Think of one individual in your life right now.  In your mind, see that individual.  Now sit quietly before God with that individual in your heart.  What does he/she truly need?  What is most urgent for that person?  Now, pray about what you’ve heard.

The Heirloom of Prayer

During her sunset years of life, Kendra’s grandmother hand-stitched several colorful quilts for Kendra.  They are some of our favorite heirlooms—especially the double wedding band quilt.  The blankets remind us of Memaw’s generous love, fun-loving spirit and quirky personality.  I think of her every time we pull a quilt out of our hallway closet.

Perhaps you have an heirloom from a much-loved-one.  A family piano.  A treasured set of crystal.  A piece of framed art.  These items reflect that individual’s kindness and care.  They tell us something about the heart of that person.

Leaving an inheritance is a common practice.  We’ve come to expect it from those who are important to us.  But what about the One who is most important?  Did Jesus leave an heirloom?  If so, what was it?  What gift did Jesus bequeath to those who lived after he left?  If Jesus had written a will, what legacy would he have listed on its pages?

Perhaps with such questions in mind, George Buttrick writes this: “Two signs of Jesus abide, though all else be ignored or forgotten—a prayer and a cross…These are His memorial: not a tombstone or a moneyed foundation, but a simple prayer and a gallows set against the daybreak.”[i]

You may not be surprised to find the cross listed on Jesus’ Last Will and Testament.  Almost universally, when people think of the Christ they think of the cross.  The worldwide symbol of Jesus’ contribution to humanity is his cross.  The world-changing summary of Jesus’ challenge to humanity is his cross.  He died so we might live.  We die so that others might live.

But you may be surprised by the mention of a prayer.  A prayer is listed among his most prized possessions?  Buttrick is referring to a specific prayer—what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Besides the cross, what captures the heart of Jesus is the heirloom bequeathed to us in his Lord’s Prayer.  As Jesus sought some way to pass down what most mattered to him, he chose to grant us the inheritance of Calvary’s cross and the Lord’s Prayer.  William Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas write, “So if you are asked, ‘Who is a Christian?’ the best answer you can give is, ‘A Christian is none other than someone who has learned to pray the Lord’s Prayer.’”[ii]  To be a Christian is to pray Jesus’ prayer.

What’s so valuable about this prayer?  Consider its wonderful words:

⁹  Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,
¹² and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (Matt. 6:9-13 ESV)

The prayer, as Frederick Buechner writes, focuses primarily on God’s omnipotence and our impotence.  It is rooted in the belief that God can still do anything and that we still can’t do much of anything.  It is the ultimate declaration of dependence.  It puts God in his place.  It puts us in our place:

“We do well not to prayer the prayer lightly.  It takes guts to pray it at all…’Thy will be done’ is what we are saying.  That is the climax of the first half of the prayer.  We are asking God to be God.  We are asking God to do not what we want but what God wants…To speak those words is to invite the tiger out of the cage, to unleash a power that makes atomic power look like a warm breeze.  You need to be bold in another way to speak the second half.  Give us.  Forgive us.  Don’t test us.  Deliver us.  If it takes guts to face the omnipotence that is God’s, it takes perhaps not less to face the impotence that is ours.  We can do nothing without God.  Without God we are nothing.”[iii]

The prayer puts God in his place and us in ours.  It invites the tiger out of the cage.  Authors Mike Breem and Steve Cockram propose that everything Jesus taught about life in the kingdom of God is summarized in this brief prayer.  True discipleship comes only as we learn to pray this prayer.[iv]

The cross and this prayer.  These are Jesus’ greatest gifts.  In them we find all that is needed for a life of following in his footsteps.

Breaking the Growth Barrier

Mike Yaconnelli offers these challenging words about a prominent barrier to spiritual growth:

“What keeps many of us from growing is not sin but speed…Spiritual growth is not running faster, as in more meetings, more Bible studies, and more praying meetings.  Spiritual growth happens when we slow our activity down.  If we want to meet Jesus, we can’t do it on the run.  If we want to stay on the road of faith, we have to hit the brakes, pull over to a rest area, and stop.  Christianity is not about inviting Jesus to speed through life with us; it’s about noticing Jesus at the rest stop.”[i]

To remain on the road of faith, we have to hit the brakes.  Deceleration is especially necessary for healthy relationships.  For many of us, it was our failure to brake which ultimately created brokenness in a relationship.  When we survey the moments in which we’ve most harmed others or most neglected others, many of them correlate with times of hurry.  The greater the hurry the greater the harm.  What keeps many of us from growing, especially in our capacity for love, is not merely the selfishness of our hearts but the speed of our lives.  If we want to break our greatest growth barrier, we’re going to have to break the speed barrier.

We cannot be who Jesus envisioned us to be in relationship to other people when rushing characterizes our lives.  Relationships take time.  Compassion takes time.  Kindness takes time.  The more we bring hurry in our encounters with others the less we bring help.  The greater our busyness around others the fewer blessings we bring to others.

The cure?  Slow down.  Joseph Bailey suggests that love has a certain speed.  Love travels at a certain rate.  What is that speed?  Bailey argues that love usually travels much slower than we do.  If we wish to practice more love we have to reduce our RPM’s so that we are traveling at the speed of love.[ii] This allows us to be fully present in any given moment—present to those around and to their needs.

What’s your current speed?  How does this differ from the speed of love?

Steps to Slowing

Slowing is a discipline designed to eradicate frenzy from our lives.  The practice of slowing involves intentionally placing yourself in circumstances which create time for noticing and attending to others.  Slowing means placing yourself in a situation where you are forced to wait.

Here are some small ways to start practicing slowing: [iii]

• Drive in the slow lane.
• Eat your food slowly.
• Get in the longest line at the grocery store.
• Go the entire day without looking at a clock.
• Make shorter appointments.
• Don’t schedule back-to-back appointments with no break in-between.
• Take a deep breath before answering the phone.

These practices only prompt growth if we are intentional within them.  We are not just creating time to kill.  We are creating time to contribute.  As we slow we strive to become attentive to our surroundings and to the Spirit.  We seek to remember that God is present in this moment and that he may wish to use us to bless someone nearby.

Take Ten

Take ten minutes today and force yourself into a situation where you have to wait.  While your engine idles, look around.  Who do you see?  What are their needs?  In what ways might God work through you to bless them?  Take a moment and silently pray for God to use this “idle” time to bless someone.

