Prayer Guide Week 6

Monday

 As we enter this Lenten season, I wanted to mention a few things about it. Lent is primarily a season of reflection, formation and preparation. We approach the 40 days of Lent from a variety of different perspectives and points along the Christian journey.

If you are brand new to the faith, then this season may be one of formation. It may be a time of excitement as you seek to learn more about your newfound faith and God reveals more and more of Himself to you.

It may be that you have begun sensing God moving you in preparation for answering the calling He has for you – whether to specific ministries, serving, or pastoring. Each of us has a role to play in the body of Christ and are gifted to fulfill that role. APC@West Jackson’s purpose is to inspire people to fulfill their calling so we want to support and encourage you along this path.

For all of us, it is a time of reflection on where we are and where God would have us in The Journey of discipleship. You are on a path – it is a path that has a hope and future attached to it as the promise in Jeremiah 29:11 tells us. Pray diligently for God to reveal, empower, and give you courage to embrace that calling!

Sunday, we began a series from what is called the “Lectionary”. The Lectionary presents different ideas, Scripture, and music for worship. This year, the Lenten series is called “Return to Me with All Your Heart”. Today’s message title is “God’s Generous Heart”. Each week will have a new focus that follows this theme.

In this season, new and longtime Christians alike are challenged to hear the call to return to God with all their hearts. In the early days of the church, this is a season characterized by much prayer and fasting. Confirmation or Catechism have occurred during Lent. These works of discipline have for hundreds of years served as a means by which new converts prepare for baptism, which occurs as a part of the Easter Vigil. Using the words of Wesleyan theology, we believe all this work is initiated by God, who invites us to come before God with all our hearts.

My prayer for us is that our Lenten season be one of challenge and commitment as we each respond to the call of God – “Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12).

As you consider this Lenten season, where is it that God is moving in YOUR heart?What is the area of ministry that He is drawing you toward?How can APC@WJ help with this movement?

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Keep circling!

Tuesday

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 1 When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 3 You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, "Today I declare to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us." 4 When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the LORD your God, 5 you shall make this response before the LORD your God: "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, 7 we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me." You shall set it down before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God. 11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house.

As the first Sunday of Lent arrives, we find ourselves at a border with the ancient Israelites. We are standing on the edge of the wilderness, looking with great anticipation toward the Promised Land. Just in front of us is the Jordan River Valley, where Jesus’ cousin will baptize him centuries later and God will name him (and every child of God) as Beloved. This river marks the boundary and entrance into a land flowing with God’s promise and presence. We can see it in front of us…and we can anticipate the journey.

As we begin our journey into the wilderness of Lent, we are reminded that though we are asked to wander these 40 days, our journey is not aimless. Our “promised land” lies in our rising with Christ. We would do well to remember that as we explore the wilderness inside our own hearts, we will need God’s “mighty hand and outstretched arm” to give direction to our sojourn. We will need to be reminded over and again who we are and to whom we belong.

Our passage contains many dominant themes that we normally connect with the season of Lent – wilderness, journey, difficulty, sacrifice, and memory, to name a few. Any of these themes would be fertile ground to begin your way into the generous heart of God this first Sunday in Lent.   Perhaps one idea speaks to you more loudly than another.

As you consider these Lenten themes, take a moment to reflect on where you are and where God would have you (remembering that not all themes will be pertinent, though more than one may be):

Wilderness _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Journey __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sacrifice ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Difficulty ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Memory ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Keep circling!

Wednesday

It seems, however, that the commandment that resides at the heart of all these themes is the mandate to remember. The Greek word for this powerful action is anamnesis,  literally “to call to mind.” Our story as a people of God is firmly rooted in the call to do and remember.

At the very heart of this reading, we find a story that the Israelite people are asked to repeat over and again as they bring their first fruits to the priest to be consecrated. “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor . . .” their story begins.

It is a reminder that even when they have inhabited the land for such a long time that they come to the Temple with their arms laden with the fruit of their harvest, they never forget to whom the land truly belongs and the story of how they came to be. It is a story that grounds them in a tale of survival and struggle, even when (perhaps especially when) they begin to get comfortable and are tempted to forget that it is God from whom all blessings flow.

These were a people who were shaped by the memory of being nomadic, rootless, and dispossessed, even as generation upon generation put down roots and settled in the

land. But the rehearsed story wove them into the fabric of their past. The work of remembering the past calls for present action.

The recitation that begins with the “wandering Aramean” calls to mind that at some point, at some time, we have all been hungry, rootless wanderers dependent upon one another and God for comfort, care, and for our very survival. Perhaps this has not happened in our lifetimes, but in the lifetimes of those who have come before us.

But their story is our story. Their call is our call. And that call comes out of the generous heart of God. That call is to embody justice and joy.

As you reflect in this season of Lent, how does the story of Laban and Jacob, wandering Arameans connect with your story?Is God revealing your calling in this season? Has God revealed your calling but you’ve been reticent to answer? Is it time?

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Keep Circling!

Thursday

A passage the Youth are quite familiar with coming out of the 30-Hour Famine is from Micah 6:8: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with Your God. We talked often about the difference between mercy (providing food/clothing/encouragement/ support) and justice (dealing with the circumstances that create the problem in the first place). That while we are raising money to feed a child for a year (ended up that we will feed 2 children for a year), World Vision is an organization that is working to develop farmers and distribution – to develop systems that will deal with hunger issues instead of only giving food. This is acting both mercifully and justly. As in our passage, we recognize that ALL THINGS come from God – we embrace that we are reliant upon Him. This humility is essential to walking with our God.

