Author: firstdelray

Categories
Religious

Never Too Many Stamps

The following meditation is by Dr. Bruce Main, Founder & Executive Director of Urban Promise. It will appear in the forthcoming book, A Month of Prayer & Gratitude: Five-Minute Meditations for a Deeper Experience of Gratitude.

“‘You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.’”

Matthew 5:14, 16 (Common English Bible)

“They are polar opposites,” shared my host. We had just finished discussing his intentions for the retreat I was about to lead. Now he wanted to talk about his family. “One is loving, outward focused, a joy to be around. The other is so self-centered and drains the life of us whenever she’s around.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was creeping close to 11 pm and I was beginning to feel the effects of a long day of travel. “Another cup of coffee?” he poured without waiting for a response. I could tell this conversation was not ending anytime soon.

“Why do people age so differently?” posed my new friend. A professor at a small Liberal Arts college, he was sharing some of the challenges he and his wife were facing with aging parents. “My mother-in-law is a piece of work,” he continued. “And she’s robbing the joy and life out of my wife. Everything is a crisis. Everything is about her and about making her life better. I mean, the things she’s complaining about are so petty. Fortunately, she lives three hours away from us. But she’s talking about moving close. That would be a disaster.”

“Tell me about your mother,” I beckoned. “Completely opposite,” he began. “To give you an example, she has eleven grandchildren. Each grandchild has gone through college.” He paused for a minute and took another swig of coffee. “This is remarkable,” he chuckled. “While in college, she would write to each grandchild, every week, and enclose $5. That’s a lot of notes. That’s a lot of $5 bills. That’s a lot of stamps. Every grandchild talks about their grandmother with such fondness,” he concluded. “They call her all the time. They check in on her. They give her credit for helping them through tough times.”

“You are the light of the world,” says Jesus at the conclusion of his most famous sermon we know as the beatitudes. To a Jewish listener, these words would have been unsettling. After all, the Torah was the light. Jerusalem was the light. God was the light. This truth was affirmed through the prophets and Old Testament. But Jesus flips the script and reminds his listeners—you carry the light of God. And we all know that light gives life. Only with light can living things grow and flourish. Receive God’s light. Reflect God’s light through your acts of love, gratitude, and generosity. The world needs you.

Joy,

Categories
Religious

Praying New York Style

The following meditation is by Dr. Bruce Main, Founder & Executive Director of Urban Promise. It will appear in Dr. Doug Hood’s forthcoming book, A Month of Prayer & Gratitude: Five-Minute Meditations for a Deeper Experience of Gratitude.

“Stay alert and pray….”

Matthew 26:41 (Common English Bible)

I remember a story about one of Pastor Hood’s mentors and role models—the Reverend Bryant M. Kirkland, who pastored the acclaimed Fifth Ave Presbyterian Church in New York City from 1962 to 1987. 

One September day, a Princeton Seminary student boarded the commuter train at Princeton Junction, New Jersey, to downtown Manhattan. This Master of Divinity student was to attend a lunch meeting with Reverend Kirkland at the New York Athletic Club to discuss his ministry field placement. Awed by the marble floors and stately columns of the eating establishment, the student nervously navigated his way past the receptionist to find pastor Kirkland sitting at a white-clothed table adorned with silver utensils and glass goblets—a vivid contrast to the rather austere seminary cafeteria. 

“Have you ever prayed New York style?” stated Kirkland as the lunch arrived. Perplexed and bewildered, the student cast his eyes downward and sheepishly whispered, “No sir.” 

“In New York, we pray with our eyes wide open,” began Kirkland, scanning the large dining room fully attentively. “Dear Lord, we pray for the waitress serving us today, lift the burden she seems to be carrying. And for the businessmen at the back table, we pray the decisions they make will be just and fair for their employees. For the couple to our left who seem tense and at odds, we pray for their marriage.” Then Kirkland paused, looked at the young seminarian in the eyes: “And God, thanks for my new friend. May our friendship be as delicious as the food we’re about to receive. Bless him. Guide his steps as he studies to be the preacher and pastor you have called him to be.”

Prayer is not simply closing our eyes and reciting our wish list to God. Prayer is opening our eyes to what God needs us to see now and respond with grace, empathy, and love. That’s New York-style prayer. That’s praying with our eyes wide open. 

