Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It was good to have some solitude time in the office before my coworkers came back… a time to reflect on what the Lord has been doing in my life, and how He wants to use me in days ahead. Besides work, I have a lot to catch up in my study. The ministry was so overwhelming in the last six weeks plus jetlag adjustment…I was not in the mood to work on my school assignments which are due in a month. Pray that I could calm down, refocus and find time to work on my papers during my teaching trip in China.
This morning, I chose to look at Peterson’s sharing on “anger” management in the light of Jonah’s story. Quarreling with God is a time-honored biblical practice: Moses, Job, David, and Apostle Peter were all masters at it. It is a practice in which men and women in ministry have much practice. We get a lot of practice in this because we are dealing with God in some way or other most of the time, and God doesn’t behave the way we expect.
Jonah is quarreling because he has been surprised by grace. He is so taken aback that he is disagreeable about it. His idea of what God is supposed to do and what God in tact does differ radically. Jonan sulks. Jonah is angry. The word anger occurs six times in this final chapter.
Anger is most useful as a diagnostic tool. When anger erupts in us, it is a signal that something is wrong. Something isn’t working right. There is evil or incompetence or stupidity lurking about. Anger is our sixth sense for sniffing out wrong in the neighborhood. Diagnostically it is virtually infallible, and we learn to trust it. Anger is infused by a moral/spiritual intensity that carries conviction: when we are angry, we know we are on to something that matters, that really counts. When God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah shot back, “I do well to be angry, angry enough to die” [Jonah 4:9].
What anger fails to do, though, is tell us whether the wrong is outside or inside us. We usually begin by assuming that the wrong is outside us—our spouse or our child or our God has done something wrong, and we are angry. That is what Jonah did, and he quarreled with God. But when we track the anger carefully we often find it leads to a wrong within us—wrong information, inadequate understanding, underdeveloped heart. If we admit and face that, we are pulled out of our quarrel with God into something large and vocational in God. Apostle Paul said, “Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life” (Eph 4:26-27).
It takes a self-reflective person to discern what anger implies. God designs “anger” as a device to detect problem inside us. It is like what a red engine light does in our car. When this light is on, it tells you a problem needs to be fixed in your engine. But if the driver chose to believe it was outside factor that triggered the light, then the engine might eventually died down or fatal accident might occur. Anger, therefore, calls for introspection, and the focus should be more on examining the reason of your reaction than the stimulation. Of course, there are times when we react in anger too fast that it is too late to reflect, regret or remorse because a damage is already done. But we still need to examine the cause of our anger in order to prevent future reaction and heal the wound. It is always easier to make a decision not to react in anger before it flares up. That’s why Apostle James advised us, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:19-20). Let’s watch out and pray for each other on anger management…
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Showing posts with label meditate in office with Eugene Peterson's book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meditate in office with Eugene Peterson's book. Show all posts
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Devotional 150410
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The traffic was sluggish but my heart was filled with the joy of His presence. “What a gorgeous day!” I said to myself. When my heart was filled with the spirit of thanksgiving and praise, it drove away negativism and complains. Yes the traffic was still slow, impatient drivers still cut in front of you. They might give you a mean look as they past by. But they could not take away the joy of the presence of God. You could even wave back and said, “Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question, ‘Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?’ has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:15-16 The Message).
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Go away from me, you evildoers!' (Matt 7:22-23) Christian spirituality is not impressed with the supernatural. Supernatural is neither here nor there for those of us who are standing at Square One, getting ourselves oriented, coming to terms with our human finitude, getting a glimpse of God’s infinitude.
We are immersed in a world of Spirit, and so why wouldn’t we have spiritual experience? But such experience does not confer authority upon our counsel or our character. The return to Square One is not only a return to God, but to God Said. For not only is there God, there is God’s Word.
Christian spirituality does not begin with us talking about our experience; it begins with listening to God call us, heal us, forgive us.
This is hard to get into our heads. We talk habitually to ourselves and about ourselves. We don’t listen. If we do listen to each other is almost always with the purpose of getting something we can use in our turn. Much of our listening is a form of politeness, courteously waiting our turn to talk about ourselves. But in relation to God especially we must break the habit and let him speak to us. God not only is; God says.
Christian spirituality, in addition to being an attentive spirituality, is a listening spirituality. This is the area that we are weak in. We are too eager to talk or assert ourselves. We want to show others how spiritual we are. We want to demonstrate to the world that we have power like god. We want to be in control. We desire to be served and listened to. We want to be esteemed as being in, being right, being good, being insightful, being welcomed and being the authority. This is the temptation since day one. And Satan can still use it to detour us from the Truth.
