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.”)

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”

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”.

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

Welcome to Book Review day.We’re taking a look at the book “Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God” by Timothy Keller (New York: Penguin Books, 2014). Now that that title sounds attractive — “Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God”? I could use some “awe” in my prayers to make them more “awesome”.  And intimacy with God would be great too, as long as I don’t have to give up too many favorite things to get there.

The author, Timothy Keller, discovered prayer in 2001 when he was a Manhattan pastor. That was a hugely eventful year for him. It was the year of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Keller’s wife, Kathy, was struggling with Krohn’s disease, and Keller got thyroid cancer.  That’s what started the Kellers on their prayer journey.

I hope my journey into prayer — and yours — will have an easier starting point.

Keller’s book on prayer is well researched, balanced, rigorous, and scholarly. Working from a Reformed perspective, Keller offers theological and practical teachings from Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, O. Hallesby, Eugene Peterson, and others. The book has 323 pages and 386 end notes.  If you don’t have time to read the whole book, you can get almost everything you need just by reading the chapter titles and the end notes. That’s what I read first — the end notes.

If you aren’t so much interested in a scholarly approach, this might not be the book for your. Perhaps you want something that offers warmth or encouragement. In fact, I haven’t quite finished the book myself.  I’m on page 222, and I’m can’t get around to finishing it, because after 200 pages of information and end notes, my head is full. What I need now is a bit of encouragement and motivation to pray.

And finally, here are three things I like about the book.

Keller recognizes and encourages the two basic types of prayer: prayer that asks  God for stuff, and prayer that expresses a relationship with Him.

Second, I like the breadth of the book. It summarizes almost every topic I’ve read on prayer in the last few years. It’s a helpful overview of 2000 years of Western thinking about prayer.

My third reason for liking Keller’s book: the last chapter has some excellent suggestions for how to pray.

He also has a helpful metaphor for assessing your prayer life.  If your soul is a boat with a sail and oars, would you say your prayers are sailing along, rowing, drifting, or sinking?  He says is that praying is mostly rowing, and often it’s like rowing in the dark when you can’t see where you’re going. His advice is don’t quit, don’t drift, don’t sink — put your hands on the oars and start rowing.  

So there it is.  Timothy Keller. “Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God.”  

Read it.

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

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 “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” First, the whole prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,
    Hallowed be your name.
    Your kingdom come.
    Your will be done on earth as it is 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,

Forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  This is the only request with a condition attached. And just to make it clear, at the end of the prayer, Jesus says, “If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive you” (Matthew 6:14-15).

Our Father, we ask for your forgiveness. But you say it’s a two-way street.  To receive your forgiveness, we must offer our forgiveness to others. Our Father, we thought you were famous for unconditional love and free salvation, but now we hear that salvation has a condition: We must forgive those who have sinned against us.

Does this mean we have to forgive everyone who sins against us?  Must victims of abuse forgive the abusers? Must victims of genocide forgive the perpetrators? Must victims of spiteful behaviour forgive those who shame them?  Must the bullied must forgive the bullies? And we whose lives have been protected must forgive all who have cheated and mistreated us, who dissed us and laughed at us, who mocked or ignored us?   

Our Father, when Jesus was dying, a victim of  religious hatred and miscarried justice, he prayed, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.”  We choose to follow his example, forgiving all who harm us. We choose not to curse them, we choose not to fantasize about revenge, we choose not to hate them. We choose not to judge them, for you are the judge. Instead, we free them from our judgement, we give them our forgiveness, and we will be content with whatever punishment or mercy you have for them.

And we confess our own sins against you, trusting you will give us even better forgiveness than we give to others:
– We have not loved you with our whole heart
– We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves
– We have been selfish with our money and our time when you ask us to be generous
– We have been proud of our accomplishments and dismissive of what others have achieved

Father, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.  Heal in our heart the disease of sin. Strengthen our will to resist sin. Bring us safely to your country where we will at last be free from sin.

Amen.

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

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

Today we continue praying the Lord’s Prayer.  We will focus on the phrase “Give us today our daily bread.” First, the whole prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,
    Hallowed be your name.
    Your kingdom come.
    Your will be done on earth as it is 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,

“Give us today our daily bread.” The United Nations says the world’s store of cereal grains is only 3-4 months supply.* That means the world is just three months from famine. In that narrow window, our daily bread depends on turning seasons, a shining sun, falling rain, and a dry harvest.

After harvest, our daily bread needs trucks to carry the grain to storage, mills to grind flour, cooks to bake bread, and grocery stores to sell it. And we need jobs or welfare cheques or food stamps to buy the bread, and a safe place to sit and eat it. This is our daily bread, “fruit of the earth and work of human hands.”**

Our Father, where are you in these cycles?  Are you a distant God who watches impassively as the seasons turn and the wheels of commerce run? Or, are you active in the process? Does it cause you grief as we subject the world to global warming, as we over fertilize and poison the planet, as we burn fossil fuels to make our bread? Does it give you joy when we eat in peace with family and friends?

Our Father, when we pray “Give us today our daily bread”:
– We ask you to participate with us in all parts of food production.
– We ask you to help us create a just and stable society where every person has enough food.
– We ask that if war or famine or weather interrupts the food supply, that you will be our refuge and strength.

We remember what Jesus said in Matthew’s gospel: “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). He also said, “I am the bread of life. Anyone who comes to me will never be hungry” (John 6:35).  Our Father, we pray to you because we have felt the hunger Jesus talks about. He has taught us that we are hungry for the bread of heaven.

But who will teach us where to find the bread of heaven? We are moderns looking for the scientific explanations, analyzing the chemical properties of bread, studying the biology of digestion. But  Jesus points us to the mystery of things, saying, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25). At the Last Supper Jesus gave bread to his disciples and said, “This is my body, broken for you.”  We ask you to give us the bread that lives in the mystery of Jesus’ broken body.

Our Father, give us today our daily bread. Provide the bread that feeds our life on earth, and provide in Jesus the bread of eternal life.

Amen.

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

*UN Food and Agricultural Organization  UN Food & Agricultural Organization

** Liturgy of the Eucharist.  See Litury Eucharist

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

Today we come to a famous story in the book of Genesis (chapter 32) in the Bible: the story of Jacob wrestling all night with an angel. Whole books have been written on this story. So we won’t develop a scholarly interpretation, we will use it to encourage our prayers. Here’s the story.

God had made big promises to Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather.  These promises were passed to Isaac, Jacob’s father, who was supposed to pass them on to Esau, Jacob’s older brother. Jacob felt left out. He wanted in on the promises. So once when Esau was hungry, Jacob convinced him to sell the promises for a bowl of stew. Later, when their father Isaac was preparing to pass the promises to Esau, Jacob disguised himself as his brother and tricked Isaac into passing the promises to him.

When Esau discovered Jacob’s trickery, he threatened to kill him. So Jacob moved out of the country to live with his uncle Laban.

Living with uncle Laban, Jacob became a rich man with 2 wives, 2 concubines, 11 sons, at least one daughter, and lots of sheep and cattle and goats. When Jacob wore out his welcome with Laban, he headed home to Canaan. While travelling, he heard that Esau, the brother he ripped off many years ago, was coming with 400 armed men to meet his slow caravan of women and children and livestock. Jacob got scared and thought, “Genocide! If Esau is as angry as he was a few years ago, he will kill us all.” What to do?

Jacob decided to pray. He said, “Uh, God, I’d like to remind you about the promises that got passed on to me. One was that I would have lots of descendants. But now, it looks like Esau wants to wipe us out. God, you’d better intervene in this mess and prevent Esau from killing me, and make sure that you keep your promises.”

Hmm. That sounds like an edited version of Jacob’s story. Without the edits, he might have sounded like this: “Dear God, remember that birthright I stole from my brother Esau? And tricked Isaac into passing to me? God, I need you to start delivering on those promises. Now, already. You need to protect me, because I stole those promises fair and square. So it’s YOUR job, God, to save my life from a murderous Esau.”

If I were God, I am pretty sure that’s not a prayer I would answer. Don’t you think prayer should be a little more honest and a little more generous than that?

That night, as Jacob was camped out waiting for Esau, God showed up as an angel, and wrestled all night with him. At the end of the night, when it was not clear who was winning, God said, “What is your name?” “I’m Jacob,” came the answer.

That was an amazing moment, because Jacob finally admitted who he really was: Jacob the cheat, Jacob the liar, Jacob the manipulator, Jacob the thief. But also Jacob who desperately wanted the blessing from God and was prepared to wrestle all night to find it. God responded by changing Jacob’s name to Israel, which started a new phase in Jacob’s relationship to God. Perhaps in answer to Jacob’s prayer, or perhaps just because Esau’s anger had abated with time and success, Esau was glad to see Jacob. He hugged him and offered to help.

Here are our lessons from Jacob’s prayer and wrestling with God.

The first: God was willing to show up in the mess Jacob made of his life and give him a new start with a new name. Don’t you wish God would do that for you?

The second lesson: sometimes prayer is the process of wrestling through who we are and how we present ourselves. Sometimes we wear makeup or a mask, so we look civilized, reasonable, and honest. But part of prayer is letting God wrestle away the image we have created until we see the person we really are: full of envy, fear, distortions, or anger.

And the third lesson: God is big enough to receive and bless us when we tell him who we really are, acknowledging the good and the bad. In the end, God is for us, not against us, in our journey through life.

Dear God, we hardly know who we are, and how can we know you if we keep deceiving ourselves? Come into our lives, wrestle our hearts until we know and speak the truth, and bless us, oh our God.

Thank you for listening. I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with me”.

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

Today, let’s continue praying the Lord’s Prayer.  We will focus on the phrase “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 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, “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.” We thank you for Jesus, who came from heaven to earth to show us your will.  We learn what your will is by looking at what he did. Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, set captives free, made the lame walk and the blind to see. Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven to the homeless and the forsaken and the sick and the outcasts.  May we follow his example of doing your will — caring for the lost in our society, healing the wounds and forgiving the sins of many.

Our Father, teach us to know the difference between our will and your will. Many of the things we desire are things you want for us: healthy families, success at work, a peaceful country, salvation for the world. These are things that would answer the prayer, “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”

But other things you desire are not so evident. Aldous Huxley said that “Your will be done” is prayed by millions who haven’t the slightest intention of letting any will be done except their own.   Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”  I’m glad Jesus carried his cross, but I don’t think I want a cross of my own.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit and the meek and those who mourn and the persecuted.” I’m not sure I want to be poor and meek and sad and persecuted.

Our Father, I like it that you are king, and I like it that Jesus and I are sons of the king. But one night when Jesus lived on earth, he prayed, “Father, I’m not really excited about the direction things are taking here. If possible, can you change the plan?  Yet not my will but yours be done.” And it was your will that answered his prayer by sending him to die on the cross. Shall I pray as Jesus did, “Not my will but yours be done?”

But still we pray as Jesus taught us, “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.” We rejoice in your will when it brings hope and healing and riches and light.  We submit to your will when it brings a cross and death. With Jesus, may we lose our own will, and find your will on earth.

And with Jesus, may we find at last our resurrection to eternal life.

Our Father, your will be done.

Amen.

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