Category Archives: Prayer and Devotions

Fill my cup, Lord

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

By Adam Graham

“And herein is that saying true, `One soweth and another reapeth.’ I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor; other men labored, and ye have entered into their labors.” John 6:37-38

The context of the scripture is that the disciples were baptizing even more than John. The disciple’s success was the result of the ministry of faithful people who we don’t know. Probably these people didn’t even know they were sowing, maybe they even felt like they weren’t accomplishing anything or were failures. I really relate to them.

However, they ultimately prepared things for the Lord and his apostles. This gives me the feeling that we may be sowing and earlier Jesus promises:

“And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.-John 4:36.”

Lord, we thank you for your word. Lord, we are weary today and have been so restless. We feel more like those who sows, perhaps without realizing it, and someone else reaps. Strengthen us and encourage our hearts today. We thank you for your peace. We thank you for being with us. Please give us direction and purpose today. Show us your vision. Prepare us to receive from you whatever we need to fulfill your plan for our lives. Protect us from the enemy’s interference today. Empower us to resist the devil and overcome his wiles. Please bring forth a good harvest of bountiful spiritual fruits in our lives today. In Jesus’ name we pray, Lord, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Gospel, Prayer and Devotions

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Have We Downsized God?

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“[The Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” — Hebrews 1:3

The son is the light that radiates from God, but God With Us is as identical to the Father as the impression left by a footprint matches the foot or as the finger print matches the finger and its unique grooves. We can trust Jesus to represent the Father perfectly.

So often this world may seem chaotic and broken, spinning out of control. Yet scripture tells us that Christ, the word made flesh himself, is the one supporting the universe, holding it up with the power in his words, a tireless, ceaseless effort if ever there was one.

Yet the God who is with us via the Holy Spirit and the God who is holding the whole universe together on High is also outside of creation, both Father and Son, and seated beside Himself as his own “right hand man”  and served as his own High Priest, making the sacrificial atonement and interceding with himself for his people.

Such wonders of the omnipresent one! What limited mind can fully fathom the infinite God? Any god small enough for us to fully understand within the limits of human reason is too small to be truly God at all. Today, scripture provides us the only valid, trustworthy window into the character and nature of God, but we still see through its glass darkly.

We often become focused on the problem we least are inclined to, my brothers and sisters. If you’re reading this and nodding, you may have more problems with an emotion-based, unreasoning, unthinking faith than with one that applies logic and reason to the scriptures in a way that defines an infinite God according to what is logical and rational in his finite creation, which inevitably will box him in and make your image of God too small to be truly the Lord.

However, you should prayerfully examine yourself if you feel threatened by this and want to object either with a direct attack or by pointing fingers back at the warm-fuzzy, feelings-only church goers who don’t know the Bible well enough to discern whether a popular sound byte is actually sound doctrine.  That error doesn’t excuse the opposite error of being so puffed up with “knowledge,” we unwittingly fall into idolatry ourselves.

Those of us subject to that weakness  typically feel a need to define logically anything and everything so that we fully understand it and it makes rational sense to us. This gives us a sense of security that is really rooted in a desire for control, hence why it can become dangerous when we turn loose on God our particular pet means of analysis. Trusting the Lord and leaning on our own understanding are ages-old sworn enemies.

Lord, am I serving the infinite God and trusting you even if I don’t always understand all your apparent paradoxes, from my finite vantage point, or have I made a smaller idol in your image and likeness, that I can fully comprehend and honestly think is “drawn to scale”? Give me grace to embrace the truly mysterious, courage to intelligently and scripturally seek the answers that can be known from our finite vantage point, and wisdom to discern which is which. Strengthen me to today to cast down any such idols I have erected. Remove the blinders and my need to control, and enable me to trust you when I hear your voice, even if I do not understand your Word. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, God's Character, Idols, Prayer and Devotions

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Help is on the Way

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise, (Psalm 102:18-21 ESV)

Before you were ever born, before Christ died and the Church was created and became the people of the Kingdom of Heaven, the words of scripture were recorded with you on the heart and mind of our God. From the beginning of time, he knew the horrors awaiting us and willed to save us from the grave. Before we groaned and cried out, he had already heard our cries as we were in the bondage of sin and determined to come and set us free.