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[ii] Joseph Bailey, Slowing Down to the Speed of Love (McGraw – Hill, 2004 ).

[iii] John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Zondervan, 1997), 89; Adele Calhoun, SpiritualDisciplines Handbook (IVP, 2005), 81.

I’m hungry, Lord.

Starving for your statutes.

Drooling for your decrees.

I can’t wait any longer.

My soul craves your Scripture more than my lungs long for air.

So pile my plate with your Word.

Tie a bib around my neck, put a fork in my hand and step back–this is going to be messy.

I’m going to dig in like a dying man.

I’m not going to stop until I lick the plate clean.

And then I ‘ll ask for seconds.

Nothing fulfills me like your Word, Lord.

[image]

Marjorie Thompson proposes that genuine confession can be contrasted with counterfeit confession in two primary ways: [i]

The problem with counterfeit confession is that it leads to one of two destructive fruits: anxiety or pride.  The more our attention is drawn only toward our failures, the more easily we fall into anxiety.  We begin to fret because we seem so unworthy of God’s love.  We start to despair because we see how flawed we truly are.

Counterfeit confession can also lead to pride.  We may actually become conceited because of our confession.  That is, we may grow proud at the way we’ve learned to be honest with God “(Look at me God.  I admit my flaws frequently.  I’m not like that Pharisee who could only admit the flaws of others!”).  We may also become proud, in a strange way, of our sin.  It can become a kind of badge of honor (“No one struggles with this as much as I do.  No one has such a burden of sin like mine!”).  Pride or anxiety is the result of counterfeit confession.

True confession, however, never bears these two deadly fruits.  Its focus is on God rather than on us.  It meditates much more on the Father than on our faults.  It contemplates God’s favor rather than just our fiascos.  And as a result, true confession bears the fruit of genuine humility that neither lifts us too high nor drops us too low.  In true confession we receive an accurate portrait of who we are.  But we also receive a correct image of who God is.

[image]

Tim Hansel is the author of a book entitled When I Relax I Feel Guilty.[1] He tells of the time when Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck decided to travel across the United States.  Steinbeck and his dog set out in his truck.  He recorded these observations when he stopped one evening in a diner: “It was all plastic…the table linen, the butter dish, the sugar and crackers were wrapped in cellophane, the jelly in a small plastic coffin sealed with cellophane. It was early evening and I was the only customer. Even the waitress wore a sponge apron. She wasn’t happy, but then she wasn’t unhappy. She wasn’t anything.”  That’s a striking description: she wasn’t happy, but then she wasn’t unhappy; she wasn’t anything.  It’s also a convicting description.  I fear it describes some of us.  We aren’t happy.  We aren’t unhappy.  We’re not really anything.  If forced to answer honestly when someone asked us, “How are you?” some of us just aren’t sure what we would say.

Perhaps this explains our preoccupation with happiness.  According to Psychology Today, in the year 2000, fifty books on happiness were published.  In 2008, four thousand books on happiness were published.[2] Could it be that so many of us are caught between happy and unhappy that we can’t seem to get enough books about that elusive state of happiness?

There is a sense is which many of us are alive, but we don’t always seem to thrive. We aren’t happy.  We aren’t unhappy.  We’re not really anything.  We are alive.  But we’re not really thriving.  We’re not bad.  We’re not great.  We’re just kinda OK.

In this context, perhaps one of the greatest statements made by Jesus is found in John 10: I came so they can have…more and better life than they ever dreamed of. (Jn. 10:10 The Message)  “Abundant life” some translations say.  “Rich and satisfying life” some translations say.  “More and better life than they ever dreamed of.”  Why did Jesus come?  What is this all about?  He came so you could have “more and better life than you ever dreamed of.”  He came so you could thrive not just be alive.

And this word “life” means so much more than just experiencing forgiveness of sins or escaping the fires of hell.[3] “Life” in Jesus’ mouth has as much to do with our time before death as it does with our time after death.  It has as much to do with here and now as it does with heaven.  Jesus came so that you could experience at this very moment more and better life than you’ve ever dreamed possible.  He came so you could thrive right here and right now.

In fact, in this same chapter, Jesus describes himself as a door which provides access to this abundant life: ⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  (John 10:7-10 ESV).

We are exploring seven “I Am” statements from Jesus in John’s Gospel.  We’ve heard Jesus say “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” and “I am the good shepherd.”  Here, Jesus says “I am the door.”

Jesus is using an image which may not be familiar to most us.  He describes a door that goes out and in.  In a small Jewish village most families owned a few sheep. The houses had small walled courtyards where the sheep were kept. Because each family had only a few sheep, a shepherd for each household was not justified, so several households would have one shepherd to look after all their sheep. Early each morning the shepherd moved from house to house.  The doorkeepers would open the courtyard door.  The shepherd would call to the sheep.  And the sheep would walk out through the door and follow the shepherd into open country.^[4] When they were in the open country the shepherd would find a cave or create a round stone-walled enclosure.  He might place thorn bushes on top of the stones to keep out wild animals.  The shepherd would lead the sheep through the doorway into the cave or enclosure.  Then the shepherd would sleep across the entrance to keep the sheep safe.^[5]

This image is what Jesus has in mind when he says “I am the door.”  The courtyard door granted the sheep access to the open country as they walked out that courtyard door.  The cave doorway granted the sheep access to safety and protection as they walked in that door.  In the same way Jesus says that he is our door.  Jesus envisions himself as a door which offers access to abundant life.

What we are so often missing, Jesus came to provide.  He is a door which offers access to more and better life than we ever dreamed of.  For people who are alive but not thriving, Jesus is the door which offers access to abundant life.

There are a lot of doors in life aren’t there?  There’s the career door.  There’s the education door.  There’s the relationship door.  And each of them promises to provide access to better life.  If we’ll just get the right career or the right education or the right relationship we’ll be happy.  But Jesus is saying he is the one true door.  He is the only door in your life which can provide you access to rich and satisfying life.

If that’s true, why don’t more of us who follow Jesus experience abundant life?  Why do even we Christians sometimes find ourselves alive yet not truly thriving?

