Feeling God’s Presence

            I read of a preacher who once ministered to young parents who had a baby isolated in the quarantine section of a children’s hospital in Los Angeles. The infant was dangerously susceptible to infection. To visit the parents, he had to don protective clothing and walk down a long hall constructed of plastic tarps.            

            The baby, a girl, had been placed in a small hospital bed, also surrounded by plastic, and cut off from the outside world. Her parents had not held or touched her in months.

            The preacher wondered how in the world baby could feel the love of her parents. The mother showed him. She inserted her hands and arms into a specially constructed plastic mold, which formed sleeves and hands. The mother then picked up the baby and cradled the child in her two arms. She leaned over, placed her lips on the plastic, and gave the tiny one a kiss. After the kiss, she rocked the baby back and forth. That mother’s flesh never touched the baby; still, the infant felt her presence and her love.

            It occurred to the minister that our relationship with God is like that. We can't see God, we can't touch God, but we can feel his presence and his love, just as that baby felt the presence and love of her mother.

The Importance of Prayer

            I have read numerous places about the sister of William Carey. William Carey was one of the great missionaries of the past five hundred years. He spent decades preaching the gospel in India over 200 years ago.

            His sister was an invalid—bedridden for over five decades. She wrote many letters to him, and she prayed for him several hours per day for 50 years.

            I believe her ministry of prayer was every bit as important as William’s ministry of preaching!

Ask And It Shall be Given

“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” (Luke 11:9.) NIV 1984

            One evangelical pastor had a three-year-old daughter who certainly believed that verse. Here is how her mother recounted the story:

            My husband is a minister who conducts an expanded altar call at the end of his sermon. He asks those who wish to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, as well as those with prayers or other requests, to come forward.

            To the surprise and delight of the congregation our three-year-old daughter, without a word to me, got up and made her way forward. She waited patiently while the others ahead of her made a request.

            When her turn came, my husband leaned down to ask for her request. She whispered, "Can we go to the restaurant after church?"

Prayer Requests

            Someone sent this to me years ago. I got a kick out of it:

Lord, help me not to be a perfectionist [did I spell that correctly?].

God, help me to finish everything I sta

God, help me to keep my mind on one th - look, a bird - ing at a time.

God, help me to do only what I can and trust you for the rest. But it would help if you put that in writing.

            

The Church’s Heating Plant

            A few years ago, OUR DAILY BREAD told the famous story, perhaps apocryphal, of five young college students who were spending a Sunday in London:

            It was the mid-1800s, so they went to hear the famed C.H. Spurgeon preach.

            While waiting for the doors to open, the students were greeted by a man who asked, "Gentlemen, let me show you around. Would you like to see the heating plant of this church?"

            They were not particularly interested, for it was a hot day in July. But they didn't want to offend the stranger, so they consented. The young men were taken down a stairway, a door was quietly opened, and their guide whispered, "This is our heating plant."

            Surprised, the students saw 700 people bowed in prayer, seeking a blessing on the service that was soon to begin in the auditorium above. Softly closing the door, the gentleman then introduced himself. It was none other than Charles Spurgeon.

Children’s Prayers

Sunday night, I’m preaching from a passage where prayer is a major theme. I came across this a few years ago. Enjoy:

Children’s Prayers

•                Dear God: Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much. - Debie, 7

•                Dear God: Who did you make smarter? Boys or girls? My sister and I want to know. - Jimmy, 6

•                Dear God: How many angels are there in heaven? I would like to be the first kid in my class to know the answer. - Norma, 8

•                Dear God: This is my prayer. Could you please give my brother some brains. So far he doesn’t have any. - Angela, 8

•                Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man. - Hank, 7

•                Dear God: Please bring me a new brother. The one I got socks me all the time. - Agnes, 6

•                Dear God: Please help me is school. I need help in spelling, adding, history, geography and writing. I don’t need help in anything else. - Lois, 9

•                Dear God: Do you have any helpers in Heaven? I would like to be one of Your helpers in Heaven when I have summer vacation. - Natalie, 7

•                Dear Lord: Tomorrow is my birthday. Could you please put a rainbow in the sky? - Susan, 9

•                Dear God: I need a raise in my allowance. Could you have one of your angels tell my father. Thank you. David, 7

•                Dear God: I am saying my prayers for me and my brother, Billy, because Billy is six months old and he can’t do anything but sleep and wet his diapers. Diane, 8

The Tavern Owner Who Believed in Prayer

            What follows is a legend related by J. K. Johnston in his book, WHY CHRISTIANS SIN. Knowing human nature, I could easily see this happening:

            A tale is told about a small town that had historically been "dry," but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene.