So let’s not fear, brothers and sisters, as we groan and hurt and struggle. Let’s not quaver in doubt of whether our Father God cares and wants to hear about our troubles. He knew from the beginning and assured us with words recorded millennia ago that there is one who cares in Heaven and he has willed to bring us through this and deliver us home to His heavenly city and turn our groaning into praise and rejoicing in His name, too.

Thank you, Father, for knowing us from the beginning and willing to save us and bring us safely through this earthly turmoil. I pray we would trust in you and turn our eyes to the heights our help will come from. Grant us boldness to approach your throne and present our hearts to you as they truly are, to allow you to do the redemptive work in us that you have already purposed to do. In Jesus’ name we pray, Lord, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Faith, Fear and Anxiety, Gospel, Grace, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

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Humans Make Unsafe Toxic Waste Dumps

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you. Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none,  and for comforters, but I found none.(Psalm 69:19-20 ESV)

God declared King David a man after his own heart. We might expect to find a man full of the fruits of the spirit. Instead we find a man who suffered much hardship, made huge mistakes (Bathsheba, murder .  .  . ) and who left testimony that he suffered great mental anguish, too.

Not only was this epitome of what God is looking for in a man one who struggled with a nasty temper’s lust for vengeance, he admits to being broken to the point of despair, not only to God, but allowed these words out in public so we can be reading text that give us an intimate look into the heart of an imperfect, flawed man who earnestly desired and sought the heart of God.

David’s writings are full of his pain and anger and all the other things men seek to hide. Most of his actual actions and life choices recorded in the scripture are courageous, true to his convictions, merciful, loyal, and he is known for his exuberant and joyful worship before the Lord.

Today, we often fall into the opposite: hiding our “inappropriate” feelings and unpleasant wounds and forcing ourselves to go through the motions of the godly Christian life, with an increasingly fake smile and increasingly justifying acting out in ways that release the internal pressure by making our problem someone else’s also. We may then wonder what is wrong with us, beat ourselves up, stuff that pain down as well, and repeat the cycle.

If this is you today, you can get victory. Take off the mask. Be honest, starting with God, about who you really are and what you really struggle with. Confess the shame, reproach. Perhaps, like David, you won’t find anyone on this Earth who will or can comfort you, but God already knows what the real deal is. He knows the chains restraining you and where you are needy.

After David had finally poured out before the Lord his bag of toxic garbage, God in his grace then granted David a song of praise and a grateful heart that desired to exalt the Lord by giving thanks. He encourages us then in Psalm 69:32-33, “You who seek God, let your hearts revive. For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.”

Forgive us, Father, for the times we’ve struggled to follow you in our own flesh while holding onto toxins that inevitably will spill over onto others. We recognize that we are not fooling you, that you already know the truth of who we are in our hearts better than we. Give us courage to stop simply going through the motions, to be honest before you about how we really feel, and to confess our struggles with sin. We thank you that you will not despise your people for being captive, and we thank you for where you have freed us and will free us. Revive our hearts, oh Lord. Grant us the grace you gave King David, to truly manifest the fruits of the spirit and live victoriously.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Grace, Lament, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

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“Suffering, a Privilege?” Or: “It’s War!”

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Phil 1:29-30)

The Apostle Paul tells the Philippians here that grace has not given them the privilege of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to experience pain, punishment, and distress–for his sake. The privilege is to be engaged in the cosmic war, doing our divinely assigned part to advance the gospel. The more suffering we endure in our calling, as a direct result of obeying clear  instructions from the Lord, the greater of a position in the war effort we have.

Now, the riveter building warplanes has as vital a role as the soldier on the front lines, and the riveter may suffer sore muscles for his or her task to stop the forces of evil, but the soldier on the front lines has the greater glory for he (or she nowadays) bears the greatest risk.  The higher the price we pay in a godly war effort, in theory, the greater the glory.

Christianity today has become wishy-washy in some circles, all about the promises of comfort and peace and joy and forgiveness, prosperity and healing. Turning the other cheek, agreeing quickly with your adversary, avoiding conflict and being a peace-maker who is slow to judgment and quick to listen and respectful and loving to all.

