Tag: Prayer

Do No Harm

First, do no harm.

Quick! Where’s that from?

hippocratic

Hippocratic Oath? That’s what I thought.

Nope. After doing a little online reading, I found it’s not in the original Greek version. There’s a phrase in the Latin that might come close. It is believed the phrase came into acceptance somewhere in the 17th century.

Why does this matter? What drove me to even look?

I’m glad you asked.

Yesterday, on my drive to visit some folks who are completing a drug rehab program, I had a heart to heart with God.

At first I was trying to anticipate conversations and how I would respond. Okay, I confess I think these kinds of thing through for all kinds of encounters. I’m an old Girl Scout: I tried to always be prepared.

But the rehearsals in my mind were going nowhere.

So I stopped—talking not driving.

And I confessed how foolish I felt and I asked God what I needed to do.

Yes, I’m a trained pastor (two different Masters degrees for that) and a trained counselor (Masters degree and all kinds of continuing education), but we’re facing a giant of an enemy in this heroin epidemic.

This must be how David felt when he faced Goliath. (Okay, go ahead think current Pepsi commercials. See video below if you’re unfamiliar.)

God, I don’t know what to say. I want to offer your kind of lasting, life-changing, life-giving help. How do I do that?

 I know, not a very eloquent prayer—didn’t even say Amen at the end.

But God heard. And God spoke: Do No Harm.

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This is a huge request for an ESFP with ADD. I am not like my introverted friends who think and then overthink and maybe think some more before they open their mouths to speak. I think out loud. Words tumble out of my mouth faster than I can check them.

How do I do that?

Here’s what I did:

I listened. A challenging thing for an ESFP with ADD.

Listening requires intentional focus. Trust me: this requires more energy than a 30 minute workout at CURVES.

But I did it.

And I shared what I knew to be true.

This included some of my own struggle, but also a couple of my foundation scripture promises and fundamental counseling truths.

I’m not sure if we slayed the giant…but we did some serious damage. I left those appointments whoopin’ and hollerin’ for Jesus.

These were divine appointments and I was just along for the ride.

Check back for the next post where I’ll share one of those fundamental counseling truths.  (How’s that for a teaser?!)

 

**ESFP is a Myers-Brigs Trait Inventory designation (MBTI). When I take the inventory I identify as an Extrovert who takes in my surroundings through my Senses, makes judgments through my Feelings, and organizes Perceptively (which is kind of like no organization at all—think scattered).

If you want to check out the test just google it. You can take it online and receive your information.

**ADD is a psychiatric identification, Attention Deficit Disorder. My brain typically runs in scatter mode. I act before thinking. I get overwhelmed by too many instructions. I am highly distracted…squirrel!

 

 

Teach Us To Pray

SP LP our father.verse2

Tomorrow morning I will be starting a series of messages on the Lord’s Prayer. When you pray “our Father” what are you saying, believing, doing?

The first thing I notice is the corporate nature of the prayer. We aren’t in this world alone.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, he could have given them a theological dissertation based on familiar principles. But he didn’t. Instead he gave them the essential components of prayer.

And he starts with our Father—not simply Father. There are definitely times to get alone with God, but when the group came to Jesus, and the group asked to be taught how to pray, Jesus addressed their corporate need to pray.

I encountered a situation recently that drove this point home for me.

How many times when a friend or acquaintance shares a need, have you told them you would pray for them? You are sincere in your intention to pray, but life gets in the way and that opportunity for intercession is lost.

I don’t get many people coming to my door these days. So I was a bit surprised when the dogs began barking in their “oh boy, there’s someone at the door” way. With the reluctance that comes from dreading the annoyance of one more salesman, I went to the door.

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The woman at my door was quick to assure me she was not there to sell me anything. She gave me her name, told me she was from the women’s abuse shelter. She added that their group had the permission of the Sheriff and Chief of Police to be going door to door.

I apologized for not inviting her in, but my dogs are big and overly friendly. She seemed okay having the door between us. I introduced myself as the pastor of a local church that makes a point of regularly supporting the shelter.

We chatted and she was about to leave my door. This would be that moment when we say those words that roll off our tongues almost without thought: I’ll be praying for you.

But I couldn’t say them. Because I knew, with a knowing that comes from the Spirit, I needed to say, “Can I pray with you now?”

So I did. And her eyes got big. She put her hand on the screen and I put mine up to hers and we had a wonderfully blessed moment of connected prayer.

