Each week for this season our devotions will be centered around the practice of PRAYER. Like the disciples we too have the opportunity to ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We encourage you to read all prayers and Psalms out loud – let the words of Scripture fill your prayers!
Devotional Thought // Pastor Chris
“You’re too idealistic!”
It’s interesting how idealism has become a sort of insult. “You think things should be different than they are; how dare you!” Have you ever been called idealistic? Don’t fret. Henry Ford was an idealist. He thought people should have transportation that didn’t require a horse. Mother Teresa was an idealist. She thought the poor in Calcutta, India should be cared for. I’m quite certain these same people using idealism as a stab would have called Jesus an idealist! One day the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray – listen to the idealism:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
This is the invitation of the Kingdom: to see what is and to long for something more. Jesus’ death and resurrection inaugurated the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven NOW. This is not an invitation for merely an afterlife. Jesus is invading the earth now. People are being healed. Marriages are being restored. People are provided for. The disenfranchised find community. Our world says this shouldn’t be so. Broken things don’t get fixed – they stay broken and move to Cleveland to find themselves. Jesus invites the type of idealism that says,
- I can find purpose
- I can be provided for
- I can experience relational healing
- I can learn to become a Godly parent
- I can have community
- I can find value and worth
- I can be myself and be loved
As we continue to be immersed in the Scriptures to guide our prayers I would encourage you to not set your expectations by what the world has to offer. Let the Psalms and prayers allow your imagination to be stirred for a better way. Jesus is inviting us to pray for HIS Kingdom to come and His will be done. Implicit in these prayers is that our thoughts about what should be are too small, too jaded, too informed by this world, too crushed to dream. May the God of all Hope give you a vision for something more.
20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20–21 (NRSV)
Psalm 107:1-22
1 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious,
and his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let those whom the Lord has redeemed give thanks,
whom he has delivered from the hand of the enemy,
3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They went astray in the wilderness, even in the desert,
and found no city to dwell in;
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them forth by a straight path
until they came to a city where they might dwell.
8 Oh, that they would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness
and declare the wonders that he does for the children of men!
9 For he satisfies the empty soul
and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
10 Some sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death,
being bound fast in misery and iron,
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God
and lightly regarded the counsel of the Most High.
12 He also brought down their heart with heaviness;
they fell down, and there was none to help them.
13 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them out of their distress.
14 For he brought them out of darkness, and out of the shadow of death,
and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Oh, that they would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness
and declare the wonders that he does for the children of men!
16 For he has broken the gates of brass
and shattered the bars of iron asunder.
17 The foolish were plagued for their offense
and because of their wickedness.
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food,
and they were even close to death’s door.
19 So when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
he delivered them out of their distress.
20 He sent his word and healed them,
and they were saved from destruction.
21 Oh, that they would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness
and declare the wonders that he does for the children of men!
22 That they would offer unto him the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and tell of his works with gladness!
Closing Prayer
Father in Heaven, Holy is your name. We pray for your kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Grant us boiling hot spirits, that we may come to love your bride, the holy church, as you do. Deposit within us the humility that Jesus embodied as he was nailed to the cross. When we are tempted to back away, may your Holy Spirit remind us to choose to move forward in humble curiosity, grace, mercy, trust, authenticity and forgiveness. Amen.