Friday, January 31, 2020

EmmDev 2020-01-31 [Hungry Prayers] Hungry for Blessing


Hungry for Blessing

Some 10-15 years ago an obscure prayer from Chronicles was thrust into the spotlight of mainstream Christian media by a prominent author. The "market" was flooded with bookmarks, bumper stickers and other branded material to the point that I think people developed callouses to the breathtakingly beautiful passion and devotion of the prayer.

To put it simply, this is a hungry prayer!

The pray-er is a man named Jabez who came from the tribe of Judah and is singled out in 9 chapters of name-after-name genealogy at the start of 1 Chronicles.

It seems the circumstances of his birth were painful (whether because of physical or other pain) and so his mother named him Jabez, which means "He causes pain". In Hebrew culture the meanings of names were important and were often considered to be self-fulfilling prophecies.

This makes Jabez's prayer particularly "hungry" and this is what I want to focus on today...

Jabez knew God and was hungry for God and he believed that walking with this God would alter the trajectory of his life.
  • He prayed for God's blessings, because he believed that God is a God who blesses. Jabez didn't see himself as "cursed" (even though his name implied that) He believed that it is the fundamental nature of God to bless.
  • He prayed for enlarged territory (increased boundaries) and God's hand of protection. Some have tried to spiritualise this by saying that this was influence or even evangelistic success, but I think he was really just praying "Let me be all I can be in every part of my life" or "let me reach my full potential".
  • He prays to be kept from evil and causing pain - When we consider this in tandem with his prayer for enlarged boundaries, then we understand that any "prosperity" Jabez experienced would sidestep the pitfalls of greed, selfishness and abuse of power. It would be for the blessing of others.
Some have turned Jabez's prayer into an incantation.
That misses the point.
We need to see his heart.

Jabez knew God as a Blessing God, as a good God, as a protecting God and as a God who doesn't want our lives to cause hurt others. He understood that God would bless us and have us going beyond our boundaries to undo the pain in the world. And so, knowing and understanding the abundant, generous, protecting nature of his God, Jabez prayed a hungry prayer wanting to connect to and walk with His God.

And God heard his prayer!
May we be this hungry too...

Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother called him Jabez, saying "Because I bore him in pain."
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying:
"O that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil
that I might not cause pain!"
So God granted him what he requested      (1Chronicles4:9-10)


Thursday, January 30, 2020

EmmDev 2020-01-30 [Hungry Prayers] A prayer in times of trouble


A prayer in times of trouble

One of the toughest times in David's life was Absolom's betrayal.
Absalom was David's son who had systematically usurped his father's authority and dignity.
  • We met people outside the palace saying "My father is too busy to see you but how can I help you?"
  • He won over David's key military personnel
  • He staged a coup - taking over the royal palace
  • He did some horrible things to utterly humiliate his father (For example: he slept with (raped) all of David's wives and concubines on the palace roof in full view of the public)

In the book of Samuel the betrayal is described in somber tones and David is seen fleeing from Jerusalem with his proverbial tail between his legs - so sad and defeated that he won't even let his soldiers deal with a lone man named Shimei who pelts David and his entourage with stones and insults. David appears to be a tired and humiliated man slinking off into the unknown. (See 2Sam16)

But we have the prayer David wrote at this dark time. Psalm 3 is a very powerful expression of faith and trust in God at a dismal, dark and dreary time. It expresses a deep and passionate faith in spite of horrible circumstances.

The Psalm is broken into three parts by the Hebrew word "Selah" which most scholars presume is a musical directive calling for a musical interlude - maybe a chance to pause for thought...

In the first part David describes the extent of his distress. It's a simple but very raw acknowledgement of his pain: many foes and many verbal critics who believe that God has abandoned him. It's a tough place, when you have been king, to be dismissed like this.

In the second part he expresses his absolute faith in God. He expresses three attributes of God's nature in three ways:

  • The attribute of protection: God is his shield
  • The attribute of restoration: David believes that God will bestow glory on him and lift his head - see how he expresses future events in present tense.
  • The attribute of Answering: David portrays God was the One who hears and answers.

In the third part David chooses his attitudes and he hands his enemies over to God. David makes two vital choices: to sleep and not to be dominated by the fear of numbers. Choosing to sleep is the ultimate act of trust. There are times that we struggle to sleep even when we want to. I don't think this is what David is talking about here. I think he's talking about going to sleep when he could be spending another hour frantically trying to out-think his problems. He sleeps - handing it over to God - and wakes up - recognising God's ongoing providence. He chooses not to be intimidated by a show of force and he trusts God to deal with his enemies.

