Category: Prayer

Truth Be Known

243Woke up depressed, but I have to go to jail, share the “hope that lies within me” with women inmates.

“Can’t give what you don’t have?” Satan taunts me.

I get on my knees where the battle is won, and pray God’s Word aloud. “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3)

Then I go out of obedience, not because I feel like it.

The jail tank is empty. Most of the women are asleep in their cells. I sit at the metal table and pray until a young woman joins me.

I confess my foul mood; explain I had to pray for the desire to come to jail. But I’m confident that as we read God’s Word and fix our minds on Him, our moods will change even if troubles remain.

Tears trickle down her cheeks. Woman admits she woke up thinking she should read her Bible, but didn’t “feel like it” which made her feel guilty. Knowing I struggle helps her know she’s not alone.

I assure her that Jesus struggled with mental anguish just before he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had to pray and focus on God’s will rather than his own feelings.

So we open our Bibles to Luke 22: 66-71 and read about the trial.

The Council of elders confronts Jesus, ““If you are the Christ, tell us.”

Just like Satan tempted Jesus. “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Just like Satan taunts me. “If you’re a jail chaplain, where’s your hope?”

Just like Satan accuses the inmate: “If you don’t read the Bible, you’re bad.”

How does Jesus respond to Ifs.

Sometimes He quotes scripture.

Sometimes He asks questions.

During the trial, He states facts. “If I tell you, you will not believe.”

Again, they ask Him, “Are you the Son of God?”

“Yes, I am.”

Jesus condemns himself with his own words,

Because they feel that anyone who claims to be the “Son of God” is a liar or a lunatic.

They don’t believe Jesus is telling the truth when He claims to be Christ the Lord.

But disbelief doesn’t change the facts.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

Believe it, or not.


Who Can Tame the Tongue?

Picture - poisonous tongue.<br /><br /><br />fotosearch - search<br /><br /><br />stock photos,<br /><br /><br />pictures, wall<br /><br /><br />murals, images,<br /><br /><br />and photo clipartShell-shocked, I watched the battle unfold.

Someone made a casual remark. In response, another person commented with just a word…one careless word.

No offense was intended.

But instead of ricocheting off the eardrums, the thoughtless word detonated on impact like a grenade. The blast cut deep, pierced the heart, and drew blood.

Like a mad dog, the injured soul retaliated; inviting a rash of venomous words.

This wasn’t an attack from the enemy. This was friendly fire wounding its own.

“No one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

 With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing.

My brethren, these things ought not to be this way” (James 3:8-10).

“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

I sang those words as a child whenever I stood in the line of fire. My feeble attempt to mask the pain, pretend it didn’t hurt.

As a teenager, I gave up childish rhymes and suffered the pain; tried to forget. “You’re ugly, the teenage boy told me years ago. I doubt that he remembers, but I do.

Now I stoically remove the arrows that sting. Dodge verbal bullets as best I can. Feel my heart thump whenever I hear youth tease and taunt each other with tongues sharp as swords.

“A sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.”~ Washington Irving.

But who am I to speak?

Hasn’t my own tongue lashed others, criticized, and gossiped? Used playful sarcasm to camouflage offensive truth? Sometimes, I fool myself. Believe I’ve bridled my tongue, when in fact I spoke behind the person’s back.

“My brethren, these things ought not to be.”

What’s the problem?

MY COLD AND ROTTEN HEART Image

Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” (Matthew 12:34).

So when the tongue is out of control, I can wash my mouth with soap, or go to the Heart of the problem and …

Search my heart, confess my sin.

Read the words Jesus spoke which “are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

Pray that “no unwholesome talk comes out of (MY) mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”(Ephesians 4:29).

Amen?

Which Church Does God Attend?

Amazing grace how sweet the sound…”

Voices rose in unison, but it was high school students instead of a robe-clad choir that sang the lyrics.

Harmonious music filled the building, but it was acoustical guitars rather than a piped organ that played the notes.

Florescent lights rather than religious fresco paintings stared from the ceiling.

Wooden bleachers instead of mahogany pews,

A plain wooden cross on a concrete wall instead of stain-glassed windows….

This was the scene in a high school gym, chapel service in a Christian school.

No visual match for the magnificent architecture and religious artifacts I’d witnessed on a trip to Europe where Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox cathedrals dominated the landscape.

And yet, in this remote, unassuming school, God’s Spirit was present.

Wooing teenagers; igniting hearts for Christ.

Youthful hands, raised heavenward, proclaimed God’s holiness.

Troubled souls came forward and asked for prayer.

As a parent, I worshiped with the student body; observed a glimpse of God’s grace and glory revealed in “His church” which isn’t made of bricks and mortar.

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

 Can I wrap my mind around that fact?

