Good Morning Friends,
Today we have Abraham interceding for Sodom and pleading for mercy for the wicked believing in his heart that the nature of God was and is to do right by the innocent. But the somber reality is that no one is really innocent. Those who live in corrosive environments and become accustomed to the ways of an evil society may eventually become evil too. And God’s love in Christ in us becomes the only answer. Here we discover that there is dignity for a person who dares to converse with God even if and perhaps because they realize their human unworthiness. The message of the passage we call the Lord’s Prayer is really a great guideline for us to focus when coming into the presence of God in prayer. And so we ask: How Can We Learn To Pray For Righteousness, Mercy And Love?
Scripture: Then the Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”
Genesis 18:20-32 (NRSV)
when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:12-14 (NRSV)
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:1-13 (NRSV)
Message: I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. I have the same problem in the discipline of writing these devotionals. It is a kind of prayer that is both a retreat of solitude and in a way an active worship that is anything but sentimental escapism. In a way it ends the anarchy and allows and guides me in communion with God to shape the world in which I live as it shapes me. What is amazing is that I have come to a peace with the tension, for it is no longer a struggle to pray or to put these devotionals together, though it is still work. It is both seductive and productive not primarily to change the situations of my life but to change me. And if it changes you too for good, so much the better. Jesus teaches us that the real business of life includes daily prayers of petitions and praise with a focus on forgiveness received and forgiveness we can offer. It is a time to gauge our emotions and put them in perspective as we meditation on the character mirror of scripture and here learn that forgiveness is an act of faith…an act of love…an act of grace we are to practice each day through prayer. So, prepare your hearts for prayer. Imagine walking with the Psalms as a vibration of the Holy Spirit as it cultivates our inner life. Breathe in the Spirit. Get tuned up privately then pray together as a community. Live a praying life. Be calmed and made free by coming into the presence of God. Gain in prayer the emotional perspective to make right choices. And know that this takes practice. So today we meditate on prayer and the first thing we are asked to do is to affirm our faith by acknowledging that we pray to a Holy God that loves us. It starts here because without this foundation there is nothing to pray. Here we engage in the most humbling… the most important work of a Christian, for prayer teaches the folly of worry and the wisdom of faith. Prayer teaches us the joy of obedience in seeking…asking and finding a relationship with the divine. Prayer teaches us that we are in a spiritual battle for our very life and that we are unworthy in the fight. Friends, to be effective in the Kingdom of God we must pray. Any hope of revival demands it. Spiritual authority comes through it. So, know that God uses the time of our praying and struggling together to create an atmosphere of friendship where we join alongside each other…striving together. Friends, life is a laboring, but the yoke is easy if we learn to pray for the righteousness of Christ in us.
And So, the words ‘bad’ and ‘good’ are misleading labels. None is righteous except for the love of God. So it should not surprise us that the best of people in the Bible are the most merciful. And so, in this reality imagine this mercy, that God loves us and in response we are to be merciful. We are to realize that we can call on God for help and emotionally and spiritually acknowledge that those desperate cries for help are some of the most honest of prayers. The epiphany is that doing more stuff to make Jesus love us is pointless. In our Scripture for this morning, Paul is telling us that this is a royal waste of time. If we are not in Christ, we are missing out on the most important thing in the entire world. So do not beat yourself up because of your inability to measure up to what you think Christianity is all about. You cannot please an angry God for God is not angry and you will never measure up. So, do not be discouraged. There is not a long list of rules and regulations that we need to follow in order to be on God’s good side. God loves us, so stop all the self-loathing. If God made you alive with Christ you are dead in your sins. The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love. See that no one enslaves you with the foolish deception that you can earn your way to heaven. Learn to love yourself and others.
Pray therefor that the righteousness of Christ be in our prayers. Pray therefor for mercy. Pray that the character and love of God be in our prayers. Pray that Jesus teaches us how to pray so that we might glorify God. Pray that as we pray we learn to be thankful, and experience a peace which transcends all understanding. Pray that Christ be the foundation of our prayer lives. Pray we realize that Christ has not given up on us. Pray that our prayer life is filled to completeness. Pray earnestly for the body of believers. Pray we learn to pray frequently. Pray we learn to pray with emotion. Pray we learn to pray with a focus. Pray we be faithful in prayer. Pray that our mind, spirit and soul is stretched in prayer. Pray we are pulled by the force of prayer to a place where our agony and pain is eased. Pray we pray about our fears and commitments…our tears and desire… our hungers and visions…our griefs and repentance…our worship and understanding… God’s glory and power… Pray we pray for God’s wisdom and guidance… our sacrifice and thanksgiving… and our supplication and unity. Pray we labor in our prayers. Pray that we start each day with the right focus and retain it throughout the day seeking ways to forgive. Pray that Jesus would join us in our prayers and that His presence would be the prelude to peace, the prologue to power, the preface to purpose and the pathway to perfection. Pray we realize that prayers have no death but live on forever in the harmony of the Trinity with the law of love. Pray that our prayers keep us in tune with God’s will and purpose as the act of prayer guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 