Tag Prayer

Jesus is the Best Fisherman

Todd R 1 Comment

During His life on earth, Jesus called 12 men to special positions as His disciples or apostles.  Out of these 12, at least 4 and possibly 7, were fishermen, a common trade at that time.  The gospels have many fishing stories, including one in Luke 5 when Jesus is about to call His first disciples.

One morning after Simon Peter and some other fishermen had been working all night without catching anything, Jesus decided to preach from Simon’s boat to the crowd that was following Him.  After teaching, Jesus told Simon: “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”[1]  Simon answered: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”[2]

Simon ended up obeying, but not before objecting: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!”  Some questions may have gone through Simon’s mind: Did this travelling rabbi just tell me how to do my job?  Nighttime was the best time for fishing, and they caught nothing, so why did He tell them to try again?  Maybe Jesus, as a non-professional, didn’t know that?  Maybe he felt like “I’m the expert here!”

However, Jesus knew what He was doing because when they obeyed, “they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.”  There were so many fish that, they “filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”[3]

One lesson of this story is that Jesus can perform miracles by controlling nature.  Another is that Jesus had an unlimited ability to help Simon and the others do their jobs!  And if Jesus was better than professional fisherman at fishing, what does that mean for other jobs?  Jesus always knows better than we do about any job!

So, whether you’ve had a productive day, or you feel like you’ve “toiled all night and took nothing” don’t hesitate to ask Jesus for career advice! As Simon (later known as Peter) wrote in his own letter, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7

[1] Luke 5:4b
[2] Luke 5:5
[3] Luke 5:6-7

An Audience With Our King

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Do you ever feel like God wouldn’t listen to someone like you?  Who has done what you’ve done or thought what you’ve thought?  Or that He just doesn’t have time for you?  There’s an Old Testament story which shows that a good king, our King, is willing to listen to anybody.

This well-known story of King Solomon comes from 1 Kings 3, in two parts.  In the first part, Solomon asks God for wisdom to rule Israel instead of asking for “long life or riches or the life of your enemies,”[1]so God grants him wisdom, but also the riches and honor he didn’t ask for.  In the second part, an example is given of the wisdom God gave to Solomon.

This example comes in a story of two women who came to Solomon, both claiming that a newborn baby belongs to them.  One claims the other took their child after killing their own child by lying on him in her sleep.  The other claims the living child is their own.

Solomon’s judgement?  “Bring me a sword…Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”[2]  Surprisingly, only one of the women objected to killing the baby, saying the other woman could take him.  Solomon announces that this woman must be the mother instead of the woman who just said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.”[3]  In his wisdom, Solomon preserves this child’s life, gives justice to the mother, and demonstrated the great gift God had given Solomon and his people.

But there’s another important detail in this story.  These women were “two prostitutes,”[4] and therefore both babies were probably illegitimate.  There are many conclusions I could draw from this, but for now, just notice that King Solomon (surely a very, very busy king) found time to give audience to two prostitutes and provide justice between them.  He did not send them away because of who they are.

Our king Jesus is similar.  No matter who you are or what you’ve done, He will give you an audience.  You could be a prostitute, an unwanted child, or maybe you look like a model citizen, and God will listen to you, because the blood of Jesus shed on the cross covers all sins, not just some of them.

Anyone, really anyone, who sincerely comes to Him looking for wisdom and justice will find it in God’s kingdom.

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16

[1] 1 Kings 3:11
[2] 1 Kings 3:24-25
[3] 1 Kings 3:26
[4] 1 Kings 3:16

Praying Without Ceasing

Todd R 1 Comment

Sometimes the Bible asks us to do things that are hard to take literally.  For example, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul writes that we should “pray without ceasing.”  Other translations say “pray continually,” the same basic message.  But what does it mean?  We can’t kneel, fold our hands, and repeat the Lord’s Prayer all day every day.  Paul wasn’t asking us to do the impossible, but how does one actually do this?

The life of Nehemiah, partially recorded in the Old Testament book bearing his name, may provide a good example for us.  Around 445 B.C., Nehemiah was part of the third group of exiles in Babylon to return to Jerusalem.  About 90 years after the first group returned, he heard Jerusalem’s walls and gates were still in ruins.  He returned to lead the rebuilding of the walls, meeting opposition along the way from those who moved into the area during the exile as well as some of the Jews themselves.

Scattered throughout the book are several brief prayers, what Warren Wiersbe called “telegraph prayers,” [1] in 1992, but we might call them Twitter prayers now.  These very short appeals to God are often made quickly and quietly, and you might say “continually.”  I’ll put them in 3 categories:

The first group of these prayers are prayers for strength.  Early in the story, Nehemiah was serving as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes and had to work up the nerve to ask the king to let him return to Jerusalem and take on the work of rebuilding the walls.  Nehemiah 2:4 says: “Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.”  We don’t know what exactly he prayed, but he must have done it silently and quickly during his conversation with the king, otherwise the king might have been offended.  Prayers can be dropped right into any conversation![2]

Second are prayers for justice, which are similar to the “imprecatory,” or cursing, Psalms, such as Psalm 58.  In these prayers and Psalms the writers curse the enemies of the writer and of God.  Instead of taking time away from the work on the wall, or vowing to take vengeance themselves, Nehemiah trusted God to righteously judge all evil.  In Nehemiah 6:14, he prays this about his opposition: “Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.”  Nehemiah is honest with God about his frustrations but turns them over to God to take care of them.[3]  We too can pray for God to handle any scores we feel we need to settle during the day!

