Tag: Prayer

Ep.090: Jesus and the Birther Conspiracy.

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

In John chapter 7, every time Jesus spoke, he stirred up controversy. His brothers in Galilee said, “Your miracles are making you a celebrity. You should go to Jerusalem and get wider exposure.” But Jesus replied, “They hate me up there and it’s not time for me to go.”  But soon after, he went to Jerusalem anyway.

The people didn’t recognize him, but they found his teaching amazing. They said, “Where did he learn this stuff? He’s not a graduate of any school we know.” Jesus replied, “I’m from God and you are trying to kill me.” Amazement turned to scorn and the people said, “Are you demon possessed? Who is trying to kill you?” 

Then Jesus explained who he was, “I healed one man on the Sabbath, and now the narrow-minded Pharisees think I’m such a threat to their religious system, they want to kill me.” 

“Ohhhh . . .” said the people. “This is the man the Pharisees hate. Why aren’t they trying to stop him? Perhaps he is the Messiah. Where is he from?” Jesus said, “You know where I’m from. God sent me.” But the people said, “Impossible. The next prophet comes from Bethlehem, not Galilee like you.” 

Sounds like the Obama birther arguments! Was the president born in America or not? Did Jesus come from Bethlehem or not? Jesus ignored the conspiracy theories and the furore. He didn’t produce his Bethlehem birth certificate, he just proceeded with the business of being Messiah, and let people be offended if they chose to. 

In the midst of this controversy, Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me. . .rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:37-38). Is that your experience? Do rivers of living water flow from within you?

Let’s pray. 

Jesus, we don’t know what to make of all the controversy you stirred up. What kind of celebrity are you? When are you going to Jerusalem? Where are you from? Are you thumbing your nose at the Pharisees? Is it necessary to alienate them? Why won’t you answer a simple question about your birth certificate? 

In our confusion your promise draws us to you, for you said, “Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” We picture a river flowing through dry country, watering trees, irrigating gardens, satisfying thirsty people and animals. Is that what you offer us? To be a source of water that will flow into a dry and desert world? To be people who give your gifts to others–healing of the body, healing of the memories, knowledge of God, loving relationships, wisdom in walking through life? 

Jesus, our lives are dry, narrow, constricted, calculating. Open within us the sources of living water, let it flow freely through our lives, let it flow freely to the world around us. May the power of your spirit melt the glaciers that constrain us and burst the dams that constrict us. May it turn our lives from stagnant ponds to flowing, life-giving rivers. 

Amen. 

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

Ep.089: Psalm 36: River of Delights.

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

Psalm 36 paints a dark picture of the unrighteous. Here’s how the poet describes them. They flatter themselves, not caring about sin or goodness. They operate in post-truth mode: if news annoys them they call it false news, if it flatters them they call it true. They are all image and no substance. Because they do not fear God, their only morality is self-promotion. Whatever enhances their ego and image, whatever get votes, whatever makes money, whatever paints their opponents in a bad light is OK by them. They lie in bed making evil plans.

Against this dark background, the poet sketches a colorful picture of God whose love reaches to the heavens, whose faithfulness is bigger than the skies, whose righteousness is like a high mountain, whose justice plumbs the ocean depths (vv. 5-6).  What a contrast to the small minded, self-interested, scheming perpetrators of evil.

God cares for people. We take refuge in the shadow of his wings, we feast in the abundance of his house, we drink water from his river of delights, in his light we see light (vv. 7-9). God’s generous gifts are in stark contrast to the greedy, grasping evildoer who schemes in the darkness.

Given this picture the poet says to God, “Continue your love to those who know you.”  

Let’s pray.

Lord, the news we read, both true and false, is often a meditation on darkness and evil. Each month brings mass shootings, crushing accidents, vicious wars, and economic collapse. 

But you invite us to turn away from our obsession with evil, and to turn toward evidence of your goodness. The world you have given us is good–each year it produces food for seven-and-a-half billion people. We live on the bounty of your faithfulness: wheat grows and we make bread, grapes grow and we make wine, olives grow and we have oil.