And then she was gone. But she will stay with me. Her name and face come to mind often and I pray, like Paul, as often as I remember her.

Now, I’m not telling you that story because I’m anything special. I’m telling you to encourage you to not miss those kinds of moments, those kinds of blessings—that kind of power.

The question that needs our response seems to be: how will we be open to the opportunities of corporate and connected prayer?

How can I pray with you today?

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Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 6, Day 5

Friday:

Text: 9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” (Nehemiah 6:9, NIV)

Teach: “If they’re wringing their hands in fear, they’ll be too weak (and distracted) to work.” That was the thinking of Nehemiah’s enemies. Nehemiah’s solution: prayer. Hopefully by now we’re learning that prayer is Nehemiah’s answer to every problem or situation. This time he asked God to strengthen his hands.

WP Neh dev 6-5 open hands

Take: Peter encourages the believers of his day to “cast all your anxiety (care) on him (God) because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7). This wasn’t a new thought for the Psalmist had penned the same message centuries before: “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22, NIV)

WP Neh dev 6-5 wringing hands

Task: Wringing your hands in fear is wasted energy. Instead, cast all your care on God, because he cares for you. He will give you the strength for whatever task you face.

Nehemiah Devotions Chapter 4, Day 3

Wednesday: Enthusiastic Workers
Text: 6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. (Nehemiah 4:6, NLT)

Nehemiah prayed and the people worked and the wall was progressing.

What was it that changed?

It certainly wasn’t Sanballat and his cronies.

And it wasn’t God.

I remember learning early on in my faith journey that prayer changes the one who prays.

WP Neh devo4-3

So what did Nehemiah’s prayer accomplish?

The people who were being beaten down by Sanballat’s ridicule and mocking found the courage to get the task done. They learned that God was still in control, that he had a plan, and summoned up the enthusiasm and energy needed to finish the wall.

Feeling a little short on enthusiasm, courage, and energy? Take God at his word and you’ll find what you need to accomplish what he needs you to do.

WP Neh dev 4-3 we change

Nehemiah Devotions Chapter 2, Day 3

The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?” (Nehemiah 2:4, NLT)

WP Neh Devo time passing

Six months. One hundred eighty days, give or take a few, Nehemiah opened his eyes and wondered if today would be the day.

He trusted God each to be laying the ground work. And each day he prayed to be ready.

And the time had arrived.

Nehemiah opened his mouth and shared his heart with the king and queen. He laid it out. He said needed. He had prayed for favor and kindness.

And that’s exactly what he got.

I can’t begin to what had been going on in the heart and mind of the king. Was he just having a day of benevolence? In the six months that Nehemiah waited had something happened to endear Nehemiah to the king making the favor expressed as natural as the sun coming up in the morning?

I don’t know. I am just convinced that Nehemiah was seeing God’s greatness unfold before his eyes. If God could do that then there’s nothing he can’t be trusted with.

Nehemiah knew that. Do we?

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Nehemiah Devotions: Chapter 2, Day 1

WP Neh Devo time passing
Monday
Text: Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. (Nehemiah 2:1, NLT)

We start our thoughts this week with Nehemiah roughly six months later. Did you catch that? Chapter one begins in late autumn and chapter picks back up in early spring.

What’s up with that? The need was great. Nehemiah’s response had been intense. I would have expected God to move immediately. Wouldn’t you?

But the success Nehemiah prayed for, the favor of the king, needed time to unfold.

God works that way. God doesn’t always answer the way we want or expect. We need to trust that God is working even when we can’t, don’t, or won’t see it. God is never late.

Have you experienced a time when God answered your prayer with an instant “yes”? How about a definite “no”? Can you trust him to be working when there is not instant answer?

SP Neh 2 waiting with clock

Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity, and genuine spirituality that most of us ever encounter. ~Richard Hendrix

Sermon Seeds: Nehemiah Prays

SP Nehemiah more than just a wall

In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign,[a] I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

Within Nehemiah’s brief account, there are twelve prayers. Prayer bookends the story. One might (and should) determine prayer is important to the process.

I read once that there are many things you can accomplish after you pray, but there should be nothing you do until you pray.

Having that thought this week, as I prepared for the message, has impacted my thinking and my praying.

I wonder what it will do for you.

Sermon Seeds: Pursue the Things that Make for Peace

SP ephesians 4-3

Did you have a role in your family?

I was the peacemaker.

I’ve never outgrown it.

