Author: Daniel Westfall

Ep.020: A Plague on Your House

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Today we consider the story of Moses leading the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.  Moses started by asking Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to let the people go. But Pharaoh wasn’t about to release his slave labor force. That’s like asking Walmart to dismiss its clerks and shelf stockers, and run the store with just the management. Not going to happen.

So Moses had a wee contest with Pharaoh, in which Moses called down plagues on Egypt to convince Pharaoh to free the Israelite slaves. Pharaoh wasn’t impressed with the first two plagues because his magicians could so something similar. But Pharaoh found the plagues annoying, so he asked Moses to pray to the Lord to get rid of them.

After plague #2, Pharaoh said, “Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs, and I will let your people go.”   

After the plague of flies, he said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”

After the plague of thunderstorms with lightning and hail, Pharaoh said, “Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough.”

And after plague #8, the locusts, he said, “Forgive my sin once more and pray for me.”

I like his prayer after the locusts. “Forgive my sin once more and pray for me.”  Amen to that! That’s a prayer for you and for me. After each plague, Pharaoh promised to let the Israelites go, but as soon as God lifted the plague, Pharaoh changed his mind.  What would it take to get Pharaoh to keep his promises and to set the people free? What finally worked was when Moses created a path through the Red Sea on which the Israelites escaped to safety. And when Pharaoh’s army followed, the path disappeared, the sea came in, and the army drowned.

Let’s take a look at Pharaoh’s philosophy of prayer and see if it has some lessons for us. Here’s how the Pharaoh philosophy of prayer operates: God tells you to do something, you decide you don’t really want to do it. God makes your life difficult, you ask someone to pray for you. And amazingly, the prayer works. Your life becomes easier, your troubles go away, and you forget about God. . . until God sends more troubles to get your attention and you say, “Oh, yeah! That’s what I was supposed to do. Maybe I’ll do it this time.” So you pray for relief from your new troubles, your prayer gets answered, things get better, and you settle back into your comfort zone of ignoring God.

So here are two lessons from Pharaoh’s philosophy of prayer:

1.    Be sure to pray when your life is falling apart. That’s what prayer is for.

2.    But remember to keep your promises when times are good. That’s what prayer is about too!

Dear God, teach us to pray and obey when times are good and when times are bad. May our paths lead us through the Red Sea to the wilderness where you meet us. And save us from our enemies who pursue us to bring us back into slavery.

Thank you for listening.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with me”.

Appendix:  The 10 plagues and Pharaoh’s responses.

  1. Nile to blood
  2. Frogs                 Pray to the Lord
  3. Gnats or lice
  4. Flies                Pray for me
  5. Livestock
  6. Boils
  7. Thunderstorm – Hail        Pray to the Lord for we have had enough
  8. Locusts            Forgive my sin once more and pray for me
  9. Darkness for 3 days
  10. Firstborn            Go, and bless me.
  11. The Finale: Path through the Red Sea

Ep.019: Psalm 1: Tree People and Chaff People

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me.”

Today we start a new prayer project: praying through the Psalms. We start with Psalm 1, which asks the question, “Do you want to be a chaff person or a tree person?”

Psalm 1 describes wicked people as chaff blown around by the wind.  So what is chaff?

When the wheat is growing, the kernels are protected by an outer layer of fibre. But after harvest, you garbage the dry and useless husks, and save the edible kernels to be ground into flour.

1. Imagine a grain farmer in ancient times, using a shovel to toss his pile of grain into the air. The wind blows away the dry husks and dirt, and the good seeds fall back into the pile.

2. A modern combine takes the crop into the front and spews dirt and straw and husks out the back.

3. In World War 2, planes dropped foil-backed strips of paper into the air to confuse the enemy radar. They called it chaff. It was a cloud of paper fluttering down through the air, ending up as useless litter on the ground.

Maybe your life is like chaff: short-term, temporary, little to show for your efforts, changing direction with the weather, a cloud of dust and husks in the blowing wind. Always looking for the next hit of entertainment or drugs or religion that will mask your pain and give you relief from gnawing emptiness and angst.    