The third category are prayers of dedication, reminders that the work is being done for God and asking that He bless the outcome, as well as the workers, including Nehemiah personally.  In Nehemiah 13:14, after the walls were rebuilt and he oversaw the collection of the tithe, he prayed: “Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.”[4]  God does not forget any service given to Him, but we can pray to remind ourselves who we serve and trust that He will remember!

Nehemiah’s constant life of worship was made up of more than just short prayers made in the moment.  Longer prayers (all of chapter 9) and fasting are recorded, and along with these short prayers are a clue as to what it means to “pray without ceasing.”  It means to always keep the lines of communication open, to consider that God is there, willing to listen, and lovingly able to bless His people any time.  Even a split second in the middle of something is a good time to pray because His love for us is steadfast.  We always need Him, and He is always able to meet our need!

Therefore, we can repeat the prayer of Psalm 66:20, which says:

“Blessed be God,
            because he has not rejected my prayer
            or removed his steadfast love from me!”

Coda

Steven Curtis Chapman’s 1996 song “Let Us Pray” captures this idea of “pray without ceasing” beautifully.  In it he sings that we should pray “every moment of the day,” because “the Father above, He is listening with love and He wants to answer us”

You can read the song’s lyrics at this link.  Or listen to the full song at this link.

[1] Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Determined (Nehemiah) (1992).  P. 34.
[2] Nehemiah 6:9 is another example.
[3] Nehemiah 4:4-5 and 13:29 are similar prayers.
[4] Nehemiah 5:19, 13:22, and 13:30-31 are similar.

The Priestly Blessing

Todd R 1 Comment

What comes to mind when you think of Old Testament priests?  Fancy robes?  Their handling of sacrifices?  Their separation to service of Yahweh?  The corrupt priests Jesus later confronted in the New Testament?

What we sometimes forget is that everything the Old Testament priests did was done to allow God to be present with and bless His people, as a preview of how Christ makes us acceptable to God so He can live in us.  In Numbers 6, God commands Aaron and his sons to proclaim this blessing to the people of Israel:

“The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”[1]

John Calvin makes this comment on the blessing: “This doctrine is especially profitable, that believers may confidently assure themselves that God is reconciled to them, when He ordains the priests to be witnesses and heralds of His paternal favor towards them. The word to bless is often used for to pray for blessings, which is the common duty of all pious persons; but this rite…was an efficacious testimony of God’s grace; as if the priests bore from His own mouth the commandment to bless.”

May we be blessed today by our Lord, whose face shines like the sun and whose grace gives us peace!

[1] Numbers 6:24-26

The Law of the Medes and Persians Has Been Revoked

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During the Old Testament book of Daniel, God’s people were in exile in Babylon, and a group of Babylonian officials really wanted to make a point.  They wanted to do this so badly, that it’s recorded several times in just a few verses of the book of Daniel, chapter 6:

Verse 8: “Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.”
Verse 12: “Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.”
Verse 15: “Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
Verse 17: “And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.” [bold emphasis mine]

What provoked them to insist on this law that “cannot be revoked”?

They decided Daniel (of the book’s name) needed to be persecuted for successfully contributing to the welfare of Babylon, while humbly giving God the glory for all his gifts, abilities, and success.  He was making them, and their gods, look bad.  It is remarkably similar to the reasons Jesus saw opposition.  Daniel, a Jewish exile, was about to get a big promotion and they wanted to sabotage it.  Knowing Daniel openly prayed three times a day, the officials conspired and convinced the king to sign a law “that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.” (Verse 7).  Either Daniel gives glory to Babylon, or he dies.  Forcing Daniel to change his worship would prove that an unjust law was more important to him than his God.

What did Daniel do in response?  Nothing new.  He continued his standard practice of worship, praying in front of his open windows, probably including prayers for the welfare of Babylon[1].  Verse 10 says Daniel acted “as he had done previously,” which indicates he wasn’t snubbing his nose at his government or its new rule.  His faithfulness was more important to him than an unjust law, even when he didn’t know God would deliver him from the lions.  Daniel didn’t just come to God when he thought he needed God; he knew he needed God at all times.

Therefore, when the officials were provoked, it was an outcome of Daniel’s success and prayer, not Daniel’s intent.  Basic, consistent faithfulness to a higher power can sometimes irritate people, especially lower powers who think their rule “cannot be revoked,” even when it’s not very effective.

Following the law, the king had Daniel thrown into the den of lions, but “God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths.”  Daniel said he was saved because he had faithfully served his God and the king (verse 22), not because he was a provocative protester.

Seeing Daniel delivered by God, King Darius tore up the law that “cannot be revoked,” but even if Daniel had not been rescued from the lions, the laws would still have been revoked.  The kingdom of the Medes and Persians no longer exists.  Likewise at the end of time every law of every Babylon will be no more.  However, God’s promise of blessing for all who will worship Him and seek His will still stands.  On this promise Daniel stood, or rather, kneeled, and served his God and his countrymen, even in exile.

The law of loving service to neighbor will never be revoked, wherever and whenever you live, and even in heaven!  In the words of G.K. Chesterton, “Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her.”[2]

[1] Jeremiah 29:7 says: “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare,” referring to Babylon.
[2] Chesterton, G.K. Orthodoxy (1908).  P. 103.