Here is a prayer for you:

Heavenly Father, grant _____ the grace to be devoted to others in brotherly love, and that s/he would honor others above his or her own life. Empower _____ so that s/he will never be lacking in zeal, but keep his/her spiritual fervor, doing all things as doing them for you. Enable _____ to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Give _____ abundant resources to share with God’s people who are in need. Motivate _____ to practice hospitality among the saints as well as demonstrate kindness to strangers. I pray this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Romans 12:10-13

______________

You can download a copy of this prayer in PDF format by clicking here: Romans 12.10-13 prayer

Her name was Paige. She was the sweetest little girl you can imagine. Her laugh was contagious and her awareness and kindness towards others was notable. She was nine when it first happened, but it wasn’t till she was sixteen that it stopped. She was violated by a man – a trusted family friend. Over and over, through her younger years this went on. She was young enough when it started and it was never violent so it simply became a part of the landscape of her early life. Finally, the crime was discovered and she was free to move into the rest of her life; but that’s not how things like this work.

 She grew up never fully recovering from the evils that were committed against her. In her brokenness, she couldn’t function in relationships in a healthy way. She was married later in life but her marriage always struggled because her husband couldn’t fill the void etched into her soul. Her kids later suffered as well because she was so protective of them that they never had a chance to grow up.

This story is completely made up, yet it is probably a more common situation than any of us want to think about. It only took me a few minutes to write that story but it made me squirm in my seat as I wrote. I imagine you felt a similar unease as you read it. There is something deeply wrong about a situation like that and we know it. You put up the money required for bail. You’ve followed all of the restrictions of your bail. You feel that you have done everything right in this situation. So, when do you get bail money back?

Why did I start this like that? I wanted to demonstrate a fraction of the destructiveness of sin. That trusted family friend’s actions didn’t only affect Paige when it was happening it impacted her whole life. Her future marriage, her children, and every relationship she had were changed by his actions. I’m sure that fictional man’s family was affected too.

This story is admittedly an extreme example but all sins have lifelong ripple effects. We all have a story of a time when someone spoke some cutting words that still affect us today. Even the best parents can say something seemingly simple that then damage their child’s future perspective of themselves.

I grew up in Rwanda, a small country in central Africa. In 1994, one of the largest genocides since the holocaust took place there. My family was evacuated by the United Nations at the time. Although the atrocities committed during that war were great they don’t represent the beginning of the story. The battle between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes had been going on for hundreds of years. One generation would see their parents slaughtered in front of them and they would grow up to hate the tribe that had hurt them. They would then retaliate and kill the opposing tribes parents and the vicious cycle continued. 

Our sense of justice cries out in us that these things are wrong and must be dealt with. It’s not okay for a person to make decisions that alter the course of another person’s life forever. Here is the great dilemma: we are all caught in the vicious cycle. I heard pastor of Andy Stanley (Northpoint Community Church) ask a few questions once in one of his sermons that illustrate our predicament well. If you could snap your fingers and make everything bad in the world disappear, would you? Before you say yes, have you ever done anything bad? Has anyone you loved ever done anything bad?

If we were to say yes to that question the man who had abused a 9-year-old girl would disappear, but that girl would also disappear because in her brokenness she went on to hurt others as well. We are trapped between our sense of justice and the reality that we deserve justice ourselves.

 “The just and the justifier.”  I have always loved this reference in Romans 3:26. These two references to God are so central to the gospel. The depths of God’s wisdom are demonstrated in them. In Jesus we find the only solution to the vicious cycle we all are caught in. Jesus takes all our sin and is appropriately punished for it. Justice is served! All the evil things that we do and that have been done to us can be dealt with. God proves to be JUST! At the same time he opens a door to grace.

 Psalm 85:10 says, “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.”

The ripple effects of Jesus’ work are beautiful. Without the cross, forgiveness would be unjust. Now we are free to forgive justly because sin WILL BE PUNISHED either through the cross or at the judgment of the world.

