The last time I've posted here I was writing about the Lord's prayer as I have read in Shane and Jonathan's book Becoming Answers to Our Prayers. This week I want to continue to look at this idea found in his first chapter concerning "our Father." I think I was writing about how this prayer shifts us away from looking at this prayer as an individual but begin to look at this prayer as something that reflects all of us. This is a prayer on behalf of all those who are calling God their father. So does this change our perspective and the way that we begin to pray and address God?
Some of us were at the prayer meetings last Friday - where we gathered together to pray through the ACTS prayer: (A)doration, (C)onfession, (T)hanksgiving and (S)upplication. Gabe was leading the confession part; and although I was not present at the confession prayer time we were discussing earlier about corporate confession. I think he has mentioned about the prayers of Daniel (Dan. 9) and also Nehemiah (Neh. 1); two giants prayer warriors in our lives. They prayed not only confessing their own sins but also the sins of the nations. It is we who have sined against God; not just I, myself but it is the greater nation of Israel that has wrong God.
Now consider us today and how we relate and pray. Consider the people of Haiti and the brokenness and the hurt that is happening. How do we respond? Are we hurting because our Haitian brothers and sisters are hurting? Consider our prayer "Our Father"... would that not be one that connects us with our hurting brothers? Is not God too their Father as well?
Adam Carson of the National Post wrote this:
"God has not abandoned Haiti. The earthquake was not His wrath being unleashed on Haiti's people; it was a slap to the face of every single so-called 'caring, liberal' nation on this planet -- a slap strong enough to knock the blinders from our eyes. We congratulate ourselves on our own greatness, but when something big enough catches our attention and forces us to take action, we immediately blame God."
Now I do not know if Adam is a follower of Christ but what he has written is actually something that struck me very powerfully. In lure of our hurting brothers and sisters what is our call? what did Jesus do with those who are hurting? What is our respond?
C.S. Lewis wrote "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
It is my prayer for us not to be deafen in this world and may we respond to love upon our hurting brothers and sisters, may we never neglect that we are all children of Him who is "Our Father."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hmm, that's so true. I'm refering to the part about how we're so easily blinded by our own self-righteousness. I find that sometimes even my non-christian friends unintentionally challenge my faith in the way that if they're showing love towards others then we, who have God's abundance of love, should be showing that same love and more. -Joanne
ReplyDeleteI'm kinda confused with the quote that cs lewis wrote... so when were in pain, or have problems in our lives, we tend to ignore God? and when we have pleasures and good stuff that happen to us we hear God?
ReplyDeleteI'ts the other way around, Joelle. God speaks to us loudest when we're in pain because it's when he can get our attention the most. We don't hear God as well or realize that he's even calling when we're enjoying ourselves because we're too busy doing just that. Think about it this way, before the earthquakes nobody cared about Haiti let alone knew that it was even existent. Now that it has come to our attention to help them, it raises a lot of questions and really challenges us as global citizens. IF we're even global citizens or just people who donate money whenever the media brings mass attention to it.
ReplyDelete