Ep.269: Inheritance Sale.

Ep.269: Hebrews 12: Inheritance Sale.

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

Hebrews 12 says:
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone
and to be holy;. . .
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God
and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
See that no one is sexually immoral,
or is godless like Esau,
who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.
Afterwards. . . when he wanted to inherit this blessing,
he was rejected.
Even though he sought the blessing with tears,
he could not change what he had done (Heb 12:14-17).

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone. That’s a broad statement. I can list lots of people I don’t need to be at peace with–drug dealers, motorcycle gangs, people who stage anti-vaccine rallies outside hospitals.

And what about those who have left the faith? Like Esau, who was in line to inherit the blessing God gave Abraham, but swapped it for lunch when he was hungry.

I make three comments on this passage.

First, we need to exert ourselves to build and maintain peaceful relationships. “Make every effort,” the passage says. It’s helpful to be a peacemaker. It’s unhelpful to stir up dissension.

Second, a lot of trouble in relationships comes from a lack of inner peace. If I know I’m right and you’re wrong about vaccines or masking or politics or religion, it’s very difficult for me to engage in peaceful discussion. I want to prove a point instead of engaging in dialog. I’d rather list your faults than hear your heart. I need a Facebook moderator inside me to edit out the shouting and suggest I start listening.

Third, the author of Hebrews describes Esau as sexually immoral, godless, and with messed up priorities. The author’s solution to Esau’s character, and to mine, is his statement,
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God
and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

There’s the solution: don’t fall short of God’s grace. Instead, receive his grace whatever your calling–whether the elder son inheriting the blessing or the younger son in submission to others. Resist the bitter thought that life hasn’t treated you well or that God shortchanged you. Being at peace with others starts by being at peace with yourself.

Let’s pray.

Our father, we release to you the bitterness in our lives. Our lack of progress in becoming spiritual, our inability to be at peace with ourselves and you, our need to project our problems onto others.

Help us not to fall short of your grace as Esau did.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.268: Psalm 131: Like a Child.

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

Psalm 131 says:
My heart is not proud, Lord,
nor my eyes haughty;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is a weaned child within me (vv. 1-3).

In Ecclesiastes, the preacher said, “There is a time for everything” (Eccl 3:1a). The poet in today’s psalm talks about a time to be quiet, a time to let go of ambition, a time to be content with our lot. Perhaps it is a time to set aside our endless questions and doubts, a time to rest in the answers we have, even if they are incomplete and ambiguous.We can rest from organizing and categorizing our lives and our thoughts and theology. It is a time to simply be still in God’s presence.

Our lives are full of unread books, people we should have coffee with, social media to review, and incessant debates about politics and religion and war. But the poet suggests we won’t solve the world’s problems this week. Let’s give ourselves a break from being grown-ups. It’s time to be still like a child.

Like a weaned child with its mother–not desperate to find a meal, not concerned about taxes or pandemics or enemies of the state. Just peaceful and calm in the mother’s arms, trusting her care, content in her love.

Do you ever find a quiet place like that with God? Or are you always asking, doing, seeking, striving?

Let’s pray.

Our father, we settle quietly into your presence. As thoughts disturb us, we let them go.
– We release to you the problems of nuclear proliferation and ballistic missile testing
– We release to you our obsession with COVID
– We release to you our fears for our children and their future
– We release to you our anxiety about aging

We rest in your arms, God, like a child with its mother. We trust you to watch over us today and tomorrow. We trust you to gather our small thoughts into your big thoughts, to collect our small works into the big work of your kingdom.

We trust you to hold the world together. We trust you to hold us together as we rest in you. Teach us to live in the sabbath of your eternal rest.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.267: Psalm 130: Out of the Depths.

Ep267_Psalm130. Out of the Depths.

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

Psalm 130 begins with the well-known phrase, “Out of the depths”. The psalm says:
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice,
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy (vv. 1-2).

Out of the depths I cry to the Lord. When I pray that phrase, I sometimes experience a sinking feeling in my stomach. A feeling that things have gone wrong again; this time, to the depths of my being. And I am unable to fix it.

Part of the poet’s genius is that he doesn’t describe the depths he was experiencing. He creates space for us to bring our depths to the psalm and to God. In the poet’s world, the deepest depth was the primeval sea of chaos that God conquered at creation. That ancient sea serves as metaphor and mirror for chaos in the poet’s personaI, national, and international experience. Maybe it works for us too, as we bring our modern depths to the ancient poem. Think about some of the things we might bring.

– We bring to the psalm the chaos of politics and wars, recently highlighted in America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

– We bring to the psalm the COVID chaos, a disease of the body that has inspired a disease of the mind with conspiracy theories about blame and control and loss of freedoms and microchips in vaccines.

– We bring to the psalm people hunkering down in survival mode as they and their friends grow old and forgetful and sick.

– We bring people who pray from depths of regret for past mistakes, whose present is filled with confusion, and whose future is bleak.

Gillian Welsh sang about the depths, saying:
There’s a world of trouble
trying to take its turn.
I can hear it shaking underground.

(David Rawlings and Gillian Welsh. Lyrics to “One and Only”. Revival, 1996.)

Let’s pray.

Out of the depths we cry to you O Lord. We have tried to organize and control our lives, to calm our troubled sea and ignore its black depths. But we sense, like Gillian Welsh, a world of trouble shaking underground. The monsters in our sea churn the waters. Unresolved troubles pull us under. Violence and war cause fear. Tension and disharmony sadden us.

O gracious Lord, walk with us. Lift us from the depths that confound us. Calm our troubled waters. Heal the diseases we cannot cure.

With the poet,
We wait for you, Lord,
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning (v. 6).

As we wait and watch through our dark night, we hear your promise of morning. We wait patiently for your help.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.266: Scourging, Training, and Discipline.

Ep.266: Hebrews 12: Scourging, Training, and Discipline.

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

Hebrews 12 says:
The Lord trains those he loves
and chastens all his children (v. 6).
Our human fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best,
but God trains us for our good,
so that we may share in his holiness.
Training is painful, not pleasant.
But it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace (vv. 10-11).
Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
Make level paths for your feet,
so that what is lame may not be disabled, but healed (v 12).

When I was young and full of fear, I tried my hardest to be a good Christian. My efforts had an unintended result: instead of getting better, I got worse. I discovered that my sin problem ran so deep in mind and body and soul that I could not eradicate it. The harder I tried, the more I failed, and the more discouraged I got.

And then I encountered Hebrews 12 in my King James Bible:
Whom the Lord loves, he chastens,
and scourges every son he receives (v. 6).

Comforting thought, that. God loves me so much he’s getting his whip ready to scourge me? Maybe that would help with the sin problem.

Or maybe not.

Then I found author Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He wrote a chapter on Hebrews 12, giving it the title, “In God’s Gymnasium” (Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure. London: Pickering and Inglis, 1965). His point: God did not want to scourge me, but train me. Perhaps I was right about the depth of my problems. But the solution was not pain and punishment, it was an exercise program. As exercise can strengthen and heal feeble arms and weak knees, so God’s training of my inner life can bring restoration and healing.

Let’s pray.

Our father, it makes a difference whether we think of you as actively punishing us to correct our sins, or if we see you as our personal trainer in the gym, promoting exercise and a healthy diet.

Forgive us where we have wrongly felt you judge harshly and punish vigorously. Teach us to embrace your training program that will grow our capacity to hear and obey your word, correcting our confused thinking, and helping us run the race you have set before us.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.265: Psalm 129: The Anti-Harvest.

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

Psalm 129 says:

They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory over me.
Ploughmen have ploughed my back
and made their furrows long.
but the Lord is righteous;
he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked (vv. 2-4).

This psalm returns to a frequent theme: oppression and persecution. The poet uses a striking agricultural image: his enemies have ploughed a furrow in his back. Despite this cruel and inhuman treatment, God has seen and rescued him.