 Only God could come up with such a plan. God, who is both holy and merciful found a way to act on both attributes at the same time. I love it!

Here is a prayer for you

…from Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3. This is God’s will for your life.

“I bow before you Father, from whom the whole family of believers in heaven and earth derives its name. I pray that out of your glorious riches you will strengthen _____ with power through your Spirit in his/her inner being, so that Christ will dwell richly in _____’s heart through faith. I pray that _____, being  rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, so that ______ may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
In Jesus’ name.  Amen.”

__________

You may download a copy of this prayer here: Prayer from Ephesians 3

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A Prayer for You

This is a prayer that Paul prayed for God’s people. It is found in Ephesians 1.  This prayer reflects God’s will for our lives as believers in Christ. It is not only a wonderful prayer to ask the Lord’s fulfillment for your own life, but also, a great prayer to offer up for others.

“Heavenly Father, I thank you for _____ and his/her faith, and I want to pray for him/her right now. I pray that you will give _____ the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that s/he may know you better. I pray also that the eyes of _____’s heart may be enlightened in order that s/he may know the hope to which s/he is called, the riches of your glorious inheritance in the saints and your incomparably great power to us who believe.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

– dto

_______________

You can download a copy of this prayer here: A prayer for you from Ephesians 1

 

 

Dear Father in heaven, whose name is holy.

Grant that your kingdom would come more and more to ____________’s life and the rule of Christ in his/her life may be more fully known.  May your will be done in ______________’s heart and life as it is in heaven. Give ____________ today his/her daily nourishment for body and soul. Forgive all of ____________’s debts and give him/her a forgiving spirit toward others, especially those who have offended him/her.  Protect ___________ from temptation, and deliver him/her from the evil one.  We know yours is the kingdom,  power, and glory forever.

Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

______

Download your copy of this prayer here:

Praying the Lord’s Prayer for others

“In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus teaches us to bring the whole of life to the whole of God, and to bring the whole of God to the whole of life.”

– William Barclay

 

 

I’m going to be teaching on The Lord’s Prayer throughout Lent.

I feel like a hypocrite.

It’s not that I don’t pray, I do. It’s not that I don’t believe in the power of prayer, I do. It’s not that prayer isn’t a huge part of what we do at South Fellowship and a part of the leadership’s approach to following Jesus, it is.

It’s just that for the last 2 years prayer has been a struggle for me. Ironically, it hasn’t been a struggle because I doubt the power of God; it’s been a struggle because I am whole-heartedly convinced of the sovereignty of God and of the scripture’s testimony that He moves through the prayers of His people. Some people wrestle in prayer because they doubt on a core level that God responds to and hears the prayers of his people; I believe that he does with every fiber of my being.

For two years I have struggled in prayer because on December 1, 2013 my mom died.

We surrounded her as a church Body and prayed over her. The ministry that my brother helps lead (called Revel) did the same. The church that my brother-in-law pastors followed suit. We all went to the Lord asking Him to heal, asking Him to move, asking Him to give a good gift to some of His kids; a gift that we believed would have served to honor and glorify His name! And He said, “No.”

I’m not sure that I’ll ever fully understand that “no.” I’m not sure that I’ll really completely come to terms with The Father’s refusal to heal; at least in the way we were hoping that He would. The grief is still so deep. I know they say that time heals all wounds; while time is beginning to act as a healing balm of sorts, there’s still a cavernous void her laughter used to fill. I’m not sure that will ever change, and I’m not sure I really want it to.

In beginning to study prayer, I realized just how much baggage I bring into the discussion. It was baggage that in many ways I grown so used to that I didn’t know it was there. I’m guessing many people feel that same way. There’s a reason that so few people who love Jesus would say that their prayer life is vibrant and growing. The fact that I’m in ‘good company’ doesn’t seem to offer a lot of solace in the moment. As I began to look more closely at prayer, I was immediately aware that this was far more than an intellectual endeavor, it was a sacred pilgrimage where the Father was inviting me to see and respond to His heart.

