March 4, 2008

Number 8

VIEWPOINT

“Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees,” poet William Cowper observed in the 18th century.  Over two hundred years later, nothing has changed.  The devil still is threatened when we pray.  Because of that, he seems to be scheming any number of strategies to distract, deter, deceive, or otherwise keep us from praying.

One of the enemy’s favorite ways of deterring me from praying is to keep me busy. He doesn’t care if I’m occupied with “good” things such as church, work, or family, so long as he prevents me from deeply relating to God.  So my obligation is to avoid the distractions and concentrate on the lesson of Luke 18:1. 

On the other hand, we want to keep the right nourishment in our souls as well.  Eugene Peterson has written spiritual advice called Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. Here’s his comment:  “The Scriptures, read and prayed, are our primary and normative access to God as He reveals Himself to us. The Scriptures are our listening post for learning the language of the soul, the ways God speaks to us; they also provide the vocabulary and grammar that are appropriate for us as we in our turn speak to God. Prayer detached from Scripture, from listening to God, disconnected from God’s words to us, short—circuits the relational language that is prayer.”

I look forward to seeing you Sunday with a Bible, a smile and a positive word!   RA

Praying God’s Blessing on Marriage

Protection.  Lord Jesus, You desire our marriage to last a lifetime. Protect, preserve, and sustain it. Do not allow sin, the enemy, circumstances, difficulties, or other people to separate what You have joined together.  Because God was there as a witness when you spoke your marriage vows to your young bride, and now you've broken those vows, broken the faith-bond with your vowed companion, your covenant wife. God, not you, made marriage. His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage. And what does he want from marriage? Children of God, that's what. So guard the spirit of marriage within you. Don't cheat on your spouse (Malachi 12:14-16, The Message)

Unity.  Knit our hearts together in complete unity. Teach us how to address things that hinder our relationship, and help us work through our differences with compassion and gentleness. Enable us to rejoice in and encourage each other’s strengths and gifts, and empower us through Your Spirit to overcome individual weaknesses and sins. So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it (Col. 3:12).

Love.  Father, let us always treat each other with the utmost respect. Help us speak the truth in love by honestly and openly sharing our thoughts and feelings with each other. Cause us to be kind and compassionate to each other, forgiving one another, just as You have forgiven us. Deliver us from jealousy, pride, rudeness, selfishness, and thoughtlessness. Grant us a love that always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. May our love for each other never fail.  Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you (Eph. 4:32).

Physical intimacy.  Kindle the passion between us, God. Give us a hunger for each other, and let us be satisfied with one another. Keep our union pure and holy in every way. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex (Heb. 13:4).

Wholeness.  Father, You heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds. Heal the emotional wounds that threaten to create strife in our marriage. Make us sensitive to each other’s needs, and enable us to minister to one another in areas of hurt. Burden us to pray for each other, Lord.  He heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds (Psalm 147:3).                                       – From PRAY! Magazine