March 6, 2016: Pray Without Ceasing (Part Two)

Luke 11:1-4

Lord, teach us to pray (v. 1).

When you pray, open your Bible and pray God’s words back to him. It may sound strange, but those who know most about prayer pray just this way!

The form of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, what we know as the Lord’s Prayer, came from the part of the synagogue liturgy of Jesus’ day known as theAmidah. The heart of the Amidah was called the Shemoneh Esreh, 18 blessings of God prayed three times daily. Three times a day, every day, devout Jews would lift their hands to heaven and pray, “Blessed be you, O God, ruler of the universe for…”—and then name 18 different gifts that God gave them every day. What is important for us to know here is that each blessing was taken from the Bible.

Jesus was urging his disciples to pray with the words of the Bible, just as he did on the cross when he cried out in the words of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was thereby teaching us to use the Bible when we pray. Let me say this candidly: the human heart, as important to us as it is for falling in love or writing a poem or admiring a sunset, is too narrow and shallow a thing on which to build a life of prayer. We need to pray not only from the heart but also from the Bible! The Bible is designed to give us the words to pray.

Prayer: Lord, help us use your words in our prayers.

March 5, 2016: Pray Without Ceasing (Part One)

Luke 10:38-11:1

Lord, teach us to pray (v. 1).

In the treasured verses before us, Luke provides us with a picture of how to pray (10:38-42), a pattern for our praying (11:2-4), and an encouragement to persist in our praying (11:5-12). The picture of praying is Mary quietly sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to everything he said.

I encourage you to live into the picture of Mary hanging on Jesus’ every word. The reason the story of Mary and Martha immediately precedes Jesus’ teaching on prayer is to give us an incentive to enter into our prayers with the counter-cultural practice of quieting down. Praying, at least in part, is listening for the voice of God. Mary shows us what that looks like; she “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying” (v. 39).

Maybe this is why the psalmist echoes the voice of God, saying, “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Ps. 46:10). Maybe this is what is behind Isaiah’s vision, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isa. 30:15). Or maybe it’s why James, the brother of Jesus, wrote, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19).
In a wired world of endless texting, tweeting, and skyping, a world never free of noise and commotion, it is a great relief to be encouraged to be quiet in the presence of the Lord. This is the first step toward praying without ceasing.

Prayer: Quiet us, Lord, that we may learn to pray.

Today’s devotional was written by Tim Brown, president and Henry Bast professor of preaching at Western Theological Seminary. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

March 4, 2016: A Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

“Who is my neighbor?” (v. 29)

Luke’s “universal-gospel” theme colors several of the parables of Jesus, not least of which is the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. It has not one but three stings in its tail.

First, a shock. Jewish people with a dislike of the religious establishment probably smiled sourly at the self-serving priest and Levite, and assumed that Jesus would go on to contrast these two with a Jewish layperson like themselves. But a Samaritan! I may dislike hypocritical religious leaders, but everybody dislikes Samaritans.

Then, a challenge. Note what the Samaritan did, for those who are to “inherit eternal life” will do the same sort of thing. But this kind of good deed is not particularly difficult, is it? Thousands of people send checks to charities and reckon they are being Good Samaritans.

The greater challenge of the parable is often missed. The question that led directly into it was not about “love” but about “neighbor”: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus turned it back on the questioner: “Who was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” And the answer came, “The one who showed him mercy.” The man couldn’t even bring himself to utter the name. For that neighbor was the hated Samaritan, and you are to love your neighbor. Even if—especially if—you regard him as a rank outsider.

Prayer: Show us today’s opportunities both to imitate the Samaritan and to love him.

Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

March 3, 2016: Come Down from the Mountaintop

Luke 9:28-36

“Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings.” (v. 33)

A few years ago I climbed a mountain in the Grand Tetons, in Wyoming. I sat on the summit, savored the view, devoured a cheese sandwich, drank some coffee from a thermos. Then I began my descent. You don’t stay long on a mountaintop. Mountaintops are inhospitable places. It’s cold up there. Your body aches. Breathing is difficult. Nobody would ever want to stay on a mountaintop.

