Tag Archives: prayer

Sirens

siren

At my mom’s church, if the sound of an ambulance siren is heard duing worship, the congregation stops what they are doing and the pastor says a prayer for the patient, the EMTs and the doctors and nurses who will care for the patient. I experienced this happening one time during a Thanksgiving worship service. I found it very touching and a nice reminder that we need to be always aware of the needs of those all around us. And it was a good way to remember that any time is a good time to pray.

Recently, at a concert I attended, something similar happened. During some high notes that a soprano was singing in a solo, the siren of an ambulance went by with high-pitched sounds that almost exactly matched the soprano’s voice. It was a moment that helped me to realize that we need to stay in tune with the circumstances of others. As the Bible tells us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). As the body of Christ, we need to echo the outcries of joy or pain of our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith because we are one in the spirit and are called to commiserate with them.

Lately, coincidently, I have heard the emergency sirens go off a few times at work and at home to warn of a tornado in the area. The immediate response to such a siren is to go to a basement or the most interior room of a building or dwelling to keep safe from damaging storms. When the storms of life of any kind are heading toward us, it is always good to immediately seek refuge, shelter and protection from Jesus, who keeps us safe from harm through his death and resurrection.

Let any sirens you may hear in your day-to-day living be a wake-up call to you to always reach out to God, care for those around you, and find comfort in Christ.

No Mail

no mail

When I visited my mom recently in her new senior living community, I noticed this sign next to the mailboxes: “Mail is not here” with a big red X (see picture above). The sign made me chuckle since I can only imagine how many times people must have asked the staff, “Is the mail here?” before a sign like this went up. When the mail does come, a different sign that says, “Mail is here” with a big green check mark is set out.

We are creatures of habit, and getting the mail is an important part of a person’s daily routine, to be sure. But we are also an impatient people. We want our mail sooner than later. And we are a people who like to be in control, and we are not at all in control of when the mail comes each day.

These tendencies play themselves out in our faith journeys well. How often do we develop routines of faith, praying only at certain times, for instance, or sitting in the same pew at church or attending the same service each week. Theses are not bad routines in and of themselves, but if they prevent us from growing in our faith or being open to other schedules or opportunities, then we need to say, “No!” to the over-routined life of faith.

As for being impatient, we know well how impatient we are just having to wait in the doctor’s office or having to watch for a pot to boil. It is hard, then, for us to comprehend how long God’s people waited for a Savior to be born. Yet patience is required as we look toward our Lord’s return. So we must say, “No!” to impatience.

Needless to say, we don’t have much control over anything in life, so thinking that we do can be detrimental to us. That is why it is important for us to remember what St. Paul told us, “You ought to say, ’If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that‘” (James 4:15). It is helpful for us to say, “No!” to any attempt to try to have control over our lives, turning whatever will happen over to God.

In the end, God has a plan, he has a message to bring and he will deliver it in his time. What a day that will be when Jesus returns to say, “I am here!”

Groanings

praying hard

The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

Sometimes all we can muster up from within us when we pray is a sigh, a breath, a groan. But the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit can take these sounds and make them into groanings to God that capture everything we mean to say to God the Father through them. You see, we never need to have just the right word or phrase. We don’t need to recite familiar prayers from our childhood verbatim. We should never be afraid to just come to God and moan a little over everything that is happening to us and around us. Our every utterance to God, intelligible to the world around us or not, is a prayer. And it is those deep and longing noises from within us that often say the most to God about what is going on in our lives and where we really need some critical help.

I am reminded a little in all of this of Jacob wrestling with God in the Old Testament (See Genesis 32:24.). Our moans and groans are a kind of wrestling with God over issues that are not easily resolved or very clear cut. But God does not mind wrestling with us; in fact, he wants us to be real and honest with him about how we are feeling. So let out your sorrow, your pain, your anger, your frustration in prayer. Don’t hold back. God can take it. The Spirit will express it to him fully. We will be heard and understood by God, even if it feels like no one else is getting the reason or reasons for our wrangling.

No matter how intense it gets, when we walk away from prayer, we will have the assurance from God that he is with us always and he is in the struggle with us. Christ’s moans and groans from the cross on our behalf prove that to us.

No More Sighing

big sigh

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah 35:10

We’ve all had moments in our lives when we let out “the big sigh.” Maybe it was a sigh of frustration in a person or situation. Maybe it was a sigh of sadness or recognition over a loss. Maybe it was a sigh simply uttered out of sheer exhaustion with life itself. I have sighed them all, and so have you, no doubt.

Sighs like this are signs that we know that sin is in the world and perhaps has gotten the best of us. The good news is that sighs like this can actually become prayers and pleas to God for help. And even better news is that God hears our sighs through the work of the Holy Spirit, as it says in Romans 8:26: ”The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”

While our sighing many continue in this world, I was struck by the phrasing “sorrow and sighing shall flee away” from Isaiah. We can look forward with joy to that day when there will be no more sighing, only endless praise to the Lord!

Oaks of Righteousness

oak

They may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. —Isaiah 61:3

Oaks were the main trees of Israel’s natural groves and forests. The three species which grow there have in common their strong and hard wood and all attain a great height and reach a very old age. The Hebrew name, allon, even means strong. So it is no wonder then that Isaiah uses the imagery of oak trees to symbolize those who are strong in the Lord.

Besides being strong, oak trees also rise up to the sky. Oak trees branch out to provide shade for those who need shelter from danger. And oak trees expand with a new ring of growth each year.

In much the same way, people who are oaks of righteousness are drawn closer to heaven through the Holy Spirit. Oaks of righteousness protect others from the evils of this world by the power of God. And oaks of righteousness continue to mature in their faith in Christ through prayer and Scripture reading in order to grow stronger in him year after year.

Who are some oaks of righteousness that you know who are like this? How can you become more and more like an oak of righteousness at this time in your life? People are watching us more than we think, and it is time for us to show the world, as in Isaiah’s day, that the glory of the Lord is within us through the death of Christ on the tree of the cross.