Many found the truth but not necessarily grew in the truth. The more you we grow in the truth, the more we realize how little we know about the truth. In another word, the more knowledgeable a person is in spirituality, the more he or she is humbled by the Spirit. God will only reveal more to those who are humble and meek. The more we stand before God with an open heart to listen, the more we are ready to put down our agenda and assumption to listen to others. Your spiritual habit will affect your interpersonal habit and vice versa. The more we experience the unconditional love of God in Square One, the more we can love others unconditionally. Just as Apostle John said, “if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us…If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:12, 20).
For some of you who would like to pray for our missionaries, I will post one mission field on Facebook on every Wednesday for you to learn more about our missionaries there and how you can pray for them. Check out GOI on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/GOI-shen-zhou-hua-chuan/116618455019750?ref=ts
Love you because I love Jesus,
Lawrence
Good morning. The traffic was sluggish but my heart was filled with the joy of His presence. “What a gorgeous day!” I said to myself. When my heart was filled with the spirit of thanksgiving and praise, it drove away negativism and complains. Yes the traffic was still slow, impatient drivers still cut in front of you. They might give you a mean look as they past by. But they could not take away the joy of the presence of God. You could even wave back and said, “Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question, ‘Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?’ has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:15-16 The Message).
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Go away from me, you evildoers!' (Matt 7:22-23) Christian spirituality is not impressed with the supernatural. Supernatural is neither here nor there for those of us who are standing at Square One, getting ourselves oriented, coming to terms with our human finitude, getting a glimpse of God’s infinitude.
We are immersed in a world of Spirit, and so why wouldn’t we have spiritual experience? But such experience does not confer authority upon our counsel or our character. The return to Square One is not only a return to God, but to God Said. For not only is there God, there is God’s Word.
Christian spirituality does not begin with us talking about our experience; it begins with listening to God call us, heal us, forgive us.
This is hard to get into our heads. We talk habitually to ourselves and about ourselves. We don’t listen. If we do listen to each other is almost always with the purpose of getting something we can use in our turn. Much of our listening is a form of politeness, courteously waiting our turn to talk about ourselves. But in relation to God especially we must break the habit and let him speak to us. God not only is; God says.
Christian spirituality, in addition to being an attentive spirituality, is a listening spirituality. This is the area that we are weak in. We are too eager to talk or assert ourselves. We want to show others how spiritual we are. We want to demonstrate to the world that we have power like god. We want to be in control. We desire to be served and listened to. We want to be esteemed as being in, being right, being good, being insightful, being welcomed and being the authority. This is the temptation since day one. And Satan can still use it to detour us from the Truth.
Many found the truth but not necessarily grew in the truth. The more you we grow in the truth, the more we realize how little we know about the truth. In another word, the more knowledgeable a person is in spirituality, the more he or she is humbled by the Spirit. God will only reveal more to those who are humble and meek. The more we stand before God with an open heart to listen, the more we are ready to put down our agenda and assumption to listen to others. Your spiritual habit will affect your interpersonal habit and vice versa. The more we experience the unconditional love of God in Square One, the more we can love others unconditionally. Just as Apostle John said, “if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us…If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:12, 20).
For some of you who would like to pray for our missionaries, I will post one mission field on Facebook on every Wednesday for you to learn more about our missionaries there and how you can pray for them. Check out GOI on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/GOI-shen-zhou-hua-chuan/116618455019750?ref=ts
Love you because I love Jesus,
Lawrence
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Devotional 080410
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The Nature proclaims His glory. Indeed, the beauty of Nature describes the beauty of God’s attributes. What a creative God He is! In no way we can fully fathom His creativity. We can only discover His greatness and creativity a little bit more each day. Our lives on earth are preparation to spend eternity with Him in discovering the greatness of our God, who also cares enough to listen to our insignificant prayers.
(Rev. 8:1): God listens. Everything we say, every groan, every murmur, and every stammering attempt at prayer: all this is listened to. All heaven quiets down. The loud angel voices, the piercing trumpet messages, the thundering throne songs are stilled while God listens “Hush, hush, whisper who dares? Loretta Fung is saying her prayers.” The prayer of the faithful must be heard: the spontaneous hallelujahs, the solemn amens, the desperate “Why hast Thou forsaken me?” the agonized “Take this cup from me,” the tempered “Nevertheless not my will but your will,” the faithfully spoken, “Our Father who art in heaven,” the joyful “Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created.”