Your faithfulness reaches the heavens; the sun shines each day, the moon and stars rule the night. Like the mountains, your righteousness watches over us. Like the ocean, your justice plumbs the depths of our unjust world. Like the mother eagle, you spread your wings over our precarious lives. 

You are at home in this world (v. 8), and you wine and dine us at your table. You are the host who delights us with stories, who gives us gifts of welcome and well-being and life. We drink at your river of delights, in your light we see light (vv. 8-9).

With you is the fountain of life. You teach us to leave our fears and to play in the fountain. Nothing can separate us from your love, so we need not fear sickness or death or darkness or evil. With the poet we pray,
  Continue your love to those who know you,
      your righteousness to the upright in heart (v. 10). 

Amen.

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

Ep.088: Walk on Water.

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

In John chapter 6 after Jesus lectured the crowd about free lunch and spiritual food, he disappeared for a while. That evening, the disciples set out across the Sea of Galilee in a boat and as it grew dark, the wind picked up. The waves grew rough and rowing was difficult. Sometime in the night, they saw a figure walking on the waves toward the boat. They were afraid.

The figure on the water said to them, “It’s me, don’t be afraid!”. They recognized him as Jesus and welcomed him into the boat. 

Let’s pray. 

Jesus, often we feel like the disciples at night on that rough sea, lost in the dark, making no progress. 

We feel this in our bodies as they age and deteriorate. Once we were healthy and carefree, we now know sickness and pain. Some of us survived chronic fatigue, and now row cautiously through life, conserving our limited supply of energy and health. Some of us live with Krohn’s disease or fibromyalgia, rowing through nights of pain. Some of us have mental health issues, caught in bipolar swings or self-harming obsessions. And some of us are fortunate enough to be aging normally, feeling the onset of arthritis and forgetfulness, fearing the signs of dementia. 

Jesus, you who had a body, you who walked on water, come to us in our pain and distress. Climb into our boat, take us where our rowing cannot go. 

Jesus, thoughts and dreams disturb our nights and take away our rest. We obsess about health, family, jobs, and the politics of our world. We imagine a comfortable life with more money, better friends, a richer love life, and a more fulfilling job. Why does no one see our hidden talents, our inner beauty, our real potential? Is there no end to this lethargy and resistance through which we row? 

Jesus, walk to us on the water of our troubled thoughts. Still the storm, steer the boat, take us where cannot row. 

Jesus, we rise and fall on waves of emotion. Some waves are high with hope and grace, some plunge us into troughs of despair. Sometimes there is joy and laughter, sometimes pain and loss. We ride the waves and keep rowing, but the harbor is never near.  

Jesus, come to us on the sea of our emotions. Join our journey, share our joys, comfort our pain, soothe our losses. Row with us through the rough seas to calm waters. 

Jesus, we feel our spiritual life going nowhere. We read the Bible, but it seems dry and tasteless. We say our prayers, but they bounce off an iron ceiling. We try to meditate but our thoughts are lost in distractions. We lift our hearts to worship, but they sink into the waves of busyness.

Jesus, walk to us on the sea of your spirit. Rescue us, live your life in us, take our spiritual lives to places where we cannot row. 

Jesus, we sink in many difficulties. But we hear again your word, that our duty and glory is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Oh you who walk on water, walk to us on the sea of life, take us where we cannot row, take us where we need to go. 

Amen. 

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

Ep.087: Psalm 35: Brandish Your Spear, God.

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

In Psalm 35, the poet asks God to punish his enemies. He suggests that God should:
– Brandish spear and javelin against them (v. 3)
– Turn them back in dismay (v. 5)
– Clothe them with shame and disgrace and confusion (v. 26)
– Make their path dark and slippery while an angel of the Lord chases them (v. 6)
That’s an ominous list of curses. I don’t want this poet as my enemy! 

The psalm suggests the poet’s enemies are pursuing false legal claims against him. He says he tried to help his accusers–when they were sick, he wept over their distress (v.14). He fasted and prayed for their healing (v. 13). So much for gratitude–his enemies did not respond in kind. So now the poet is in trouble, his enemies gather gleefully (v. 15), they slander and mock and gloat (vv. 15,-16, 19). They invent false accusations (v. 20). They hate without reason, they sneer and crow (vv. 19, 21) and repay evil for good (v. 12).