Psalm 1 says there is another way to do life. Instead of being a chaff person, you could be a tree person. A tree, planted by streams of water, always green and leafy, giving a harvest of fruit. A tree person has deep roots, a tree person doesn’t dry up and blow away. A tree person becomes like Treebeard the Ent in “Lord of the Rings” — not hasty, but thoughtful, wise, and good.

Let’s pray.  

Our Father, so much of our life is chaff. Our books, our movies, our video games, days on Facebook and nights surfing the net. Our lives are blowing away a cloud of dust and chaff.  

Help us become tree people. To grow our roots deep into your word. To listen to our heart when it tells us to pray. To obey the spirit when it encourages us to love a neighbour. Psalm 1 says, “The Tree Person delights in the law of the Lord.”  Help us to discover the delight that comes from letting go our ways of chaff, and growing roots and leaves and fruit, fed by the Spirit in streams of water and growing up into the warming sunshine of your presence.

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep.018: Abraham Cuts a Deal with God

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

Today in the book of Genesis we look at the story (chapter 18) where Abraham negotiated with God. One day, three strangers visit Abraham, and when they are leaving one of them turns back and says to him, “I’ve heard those cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are pretty evil. I think I’ll go down and check it out. I want to see if it’s as bad as they say it is.”

On hearing this, Abraham immediately assumes the Lord will conclude, “Yes, it’s pretty bad down there. I think I’ll destroy those cities.” So Abraham tries to head him off.  He says, “Uhhh . . . suppose you find 50 righteous people down there. Would you destroy the whole city, including 50 righteous people? That doesn’t sound like something the Judge of the Whole Earth would do.”

The Lord says, “Good point. If I find 50 righteous people, I’ll spare the whole place for their sake.”

So Abraham says, “Uhhh . . . what if there are 45 instead of 50?  Same problem, right?” And the Lord says, “Ok, for 45 I’d spare the city.”  Abraham keeps negotiating God down: What about 40 righteous? 30? 20? 10?” And the Lord says, “For the sake of 10 I will not destroy it.” Then he leaves. That’s the cliffhanger. Will the Lord find 10 righteous people and spare the city? Or will he find 9 or fewer and destroy it? And will those 9 righteous people get destroyed with the wicked? You can read the story and find out.

Meanwhile what can we learn about prayer from this story?

  1. First, our word prayer does not appear in the story. But if our idea of prayer includes a conversation or negotiation with someone called “the Lord” and the “the Judge of the Whole Earth,” then yes, this is a prayer. Maybe one type of prayer is just talking to the Lord about things like current events and his plans and yours.

  2. Second, does this story invite us to negotiate with the Lord? Last time the lottery got up to 50 million, I tried to negotiate with God. “God, if you give me the winning numbers, I’ll give you 10%.”  10% sounds pretty cheap, eh? Ok. How about 20%. Still not generous enough? 30%? 40%? Isn’t 40% how much personal injury lawyers charge? Surely the Judge of the Whole Earth wouldn’t charge more than a personal injury lawyer.
    Guess how much my prayer got answered?  That’s why I’m still living on a meagre pension instead of travelling the world in style.

Foolishness aside, consider other types of negotiating prayers: parents who say to God, “If you keep my children safe, I’ll go to church every week,” or “If you cure my partner of cancer, I’ll be kind to him and take care of him” or “If you help me get a raise, I’ll start tithing.”  Why do these prayers go unanswered?

In Abraham’s story, it’s God who introduces the topic to be discussed, not Abraham. That’s part of the problem with my prayer life. I really want to talk to God about the lottery, but when I pray, he introduces topics like, “Are you loving your neighbors?”, “Are you learning patience?”  Man, what is this about prayer? I have a whole lifetime to learn patience, but the lottery draw is happening this week already!

Further on in the Bible there’s the story of Job, who is famous for how much he suffered. Job said about God (Job 23:3-4):

If only I knew where to find him;
 if only I could go to his dwelling!
I would state my case before him
   and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job found that God was silent on the topics Job wanted to discuss. Job finally had to shut up about his favorite topics and start listening. There’s a lesson in that for you and for me.