All the psalms, said and sung for centuries in voices energetic, subdued, angry, and serene are now heard – heard personally, carefully, accurately. God silences the elders and the angels. Not one of our words is lost in a wind tunnel of gossips or drowned in a cataract of the world’s noise. “The distinctive feature of early Christian prayer is the certainty of being heard.” We are listened to. We realize dignity. Dramatic changes take place in these moments of silence. The world rights itself. We perceive reality from the vantage point of God’s saving work and not from the chaos of desperate confusion. We acquire hope from our living God who cares and listens. Remember. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all – all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help (Hebrews 4:15-16, The Message).
God is listening to our prayers. We may be too busy to interact with God, but He is always ready to listen. We may be too lazy to read His word, but He is always ready to give us guidance and grace. This is the teaching of the Bible. This is the reassurance of the Holy Spirit who utters His words to our soul, “you are my child, whom I love; with whom I am well pleased” (borrow from Matthew 3:17). Our obedience to be is as important as our obedience to do. God wants us to be His beloved children who desire to do His will by entering into union with Him on a daily basis, just as He is in union with His Son and the Holy Spirit. It’s time to take a prayer break in seeking Him through contemplative prayer – watch, listen, read and then pray.
Love you because He first loves us,
Lawrence
Good morning. The Nature proclaims His glory. Indeed, the beauty of Nature describes the beauty of God’s attributes. What a creative God He is! In no way we can fully fathom His creativity. We can only discover His greatness and creativity a little bit more each day. Our lives on earth are preparation to spend eternity with Him in discovering the greatness of our God, who also cares enough to listen to our insignificant prayers.
(Rev. 8:1): God listens. Everything we say, every groan, every murmur, and every stammering attempt at prayer: all this is listened to. All heaven quiets down. The loud angel voices, the piercing trumpet messages, the thundering throne songs are stilled while God listens “Hush, hush, whisper who dares? Loretta Fung is saying her prayers.” The prayer of the faithful must be heard: the spontaneous hallelujahs, the solemn amens, the desperate “Why hast Thou forsaken me?” the agonized “Take this cup from me,” the tempered “Nevertheless not my will but your will,” the faithfully spoken, “Our Father who art in heaven,” the joyful “Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created.”
All the psalms, said and sung for centuries in voices energetic, subdued, angry, and serene are now heard – heard personally, carefully, accurately. God silences the elders and the angels. Not one of our words is lost in a wind tunnel of gossips or drowned in a cataract of the world’s noise. “The distinctive feature of early Christian prayer is the certainty of being heard.” We are listened to. We realize dignity. Dramatic changes take place in these moments of silence. The world rights itself. We perceive reality from the vantage point of God’s saving work and not from the chaos of desperate confusion. We acquire hope from our living God who cares and listens. Remember. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all – all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help (Hebrews 4:15-16, The Message).
God is listening to our prayers. We may be too busy to interact with God, but He is always ready to listen. We may be too lazy to read His word, but He is always ready to give us guidance and grace. This is the teaching of the Bible. This is the reassurance of the Holy Spirit who utters His words to our soul, “you are my child, whom I love; with whom I am well pleased” (borrow from Matthew 3:17). Our obedience to be is as important as our obedience to do. God wants us to be His beloved children who desire to do His will by entering into union with Him on a daily basis, just as He is in union with His Son and the Holy Spirit. It’s time to take a prayer break in seeking Him through contemplative prayer – watch, listen, read and then pray.
Love you because He first loves us,
Lawrence
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Devotional 250210
Dear brothers and sisters,Good morning. Praise God for giving us another beautiful day to be in His service. I reached home at about 1 am this morning and woke up at 7 am. I was working on a video project for our vision sharing event. The editorial work was so tedious (I marvel the details of God’s creation by His Word. I wished I had that power to finish our project by just saying, “Let there be a video project!”). Our team spent 4 hours to finish only 2 minutes of our presentation. And the video is more than 10 minutes long. Therefore, we still need to work on it this evening. Hopefully, it will not take us till midnight because I have to fly to Houston tomorrow morning with it. Please pray for God’s creative power for our team to finish it on time.
