Prayer

1 October: Tuesday Refocus

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"It is going to be a very long road. Every time I pray I feel the struggle. It is the struggle of letting God be the God of my whole being. It is the struggle to trust that true freedom lies hidden in total surrender to God's love." - Henri J.M. Nouwen

For followers of Jesus, we know that our lives are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19). We know that our very breath is a gift from God (Acts 17:25). But still we naturally cling to the natural - attempting to exert our will, our whims, and our desires on and over our lives. In prayer we come face-to-face with the God who says ‘“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding (Job 38:4).’ In prayer we recognize that His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). In prayer we realize that our words should be few - because what is there to say when we see the One who inhabits the heavens (Ecclesiastes 5:2)? Prayer is not a battle of wills (mine against God’s) but the enfolding of my will into the One who knows and loves me best.

Father, may we be quick to surrender deeply, fully, completely. In Christ’s name, and the Spirit’s power, amen.

Amen,

AB

24 September: Tuesday Refocus

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“Prayers are the life signs of faith. They occur as naturally as the cries of newborn babies.” - Simon Chan

Need lives unashamedly close to the surface for children. This does not change as adults - our needs are buried under layers of pride, self-sufficiency, and fear. Even from God - the One from whom nothing is hidden - we attempt to cover, minimize, or hide our need (Genesis 3:8-12, Psalm 139, Luke 8:17).

It is God who ‘…gives to all mankind life, and breath and everything (Acts 17:25).’ In prayer, we acknowledge that we are people of need. In prayer, we acknowledge that we cannot provide for our deepest needs. In prayer, we acknowledge that it is God Himself that we desire.

Father, may our prayers be frequent, honest, and bold, because You hear us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Amen,

AB

17 September: Tuesday Refocus

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‘Every art unfolds its secrets and its beauty only to the man who practices it. To the humble soul who prays in the obedience of faith, who practices prayer and intercession diligently, because God asks it, the secret of the Lord will be revealed, and the thought of the deep mystery of prayer, instead of being a weary problem, will be a source of rejoicing, adoration, and faith, in which the unceasing refrain is ever heard: "My God will hear me!”’ - Andrew Murray

It is easy to lose patience in prayer. It seems slow, and we wonder if anything is happening. It seems important and yet we wonder if we are doing it right. Like the Psalmist - and every person in Scripture, and throughout history - we wonder aloud: ‘I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where Is Your God? (Psalm 42:9-10)”’ 

But if we labor on, lean in, show up, bring our sighing and ourselves we find “…the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name (Isaiah 45:3).” This is not easy work - not because God is withholding, but because we are often half-hearted in our pursuit of the One who gives us Himself (Psalm 38:9, John 1:16). Why else would we call those rare saints who seem to have been able to lay hold of something deeper and more meaningful in prayer, warriors?

Father, would you make us persistent in prayer? Amen and amen.

Amen,

AB

20 August: Tuesday Refocus

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“The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something and enter God’s realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for his love.” - Corrie Ten Boom

I am convinced that we do not pray enough - that I do not pray enough. And maybe that is in large part because we view prayer as a passive activity where we run through a laundry list of requests to God hoping that he will hear, a finger-crossed hope that he will be conformed to our will. But what if prayer looked more like wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22-32), laying our case (Job 23:4), and placing all of our longings before the Lord (Psalm 38:9)? What if prayer looked more like turning our lives and faces toward the one who knows a word before it is on our tongue (Psalm 139:4), and entrusting ourselves to the One who knows our needs (Matthew 6:32)? What if prayer looked more like calling to mind - and therefore having hope that the love and mercies of the Lord are steadfast and never ceasing, new every morning (Lamentations 3:21-23)?

If that is how we viewed prayer it is likely we would pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Father, thank you that we can come to you - the One who knows us and delights in us. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

4 June: Tuesday Refocus

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“Prayer is the act by which we divest ourselves of all false belongings and become free to belong to God and God alone.” - Henri Nouwen

In arguably the most famous prayer in Scripture, Jesus pleads with the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane to ‘…let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will (Matthew 26:39).’ Jesus knew that all of his longings could be place before the Father because He also trusted the Father (Psalm 38:9, John 8:28-29).

