Day 2: Prayer: Does Prayer Matter?

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

May the LORD answer you when you are in distress, may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. Psalm 20:1 (NIV)

Jesus who spoke worlds into existence – felt the need to pray. He devoted equal time to prayer as to caring for people. A Jew, with a history of tragedy and seemingly unanswered prayers for salvation, they stubbornly believed that God was loving, mighty, and powerful, and still listened to their prayers; believing that someday He would respond.

Jesus claimed to be that response – the fulfillment of the Messiah. Jesus was the face of God that shows me how God feels and reacts to my needs. He showed compassion to the widow whose son died, gentle love to children, unconditional love to the outcast woman who was bleeding, and even the hated centurion had His attention to heal his ill servant.

Jesus spoke of God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Was He reminding us of the difference between where we now live and the heaven where there is no evil or suffering – even death is defeated?

Jesus encourages me to cling to prayer to find the guidance and the strength I need to know and do the Father’s will. Even though Jesus gave me no supernatural proof of prayer’s effectiveness, the fact that He did it is all I need to count its worth. He said, “Ask and you will receive.” When His disciples failed to heal the boy, Jesus said, it was lack of prayer. Jesus taught by example. He taught me to pray.

Even as I write this the ‘stuff’ of my world swirls around in my head. In prayer, the world and it’s distractions and deceptions are sifted out and I am left with the truth of what the day is and what it is not. When decisions come, I trust in God’s Spirit to speak to me and to Henry and lead us in His way. When I cannot see with my physical eyes and logic and reason are unable to bring me to conclusions, it is in prayer that God shows the answers and the faith to follow Him.

The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?…

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple…

Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me…

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:1, 4, 10, 14 (NIV)

Prayer matters.

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Day 1: Prayer: What is the point?

Posted on March 29, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. Psalm 86:6 (NIV)

I am going to be writing about prayer this week. I’ve been doing a lot of it lately.

Day 1: What is the point?

Does God intervene in my daily life?

Are His promises made just to grow me spiritually on how I respond to events and not actually change the events themselves?

If God has plans and knows our needs, why should I spend hours trying to change His mind?

Why pray? Because Jesus did.

Jesus prayed in times of trouble. He prayed for 40 days in the desert, went through torturous temptation from Satan, and then began His ministry. He prayed such in Garden Gethsemane as to produce sweat like blood! He prayed on the cross. He knew what it felt like to receive no answer to his cries.

Jesus prayed about the common things in life – but not trivial stuff. In Matthew 6 (the Lord’s prayer) he spoke of food enough for each day, temptation, and broken relationships.

Jesus prayed as a spiritual recharging. He is shown in gospels to ‘go away’ to ‘solitary places’, the mountains, and gardens to pray or have conversations with the Father.

Jesus’ prayers seem very intense around key event sin His life: He was baptized after 40 days of prayer. He prayed all night before choosing the twelve disciples. He drew apart just before the Transfiguration. John 17 gives Jesus’ longest and most intense prayer just before He died.

Prayer is not about telling God things He does not know. It is not telling God things He has forgotten. God already cares for the things that I pray about. Maybe He was just waiting for me to care about them with Him. When I am praying, I am there with God looking at these people or the situations and have the opportunity to look from His perspective. When I am praying, I lift my eyes to God and, like talking with close friends, I can speak freely, knowing I will not be judged on content but given a safe place to ‘tell all’ and still be loved.

Hear my prayer, O LORD: let my cry for help come to you.

Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress.

Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. Psalm 102:1-2 (NIV)

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2 (NIV)

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For Those who are Tired

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

My paraphrase of Matthew 11:28-30

“Hey! Hey, You! Yes, the one who is exhausted from standing on your feet for ten hours! You, the one who has a job and also a family that needs your care for another ten hours after the job. And you, over there. You are taking care of your sick parent. Doing all those extra errands and making sure they have all the love that they gave you (or maybe they didn’t). You who care for those that no one else will. You over there. You pray for so many who may never know – but you call on my Name and I hear and answer. Come to me – all of you – and I will give you the rest you need. I will take your burdens and exchange them for the burden that I do want you to carry. Learn from me. Here I am, totally human and yet totally God. Learn from me how to be humble and rely on God for your strength. Be a servant like me. You will find out that your shoulders won’t hurt and your head won’t ache and your heart will not be heavy when you rely on me and rest in me. When you wake up and take up only cares that I give you, you will find our joining easy and the cares seem light.”