Joy,

Categories
Religious

Star Stuff

The following meditation was written by Dr. Doug Hood’s son, Nathanael Hood, M.Div, Princeton Theological Seminary

“When I look up at your skies, at what your fingers made—the moon and the stars that you set firmly in place—what are human beings that you think about them; what are human beings that you pay attention to them? You’ve made them only slightly less than divine, crowning them with glory and grandeur.” 

Psalm 8:3-5 (Common English Bible)

On February 14, 1990, some 3.7 billion miles away from Earth in the great cosmic dark, a small, humble construction of math and metal spun itself around to gaze back upon the world from which it came. Using the last of its dwindling power, it steadied itself, snapped a photograph, transmitted it, then silently continued its eternal journey far, far beyond our solar system. The photograph shows a field of black streaked with thin bands of dull, faded color like some ghostly rainbow. There, near the middle of the band furthest to the right of the image, is a tiny speck less than a pixel in size. This speck, this microscopic mite of brilliance amid the darkness of space, is none other than our planet, our interstellar home.

Nicknamed the “Pale Blue Dot” photo, this image taken by the Voyager 1 space probe is one of the most moving and famous in the history of cosmic exploration. A few years later, American astronomer Carl Sagan published a book by the same name in which he reflected on the photograph with a poetry and reverence usually reserved for the greatest works of art. Juxtaposing the presumed self-importance of its people with the planet’s insignificance within the grand scope of the universe, Sagan gently, almost lovingly, chastises readers to abandon the idea that anything—or anyone—might be coming to save us from ourselves. It’s our planet, Sagan insists; we alone can save it and us from ourselves.

Sagan, of course, isn’t wrong. Where once humanity believed our planet to be the center of the universe—both literally and figuratively—advances in science have proven that we are indeed a fleck of a fleck of a fleck in the grand scheme of creation. However, this need not mean people of faith are wrong for putting their trust in a God who craves a direct, personal relationship with each of us. If anything, religion gives not a different answer but an additional perspective on humanity’s place among the stars. We may be tiny, the great religions explain, but that makes us no less important in the eyes of the eternal. We see this reflected in the Bible where the prophets and poets of old stared into the night sky much like Sagan would millennia later and saw not proof of God’s absence but evidence of God’s majestic power. It was with the same hand that scooped and shaped the dust of Eden into the first humans that God sculpted the infinite galaxies and nebula. The same God who, with a word, brought forth Something out of Nothing, wove each of us in our mothers’ womb and called us by name. What is our worth as a species, the Bible asks? “Only slightly less than divine,” the Psalmist answers.

I write all of this because, at this moment in time, the state of our Pale Blue Dot seems tragically precarious. Wars are raging, economies threaten collapse, our environment gets sicker by the day, and more and more people are surrendering themselves to despair. Perhaps what many of us lack is perspective. Maybe we should, like Sagan and the Psalmist before him, remember that we are small but infinitely precious pieces of a larger whole. But if not even a sparrow falls without God’s knowledge, how much more does God pay attention to the problems and fears, hopes and uncertainties, of those who call God’s mighty name?

Joy,

Categories
Religious

The Plain and Simple Gospel

“‘Come, follow me,’ he said, ‘and I’ll show you how to fish for people.’”

Matthew 4:19 (Common English Bible)

We are all living a deeply entangled, complex life. As complexity increases, so does our exhaustion. We run faster, master complex planning calendars that were designed to make life less cumbersome, and come to the end of many days feeling that we have been defeated. Present is a growing nostalgia for a simpler world—a desire for a plainer, clearer path forward. This general desire includes the spiritual realm. The hope is that the church would provide a rediscovery of God, a reclaiming of God’s strength for daily living, and direction for a larger purpose to which we may attach our lives. Unfortunately, what many find are cumbersome requirements for membership and multiple invitations to serve on committees that multiply our exhaustion. With church participation, we discover that there are now more oars in the water that requires our attention.

How can we return to a simpler time? Jesus is instructive. Notice that Jesus does not invite people to register for a six-week new member class. Jesus does not make committee assignments. Jesus does not examine doctrinal purity or demand conformity to creedal statements. Jesus quite simply asks that we follow him. To follow Jesus is to share life with Jesus in the fullest sense: to go where he goes, to listen to what he taught, and to participate in practices and disciplines that were important to him. An invitation to follow is the suggestion that there is something of value to be found. Naturally, to accept such an invitation begins with an acknowledgment that the present life isn’t working anymore. Unless we really believe that another approach to life is required, we will continue trying to make the present one work.