The second part of the psalm invites God to punish the wicked ploughmen. It says:
May all who hate Zion
be turned back in shame.
May they be like grass on the roof,
which withers before it can grow;
a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,
nor one who gathers fill his arms (vv. 5-7).

Using grass to thatch a roof or sod to waterproof it doesn’t produce a harvest. The grass dries up and withers. The hopeful reaper finds the opposite of harvest–no grain to rub in his hands, no stalks to gather into sheaves.That’s how the poet wants God to deal with his enemies: uproot them from their native soil, place them where there is no opportunity for growth, no hope of harvest, no joy and blessing from arms full of produce.

Let’s pray.

Ou father, with the poet we pray:
They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory over me (v. 2).

We invite you to sustain us in our long battle against things that oppress us.
– When we sink into depression, draw us into joy
– When we react in anger, teach us peace
– When we isolate ourselves, restore us to community
– When we are lazy, help us to show initiative
– When we are critical, teach us to be helpful

May the grass of our old life dry up and wither, producing no harvest. May the new life you give us find rich soil and grow. We do not curse our enemies as the poet does, but we pray that you will prevent harvests of evil, and bless a harvest of good.

We ask you to break every curse against us. Where family or teachers or preachers have thought ill of us and highlighted our failures, grant us justice. Define our present and future by your promises, our growth by the good rain you send on us. May our lives yield a harvest of righteousness.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.268: Psalm 128: Straight and Narrow.

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

Psalm 128 says:

Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in obedience to him.
You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine. . .
Your children like olive shoots
round your table

Two comments on this passage.

First, the good life God gives to those who fear him is not wealth nor success nor power. The poet describes the good life as a life of sufficiency, not excess, as a domestic life enjoying the fruits of one’s labor, as a life at peace with one’s spouse and children. It’s a stretch to suggest that today, God’s blessing and prosperity should include a big car, a big house, a big bank account, and a vacation cottage.

My second comment is about the fear of the Lord. What does it mean to fear God?

Recently, I hiked to Sarrail Ridge in the Rockies. On a 6-kilometer trek, we gained one kilometer of elevation. Standing on the Sarrail Ridge, looking down a steep, rock-strewn cliff to the lake a kilometer below, I got that queasy feeling of vertigo, and stepped back from the edge. Then we sat on a rock overlooking the cliff, munching potato chips and sandwiches, enjoying the view.

The hike reminds me of my walk with God, mostly trudging uphill, avoiding roots and rocks, stepping over fallen trees, trying not to slip on shale and gravel. Occasionally the path winds past a serene mountain lake or through a rippling stream. Gravity is present on the journey, ready to pull me to the ground if I stumble, quick to dump me over a cliff if I give way to vertigo. On the journey, I am careful, but not fearful.

God is always with me, just 10155like gravity, but my response to him is not fear of his power and punishments. God is present in the air I breathe and the world I live in. He gives me freedom to act, he encourages me as I take each step in life, in relationships, in work, or rest. If I run afoul of his laws of spiritual gravity, if I consistently ignore or wander from his path, I will experience consequences. But God’s attitude to me is father and friend and guide, encourage. He gives me his Spirit, he leads me through his high country, he picks me up when I stumble.

Let’s pray.

Our father, creator, as you built the universe with a strong force of gravity, so you created human life for true morality. Help us to walk in love you and our neighbors. May the gravity of that task not weigh us down and crush us, but may it show us the way to go. May we experience it, as Frances Havergal wrote:
The narrow track upon the mountain side,
With ever-widening view, and freshening air,
And honeyed heather. . .
from Frances Ridley Havergal, “The Two Paths,” Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
Accessed 27 August 2021. https://ccel.org/ccel/havergal/keptuse.h5.html

We fear displeasing you, father, we fear to incur your anger. But we trust that you are for us, not against us. Walk with us through this life, correct us where we are wrong, encourage us to do right. We are not fearful children, but trusting.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.263: How to Perfect Faith.

Ep.263: Hebrews 12: How to Make Faith Perfect.

