The Cost of a Prayer

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Friday, November 8, 2019

O Lord, hear my plea for justice.  Listen to my cry for help.  Pay attention to my prayer, for it comes from honest lips.  Declare me innocent, for you see those who do right.  You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.  You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong.  I am determined not to sin in what I say.  I have followed your commands, which keep me from following cruel and evil people.  My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you.  I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God.  Bend down and listen as I pray.  Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways.  By your mighty power you rescue those who seek refuge from their enemies.  Guard me as you would guard your own eyes.  Hide me in the shadow of your wings.  Protect me from wicked people who attack me, from murderous enemies who surround me.       Psalm 17:1-9[2]

I am asked virtually every day to pray for people.  Sometimes it comes via email or text; often it is in church, or an urgent phone call.  It’s said in many ways: 

·      Pastor, please pray for my   (fill in the blank) .    

·      Say a little prayer for   (fill in the blank)  . 

·        (fill in the blank)  needs prayer.

What shall we say this morning about the cost of those prayers?  And right away our thought goes to currency, or payback…but that’s never the cost of our prayer.  However, the condition of answers to prayer does come into play here.  David offers his heart to God for scrutiny as a condition of why his prayers ought to be answered. 

When you consider that David spent many months hiding from King Saul’s murderous rage, after David had faithfully served the king (and became a target for his faithfulness), it is no wonder this future king is hiding in a cave, looking up to God, crying out for a miracle:  God, I served Saul because you sent me there; I served and even loved him; I didn’t do anything to harm him and now he wants me dead…God….please!

I don’t believe David was pointing to his own righteousness or goodness and demanding God’s favor.  David is pouring out his heart’s allegiance to God, recounting how his life belongs to God, not just by virtue of God being the Creator (although that is sufficient in itself).  Rather, David’s connection with God is also by choice.  In the long nights as a shepherd defending his father’s sheep, David trusted God.  Standing before Goliath, David honored God.  In battle on King Saul’s behalf, David fiercely defended Saul’s kingdom.  In Saul’s court David sang healing songs of comfort to his king on the verge of madness.  And even when presented with opportunity in a dark cave to put an end to Saul’s threatening, David served God’s way…never the easy way.

And now David lifts his voice and asks God to hide him under God’s wings.  The cost of a prayer is fidelity to God, a heart turned heavenward in commitment to God’s lovingkindness.

In seminary one of the classes had a week or so of concentration on how preachers should pray.  There’s a flow of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.  That is a matter of mechanics, construction of words and phrases that make our words fit together so those in worship can understand and join in.  But mechanics can never replace the cost of a prayer – a life surrendered to holy God.

For You Today

What you pray for, the words you use, and the purpose for which you’re praying are all part of how the answer will be constructed in Heaven.  Every prayer, even the little thank you before you eat that burger carries with it a cost.  And Christ placed everything you need to pay the bill on a cross outside of Jerusalem.  So, if you want to live a life that has answered prayers manifested every day, let your life soak in the blood at the foot of that cross before you even think about praying.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com      Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

[2] For another post on this text see:  Righteous or Boastful? – see also:  Liturgy of Light in Dark Places

News Flash: Child Confuses Elders!

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual.  After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.  His parents didn’t miss him at first, because they assumed he was among the other travelers.  But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.  When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there.  Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions.  All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us?  Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”  “But why did you need to search?” he asked.  “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  But they didn’t understand what he meant.    Luke 2:42-50  (NLT)

Raising a son like Jesus could not have been a boring experience..  Jesus' mother and father must certainly have been confused at times.  On his first to Jerusalem as a boy, Jesus stayed behind when his parents left.  When they finally realized he was not in camp, they retraced their steps and caught up with him at the temple. 

The elders were sitting with their chins scraping the ground in amazement.  Jesus was teaching the teachers, the religious elite of Israel.  They'd never heard such wisdom, especially from a boy.  Mary and Joseph were also amazed, worried and confused.  Jesus seemed to treat it lightly; “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 

We would be tempted to say that Jesus confused them.  However, it is more accurate to say they were confused.  It is also more in line with Scripture; For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.[1]

Trace the life of Jesus backward from the temple incident about 10 years.  See Jesus as a two-year-old, toddling around the carpenter's shop.  Watch as he nears the bench where Joseph is putting together a chair – one of eight for a large order from a rich merchant.  Inquisitively, Jesus begins to pick up one of Joseph's sharp woodcarving knives.  Jesus…son…No!  Don't touch those...they will hurt you.  Can you see the face of Jesus as he looks at his father, looks back at the knife, smiles ever so demonically and sticks his tongue at Joseph? 

Can you see the Christ child stomping his feet and saying NO!  Of course you cannot. 

Even though Jesus was a two-year-old at one point, he never acted like one.  Certainly he had to learn language and to like green beans; he had diaper issues too.  Jesus did not however, have sin or Adam’s seed of rebellion. 

Therein is the root of the confusion for Mary, Joseph, and the rest of us humans; Mary and Joseph, like you and I, expect two-year-olds and twelve-year-olds (and fifty-year-olds) to be rebellious, selfish and self-absorbed. 

Jesus never was any of that; the confusion was (and is) ours. 

We expect things to go wrong – to see hatred, envy, planes fly into Trade Centers and Pentagons.  That is the nature of a fallen world.  When we see Jesus who is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness – it confuses us. 

For You Today

As a believer, your purpose and call is to follow Christ and be His disciple. 

Remember, the world will not understand.  They will be as confused as Mary and Joseph and the temple elders. 

But the confusion is theirs – be about your Father's business anyway!

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[1] 1 Corinthians 14:33 (KJV)