Tag: Pray with me

Pray with Me blog

Ep.056: House of Prayer.

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

When Isaiah was writing about the return of exiles to Israel, he included non-Israelites, saying:
    Foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord . . .
        these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
        for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations.’ (Isa 56:6-7).

When Jesus drove the foreign exchange traders and merchandisers out of the temple, he quoted Isaiah saying, “‘‘Is it not written: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations”? But you have made it “a den of robbers”.’” (Mark 11:17)

So what is this place Isaiah and Jesus call “a house of prayer”? It seems to be the temple in Jerusalem. Solomon built the original temple around 950 BCE, which the Babylonians destroyed about 400 years later in 587. About 70 years after that, some exiles returned from Babylon and built a second temple on the same spot, finishing it in 515 BCE. Five hundred years later, before and during the life of Jesus, Herod the Great did major renovations and additions to this second temple. Then about 40 years after Jesus’ death, the Romans destroyed it, and much of Jerusalem with it.

During Jesus’ life, the temple proper had three sections, one for priests, one for Israelite men, and one for Israelite women. Outside these exclusive areas was a general purpose area, the Court of the Gentiles, where  foreign exchange merchants set up their stalls and others sold animals and souvenirs.

Jesus’ anger at them seems odd to me.  Perhaps instead of getting angry and turning over tables, he could have invited some ecumenical dialogue about the problem. If I had been there I might have suggested that  there was room for everybody in the court of the Gentiles. Perhaps Jesus could build a small prayer chapel in one corner instead of overturning the whole operation.

Jesus, however, was decidedly NOT ecumenical. He was angry. The Jews said to him, “What authority do you have to do this?” Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days” (John 2:19). The Jews were stunned and dismissive of Jesus’ claim that he could build the temple on a three-day weekend. After all, Herod’s renovations had been in progress for 46 years. But John gets round this by explaining that Jesus was talking about the temple of his body, not the temple of Herod.

Here are some observations.

1. Jesus chose not to defend his anger or his authority for his actions in the temple. Instead, he mysteriously switched the meaning of “temple” from “this place Herod is renovating” to “my body.” That was a weird and confusing direction to steer the conversation.

2. Despite its history of being built and destroyed, Jesus had a deep respect for the temple, including the outer court. Places were important to Jesus: he fasted in the desert, he was baptized in the river, he wept over Jerusalem, he met Moses and Elijah on the mountain, he cleansed the temple. We too live our lives in places that impact us spiritually. A temple or a church is not “just a building” — it is a place with a history, a place with meaning and memories, a place where we might pray or meet God.

3. Finally, today, two thousand years after Jesus spoke and almost two thousand years after the temple was destroyed, we still resonate with Jesus’ words, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Where is that house today?

Let’s pray.
Our father, your house is a house of prayer for all nations. Help us participate in your project. Help us build a house of prayer in the temple of our bodies. Help us build a house of prayer in the cathedral of creation. Help us build a house of prayer in the cities of human civilization.
Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel Pray with Me.

Ep.055: Psalm 19: The School of Words and Worlds

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

One summer, I backpacked with a friend into Kananaskis country in the Canadian Rockies. We walked through a high alpine valley with steep cliffs on left and right, and a  blue summer sky above. The valley opened onto a turquoise glacial lake, with black snow-capped mountains beyond. That view opened a window for me into a majestic creation, and into the heart of the creator. The winter that followed was difficult for me, but I was sustained by knowing that God was looking after my alpine valley in fierce blizzards, impassible snow, and relentless cold. Surely he was present also in the winter of my soul. In his time, the snow would go and the world would return to warm days and summer skies.

The poet who wrote Psalm 19 also experienced the beauty of God’s creation. He wrote,
    The heavens declare the glory of God,
    Day after day they pour forth speech;
        Night after night they display knowledge.
    There is no speech nor are there words,
        Their voice is not heard;
    Yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
        And their words to the end of the world.  (v. 1-4, see footnote 1 for translation)

Yes, that captures my experience of creation. The sky, the stars, the mountains, the valleys: “they have no speech, nor are there words” yet “day after day they pour forth speech”, “their words [go] to the ends of the world.”  Their language is silence, but they speak with the voice of God.

The poet who met God in creation also met God in his word. Verse 7 says, “The torah of the Lord is perfect, giving life to the soul.” Most modern translations reduce the beautiful and evocative word torah to the plain and narrow English word law, as if legislation and lawyers and litigation are somehow at the heart of God’s life-giving words. The torah that gives life is the first five books of the Bible, telling God’s story from creation to the Promised Land. It is God’s verbal gift to the poet. It is not primarily a system of laws that tells him how to behave and threatens him with punishment if he doesn’t. God’s verbal gift includes teaching and laws and stories. In the torah, Adam and Eve found and lost the garden of Eden, Noah waited out the flood, Abraham looked for God’s country, Moses lead the slaves to the promised land.

In Psalm 19, then, the poet celebrates the God of creation who set the sun marching across the sky. He also celebrates the God of torah who told us about people he cared for, how he worked on their behalf to give them experiences and words that would lead them to freedom and community.

