Moments With God

"Lord, teach us to pray."

Prayer is as essential to our spiritual well-being as breathing is to our physical well-being. One day one of Jesus' disciples came to Jesus and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." (Luke 11:1b) Jesus then gave His disciples the Lord's prayer as an example prayer to help them in their prayer lives. The Lord's prayer continues to be a wonderful example of how to pray for us today.

Our prayers should always include worship and praise for our great and awesome Lord. The first thing Jesus said in His prayer to His heavenly Father was "Father, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come." (Luke 11:2b) So often we rush into our prayers asking for things. God desires that we ask for things from Him; but we must also not forget to spend time in worship, praise, and thanks to the Lord. We must praise and worship Him for all He is in His being and character, and then we must thank Him for all His bountiful blessings in our lives. Notice the Lord Jesus also says "Your kingdom come." It should be our supreme desire that the Lord's will would be done on this earth and in heaven. Our lives should not be about our self-centered whims and desires. Our lives should be centered on bringing about the Lord's will on this earth and in our lives. Our lives should be centered on bringing glory and praise to the Lord.

Our prayers also can and must include asking the Lord to meet our daily needs. Jesus prayed, "Give us each day our daily bread." (Luke 11:3) "Daily bread" includes more than our food. It includes all our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. It is good and necessary for us to ask the Lord for our needs. In doing this we show our trust in the Lord and our reliance on Him to meet our every need. This dependence on the Lord and not on our own perceived resources is pleasing to the Lord.

Our prayers also must include prayers for forgiveness for our sins. Jesus said, "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation." (Luke 11:4) We need to daily confess our sins to the Lord. We need to daily ask for His forgiveness. We also need to ask for the Lord's strength to grow in holiness and Christ-likeness in our lives. Notice that Jesus' prayer asks for forgiveness from God for our sins, as we forgive others their sins against us. If we are not willing to forgive the petty little things others do against us, how can we ask the Lord to forgive the magnitude of our sins against the Almighty God? Finally, we also need to ask the Lord to keep us from the Devil's temptations all around us.

After Jesus gave His disciples the Lord 's prayer as an example prayer, He told them a parable about prayer. In this parable the Lord Jesus taught His disciples the need to be bold and persistent in prayer. Jesus said in verses nine and ten of Luke eleven, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Jesus went on to say in verse thirteen, "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" The Lord desires and longs for us to come to Him in prayer. He desires to heap His blessings and good gifts on us. He especially desires to give us His spiritual gifts and the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives. If we who are sinful give good gifts to our children, the Lord God will surely give us His best and choicest gifts. We can and must be bold and persistent in approaching Him in prayer for our needs. We serve a loving and faithful God who desires to meet all our needs, as we approach Him in humbleness and trustful dependence!

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters."

Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar and loved Psalms. It is a Psalm which you and I probably memorized as a young child. One wonders sometimes if we have become so familiar with the words of the Psalm, however, that we do not fully delight in the implications of the Psalm's truths and promises.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want." (Psalm 23:1) Sheep are unintelligent, dirty and defenseless. They are in need of a shepherd for protection. The Lord says that we are like sheep, but He is willing to be our Shepherd of protection. He is willing to lead us through this life and to eternity! "The Lord is MY Shepherd!" As a child of God He is your Shepherd also! In Biblical times the sheep were lead not driven. They listened for the shepherd’s voice, and they followed him. So you and I must follow the Great Shepherd’s voice in His Holy Word. The Lord must be most important in our lives, and we must follow Him. He must be our Shepherd in every area and activity of our lives. All of our lives must be under His direction and control. If we allow Him to control our lives, we "shall not be in want." He will provide for all our needs if we trust Him.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures." (Psalm 23:2a) When you or I get too involved with our busy lives or lose sight of our passion to serve the Lord, He will intervene in our lives. He will use some event or circumstance to compel us to rest in Him. He wants us to rest secure and content in Him. Green pastures in Psalm 23 are a metaphor for abundant life or for all that makes life flourish. Some of the circumstances the Lord allows in our lives may not seem like green pastures. They may seem more like brown dried up pastures. We may not want to "lie down" and trust our Good Shepherd. We may try to "fix" the problem on our own. But what you or I see as a bad circumstance in our life may actually be for our good. The Lord may be trying to make some repairs in our character and in our heart. The Lord may be operating on us spiritually to remove selfishness or arrogance or self-reliance from our lives. The Lord is in control. We simply need to trust Him. We must remain teachable. If the Lord has allowed a difficult situation in our lives, we must submit to Him and rest in Him.

"He leads me beside quiet waters." (Psalm 23:2b) The Lord leads us like a shepherd. Jesus Christ is out in front of us today. He is already in the future, so we need not fear the future. Our future is secure in Him. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is in the business of stilling the raging waters and storms of our lives and leading us by "quiet waters." The Lord leads us to His rest. He provides for our security, nourishment, and sense of well-being. Sheep panic when they are around raging waters. This is because sheep can drown very easily. The Lord is our Shepherd, and He can still whatever raging waters are in our lives that cause us to panic. The Lord will still them at the right moment and in His perfect timing. Faith is a refusal to panic; because we know that our Shepherd, Jesus, is in complete control! He is our peace! He is our Shepherd!