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

Hebrews 12 says:
Therefore, since we have a great cloud of witnesses
let us lay aside everything that hinders
and the sin which entangles, and
let us run with patience
the race that is set before us
fixing our eyes on Jesus
the author and perfecter of faith.
(Hebrews 12:1-2a)

Our cloud of witnesses is the heroes of faith highlighted in Hebrews 11. We could imagine them peering down from heaven, cheering us on in our race of faith. More likely, the author means that their lives witnessed to the faith we have taken up. We keep the faith by emulating their encouraging stories.

How to do this? The author’s advice: think like a long-distance runner. Strip down to the essentials–running shoes, shorts, shirt. Pace yourself for the long haul. Lay aside everything that hinders and sins which entangle.

So, why don’t we disentangle ourselves and run freely, successfully, in the faith? I look to several reasons in my experience.

I go in fits and starts rather than running a long, patient race. If I begin a new program of devotions on Monday, by Friday I’m either sleeping in or surfing world news instead of reading scripture or praying.

If I decide to use my time more wisely and efficiently, I soon become confused about what to do next. Before I know it, the afternoon is squandered playing computer Scrabble.

I think of the people I could phone or meet. But first, maybe, a nap.

Perhaps I should try harder, beat myself up, or look for new strategies to get stuff done.

The author of Hebrews suggests a better approach. He says, simply: Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.

Easier said than done. How can I look to Jesus? Hebrews 11 says Moses persevered because he saw him who was invisible (v. 27).

I don’t have Moses’ skill of seeing the invisible. But here is one way I look to Jesus. I’ve always been plagued with memories of wrongs I committed, people I’ve failed, opportunities squandered, time lost, lack of progress in things material and spiritual. Those memories come unbidden, unwelcome, triggering self-condemnation. Recently, when I think of those things I pray,
Jesus, I leave my past at your cross,
trusting you
to forgive all my sin,
to heal all my disease,
to fix all that is broken.

That’s it. My simple discipline of turning, or repenting, or fixing my eyes on Jesus.

Let’s pray.

O Jesus, we live by seeing the invisible, by inhabiting metaphors of salvation. We eat your body and drink your blood, and work in your invisible kingdom. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to believe, and courage to live the life of faith.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.262: Psalm 127: Unless the Lord Builds the House.

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

Psalm 127 begins:

Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
the guards keep watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives his beloved sleep (vv. 1-2).

The poet has quickly disposed of the myths of the self-made man, the lone ranger, and the workaholic. Success is not the result of human effort alone; success comes when God and people work cooperatively.

The Taliban recently returned to power in Afghanistan, quickly filling the vacuum left by departing Americans. The United States spent twenty years and billions of dollars building and supplying the Afghan government, Afghan infrastructure, the Afghan army, the house of Afghanistan. But it all imploded in one week in August. As the poet says, unless the Lord builds the house, unless the Lord guards the city, the army and the politicians labor in vain.

The second half of the psalm talks about family:
Children are a heritage from the Lord . . .
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
He will not be put to shame
when he contends with his enemies in the gate.

In an ancient, patriarchal, agricultural society, it was good to have sons to work the fields, protect the family, and defend the city from enemies at the gates. The poet gives God credit for building the family: children are indeed a heritage from the Lord.

Let’s pray.

Our father, how often we append a prayer to our plans, asking you to bless them. But the poet sees a more cooperative process, in which we build the house when you are building, or we guard the city you are guarding, or we leave our work undone when you invite us to rest. Give us, we pray, that inner sense of how to cooperate in the work you are doing.

How different was the poet’s life from ours. We are less patriarchal, less agricultural, more technological. No walled cities. No enemies gathering at city gates. Instead, the threats to our religion and way of life are corrupt ideologies, lying conspiracy theories, and violent fundamentalist movements in Islam and Christianity. The lure of hedonism calls our sons and daughters away from the godly heritage we have tried to give them. Our children are a heritage from you, our city and country a gift from you. Guard our heritage as we try to preserve what is good and resist what is evil.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.261: When Faith Doesn’t Work.

