Tag: Pray with me

Ep.277: Strange Teachings.

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

Hebrews 13 begins with a list of things we should do:
– Do keep on loving one another (v. 1).
– Be hospitable to strangers, for some have entertained angels this way (v. 2).
– Remember prisoners and sufferers (v. 3)
– Do honor marriage and keep the marriage bed pure (v. 4). 
– Stay free from the love of money, be content with what you have (v. 5) 
– Remember that God is your companion and helper (vv. 5-6).
– Do respect people who teach you scripture and faith and how to live (v. 7)
– Don’t get carried away by strange teachings (v. 9a).
– Do strengthen your hearts with grace (v. 9b).

Mostly a positive list. But strangely, the author inserts a “don’t” near the end. He says, “Don’t be carried away by strange teachings” (v. 9a). Then he comments on food, saying, “It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods.” (vv. 9b-10).  

Don’t be carried away by strange teachings? What do you think that means? Maybe the author is talking about people who invest time and energy and research and focus on issues that are not central to the gospel or Christian living. Shifting focus from primary to secondary things distances us from the heart of God.

The author uses ceremonial foods as an example. You may have heard strange teachings about food that go like this: “God’s Old Testament food list is still part of our Bible and can still have health benefits if we follow it. Let’s talk about health food. And vitamins. And minerals. And refined sugar. And antibiotics in meat. And whether tomatoes are good for you.” A worthy discussion if you don’t give it undue importance or let it carry you away.

Facebook and the internet are full of strange teachings–conspiracy theories about big pharma and big government and big climate science and the Illuminati and Bill Gates. Some give it a gospel veneer by quoting Paul, We must be aware of the devil’s schemes (2 Cor 2:11). 

It’s easy to get carried away trying to figure out the devil’s schemes, to see the world through conspiracy theories instead of through faith. To develop a suspicious edge, seeing intellectual and social and medical scams everywhere. After a while, it’s just me and a few wise doctors and a couple courageous media outlets who have the truth, who are exposing the great evils of society and trying to protect me against them. So we form our little reactionary tribe, sniping at the government, the media, and modern culture.

Listen to Jeremiah’s advice to the exiles in Babylon. He did not say, “Watch out for their false religion. Pray against their evil empire. Be suspicious of their motives.” His message from God was, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city where you are in exile . . . Don’t let prophets and diviners deceive you. . . .  They prophesy lies in my name” (Jer 29:7-9). 

Let’s pray. 

Our Father, we live in a day of divisive politics. Lies and conspiracy theories are everywhere. Spiritual forces of evil abound.

Help us not to be carried away by strange teachings. Give us the spirit of truth. Give us discernment to see the good and bad of society, truth and error in the media, the right and wrong in our own hearts. Help us work for the good of the culture in which you place us.

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.276: Psalm 136: Repetitious Worship Songs.

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

Do modern worship songs annoy you when they sing the same line over and over? Spoiler alert: you’d better  avoid Psalm 136. Every verse repeats the same phrase. Listen:
  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
       His kindness is forever.
  Give thanks to the God of gods.
      His kindness is forever.
  Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
      His kindness is forever.
    He alone does great wonders.
      His kindness is forever (vv. 1-4). 

How’s that! “His kindness is forever”  occurs 26 times in 26 verses. When I read the psalm I start skipping the refrain after a few repetitions, instead of hearing and receiving it all 26 times. 

Repetition, of course, has a long and respectable history in poetry and music. Think, for example, of the Twelve Days of Christmas in which my true love gives me a partridge in a pear tree every day for twelve days, for twelve days, for twelve days, for twelve days! And what about “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”? Have you ever sung all 99 bottles?

Gentle repetition in worship draws me from the critical and analytical focus that colors much of my thinking. But finding God in worship requires effort. If I  lift my hands, still my mind, and turn my heart to God, I sometimes move into a deep and quiet sense of God’s presence. And sometimes not. Too often, I just want to get through the service. Sooner the better. 

The first 135 psalms bring a wide spectrum of human experience into God’s presence–elation and depression, joy and sorrow, victory and defeat, despair and hope. Now, in Psalm 136, the poet sets up a vibrant refrain that asserts God’s goodness in each period of Israel’s history. Moving quietly through the repetition stills my heart, bringing hope that God watches over my history too. 

Let’s pray.

Our father, in your forever kindness, you created the world. You rescued Israel from Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. 

In your forever kindness, you breathe into us life and growth and hope. You watch over us as we fumble and stumble our way, as we learn to navigate the world and seek you in it. 

In your forever kindness, you saw that we were stuck in sin. You sent your son to free us from the muck and set us on a pilgrimage to you. 

In your forever kindness, you meet us when we seek you, you comfort us in our grief, you rejoice with us when  life is good. 

In your forever kindness, we have a home in you, and you have a home in us. With the poet:
  We give you thanks, God of heaven,
    Your love endures forever (v. 26). 

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.275: A Consuming Fire.

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

Hebrews 12 compares Sinai, mountain of law and fear, with Zion, mountain of joy and community. It concludes the comparison, saying:  

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks.
If they did not escape when they refused him who warned on earth,
    how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns from heaven?
    At that time his voice shook the earth,
          but now he has promised,
            ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’
    The words ‘once more’ indicate removing what can be shaken –
        that is, created things –
        so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
      let us be thankful, and worship God with reverence and awe,
      for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’  (vv. 25-29) 

I am not sure why I take deep comfort in a passage full of stern warnings, a passage that sees God as a consuming fire. What emotions are these warnings designed to produce? Listen to them:
  – See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks
  – How much less will we escape if we turn away from him who warns from heaven?
  – Once more the heavens and the earth will be shaken
  – Our God is a consuming fire

The warnings produce fear when I meditate on them. But the passage does not dwell in fear. It looks to what God has promised, and suggests we dwell on that. Listen: 
  – We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
  – Let us be thankful and worship God with reverence and awe.

As the author points out, there is no escape from God, no escape from his laws, no escape from the consuming fire. Better to face reality than run from it, to lean into the fire and let it purify me, to shake off things that can be shaken, and to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, through Jesus we have come to believe that you are for us, not against us. We understand that you play the long game to expose and overcome our sin. You teach us to fear evil, to pursue holiness. And you promise that this present evil age will soon end. 

You shook Mt. Sinai when you gave the law, and you promise to shake the whole of creation one day. But we do not fear the shaking or the consuming fire, because your goal is not to destroy, but to recreate and restore and replenish. 

We have experienced your shaking in our lives. You have shaken loose the sins we cling to, the lies we love, the selfish interests we cultivate, the narrow vision of you that we build. To our surprise, your shaking loosens our fears and gains love. Your shaking causes us to lose our attachment to things and gain an attachment to you. We thought your fire would burn us and cripple us, but it leaves us refined and healed. 

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.274: Psalm 135: Creator Redeemer.

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

Psalm 135 celebrates God as creator and redeemer. About God as creator, the poet says,
  The Lord does whatever he pleases,
    in the heavens and on the earth,
    in the seas and all their depths.
  He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
    he sends lightning with the rain,
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses (vv. 6-7). 

Following an ancient view of the universe, the poet declares that God can do whatever he pleases in all three parts of creation: the heavens above, the earth around, and the waters of chaos beneath. The creator overcame the violent waters below, making them bubble up into the seas and oceans. And then God created an irrigation system with the tamed waters, sending rain clouds with lightning and wind to water the earth. Clearly the creator was and still is in control.

The creator also became redeemer when he intervened in political chaos on earth. Having chosen Israel as his treasured possession (v. 4), he persecuted Pharaoh and his Egyptian slave-drivers until they released his people (vv. 8-12). God then struck down the evil kings of Canaan to create a home for his people.

Creator. Redeemer. This is the God that Israel loved and worshiped!

The poet disparages the gods of the nations, calling them idols of silver and gold who are blind, deaf, and mute. But the poet’s most striking criticism is that the idols can’t breathe. Israel’s creator God breathed the breath of life into humans, but the idols who pose as gods neither breathe nor give the gift of breath. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, with the poet, we praise you as creator and redeemer. Your spirit brooded over the waters of chaos, preparing for creation. Your spirit brooded over the Red Sea, preparing Israel’s great redemption. Your spirit brooded over Jesus’ life and death, preparing salvation for the world. In creation and redemption, you alone are God.

Our father, Israel did not understand why you chose them out of all the nations on earth. And we do not understand why you chose us out of all the people on earth. But we have heard and received your message of freedom and redemption. You have made your home with us, and you have begun to conquer the powers that rule our lives–lust and greed and anxiety and fear. 

You who breathe into us the breath of life, teach us to walk in the Spirit. You who send the wind and rain to irrigate the earth, send us the water of life. 

You who redeemed Israel through the Red Sea and the thief on the cross through death, redeem us from our wandering and bring us to your eternal home. 

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.273: Psalm 134: Closing the Conference.

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

Psalm 134 reads, 

  Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord

    who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
    Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
        and praise the Lord.
  May the Lord bless you from Zion, 

    he who is the Maker of heaven and earth (vv. 1-3). 

This is the last of 15 psalms that share the title, “A Song of Ascents”. We don’t know exactly what this title means, but scholars suggest they are road trip songs for pilgrims on a journey up to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. 

Psalm 134 reminds me of a week-long Bible and missionary conference I attended. When it ended, I had a feeling of let-down, of unreality, as I released the intensity of the conference, gathered my notes, and prepared to travel home. Mundane duties awaited. The problems I avoided by attending a conference now needed urgent attention. I think this psalm transitions the Jerusalem pilgrims from their time of worship to the long road back home, from the beauty of the temple back to the homeliness of daily life.. 

Let’s review the conference highlights with the pilgrims, accept the poet’s end-of-conference blessing, then  move on from this collection of psalms. First the highlights:
– Psalm 120: “I call on the Lord in my distress”
– Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?” 
– Psalm 122: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go the house of the Lord’.”
– Psalm 126: Those who go out weeping carrying precious seed
                  will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.
– Psalm 127: Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
– Psalm 130: “Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord” and
              “I wait for the Lord,
                  more than watchmen wait for the morning.
– Ps 133 “How good and pleasant it is when families live together in unity.” 

Psalm 134 concludes this 15-psalm collection with a last invitation to worship, “Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord” (v. 1). Then it sends the worshipers home with this blessing:
    May the Lord bless you from Zion,
        he who is maker of heaven and earth (v. 3). 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, our lives are a pilgrimage in search of your presence. When we feel your face smile on us, we are glad. When we feel your absence or disapproval, we are sad. 

Thank you for these psalms that lift our eyes above the hills, to you who gives us help. Thank you that these poems bring our lives and feelings into the light of your presence. Build with us this house we are building, sow with us the seeds we sow in tears, cry with us in the depths from which we cry to you, teach us to live in unity with our family and community. 

Send us back to our daily lives with the blessing of this psalm:
  May the Lord bless you from Zion,
    he who made heaven and earth (v. 3). 

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube