Praying Right

                                                    

                                                                           Image: Scout Life Magazine

Prayer is a pillar or actually the cornerstone of Christian life.  A typical prayer may include giving thanks, intercession, blessings, praise etc. And we may ask for help with the problems and challenges we face.

Tom Clark from Life, Home and Truth has this to say - 

..."do we always pray for the right things? Let me illustrate this with a paraphrase of a story by Peggy Porter on usscouts.org that I read many years ago.

Eight-year-old Gilbert had only been in Cub Scouts a short while when the scoutmaster handed everyone a block of wood, four tires and a sheet of instructions, and told them to go home and “give it all to Dad.” Unfortunately, the dad part was not an option for Gilbert, so the block of wood sat untouched for days as a befuddled Gilbert struggled to figure out what to do.

Finally, without a better option, Gilbert’s mom sat down with Gilbert one evening to guide him in his quest to build a pinewood derby car. Having no carpentry skills, she decided to just read the directions and let Gilbert do the work.

Doing their best to adhere to the rules and measurements, little by little a car began to emerge from the block. The final product was lovingly painted blue, and though a little lopsided, it was a work of pride for both Gilbert and his mom, as they waited for the big day.

The night of the race, Gilbert and his mother showed up ready to go. Gilbert’s smile promptly fell when he saw all the other cars—sleek and stylish, with fancy paint jobs, flames and designs that came from the father and son duos (probably with more work done by the fathers than the sons). Some of the other boys giggled when they saw Gilbert’s unattractive and somewhat wobbly car. This couldn’t turn out well . . .

The race was done in elimination fashion, meaning you kept racing until you lost. To everyone’s shock, the final race came down between Gilbert’s lopsided creation and one of the sleekest and fastest-looking cars there. Just as the race was to begin, Gilbert quietly asked if he could stop to pray. With a nod of the head from the scoutmaster, he took his little car and prayed. After some awkward moments he handed his car back and said he was ready.

Seemingly in defiance of all the laws of physics, Gilbert’s uneven block of wood wobbled down the track to cross the line a fraction of a second before the other car. The scoutmaster bent over to Gilbert and asked, “So you prayed to win, right Gilbert?”

The 8-year-old quickly responded, “Oh, no sir. It wouldn’t be fair to ask God to help me beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I wouldn’t cry if I lose.”

This story illustrates a powerful point.

When faced with a challenging situation, the young boy didn’t pray and ask God to fix the outcome for him. He asked God to help him accept the results. He simply prayed for strength.

Is it possible that in our own prayers as we face challenges, we spend too much time telling God the outcome we want, asking for victory or perhaps asking that He remove a trial and take away the pain? When what we should be doing is asking Him for the strength and dignity we need to get through the struggle with faith intact?

There is nothing wrong with beseeching our Father with our requests, but it is also important that we ask for the strength to endure what He knows is ultimately best for us.

Gates and Fences

Growing up there was no television and going to the movies was a treat. The daily entertainment came from reading books. Two such book are ones I will never forget - All things bright and beautiful and All creatures Great and Small by James Heriot, a vet surgeon in rural England. 

His books are about his daily experiences as a vet and  Gods creation, farm animals, birds and other creatures in our daily life, as well as the challenges they face as do their owners and farmers. One common picture which will keep popping up is that of fences on farms, pens and enclosures where the animals are kept safe. A gate left open accidentally can result in tragedy for the animal, so the farmer makes sure all gates are shut. In case it is not and animals stray, they are sitting targets for wolves, speeding cars and other dangers, so the farmer immediately goes after the strays and tries to bring them back to safety.

This is much like our own shepherd who may leave 100 of us while we are in the safety of Gods hedge of protection, or fence, and goes after one lost person to bring them back to safety.
That the hedge, or wall or tent, of protection is a reality is clearly mentioned in Job where Satan states to God Job 1:10 “Have you not put a hedge (of protection) around him and his household and everything he has? "
This protection from God happens in 3 spheres - from outside elements, from ourselves and from our tendency to rebel and disobey.
Speaking from personal experience, This protection is so powerful it can move mountains of trouble. It is invoked not only when we ask, but is active 24x7. It protects even when we are not aware we need protection.
Today, if this is not a part of your daily prayer, we suggest you make it a daily ask. Just as we ask to be delivered from evil - which includes sickness, dangers, ill intentions as well as our own desires, allowing us to live less fearfully and more meaningfully.
Books by James Herriot in case you are interested.
All Things Bright and Beautiful:
The Classic Memoirs of a Yorkshire Country Vet https://amzn.in/d/0bBfgB5U
All Creatures Great and Small: The classic memoirs of a Yorkshire country vet https://amzn.in/d/01zGaC6l

Our Addictions

                                 
Addiction is so prevalent in the world today that it encompasses nearly a quarter of the world. And if we add food addiction that figure would probably be three fourths. Food addiction will probably include you and me.

