Week Forty-two Question

Have we by the Spirit the unspeakable certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when God does not seem to have answered prayer? Do we expect God to answer prayer?

“If we think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts, we think rightly. The blood flows ceaselessly, and breathing continues ceaselessly; we are not conscious of it, but it is always going on…prayer is not an exercise, it is the life” - Chambers May 26

My Response:

Do I view prayer as something I do or something I am? Spiritual communication is beyond the limitations and scope of human communication – not dependent on the sounds coming out of my mouth nor the non-verbal movements of my body.

The breath in my lungs – the taking in and out of life – and the blood coursing through my heart – the almost “matter-of-fact” pumping day in and day out without my exerting effort. The air and the blood, the spirit and the sacrifice, yielding up ceaseless, often wordless prayers to the One who ever hears.

Father-God, “You are the air I breathe.”  

 

 

Week Forty-One Question: What does God prize?

Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Am I full of the little things that cheer His heart over me, or am I whimpering because things are going hardly with me? How much kindness have I shown Him this past week? Have I been kind to His reputation in my life?

“There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes” - Chambers Jan. 21

My Response:

What does it mean to be kind to God’s reputation in my life? Do I even think about it? Or worse – do I even care about it? Could my lack of joy simply be related to a lapse in loyalty to what God desires for me – desires in me? Or am I just a fair-weather friend of God, viewing Him kindly only when my life is easy?

Father-God, Your will, not mine.

 

Week Forty Question

Am I putting God in the humiliating position of having treated me as a child of His while all the time I have been ignoring Him?

“We show how little we love God by preferring to listen to His servants only. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we do not desire that God Himself should speak to us.” - Chambers Feb. 12

My Response:

I’m reminded of a song my Michael Card titled The Final Word:

“You and me we use so very many clumsy words. The noise of what we often say is not worth being heard. When the Father’s wisdom wanted to communicate His love, He spoke it in one final perfect Word.

He spoke the incarnation and then so was born the Son. His final Word was Jesus – He needed no other one. Spoke flesh and blood so He could bleed and make the world divine. And so was born the baby who would die to make it mine."

God has spoken to us – He has given us the Word. Are we listening?

Father-God, I open my mind, my ears, my heart. Let Yours be the first voice I not just hear, but the first one I listen to.