Let’s pray.

Our father, your creation continues year after year. We see it in the bleakness of winter and the warmth of summer, in the dying leaves of fall and the new growth of spring. The circuit of the sun and the shining stars speak to us without words. They speak to us in words we know are your language.

Our lives are stories in the theatre of creation. You made us, and we wander east of Eden, looking for food and pulling thistles and finding our way to the Promised Land.

Help us accept our place as creatures in your creation.
Help us to interpret our story by your story.
Help us receive your gift of created universe and sacred writings.
Help us listen to your voice in the silence of the cosmos and the teachings of torah.
Give us light by the burning of the sun and the radiance of your word.
Give us riches in the beauty of the night sky and in the story of your people.
Give us direction in the circuit of the sun and in the dictates of your law.

May the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. (v. 14).

Amen.

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

Footnote 1:  Brueggemann, Walter, and William H. Bellinger, Jr. Commentary. Chapter 19. In Psalms, pp. 99-101. New Cambridge Bible Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
See also: Alter, Robert. The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 2009. Chapter 19. [Kobo Books edition].

Ep.053: Psalm 18: The Warrior King and the Warrior God.

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

Today we look at Psalm 18. On average, the psalms have 17 verses. Psalm 18 weighs in at 51 verses, three times longer than average. This poses a difficult problem: Is one episode sufficient for this psalm?  Or should we divide it into two or even three episodes? This question will become pressingly important when we get to Psalm 119 which has 176 verses, 10 times longer than average.

For what it’s worth, here’s my opinion. One episode is not enough to do ANY of the Psalms justice. They all deserve more. However, I am planning to get through all 150 Psalms in three years, including time off for summer vacations. So I’m sticking with a Psalm a week.

This week’s psalm, Psalm 18, has an astonishing first line. It says, “I love you, O Lord, my strength.” The Bible gives a high profile to the command, “Love God.” But this is the only time in my Bible where someone says to God, “I love you.” This is probably not a good model for how often you should say “I love you” to your partner.

Another astonishing thing is that Psalm 18 casts God as the God of war. David, the warrior king, celebrates God’s military adventures. Listen to the martial themes in the psalm:
    Smoke rose from his nostrils,
        Consuming fire came from his mouth,
   He soared on the wings of the wind. (v. 8-10)
    The Lord thundered from heaven
        . . . he shot his arrows and scattered the enemies,
       great bolts of lightning and routed them. (v. 13-14)
    He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
       From my foes who were too strong for me. (v. 17)
    He is the God who avenges me
       Who subdues nations under me. (v. 47)

Wow. Is your God out there in the fray doing battle for you, taking revenge on your enemies, delivering you from attacks, subduing nations under you, guiding your military adventures to victory?

It looks like God is providing air support for David’s combat mission on the ground. Picture God riding the cherubim across the stormy sky, shooting arrows and bolts of lightning at the enemies until they retreat with David pursuing. He’s how the Psalm puts it:
    He parted the heavens and came down,
        He mounted the cherubim and flew;
    Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
        With hailstones and bolts of lightning
    You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
        And I destroyed my foes.
        I crushed them so they could not rise;
    They cried for help
        But there was no one to save them
    To the Lord
        But he did not answer.
That’s God, thundering about the heavens harassing the enemies, supporting David’s on the ground to overrun and crush them. Warrior God supports warrior king in battle.

The psalm ends with thanksgiving for the great rescue and the great victory God has given the king. David says,
    The Lord lives!
    Praise be to my Rock!
    Exalted be the God who rescues me! (v.46).

Let’s pray.

Our father, in the Narnia books, Susan asks about Aslan, the lion, “Is he safe?” Mrs. Beaver replies, “Of course he’s not safe, but he’s good. He’s the king I tell you.” In Psalm 18, you are not a safe God, but you are a good God, a God who can be trusted and loved by those who trust you and love you.

Thank you for being a strong God. In our world of tanks and F18s, of land mines and assault rifles, of  nuclear submarines and hydrogen bombs, we need you, a strong God, a warrior God. Engage with our world today. Mount your strategies against persons and nations who destroy each other and creation. Be for us a warrior  God.

Thank you also for your gentleness and love. As the psalm says,
    You brought me into a spacious place,
       You rescued me because you delighted in me. (v. 19)
   To the faithful you show yourself faithful. (v. 25)
    You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning,
       You turn my darkness into light. (v. 28)
    Who is God, besides you, Lord?
        And who is the rock except you? (v. 31)
   You show unfailing kindness . . . forever. (v. 50)

Amen.

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

Ep.052: God is not Listening!

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

Today we look at three verses in Isaiah, in which God said to Israel,
“When you spread your hands in prayer,
   I hide my eyes from you.
When you offer many prayers,
   I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood!
   Stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right.” (Isaiah 1:15-17)

That sounds serious. If you do wrong, God will hide his eyes from you and he won’t listen to your prayers. It also works in reverse: if you quit doing wrong and start doing right, God starts listening to you again. What could be simpler? If you want a better prayer life, get your act together and do right.