Regardless of church affiliation or denomination, as a follower of Christ, I belong to the:

Body of Christ (Romans 12:5)

Bought with His blood (Acts 20:28)

Brought together as one to “worship Him in Spirit and Truth” (John 4:24)

“For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16)

 Surely the splendor of a cathedral is reminiscent of Solomon’s Temple; a microcosm of God’s own beauty and majesty.

But Jesus told a Samaritan woman the place of worship isn’t important. How people worship matters.

“Woman, believe me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4: 21, 23,24)

God is spirit, He is everywhere.

And “the spirit or the soul of man, as influenced by the Holy Spirit, must worship God, and have communion with him. Spiritual affections, as shown in fervent prayers, supplications, and thanksgivings, form the worship of an upright heart, in which God delights and is glorified.” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary)

Even in this place….chapel service at a high school gym.

What if?

“What color bathing suit was your son wearing?”

 The Sheriff’s voice on the other end of my cell phone is calm, matter of fact. He can’t see my wrinkled brow as I struggle to recall the photo I’d taken of my son four hours earlier.

He was standing ankle deep in the river wearing a red life vest and…

“Black knee-length swim trunks.”

“How much does he weigh?”

Am I really having this conversation? I’ve never dialed 911 to report a missing person, or in this case, persons. My teenage son went river rafting with my grown daughter and her boyfriend.

And now I’m standing on a tall embankment, with my husband, staring down at the river’s swift current. Thankfully, the water is shallow, but the boulders on the riverbed would have slowed their progress; made the trip challenging.

What if the raft deflated? What if someone’s injured? What if they’re stranded on a riverbank?

“I wouldn’t bother you Sheriff, but they should have been here an hour ago. And the sun is setting!”

My voice is steady, but there are high-pitched voices in my head: What if they got separated from each other? What if their raft was carried further down river?

Warm skin tingles as dusk settles over the mountains, ushering in a cool breeze. What if they have to spend the night outdoors?

“Stay by your phone,” he says. “I’m calling search and rescue.”

His words conjure horrific news reports. I tell myself, Don’t go there!

My husband and I drive a short distance along a gravel road that parallels the river. We stop, searching the horizon for signs of life.

Within minutes, my heart jumps. “A beige raft!”

“How many people?”

“I only see two.”

I wave my arms like sheets in the wind until my daughter waves back with her paddle.

“Three, I see three people!”

 My husband hurries down the dirt path to the river’s edge while I notify the Sheriff. “We found them!”

Three exhausted, dripping wet, shivering bodies walk into my eager embrace. They reassure us, “We weren’t in danger.” But relief is written on their somber faces.

A half hour later, back at camp, night is dark as coal. Tears stream down my cheeks as I praise God for protecting our children, and sparing us from the multitude of what ifs that could have happened. But didn’t.

  “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22, 23)

Thoughts Gone Wild

Early morning. Hit the pavement. Walking fast. Blue skies overhead, but I only notice the black asphalt beneath my feet.

Forty-five minutes gives me time to ponder; allows my mind to wander down dark paths.

Concerns creep into the forefront. First one. Then another. Until my anxious thoughts flow like the Dow Jones ticker tape.

Overwhelmed, I decide to pray. Take those heart concerns to the Lord. Dump them in His capable hands. “Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6)

No sooner do I pray for that something…that someone ….when my mind drops anchor into troubled waters. And I camp there.

Instead of casting my cares on Jesus and resting in still waters, my thoughts go wild.

I begin to sink. Can’t solve the problem. Can’t imagine that God will either. Takes my breathe away.

So I come up for air, and pray for the next thing. But that next thing is like stirring up a hornet’s nest. Fears, what if’s, hurts circle in my head like hornets. Dive bomb and sting my thin skin. Until I taste the bitter bile rising in my throat.

Oddly enough, as I walk and fret, Chris Tomlin is praising God on my I pod. I hear the melody and his voice. But I’m not listening to the words. My mind is elsewhere.

Occasionally, a random lyric from different songs infiltrate my conscience. Catches my attention.

Song lyric: “Your grace is enough for me.”

Is it? Then why don’t I receive His grace and stop beating myself up?

Song lyric: “Only you can satisfy..Your strength is a tower the righteous run into.”

Really? Am I allowing God to satisfy my heart? Or searching for something else? Relying on His strength? Or mine?

Song lyric: “Here comes the King, all bow down.“

Am I submitting to God’s authority? Or paying lip service and having my own way?

Too many thoughts. Too much SELF standing between me and Jesus.

So I claim 2 Corinthians 10:5, “…Taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

Takes intentional will power, but I capture the thoughts and leave them at the Cross of Jesus.

As I’m walking up the driveway, I finally notice the blue skies. And Chris Tomlin’s lyrics in the next song shrinks all my troubles in view of….

How Great is our God

What is your favorite praise song?