Perhaps this is why prayer - for many of us - can seem weak, boring, or unnecessary - we sense that there are places in our own hearts, minds, and lives that have not fully been given over (divested) from our own desires. We fear that God will ask of us something that we are unwilling to give. But God always meets us with Himself. God always gives more grace (James 4:6). Hallelujah.

Father, give us more grace to increasingly divest ourselves of all false belongings and to become free to belong to You and You alone, in Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

23 April: Tuesday Refocus

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“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” - Romans 12:3

God has uniquely gifted and wired every follower of Christ. We are given gifts by the Holy Spirit not for selfish ambition, but for building up the body of Christ. For God’s glory, and for the good of His people and His world. Thinking of myself with sober judgment means I can celebrate the gifts of others without despairing of the gifts I perceive I do not possess. It means that I can also acknowledge the way God has gifted me without boasting in myself or belittling others.

Each of us is more than our gifts. But we are given gifts to spend selfishly but to invest selflessly.

Father, may we use the gifts you have entrusted to us for your glory and the good of your Church and your world. Amen.

Amen,

AB

Pastoral & Prayers of the People

Often when our church is exploring the addition of new liturgical rhythms in our corporate gathering, I will be tasked with creating a one sheet for our elders and staff to review. Most recently we’ve been looking at incorporating a Pastoral Prayer - also called, Prayers of the People - during worship. What follows is a one sheet ‘On Pastoral & Prayers of the People’

People do not know how to pray. Even the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13). If one of the primary aims of the corporate gathering is the spiritual formation of the people of God, we must learn to incorporate prayer intentionally; and not - as seems to be all too common - use prayer as a transition between various elements of the gathering.

Overview:

  • The Pastoral Prayer or Prayers of the People is a form of intercessory prayer.

  • Offered on behalf of the congregation with varied levels of participation and involvement from the congregation depending on the goal.

  • Structured and purposeful in aim and scope, but can be extemporaneous, with the freedom to engage the unique cultural moment, as well as the needs of the congregation.

  • Shepherding happens in obvious and subtle ways that outlast the moment.

  • People are taught a framework to know how to pray, and how to move through prayer.

  • People are allowed to give voice to the parts of their hearts, lives, experiences, struggles, and joy that they may find difficult to place within any other part of the corporate worship gathering.

Format: 

  • A general, guided framework: (BCP, The Anglican Church in North America #140)

  • The universal Church, the clergy, and people

  • The mission of the Church

  • The nation and all in authority (local, state, federal)

  • The peoples of the world

  • The local community

  • Those who suffer and those in any need or trouble

  • Thankful remembrance of the faithful departed and of all the blessings of our lives

  • If guided: The leader reads each framework prompt (e.g.: Lord we pray for the elders of our church: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John…), pausing to allow the congregation to offer prayers silently. To conclude the section the leader offers something like: ‘Lord in your mercy…’ The congregation responds with something like, ‘Hear our prayer.’ These guided prayers rely heavily on the framework, but the content can be adjusted, or added to on the spot (e.g.: ‘We pray for there to be peace between Israel and Gaza…’)

  • Written: said in unison with the congregation, or as a call and response.

  • Extemporaneous: the leader prays using the framework as the guide to their extemporaneous prayer offered on behalf of the congregation. Like lines on a highway, the framework is used to shape the direction of this kind of pastoral prayer, without drawing attention to the framework itself - while still keeping the prayer ‘in its lane,’ and intended purpose.

16 January: Tuesday Refocus

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“Calm me, O Lord, as You still the storm. Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm. Let all the tumult within me cease. Enfold me, Lord, in Your peace.” - Celtic prayer

The rest and rescue we most desire cannot be found in created things. Both within and without the ground of our being and beneath our feet is sand. Shifting, sinking. No amount of interior exploration, or exterior distraction can level out the most unsettled places of our souls.