Jesus’ image provides a clue.  Jesus could have used any image to describe this rich life and his role in providing it.  He intentionally chose the image of a door for sheep.  Specifically, Jesus chose the image of a door that goes in and out.  Jesus chose a scene in which sheep in the open country go in through a doorway to a cave or enclosure.  There they find rest, refuge, retreat, and renewal.  And Jesus chose a scene in which sheep in a courtyard go out through a door to the open country where they flourish and thrive.  Jesus could have used any image to describe abundant life and his role in it.  He chose this image.  And in so doing, he gave us an important clue about how to gain access to abundant life, and why some of us may not be experiencing this life.  Jesus is saying that he offers access to an abundant life consisting of both an inward focus and an outward focus. Notice his words again in John 10: Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out… (John 10:9 The Message)  Jesus is describing the way sheep go in that cave door to a place of refuge and projection.  And he is describing the way sheep go out that courtyard door to the open country.  Jesus is our door to rich and satisfying life.  But he is a door through which we must go in and out.  Jesus is picturing the spiritual life as a door that opens both inwardly and outwardly.  And if we want to experience abundant life, we have to learn to live on both sides of the door.

Jesus is picturing the spiritual life as a door which opens two ways.  It opens inward to a quiet and calm place of rest, refuge, retreat, and renewal where sheep can sleep and settle and be protected.  But it also opens outward to the open country where the sheep can flourish, reproduce, and grow.

The earliest Christians built their spirituality around this two-way door.  They talked about the vita contemplative and vita activa.[6] Contemplative life.  Active life.  Contemplative life had an inward focus.  It consisted of habits and practices of rest, renewal and reflection.  The contemplative life was life going in the Jesus-door.  Active life had an outward focus.  It consisted of habits and practices like service and ministry.  The active life was life going out the Jesus-door.  The earliest Christians believed that you had to practice both types of life if you wanted the full life offered by Jesus.  You walked in the Jesus-door to vita contemplative and practiced rest, renewal, and reflection.  But you also walked out the Jesus-door to vita activa and practiced service and ministry to others.

Beloved spiritual writer Henri Nouwen described the full Christian life as one that consists of both an “inward journey” and an “outward journey.”[7] The inward journey leads us to find the Christ dwelling within us.  The outward journey leads us to find the Christ who is dwelling and working out in the world.  The inward journey calls for practices such as solitude, silence, prayer, meditation, and contemplation.  The outward journey calls for practices such as compassion, witness, outreach, healing, and accountability.  Nouwen believed that in order to experience the rich and satisfying life Jesus came to give, we have to engage in both journeys.  We have to journey in the door of Jesus and practice solitude and silence and prayer.  We also have to journey out the door of Jesus and practice compassion and outreach to others.

And here’s the key: we experience Jesus’ abundant life only as we attend to both the inward focus and the outward focus.  Jesus came as a door that opens two ways—inward and outward.  But the reality is that many of us spend a great deal of time only going through this door one-way.  Many of us live our lives largely on one side of the Jesus-door.  For example, some of us go inward through Jesus and often practice rest, refuge, retreat and renewal.  Others of us go outward through Jesus and often practice service and ministry.  But those of us comfortable on the inside of that Jesus-door rarely venture outward.  And those of us comfortable on the outside of that Jesus-door rarely go in.  But we experience Jesus’ abundant life only if we live on both sides of the Jesus-door.

Some of this is related to our personalities and preferences.  The Myers Briggs foundation, the group behind a widely used personality test, writes this:[8] The first pair of psychological preferences is Extraversion and Introversion. Where do you put your attention and get your energy? Do you like to spend time in the outer world of people and things (Extraversion), or in your inner world of ideas and images (Introversion)? Raise your hand if you label yourself an extrovert.  Raise your hand if you label yourself and introvert.  Most of us have a personality and preference for the inner world of ideas and images or the outer world of people and things.  And we carry this preference into our life with Jesus.  Those of us who are introverts spend time going in the Jesus-door and engaging in prayer, reflection, contemplation, silence and solitude.  But we rarely go out the Jesus-door.  Those of us who are extroverts spend our time out the Jesus-door and do mercy, compassion, and outreach.  But we rarely go in that door.  Yet, if we want to experience the true abundant life, we have to live on both sides of the Jesus-door.  Those of us who are introverts need to go out and spend time in mercy and outreach.  Those of us who are extroverts need to go in and spend time in prayer and silence.

Abundant life comes only when a church or an individual engages enthusiastically in both sides of the Jesus-door.  Abundant life flows into us and through us only as we live out a rhythm which involves going in through Jesus for rest and renewal in prayer and study and solitude, and then going out through Jesus for ministry and compassion and service.

In fact, each side of the door leads to the other.  As we go in the Jesus-door for regular times of rest and renewal, we are empowered then to go out the Jesus-door for regular times of ministry and service.  And as we go out the Jesus-door to impact the world around us, what we experience informs the kind of reflection and contemplation we do when we go back in the Jesus-door.

We have tried to frame our ministry at Highland around this idea.  Our vision is to help people discover the more they are meant for.  We want people to experience the abundant life Jesus has for them.  And this takes place as people engage in four activities.  Worship God and Grow with friends.  That’s inward work.  Serve others and Share Jesus.  That’s outward work.  We believe that as a church we’ve got to develop a rhythm of going in the Jesus-door and going out the Jesus-door.  We gather in the Jesus-door for worship and growing with friends in Sunday School classes and Huddles.  We scatter out the Jesus-door for service in ministry and sharing Jesus with others in places like our Reach Groups.  Highland experiences full life only as we live on both sides of the Jesus-door.  The same is true for each of us individually.

Unfortunately, we tend to judge others by what side of the door they spend their time in.  Those of us who like to go out the Jesus-door and do ministry and service tend to label those who spend time in the Jesus-door as people who are unconcerned about the world and disconnected from real life.  Those of us who like to go in the Jesus-door and do prayer and solitude tend to label those who spend time out the Jesus-door as superficial and busybodies.  But both sides of the Jesus-door are equally important.