Please read through the Psalm slowly. This is one of David's greatest tests. I don't think he composed this psalm quickly or glibly - I think it was a struggle and a surrender, but it brings David to a significant space. It can do the same for you and me.

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."
Selah
3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
4 To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
6 I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
7 Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Selah     
(Psalms3:1-8)


Wednesday, January 29, 2020

EmmDev 2020-01-29 [Hungry Prayers] Stilled and Quieted


Stilled and Quieted

Our second "hungry" prayer is unusual in two ways:
Firstly, when we take an initial glance at the Psalm, it doesn't feel like a "powerful" expression of faith and hope in God. In fact, at first glance, it seems to be a prayer of desperation or resignation. But, the deeper one looks, the more one gets a sense that this is a rock solid prayer uttered at the coal face of struggle and pain.

Secondly, the prayer uses the analogy of real hunger to help make its point.
The prayer is one of the Psalms of Ascent. (Ps120-134) These are psalms that were collected and sung as the Israelites remembered the Exile and their return from exile. Some of the Psalms, like this one, were older than the exile, but were deemed appropriate as they reflected on this difficult time.
To understand the Psalm we need to note the difference between a weaned and an unweaned child:

An UNweaned child feels hungry and cries. You can't tell an unweaned child "hold on 5 minutes, supper's on the stove, it's nearly ready." Unweaned children cry because they don't yet understand that their parents are faithful. They believe that they have to make the food happen by their effort. So they cry and wave their arms and legs and crinkle their faces. And they escalate!

Sometimes we're like unweaned children. We want peace and to be loved, but we think we have to work hard to get it...

Conversely, a weaned child has learned to trust Mom to provide a meal - even if it is not served immediately.
Oft times we are guilty of trying to be in control of our relationship with God. (Think about how nonsensical that is: us trying to "manage" our relationship with the Almighty.) But David warns us against this kind of pride.

We won't always be in complete control - we won't always have all the answers. We don't have to do all the talking and we don't have to understand everything. We have to grow up from being the insecure and demanding baby to the trusting child who has learned from experience that God is faithful.

The incredible beauty of this prayer is how clearly David sees that he does not have to "control" his relationship with God. He comes to this beautiful place of surrender which is revealed even in the brevity of his psalm. He's saying "I trust You Lord. I don't have all the details and I can't do it all. I don't know all the answers BUT I know that You love me and even when I am tempted to be frantic in my efforts to impress You, help me to know I am Your child and help me to put my hope in You."


My heart is not proud,
O LORD, my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me. 2
But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.           (Psalms131:1-3)


Tuesday, January 28, 2020

EmmDev 2020-01-28 [Hungry Prayers] The Desert, The Sanctuary and the Dark night of the Soul


Dear EmmDev readers.

My sincere apologies for the delay in starting devotions for 2020! It's simply been one of those years where things have taken a long time to settle into routine. It's my prayer that you will know God's strength, comfort and guidance in 2020 and that our EmmDev journey together would be a blessing.
We're going to start our year with a series that I call "hungry prayers" - They're prayers that express hunger for God and a depth of intimacy and closeness that draw us in and create a similar hunger and longing.

The Desert, The Sanctuary and the Dark night of the Soul

David was in the desert. He'd been anointed as King by Samuel, but the current king, Saul, was trying to kill him. David and his rag-tag bunch of soldiers were scrambling across the desert barely keeping ahead of Saul and his lynching posse.

I can only imagine that David was struggling with the disconnect between the promise of the future and the reality of his present.
His prayer reflects the desperation of his circumstances - I call it his hunger and famine. Look at the verbs that describe his hunger: "Earnestly I seek You", "My soul thirsts for you", "My body longs for you..." Then he describes his famine: "A dry and weary land where there is no water". (The phrase "where there is no water" is technically superfluous, but communicates the desolation he feels so clearly.)

But David has a moment that he clings to. A memory of worship in the sanctuary (probably the tabernacle at Shiloh) where he experienced the presence of God in a profound way. This moment is lodged in his soul and fills him with love for God in a way that sustains him in the desert.

This takes David to the dark night of the soul. His bed was probably a camping mattress in desert and he was probably wakeful and nervous about a surprise attack from his enemies... but his hunger and his memory of God's presence and love gives him the courage to "sing in the shadow of God's wings".

Are you struggling with the disconnect between your hopes and dreams and the challenges of your current circumstances? Read this Psalm and connect to the One who is David's Hunger, his Confidence and his Comfort.

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.      (Psalms63:1-8)