But there is good news, there is hope - Christ our Savior is a firm and fixed hope, an anchor for our souls (Psalm 18:1-2, Hebrews 6:19). Upon the throne of grace is seated a Savior who lives to make intercession - daily bearing us up at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 4:16, Hebrews 7:25, Psalm 68:19, Romans 8:34). Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne, and steadfast love and faithfulness go before Him (Psalm 89:14). Even in the chaos of the world and our hearts, no one can be snatched from the hand of the Savior (John 10:28).

Father, in the middle of storms within and without, may our gaze be fixed, my our lives be anchored, my our souls rest in the life, death, resurrection, and intercession of Your Son, Jesus. In His name, amen.

Wrestling and resting,

AB

9 January: Tuesday Refocus

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“Teach me to listen, Holy Spirit, for your voice; in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and doubt, in noise and in silence. Teach me, Lord, to listen. Amen.” - John Veltri, SJ

Sheep recognize the voice of the Shepherd (John 10:27). In the whispers and the wind (1 Kings 19:11-13), in the busyness and the boredom, in the certainty and doubt, in the noise and the silence - our Shepherd is speaking and speaking through His Word, speaking through His Spirit, speaking through His people, speaking through creation.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world (Hebrews 1:1-2).”

May the voice of the Good Shepherd ring unmistakably through our souls in 2024.

Speak Lord, your servant is listening. Amen.

Listening,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: November 14

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“The battle of the spiritual life is lost or won in prayer time.” - E. Stanley Jones

There is no doubt we are in a battle. But this is a battle not against flesh and blood - but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). If this is a spiritual battle, why do we often look to physical means as our weapon of choice?

When we take pride in self-sufficiency, prayer is a hammer of humility to our hearts. In prayer, I recognize that I am incapable of accomplishing the things that truly matter within and without. Prayer is long, slow, faithful, deep work in the midst of a world that expects visible, external results.

Father, may prayer be the first, and continual work of our spiritual battle. Amen and amen.

In prayer,

AB

5 November: Liturgy + Set List

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  • ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING

    Call to Worship: Romans 12:1-3

  • HOLY IS OUR GOD

  • A THOUSAND HALLELUJAHS

    There is a day coming when there will be an endless hallelujah, an eternal ‘praise God!’ that will come when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. That day will not be a gathering just of the local body of believers but will be the global Church - followers of Jesus from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language. Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Those brothers and sisters around the world who lose their lives and their livelihoods, their families, and communities for following Jesus. Scripture tells us that we are to remember those who are in chains as though we ourselves are in chains. And so together we are going to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world this morning - specifically those who face the most extreme and acute persecution:

Father, there is nothing that can separate us from Your love. Not tribulation or distress. Not persecution or famine. Not nakedness, danger or sword. And still, these realities are all too present for many of our brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted because of their faith in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus, You know the suffering of Your Bride - because You are the man of sorrows, the one acquainted with grief, You were despised and rejected, beaten, tortured, deserted, and killed. As our brothers and sisters around the world share in Your sufferings, would You draw them near to Your glory? Would they count the loss of all things as nothing in comparison to knowing You?

Would they live in the promise of Your words in Matthew:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account.”

Holy Spirit, let us not use our freedom to be free of the burden to pray, to think, to act, on behalf of our brothers and sisters around the world who are in chains for the sake of the gospel. We take a moment now to silently pray on behalf of our brothers and sisters suffering for their faith….

*A list of the 50 countries that experience acute persecution based on the 2023 World Watch List

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayers. Thank you, that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus. Amen and amen.

(Based on Romans 8:17, Romans 8:35-39, Isaiah 53:3, Philippians 3:8, Matthew 5:10-11)

Sermon: Mark 12:13-17

I think it would be a missed opportunity to encourage you to walk out those doors and pray for your leaders and not take a few moments here and now to pray for our leaders. I will read these words first so you can hear this prayer, and then I will invite you to pray these words with me:

O Lord our Governor, whose glory fills all the world:
We commend this Nation to your merciful care, that we may be guided by your providence, and dwell secure in your peace. Grant to the President of this Nation, the Governor of this State, and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do your will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them continually mindful of their calling to serve this people in reverent obedience to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Occasional Prayer, 37
For The President And All In Civil Authority Book of Common Prayer

  • IS HE WORTHY

  • HOLY FOREVER

Benediction