Closing this blog experiment

After some reflection, I decided not to continue this blog. I found I was having some difficulty sorting out who I was talking to in the prayers. Were they for God or for my readers? It was an interesting experiment, but I think I will prefer a more "live" prayer experience. That doesn't mean I'm leaving the blogosphere, however. You can catch my new blog at http://blog.thetruthtree.com. This blog will include ideas and experiences from my pursuit of God and snipets of my writing. Thanks for the comments.

--Ben

Sending teachers

Thank you, Father, for sending me teachers. Especially when you teach me from unexpected places, through unlikely faces. Teach me to put away pride or self-importance, and learn from all the teachers in my life, big and small. May I hear your voice whether spoken from faithful friend or stranger. Teach me to listen much more than I speak.

Truly you, Jesus, are our only Rabbi. And whether you speak to us through the tender voices of children or the stretched and worn stories of grandfathers -- we are taught by you and you alone. No one explains to us who you are, because you have come close and live within us, teaching us by your indwelling Spirit. Whatever mouths you use, the prophecy is true that all your children will be taught by you.

Make us prophets

It is an amazing thing, Lord, that you make no plans without revealing them to yourt prophets [Amos 3:7]. So when you broadcast your power, your prophets cannot help but speak [3:8]. They bubble forth like a spring gushing with cold water. Who are we, that you would let us in on what you are doing? What can we do, that you call us to participate in birthing your reality in the world?

Above all, Father, thank you for insight. I praise you for opening blind eyes and shining your light on all things dark and hidden. Enlighten your children, Father. Teach us about the deep and hidden things -- how things work and why things are as they are. Give us uncommon understanding to know right from wrong, justice from injustice, love from hate, and life from destruction. Make us prophets to our times, teaching, fortelling, and judging to make the Kingdom real.

Raise us

Father, you have promised us that you will not leave us in the dust. Even if, for some hidden purpose, you caused us to fall, you will renew us. If this is a cross in our lives -- these struggles and battles we are fighting on so many fronts -- then although we may be laid in the tomb, we count on your resurrection. Raise us, Father. Though we may die as slaves, we will be raised as heirs to your Kingdom.

Long ago, while your people were taken from their homes because of their idolatry, you told them that you would restore them to their inheritance. You spoke of a day when you would poor out your own Spirit on them. They prophecy, dream, and see a different reality. For the youngest to the oldest, they would be caught up in your Spirit, in your vision. Father, continue to poor out your Spirit on us. We believe the promise is still ours. May we see your power in the hour of our powerlessness. Amen.

Prayer when the voice falls silent

Father, why is it that when we are faced with so many challenging, and even frightening things, it seems your voice falls silent. I don't believe for a second that you withdraw from us in trouble. Why would you? You're not threatened by anything, nor can your resources be exhausted. No, I believe you are an ever present hope in trouble.

Jesus you've shown us your staying power. If there is anything you came to teach us, it was the closeness of the Father to our situations. You are Immanuel, God with us, an incarnation manifesting the God of the Heavens in our reality. How could I ever think that you've left us or refuse to talk with your people?

But still there is this silence. Have I fallen deaf? Have I plugged my ears? Perhaps, in impatience, I've tuned you out to look for our own solutions. Whatever the case, Father, we need you to break though and speak -- to make yourself known. We need, more than our own solutions, to feel your closeness. Amen.

We are a bride

Your people are you bride, Father. There is nothing more scandalous or more beautiful about our faith. We are not destined to grovel as your slaves. Our fate is much more than that. You want us for your intimate companion, your deepest friend, your life partner. It is your intention to bring us to live with you, to enjoy life together, to know each other to the point that all distinctions blur into light.

But even though this is our destiny, we are adulterous. Always, our hearts are running after other things. We would do almost anything not to depend on you because on mistrusting hearts think faith in you is bondage. And so we dirty ourselves with lesser loves, and corrupt every bit of us with thin living, compromise, and disfunction.

Amazingly, you do not abandon us. No, Lord, you come looking for us. You lead us out into the dessert, far from our addictions, and speak tenderly to us, winning us over. You cleanse us and make us pure again. And what is more, you swear to love us forever, despite the risk and our past history. Though we are sluts and hookers, you make us into your spouse and restore to us a Kingdom we do not deserve and have never dream of.

What could be great than a God like you? You would endure shame, ridicule, and the pain of our waywardness. But, like a man made a fool for love, you persist because your grace is really that strong.

Fight the darkness

Lately I have witnessed the great battle going on around us. It is not the corny stuff of novels or comic books, but very real and very deadly. People are consumed daily by a menacing darkness, but it is not the work of a magician or some sinister conspiracy. The darkness eminates from each one of us. We are the perpatrators. We are the monsters. We are the ones that plunge lives into pain and our world into shadow.

How can we fight the darkness, Lord? What weapons do you give us in this fight. Can we believe that hope, faith, and love are enough? What armor are we given to protect ourselves from all this evil?

I do not know these answers yet, and I do not think they will come quickly. I think you have told me that they lie along the long journey in the footsteps of Jesus. It is not that we are victorious, though we are. It is not that the world is changed, though it is. It is that we follow this road that through its difficulty transforms us into the likeness of our Lord and Brother.