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

Hebrews 11, the great chapter about faith, says:

What more shall I say?
I do not have time to tell about
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,
who through faith
conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised;
who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of flames,
and escaped the edge of the sword;
whose weakness was turned to strength. . .

There were others who were tortured,
refusing to be released so they might gain a better resurrection.
Some faced jeers and flogging, chains and imprisonment.
They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two;
they were killed by the sword.
They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,
destitute, persecuted and mistreated—
the world was not worthy of them.
– Hebrews 11:32-38a

There it is: two sides of faith. One is a glorious and victorious side, where the faithful do mighty works to conquer kingdoms, escape death, and turn weakness into strength.

And then there’s the other side, where the faithful are abused, punished, imprisoned, and killed.

Which faith outcome do you prefer? Do you think God presents a smorgasbord of options so you can choose your own meal?

The prosperity gospel emphasizes one part of faith. It says that by faith you can become “all God intends you to be”. Live inspired. Reach your dreams. Don’t associate with naysayers and doubters. Let faith lift you to success and happiness and wealth.

Fortunately, Hebrews tells the rest of the story. Some by faith faced jeers and flogging, chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawn in two, killed by the sword; destitute, persecuted, mistreated–the world was not worthy of them (vv. 37-38).

I try to live in a safe zone between these two options, these extremes. A place of North American riches. . .but not too rich. A place of comfort. . .but not too comfortable. A tolerant society where I am not persecuted for my faith. A peaceful life where I don’t try to conquer kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, or quench the fury of flames.

How does that old doggerel go?

The high soul takes the high road and the low soul takes the low,
And in between on the misty flats, the rest drift to and fro.
(John Oxenham, The Ways, paraphrased).

Let’s pray.

Our father, we do not understand our motives. Satan accuses us, as he did Job, of following you because you’ve made our lives easy. We have tried to be faithful, but our faith has not conquered heights or faced persecution.

Is there room in your kingdom for us average people? For those of us on the misty flats, surviving but not thriving, faithful but not outstanding, honest but not to a fault?

The apostle Paul’s description of faith includes slaves who work for their masters, women who endure unreasonable husbands, men who try to be kind, church leaders who are helpful and sober.

O Jesus, are these works of faith? Receive our lives as we live them, our hearts as we offer them, our goods as we give them, and our prayers as we pray, “Your kingdom come”.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.260: Psalm 126: Song of the Dreamer.

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

Psalm 126 begins,

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy (vv. 1-3).

The poet doesn’t tell us what recent disaster needed God’s intervention and restoration. But he does say how it felt to see God’s work: It felt like living in a dream! Who could believe God had showed up after the awful happened, and changed it all to good.

And now the poet needs another miracle. He prays,
Restore our fortunes, Lord,
like streams in the Negev (v. 4).
Once again the poet’s circumstances require God’s intervention. “Like streams in the desert” he says–streams that most of the year are dry and dusty; but when the yearly rains come, they fill with refreshing water.

Then the poet gives another image of the yearly cycle.
Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them (v. 6).

I have always wondered why anyone would sow with tears. I once heard a missionary say: As planting time approaches and the family food supply runs low, the father protects their precious stock of spring seed. Yes, it could be used to meet immediate needs, but the farmer resists the crying of his family, and in sorrow sows the seed in hope of harvest.

When harvest happens, it is another example of God restoring the fortunes of the poor. The farmer returns with sheaves of wheat, singing songs of joy. He too is a dreamer, who can hardly believe that the long year has brought fruition to his dreams.

Let’s pray.

Our father, my dreams of late have been anxious: I am late to class, unprepared, unclothed, and fearful. Where do these dreams come from? Restore my fortunes, drive out my anxieties, bring me back to peaceful dreams.

Father, I have a small garden this year, with tomatoes I grew from seed and scarlet runner beans and a raspberry bush that has withered in the heat. I did not sow in tears, but I feel the power of the poet’s metaphor. There is a season for sowing and one for harvesting, and a time for weeping and time for joy.

Be with us in these seasons of our lives. Tend us as we grow, remember us in your harvest at the end of the age.

Amen.

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube