Praying Colossians 5
June 23, 2009
1:9-13 is a prayer Paul prays. Prayers need no comments. They beg to be prayed. So I pray with Paul with the help of Eugene Peterson. I Pray this for myself. I pray it for family members. I pray it for those I work with. We pray it for our leaders. The prayer applies and is necessary to all of us.
… asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. (And who could ask for anything more?)
We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. Amen!
As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.
We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul–not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
… May every thought and sentiment of this prayer be true in my life and all who are within my sphere of influence. I thank God for Paul who teaches us to pray as Jesus taught him to pray. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Praying Colossians 3
May 13, 2009
In this series of praying through Scriptures, I am learning that in order to pray the Scriptures, time is needed for reflection, for paying attention to the presence of God, and for paying attention to the condition of my soul, and my heart’s desire. I have the impression that Paul, though he did not know he was writing Scripture, he was in deep prayer (communion with God) and that this letter was not just dictated but breathed by God through Paul for the sake of the the Colossians, North Carolinians, Topekans, and Kansas Citians.
1:5 Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel 1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.
Prayer: Jesus, I am experiencing the truth of these words of your servant Paul and the Holy Spirit. I am tasting faith and love that spring from hope. I see brokenness around me always and this present brokenness, which I know will be put to rights, inspires me to express love, trust, and faithfulness in my walk with you and for the sake of others. Your word is alive in me. What more do I want?
I also pray that the power of the gospel, which is foolishness to paganism, will continue to spread in our world, the only hope our world has. Help me and my brothers and sisters in Christ, in our various societies of Jesus, to increase in our faith and undrstanding of the unlimited truth that is the gospel. This is good news about you, it’s you, and by default is unfathomable. Give me my share of it. I trust you for it. Give my borthers and sister in Christ their shares of it and together we will be the wiser for it. Amen. Christ have mercy.
Praying Colossians 2
May 6, 2009
1:3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
1:4 since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.
Prayer: Lord, I give thanks to you in my prayers this morning for the faith of brothers and sisters in Christ. I only know a few of them. Most live in countries I will never visit. I know not their names. I know not their struggles. Many may be barely holding on to their faith. Many are strong even in the midst of persecution. I do know their faith. Let this knowledge suffice for now. I am united to them and they are to me in you. I rest me in this thought.
I also thank you, Lord, that I hear of the love many of my brothers and sisters have for you and for their neighbors. I thank you that daily I have those who love me and those I love close at hand. Without this love, this world would be unbearable to us. With the love you shed abroad in their and my heart, we can overcome this world. May this attitude of thanksgiving for the saints always trump any negative thoughts I have. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Missio Dei 3
February 26, 2009
A favorite and simple definition of spiritual formation comes from the heart of Robert Mulholland. Spiritual Formation is the process of becoming conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others. The words “for the sake of others” are missional words. Spirituality is about change, personal change that spills out into the world. Christianity is the movement of people who gather and scatter in participation with the work God is doing in and out of the church to expand his kingdom.
What I am concerned with here is to build a life around this principle of living that includes a “for the sake of others.” What will it take to become the kind of person who sees himself as sent by God? How do I change to become aware all the time that I am a missio dei tool in the hand of God? Last week I began to tackle the question of time. So I have made a commitment to “unbusy my life.” Now what? What goes, what stays? What do I do? That’s too big to tackle all at once. So what goes this week, what stays this week, what do I do this week? Too big still. Today?
I will walk up and down the street I live on twice, east and west sides. I will pray for each home’s residents. I will ask my life group to join me so we are doing it in community.
My prayer will be simple: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on the people of this home. Open their eyes that they may see and enter the kingdom of God. I am a tool in the hands of God.
I Prayed For Us
September 21, 2008
Today I felt led to pray:
- That the missional order community would settle this issue absolutely: The primacy of a life that intentionally pays attention to God.
Lord, hear my prayer.
- That the missional order community would be relentless in “stalking our soul” in the presence of God. (This phrase comes from Leighton Ford’s The Attentive Life.)
Lord, hear my prayer.
- That we would long deeply for God in us and in the world but also move into prayers of “absolute attention” (Simone Weil’s understanding of prayer).
Lord, hear my prayer.
- That God would continue to give us strength to do his bidding, and to attend to his mission for us and to his conforming us to the image of his son (This is our second and third commitments: continuous formation, and participation in the mission of God).
Lord, hear our prayer.
- That this journey we travel together would help us to see that praying the hours (Praying morning, noon, evening, and compline) would be a constant reminder of the start, midpoints, evening, and end of our life’s pilgrimage to God.
Lord, hear my prayer.
Sacred rhythm praying (morning, middday, dusk, and night) corresponds nicely to the epochs of our own lives with God and our spiritual growth. This is worth exploring as Ford explored it for his life in The Attentive Life.
Happy travels!
Who’s On Your List?
September 21, 2008
In morning and evening prayers CDP leaves room for us to choose what to pray. The time of prayer happens right after the Bible readings. I often say prayers of praise and thanks (adoration) to God. I also take time to petition God for the changes I need in my life. What I need most in my life is personal transformation and that need fits the biblical pattern for prayer as often the Psalmists demonstrate. I ask God to take my heart and shape it, my soul and break it, my spirit and edify it, and my strength to sustain it. I petition God to fill me with his grace (to enable me to do and change what I can’t do or change on my own).
My petition is not only for personal change but also for change in others. What we may pray to God for others is limitless in scope. We call it intercession. I have found the pattern I explain here helpful. If it is too scripted for you, come clean with it and devise your own. For me some scripting is inevitable even if the scripting is simply asking God what I should pray for.
This is the pattern I follow mostly.
- On Mondays I intercede for family members near and far by name. Often I use the Jesus Prayer on each family member’s behalf: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on so and so. If I know of particular needs I ask God for the changes needed in their lives.
- On Tuesdays, I pray for my colleagues and their ministries. At times I use a verse of Scripture to pray for them.
- On Wednesdays I pray for the church where I worship, its leaders, its ministries, its necessary changes.
- On Thursdays: My Country of Origin
- On Fridays: My adopted country, the USA
- On Saturdays: For missionaries around the globe.
- On Sundays: Smorgasbord.
These suggestions work for me. Design your own. It is good to know what to pray for. I can go to bed anticipating the prayers for tomorrow the night before.
I also use written prayers during CDP prayer times. My favorite is Diary of Private Prayer. There are prayers in DPP I would never think to pray on my own.
I end the time of prayer on days when more time is available with a prayer walk, singing a favorite hymn, or song, memorizing a prayer from CDP or other prayer resource.
The key to remember during prayer is that prayer is paying attention to the giver more than his gifts. A sacred rhythm way to live enriches our capacity to pay attention to God as such.
Creating a pattern for prayer during CDP is important to me. Is it to you?
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