-
Jesus in Prayer, Part 2
Following from yesterday’s exercise of making time and space for the kind of prayer Jesus seemed to have engaged in often, today we continue to look at Jesus in prayer.
Read Luke 4:1-2:
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”
Larry Bird was a freakishly good NBA basketball player who played mainly during the 1980s. Many people still refer to him as the “Basketball Jesus.” There was one stretch during the ’86 season when he was actually bored by how good he was, so he started using his left hand more, just for a challenge. During one game, he only took left-handed shots during the first half. He did this kind of thing often, experimenting with all the different ways he could beat a defender in the low post, seeing how many times he and Bill Walton could run the backdoor play in one game, etc. He intentionally weakened his game just to feel challenged and make it fun again.
-
Jesus in Prayer, Part 1
(This exercise was written by Jason Coker as part of our prayer journey with Ikon Community.)
Jesus didn’t just teach about prayer, he also prayed! This week we continue our prayer series by looking at examples of Jesus in prayer. We can learn much from seeing what his own prayer time looked like. Today we begin with a short glimpse into Jesus’ prayer life from Mark 1:35-37:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
The most obvious thing to notice about this passage is that Jesus took time, early in the day, to find solitude in prayer. So what’s so hard about that?
Time and solitude. That’s what’s hard.
-
Help Haiti Responsibly and Practically
Photos by Jonathan Torgovnik of CNN
Ever since the earthquake in Haiti, we’ve been trying to discern how our little community can help. Tragedies like this bring out the best in people, but they also provide fertile ground for scam artists to capitalize on people’s sympathy and desire to help. Fear of being taken advantage of can cause inaction.
So it’s great to be networked with others who are in uniquely strategic positions to get on-the-ground information and be of real help. Through JR Woodward, we found out about that Cornerstone Community Church is in such a position. They’re part of the Ecclesia Network, and have been working in the Dominican Republic for many years (which shares the island with Haiti). Through their organization Del Camino Connection, they’ve established a two-phase plan to provide cost-effective and responsible assistance and relief to Haiti.
Phase one involves funneling locally purchased relief supplies through churches, ministry partners and community-based organizations connected to the coalition in Haiti. The immediate request from our partners is cash donations so that we can purchase supplies in Dominican cities along the border with Haiti. From previous experience, we have learned that containers sent from abroad take up precious time in transport, customs processing, and transport to the emergency site.
Phase two of the plan will draw from the assessment and mapping currently happening in Haiti. Once emergency processes are met and condition are stabilized, we will be requesting in-kind contributions.
We are encouraging our community to give to their Haiti Disaster Relief Fund, knowing that it is going to meet needs wisely. You can give online right now, or bring a special offering to our worship gathering tonight which will go directly to this fund.
-
Jesus on Prayer, Part 5
This is the final exercise for our week of looking at what Jesus taught about prayer. Read Mark 9:14-29.
There is an inherent sadness in this account, it seems. Demonic forces are causing horrible suffering to a boy and his family, and the disciples are unable to do anything about it. In his commentary on Mark, William Lane remarks that this scene “exhibits the disaster which occurs when men from whom the power of faith may be expected are proven to be void of power when it is needed.” The disciples were “void of power,” unable to drive out the demon, unable to join God in his kingdom work in this instance.
-
Jesus on Prayer, Part 4
Take a few moments and read Luke 18:1-8.
Sometimes people are taken aback that Jesus compares God to a disrespectful, unjust judge. But the point of parables is never one-to-one correspondence. The point Jesus is trying to make is spelled out pretty explicitly by Luke in the first verse: “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Thanks Luke! That’s really helpful.
-
Jesus on Prayer, Part 3
(This exercise was written by Jason Coker as part of our prayer journey with Ikon Community.)
There comes a time in every kind of training when your body hits the wall. It doesn’t matter how bad you want it on the inside, you just can’t keep going. This is one of the best examples of how our spirits and our bodies are intimately connected.
Jesus’ best friends had this problem at the worst possible time. At the cusp of his betrayal, public shame, and impending death sentence, Jesus took his closest partners on the greatest revolution of man and headed into the grove of olive trees at the garden of gethsemane for one reason: to pray. Jesus was on the verge of personal breakdown, beseeching God to change the course of history – if possible – and sweating blood in anxiety. He asked Peter, James, and John, his closest friends, to pray.
-
Jesus on Prayer, Part 2
(This exercise was written by Jason Coker as part of our prayer journey with Ikon Community.)
Later in the Sermon on the Mount – after his words about not praying like the hypocrites and even after the famous Lord’s Prayer – Jesus revisits the heart of prayer with these words:
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks find; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Matt 7:7-8).
Here Jesus teaches another fundamental principle of faith: simply ask. As Ben pointed out yesterday, this stood in sharp contrast to popular opinion that the gods could be constrained by an effluence of fancy words. Some people today apparently still believe that.
-
Jesus on Prayer, Part 1
Our series on prayer began last week by focusing on the Lord’s Prayer. This week we will be looking at several passages from the gospels where Jesus teaches about prayer. Today we start with a look at Matthew 6:5-8. Take some time to read the passage slowly and carefully, jotting down any thoughts or questions you have. Then continue on to read the rest of this post and do the prayer exercise at the end.
-
Identity and Vocation (Epiphany 1: Baptism of Christ)
A sermon on the baptism of Christ by Ben Sternke at Christ Church’s worship gathering on the first Sunday of Epiphany (January 10, 2010), from Isaiah 43:1-7 and Luke 3:15-21.
-
Lord’s Prayer, Part 5
The last part of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray is as follows (Mt 6:13):
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.These two phrases are asking that we not be put through trials. Which, at first glance, seems kind of selfish doesn’t it? But it is simply a stance of humility.
Of course God doesn’t tempt people. It’s our own selfish desires and the interference of the enemy that tempt us and take us far from God’s grace. What we are praying for here is that we be kept as far from temptation as possible. This is because we recognize that we are weak and not very confident in our ability to resist temptation. We’re all recovering sinners, so much like a recovering alcoholic isn’t wise to wander into bars to “test” her resolve, it’s best for us to stay as far away as possible from the things that draw us into sin. We are voting “no confidence” in our ability to resist temptation, and asking God to keep us away from it.