I went to work yesterday and three people remarked that I looked “lighter”. I should not have been surprised at that because I had a ‘God-breakthrough’ last night. I laid down on my bed, plumped the pillows around, pulled the quilt over myself, and laid my head down. And sighed. And the picture of laying my head on Jesus’ lap came into my mind. And then I just – briefly – laid all the ‘stuff’ of my day down. It felt like Jesus gently stroked my head. I fell asleep. When I woke up this morning, my first thought was how well I felt. My morning conversation with God was about what He wanted me to do today. Yes, it was no surprise that I looked better today!

Jesus does not say that I am not to carry any burdens. He does not say that my day will be void of any burdens. He is here to walk with me through the day – yoked together – and so my cares do not become overwhelming. Whether in practical tasks or prayer, I am not to feel overburdened or overwhelmed because God wants me to release them to Him.

Jesus is calling me. Jesus is calling you. Jesus first thought in the morning or the last thought at night. Oh, to make that my routine is a recipe for a good and healthy life!

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them.” John 17:25-26 (NIV)

As you lay down tonight, receive the love of the Father.

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Bills to Pay

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

(27)  Which of you can add a single hour to his lifespan by worrying?  — Matthew 6:27

The other day I needed to pay my cell phone bill.  Now my usual procedure is to go to the carrier’s web site, put in all the relevant data and pay my bill.  This can take as little as a couple of minutes, and with Murphy’s law in full swing it shouldn’t take more than five.

Well, things didn’t work that way.  I got all the information entered, but in order to confirm the payment I have to retype my password.  I did, pressed the “finish” button, and it immediately came up saying “Wrong password.”  Now that was the password I had signed into their site with, so it had to work, didn’t it?  I tried again.  “Wrong password.”  I changed my password and confirmed it.  “Wrong password.”  No way was I going to get to pay the cell phone bill.

By now I’m muttering imprecations at the computer which is performing clearly impossible and also hopeless stupid acts.  I am angry with the company’s customer service department and all of their web developers who should have made this work correctly every time.

I got on the phone and quickly got stuck in one of those machine loops—you know the type.  You want to talk to a human, but you’re in some kind of universe in which the word “human” has no meaning.  You’re not in Kansas (or Florida) any more.  “Invalid input” announces the telephone.  Finally I punch enough keys and it hangs up on me, so I have to try again.

Now I get into the “elevator music” universe.  This is that special universe in which people play music that was invented to annoy callers and you suspect no real person ever listened to, while simultaneously telling you there are no customer service representatives available and that your call is very important to them—a contradiction if I ever heard one.

As it gets closer and closer to the time for that poor customer service representative to come on the line, you know, the one who is going to have to hear me explain the facts of life, the universe, and everything, the thought suddenly breaks through my very annoyed mind:  The person who answers the phone has nothing whatsoever to do with you being frustrated!

I let myself calm down, and easily made my payment via the phone.

Now what does this have to do with worrying?  Worrying is a waste of our time and our mental energy.  As Jesus pointed out, it doesn’t accomplish anything.  It doesn’t produce money to pay the bills.  It doesn’t make the car run or your boss like you.  It doesn’t do a thing except occupy time and waste your energy.  Similarly, anger and frustration simply waste time.

Each of these things has a good counterpart.  Worry’s counterpart is wisdom and good planning.  There are good and bad types of anger.  Anger that focuses you on an appropriate task and an appropriate target for an appropriate reason can help you act quickly and effectively.

But Jesus is pointing out that we can waste our energy accomplishing nothing, just as all the anger I expended on my phone and my computer, though fortunately not on the very nice customer service representative, didn’t accomplish a thing.

Perhaps if we focus our thoughts and emotions on things of the kingdom, we will find ourselves accomplishing much more.