(Read the devotional below also on Psalm 23.)

"She did what she could."

The religious leaders of Jesus Christ's day hated Him, and they were looking for a way to arrest Jesus and kill Him. During this time period Jesus was in the home of a man known as Simon. Jesus was sharing a meal with Simon and the others who were present that day. Suddenly "a woman came in with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head" (Mark 14:3b) We know from the same account in the Gospel of John that this woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. John's account tells us that Mary poured the perfume "on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair." (John 12:3) The perfume Mary poured on Jesus' head and feet was made of a delightfully pleasant smelling oil extracted from a root of a plant grown mainly in India and was very expensive. In fact, John 12:3 goes on to say; "the house will filled with the fragrance of the perfume." This action on Mary's part showed her deep and overflowing devotion and love for the Lord Jesus. It also showed Mary's humility. Mary was not concerned about what others thought about her action. She was only concerned about showing her love for her Lord,

Some of those present, however, were indignant about this and were saying; "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." (Mark 14:4b-5a) We know from John's Gospel account of this same story that the main person who was objecting to this display of love on the part of Mary was Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot was the man who right after this incident went out and betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders of that day. Others were also rebuking Mary for her act of love to Jesus; but Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Mark 14:6b-9)

Others rebuked Mary for her act of love, but Jesus praised her. Jesus said, "She did what she could. (Mark 14:8a) Mary gave all she could to show her love for the Lord. Can we say the same of ourselves? Do we give our all to the Lord? The Lord wants our time, our talents, our lives, and our all. Jesus Christ wants the sweet fragrance of our Christ-like actions and attitudes to fill our world around us, so that others see Jesus in us. Our Lord wants us to be consumed with the desire to bring glory and honor to Him. Our Lord wants us to be consumed with our love relationship with Him. Our lives must be poured out in gratitude to the Lord for what He has done for us. Our Lord Jesus poured out His life for us. Should we not give our all to Him in gratitude and love for His gift of salvation to us? Our selfish wants and desires must diminish and be "put to death" (Romans 8:13), and our consuming desire must be that we may live to reflect Christ's holiness in our lives. John 3:30 says, "He must become greater; I must become less." May it be our supreme desire that there will be less of self and our selfish desires in our lives. Instead, may our lives be poured out for the Lord for His glory and honor!

"She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made."

We must never get so involved with life's busy and hectic schedule that we forget to sit at Jesus' feet. We must never neglect our quiet time with Him in prayer and Bible reading. In our Biblical story today Jesus was visiting in the home of Martha and Mary. How excited Martha and Mary must have been to have the Lord Jesus come to their home! Martha was an energetic "take charge" type person. Perhaps Mary was a more "laid back" and meditative person. God uses all kinds of personalities in His kingdom for different purposes. So no matter what personality type we possess we can be used by the Lord. We need to bring ourselves and our personalities under the Lordship of the Lord, however, and seek to do all for His glory.

When Jesus came to Martha and Mary's house, Mary "sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said." (Luke 10:39b) Martha, however, was running around frantically making preparations for the meal that she was planning to serve the Lord Jesus. Martha was very "distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." (Luke 10:40a) Soon Martha became annoyed that her sister, Mary, was not helping her. She complained to Jesus and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" (Luke 10:40b) Jesus said to Martha, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42) Jesus was not condemning Martha for her service. God's kingdom needs people who are energetic in His service. Jesus was admonishing Martha for allowing her busy schedule to interfere with needed and precious time in the Lord's presence.

So we also must remember that it is not what we do for the Lord that it important. What is important is that we are abiding in the Lord in what we are doing. All of our activity should be filled with a sense of the Lord's presence right beside, before, and behind us. Our lives must be filled with His agenda and not ours. To be about God's agenda in this world we need to be abiding in Him and communing with Him. We must not become so involved with life's activities that we miss the joy of Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to Him. In these days of tension, turmoil, and frantic schedules we must take time for quiet times with the Lord in His Holy Word and prayer. This is the one thing that is needed and essential in our lives! It should be our number one priority in our lives to grow in our love relationship with the Lord. Even if we are busy in service for the Lord, if we neglect time sitting at the Lord's feet our service for the Lord will not be blessed. Only when we have taken time with the Lord can we experience the peace and joy of the awareness of His presence in our many activities of the day. I have a little placard on a windowsill in my kitchen. It reads, "God is more interested in my character than in my activity." It is a reminder to me that I need to be more concerned with showing a Christ-like character than in accomplishing all the things on my "to do" list. God is interested in our service, but we can only properly serve Him if we have first spent time with Him!