The Super Natural Life – prayers for strength, words of wisdom, daily bible reading

Prayer is just half of the equation. A relationship with God, a “friendship” as I’ve been defining it, requires communication. And communication must be two-sided. We talk with God in prayer. God hears. We believe that, or at least hope. That’s why we pray. But in the communication process, does God talk back? Have you ever heard from God? Have you ever met other people who have heard from God?

In my second book, co-written with Jennifer Schuchmann, Nine Ways God Always Speaks, we explore the flip side of the prayer dialog – how God talks back and how we hear him. Here’s the excerpt from introduction:

Right now you are being bombarded with hundreds of thousands of electronic signals. You can’t see them but they’re constantly swirling around you. Each signal has a specialized frequency. The electronic current has variations depending on whether it is an AM or FM radio, UHF or VHF television, cell phone, cordless phone, walkie-talkie, Wi-Fi, pager, or satellite signal.

At any time, you can tap into any signal that you want. All you need is the proper decoder. Want the signal sent out by the American Broadcasting Company?

Take your decoder and choose a channel that amplifies and decodes the signal into a television picture. For most of us, this means turning on the TV and using the remote to find our local ABC affiliate.
Want to talk to your mom? Pick up your handheld signaling device; enter a series of codes that will then be transmitted into an electronic frequency, and somewhere in Omaha your mom’s phone will ring. (Assuming, of course, that Mom lives in Omaha.)

Want to trade chapters with your co-author but one of you is at a Caribou Coffee in
Minneapolis and the other is at Alley Beans in Canton, Georgia? With a couple of keystrokes, and through the magic of a connected computer, an electronic exchange of information takes place in less time than it takes to order a latte.

• What if communication with God worked similarly?
• What if there were divine signals constantly swirling around us?
• Is it possible that, like an electronic signal, we can tune into certain channels and hear God speak?
• What if he is speaking to you right now?

David is God’s friend. God is David’s friend. This intimate Psalm written three thousand of years ago outlines for us what we can expect from God in this relationship. Prayer is based on the certain facts we know about God. We’re not shooting blindly into the emptiness of heaven! We talk directly and clearly knowing what we can expect in return. David closes his prayer again affirming how he depends on God, asking for what he needs, and acknowledging that he’s asking because of the honor of God’s name. David calls on God to keep his promises for the sake of his own reputation.

Teach me to do your will,
      
for you are my God.

May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
      
on a firm footing.
For the glory of your name,
O Lord, preserve my life.
      
Because of your faithfulness,
bring me out of this distress.

In your unfailing love,
silence all my enemies
      
and destroy all my foes,
      
for I am your servant.

Are you are friend of God? You can be. Ask. Then begin to communicate with God on the terms he has established. Those terms are outlined beautifully by David in this Psalm 143.

Matthew 6:9-13

“Give us this day our daily bread”

Some things to think about:
Fresh bread.  Boy there’s nothing better than bread right out of the oven.  Here Jesus is inviting us to bring our specific, pressing needs before God and to ask for sustaining provision.  The image of course comes out of the Old Testament.  While Israel was wandering in the desert God gave them “daily bread” in the manna that fell each morning.  They always had just enough for their real need.  Here Jesus is promising the same.  God cares about our real-life needs, and has promised to meet them.  He also invites us to ask.  “Ask and you will receive” Jesus promises.  It’s an audacious promise.  Faith, it seems is audaciously responding to God’s own audacious initiative!

Some things to do:
Go taste some fresh bread this week.  Seriously.  As a treat you might even want to go to a bakery today and get a scone right out of the oven.  Enjoy!  Now make a list of the things you really need.  This isn’t anything new to God. He knows your needs.  But list them and then tell him anyway.
List the things you need in your physical life: real practical things like funds to pay for a child in college or strength to keep up with your grandkids.  Ask.
List the things you need for your soul: practical things like peace of mind and hope that you can handle all your responsibilities.  Ask.
List the things you need for your eternal life: a deeper ability to listen to God’s voice and understand the Bible for instance.  Ask.