Except Peter. “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings,” he says. Christ’s countenance is shining like the sun. His clothes are “dazzling white.” It’s a moment of holiness and majesty, and Peter doesn’t want it to end. “Let us make three dwellings.” Peter wants to stay on the mountaintop. He wants to prolong the experience.
That’s a bad idea. Peter made this comment, says Luke, “not knowing what he said.” Jesus, Moses, and Elijah don’t need dwellings. You can’t take something radiant and stuff it into a box.

The danger in our mountaintop experiences is that we try to freeze them and make them permanent. And so a life which might have been a voyage of discovery and growth instead is chained to the past. A mountaintop is a nice place to visit, but you don’t want to live there.

Prayer: Lead me onward, Lord.

Today’s devotional was written by Lou Lotz, the pastoral leader of Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visitwww.woh.org.

March 2, 2016: The Five Thousand Fed

Luke 9:10-17

Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd (v. 16).

The five thousand, miraculously fed by our Lord, had been tired and hungry; they had not intended to wander so far away from home and had brought no provisions with them. This is a picture of the world today. Wandering about in a world of sin, people need the life-giving nourishment that only Christ can supply.

Notice how helpless the disciples were when faced with the situation. People today do not have satisfactory answers to the problems of the world. Assemblies and councils may be able to make some contribution, but the final solution cannot come from them.

Only Christ could feed the five thousand. Christ has the answer for the needs of men today as well. His promise is not only for life everlasting, but also for life abundant. He can take away the frustrations, fears, and anguish and replace them with a peace that the world knows nothing about.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for the Bible. Please give me a clearer understanding of it.

Today’s devotional was written by the late Pierce Maassen, a pastor in the RCA. It was originally published in 1967. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit http://www.woh.org.

March 1, 2016: Someone Feared

Luke 8:26-39

A man of the city who had demons… (v. 27)

“This thing is bigger than the both of us,” as they used to say in the old movies.

The thing that Jesus confronted in “the country of the Gerasenes”—demon possession—was not a deliberately chosen, evil way of life, like that of the tax collector, nor was it an evil disease that sensible people would try not to catch, like leprosy. It was something bigger and deeper, something that came more directly from the pit, from the source of all evil. The village council was at its wits’ end. “He’s so strong! We clapped him in irons, and he simply broke them. It’s frightening. Let’s just hope he stays out of town.”

Of course the Gerasenes feared this demon-possessed man. Yet, curiously, it was not while he was raving, but after he had been cured, that Luke says “they were afraid.” From Jesus’ point of view, another outsider had been transformed by the gospel and brought back in to start a new life. But from the Gerasenes’ point of view (the local hog trade having just been destroyed!), the Lord’s transforming power was a bigger threat than the demon’s destructive power. Jesus might want to transform them! He might disrupt business or challenge their way of life, and that would never do…would it?

Prayer: Lord, make us willing for whatever change in us will bring glory to you.

Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

February 27, 2016: A Believing Roman

Luke 7:1-10

Not even in Israel have I found such faith (v. 9).

“When strangers discover that I’m a pastor,” observed a friend of mine, “they regularly set about telling me how good they are!”

In Luke 7 we are told how good this Roman army officer is. But the circumstances are rather different. First, this golden opinion of him is not his own, but that of others, and therefore much more trustworthy. Also, amazingly, it is the opinion of the citizens of an occupied country where he is a member of the occupying forces.

Then again, it is not merely about his virtues, the kind of “moral excellences” that can be seen in many an unbeliever and do not necessarily say anything about their spiritual state. No, in this case the leaders of the local Jewish community are speaking quite specifically of the Roman soldier’s practical friendship with them, God’s ancient people, and of his deep and generous interest in their life and religion. These things are much more significant, because they point to his own relationship with God. He turns out to have a grasp of spiritual principles that Jesus himself calls “faith”—indeed, faith such as is rare “even in Israel.”