Dear God, you are silent on so many of the topics we pray about. Help us to hear what you want to talk about. Help us listen to what you say. And when you are silent, help us wait in silence for you. Amen.

I’m Daniel on the Channel “Pray With Me.”

(For the best technical exposition of the Sodom and Gomorrah story in context, see http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/20090505120133469 (Robert Alter, “Sodom as Nexus: the Web of Design in Biblical Narrative.”)

Praying the Lords’ Prayer 09: Kingdom, Power, Glory

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

Today, we pray the last phrase in the Lord’s prayer:  “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, now and forever.” First, the whole prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,
    Hallowed be your name.
    Your kingdom come.
    Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
    Give us today our daily bread.
    And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
    Save us from the time of trial,
    And deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, now and forever,
Amen.

Our Father in heaven,

Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, now and forever.  

The ancient Greek hero, Achilles covered himself with glory by fighting the Trojans.  My boss once said of an information technology project that failed: “They didn’t cover themselves with glory.”

But you, O God, have covered yourself in glory by everything you have done.
– You created a vast and beautiful universe. The psalmist says the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1).
– You defeated Pharaoh’s armies, freeing the Israelites from slavery. You made a path for them through the Red Sea. |
– In Christ, you created a way of salvation for us. When we were dead in our sins, you made us alive with him, forgiving our sins and cancelling the charges against us.
– On the cross, you disarmed the spiritual powers and authorities, making  a public spectacle of them and triumphing over them (Colossians 3:16-19).
– By these great deeds you covered yourself with glory.

You have made Jesus glorious by giving him the name that is above every name, so that at the end of time, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is King, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).

We look forward to the new order you have already begun to establish,
– Where the only kingdom left standing will be your kingdom, ruled by King Jesus,
– Where all your enemies will be defeated,
– Where the power of sin and death and the devil will be destroyed forever,
– And your glory will shine eternally for all to see.

Our Father, yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, now and forever.

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the “Pray with Me”

Praying the Lord’s Prayer 08: Time of Trial

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

Today, as we continue praying the Lord’s Prayer, we focus on the phrase “Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.” First, the whole prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,
    Hallowed be your name.
    Your kingdom come.
    Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
      Give us today our daily bread.
    And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
    Save us from the time of trial,
    And deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, now and forever,
Amen.

Our Father in heaven,

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.  In the Gospel of Matthew, only a short while before praying this prayer, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1). And he will soon be tested again in the Garden of Gethsemane where he will pray, “Father, if it is possible, don’t make me go through this last and greatest trial of my life.”   

Seeing Jesus led from trial to trial, we pray to you Father, “Please don’t treat us that way. Don’t lead us into a wilderness for testing, but deliver us from evil.”

We know our weakness. We have prayed for forgiveness for our sins. But still we are seduced by three great powers of evil — the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Deliver us first from the world–our human culture without God. It encourages us to be workaholics, shopaholics, chocaholics, TVaholics, churchaholics — any addiction that leads us away from you, our Father, into a wilderness of shiny lights, shadows, and selfish activities.

Deliver us also from the flesh: the desires of our body that work against the Spirit, pulling us away from faith and prayer. Food is the first temptation of the flesh. Distortions of healthy appetite – like anorexia, bulimia, and gluttony – drag our spirits into a wilderness where prayer is impossible.  Sex is another appetite of the flesh. Fantasy and internet pornography drag many into a relationship-destroying wilderness of addiction and obsession. A third sin of the flesh is lethargy. We sink into mindless numbness watching hours of TV or playing endless video games, losing our capacity for human interaction and creativity.  Good Father, deliver us from all sins of the flesh. Teach us self-control. Teach us moderation in eating, teach us restraint in using technology, teach us purity in our thoughts.

Deliver us also from the devil. We believe there is an unseen spirit world all around us, inhabited by angels and demons. Paul says our battle is against “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). Warn us we pray when we are at risk from the spirit world we cannot see and protect us from the works of the devil.

Our Father, we pray that you will not lead us into trials greater than we can bear, and that you will save us from the enemies of our soul: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.