Most likely, you tend to spend the bulk of your time and energy on one side of this door.  Some of you are constantly going in the Jesus-door and spending time in silence, prayer, and Bible study.  Others are you are constantly going out the Jesus-door and spending time in ministry and service to others.  Raise your hand if you tend to spend most of your time in the Jesus-door.  Raise your hand if you tend to spend most of your time out the Jesus-door.  And because we neglect the other side of the door, we fail to experience the rich and satisfying life Jesus came to give.  We fail to experience abundance because we fail to live on both sides of the door.  If you want to increase the richness and abundance of your life, those of you who spend most of your time out the Jesus-door should carve out some time to go in the door.  Determine this week to spend some time in silence, solitude, prayer, reflection, or study.  Those of you who spend most of your time in the Jesus-door should carve out time to go out the door.  Determine this week to spend some time in compassion, mercy, service and ministry.  The more we live on both sides of the door, the more we experience Jesus’ abundant life.

In his book The Circle Maker Mark Batterson tells this story that illustrates the power living in the Jesus-door:[9] A few years ago, I was reading through The Book of Legends, a collection of stories from the Jewish Talmud, when I discovered the true legend of Honi the Circle Maker… A devastating drought threatened to destroy a generation–the generation before Jesus. The last of the Jewish prophets had died off nearly four centuries before. Miracles were a distant memory. And God was nowhere to be heard. But there was one man, an old sage who lived outside the walls of Jerusalem, who dared to pray anyway. His name was Honi. And even if the people could no longer hear God, he believed that God could still hear them.  With a six-foot staff in his hand, Honi drew a circle in the sand. Then he dropped to his knees and raised his hands to heaven. With the authority of the prophet Elijah who called down fire from heaven, Honi called down rain.  “Lord of the Universe, I swear before your great name that I will not move from this circle until you have shown mercy upon your children.”  Then it happened.  As his prayer ascended to the heavens, raindrops descended to the earth. The people rejoiced over the rain, but Honi wasn’t satisfied with a sprinkle. Still kneeling within the circle, Honi lifted his voice over the sounds of celebration.  “Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill cisterns, pits, and caverns.”  The sprinkle turned into such a torrential downpour that the people fled to the Temple Mount to escape the flash floods. Honi stayed and prayed inside his protracted circle.  “Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of benevolence, benediction, and grace.”  Then, like a well-proportioned sun shower on a summer afternoon, it began to rain in perfect moderation. Some within the Sanhedrin threatened excommunication because his prayer was too bold for their taste, but the miracle couldn’t be repudiated. Eventually, Honi the Circle Maker was honored for “the prayer that saved a generation.” The circle he drew in the sand symbolizes the power of a single prayer to change the course of history. Time spent in the Jesus-door in things like prayer can save a generation.

In a few weeks I’m presenting at the Christian Scholar’s Conference at Lipscomb University in Nashville.  During that conference, Lipscomb will confer an Honorary Doctorate of Laws upon veteran civil rights attorney Fred Gray.  When Gray was in college in Nashville, he vowed, “to become a lawyer, return to Alabama, and destroy everything segregated I could find.” Gray began his legal career as a sole practitioner, less than a year out of law school, and at age twenty-four, represented Mrs. Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus, the action that initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Gray was also Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s first civil rights lawyer. This was the beginning of a legal career that now spans over 55 years.  Determined to right the wrongs he found in his native State of Alabama, Gray has been at the forefront of changing the social fabric of America regarding desegregation, integration, constitutional law, racial discrimination in voting, housing, education, jury service, farm subsidies, medicine and ethics, and generally in improving the national judicial system.  One of the first African Americans to serve in the Alabama Legislature since reconstruction, Gray was also the first African American elected as president of the Alabama State Bar Association.  Gray is a powerful example of what can happen when even just one person commits to living out the Jesus-door and ministering and bringing justice and righteousness into a culture.  An entire country can be changed.

As we close I want you to think about these two questions: On which side of the Jesus-door to I tend to live?  What is one practice I can engage in this week that will help me spend time on the other side of the Jesus-door?

[2] Julia Baird, “Positively Downbeat,” Newsweek (9/25/09).

[3] John Ortberg, “Ministry and FTT,” LeadershipJournal.net (June 2008).

^[4] Kruse, C. G. (2003). Vol. 4: John: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (229–230). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[5] Kruse, C. G. (2003). Vol. 4: John: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (231). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[6] Brian J. Walsh and J. Richard Middleton, The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian World View (IVP, 1984), 99.

[7] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit (HarperCollins, 2010), 123.

(Author)

[8] http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/extraversion-or-introversion.asp.

[9] http://www.catalystspace.com/content/read/the_circle_maker/

Memphis artist Lisa Perdue recently created jewelry messaged with the words, “Live a Better Story.”  Inspired by Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Lisa’s jewelry urges us to see our lives as a story.  If we don’t like the tale we are living, we should find a better one and let it reshape our experience.

That, in a nutshell, is also the advice of James Bryan Smith in his trilogy A Good and Beautiful God, A Good and Beautiful Life, and A Good and Beautiful Community.  Smith’s conviction is that many people have accepted the wrong narratives about God (book one), character (book two), and Christian community (book three).  For example, in book one Smith demonstrates how people are often influenced by stories about God such as “God is angry,” or “God’s favor must be earned,” or “We have to work our way to God.”  These false storylines create an unhealthy spirituality.  Jesus’, however, provides true and genuine narratives about God.  For instance, in the Gospels Jesus reveals that God is good (not angry), God is generous (we don’t have to earn his favor), and that God works his way to us (not vice versa).  Similarly, in book two Smith illustrates how people embrace bogus ideas about character which need to be replaced with more proper ideas drawn from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Finally, in book three Smith delves into spurious tales people accept regarding the church/ Christian community.  He then presents contrasting true narratives about community drawn from Scripture.

By themselves, Smith’s pairs of false and true narratives make the series worth reading.  They provide an opportunity for us to consider the often hidden and unhealthy stories which drive our spirituality, our moral and ethical lives, and our approach toward Christian community.  The ultimate value of the series, however, lies in the way Smith provides a bridge between each false narrative and its alternative true narrative.  Without this link, Smith’s trilogy would become just another prophetic word about the failings of contemporary Christianity in North America.  The problem with many such books is they provide thoughtful descriptions of the disease but offer few practical prescriptions for a cure.  It is one thing to say “Live a better story.”  It is quite another to show how.  Thankfully, Smith does both.  Each chapter which describes a false and true narrative about spirituality, character, or community is followed by a chapter which prescribes a specific spiritual discipline which enables us to live that better story.