            It just so happened that shortly thereafter lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground. The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible.

            The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that "no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not."

Source: J.K. Johnston, Why Christians Sin, Discovery House, 1992, p. 129.

Answering Our Prayers

            The tale is told of a son who overheard his father pray that the needs of the poor might be fulfilled. The son said to his father, “Father, I wish I had your corn.”

            “Why my son? What would you do with it?” asked the father.

            The son replied, “I would answer your prayers.”

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep…

I, like others, have occasionally wrestled with guilt over falling asleep during my prayer time. A quote from Max Lucado changed my perspective forever—

"If you fall asleep as you pray, don't worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father." - Max Lucado

Satan’s Convention

This was sent to me a decade ago. The author is unknown, but the words are still relevant.

Satan’s Convention

Satan called a worldwide convention.  In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth.  We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding experience in Christ.

If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ.

This is what I want you to do, angels.  Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day."

"How shall we do this?”  shouted his angels.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent unnumbered schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then, borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work and the husbands to work 6 or 7 days a week, 0-12 hrs. a day, so they can afford their lifestyles.  Keep them from spending time with their children.  As their family fragments, soon their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work."

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice.  Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, the VCR, and their CD's going constantly in their homes.  And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays music constantly.  This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers.  Pound their minds with the news 24 hrs. a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards.  Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering, free products, services, and false hopes."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive.  Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week.  Don't let them go out in nature.  Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead.

And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion."

"Let them be involved in soul-winning.  But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family unity for the good of the cause."  It was quite a convention in the end.

And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there.

"Be still and know that I am God."  Have you taken time to listen lately?

Has It Come to That?

There's an old story I first heard from a friend years ago, and I have heard others repeat since. In this story, a family gathers around the bedside of a beloved grandmother, who has undergone major surgery. As the doctors try desperately to save her life, the chief surgeon says to family, "Well, we've done all we can do. We'll just have to wait and see now."

The family asks the doctor, “Is there anything that we can do?”

“Well, you can pray,” the doctor replies.

It so happens that the little old grandmother is still conscious enough to hear what the doctor had said. She moans, “Oh no! Has it come to that?”

I know families who live life like that. They view God as so distant, the thought of asking Him to intervene in human affairs is tantamount to desperation.

What a shame. This understanding is based upon a faulty vision of God. The fact that we have doctors and nurses does not mean God is not in the healing business. Rather, it demonstrates God’s desire to include humanity in His healing work. The field of medicine is not an indication of God’s desire for distance; it is an indication of God’s desire for closeness. God loves people and wants them to partner with Him in His Kingdom work.

Can God heal miraculously apart from the field of medicine? Absolutely, and I believe that sometimes he does. Equally important, God grants people the privilege of healing through the field of medicine.

An understanding like this motivates me to pray more, not less.

When a Prayer Ruled the Pop Charts

For the past few years, I have blessed by repeating what is known as “The Jesus Prayer”:

Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

I have found this old prayer to focus my mind and spirit as well as alleviate tension, anxiety and worry in my life. As you might expect, I was surprised this week to learn of a rock group, who sung a very similar and ancient prayer in its original Greek form. Moreover, while doing so 24 years ago this week, the song shot to number one on the Billboard charts. Here’s the story.

Richard Page grew up in a religious family. His dad was the leader of the choir at their Presbyterian church, where the entire family faithfully attended. Through his dad’s influence, and his mother, who was the director of the Phoenix Boys Choir, Richard developed a love for music.

In time, Richard formed a rock band with some friends. The group ultimately became known as MR. MISTER. In 1985, they scored a number one hit on the pop charts—“Broken Wings.”

While on tour, the idea for a song came to Richard. The words “Kyrie eleison” kept coming into his mind—Greek words that formed the prayer, “Lord have mercy.” So Richard began writing down additional prayer requests in lyrics such as:

Kyrie Eleison
Down the road that I must travel
Kyrie Eleison
Through the darkness of the night
Kyrie Eleison
Where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie Eleison
On a highway in the light

With lyrics such as these, the song “Kyrie Eleison” hit number one the week of March 1, 1986.

In a winsome way, Richard Page and his band, contributed a song that called attention to the need to submit all aspects of our lives to the Lord of the Universe. Check out the video on Youtube. You can find it by typing the words “mister mister kyrie eleison” in the search box.