(8)  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is righteous, whatever is lovely, whatever gives a good report, if there is any virtue or any praise, think on these things. — Philippians 4:8

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Steps of Faith

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. SO there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:15-16 (NIV)

Elijah, like most prophets, spoke God’s word when there was no evidence to support the word. He lived his life by faith not by sight! I have heard the argument that it was easier to live by faith “back then” because there was not the technology or the known information as we have now. (Give me a break!) How arrogant to think that we know so much now! Frankly, the older I get, the more I read, the more I know that I don’t know!

You may never read this next statement again in one of these devotions: Pick up a newspaper or go to a news website. Scan the headlines. Do you come away feeling ‘worried’? ‘Concerned’? ‘Confused’? ‘Mad’? ‘Frustrated’? ‘Uncertain’? Now is the time to live by faith, not by sight! (2 Corinthians 5:7)

God gave me many gifts. He gave me a brain to read and discern. He blessed me with a wise husband and friends. I also have smart children. But the headlines and world events are far-reaching and teams of experts argue about what is best. To make business and personal decisions in this economy I need Someone with eyes that can see farther than me or the experts! I need Someone who is wiser than me or the experts. I need God.

I am blessed to have a husband who thinks it is ‘normal’ to pray before we discuss decisions and make the decision. No matter how seemingly obvious or complicated a situation…praying first brings that peace that we have consulted the wisest and are seeking His plan for our lives in all aspects. It is wonderful when God confirms the answer through us both. That doesn’t always happen. Sometimes when God speaks His word to Henry, it is because we have that covenant relationship that I have peace about trusting Henry and God. Our relationship is a daily walk, personally and together, to keep us all on the same path.

In Jesus’ words on the mountain (Matthew 5-7), He tells me that I must choose who I will serve. Once I have made that decision – then don’t worry about my life. He will take care of my needs. I am to look for my life in His kingdom and desire a relationship with Him above all else and everything else will be handled by Him.

If you do not have a Wednesday Bible study or service to attend, take 30 minutes and read those three chapters in Matthew. Strengthen your steps of faith.

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In the Quiet Place

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret , will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:5-8 (NIV)

Jesus’ words must have been very interesting to those who were listening.

The word ‘hypocrites’ in this case were the church leaders. They were the ones who made sure everyone saw their praying – very public and usually very loud and long! “Don’t do that!” Jesus says. “If you do, you will receive all you are going to receive in that moment!”

Jesus says to go into your room (KJV says ‘closet’) and shut the door and then pray. Most dwellings in those days were a single room. There may have been curtains to create a bedroom but few had actual doors. Do you think that Jesus meant we should find that private place within ourselves? Jesus certainly gave the example of going up into the mountains before dawn or late at night to find some privacy for Himself. “Get private so you can get real and the Father will see you!”

Jesus says I do not have to say many words. I do not have to explain myself. The words that I say in prayer are for my benefit – not for God’s! It seems that is why He uses the word ‘babbling’. I can say as many words as I need to in order to make it clear to myself but I do not have to keep saying words to get God’s attention or help Him understand! Chants and mantras are not God! God knows!

Prayer is conversation with God. I have one mouth and two ears so I should use them accordingly! However, in my private prayer, I have also found that whether speaking the words aloud or writing them in a journal, I can learn from God’s Spirit as the words concretely come out. I can hear/see the truth vs. emotion of what is going on. I can hear/see God sift through the words and bring the truth to me. What peace and joy floods the soul when God speaks!

It is amazing, beyond amazing, that God desires to have a relationship with me. God want s to spend time with me every day. He wants it to be more than just a passing, obligatory prayer recited from memory with no feeling. God wants me to give a prayer from my heart that speaks my true feelings. It doesn’t have to be pretty or poetic – just me, as I am.

Go ahead. Pray right now. God is waiting and listening.

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Snakes and A Savior

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

The Israelites had to go around th territory of Edom, so when they left Mount Hor, they headed south toward the Red Sea. But along the way, the people became so impatient that they complained against God and said to Moses, “Did you bring us out of Egypt, just to let us die in the desert? There’s no water out here, and we can’t stand this awful food!”

Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes that bit and killed many of them. Numbers 21:4-6 (CEV)

They complained against God but whined to Moses. The writer knew who was really under fire from the people. He knew that he was just the messenger. It is a piece of knowledge for me to know. God gets all the glory. God gets the complaints also.

