Ritual

Luke 11:1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." And he said to them, "When you pray, say”:

If you follow the daily readings from “The Jesus Walk,” you will know that the following passages after this request from his disciples, is the prayer that Jesus taught, which we call the Jesus prayer. I will always remember the time I was working in a hospital as chaplain when one of the people I was visiting asked me to pray for her, she said, “Pray the “Our Father” prayer.”

I have never been one to practice the ritual of a particular prayer. I have prided myself on the spontaneity of prayer and the power of praying in the moment. I believe that this has enabled me to keep fresh in my prayers and thoughts; however, I do appreciate the power of ritual especially in times of distress and difficulties. I remember another time in the hospital when the person I was visiting could not speak. I asked her to form the words of the “Our Father” while I spoke them out loud. What an amazing thing it was for us to be able to participate in prayer together.

Ritual has merit in the reality that it enables us to remember the important things of life. In fact, much of life is ritual. We get up every day, dress, eat breakfast, take off to work or activity, return home, finish the course of the day and then off to bed. There is nothing wrong with ritual. What is wrong is when we think ritual is all that is needed. In reality, ritual is only our guide; ritual is there to keep us on track and to navigate the seasons of our lives so that we can follow more closely the way of God who created us.

There are times we need ritual because we get off track and lose our way. We easily get distracted with other things and forget what needs to happen. Ritual is there to gently remind us of what needs to be done and how to proceed forward when times get rough. It’s our spiritual method when we can’t clearly see the path before us. Ritual serves as the pathway to recovery to return us back to the power of God through prayer. Use it.

This prayer of Jesus is a roadmap for effective prayer. It is not the prayer itself that has power, but the practice of each of the essentials combined together to remind us of what is important. It’s OK to pray just this prayer if you want, but don’t stop there. Allow this prayer to move you forward to discover the joy of extended prayer, as each of these essentials contained therein lead us to more discovery of our life.

Try it sometime. List the essentials of this prayer of Jesus found here and in the gospel of Matthew, spend some time with each idea, and allow God to fill you fresh with His spirit as we pray together Our Father. Amen.

Blessings, Rip

One Thing

Luke 10: 41But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”

I doubt that there will be a time that I don’t come across this phrase and not think about the movie, City Slickers. If you remember, the plot of that movie was to discover the “One Thing” that would give meaning to life and clear up the distractions which face us every day. How great would that be for us? Yet Jesus gives us insight into one thing here that might prove to be the very thing we need.

It’s about relationships--always has been and always will be. Relationships are the key to living life to the fullest. First, we must have a relationship with God and then a relationship with our brothers and sisters. The importance of this idea is: unless we first have a loving and lasting relationship with God all other relationships are meaningless. It’s about putting things in proper order and discovering the core value of life.

Relationships are difficult to maintain. We get caught up in the idea that relationships are based upon getting and receiving. When in reality, true relationships are based upon trust and faith. I’ve noticed that it is not really a relationship if there is an expectation of return from what I give to another person. That is, if I expect them to act and respond in a particular way or fashion then the relationship is based upon what I get in return and not upon what I give freely without expectations. It’s free, regardless of how you respond or don’t respond.

That’s why most relationships fail or struggle. Our expectations are not met, so we think that we have been let down or cheated is some way. If we were to view all of our relationships from the perspective of giving and not receiving, then we begin to understand the one thing that makes it worth doing in the first place. Which is, understanding that who I am, is not dependent upon who others think I am.

Here is the key to this type of living--knowing that I am in relationship with God. God is working in me to create me in such a way, that everything I do and think and act, is the result of interaction and connection with and in Him. It is not based upon outside forces or others, only in Him.

What’s the one thing in your life? It drives all the other things you do. You should discover what it is and work on making that right so that everything else will follow.

Blessings, Rip

Love Large

Luke 7:47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."

I haven’t thought much about the relationship of love and forgiveness other than; I know that Jesus loves me and forgave me and died for me to prove His great love, which He offers to all humanity. But this passage also says something more. It speaks to the reality of love expressed in the amount of forgiveness received. In other words, I am able to love much because I have experienced great love demonstrated in the release from sin in my life.

That’s one of the problems with sin; it robs us of the qualities of life, which makes life worth living. Take love for instance, we discover the quality of the love of an individual when that individual offers to us forgiveness which is undeserved and unmerited. This is similar to the love God offers to us, which has at its core, ultimate forgiveness. There is a logical outcome from this experience…its called LOVE. My ability to love flows from the realization that I have been totally accepted and forgiven. Have you ever been around un-forgiven people? Not much fun if you ask me.

But here is the, “good news,” Jesus says, “that you can be forgiven,” and that this forgiveness will be confirmed in our ability to experience and express love. Have you ever received anything like that? I can tell you from experience that this is one of the most liberating and freeing experiences that you can ever have. The other side of this issue is true as well; those who forgive little have little love to give. How tragic it is to go through life with this burden of unresolved sin, which robs us of liberating love.

We can have many excuses not to forgive, excuses like, that person hurt me so deeply, or; if I ask for forgiveness I will need to take responsibility for my actions, or; how could anyone forgive someone like me? These are the deceptions of Satan whose debauchery is to keep us in bondage to sin and unaware of the freedom and love which is offered through faith in Jesus Christ. Our excuses pale in the reality of this love found in Christ.

So here is the challenge, let your love be the demonstration of your forgiveness. LOVE LARGE! You have been forgiven much, we all have.

Blessings, Rip

The Favor of God

Luke 2:39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

I have often times thought about my own childhood growing up in a small Midwest town. The circumstances of my young life are not all that interesting, and many of the things I did were typical things that any youth would do. There is, however, a key ingredient that helped shape my life, and that was the faith and practice of my parents.

I did not know until I was age 16, when after feeling the call of God on my life to become a pastor, that my mother and father had dedicated me at birth to God. They did this in a public service where they stated that they believed God would use me for His kingdom work. They did not specify what, but held the belief and hope that one day I would be a pastor.

The amazing thing about this is that my parents were faithful through thick and thin. I know that there were times that they had doubts about the realization of their dedication. In fact, at one point in my mother’s journal, she expressed doubt because of my poor grades in school. However, they remained faithful and continued believing in me and for me that God’s will be done in my life.

It’s not hard to see that the parents of Jesus knew that their child was someone special, yet they did what was required so that Jesus was provided the opportunity to become what God had purposed in His life. That’s what godly parents do. They sacrifice and pray and hope and even cry; that their children become God followers and that their children discover their unique calling to come and follow Christ.

Kathy and I committed ourselves to this same course of parenting concerning our own daughter. We have worked faithfully, praying and believing and even crying, that she discover and become all that God intends for her life. Sometimes it is a struggle; the nights get long; and the fruits of our labor seem far from fulfillment at times. Yet, that that is the course of this life.

We do so gladly because we know that the favor of the Lord is the reward and that having the presence and purpose of God in our daughter’s life is the greatest reward and satisfaction any parent could want. The promise is not quick results but a sustained life of purpose. It is worth every ounce of strength and every sleepless night to see the outcome. I think that is what was felt in Mary toward the end of this chapter when it says, “that she cherished all these things in her heart.”

The question today is this. What are you praying about for those in your life, children, spouse, friend, or colleague? What have you offered up to God on behalf of them? The opportunity awaits us to offer up to God each other so that the favor of the Lord might be upon them. What more could we do?

Blessings, Rip