Thus after a chapter in which Smith calls us to move from a plotline of “God is angry” to a plotline of “God is good,” he offers a brief chapter describing what he calls a “soul-training exercise” that enables the move: awareness of creation.  Each day as we notice one beautiful and good thing in creation (e.g., a sunrise, a flower, etc.) we allow that created thing to remind us of our good and beautiful Creator.  This exercise enables us to slowly and steadily move from the unhealthy narrative focused on an angry God to the healthier narrative focused on a good God.  The three books offer similar soul-training exercises as the pathways to more fruitful life-stories.

If you are looking for a practical way to take some positive steps forward in spirituality, character, or community, few will assist you in as realistic, sensible and deeply spiritual a way as does Smith.    Indeed, it would be difficult to read and implement the trilogy and not find yourself genuinely living a better story.

James Bryan Smith

The Good and Beautiful God

IVP Books, 2010

ISBN-10: 0830835318

232 Pages

James Bryan Smith

The Good and Beautiful Life

IVP Books, 2009

ISBN-10: 0830835326

264 Pages

James Bryan Smith

The Good and Beautiful Community

IVP Books, 2010

ISBN-10: 0830835334

240 Pages

New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday this year.  It’s one of those rare times on which we find ourselves in a church building instead of on a couch or in a bed at 10:15 AM after staying up to welcome in the New Year.  Being New Year’s Day, many of us may be thinking about resolutions.  According to CCN, about 100 million Americans are making New Year’s resolutions this morning.[1]

I believe our tradition of New Year’s resolutions ultimately stems from a God-given hunger.  God created us to grow, to mature, and to develop.  The New Year in our culture reminds us of this.  We hunger for transformation and renewal.  And most of us are not content with just superficial renewal.  We’re interested in significant renewal.  We long for significant rather than just superficial renewal.

Earlier this year The New York Times reported on Hany Farid, a professor at Dartmouth.[2] Farid noticed that many of the pictures of celebrities which show up in magazines are altered.  He’s found that the retouching can be slight — colors brightened, a stray hair erased, or a pimple healed. Or it can be drastic — carving 10 or 20 pounds off the celebrity, adding a few inches in height, or erasing all wrinkles and blemishes.  Farid has thus proposed a tool which can detect how much a photo has been altered.  He proposes a scale of 1-5 which would then be labeled onto every photo in every magazine.  Slightly altered photos would be labeled with a 1.  Drastically altered photos would be labeled with a 5.

Renewal in the form of digital alteration is fairly easy with today’s technology.  But I don’t think any of us would be satisfied with that kind of renewal when it came to our lives.  It’s too superficial.  What good is it to photoshop twenty pounds off a photograph when you’ve not actually lost a single pound?  Most of us are interested in significant renewal.

What most of us are looking for is the kind of renewal pictured by C. S. Lewis.  Lewis’ book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was made into a movie in 2010.  The book and the movie tell of Lucy and Edmund Pevensie returning to Narnia, this time with their cousin Eustace.  Eustace is easy to dislike.  He’s rude.  He’s self-centered.  He’s a know-it-all.  He’s greedy.  And he looks down on everyone.  At one point in the movie Eustace stumbles upon some treasure on an island.  He hoards it all for himself.  And after this horrendous display of avarice Eustace transforms into a dragon.  He becomes on the outside what he is on the inside.  He morphs from a boy to a dragon, because he has acted like such an animal.  In despair, Eustace eventually turns to Lucy and Edmund and begs for their help.  But they can do nothing for him.  It’s only when Eustace lands on another island and meets Aslan the lion that he finds the help he seeks.  Aslan, representing Jesus, is able to scratch away the dragon skin and renew Eustace into a human.  The transformation is painful.  But when it’s done, not only is Eustace changed outwardly, he is changed inwardly as well.  He becomes humble, brave, caring, and giving.  That, I believe, is the kind of renewal most of us long for: deep, significant renewal.

This is the kind of renewal Paul describes in Colossians 3.  Colossians is part of a group of letters from Paul called the “prison epistles” or “prison letters.”  They were all written by Paul during one of his imprisonments.  They include Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians, and Philemon.  In Colossians Paul is writing to a relatively young church.  He’s writing to help them experience spiritual renewal. ^[3] We could, in fact, call Chapter 1 “The Plea for Renewal.”  Paul shares in chapter 1 that he’s been praying that they would “be filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” and that they would be “bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”  He finishes chapter 1 by telling them that he’s writing so that they can become “mature in Christ.”  Paul wants to see these young Christians experience the kind of deep and significant renewal only God can bring.

But if Chapter 1 is “The Plea for Renewal,” then Chapter 2 is “The Path to Superficial Renewal.”   In Chapter 2, Paul reveals that some of the Colossians have embraced a spirituality that’s only going to lead to superficial renewal.  There’s a great deal of debate about what this alternate spirituality is.  Some scholars argue that teachers of pagan philosophy or pagan religions are influencing these Christians.  Others argue that fundamentalist Jewish teachers are influencing these Christians.  Either way, some “experts” in renewal are leading these Christians astray.

As Paul reveals in Chapter 2, these so-called experts are telling these Christians that they’d experience renewal if they eat certain things and drink certain things and observe certain holy days.  It is a growth plan that centers on keeping an endless list of rules.  Paul mentions some of them in chapter 2: “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch.”  And Paul writes in vs. 23 “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”  All of these external rules, Paul says, will only lead to superficial growth.  They have no real value in bringing about any kind of deep transformation.

If Chapter 1 is “The Plea for Renewal” and Chapter 2 is “The Path to Superficial Renewal” then Chapter 3 is “The Plan for Significant Renewal.”  Finally in Chapter 3 reveals a plan for Christians to experience real renewal.  This is the chapter where Paul shows how Jesus can change us from dragons into humans.  If you look back at 2011 and see ways in which you’ve acted like an animal and you long to have that dragon skin removed in 2012, this is the chapter for you.  This chapter, especially Col. 3:1-17 will be our focus in this four-part Sunday morning series called “Renew You.”  We’ll look at four things that lead to significant renewal.