On the other side of the coin, God allows the complaints. He is big enough to handle them! But there are also consequences to speaking out against God and His plan. This story is one of the examples that many could point out the ‘harsh Father’. Sending snakes to bite and kill is harsh! However, God doesn’t leave it there when the Israelites learn their lesson and repent. He gives them a ‘rescue’ and it is a pre-vision to what will come. As the Israelites are saved when they look up to the snake on the pole so all generations to come will be saved when they look to the Savior on the cross. God is not the harsh Father but a merciful, forgiving Father. He does desire that all would come to know Him.

Like the Israelites my eyes see the ‘instant’ need in my life and so I whine about food and water and miss the bigger and more important problem – I am spiritually dying! God could have given the Israelites five-course meals as easily as He gave them manna and water. God wanted His children to seek real food and praise Him for eternal life and not focus on the moment and its comfort! God was looking for obedience in the ‘little things’ so that He could lead them by obedience in the major moments.

“And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as that metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert. Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!” John 3:14-17 (CEV)

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The Simple Concept of Grace

Posted on March 20, 2009 by Henry Neufeld

8You were saved by grace through believing and trusting in God.  It didn’t come from you [not even the believing and trusting-HN].  It’s God’s gift.  9It doesn’t come from accomplishing a certain set of good works.  If it did, you could boast.  10For you are a product made by God, created in Christ Jesus for good works.  These good works are ones God prepared for us ahead of time so we could make them our lifestyle. — Ephesians 2:8-10 (My paraphrase and annotation)

[This is Henry]

I believe that grace is a rather simple concept, and our passage today expresses it very clearly.  I have paraphrased it, but I’d suggest reading it in a couple of other translations if you have time.  I particularly like the NLT.

Now please don’t misunderstand me.  I don’t mean that I find the concept of grace easy to accept and live with.  I don’t.  The problem with being a recipient of grace is that you don’t have any control over it.  We all like some kind of control over our own lives.  So grace is fairly simple.  It says God has this all under control.  It’s also fairly simple.  It means I’m not.

Now sometimes in the great free will arguments those of us on the Wesleyan side speak as though free will means that we receive initial salvation by grace, but then the rest of our life is a sort of horse race.  It’ nicer than a horse race, because all the horses can get a ribbon, but woe to the horse that quits running!

The problem with that view is that it doesn’t fit with grace at all.  You see, just as Paul points out that we can’t get into heaven without grace, he says that God prepares “good works” for us to do after he saves us so that we can do those good works.  In other words, God has a plan, and then God has another plan.  None of it is your plan or my plan.

We’re just the folks who have discovered the blazingly obvious.  We can’t do it.

Think of it from the point of view of creation–a point of view we consider much too rarely.  God made rocks, and they do “rock” things.  Trees do “tree” things.  Dogs do doggy things.  And people?  Well, we were created for some purpose as well.  Now I’m not here to discuss what God’s purpose was.  You can surely all fill in some things from scripture.

My point is that God didn’t have to give us any purpose whatsoever.  God didn’t have to give us dominion over the earth.  He doesn’t have to give us eternal life.  He didn’t have to make us desire to worship him.  He didn’t have to do anything.  Our very existence, our ability to discuss all of this, is a matter of grace.  Grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace all along the way, grace at the end.

But even so, God graciously created you to fill a particular place.  The rocks do rock things, trees do tree things, dogs do dog things, and people, well, we’re supposed to do “people” things, and that is those good works from Ephesians 2:10.  We really are created to be a positive force in this world, no matter how much the devil says to the contrary.

So do we live as recipients of grace?  Have you ever tried and tried to accomplish something and found that the harder you try, the worse things got?  I have, and it’s no fun.  Grace means you don’t have to try alone.  Grace means that God is there with you all the way.  Living in grace means living with God all the time.  Go ahead, ask him.  He’s been giving grace since the beginning.