Some things to talk about:
Is it easy for you to ask God for specific needs?  Why or why not?  Jesus says that when we ask Father for bread he will not give us a stone.  What “bread” have you been given by God?  Have you asked God for something good and been disappointed?  Has a disappointment with God in the past, or in another person’s life hindered you from asking for something again?

David’s friendship with God was based on what he knew about God from God’s past actions. David can lay everything on the line because he knows God’s character is dependable.

I remember the days of old.
      
I ponder all your great works
      
and think about what you have done.
I lift my hands to you in prayer.
      
I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.

Come quickly, Lord, and answer me,
      
for my depression deepens.

Don’t turn away from me,
      
or I will die.
Psalm 143:5-7

All friendship requires trust; and trust is built on memory, a good memory of good things.  When a person says what they will do and then follows through, we begin to trust their word and their character. David believes that God is trustworthy because he remembers that God has been faithful in the past. When we pray, remembering the times that God has delivered on his promises is vital. Honest prayer is built on good memory.

Would you say with David, “My depression deepens.”? Have you ask God to rescue you? Build your requests for help on the unshakable foundation of God’s character. He’s done it before; he’ll do it again!

David is banking on his friendship with God for everything.

Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,
      
for I am trusting you.
   
Show me where to walk,
      
for I give myself to you.
 
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;
      
I run to you to hide me.
Psalm 143:8-9
He acknowledges that every morning he needs to hear again that God never fails. We too need this message reinforced again and again. David asks God to show him where to walk. He needs counsel in decisions. Again, here is one friend asking another for wisdom. David admits he’s putting himself in God’s charge. He needs to be rescued from enemies. God alone can help.

If you need to be rescued today, pray. God wants to be your friend. He’s willing and able!

God invites honesty from his friends. We can be – must be – transparent. And God not only tolerates us shooting straight, he honors it. When we know where we stand with him – as intimate friends – we can bring all our pains, sorrows, troubles, desires and passions. Friendship welcomes truth. As God’s friends we can pray without reserve. David understood this. Here are verses 2-4 from Psalm 143, one of David’s many “honest-to-God” lyrics.

Don’t put your servant on trial,

for no one is innocent before you.

My enemy has chased me.
      
He has knocked me to the ground
      
and forces me to live in darkness like those in the grave.

I am losing all hope;
      
I am paralyzed with fear.
Psalm 143:2

Take a bold step in prayer today. Lay out the honest problems, in all their ugly detail. Your friendship with God allows you this honor. Like David, you may feel like you are “losing all hope.” You may be “paralyzed with fear.” Say so! Tell God. He’s your friend! And he’s a friend who can do something about it.

Prayer is based on an assumption; prayer assumptions are steps of faith. We believe God hears and is able and willing to respond to what we say. Prayer in its purest form assumes a relationship, and in its best form, a relationship of friendship. In the Bible friendship was not merely a relationship of affinity. Friendship was established and codified in a covenant. Each side knew what to expect and what was expected of them. God made a friendship covenant with his people and in that arrangement established clearly what could be expected of him and what he expected in return.

The right to talk to and with God has always been the foundation of a relationship with him. It’s a legally established right. In other words, friendship with God can be a certainty and the dialog can be on predictable terms. It’s not a stretch; nor is it presumptuous to say, “I am God’s friend” and to talk with him accordingly.

Psalm 143 is a song lyric written by King David. It’s a poem of friendship, where David acts on the certainty that he can relate with God in an intimate and “certain” way. Here’s the first section. Notice that David calls on God to answer and act because he knows God is faithful and righteous. He appeals to God’s promise and his character.

Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my plea!
  Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.