In verse 17, the poet calls on God to take action saying, 
  How long, Lord, will you look on?
      Rescue me from their ravages,
      My precious life from these lions. 
The poet says, “The lions attack me, God. Rescue me from their jaws.”

If God does this, the poet promises:
    I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
      among the throngs I will praise you (v. 17).
    My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, and
      your praises all day long (v. 28).  

Let’s pray. adopting the poet’s worldview and language for our prayer today.. 

Lord, bring shame and disgrace on those who gouge insurance companies to profit illegally. Like the man who needlessly hit his brakes so my relative would rear end him, doing almost no damage to the vehicle but enabling a $20,000 payout. 

Lord, bring shame and disgrace to insurance companies and their lawyers who reject legitimate claims from poor people who can’t afford to fight.

Lord, bring shame and disgrace to politicians who game the system for personal benefit instead of promoting the common good. Bring shame and disgrace to citizens who complain endlessly about the politicians but don’t vote or participate.  

Lord, bring shame and disgrace to those who profit from soul-destroying businesses like gambling and pornography and drug addiction and violence. Rescue their victims. 

Lord, bring shame and disgrace to those who return evil for good: to managers who lord it over employees, to parents who abandon spouse and children, to lovers who violate trust and betray confidences. 

Lord, bring shame and disgrace on the promoters of injustice and violence in the world and in our personal lives. Hide us and protect us in the powerful name of Jesus, from divisive politics, rampant consumerism, oppression of the poor, and religious hypocrisy. 

And Lord, as you rescue us and our world, we will give you thanks and praise. We will say with the poet, 
     The Lord be exalted,
         he who delights in the well-being of his servant.
     We will proclaim your righteousness,
         your praises all day long. (vv. 27-28).

Amen.

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

Ep.086: Free Lunch.

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

In John chapter 6, a large crowd followed Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus said to Philip, “Where will we buy bread for these people?”–clearly a trick question, because Jesus wasn’t planning to buy bread at all. Philip said, “That’s expensive. We don’t have enough money.” On hearing this, Andrew said,  “There’s a boy with here five buns and two small fish.” So Jesus multiplied the fish and buns to feed the crowd. There were baskets of leftovers and the people said, “Wow. Free lunch. We like this prophet.” 

They liked him so much that they followed him the next day. Jesus said, “All you want is another free lunch! But what you really need is the bread of God that comes from heaven and gives life to the world.” The crowd  replied, “Is that like free lunch every day? We’re in!”

Then Jesus dropped a bombshell. He said, “I am the bread of life that came from heaven. Anyone who comes to me will never go hungry. Anyone who believes in me will never be thirsty. The bread you need is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”  

The people said, “That’s crazy talk. What kind of bread are you? You’re not from heaven. We know your father and mother and your home in Nazareth. You are just a peasant like us. We’re not cannibals; we can’t eat your flesh.”

Once again Jesus’ teaching led the people into mystery and confusion. Some of the things Jesus did were really attractive– making wine, providing free lunch, healing the paralyzed. But some of his sayings are just crazy: be born again, eat my flesh, drink my blood, take up your cross and follow me.  

Let’s pray. 

Jesus, we’re never sure how you move from literal meanings to metaphors. We understand  free lunch. But when we come back the next day, you stop the food truck and suggest we eat your flesh. If you were a salesman, we’d press charges of false advertising or bait-and-switch. 

Jesus, so much of our life is physical. We eat and shave and sleep and shop. But how can we connect with the spiritual world? Will Donald Trump teach us how to cut a deal with you? Will Justin Trudeau coach our smile and and furnish our wardrobe? We need your metaphors, Jesus, to guide us into a spiritual life, to give us a vision of the kingdom of heaven. In our darkness, shine your light. In the silence of the universe, speak your word. When we are hungry, feed us with your body. When we are thirsty, help us drink your water.

Help us to see through your impossible metaphors to the new experience you offer us, to the new relationship you invite us into. Jesus, we receive your  words as gifts. Help us to be born again, to eat your flesh and drink your blood. In our daily routines of eating and sleeping and working and playing,  help us live a new life in the spirit. 

Amen.

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