As Christians it’s common to think we’re not allowed to pray for ourselves and, even worse, we sometimes think our prayers are always supposed to be upbeat, thankful and grateful.

David knew better. He understood that prayer is supposed to be a raw form of communication with God, stripped of all pretense, and accordingly, he made good use of the ancient Jewish practice of lament. Consider Psalm 6:

¹O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.

² Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

³ My soul is in anguish.
How long, O LORD, how long?

⁴ Turn, O LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.

⁵ No one remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises you from the grave?

⁶ I am worn out from groaning;
all night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.

⁷ My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.

⁸ Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.

⁹ The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.

¹⁰ All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;
they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

This is a classic prayer of lament. It taps into a tradition of that goes deeper than mere cathartic self-expression, rather it dares to remind Yahweh of his own oligation to be faithful. Old Testament scholar Walter Bruggeman notes:

“As doxology celebrates the peculiar character of Yahweh as faithful, so complaints [or lament] insists upon Yahweh’s faithfulness and protest against Yahweh’s refusal to be visibly and effectively faithful.”

Lament gives a necessary voice to the pent-up frustration of a world gone mad, or the exhaustion of a life lived in senseless trial and suffering. Against such atrocities as war, exploitation, slavery, and rape the reverent prayer of assent (”thy will be done”) is often an affront to the God whose main attribute is hesed, or “lovingkindness.” Unto a God who claims to be the source of extravagant mercy, grace, and love, only a passionate plea for vindication is appropriate in certain circumstances.

These are bold and courageous prayers, the kind that take chances and risk disappointment, but which acknowledge the the Old Testament God who is moved by reminders of his own character and covenant promises.

Prayer Exercise
What do you need to lament? Set aside enough time alone to pray through the frustrations you have using Psalm 6 as a outline and touch-point, much like we’ve learned to do with the Lord’s prayer.

Our final week of the prayer series will focus on learning to pray from the Psalms.

Today, read Psalm 19.

This psalm is a celebration of a God who speaks in both the skies (1-6) and the Scriptures (7-14). Most of us today can get our heads around the fact that God speaks through creation. But I would be surprised if many of us could really relate to David’s breathless praise for the Bible in these verses. More precious than gold? Sweeter than honey? Really?

Maybe you can relate to John Bunyan, who seemed to have had a kind of bi-polar relationship with Scripture: “Sometimes there has been more in a line of Scripture than I could bear to stand under. Other times, the Bible has been to me as dry as a stick.” It’s good to know we’re in good company when we find the Bible boring, dry, uninteresting, and hard to read. It’s a common experience.

But we shouldn’t become apathetic about it, either. If prayer is a two-way conversation with God about what we are doing together, then the Scriptures are a critical part of it, because they make up the main part of God’s side of the conversation! I want to be moving toward a place where I can pray Psalm 19 with David and deeply mean every word of it.

Prayer exercise
This exercise is taken from God’s Prayer Book, by Ben Patterson (an excellent resource on learning to pray the Psalms, by the way).

Read the following sections of Psalm 19 again do the exercises:

• Ask yourself, How would I act if I believed there is treasure hidden in the Bible? If you had in your hands a map showing you where you could find great material treasure, wouldn’t you apply yourself diligently to crack any code or language and overcome any mountain, weather, or foe to find the treasure?
• Now turn your face heavenward. Open your mouth to the Lord and say, “Lord, let me taste the sweetness of your Word.”

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. (12-13)

• Ask yourself, Do I really expect, or want, to meet God when I read the Bible? “It’s not what I don’t understand in the Bible that worries me,” wrote Mark Twain. “It’s what I do understand.” If you need to, confess your apathy toward the Bible. Perhaps it is a smoke screen to hid your fear of exposure.
• Look at the words David uses for the power and deceit of sin: lurking, hidden, deliberate–all controlling your will and desires. Cry out to God, “Don’t let them do this to me!”

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (14)

• Ask the Lord to so fill you with the purity and sweetness of his law (like fine gold and honey) that your interior life will be transformed, that your every thought will reflect his character.

Just when we’re getting friendly with the idea of depending on God for bread, Jesus crosses into terribly dangerous territory:

Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

We tend to trip over these words because we’re fond of speaking about forgiveness as the “free” gift of God. We can’t earn our pardon, or purchase the grace that pulsates through God’s heart.

If only it were that easy.

Jesus teaches that forgiveness must be given in order to be received – and that doesn’t mean we’re buying our forgiveness. When we give our seeds to the soil hoping to receive a crop we aren’t purchasing a harvest, we’re participating in it. When we plow the dirt, or weed and water the crops, we aren’t earning life, we’re submitting to it.

The difference is control.

The stuff we earn belongs to us and the property we buy is private – we control its movement. We’d prefer to think the same is true of gifts like forgiveness. Once we have it, it’s ours to keep. But forgiveness can’t be owned because it isn’t a badge or a boundary – it’s a substance for carrying life, like water for the crops or blood in the body. If we don’t send it out it can’t nourish, and eventually everything withers – including us. We must give in order to receive, we must die in order to live, we must forgive in order to be forgiven.

And that takes faith.

Prayer Exercise
Set aside 15-20 minutes where you won’t be interrupted. Start by reading a favorite Psalm, singing a favorite song, or repeating the petition above from the Lord’s prayer.

After you feel centered, stop and consider “forgiveness” in your life. What are the withering relationships at home, at work, with friends? Pray for each situation, asking God to show you what forgiveness and reconciliation would look like in each situation. Imagine what actions, if any, you may need to take.

(This study was written by Ben Sternke as part of our prayer journey with Christ Church, Fort Wayne)

Today we continue our week of focusing on the Lord’s Prayer by heading into the third petition of the prayer, found in Matthew 6:11

“Give us today out daily bread”

As we pray for God’s name to be hallowed and for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, we pray this simple petition; that God would grant us our “daily bread,” which refers to everything we need for day-to-day life. It’s an image that hearkens back to God’s provision for the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings, providing manna to eat and sustaining their clothing so it didn’t wear out.

It’s a very simple request that we would be given what we need to continue to join with God in bringing his kingdom on earth.

This is the way children do it, isn’t it? If I discovered that my children were saving up scraps of leftover food in their beds, just in case we ran out, I’d have reason to be alarmed. A child in a healthy family trusts her parents to provide day by day. My children don’t fret over how much food is in the cupboards or monitor our supply of milk. They don’t ask for a box of crackers so they can spread them out over a week; they simply ask for a snack when they are hungry. This is as it should be.

Jesus teaches us to pray in the same way: asking for the things we need for today. Food and clothing, yes, but also for spiritual strength, emotional stability, grace to make it through another moment. Graham Cooke says there’s no such thing as good days or bad days, only days of grace. Sometimes you receive grace to enjoy the day. Other times you receive grace to endure the day. But either way, we pray for and receive the “daily bread” of God’s provision and grace day by day.

Prayer Exercise
Spend some time slowly reading through Philippians 4:6-7:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

• Then, turn your attention and focus to God. Still yourself and become aware of his presence with you. Then work through the following exercise, based on an old Quaker prayer exercise:
• Start with your palms facing up, and let those things you are worrying about come into your mind.
• One by one, speak out those worries and imagine them filling up in your hands.
• Then, turn your hands over so your palms are facing down, releasing those situations and worries into God’s hands.
• Then present your requests to God – ask God for “daily bread” for each situation, each worry.
• After you have released your worries and prayed for provision, wait for the promised peace of God and rest in his presence.

This week we’ll pray through the Lord’s prayer as an outline, one line at a time. Today, read the first line, verse in Matthew 6:9:

“Our Father, in Heaven,
Hallowed be your name.”

Think about each word and what it teaches you as you pray it.

“Our Father”
Jesus calls God his father, an unusually intimate term for his culture. What does “father” mean to you? What would it mean for you to see God as a good father in your life? How does this affect your concept of God?

“In Heaven”
Jesus didn’t mean Heaven the way we tend to think of it – as a distant cosmic place. Rather, Heaven was the realm of power in which God was fully in charge; Jesus, and all of the Old Testament scriptures, depicted heaven as the place where God’s rule and reign were unspoiled and uninterrupted by sin, disease, violence, and death. God occasionally broke into the present earthly realm, but he lived and worked from heaven. Given this, what does the concept of God being from heaven mean to you?

“Hallowed be your name”
Hallowed means to revere or honor. In the culture of the ancient near east where Jesus and the other Jews lived a person’s name was more powerful and meaningful than it is to modern Western societies. A person’s name was their identity. It reflected their character and purpose. Likewise, the name of God throughout scripture reflects His character and purpose. There are many names for God in the Old Testament, and each depicts, in some way, his divine character as witnessed by the ancient Hebrews. Here are a few:

• YHWH-Yireh — “The LORD will provide” (Genesis 22:13-14)
• YHWH-Rapha — “The LORD that healeth” (Exodus 15:26)
• YHWH-Niss”i — “The LORD our Banner” (Exodus 17:8-15)
• YHWH-Shalom — “The LORD our Peace” (Judges 6:24)
• YHWH-Ro’i — “The LORD my Shepherd” (Psalm 23:1)
• YHWH-Tsidkenu — “The LORD our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6)
• YHWH-Shammah — “The LORD is present” (Ezekiel 48:35)

Prayer Exercise:
Find a quiet place to pray, uninterrupted for 20-30 minutes. Begin by addressing God as your father, then pray through some of these names of God listed above, asking God to be your “provider,” your “healer,” your “peace,” etc. Pause with each one as consider what this might look like in your life and pray for the specific situations that come to mind. Thank God for the ways in which He has already acted in this way for you.

Afterward, share a bit of your experiences in the comments below. Was this a good exercise? Was it easy or difficult? What did you experience?

Merry Christmas! For this important day we have two readings to go along with the lighting of the Christ candle:

Isaiah 9:1-7

¹ Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-

² The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

³ You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

⁴ For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

⁵ Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.

⁶ For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Luke 2:1-14

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register.

⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Daily Advent Reading, #25

• Adults & Kids: Matthew 25:31-46

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Daily Advent Reading, #23

• Adults & Kids: Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²²“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

²³“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. ²⁹For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Daily Advent Reading #22

• Adults & Kids: Matthew 25:1-13

¹“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹” ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹“Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

¹²“But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’

¹³“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Daily Advent Reading, #21

• Adults: Matthew 24:30-51
• Kids: Matthew 24:42-44

³⁰“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³²“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁴I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

³⁶“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

⁴²“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.