We pray today beginning with this established fact: God is faithful and good! He’s said what he is and what he will do, ahead of time. Before I say anything specific about my needs or appeals, I say this. God is good and he keeps his word. I am his friend and I can bank on the predictability of his loyalty. I can shoot straight and predict his response. That’s the basis of my communication with him!

Today, as you pray, begin with a declarative: “You are faithful and right!” It may be hard to say. Perhaps your emotions doubt that God really is good. But muster your faith, and speak the truth no matter. Begin prayer with this first line of Psalm 143 and know that whatever elements of prayer follow, you begin with friendship.

Here’s another simple and simply beautiful prayer from St. Augustine. In his role as Bishop (pastor) for the church in Hippo, North Africa, Augustine became a great defender of right doctrine and right practice of true faith. But all of his theological work grew out of personal pastoral concerns that mattered to the everyday lives of his congregation. This prayer reflects the intimate, personal friendship that Augustine had with God. We think of him as a great thinker – he was. But above all he knew God and God’s love and grace. And this, more even than right belief was what he desired for those he led.
Read this prayer first as a “refresher course” for your soul, then read it a second time directed to God. Then take a time of silence and wait as the Holy Spirit registers your appeal and responds.

O God, the Light of the heart that sees You,
The Life of the soul that loves You,
The Strength of the mind that seeks You:
May I ever continue to be steadfast in Your love.
Be the joy of my heart;
Take all of me to Yourself, and abide therein.
The house of my soul is, I confess, too narrow for You.
Enlarge it that You may enter.
It is ruinous, but do repair it.
It has within it what must offend Your eyes;
I confess and know it,
But whose help shall I seek in cleansing it but Yours alone?
To You, O God, I cry urgently.
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep me from false pride and sensuality
That they not get dominion over me.

The great Dutch mystic Thomas a’ Kempis was the author of the Christian devotional classic Imitation of the Christ. In this prayer credited to Thomas we see the beauty of grace. “Forgiving as we have been forgiven.” If we can get a hold of this, agree with this, and live like this, we can be healed and set free and changed before we turn the clocks ahead.

 
I offer up unto You my prayers and intercessions, for those especially who have in any matter hurt, grieved, or found fault with me, or who have done me any damage or displeasure. For all those also whom, at any time, I may have vexed, troubled, burdened, and scandalized, by words or deeds, knowingly or in ignorance; that Thou wouldst grant us all equally pardon for our sins, and for our offences against each other. Take away from our hearts, O Lord, all suspiciousness, indignation, wrath, and contention, and whatsoever may hurt charity, and lessen brotherly love. Have mercy, a Lord, have mercy on those that crave Your mercy, give peace unto them that stand in need thereof, and make us such as that we may be worthy to enjoy Your grace, and go forward to life eternal.
Amen.

St. Augustine didn’t trust his physical body. Prior to his conversion to Christianity Augustine had lived to please and indulge his own appetites. For the rest of his life on earth he considered his “flesh” as the enemy of his soul. I believe Augustine overreacted a bit. After all, God created our bodies, and called them “very good,” and one day we will be given new resurrected bodies. The idea can’t be all bad! In this prayer Augustine recognizes that human life in the human body is something given and sustained by God. This prayer of praise recognizes that life and health are a gift.

If you are struggling with health issues, lift this prayer to God and know that HE is your health, and all you’ll ever need!

Great are You, O God, and greatly to be praised; great is Your power, and Your wisdom infinite. We who are but a particle of Your creation, praise You. You awaken us to delight in Your praise; for You made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. What are You then, my God? Most high, most good, most omnipotent; most merciful, yet most just; most hidden, yet most present; most beautiful, yet most strong; stable, yet incomprehensible; unchangeable, yet all-changing; ever old, ever new; supporting, filling, and overspreading; creating, flourishing, and maturing; seeking, yet having all things. You, O God, are my life, my joy, my health.

March is national diabetes month. Let’s remember to pray for our friends and family who are battling this condition.