The one other thing that Jesus asks for is a posture of humility, a desire to learn, and a willingness to participate in Jesus’ work: “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” All the work of Jesus is about one thing—looking for those who have wandered far from God and bringing them back home to the Father. As with any great work, there are multiple functions that must be accomplished. None of us are asked—or equipped—to do them all. Some of us are to be teachers, some will show hospitality, and others will be administrators, caregivers, and evangelists. Others will provide care and comfort to the broken. The various jobs to be done are many. But one goal remains: “to fish for people” so that they may return to God. Jesus will show us the way.

None of this suggests that boards and committees are without value to Jesus. Leadership boards must be populated with those who have demonstrated the capacity to respond to the promptings of God, to show people where Jesus is moving and call them to follow. Committees provide a responsible means for organizing a great workforce for accomplishing all that Jesus seeks to do in a particular community. But, in this over-complicated world, the church must not add unnecessary complexity to the simple call of Jesus to follow him and to participate with him in his grand redemptive purposes: a cup of cold water to the thirsty, a helping hand on the roadside, an encouraging word softly spoken. These are all within our reach. Nor are we called to carry the whole world on our backs. Our chief function is to point to the one who does, Jesus Christ. That is the Gospel, plain and simple.

Joy,

Categories
Religious

Tears in a Bottle

“You yourself have kept track of my misery. Put my tears into your bottle—aren’t they on your scroll already?”

Psalm 56:8 (Common English Bible)

Many of us have a bucket list—a list of experiences we would cherish before death. They require no explanation to others, no defense. They are deeply personal. Further, an explanation may reduce the depth, color, and richness of personal meaning. Most people recognize that what is experienced deeply can rarely be expressed with words. Words are useful for the communication of thought. They are less useful for conveying deeply held emotions, feelings, and convictions. A strong writer can approach this depth of meaning better than most. But always, words have a reducing effect. Permit me to simply state that high on my bucket list are three experiences I would value: a cameo appearance in a stage production of the musical RENT, a balloon handler in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and sharing a cappuccino with David Hyde Pierce.

Some will remember that David Hyde Pierce played the character of Niles Crane on the popular television series, Frasier. On three occasions I have enjoyed David Hyde Pierce on a Broadway stage: Spamalot, Curtains, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. If I were to have an occasion to have a private conversation with Pierce over coffee my first question to him would be, “What makes you cry?” An answer to that question often points to deeply held convictions; points to those values, struggles, and principles that grip our hearts. Again, words are limiting. But they can point another in the right direction. An answer to the question, “What makes you cry?” provides a window into the depths of another’s soul.

Naturally, tears come in a rich variety. A powerful conviction of truth draws tears to my eyes every time. I simply cannot read in Luke’s Gospel the story of Simeon taking the infant Jesus in his arms without my chest becoming heavy and tears forming in my eyes. Here, Simeon recognizes this child as God’s salvation. This is a story that reaches beyond the descriptive; it is evocative. In faith, Simeon sees God’s decisive hand in the unfolding drama of human history. Grief is another variety of tears. Old Testament teacher, Walter Brueggemann helps us with understanding this passage from the Psalms. Here is a confidence that God has kept, treasured, and preserved “my tears”; that is, all the pain and suffering that the psalmist has experienced. “God is the great rememberer who treasures pain so that the psalmist is free to move beyond that pain.”[1]

There is an ancient Jewish practice that provides care in times of misery and grief. A small bottle is provided to collect the tears of anguish and loss. The top of the bottle has a small hole in it that would allow those tears to evaporate over time. When the bottle is completely dry, the time for grieving is over. The Psalmist wants us to know that God has a bottle with our name on it. When tears of grief flow, God collects them in that bottle. This is how seriously God takes our grief; how God honors and shares in our loss. But there is a small hole in the top of that bottle. Over time the tears will evaporate. When the bottle is dry, and our eyes are clear, we see that God remains. And God redirects our eyes to tomorrow.

Joy,

[1] Brueggemann, Walter, and William H. Bellinger, Jr., Psalms: New Cambridge Bible Commentary, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018, 254.

Categories
Religious

The Sound of God

“After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet.”

1 Kings 19:12 (Common English Bible)

My first trip to Washington D.C. was in 1988, attending the College of Preachers located in the National Cathedral. Driving into the city my eyes fell upon the Pentagon—something I had previously seen only in pictures. Looming large out the right side of my windshield, the impressive structure accomplished the intention of the architect—to communicate the presence of the most powerful military force in the world. Though I am proud to be a U.S. citizen, I am a Christian first. And this military center of our nation represented values contrary to the purposes of Christ. A chill gripped me and I was momentarily shaken. Not because our nation had a military force. Even Israel has such a force to protect its freedoms. I was shaken by the enormity of its power.