It is commitment to this God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that brings an outsider into the kingdom.

Prayer: Lord, give us the faith that grasps spiritual truth and acts accordingly.

Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

February 26, 2016: The Cure for Hostility

Luke 6:27-28

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you (v. 27).

I remember a Mother Goose rhyme from my childhood:

I do not like thee, Dr. Fell. The reason why I cannot tell. But this I know, and know full well: I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.

That’s hostility. Hostility is the settled state of being enemies. Anger, appropriately expressed and properly handled, can be a sign of good mental health. But there is no health in hostility. Hostility ruins our mental health. I once heard of a psychologist whose first question to every new patient was: “Who is wrong with you?”

Can hostility be cured? Not if we cover it up and pretend it doesn’t exist. Jesus didn’t say, “Pretend you have no enemies.” He said, “Love your enemies.” And how do we do that? “Do good to those who hate you,” said Jesus. Try doing something good for your enemy, and see if you can still feel hostile toward him. “Bless those who curse you,” said Jesus. Find something in your enemy that you can honestly praise, and then see if you can still feel hostile.

“Pray for those who abuse you,” said Jesus. Pray, not once, but persistently. It is not easy to remain hostile toward someone for whom you pray on a daily basis.

Prayer: Help me to love my enemies.

Today’s devotional was written by Lou Lotz, the pastoral leader of Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visitwww.woh.org.

February 24, 2016: Someone Hated

Luke 5:27-32

A tax collector named Levi (v. 27).

When Hitler’s armies invaded Norway in 1940, they recruited a Norwegian called Vidkun Quisling to run the country for them. Quisling’s name has now come to mean anyone who turns to his own advantage the chance to betray his own people by collaborating with the enemy.

Levi was just such a collaborator—a Jew collecting taxes on behalf of the Romans who had taken over his country, and benefiting himself in the process. Paradoxically, it was precisely because he was Jewish that patriotic Jews regarded him as a rank outsider. The leper was a sad character; the tax collector was a bad one. Who of God’s people would be prepared to accept such a quisling in their company?

Jesus would. For he knew that if Levi responded to his call, it would mean he had “left everything” that had made him such a bad man. In a word, he would have repented. Restoring the sick to health is one way of describing what Jesus came to do; bringing sinners to repentance is another way—an even more exact and necessary description.

And notice what follows. Levi is the kind of outsider we really would not want to have in our fellowship. But once Jesus brings him in, we may find he is better at outreach than we are!

Prayer: Lord, give me a penitent heart and such an evangelistic vision.

Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

February 23, 2016: Stop Sitting on Acorns

Luke 5:17-26

Some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed (v. 18).

There are two ways to get to the top of a tall oak tree:

1) Roll up your sleeves and start climbing, or 2) Sit on an acorn.

We read about four friends who bring their sick buddy to see Jesus. When the way is blocked because of the crowd, they scramble up onto the roof, tear open a hole, and lower their pal down into Jesus’ lap.

Faith always finds the opening that doubt would never have guessed was there.

These guys don’t sit on acorns. They are industrious, ingenious, and daring. And not too concerned with protocol. Notice that they don’t ask permission. They don’t form a committee to study this matter and give a report at the next congregational meeting. Their sick buddy is going to see Jesus, and that’s that.

Isn’t that a picture of the church at its best—a group of folks who bring the needy to Jesus? And isn’t the church at its best when it emulates the resourcefulness and persistence of these four true-blue friends? If one way is blocked, try another way. If the conventional approach doesn’t work, try the unconventional. Isn’t the church at its best when it is more interested in results than in regulations, more concerned with redemption than with rules, and more interested in people than in property?

Prayer: Use me in your service, Lord.

Today’s devotional was written by Lou Lotz, the pastoral leader of Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visitwww.woh.org.