coming clean

Proverbs 15:29
29 The Lord is far from the wicked,
but he hears the prayers of the righteous.

I find it ironic in that in our day one of the most popular Broadway musicals around is entitled, “Wicked” (Actually, I can’t wait to see it). The wicked are not well off, according to the Bible. Let me explain.

The wicked are not those who do wrong. Then we are all wicked. The wicked are those who choose not to repent. Who do wrong freely and without any remorse. There is no struggle with their wickedness. We are not all wicked in this sense.

As we come before God in a Spirit of repentance and humility, our prayers take on a different tune. The same for the wicked who repent. Then, no sound is sweeter.

Pray to God with a deep sense of humility today.

Daddy

Psalm 143:1
1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry!
Listen when I cry to you for help!

This prayer reminds me of when Jesus taught us to pray to God like we would speak to our dad or mom. As you may know, “Our father,” from the Lord’s Prayer, is best translated, “Daddy,” in the English.

Well, our kids have spoken this way over the years. “Hurry up!” (opening presents Christmas morning comes to mind). “Listen!” (usually when they are demanding justice in regards to the other brother or sister). We don’t have to be sophisticated when we speak with God (though, once in a while, this too, can have an impact on our relationship). Instead, God is far more interested in our honesty before him.

Pray to God as “Daddy” throughout today.

two for today

Psalm 123:3
3 Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy,
for we have had our fill of contempt.

God created everything by his "Word." Jesus is called "the Word." (John1) Words are powerful and they have the capacity to work good or evil. We live in an age when this is most important, as words can bee transmitted in so many ways. We live in an age that seems like all words, all the time.

With the words comes the contempt. All vile and spiteful speech, all the time. So, we pray with the Psalmist, "Have mercy..."

Commit to watching your "spite" and "contemptuous" speech.

Psalm 141:2
2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

Prayers of praise and thanksgiving can be seen as an offering we place before the Lord. Interesting that the word for thanksgiving in the Bible Hebrew language means literally, "Lift up your hands."

Some Christians find this meaningful enough to lift their hands in song and prayer. It's like the experience I had when I drove through the tunnel at Yosemite and saw the Valley for the first time (and for every time after, for that matter. Head up, neck straining, hands up..."Whoa! You've got to be kidding!"

In your private prayer this week, lift your hands, palms up, to the Lord.

fasting

a talk on fasting
it's not about losing weight, it is about God providing

listen here or download at ITunes- type "Christcast"

the high road

Psalm 109:4
4 In return for my friendship they accuse me,
but I am a man of prayer.

When you are the brunt of gossip or criticism behind your back, God knows who you really are. Talk to him about it. He will find a way to respond to the gossip, and he will give you the ability to handle it, as well. After all, he has a little experience with being misunderstood and maligned.

Ask God to keep your talk of others pure, and ask for forgiveness if it hasn’t been lately.

Tony Dungy and living out your faith in the public square

Superbowl winning coach Tony Dungy said you can win "doing it the Lord's way."

Some are inspired and some are perturbed at his statement. What does he mean?

Listen hear or download at ITunes- type in "Christcast"

praying in the real world

Psalm 102:17
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.

In our society, there is the perception that if you have money and influence, you can get the ear of “important” people. With God, if you have nothing and you are at wit’s end, then get ready to be heard!

God’s world is the real world. The sooner those with money and power use them for the sake of others, the better for their souls.

Pray for God’s blessing and guidance for the wealthiest person you know.

prayer

does prayer really work?
can you increase the effectiveness of prayer?
yes

listen here now or download at iTunes- type in "Christcast"

pray for our leaders

Psalm 72:15
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him
and bless him all day long.

Here are prayers for King Solomon by his people. We are called by Scripture to ask for God’s blessings on our leaders. I think this is one thing that makes it so difficult to be a disciple. A true disciple lifts up his leaders, those he agrees with and those he disagrees with.

Immature ravings against our leaders, elected or appointed, guarantee that an unbeliever who hears us may agree with us, but they respect us less, and more importantly they respect our faith less.

Pray for your mayor, your governor, the President (or head of state where you live) asking God to bless them all day long.

silence and solitude

what did Jesus do to prepare for important events in his life?
how can we do the same thing?

also download at iTunes "Christcast"

loving God

Psalm 69:13
13 But I pray to you, O LORD,
in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
answer me with your sure salvation.

