The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. Psalm 35.15 (KJV) I've been struggling with prayer meeting since Lockdown. Like, I used to always go when it was in church, and sometimes I had to cycle in the rain to get there and I'd be cycling just wishing it could've been in my house. And now it is, and my church has started doing a prayer meeting every evening now, so I can even pick when I want it to be convenient for me. AND so many more people are going now, because lots of people struggled with the travel before and now don't have that problem. But as much as it's become more convenient for me... I've become less likely to actually go, and when I do I rarely say anything, and afterwards it doesn't feel like I even went to anything anyway.
It's strange. I don't like not seeing the people I'm praying with, and I don't know when to talk or not. It's just strange! But it's also encouraging, to hear the prayers of those who share my faith. To be united with one purpose - to help each other through this time and to bring all our cares, worries, thanks and praises before our God. The one place where something can actually happen about them. So maybe it's not about feeling comfortable or having prayer meeting go my way - but about sharing in this fundamental part of Christian faith, together. Stay safe, and take care!
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Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; on you I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies and your lovingkindnesses, for they are from of old. Psalm 24.5-6 (NKJV) The Psalmists went through some pretty treacherous times, and they documented them willingly. But in each Psalm, no matter how difficult the picture is that they paint of their lives, they are singing to God of how good and faithful God remains. If you were to write a song to God right now (ignoring musical capabilities, rhymes, rhythm or anything else that goes into the complicated mix of songwriting), what would you say? What would you focus on? What would you sing about? What would you want to repeat again and again in a chorus until you feel the truth of it in your bones?
We sing God's praises, we sing a new song, we sing day by day. Maybe, like the Psalmists, we can use these difficult times to sing from our home fortresses too. To sing that God is the God of our salvation. To use these precious moments to seek God's truth for us today. I love the second half of this verse: God didn't spring up when tough times started: God's tender mercy and lovingkindness is of old! They've been here forever, and will continue to be so. Whether we're sat here content, or on our knees with broken spirits and tearful emotions, let us know that God hasn't changed. Let us sing new songs as we pray to God to be here with us, new yet the same each and every morning. Stay safe, and take care! May my prayer be set before you like incense... Psalm 141.2a (BSB) So many people are lifting up prayers to God, so many people talking about God, so many people sharing something of God's steadfast loving kindness with their neighbours, with their family, and with those who are hurting. And I am convinced, that as our prayers are lifting up to God, God sees them (all smells them if they truly are like incense!), and God acts.
Whatever comes from all this, I pray and hope that it will be a world more aware of the effect we as humans have on each other and have on our planet. I pray and hope that we'll be more conscious of what we are giving our time to. And I pray and hope that those of us who know God's unfailing love will be more courageous to share it with others. Please God, act for good here. Stay safe, and take care! Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5.7 (NIV) Have you had those nights? When you've just got so many thoughts rushing through your brain that you can't sleep? Some of them seem reasonable things to keep you up - sadness after watching the news, concern for friends or family. While others are just something you did during the day which you could've said in a better way, or even half dreams you've had and now you're just awake thinking about them! Every now and again you look at the clock and see the night slip away. And you know you're going to be so tired in the morning, but try as you might, sleep doesn't come.
Well there is somewhere we can go when this happens. One of my pastors was sharing how she experienced this, and she was so wrapped up dwelling on 'what ifs' and worries, that she just tossed and turned and twitched and... gave up. In the end she searched out this verse in her Bible. 'Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.' She took God at his word and wrote down everything she was anxious about, on little pieces of paper. And then she slept. In the morning, she places those pieces of paper in a box, since called 'My WORRY Box'. If you're struggling to deal with all your thoughts and anxieties, why not make your own box - a physical way to signify giving them all to God. God cares for you. Think about that. God really cares. For you. Wants what is best for you. Wants you to thrive. Wants you to be free from the heavy weight anxiety settles on you. So take God at his word: cast your cares on him, and let him care for you. Stay safe, and take care! Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when they look at it, shall live." Numbers 21.8 I was really stuck with this one for a while... both the verse and the comments just confused me a little, and I wasn't really hearing anything in them. So first off, I want to share that experience because that's ok - especially those who are creative among us, we often expect ourselves to come up with all the ideas always. And sometimes that comes from other people expecting that of us! That we can turn any topic or comment into something creative, or that we have a view on everything that they want to hear. Well often; but not always. And that's ok.
This has been my experience with studying the Bible too. Sometimes, some texts are just confusing. I pray for God to explain to me what they mean, or how they could possibly show the God that the rest of the Bible says God is, and who Jesus - the Word become flesh - shows God is! But I don't get the answer. That's ok too. God will speak to me in that passage when God knows I'm ready or I need it. So first off, don't be afraid to park things for a while - somewhere you can come back to them, again and again, but not somewhere you're anxiously seeing them all the time and worrying about your lack of inspiration! Secondly - this image. When I kept coming back to my church's post for today, there was one line that the imagery stood out to me. It was talking about the story that comes before the above verse, where the people had done wrong, and this is what had made a way for the snakes that were biting and killing them all to come into the camp. And they came, all together, and corporately confessed what they'd done, crying out to God, realising that what they did had caused this bad thing to happen. And their deep introspection and genuine remorse and pain and suffering moved God to act. Then that imagery I was talking about: 'We too can move heaven during this lockdown...' I think the rest of the image speaks for itself. Stay safe, and take care! |
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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