The Lord spoke to me; and I don’t use that term lightly.

He spoke clearly.
He spoke healing.
He spoke life.
He spoke reality.
He spoke through His Word.

In preparation for the series, I was reading through different passages on prayer. One of the stories that has been a formative for me is God’s interaction with Hezekiah. You may know the story, but if you don’t, here it is in a nutshell.  Hezekiah was one of the (few) good kings of Judah. He was faithful to the Lord. He became very ill and the prophet Isaiah came to him and instructed him to get his house in order because this illness was going to take his life (2 Kings 20:1). Listen to Hezekiah’s prayer and God’s response:

[2] Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, [3] “Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. [4] And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: [5] “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, [6] and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” (2 Kings 20:2-6)

Wow. What grace! We don’t get a lot of the backstory; why Hezekiah was going to die, how God sparred his life, or any of those type of details that I would have liked. We simply have the statement that God extended Hezekiah’s life. He gave Hezekiah 15 more years!

As I was reading through the story and praying through what that must have been like, I sensed the Lord whisper to me, “Your mom is like Hezekiah.” There’s a bit of a back story, so bear with me. In February of 2001, my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. They have come a long way in cancer treatments since the early 2000’s, but back then Stage 4 Lymphoma sounded like a death sentence. Being a family of faith, the first thing we did was pray. We had all of the churches we were connected with praying! In addition, my brother and I were serving in Young Life and we hosted a prayer night where dozens of young people gathered to ask the Lord to touch my mom.

And HE MOVED!

Within weeks my mom was approved to be part of a study where she would be piloting a new drug. They didn’t have a lot of information on it; they described it to us as a “seek-and-destroy” chemo. The chemo was designed to only attack the cancer cells. There were no promises, she was part of only a handful of people nation-wide that were ‘testing’ out this new drug. It turned out to be a miracle drug for my mom.

It gave her 12 more years of life!

God spared my mom. He gave her 12 more years of vibrant life. She got to see her first grand child born, she got to see two out of three kids married, she got to breath deeply of the grace that God showered down on her as a wife, mom, and grandma! There were 12 years of conversations we got to share, memories we had the chance to make, and laughs we got to share. I’m not sure I’ve really put together just how blessed we were to have that time. It was and still is a gift from God.

I’ve realized that for me, it’s far easier to identify the times God doesn’t answer my prayers than the times when He does. I think to a certain extent, that’s our human nature. But, I want to war against it with everything in me. I want to fight to see His good and gracious hand. I want to strive to see the way that He is at work; and then I want to thank him for it! I’m convinced that this is part of the discipline and delight of prayer.

For the last two years I’ve wrestled with the Lord. I’ve struggled with why God didn’t heal my mom; and somewhere along the line I lost sight of the fact that HE DID. He gave her 12 more years. When God spoke that to me, it was like the floodgates of grace and blessing released into my life and soul. It’s only been a few days, but it’s already changed the way I pray.

He’s a good, good Father. That’s who He is.

And I’m loved by Him. That’s who I am!

Thanks!

Isn’t this what this month is all about?

Thanks!

Isn’t this what the national holiday is really all about?

Certainly, people view and celebrate Thanksgiving Day in so many different ways. Well, except for the turkey.  Those poor birds have nothing about which to be thankful. I suspect most of the United State are grateful for the time off from work, great food, and a time with family or friends. Sometimes, the origin of the tradition is recalled. You know? The pilgrims and native Americans having a big feast together, and all that.

But, from God’s point of view what is the essence of Thanksgiving or even thankfulness? Well, here it is:  God wants us to be a people who are always giving thanks and who are always living thanks.  In other words, we are called to a life of thanks, or as I call it – thanksliving. Here’s why:

There are many places in the Bible that talk about praising and thanking God. Especially the Psalms. Psalm 100 is a premier example. In fact, there are a set of Psalms dedicated to giving God praise and thanks. Psalms 30, 32, and 34 flow from hearts of individuals grateful to God. Corporate praise and thanks can be read in Psalms 67, 96, 106, and 124.  Even the Psalms of lament and Lamentations complain to God about life’s challenges and travesties, but at the end is the complainer’s promise that says something like, “Nevertheless, I vow to praise and thank God for he is good.”