That’s taking a cookie cutter to the Bible.  Our war is not against flesh and blood, but we are in a war, brothers and sisters.

Now, we should follow the rules of engagement, and the human lives around us are the territories being fought over, not the enemy, and we must stay alert. To the enemy, we are either combatants to neutralize or eliminate from the arena of war, or we are ourselves territory to seek to retake and oppress.

In this world, no suffering means we’ve either been neutralized by the enemy via deception like the cookie cutter approach to scripture, we’ve been taken captive by the enemy to do his will and haven’t manifested the bitter fruits of oppression yet,  or we’ve been given leave between battles so we can refresh and refill in preparation for a battle as great as the amount of rest we’ve been given.

Suffering means we are either hot or cold, actively doing what the Lord has called us to and facing the opposition, or a POW taken captive. It is vital we discern the source of our present suffering or its absence.

Lord, give me wisdom to discern the season I am in and ears that hear your call. Grant me a courageous heart willing to fight the good fight according to your principles, when and where you call me. Grant me eyes that see clearly who our enemy is and that perceive as you do the lives around me that are being fought over, used against what you have sent me to do, and who are fighting beside me or in other arenas of the cosmic war. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Dreams and Spiritual Warfare, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

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Repost: Take Root in God

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream,and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

Let’s skip the guilt trip today. We all have room for improvement when it comes to trusting the Lord and probably most of us will continue to have times when we struggle there. So what is your heat, what is your drought? That is, what leaves you anxious and fearful? What dries up your world and heats up your air? Lost job? Health issues? Political battles? Wars and natural disasters halfway around the world?

How do we remain spiritually fruitful, continue to flourish in the Spirit, in times of trial and uncertainty? We lift up to God our fears, we lift up our anxiety, we recognize when we are merely afraid rather than speaking our fears as reality (as I am prone to). We confess them to God, and release those emotions to him, and then we determine to remember what he has done for us in the past, to remember what he has promised us in his word, remember what he has done for others in our circumstances and in the scriptures, and we determine to take our eyes off the drought and the heat and trust in the living water (per the stream imagery) of God-with-us, nourishing and feeding us with his own flesh and blood.

Lord, as the old hymn says, we pray, Jesus, Jesus, how I trust you, how you’ve proved yourself over and over. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust you more. (Note to my readers: changes to wording are deliberate.) Today, Lord, we are choosing and making the conscious decision to trust you and take you at your word no matter what our circumstances tell us, and we release to you any fear and doubt preventing us from meaning those words (name them here.) We thank you for your healing, we thank you for your cleansing. We thank you for being with us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Faith, Fear and Anxiety, Prayer and Devotions

Why Did God Make His Promises?

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:4)

Which here refers back to God’s “own glory and excellence,” which Peter referenced in verse three.  Peter emphasizes that God gives us his great promises, which ought to be more precious to us than anything, by, or because of his glory and his greatness or supremacy.  Divine nature likely references back to the divine power that we’re told granted us all things in the previous verse and in context refers to God’s holiness.  Peter goes on to say we obtain to this by having escaped the corruption in the world, suggesting that we were originally made to have holy desires and be holy as the Lord is Holy, but what Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden corrupted our design. To use the language of computers, we’re born with both our  software and our hardware corrupted and our code is full of errors. God’s greatest promise to us is to debug us both spiritually and physically and return us to the pristine  operating conditions that he originally intended us to have.

God’s promises, Peter tells us, all have this end goal in mind. Nothing God promises in the Word is intended as a blank check to continue to delight in our malfunctioning and relish in our buggy ways. His promises are all intended to advance his ultimate goal of restoring us to proper working order, not through our efforts to fix ourselves, but though his power at work in us.

Lord, one question haunts my mind: do I want to be whole? Do I want to escape from the corruption of my sinful desires? Do I want to be changed? Lord, I want to want to be free of the slavery of sin. Grant me by your grace the desire to open up to you and risk trusting you to transform me into the person you made me to be. Fill me with courage to count as loss anything that gets in the way of your will for my life, to bear the holy spiritual fruits and to be free from corruption. We have not already obtained, but let us forget what is behind and press on to reach the mark of this high calling in Christ and obtain the ends of the promises you have made. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, God's promises, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

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