This morning we focus on the first four verses: ¹ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Col. 3:1-4 ESV).  One point Paul makes throughout Colossians is that Christians and Christ are tied up together.  Here, Paul reminds us that “you have died” [with Christ], “you have been raised with Christ,” and “you also will appear with [Christ].”  Just as Jesus died on the cross, was raised from the dead, and will appear at the Second Coming, so we have died with him, been raised with him, and will appear with him.  The link between us and Jesus is so strong that Paul actually says “your life is hidden with Christ” and “When Christ who is your life.”  Jesus is now the source of our life.  When Paul writes that our life is “hidden with Christ” he means that Jesus is the hidden source of our life. [4] That is, when other people look at me, they only see Chris Altrock.  What they don’t see, what is hidden from them, is the fact that Jesus is the source of my life.  Jesus is the hidden battery, the hidden power plant, that makes “me” possible.  Paul’s point is that renewal can only come from Christ.  As you look into 2012 and you dream about renewal at work, at home, in your marriage, with your parents or your children, or renewal with God, it can only come through Christ.  Your life is now hidden with Christ.  He is the only source of deep and lasting renewal.  Everything else you may turn to in 2012—books, magazines, DVD’s, programs, and preachers—can only bring superficial renewal.  Only Jesus can bring deep and lasting renewal.

And the place where Jesus wants to begin is with our mind.  The place where this hidden power source begins to make a deep difference is in our thinking.  Listen once more to the first two verses: ¹If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Renewal begins when we “set our minds on things that are above.”  Renewal begins when we concentrate our thinking on Christ.  His character, his deeds, and his words.  We are to “set our minds on” these things.  Later in vs. 10 Paul will write about our being “renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”  Renewal begins with knowledge.  It beings with the mind.  It begins by focusing the mind on Christ and his way of life.

The verb “set your mind on” occurs 26 times in the New Testament.  Twenty-three of those occurrences come in Paul’s letters.  Paul wrote more about the Christian mind than anyone else in the New Testament.  Paul specifically used this verb to indicate that the way a Christian thinks is intimately tied to the way a Christian lives.[5] Paul believed you change living by first changing thinking.  For example, Paul writes in Rom. 12:2 “let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (NLT).  Paul uses the same verb here in Colossians 3.  Paul wants us to set our minds on things above because that’s where renewal begins.  God will transform us into a new person by first changing the way we think.

Paul’s saying that the first step toward renewal is not doing better.  It’s thinking better.  Here’s another way of putting it: Renewal is rooted in orthodoxy not just orthopraxy. Orthopraxy is literally “right practice” or “right actions.”  It refers to doing the right things.  But orthodoxy is literally “right thinking” or “right believing.”  It refers to thinking the right things.  For most of us, there is a tendency to focus on orthopraxy.  When it comes to renewal most of us give very little thought to changing our thinking and instead we just try to change our doing.  But Paul believes that what we set our minds on will have a radical impact on our doing.  You get to orthopraxy by attending to orthodoxy.

In 2005, Ron Sider wrote a widely read book called The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience.   Sider showed study after study which revealed that when it came to our doing, most Christians were behaving just like non-Christians.  The rates of divorce, premarital sex, domestic violence and use of pornography were about the same among Christians as they were among non-Christians.  Sider thus called for renewal.  He said the Christian church in America needed deep and significant renewal.   And what he meant by that was orthopraxy.  Evangelical Christians needed to start acting in better ways.  Renewal would come by doing things better.

But ten years earlier, Mark Noll wrote a similar book called The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.  Like Sider would, Noll found that there was a great need for renewal among Christians.  Unlike Sider, Noll said the key was not getting Christians to start acting right.  They key was to get them to start thinking right.  What Christians most needed to focus on was not actions but thinking.  The mind was the frontline of the battle for renewal.  And that’s exactly what Paul is telling us.  Significant renewal begins when you set your mind on the things of Christ.

John Ortberg shows how a difference in mindset can impact the way two individuals experience the same day.[6] Here is an excerpt from a Dog’s Diary:

8:00 AM – Dog food!  My favorite thing!

9:30 AM – A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 AM – A walk in the park!  My favorite thing!

10:30 AM – Got rubbed and petted!  My favorite thing!

12:00 PM – Lunch!  My favorite thing!

1:00 PM – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 PM – Wagged my tail!  My favorite thing!

5:00 PM – Milk bones!  My favorite thing!

7:00 PM – Got to play ball!  My favorite thing!

8:00 PM – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 PM – Sleeping on the bed!  My favorite thing!

And here is an excerpt from a cat’s diary regarding the very same day: Day 983 of my captivity.  My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre, little dangling objects.  The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. Our mind-set has a tremendous bearing on how we experience life.  One individual’s mind-set allows him to experience everything during the day as “my favorite thing.”  The other individual’s mind-set allows him to experience the same day as “captivity.”  Renewal begins by changing our mindset.

Michael Hyatt writes: When I was twenty-nine years old, I became vice president of marketing for Thomas Nelson. It was a huge step up in my career. At the time, I thought I had arrived at the pinnacle of success. But I was in over my head. Or at least that’s the way it felt. I was just waiting for other people to come to the same conclusion.  I struggled constantly with anxiety and fear—anxiety was the daytime version; fear was the nighttime version.  This manifest itself in my body in two embarrassing ways: First, I sweat profusely. Second, my hands were always cold—ice cold.  Before attending important meetings, I would wear two t-shirts, hoping that I wouldn’t sweat through both. I strategically selected my clothing, based on which colors would show the least amount of perspiration.  I would also step into the bathroom right before the meeting began, and frantically run hot water over my hands. I would then dry them vigorously, praying that they would warm up. I dreaded having to shake hands with anyone.  At some point, I realized that the problem was not in my body, but in my head. I was telling myself a bad story. Mine went like this:  You are too young for this job. Worse, you don’t have the experience. Who do you think you are fooling? It’s just a matter of time before everyone in the company sees it. When that happens, you will be out on the street—right where you should have been all along.  I would never say this out loud, of course. It was just the sound-track that was playing inside my head.  Things didn’t change until I became aware of the story and took control of the narrative. I started telling myself a different story… Mine went like this: Yes, you are young. That gives you tremendous energy. You also don’t have a lot of experience, which is why it is easier for you to think outside the box. God has provided everything you need to be successful in this situation. Even if you fail, you will learn something from it. You can’t lose; you can only quit. And you most certainly are not a quitter! Hyatt didn’t change his actions.  He changed his mind.  He focused his mind on something far more heavenly.  And that led to radical renewal in the way he experienced life.