Psalm 33 is a good example of how we are to thank God. It commands believers to rejoice in the Lord. Then it tells us how and why.

 

Giving Thanks

Centers on Three Things

First, proper thanksgiving centers on three main reasons. We need a reason to be grateful, right? Most of the time we think of giving thanks to God happens when he answers our prayers. That’s a good thing. And for the food we are about to eat – also a good thing.

Yet, the scriptures give us reasons that are wider and deeper than that. God’s Word calls us to be thankful for three big broader, more profound reasons. What are they? God calls us to be thankful because of

• God’s awesome character (Psalm 33:4-5,20-22)
• God’s mighty works (Psalm 33:5-12)
• God’s redemptive acts (Psalm 33:13-19)

1 God’s awesome character

Psalm 33:4-5 tells us to rejoice and praise the Lord because of God’s awesome character. How do we know about the character of God? He is revealed beautifully to us through his mighty works and acts, and by what he says about such things. The Bible records the history of God’s powerful events, but without the Lord’s interpretation of them we would not really understand what they mean.  So, the Lord kindly tells us.

What is rather clear is this – God’s Word is his Work. He speaks and it happens, and then he speaks again to explain it all. Even his names describe the blend of his actions with his character.

2 God’s mighty works

Read Psalm 33:5-12. Take a moment to meditate on it. Notice that we have the thems of creation and the Exodus going on here. Anyone who knows the story of God’s creative work in Genesis and a kind of recreative work through the exodus of his people will see this.  Here is a huge motive for praising God. He is mighty, powerful, and grand. Let the earth fear God and let all of its inhabitants stand in awe because of that!

Other parts of the Bible declare to us that God is famous on account of his creative abilities and because of his caring providence.  I like how clearly the pastors, elders, and professors defined it when they wrote the Westminster Shorter Catechism. They said, “God’s providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all hs creatures and all their actions.”  We celebrate his fame because he is both creator and curator of all things.

3 God’s redemptive acts

We give God thanks because of his name. We give him thanks because of his fame. We also give him thanks because of his claim on our lives.  He has taken us out of Egypt, out of the world, out of captivity as slaves to the world, the sinful flesh, and the devil. Jesus Christ became a man to ransom us from all that. Jesus lived a sinless life in a perfect way to fulfill God’s law on our behalf. Why? Because we could not do so. Such holy perfection is far too high for us to reach and much too impossible for us to fulfill.

He went to the cross to die for our sins and to remove our guilt. Upon that rugged cross, Jesus paid the price. He died, was buried, and miraculously brought back to life. He not only rose from the dead, he arose to be the head of all things from his heavenly throne.

In the Old Testament, God saved his people time and again. All of those redemptive acts are recounted through celebrations and scrolls. Psalm 33:13-19 is such an account. The result of redemption is that we are now free to belong to the Lord as patrons, partners, and Paternal kids. We owe God everything, and in a gracious, loving way he owns us. His claim is upon us and as a result, we praise him.

Giving Thanks Characterizes True Believers

These are weighty reasons for praise and thanks. So much grander than answered prayers, food, or a turkey dinner; wouldn’t you agree? This is why in the Old Testament true believers of this awesome God were called God-fearers.

Not only that, they were called God thankers. Paul reflects on that in Romans 1:21.  Unbelievers are not thankful to God. In fact, they are often characterized by thanklessness as a general disposition. True followers of the Lord are thankful to God for who he is and what he does. They are also characterized by a life of thankfulness. At least should be.