Addicts of all kinds are looked down on, sometimes with sympathy and sometimes with disgust. Seldom with empathy. Addicts need to be treated not with sympathy or disgust but with kindness and support.

Pastor David Jacobs says -

"No matter where you are from, if you are old enough, you have been exposed to some form of addiction. Whether you have battled addiction yourself as I have or you have seen it grip somebody that you know, the depths of addiction and the hold that it can have on people is terrifying. Knowing all that we do about addiction and the harms that it brings, how are we not more wary of it? How do we not do more to resist its temptations? The enemy is stronger than we imagine, prowling like a lion on helpless prey. This is true if and only if we remove the valuable defenses and ignore the lessons of people before us and of God.

I have struggled mightily with my own addictions. During my darkest times, it was so easy for me to point a finger at something or someone else to blame them for my actions. I was weak, ignoring the roars of the devil, making myself as easy a target as possible. If you are like me, do not give up! We have armor! It is a gift forged by the word of our Heavenly Father, delivered to us by his only son Jesus of Nazareth! It is an armor of the righteous, defending against addiction, evil, and weakness! In the darkest times when we can hear the deafening roar of the devil, we must turn to the teachings of God, and in this our hearts will be fortified".

At the end of the day, addictions can only be battled by the individual, by practicing self control, and self control can be strengthened by God's love and His word. Others can help, support and encourage, but the strength has to come from within. 

God teaches you to resist worldly passions and anything which is not godly, including alcohol addiction, food addiction, drug addiction etc. It also inspires you to maintain self-control and good morals and to build a closer relationship with God.

“It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
 

Rejection is an Illusion

Who has the power to reject you? Isn't rejection a judgement? And who in this human world can judge? 

Unfortunately, we all do, belying what Jesus taught or tried to teach. Judging others seems to be second nature to us.

The question is why we do it.

Firstly, we build our own castles by bringing others down. For example, some public speakers comment adversely on their audience to make a point, thereby positioning themselves higher than the audience, so that the audience accepts their views without question.

Secondly, it sometimes helps to fit in the crowd. If 5 people we know don't like someone, we too pretend so that we may fit in and build a bond.

And sometimes it may just be a self defense mechanism, not to get close enough to someone so you don't get hurt, therefore we build a justification for that by a negative judgement.

Lastly, and this is a universal fact, we all have a perception that we are entitled. No. We are not. That's an illusion we have created about ourselves.

So when we reject someone, it's not really valid because the reasons for that rejection are totally one sided, selfish, illusionary and invalid. Similarly, when we stand rejected ( as we will be time and again) we must remember that our rejection too is an illusion built on some perception or threat.

That is exactly what happened to the woman apparently caught in adultery whom the Pharisees wanted to stone to death as per mosaic law. When confronted with their own sin, thier self perception of being keepers of the law broke as well, prompting them to abandon thier judgement.

But judging people is dangerous. It can be habit forming making. It can be disastrous for our professional and personal life. Politicians judge people who don't vote for them; company honchos can make suicidal decisions if they don't understand habits of some customers. The principle of success and successful relationships is to put ourselves in the other person's shoes helping us to understand rather than judge.

But to do that we need to think and that's something we don't do. Like Carl Jung said

“Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” 

Similarly, if someone has judged us, remember it's not us but they who need to prove something. When some says "oh he/she is an alcoholic and do not deserve to come here' they are actually saying - " I am a better person because I am not an alcoholic and therefore I deserve to be here'. They have made someone's alcoholism, or any other weakness, a steppingstone for themselves. Many times, people have used judgement as an excuse for rejection of any help to someone else and many, many times rejection is the path for self-survival. 

With this background, know that rejection will never change how much God loves each one of us. It will never touch his goodness, his mercy, or his kindness. It will never make God further away from us. He empathizes and it will not change His love. He enters our pain. 

And for the times we are tempted to judge and reject someone, always remember this verse from 
James 2:13- 
"13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment."

But the greatest and most powerful assurance is the promise God has made to each one of us personally - 

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!"

No. I believe I am God's child.