The Deuteronomy text ends with a celebration – a feast – where those who cannot or do not own land will feast with those who do! The priests, the immigrants—and if you extend the reading just a few more verses—the widows, and orphans are included as well. This is a journey that ends in all being fed. This is the “promised land.” This is heaven come to earth. This is remembrance with an empathic purpose.

When we are able to recall our own vulnerability, our own desert wanderings, then we are more apt to include those on the margins who know too little of joy, too little of compassion, and far too little of kindness.

When we remember, powerful things happen. Our hearts as well as our tables become more open, more generous. We recognize the abundance of gifts we have been given is meant to be shared.

Suddenly, our hearts and tables begin to look more like God’s heart and Christ’s table. “Do this in remembrance of me,” Christ says. Tell this story, eat this bread, drink this cup, share all that you are and all that you have in Christ’s name.

As you ‘remember’ in this season, where is God drawing you?What person? What circumstance? What place?What will it take to follow His lead?

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Circle up!!

Friday

Romans 10 (NIV) 8  “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God has a desire for each of us to be saved. This is His desire and Paul tells how that happens here – believe in your heart, profess your faith with your mouth and the promise will come. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

This is the generous heart of God – and His pursuit of you has gone on since before you were born. Jeremiah 31:3 the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

His is a pursuit that has been and will remain ‘everlasting’. And the promise is one of faithfulness. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.

Are you continuing to circle your original person or circumstance in prayer?

Have you been persistent? Tenacious? Bold? Audacious?

God sees things from a perspective of ‘everlasting’ – He has loved YOU with an everlasting love – He sees beyond time frames and current circumstances.

Do you see Him at work for YOU?

Trust that He will see you through…and keep:

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Keep praying circles!!

Saturday

(I’m going to leave this one from last week because I think we need to remember our identity is found in Christ, not in our circumstances or our troubles or even our successes – it is found in our Savior)

I don’t know about you, but I often let this world keep me shackled and I have a lot of old memories that try to keep me bound up. There are fears that creep in and can keep me stuck.

If that happens to you, look up the song “No Longer a Slave”. You can watch the video or just listen to the audio or just spend a moment with these lyrics:

You unravel me, with a melody; You surround me with a song. Of deliverance, from my enemies, Till all my fears are gone.I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God. I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.

From my mother’s womb, You have chosen me, Love has called my name.I’ve been born again, into a family, Your blood flows through my veins.I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God. I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.

I am surrounded, By the arms of the father. I am surrounded, By songs of deliverance.We've been liberated, From our bondage. Were the sons and the daughters, Let us sing our freedom.

You split the sea, So I could walk right through it. My fears were drowned in perfect love.You rescued me, And I will stand and sing. I am the child of GodI’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of GodThere is a freedom waiting for you today. It’s a freedom found in seeking and finding Your God. I have this vision in my mind of me struggling up a mountain, wondering where God is…I don’t sense Him and think maybe He has left me on my own. But as I round the corner, I see Jesus sitting on a large boulder with His legs hanging over the edge. He’s doing that leg kick thing that we do when our legs are dangling free. He smiles as I come up and I want to complain but I somehow know I should just shut up. The smile remains as He asks me “Are you ready to let me help you yet?”

It’s then that I realize that in my struggling up the hill on my own that I really was trying to force my will onto God’s plan.

As He hops off the rock, He leads me down a new path…and the burden is lifted. Something to consider.

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Remember that bold prayers honor God and God honors bold prayers. You are always one prayer away from a miracle.

Keep circling!!

Sunday

God has a plan for you and that includes during this season of Lent. As you do your reflection and assessment of where you are and where God would have you, please always know this: GOD IS WITH YOU. GOD IS FOR YOU. GOD IS AHEAD OF YOU. BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU.

Ephesians 2:4-10 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God prepared in advance your calling. God is there already. Pastor Mike shared this picture with us:I was struggling one day with everything going on in my life and what God would have me do and blah blah blah. As I prayed, I got the sense that I should quiet down and listen so I did. I saw this picture in my mind of me struggling up the path – it was mountainous and I was tired.

As I came around the corner, I saw a huge boulder. On top of the boulder, sitting, with His legs hanging over the side was Jesus. He was swinging His legs like one would do

when they are dangling and He had this big old grin on His face. I looked at Him and must have had a questioning look because He simply said something like, “Are you ready to let go yet?”

It was then that I realized there was a lot of “I” in my journey. I was doing this and I was doing that. And I was working really hard…those are good things. There just wasn’t much rest in them because I was doing everything.“Are you ready to let go yet?”

I kind of slumped down on the ground. The weight of the world on me. And Jesus hopped off the rock, picked up the weight and said “Follow Me”. We went down a trail into the forest…and I followed.

I would love to tell you that since I had that experience I’ve never picked up the heavy backpack or done more than I should or even remembered that Jesus was willing to carry my load. I tend to do all of those things still.

What I can tell you though is that God would much prefer that I would follow Him down the path than cut through the brush on my own.

Do I have a part? Absolutely. Is it all downhill? No, it is not.

But I don’t have to walk alone. I don’t have to carry everything alone. I don’t have to be more than I am.

But that’s entirely up to meAnd that’s entirely up to you.

This season. Maybe. There are some things you need to let God carry. (that’s a probably actually but let’s stick with maybe for now)

And. In the season. There may be some things you need to pick up that God is giving to you. (that’s a probably actually but let’s stick with maybe for now)

God loves you with an everlasting love. With a generous love.Let Him, okay?

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.Keep circling!!