 

Giving Thanks Celebrates in Active Ways

In the Bible, praising, honoring and thanking God are active expressions. They are nearly simple whispers of thanks, softly spoken solemn words, or mental meditations. Nearly every instance of private or public thanks to the Lord were whole-souled and full bodied activities! The least expressive type was when the one praying and praising God lifted their hands and arms to the heavens. Think Daniel in his room.

The other two kinds of giving thanks were physical and feasting. When God’s people were so gripped by who God is and what he does they responded in ways that might seem crude to some today. Think – dancing, jumping, crying out, shouting, singing, singing loudly, playing loud instruments and playing lots of different instruments. Gratitude was then and is now both an attitude and an activity.

There were times of corporate thanks. Every major worship event was a feast. Weekly Sabbaths were times when families feasted to commemorate and praise God. As a nation, Israel celebrated with the five main feasts. One of them was specifically designated as the thanksgiving feast (Leviticus 23:9-14). How much more expressive and whole-bodied of an experience can you be than through eating? It is both what you do with your hands, but also what you take inside of your bodies.

As Christians, we too celebrate God’s name, fame, and claim through Jesus Christ who makes all that possible and secure. We do that in times of corporate worship, but we commemorate most deeply at the Lord’s feast. The Lord’s supper, in which we have communion together with Christ, is also called the eucharist. This is from the ancient New Testament term for thanksgiving (1 Corinthians 10:16). This is because the commemorative meal is a time to thank Jesus.

We praise and thank the Lord because of Jesus Christ, our savior and Lord. His name reveals his character. His Word reveals his mighty acts of creation and providence. His Cross reveals his redemptive acts. Ingesting Christ by faith, taking him deep within our bodies and souls ought to cause us to live lives fill with thanks. And thanksliving is God’s way for an enriched life.

 

Living Thanks

Is an overflow of giving thanks

This is what we see in the Bible time and time again. Psalm 86:12 expresses it well, “I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.”  Whole-heartedness in Scripture is mind, will, emotions, soul, and body. Everything about you and me gives thanks as a response to the Lord.

 

Is God’s will to live his way

That is, to live from an overflowing heart of gratitude. This is because we are “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith…abounding in thanksgiving!” (Colossians 2:7)  Thanksliving is not only a command, it is also the expected produce of a soul embraced by Jesus.

 

Is fuel for the flourishing life

Say what? Gratitude and thanksliving is fuel for the flourishing life? Really? Yes, that’s what Scripture informs us. One example is found in 2 Corinthians 9:11-12, where it says, “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.”

 

How do you go from Thanksgiving to Thanksliving?

Here are some suggestions. For a more thorough look at how to do this, read my new book (coming soon). See the details below.

1 Get a journal and write in it things for which you are thankful

Write in it at least three days a week, but the best way is to take three minutes each day and handwrite something for which you are grateful.

2 In private and corporate times, give thanks to God for

• His name (his awesome character)
• His fame (his creation and providence)
• His claim (he saved you)

3 Give thanks for others and appreciation to others

Here are 12 Ways to Show Appreciation and Gratitude. Give:

Time

Help

Appreciation

Notes

Kindness

Songs and music

Gifts

I for an I       

Visits

Investment in their lives

Notice of their achievements

God thanks for who they are and what they do.

 

It’s Time…

This is the month set aside to give thanks. This coming Thursday is a special day for giving thanks. However, for the believer in Jesus Christ, we not only celebrate God with praise and gratitude one month a year, we do so when we have the eucharist. We do so when we gather for corporate worship. We do so privately. And we also do so as an expression of Christ’s bountiful life overflowing through us in thanksliving. It is always time to give thanks and always time to live thanks.

________________________________________

To find out more about my new book, ThanksLiving: How to Gain a Perspective to Enrich Your life go to Relavate.org. You can easily subscribe if you wish to be on the list to be the first to know when the book is released. Should you want to know more about how to appreciate others in meaningful ways (over two months worth of ideas), then download the free ebook, How to Appreciate Others in 12 Meaningful Ways.

Thank you!

Don Owsley