhaps they were trying to cover “all the bases” of religion they knew of, and they knew their religious heritage was to call on the prophet of God even though they were already following other religions.  Based on what I see in my own day and age, I suspect that both were true.  I see so many people fall back on the religion of their parents or grandparents when they need help from outside themselves, all the while they are practically ignoring God otherwise.  Anyway, it is especially telling in these three verses in chapter 42 when they ask Jeremiah to pray to his God (“pray to the Lord your God” [italics mine]).  I almost chuckled at his response to them:  “I will pray to the Lord your God” [again, the italics is mine].  It was as though Jeremiah was reminding them of the fact that their heritage as fellow Jews was one that gave them the privilege of praying to their God for help.  How sad that they did not see or understand that, and in fact, as you read further in this story, they determined even before that prayer of Jeremiah that they would do what they had already decided to do.  And again, I am so sad to see that same kind of spirit evident in people around me who have failed to walk in God’s ways but who know what they should do.  They just are not willing to make that move to actively obey God.  There are times when I want to take them by the shoulders and shake that spiritual sense into them!  But they have to decide for themselves that they will listen and obey the voice of God.  Jeremiah could not force the people to obey and neither can I.

No prayer in heaven

Isaiah 65:24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

I have always thought of this verse in terms of prayer during my life here on earth.  In fact, that was the context in which I first learned this verse in Sunday school.  Of course, many other verses in the Bible till us that is indeed true that God hears our prayers and answers them, sometimes almost before we finish praying.  As I read this verse in its context in this chapter, however, I realized that there is another powerfully encouraging and exciting meaning to this verse as well.  This passage is actually telling us about the future in heaven, in the new heaven and new earth.  In that context this verse is my reminder that I will be “right there” in heaven with God.  No prayer will be necessary because we will be having constant, direct interaction with Him!  I guess you could say there will be no prayer in heaven!

Pleasing Prayer

Numbers 28:2c …as an aroma pleasing to me.

This phrase is repeated over and over again in the passages that describe the number of and frequency of the offerings the Israelites were to make to the Lord every year.  They  had daily (morning and evening), weekly, monthly, and yearly offerings.  From other scriptures we know that the pleasing aroma of those offerings was a symbol of prayer, which reminds me of how often God wants me to be in a prayerful position.  Does that mean prayer is to be a legalistic, regulated activity?  Why so many offerings/prayers?  I think the secret is in this phrase which is repeated so many times throughout the books of Leviticus and Numbers in the listing of the laws concerning those offerings.  God sees my communication with Him as something pleasant, something to be frequent and sweet.  He likes to have that frequent communication with His people.  It is pleasing to Him.