Ep.028: Samson’s Birth Announcement

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

Continuing our survey of Old Testament stories about prayer, today we consider the birth announcement for Samson the strong-man, one of the judges of Israel.

The Israelites who lived in the promised land persistently ignored God and disobeyed his laws. So God let their enemies–the Philistines–oppress them for 40 years (Judges 13:1). This is similar to Israel at the time of Jesus, which was occupied by the Roman army. In our day, Israel is still a favorite target of local military powers.

During the Philistine occupation, an angel visited an Israelite woman who couldn’t have children. The angel said, “You are going to have a son. Don’t drink wine, and when the boy is born, don’t ever cut his hair. He will be dedicated as a servant of God to deliver Israel from the Philistines.”

After the angel left, the woman told her husband Manoah, “An awesome looking angel told me I will have a son and that I’m not supposed to drink wine. And he said we can’t ever cut the boy’s hair because he will be dedicated as a servant of God to deliver Israel from the Philistines.”

How do you think Manoah received the good news? He prayed. That’s probably a good thing. But listen to his prayer. He said, “God, pardon me, but can you send that angel back to explain how to bring up the boy we’re going to have?” God answered his prayer. The angel returned and found Manoah’s wife alone in a field. She ran to get Manoah who followed her to meet the angel. Manoah said, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife? Tell us how we’re supposed to raise the boy.”

And the angel said, perhaps somewhat pointedly, “Just do everything I told your wife when I visited her.” Then the angel repeated his earlier instructions.

An interesting story. Let’s start with two observations.

1. First, Israelite society in Bible times was strongly patriarchal, and the author of this story reflects that. For example, even though the woman is the central character, the author never tells us her name. She is just, “The wife of Manoah.” When she tells her husband about the angel’s visit, he asks God to send the angel back, saying in effect, “Clearly these instructions are too important for me to get second-hand from a woman. You’d better repeat the instructions so I can hear them.”

2. Second, God simply ignores the politics of patriarchy. He has no problem bypassing the man and sending the angel to the woman. Even after Manoah prays to be included, the angel doesn’t go to Manoah–he goes straight to the woman again. She has to find Manoah who follows her to the field to meet the angel. Who is leader and who is follower in this awkward scenario? And what does the angel say to Manoah? “Just do everything I already told your wife.” Do we catch a hint of rebuke here? Is the angel saying, “The instructions haven’t changed since the last time I gave them.”

Now, let’s look at a couple lessons for our prayers.

1. First, God is serious about communicating good news to his people. He sent an angel to bring good news to Manoah’s wife. When Manoah had trouble accepting the news from her, God sent the angel back to deliver the news to him.

2. Second, God works both inside and outside our cultural expectations. He bypassed patriarchal norms by going to Manoah’s wife. He honored patriarchal norms by sending the angel again for Manoah’s benefit. God still speaks inside and outside our cultural expectations. Whether our Christianity is conservative evangelical, charismatic, liturgical, Bible-believing independent, or social gospel liberal, God makes himself present to all who seek him in spirit and in truth. He speaks to us in a language we understand, through scripture as we understand it, and through our community and through our whole experience of life.

Let’s pray. Our Father in heaven, we live our lives in a place and time and human culture that we can’t escape. But we confess that our thoughts are too small for you, our theology is too narrow, our faith is too weak, our culture is too confining. Send your angel to us, tell us the good news of your salvation, lead us out of our narrowness into the wider culture of your kingdom. Amen.

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

Ep.027: Psalm 5: Good Morning God

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

Psalm 4 was an evening prayer. Today’s prayer, Psalm 5, is a morning prayer. It starts with three verses of introduction, followed by 9 verses of alternating suggestions for how God should deal with the wicked and how he deals with the righteous.

It starts, “Give ear to my words O Lord . . . Listen to my cry for help . . . In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” This is the morning rhythm of prayer. Waking, we tell God what is on our mind for the day. Perhaps we feel weak and we dread the assault of our enemies, or perhaps today is filled with hope and promise. Checking in with God in the morning prepares us to wait expectantly for him through the day. God might show up at any time, but we won’t notice if we aren’t attentive.