Paul’s text points to this truth.  Paul is saying that life renewal begins with specific habits of mind renewal. Paul is urging us to adopt specific habits of setting our minds on things above, of filling our minds with Christ and the things of Christ.  Why?  Because the more we fill our minds with Christ, who is our life, the more we will begin to live like Christ.  The first things you need to set in place to make 2012 better than 2011 are specific habits by which you can focus on and keep your mind filled with Christ.

Let me offer four possible habits:.

1. First, memorizing Scripture can be a powerful way to begin renewing your mind.  The key is to memorize something short and to repeat it to yourself during the day at stoplights, when you drink from your water bottle, or every time you Tweet, text, or post a Facebook update.  The memorized Scripture becomes a booster rocket that lifts your mind toward heavenly things.  You could choose a statement from Jesus, a line from one of the Psalms, or an especially encouraging line from one of Paul’s letters.
2. Second, the Jesus Prayer is one way to keep your mind focused on Christ.  Practiced for centuries by Christians, the Jesus Prayer is a short prayer meant to be said as you breath.  In its shortest form, it’s simply this: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”  As you breath in, you say silently or think to yourself: “Lord Jesus Christ.”  As you exhale, you say silently or think to yourself: “have mercy on me.”  I often practice this on Fridays when I am doing work at home and have some time alone.  I find that it keeps my mind focused on Christ.
3. Third, reading the Bible daily is a powerful way to keep your mind focused on Jesus’ story, God’s story, instead of some inferior story you are telling yourself or which others are telling you.  You don’t have to read long.  In as little as 5 minutes a day you can give your mind something heavenly to chew on.  If you have a smartphone or tablet, I encourage you to use the YouVersion Bible which has numerous reading plans.  Some take you through the whole Bible in a year.  Others take you through the New Testament in 30 days.  Some let you survey key texts in the Bible.  Others focus only on the Gospels.  Pick a plan and stick with it.  YouVersion will even keep track of the readings for you and give you reminders when you miss.
4. Fourth, use inspiring art, jewelry, music, graphic designs, or objects to keep your mind focused on Christ.  I often wear a cross.  Each time I see it or feel it, I think about Christ.  I have a replica of the Cristo Redentor statue  on my office table which reminds me of Christ.  Carl McKelvey, an acquaintance in Nashville, keeps a large print of Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal hanging in his office to compel him to think of Christ.  Earl Lavender, a friend at Lipscomb University, has visual representations of the 7 Deadly Sins on a wall in his office.  These force him to think of Christ when he sees them.  All of these are just different ways of setting your mind on Christ.

Ultimately, Paul reveals in Col. 2:11-12, renewal begins with baptism.  Paul writes that in baptism we are buried with Jesus and raised with Jesus.  We undergo a circumcision of sorts—having the bad and evil aspects of our lives cut off by the power of God.  Part of the new life God gives us through baptism is a new mind.  The renewal of our thinking begins in baptism as God pours his Holy Spirit in us who is able to correct our thinking and help set our minds on things above.  If you’ve never taken that step, today is a great day to do just that.  Begin this New Year by getting baptized.  Begin personal renewal in the most powerful way—by being immersed in water in the name of Jesus so that God can wash away your sins and fill you with his Holy Spirit.

[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/technology/software-to-rate-how-drastically-photos-are-retouched.html?_r=1

^[3] Wright, N. T. (1986). Vol. 12: Colossians and Philemon: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (22–23). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[4] James D. G. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Eerdmans, 1996), 207.

[5] Peter T. O’Brien Colossians, Philemon Word Biblical Commentary (Word, 1982), 163.

[6] John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be (Zondervan, 2010), 95.

Perfect Prayer

“Did I pray that correctly?”

I’m sometimes asked this question by a friend when we meet for prayer.  After she completes a brief time of leading our petitions, she occasionally gives voice to this fear: “Did I pray OK?”  She worries that she isn’t using the right words in the right way.  She frets that she doesn’t have the right emphasis and the right emotions.

Another friend regularly asks me to pray on his behalf, something I am honored to do.  But there are times when he prefaces his request with remarks like this: “You always pray better than I do.  You always know just what to say.  I think God’s more likely to answer your prayer about this than he is mine.”  My friend doubts he can produce the kind of plea that will catch God’s ear.

People of prayer have long struggled with this perspective.  It’s an outlook which views God as one who must be persuaded to act.  And only precise prayer-words will convince this reluctant God to answer affirmatively.

This was even a stance taken by many even in Jesus’ day.  While preaching about piety in Matt. 6:1-18, Jesus warns,

“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.” (Matt. 6:7-8 The Message).

Some ancient mystics believed they needed the right rule, the perfect program, or the most winsome words in order to get what they wanted from God.  Only those who could stitch words together into a flawless format could win over God’s heart.

Simple Supplication

But prayer is intended to be much simpler.  Peter Kreeft writes about the ease of prayer:[i]

Prayer is easier than we think…We can all do it, even the most sinful, shallow, silly, and stupid of us.  You do not have to master some mystical method. You do not have to master a method at all.  Can you talk to a friend? Then you can talk to God, for he is your Friend. And that is what prayer is. The single most important piece of advice about prayer is one word: Begin! God makes it easy: just do it!

Prayer is easier than we think.  It doesn’t require seamless sentences and faultless phonetics.  It can be as natural and unscripted as a conversation with a friend.  Jesus’ preferred image is that of a dialogue between a child and a parent: “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father…’” (Matt. 6:9 ESV).

Still, many of us feel the need for help.  We realize we don’t need perfect prose or sanctified speech.  But we’re not exactly sure what to say.  We feel a bit like Anne of Green Gables.[ii] The movie features Ann Shirley, an orphaned child placed the home of Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert.  One evening Marilla and Anne discuss prayer:

“Have you said your prayers?” Marilla asks Anne.

“I never say any prayers,” Anne responds.

“What do you mean? Haven’t you been taught to say your prayers?”

“Mrs. Hammond told me that God made my hair red on purpose, and I’ve never cared for him since.”

“Well, while you’re under my roof you will say your prayers.”

“Why, of course.  If you want me to. How does one do it?”

“You thank God for his blessings, and then humbly ask him for the things you want.”