I prayed—eyes wide open, watching the highway that stretched out in front of me. My prayer wasn’t clear. My head wasn’t clear. I simply didn’t know how to process the unsettledness tumbling within. My father served proudly in the U.S. Navy, as did my father-in-law. Regularly I thank women and men who are in the military or who have served. I thank them for their sacrifice and their service. My prayers for our troops mark my daily prayers. Yet, I was shaken, uncomfortable with the large footprint of our nation’s military might. My prayer was not uncommon. Many times I have inquired of God about how to pray. I am troubled by this and that and simply do not know how to pray. “Lord, what do I do with this fear, this uneasiness within?”

I turned off of the highway and onto a surface street, navigating my way to the National Cathedral. My speed reduced along a beautifully landscaped avenue, I noticed a public park, also out the right side of my windshield. This pleasant, bucolic escape from my anxiety was welcomed. This park now occupied the space that was once filled with the enormity of the Pentagon building. The churning, troubled spirit within remained but no longer at the same intensity, no longer causing a death grip on the innocent steering wheel of my car. My prayer continued, thanking God for the change of view from the driver’s seat, thanking God that my unsettledness was easing, though only a little.

Traffic dropped my speed to a crawl. More time could safely be given to gazing at the park. Suddenly, God’s hand was on my shoulder. Located in the same trajectory as the Pentagon from my driver’s seat was a park bench. Seated on the bench was a young woman—approximately my age—in prayer. In her hand was a rosary—a helpful prayer tool used by Roman Catholics. At that moment I was calm, all unsettledness now dissipated. Of the two images—the Pentagon and the exercise of prayer—I was quite certain in which of the two real power dwelt. Each day you and I must choose between the clamor of human strength and power and the silent consecration to God in prayer, between the world’s display of self-assurance and the thin, quiet presence of God.

Joy,

Categories
Religious

Conditions of Answered Prayers

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want, and it will be done for you.”

John 15:7 (Common English Bible)

Ernest Hemingway captures the deep disquiet among many who are faithful in the practice of prayer, Christians who go to their knees in prayer but quietly question just how much they can expect from God. Distressed by doubts, a lack of confidence in God’s ability—or desire—to respond to prayer plagues their practice of prayer. In his short story, The Gambler, The Nun, And The Radio, Sister Cecilia expresses her heartfelt desire to be a saint—a faithful, sincere desire that she has carried since she was a little girl. Sister Cecilia was absolutely convinced that if she renounced the world and went into the convent, she would become a saint. Now, years later, she still waits for her prayer to be fulfilled. Mr. Frazer, the protagonist of the story, responds to her that, “You’ll be one. Everybody gets what they want. That’s what they always tell me.” But Sister Cecilia expresses doubt, “Now it seems almost impossible.”i

The great nineteenth century preacher Phillips Brooks once addressed this common difficulty so many people have with prayer—explaining that the Gospel of John identifies two qualities shared by those who can hope to pray successfully. First, what does it mean to “remain in me.?”ii It is a phrase that is familiar in the New Testament. To offer clarity, Brooks asks that we think of a child in their earliest years. Those are the years children are so completely absorbed or “hidden” in their parent’s life that you do not look upon them as a separate individual. They are expressions of their parents’ nature. The child’s thoughts and speech are nearly echoes of the parent. In these earliest years we hear a child utter something and immediately we know what has been spoken by the parents in earshot of the child. The parent acts and thinks for the child; the child acts and thinks as the parent. Similarly, we “remain” in Christ as we grow closer to Christlikeness.

The second condition of successful prayer is in the words “and my words remain in you.” This is the continual and instinctive reference of the definite, explicit teachings and commands of Christ, asserts Brooks. This second condition is not separable from the first—the first is remaining in Christ. In Christ, it is impossible to do anything, say anything, or desire anything but just what is the Lord’s will. Yet, that is incomplete, imperfect, and unreliable without some positive and definite announcement of it in our own words. Returning to the image of the child, words spoken are but echoes of what is heard. To “remain” in Christ necessarily produces the thoughts and words of Christ—a striving to full obedience to the teachings of Christ. Brooks eloquently puts it this way: the soul’s remaining in Christ makes ready to accept Jesus’ words, and then the words lead into a deeper utterance of the desires of God’s heart.