Following the introduction, the psalmist describes his enemies and suggests how God should deal with them. “The arrogant cannot stand in your presence, you hate all who do wrong, you destroy those who tell lies.” And later in the psalm, “Declare them guilty, O God. Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins.”

The psalmist also describes the righteous and tells God how to deal with us. “By your great mercy I will bow down toward your holy temple. Lead me in your righteousness . . . make a straight path before me. . . let all who take refuge in you be glad.”

Let us pray.

Our Father, in the morning our alarm wakes us rudely. We stumble to the bathroom to brush our teeth and put on makeup. And we turn our thoughts to you, because we need your presence today to protect us from our enemies, to give us favor and success in our endeavors. We will wait expectantly for you. Help us recognize your presence when you visit us. Help us hear your voice when you speak to us.

We ask you to destroy our enemies, God.

Destroy the enemy within, the voice that says we are worthless and unworthy, the fear that paralyzes, the brooding introspection that depresses, the arrogance that criticizes friends and colleagues, the malice that repeats gossiping stories.
Silence the enemies we meet today — family members who shame us, coworkers who are rude and dismissive, clerks who are sullen and disrespectful.
Banish the arrogant voices in our culture. May all lying, self-promoting politicians be trapped by their intrigues. May all advertisers who promote mediocre products promising infinite happiness come to an unhappy end. May all entertainers who create meaningless drivel be filled with their own empty words.

But may all who take refuge in you, Lord, be glad. In the winding and confusing journey of life, make a straight path for us. When we don’t know where to turn, guide is into wise choices, faithful relationships, true vocations, and holy community. Amen.

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

Ep.026: Snake on a Stick

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

As Moses was leading the Israelites to the promised land, the desert lacked many conveniences they were accustomed to. In today’s story, the people are complaining again to God and Moses. They said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’”

Clearly, God and Moses haven’t studied management theory on “How to Meet and Exceed Customer Expectations.” If their monthly survey of the people asked, “How likely are you to recommend this experience to your friends and family?” the people would give them a net promoter score of zero.

But God wasn’t trying to increase his approval ratings. His goal was to teach the people to quit complaining. So he sent poisonous snakes into the crowd and people started dying. This got their attention, so they said to Moses, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

God gave Moses a solution. Put a bronze snake up on a pole in the middle of the crowd. Anyone who lis bitten can look at the bronze snake and live.

Odd, isn’t it? Create an image of a poisonous snake, post it in a public place, and look at it and live? I would have thought a better solution would be to get rid of the snakes.

Here are three quick comments on this passage

1. Most of us want our lives to be comfortable, well-fed, and and well-watered. Maybe even a glass of wine occasionally. And we think that God, if there is a God, should commit himself to making our world a better place — surely he could alleviate war and hunger and injustice. But that’s not the program God has designed for our world. Life is a desert journey. Is this really what we signed up for?

2. Second, the solution is not to complain. In an Agatha Raisin novel by E. M. Beaton, Agatha’s neighbour complains to her about everything that is wrong with the Cotswold village in which they live and the people who live there. The author says, “Mrs Hardy’s words seeped like poison into [Agatha’s] brain” (M. C. Beaton, “Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage.” New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997.)

Complaining is like that. We create our own snakes that poison our view and narrow our vision. God has a different plan. If we receive this desert journey as a gift, it will strip away our shallow complaints and bring us face to face with the truth.

3. And third, the solution is to face squarely the things that bite us. God’s salvation for us complainers is to look away from ourselves, to a place where we see our problems displayed and objectified. A snake on a pole or a man on a cross can expose our sins and heal the poison that infects us.

Let’s pray.
Our Father, we are habitual complainers. We have summoned the snakes that poison our bodies and destroy our relationships. We see the devastation complaining has brought. So we turn our eyes to the snake on the pole. Make us healthy and thankful. Amen.

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

Ep.025: Psalm 4: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

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

Psalm 1 and 2 were an introduction to the Psalms. Psalm 3 was the first prayer — David’s prayer of loss and desperation when Absalom betrayed him. Our prayers often start in that same place of loss and desperation. But now Psalms 4 and 5 will introduce another type of prayer — prayers that are not emergency 911 calls to God, but prayers said in the regular rhythm of our lives in good times and bad.

The first rhythm the psalmist introduces is evening and morning. Psalm 4 is an evening prayer and Psalm 5 is a morning prayer. The heart of the evening prayer is to leave the finished and unfinished business of our day with God, to tell him our successes and failures, to entrust our friends and enemies to him. Then we release ourselves to the forgetfulness of sleep, knowing that God will not forget us. This is Psalm 4, our prayer today.

Let’s pray it.

“Answer me when I call to you
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress,
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”
Our Father, we bring to you the things that distressed us today — news of natural and political disasters, family breakups, problems with health and employment and relationships. We ask for a night of relief from our distress. Grant us peace.

“How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?
Know that the Lord has set apart his servants for himself
the Lord hears when I call to him.”
Our enemies turn our glory into shame. They despise our faith, they belittle our prayers, they disparage our good works, they find fault with our view of God. But we are your people, Lord. Thank you that you honor us as servants and listen to our prayers.

“In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord.”
Our anger flared up again today, but now at day’s end we search our hearts and we are silent before you. You know us, for we are your people. We know you, for you are our God. We trust you with our heart and mind and soul.

“Many are asking, “Who will show us any good?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.”
We circle back to that age-old problem, “Who will show us any good?” What is good, and how can we know it? What is the good life, and how can we live it? Our answer is, “We know goodness when you smile at us, God. We feel goodness in the light of your presence. We experience goodness when you fill our hearts with joy.”

“In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.”
Our day, our life is in your hands. In your care, we give ourselves gladly and joyfully to sleep.
Amen

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

Ep.024: Moses Says, “I Quit!”

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

After Moses led the Israelite slaves out of Egypt, they received the 10 commandments at Mt. Sinai. Then they began a journey through the desert to the promised land. Water was scarce and their only food was manna, a seed-like substance that had to be cooked into cereal or ground into flour to make bread.

The people quickly grew tired of this diet and started complaining to Moses. “We’ve lost our appetite. All we get is this manna. What’s the problem here? How about something with flavor, like the fish and cucumbers and leeks and onions we had in Egypt?”

The people’s complaining angered Moses. He was annoyed with his job as their leader. Since it was God who hired him as Chief Executive Officer and Project Manager for the trek through the desert, Moses made an appointment with God, and said to him:

“‘Why have you brought this trouble on your servant?
What did I do wrong to deserve this burden?”
Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth?
Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’
I can’t carry all these people alone. The burden is too heavy for me.
If this is how you are going to treat me, do me a favor and kill me right now.” (Numbers 10:11-15)

Some prayer that. “If this is how you treat me, do me a favor and kill me right now.” When I attended Sunday School, they didn’t use this story as a model for how to pray.

Note that Moses was doing the same thing as his people– he was complaining. They were complaining about food and Moses was complaining his job. God had promised the Israelite ancestors that he would give them the promised land. But after God’s sales pitch about the amazing future, guess who got stuck leading the impossible project? Moses, who complained to God, “You promised them the world, but all I get is a bunch of losers with unreasonable expectations, endless complaints, and zero initiative. I can’t do anything with this riffraff. I’m overworked and underappreciated and I’ve had enough!” Do you ever feel like that about your job? Does your boss think of you as unmanageable, complaining riffraff? Are your colleagues all impossible losers?

God, to his credit, didn’t start an argument with Moses. He didn’t give him a lecture about complaining. He didn’t send him on a project management course or a course on how to deal with difficult people. He didn’t suggest a new methodology like “Agile Leadership”. Instead, he quietly listened to Moses’ complaints, and he took two steps to address the underlying problems. God put his spirit on 70 elders to help Moses lead the people. And he sent a flock of migrating quails to provide meat to go with the manna.

Let’s pray. Our Father in heaven, we too are on a journey to the land you promised. But sometimes you seem to lead us the long way around. You didn’t warn us about the restricted diet and the difficult working conditions and the complaining people we get to travel with. Give us wisdom and leadership and courage to continue. Amen.

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

Ep.023: Psalm 3: Disaster has Struck!

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

Psalm 1 showed us an individual who is preparing to pray. Psalm 2 showed the world stage where prayer and politics are playing out. Now, in Psalm 3, we get down to the business of praying.

Psalm 3 has a subtitle that says, “A psalm of David when he fled from his son, Absalom.” Absalom was King David’s third son, so he wasn’t in line for the throne. But he had skill and ambition, so he won the hearts of the people of Israel, he proclaimed himself king in the city of Hebron, and he prepared to march on the capital city, Jerusalem, where his father David was king.

When David heard that Absalom was coming, he fled with his army and household to escape the coming terrorism and instability. As the convoy of refugees passed towns and villages, many who loved King David wept for him. David also wept on the road up the Mount of Olives, where many years later on this same mountain, Jesus, the son of David, would experience his betrayal.

Here are three things to notice about David’s prayer in Psalm 3.

1. First, the prayer comes out of heartbreak, pain, loss, and desperation. David’s own son betrayed him and was preparing a violent coup. David doesn’t want to fight against his son, but circumstances may force him to.

2. Second, at the beginning of the prayer, David’s focus is on his enemies: “Many rise up against me, many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’” But David’s focus soon turns to God. He says, “You are a shield around me.” Think of Star Wars, where the Death Star is shielded by a force field until Han Solo takes out the shield generator. God is our shield, and no evil empire or rebel alliance can take him out of the picture.

3. Third, David chooses not to be paralyzed with fear. He doesn’t brood on all the bad things that are happening. He says, “I lie down and sleep, I wake again because the Lord sustains me.” Whether Absalom kills him or he kills Absalom, God is in charge. Might as well get a good night’s sleep.

Let’s pray.

“O Lord, how many are my enemies, how many say of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’”
– We bring to you our enemy anxiety. Our relationships are full of misunderstandings and stress. But we let go of the anxiety and replace it with trust in you.
– We bring to you our enemy self-pity. We are lonely, overworked, our health is failing, we are tired and poor. But we choose to exit our pity-party, and wait hopefully for the salvation you bring.

“You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory and the One who lifts my head high.”
– We choose to stop looking at life with head hanging down. We want to see more than our feet. You are the one who lifts our head to see the shining sun, even when life seems black.
– We choose to stop looking at life with head hanging down. We want to see more than our feet. You are the one who lifts our head to see the shining sun, even when life seems black.

“I lie down and sleep, I awake again because you, Lord, sustain me.”
– Here we are, “Sleepless in Seattle” or wherever we live, brooding on the chaos and failure of our lives.
– But you have given us the day for work and the night for sleep. We commit to you our joys and sorrows, our relationships–broken or repaired, our hopes–dashed or renewed. We receive from you the gift of sleep, and the promise of a new day tomorrow.

Thank you, Lord. Amen.

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

Ep.022: Whose People are These Anyway?

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

Today’s story begins after Moses led the Israelite slaves out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, to the foot of Mt. Sinai. Moses left the people there and went up the mountain to talk with God. The people got tired of waiting to hear from God and Moses, so they collected all their gold jewelry, made a golden calf to represent the god who brought them out of Egypt, and had a holiday eating and drinking and worshipping the calf.

When God saw this, he said to Moses, “I think we have a crisis. You’d better head back down because YOUR people whom YOU brought up out of Egypt have turned away from me and made an idol in the shape of a calf.”

“In fact,” said God, “I’m so angry at these stiff-necked people that I want to destroy them and start over again with you, Moses. I will make you into a great nation.”

Starting over like this was not a new idea for God. At creation, he started with Adam and Eve in the Garden, but when that project went bad, he sent them away to start over on thorny ground. A few hundred years later, the thorny ground project went bad too. So God sent a big flood to wipe out the people of the earth, and started over again, this time with Noah. After that, he started something new with Abraham. And now he’s offering to start over again with Moses. I think that’s a pretty decent offer God made to Moses.

But Moses wasn’t so sure. He didn’t even respond to God’s offer, he simply ignored it and said, “God, don’t be so angry with YOUR people whom YOU brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand.”

So who do these problem people belong to, God or Moses?

There are lessons for us and our prayers…

First, it’s not always a good idea to start over. Divorce, church splits, quitting your job, declaring bankruptcy, moving to a new city, changing your name — these often look like the gift of a fresh start. But whatever problems you brought to your current situation, you will probably bring to the new situation too. Good on Moses for ignoring God’s suggestion to start over with him.
Second, think for a moment about who the problem-people in your life belong to. We are all sons and daughters of God. Our children are his, not ours. Our church belongs to him, not us. Our partner is his problem as much as ours. Follow Moses’ example in your prayers. Say to God, “These are your people, God. You created them, you love them, and you need to deal with them. Or at least, you need to help me deal with them.”

Our Father in heaven, forgive our arrogance in thinking that if you started over with us, the new order would be a great success. Teach us instead to live in love and wisdom with all our fallen brothers and sisters.

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

Ep.021: Psalm 2: The Nations Have Gone Wild

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

Today we meditate and pray on Psalm 2, where the nations have gone wild. It starts:
Why do the nations rage
and the people plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers gather together
Against the Lord and against his anointed, saying
“Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”

In Psalm 1, an individual was the focus, choosing to be a chaff person or a tree person. In Psalm 2, the whole world comes into view. The nations and their leaders say, “God means nothing to us. He has no claim on the kingdoms of the world. He has nothing useful to say about civil rights or human rights or terrorism or war. We are on our own in the world, we’ll look after ourselves.”

North Korea’s Kim-jong Un says, “I’ll play with nukes to scare the big boys into cooperation.”

Vladimir Putin says, “A military adventure abroad will distract them from troubles at home.”

The Taliban say, “More car bombs in Kabul will drive the foreigners away.”

Bashar Al-assad of Syria says, “It took seven years of war, half a million dead, a few million refugees, and some chemical weapons, but with a little help from my friends, I’m still in charge.”

Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia says, “My war is destroying Yemen, we’ve killed a journalist or two, but women drivers are now permitted in Saudi Arabia. Clearly, I am making progress.”

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu walks softly, but carries a big stick when dealing with Palestine.

President Donald Trump of the United States says, “You’re fired!”

But God refuses to be fired. Psalm 2 says that God laughs at the world leaders, and says, “I have installed my king in Zion, my holy mountain.”

And God says to his son,
“Ask me and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron
and dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Let’s pray. Our Father, perhaps the anarchists are right. Perhaps the only way to fix the broken politics of this world is to smash them with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like pottery. You promise your son, who we know as Jesus, that you will give him the nations as his inheritance to rule or to destroy as he wishes.

Somewhere behind the politics of this world, somewhere beyond the posturing of the leaders, somewhere far from their self-promotion and bravado and violence; somewhere unseen in the confusion of the nations — Jesus your son is waiting, building his kingdom of righteousness, training his soldiers of truth and peace. As the psalm says, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

Our Father, this is our prayer today . . . that we will not live in fear or awe of the kings of this world, but that we will find in King Jesus a refuge for our lives, and that in him, you will bring the day when he will depose all earthly kings and establish his reign forever.

Amen.

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

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.

Nile to blood
Frogs Pray to the Lord
Gnats or lice
Flies Pray for me
Livestock
Boils
Thunderstorm – Hail Pray to the Lord for we have had enough
Locusts Forgive my sin once more and pray for me
Darkness for 3 days
Firstborn Go, and bless me.
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”.