When St. Augustine, who lived about 300 years after Christ, was thinking about becoming a Christian, he prayed about his sex life, “Lord, make me chaste, but not yet.” (Augustine, Saint, and Maria Boulding. The Confessions. New York: Vintage Books, 1998, VIII,17, p.198, paraphrased). In modern language he would say, “Lord, help me lose my sexual addiction and learn self-control. But not yet.”  Do you think God listens to that kind of prayer? Augustine said to God, “I was afraid you might hear me immediately and heal me . . . of the morbid lust which I was more anxious to satisfy than to snuff out” (Augustine and Boulding, p. 198).

Isaiah and Augustine raise two important questions about prayer:
1. First, a general question: Does God always stop listening to prayers from people
caught deep in sin?
2. And second, a personal question: How do we know if God has quit listening to us
because of our sin?

In the New Testament, James says, “We all sin in many ways” (James 3:2), so if God never listens to those who sin persistently, we might as well quit praying right now. If we have sins we aren’t prepared to give up, or addictions so entrenched that we can’t evict them, what can we do? I like St. Augustine’s approach. Instead of hiding from God until he could change manage his addiction, he spoke to God about his love of sin and his desire for holiness.

The personal question raised by Isaiah and St. Augustine goes like this: “What does God think of me? Has he quit listening to my prayers because of my sin?” Is God’s word to Israel also his word to me: “Even when you offer many prayers, I will not listen”?

If you want to know what God thinks about you, ask him! You could say “God, do you think the bit of scripture I need most right now is Isaiah’s angry pronouncement, “I am not listening because your hands are full of blood”? Or should I listen to Christ’s compassionate invitation, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened” (Mat 11:28)? It can also be helpful to ask a more mature Christian about your situation. But choose your counsellor carefully. If you talk to someone who thinks God is generally angry and unhappy with humans, guess what answer that person will give you.

Let’s pray.
Our father, we are troubled by sins that infect our lives, by impure motives, by a worldview where we think you sit in stony silence waiting for us to improve. We invite you into these crazy mixed up lives of ours, into our selfish motives, into our unmanageable behaviour. Speak to us the word that will set us free. Show us the next step to grow in love for you and our neighbours. Change our heart’s desire, until all we desire is you.
Amen.

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

Ep.051: Psalm 17: Contract with God.

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

Today we look at Psalm 17. The background to this psalm (and to many other psalms), is Israel’s covenant with God. Since a covenant is a signed agreement between two parties, I call it a “contract”. Israel’s contract with God was negotiated at Mt. Sinai, where the Ten Commandments summarize Israel’s duty. At the signing ceremony, Israel agreed to love, honor, and obey God. They agreed to build a God-centered community and not to chase after other gods who appeared more powerful or exciting or accommodating.

God’s part of the contract was conditional. When Israel honored the contract, God promised to “love, honor, and protect” them. And when Israel violated the contract, God would discipline and punish them.

With this contract is in the background, the poet develops his prayer in three movements. In verses 1 – 5, he asks God to listen to his just cause. He’s confident his cause is “just” and “righteous” because he has been faithfully performing his part of the contract. He confidently says to God, “Even if you probe me and test me at night, you won’t find anything wrong” (v. 3).

In the second movement of Psalm 17, the poet makes a request. He says to God, “Since I have been faithfully doing my part, I’m calling on you to perform your  part of the contract.” But instead of using legal language or contract language to make his request, the poet surprises us with the language of personal relationship. He invites God to “love, honor, and protect” him in three lovely pictures: “Show the wonder of your great love” (v. 7), he says, “keep me as the apple of your eye” (v. 8), “hide me in the shadow of your wings” (v. 8).

The third movement of the psalm describes the poet’s enemies as hunters tracking him down (v. 11) and as a lion crouching to spring on its prey (v. 11). “I need a major rescue,” he says to God. “That would be your part of the contract.”

Let’s pray.

Our father, Israel’s contract with you reminds us of their freedom journey from slavery in Egypt, through the Red Sea, across the dangerous desert to their new home in the Promised Land. Our freedom journey is with Christ who negotiated a new contract with you, to liberate us from the guilt and power of sin, to invite us to new life in Christian community, and to write your law in our hearts (Hebrews 9:15).

Under this new contract, you adopted us as sons and daughters, you gave us the gift of your spirit, you called us to love each other and you. This we do, as much as we are able. We have turned our hearts from hatred to love, we have turned our motivation from self-righteous obedience to a heartfelt desire to imitate you. We measure our progress not by what we achieve but by how your spirit of grace and holiness fills us and flows through us each day.

As we live out this new contract, our enemies are ever near. We are unloving to your sons and daughters for we often find them unlovely. We are drawn to the gods of money, sex,self-interest, and power. We feel the spirit of this world mocking and taunting and resisting the good spirit you put in us.

With the poet we pray, “Show us the wonder of your great love, keep us as the apple of your eye, hide us in the shadow of your wings. Rescue us by your right hand from from the mortal enemies that surround us” (vv. 7-9).  With the hymn writer we say,

“My foes are ever near me,
 Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,
 And shield my soul from sin.” (John E. Bode, hymn: O Jesus I Have Promised, 1869)

Amen.

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