Returning to Hemingway’s short story, Sister Cecilia’s prayer for much of her life was that she might become a saint. Discouraged that the prayer remains unanswered she concludes that it may be an impossible prayer. Readers of this short story identify with her—we also have prayers that seem to remain unanswered year after year. How do we reconcile unanswered prayer with the promise that whatever we ask will be done? Perhaps the difficulty is that we jumped with hearts so eager to receive that we fail to notice the prior conditions here in John’s Gospel. Ultimately prayer is about one thing – joining our lives so completely with Christ’s that Christ’s life and ministry continues through us. Prayer is a commitment to reverse the departure of our lives from the life and purposes of Jesus. As we strive to return our lives back to Christ and to “remain” there, and have Christ’s words remain in us, our prayers take on fresh power.

Joy,

i Ernest Hemingway, “The Gambler, The Nun, And The Radio”, The Snows of Kilimanjaro And Other Stories (New York, NY: Scribner Classics, 2009) 49.

ii Phillips Brooks, “Prayer”, The Battle of Life And Other Sermons (New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1893) 297.

Categories
Religious

Christmas Confidence

“But right now, we don’t see everything under their control yet. However, we do see the one who was made lower in order than the angels for a little while – it’s Jesus!”

Portions of Hebrews 2:8, 9 (Common English Bible)

This Christmas season finds us rather bewildered, facing confusion, uncertainty and fear. The world seems dangerously out of control and political leaders have failed to offer a neat formula that can solve our problems or allay our anxiety. We seem a long way from the promise of Isaiah that instruments of war will become farming equipment. But as Christmas draws near, Hebrews reminds us of a man who lived in a world not unlike our own, and yet, carried with him hope and confidence—Jesus Christ. Specifically, Hebrews tells us that we may not yet see everything “under control” but we do see Jesus!

Harry Emerson Fosdick once commented that in pointing to Jesus, Hebrews does not seek to distract us from realistic facts to a beautiful ideal; Hebrews is simply turning our attention from one set of facts to another fact. Jesus is a fact. He lived and his life left an indelible imprint upon the world. Some may question the nature of Jesus, may question the identity of Jesus as anything more than a mortal, but few question that Jesus lived. Yet, women and men of faith accept Jesus as more; accept, as fact, that Jesus is God’s decisive interruption in history to bring all things “under control”. Jesus is a towering, challenging, revealing fact that casts a whole new outlook on the present groaning of life today.

In this season of Advent—a season of anticipation—those faithful to the Lordship of Jesus see something tremendous occurring in the midst of the daily news: they see the emergence of a disruptive force that will overcome the wild, uncivilized and uncontrolled powers that tear at the world. In the birth of Jesus, God announces that the forces of darkness now have reason to tremble. No, we do not yet see all things “under control”—far from it—but we do see Jesus! And that means that God is on the move.

Our world today is one where fear seems to grow unchecked and uncertainty enlarges upon our consciousness. But God has come in Jesus to change the whole complexion of the world. What is required is that we open ourselves to Jesus in a manner that he can get at us and live in us so that he shapes our thoughts and behavior. One person of faith after another, opening their hearts and minds to receive the transforming power of God, makes all the difference in the world. That is our Christmas confidence.

Joy,

Categories
Religious

The Spirit of Christmas

“Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

Luke 2:14

There is a Christmas song that ponders in a rather wistful manner, why the world is unable to embrace the spirit of Christmas all year long. At Christmas, we crawl out from our hard shell of self-concern, our eyes sparkle with wonder, and we behave with an uncharacteristic charity toward all people. We slog through eleven months of drudging effort, eyes squarely focused upon survival in a competitive marketplace with little attention to others, and then Christmas comes. We throw off the heavy coat of selfishness for a time. Kindness permeates the places of our souls made callous by fear of scarcity and generosity flows from hidden springs in our hearts. We play, we laugh, and we are amiable to strangers and friends equally. That Christmas song is on to something. Why can’t we have the spirit of Christmas all year long?

Bethlehem is a divine interruption. The world today is a little different from the world that welcomed the birth of Jesus. Enemies are everywhere and national security continues to be a pressing concern. The inequity of wealth among people of every nation conveniently ignores the apostle Paul’s call that those who have much shouldn’t have too much and those who have little shouldn’t have too little (2 Corinthians 8:13–15). But Bethlehem invites the world to a fresh imagination; to imagine a world where instruments of war are repurposed into farming instruments and people impulsively and joyfully share from their abundance so that others may simply have enough. Bethlehem asks that we look at the world differently, and asks that we live differently.

The spirit of Christmas is a deep and persistent call to pay attention to God. It is a call to see and participate in the creation of a new world where peace and goodwill abound. Bethlehem is not an occasional indulgence—an occasion where we lay aside for a moment careful attention to our health and consume copious quantities of Christmas cookies and eggnog. Bethlehem asks that we care about the world of which we are a part. Bethlehem invites us to join the angels in announcing that God has unleashed upon the world a new order where all people may find carefree rest in God. Bethlehem is not a charming dream. It is not an aspirational goal. Bethlehem is a confident and certain reality. God has come into this world and nothing is going to be the same.

Go to Bethlehem this year. Go and bow down before this magnificent birth of a new world order. Discover in Bethlehem God’s divine intention for each of us; discover that peace and goodwill are not for one month of the year but God’s gift to be embraced and shared all year. But if you go to Bethlehem, recognize that Bethlehem makes demands upon all who visit. Bethlehem asks that you dedicate your life to speeding up the tempo of goodwill in all your relationships. Bethlehem will ask you to guard your speech and exercise restraint in the use of acrimony, harsh, and mean criticism. Bethlehem will demand civility, humility, and respect for others, particularly for those you disagree with. And Bethlehem will ask of you uncommon generosity toward others. Bethlehem asks a good deal from all who visit. But Bethlehem gives in return God’s peace. That is the spirit of Christmas.

Joy,

Categories
Religious

The Inner Circle

“During that time, Jesus went to the mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night long. At daybreak, he called together his disciples. He chose twelve of them whom he called apostles.”

Luke 6: 12, 13 (Common English Bible)

John C. Maxwell, internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author, writes, “Nobody does anything great alone.”[1] Maxwell identifies this as The Law of the Inner Circle—the understanding that those closest to you determine your level of success. One of the earliest teachings in the pages of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, is that God intends that men and women live in a manner that includes God in their inner circle. Life isn’t to be a solo act, but one lived in the presence and guidance of our creator. Following this teaching, the Bible unfolds the narrative of lives that include God or those who chose to move forward without God. What comes into focus is that one choice results in life, the other death. A powerful plea is heard from the lips of God in the Book of Deuteronomy, “Choose life!” (Deut 30:19).

In this teaching from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus goes to a mountain to pray. Jesus prays to God all night long. Jesus is including God in his inner circle. The content of Jesus’ prayers is soon disclosed—Jesus is seeking guidance for the extension of his inner circle. At daybreak, Jesus identifies and calls together twelve who will be called apostles. There is a night of prayer, and then there is a great decision. Our great lesson here is that our Lord took time to pray before he decided. Life also presents each of us with choices, choices that are personal and choices that are professional. Choices that may seem of little consequence and choices of considerable weight. Prayer always surrounds the choices of our Lord, and if we are truly wise, we will acknowledge that we are the stronger when God is included in all our decisions, small and large.

What did God do for Jesus in prayer? Prayer gave magnitude to the decision that Jesus would make. The choice of Jesus’ inner circle, the choice of the twelve that Jesus would teach, mentor, and send into the world to share the Good News of God’s Kingdom, was a momentous decision. Prayer possessed Jesus’ mind of the gravity of this decision. Each of us is prone to live small lives with tiny purposes, lop-sided prejudices, and ambitions that rise no higher than a sunflower. As someone once said, the good is the enemy of the great. Without prayer, the gravity of decisions is reduced to little consequence. The natural result is a life that neither strives for something great nor achieves all God intends. Nothing kills the little things like our prayers.

Prayer also reaches beyond our own limited understanding of possibility. Someone once wisely commented that if we can ever grasp God and understand God’s mind, we must begin looking for another God. A God that we can comprehend is far too small to save us! Prayer to God, including God in our inner circle, is to draw upon insight and wisdom, and resources greater than what we possess. When we pray, we move into the realm of knowledge and possibility that we could never have imagined. Bigger ideas, bigger motives, and bigger sympathies take possession of us. Prayer opens the windows of the soul to grandeur vistas where rich discoveries are made, and the heart is stirred to wonderous activity not before realized. Here Jesus teaches that the biggest outlooks come to those on their knees.

Joy,

[1] Maxwell, John C., The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, 25th Anniversary Edition. Nashville: HarpersCollins Leadership, 2022. 135.

Read more meditations on prayer by Dr. Doug Hood in his new book, A Month of Prayer: Five Minute Meditations for a Deeper Experience of Prayer, available on Amazon.