In an effort to “keep the peace” I have downplayed, ignored, and avoided. I believed the mantra, “Peace at any price.”

The problem is, that’s not peace.

And it’s way to high a price.

Sometimes it takes “wrestling” with the issue to find the blessing. Jacob learned that lesson (you’ll find the story in Genesis 32:22-32).

I don’t know about you, but I’m not finding much peace or unity these days.

I see a lot of taking sides.

There seems to be a greater desire to be right than to be related

Perhaps we would do well to make this our prayer:

SP bind us prayer

Bumper Snicker Revelation

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Driving around town, admiring the greening of the world around me reminded me of another trip around town and the lesson I learned

That day, as I started to pull away from work, I was enjoying the gorgeous sunshine and blue sky. My regular road home wound over rolling hills with forests on each side. Each season brought its own brand of beauty. Today it was the green of spring. I smiled and breathed deeply of growth and change.

Not long down the road my smile faded as I pulled up to a long line of cars barely crawling at about 25mph (on a 55mph state route). As the road dipped, I saw the reason for our slowing: a huge piece of farm equipment lumbered down the road.  I was going nowhere fast.

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It’s not uncommon to come upon machinery on this road, and the sizes and speeds all vary.  Sometimes the slowdown could also be a horse and buggy, in no hurry to get anywhere.  I love where I live, so I see the buggies and machinery as a normal part of the journey..

Another part of the delay, other than just snailing behind the bouncy mammoth on wheels, is the road. There’s limited opportunity to pass on this stretch of road.  The traffic is constant, with few sections where a brave soul can pass.

This afternoon there was no passing.  The guy in the car ahead of me didn’t hesitate to express his frustration about the situation.  His arms flailed, and he jerked across the center line checking on whether he could pass.  This behavior was interspersed with long periods of laying on his horn.  I must confess, the longer I followed him, the more I found myself snickering at his exasperation.

I kept my distance from the erratic driver. Then I noticed a green oval sticker on his bumper.  I eased a little closer to be sure I read it correctly. Sure enough.  The sticker contained one word: Pray.  It hit me so funny at first I burst into laughter. Really?  “Hey buddy, did you forget your faith?  Your fickleness is showing, and it’s not becoming of your witness.”

Then I got one of those nudges from the Spirit.  You know the kind.  It sounds like your mother, or teacher.  It starts simply with a throat clearing—just enough to get your attention, if you’re paying attention. The throat clearing is then followed by The Look.  Now, I’m not sure how the Spirit manages to give a look, but the feeling is just the same. I was caught and I knew it.

So I did the one thing I probably should have started with, the one thing I was being silently asked to do all along: I prayed.  I prayed the driver would be safe.  I prayed other drivers would drive safely and intelligently.  Then I asked for forgiveness.  How dare I question this guy’s faith?  In my attitude I threw a stone when I had no right.  My fickleness hangs out way more than I care to admit.

I guess that’s why I never put any Christian symbols or stickers on my car.  Maybe that’s why I laughed so hard and quick.  Mr. Impatient’s behavior was too familiar.  Oh sure, with nowhere to be, I was cruising that afternoon, peaceful and unruffled. But what if I had been late for something very important? I imagine it would look quite different and definitely not flattering to my faith.

A “pray” sticker on my car, needs to be on the dashboard, not the bumper.  I wonder if I can find one that says, “Pray first. Laugh later.”  I’ll be looking!

Teach Us To Pray

WP prayer words

Have you ever had someone pray over you?

I have. I’ve had people pray with such intensity it felt like they broke through the roof, reached right into heaven, and grabbed God by the robe.

I have been there when prayer warriors shout, scream, moan, weep, dance, jump, pace, and whoop.

I have also heard the whispers of prayers so intense the words are barely audible.

But I have never had anyone pray so intently they sweat drops of blood for me.

Wait. There was one. His name was Jesus.

Early on in his work with the disciples, they came to Jesus and asked him to teach them to pray. He gave them words that day. Words we still use…sometimes without truly making the effort to understand.

WP Gethsemane

It was in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus showed them. He demonstrated the hard work of prayer…of intercession.

Jesus wrestled with God. Take this cup. Not my will but yours.

Jesus was honest with God. If there is any other way. Not my will but yours.

Jesus didn’t quit until he had his answer. Not my will but yours.

He paced. He needed his friends. He prayed with such intensity he sweat drops of blood.

And then he was done. And able to face the horror that came next.

PRAYER: Lord, teach us to pray.

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