“I’ll do my best. ‘Dear gracious heavenly Father, I thank you for everything. As for the things I especially want, they’re so numerous it would take a great deal of time to mention them all. So, I’ll just mention the two most important: please let me stay at Green Gables; please make me beautiful when I grow up. I remain yours respectfully, Anne Shirley—with an e.’ Did I do all right?”

“Yes, if you were addressing a business letter to the catalog store. Get into bed.”

“I should have said ‘amen’ instead of ‘yours respectfully.’ Think it’ll make any difference?”

“I expect God will overlook it—this time. Good night.”

We want to embrace the simplicity of prayer promised by Jesus, but we’re so often still unsure of what to say or how to say it.

The Ready Made Prayers of Jesus

This is why Jesus introduces us to what Mark Thibodeaux calls “ready-made prayers.”[iii] Jesus’ “Lord’s Prayer” in Matt. 6 is one of these—a pre-written prayer ready to be prayed by any follower of Jesus hungry for help on praying.  Through supplications such as this, Jesus takes us by the hand and walks us through a conversation with the Father.  Not to show us the only words that can ever be used.  But to reveal to us themes and habits that make for the most fruitful and enriching times of divine discussion.

This “Lord’s Prayer” is only one of many ready-made prayers.  The Gospels are filled with other petitions Jesus himself spoke.  They provide magnificent mentoring regarding prayer.  There are at least ten occasions on which the Gospel authors record the actual words Jesus spoke in prayer.  In them we find Jesus praying at least three types of prayers.[iv]

First, Jesus prayed inward prayers of complaint.  Here, Jesus gave voice to the deepest feelings of disappointment.  In his inward prayers of complaint Jesus teaches us how to look deep within ourselves and to share dark and discouraging feelings with God in prayer, to complain about our pain.

• ³⁶ Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” ³⁹And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” ⁴⁰And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? ⁴¹ Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ⁴²Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. ⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” (Matt. 26:36-46 ESV)

• ³³And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ³⁵And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” ³⁶And someone ran and filled a sponge with  sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” ³⁷And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. (Mk. 15:33-37 ESV)

• ²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now  finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” ²⁹A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. (Jn. 19:28-29 ESV).

Second, Jesus prayed upward prayers of confidence.  Despite the darkness and the despair, Jesus was able to pray upwardly with confidence that God still ruled, still listened, still reigned, and still cared.  Through these upward prayers of confidence Jesus shows us how to trust God even in the darkness.

• ²¹ In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:21 ESV)

• ⁴¹And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” (John 11:41-43 ESV).

• ²³And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. ²⁷“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” (John 12:23-29 ESV).

• ³⁰When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (Jn. 19:30 ESV).

• ⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Lk. 23:44-46 ESV).

Third, Jesus prayed outward prayers of compassion.  Here Jesus looked outward and prayed for the needs of friends and foes alike. With his outward prayers of compassion Jesus instructs us how to passionately plea for the people around us.

• ¹When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.  ⁶ “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. ⁸For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sake  I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. ²⁰“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ²⁴Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:1-26 ESV).

• ³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23:32-34 ESV).

Take Ten

Choose one of the prayers of Jesus above and use it to inspire and/or inform a time of prayer today.

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[ii] Anne of Green Gables (Walt Disney, 1985), based on a novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

[iii] Mark Thibodeaux, Armchair Mystic (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2001).

[iv] See my Prayers from the Pit (21^st Century Christian, 2011).

The Psalms are the original pre-owned prayers.  They are supplications and songs used by the people of God for generations.  Learning to pray the Psalms may be the simplest yet most significant step you can take towards growth in your relationship with God.

The Psalms fall into three categories: Orientation, Disorientation and Reorientation.[i] In psalms of orientation God is viewed as trustworthy and reliable.  Life is happy and the one praying is grateful for the stability and predictability of life.  These psalms provide opportunities to pray about some of the most basic things of life which are responsible for the pleasantness of life.  Examples include Ps. 19, 104, and 119.

Like psalms of orientation, psalms of reorientation are also prayers of praise and thanksgiving.  But rather than focus on the stability and dependability of the life which God has created, reorientation prayers rejoice for a recent way in which God has delivered the author from despair or danger.  They offer praise at its highest and loudest.  Examples include Ps. 16, 23, 100, and 150.

Psalms of disorientation stand in stark contrast to the other two.  These are prayers gasped and groaned when life is at its worst.  In them, God seems neither dependable nor desirable.  Those who are praying lament their situation in life and beg God for a change in their circumstances.  These are the most disturbing prayers in the Old Testament.  They include Ps. 13, 51, and 69.

I’ve found it helpful to reclassify these Old Testament prayers as prayers of the plain (orientation), prayers of the peak (reorientation), and prayers of the pit (disorientation).

• Prayers of the Plain are those psalms in which life is ordinary and routine and we thank God for the basic things of life that make life so good.
• Prayers of the Peak are those psalms in which life is unusually good and we thank God for a specific way in which he has been active in our lives.
• Prayers of the Pit are those psalms in which life is hard and horrible and we give voice to our harshest feelings.  They are the prayers which are colored primarily by challenge and suffering in life.

Each kind of Psalm stretches us to go beyond what we normally experience in prayer.  Prayers of the Plain stretch us to pray about issues we may generally overlook or take for granted, such as a beautiful and life-giving earth or the wise and insight-giving Scriptures.  Prayers of the Pit stretch us to grieve to God with bold and unapologetic laments that we may have never used before in prayer.  And Prayers from the Peak stretch us to praise in ways we may have never done before in prayer, using colorful and creative language.

Take Ten

One way to deepen your prayer-life is to pray one Psalm each day.  You can do this in about ten minutes (you may need to divide up some of the longer Psalms).  Some of the Psalms can be prayed nearly verbatim, just as they are written.  In others, you will need to make some revisions, such as changing second-person or third-person language to first-person language.  In some cases, you may wish to read the entire Psalm and then just paraphrase it to God in your own words.

There are two options for praying a Psalm daily: pray through the Psalter chronologically, or pray one type of Psalm each day (e.g., a Prayer from the Plain on day 1,  a Prayer from the Pit on day 2, and a Prayer from the Peak on day 3).  Below is a table that identifies each of the Psalms for you.  Take ten right now and pray through one Psalm.

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