God will always win. The fact that he comes to us and offers life in all of its true reality, is not believable. And so, many don’t believe. They are not wise to not believe. There is so much that one has to ignore or obscure in order to try to convince oneself that there is no God.

If you start by realizing God loves you, then you are on the right track. He is not someone to run from, but to…

Pray for a friend who doesn’t trust in Jesus.

never hopeless

Psalm 69:3
3 I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God.

The difference between hopeless and hopeful is God. There is never a time when it is better to give up on God and just accept our circumstances.

As we see in this verse, it doesn’t mean everything is pleasant when we come to God. We may be worn out, hard pressed, and about as discouraged as possible. But this is different than hopeless. Don’t give up. Better days are ahead. Always.

Pray for someone you know who is discouraged today.

wisdom

Psalm 65:2
2 O you who hear prayer,
to you all people will come.

There are many of them. People who give advice for a living. For example, when I was young it was Ann Landers. Now it is Dr. Phil. There are many others. Yet, like Dr. Phil and Ann Landers discovered and we can too, the only place to go for truth in the midst of reality is God and his Word. Everything good and lasting that has ever been said by a human being in the history of the world has it’s basis or its counterpart in the Bible. There is no wisdom that doesn’t come from or agree with God’s Word.

Read Proverbs 15 today.

sing

Psalm 42:8
8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.

It is said that barring a physical impediment, everyone can sing. According to this theory, no one has a “bad voice.” This is learned behavior since our childhood when we were criticized for our singing in one way or another. We began to believe the false evaluation and lost our song.

If this is a description of you, then take encouragement from God who will listen to you late into the night. Your song is the sweetest sound he hears on any given day.

Sing to the Lord today.

listen and pray

Psalm 39:12
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!
Listen to my cries for help!

Many of us have a hearing problem. Hearing aids won’t help. It’s not about the acoustics. It’s about the attention. Spend time listening and you will hear cries for help from others. Then you can focus your prayers for them more specifically.

Yet, even if you are a deep listener, there will be people only God can hear when they cry out. That is as it should be. He is the Great Shepherd.

Spend time listening to those closest to you this day.

for others

Psalm 32:6
6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.

We get into trouble in our lives because we are trouble, more than anything else. Those who need to pray the most don’t. Those who don’t need to pray the most actually do. Everyone needs to pray. As you are moving forward, living a godly life, those who are ungodly need your prayers more than ever. It changes them and it continues to transform you.

Pray specifically for someone you know who gossips frequently and pray God would forgive him/her and build up his/her trust in him.

expect God

Psalm 17:1
1 O Lord, hear my plea for justice.
Listen to my cry for help.
Pay attention to my prayer,
for it comes from honest lips.

“God I am doing best I can.”

Why always look for reasons God ought not listen to us? When we walk in the ways of Jesus, making progress on keeping our minds focused on him, then we can expect to be more connected to God. Where in the Bible does it say opposite? It doesn’t.

Trust that God wants to talk with you today.

new podcasts

new podcasts at ITunes, "Christcast."

God loves sinners

why does God keep blessing us, though we sin? ask Jacob, the evil twin

worship
a spiritual discipline's talk on how to give yourself over to worship and the power that results

nowhere else

Psalm 32:6
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.

There is a lot of confession going on in Psalm 32. Clearing out whatever could block a clear channel to God’s grace is essential in effective prayer. Here’s a thought. Those who realize the power of God available and humbly seek it will receive it.

Not the empty phrases of self-righteousness, but heart-felt trust. Not the neglect of those who don’t take God seriously, but the constant connection of those who know they have nowhere else to go. They know it because there is nowhere else.

Place a strong emphasis on confession in your prayer today.

coming clean

Psalm 17:1
1 Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;
listen to my cry.
Give ear to my prayer—
it does not rise from deceitful lips.

When we pray, God already knows the sincerity of what we are saying. The creator of all that exists has his own built in lie detector. We can’t manipulate and use spin with the Almighty.

It is interesting how much we try to cloud our own thinking in order to do something we know might be wrong. Then our conscience goes into overdrive and we keep pushing, attempting to keep it subdued. It is like putting on a tight pair of jeans after you have eaten a bit too much from Thanksgiving through New Years. It is uncomfortable to say the least.

Why not just be honest with ourselves? And with God. There is nothing we can do but come clean with him. Open up and just tell the truth.

With God we are in a permanent AA meeting.

Pay close attention to honesty in your prayer life.