There’s one other phrase that I’d like to underline, and that is “created in Christ Jesus.”  I didn’t paraphrase that one.  It’s a pretty literal translation.  It’s the sort of phrase that drives theologians to write multi-volume books.  But there are several ways to view it.  One is simply that you live your live with Jesus as you were crucified with him, made alive in him, so you live in him.

But another is to think of Christ’s body as in 1 Corinthians 12.  Grace means you don’t have to go it alone.  The particular form of God’s grace to us in the church is that it is never “me alone with God alone.”  It’s always “me in the body of Christ with God.”

As recipients of grace we have nothing of which to boast.  That also means we have no need of pride.  So living the grace filled life means I can go ask for help from my brothers and sisters in Christ.

We were all created in Christ for good works together.

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Praising the Lord…

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Psalm 146:1-2 (NIV)

I received word yesterday that a baby girl who had a cyst in her brain has been healed. Documented by medical science, this baby was facing surgery and an uncertain future. The scan showed the cyst. They went in surgically several days later and the cyst was “dried up like a prune” the surgeon said. A miracle!

Miracle stories are received with a fair amount of skepticism by most people. The usual response is to try to explain the miracle by claiming a lack of objective facts or sifting away misinformation. In this case, there is documented facts. The second reaction is a questioning of “Why doesn’t God always heal?” I don’t know. God did not physically heal my son. We prayed for this baby. We prayed for my son. God loves this baby. God loved my son. I have been asked if it’s possible that God doesn’t heal because of sin in the life of the one who is ill or the parents/family. Jesus said that wasn’t true in John 9. Sometimes Jesus did not heal because of a lack of faith. (Matthew 13:58) Other times He healed when there was no obvious faith. (Matthew 12)

I have no final answer for the skeptics. I have no final answer for myself. Here is where I ‘live’ however: He is God. I am not. His ways are not my ways. He sees with eyes I do not have. I am rejoicing today that this sweet baby has been healed. We, the world, have received a tremendous blessing in that healing. I am also rejoicing today because my son is heaven and he is whole and more than well! God has a plan in each situation. He sees the bigger picture. I hope; I pray that we are always open to see God’s plan and the opportunities that He brings. Remember that Jesus said He came to glorify the Father. I don’t always see that glory but I want to. Yes, it is sometimes easier to see it in the healing of this sweet baby. But maybe those who love this child wondered at the necessity of the illness in the first place. I pray that they have eyes and hearts to receive God’s revelation should He choose to give it. For my son, God was and continues to be glorified as we who walked this journey were given a strength and courage which could not come from within ourselves.

Today I am praising God. I will also choose to praise Him tomorrow. I will praise Him as I draw my last breath and take my first breath in heaven. That is all I know…for now.

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The Seed Dies – To Multiply!

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Jody Neufeld

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” John 12:20-28 (NIV)

The Greeks want to see Jesus. Not an uncommon request even today. I believe most people want to see Jesus. Most people want to believe in God. They want to believe in God who would care and love enough to come to earth in the flesh and live among them. Believing in sight unseen is too big a jump for most. Jesus answers the request – not instantly – but long-term.

Jesus says it was time for His purpose to be shown. Jesus says that by dying He would multiply Himself. We know that to be true. Jesus’ death and resurrection life was multiplied not just twelve times – but hundreds of times almost immediately. While we may know the twelve apostles, we also know that there were unnamed women (Acts 1:14) and in verse 15 it says the group numbered about 120. Then on Pentecost 3,000 were added to that number. If each one of them told one other person… well, do the math. John gives us his testimony of Jesus’ words that warn us that if we try to live only for ourselves we will ‘die’ spiritually as well as physically. If we give our lives, our plan away and instead choose to follow Jesus’ example and be obedient to God’s plan, then we will be a part of an eternal kingdom! While Jesus goes on to say that the path He is going to take is so hard; so horrific that He even could ask the Father to ‘save’ Him from it – it is the reason He came! Jesus knows that by dying…and multiplying … the Word will go out and the Father will be honored and praised!

How wondrous that Jesus’ plan would be to use me and you to show Him many times over and spread His Good News! Heed Jesus’ words: there will be death and there will be glory. The second comes only with the first! Be expectant today! Expect Jesus to give you an opportunity to show Him to someone else. You truly may be the only Jesus they will ever see!

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