Let’s read the spiritual journal from Dr. Eugene Peterson in his book Living The Message. No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this. Never so much as imagined anything like it – What God has arranged for those who Love Him. But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you (1 Cor 2:9-10 Message). Every Monday I leave the routines of my daily work and hike along the streams and through the forests of Maryland. The first hours of that walk are uneventful: I am tired, sluggish, and inattentive. Then bird-song begins to penetrate my senses, and the play of light on oak eaves and asters catches my interest. In the forest of trees, one sycamore forces its solid rootedness on me, and then sends my eyes arcing across trajectories upwards and outwards. I have been walking these forest trails for years, but I am ever and again finding an insect that I have never seen before startling me with its combined aspects of ferocity and fragility. How many more are there to be found? A rock formation, absolutely new, thrusts millions of years of prehistory into my present. This creation is so complex, so intricate, so profuse with life and form and color and scent! And I walk through it deaf and dumb and blind, groping my way, stupidly absorbed in putting one foot in front of the other, seeing a mere fraction of what is there. The Monday walks wake me up, a little anyway, to what I miss in my sleepy routines. The wakefulness lasts, sometimes, through Thursday, occasionally all the way to Sunday. A friend calls these weekly rambles “Emmaus walks”: “And their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Luke 24:31).
What walking through Maryland forests does to my bodily senses, reading the Revelation does to my faith perceptions. For I am quite as dull to the marvelous word of Christ’s covenant as I am to his creation, “O Lord, and shall I ever live at this poor dying rate?” Not if St. John’s Revelation has its way. A few paragraphs into the Revelation, the adrenaline starts rushing through the arteries of my faith, and I am on my feet alive, tingling. It is impossible to read the Revelation and not have my imagination aroused. The Revelation I forces and enables me to look at what is spread out right before me, and to see it with fresh eyes. It forces me because, being the last book in the Bible, I cannot finish the story apart from it. It enables me because, by using the unfamiliar language of apocalyptic vision. My imagination is called into vigorous play.
In spite of these obvious benefits and necessary renewals, there are many people who stubbornly refuse to read it, or (which is just as bad) refuse to read it on its own terms. These are the same people who suppress fairy tales because they are brutal and fill children’s minds with material for nightmares, and who bowdlerize Chaucer because his book is too difficult as it stands. They avoid the demands of either imagination or intellect. If they cannot read a page with a rapid skim of an eye trained under the metronome of speed reading, they abandon the effort and slump back into passivity before cartoons and commercials.
But for people who are fed up with such bland fare, the Revelation is a gift—a work of intense imagination that pulls its reader into a world of sky battles between angels and beasts, lurid punishments and glorious salvations, kaleidoscopic vision and cosmic song. It is a world in which children are instinctively at home and in which adults, by becoming as little children, recapture an elemental involvement in the basic conflicts and struggles that permeate moral existence, and then go on to discover again the soaring adoration and primal affirmation for which God made us.
Hope you find time to enjoy meditating on the book of Revelation with similar imagination like Eugene Peterson.
Have a blessed day of service,
Lawrence
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Devotional 180210
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The tree in my backyard is totally covered with bright red flowers in announcing the coming of spring. Trees outside of my office window are also budding with little green leaves even though they still look kind of barren. Little birds are feeding on those fresh green leaves for breakfast. They are so noisy in singing praises to God for His wonderful provision of daily fresh meal. It reminds me to do the same when I am enjoying a fresh new day with all the provisions that my Creator God has graciously given to me.
If the LORD had not been on our side-- let Israel say--if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.… (Psalm 124:1-5). The proper work for the Christian is witness, not apology, and Psalm 124 is an excellent model. It does not argue God’s help; it does not explain God’s help; it is a testimony of God’s help in the Form of a song. The song is so vigorous, so confident, so bursting with what can only be called reality, that it fundamentally changes our approach and our questions. No longer does it seem of the highest priority to ask, “Why did this happen to me. Why do I feel left alone?” Instead we ask, “How does it happen that there are people who sing with such confidence, ‘God is our help’?” The psalm is data that must be accounted for and the data are so solid, so vital, have so much more substance and are so much more interesting than the other things we hear through the day that it must be dealt with before we can go back to the whimpering complaints.
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, let Israel now say—if it had not be the LORD who was on our side, when men rose Lip against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then over us would have gone the aging waters.” The witness is vivid and contagious. One person announces the theme, and everyone joins in. God’s help is not a private experience; it is a corporate reality—not an exception that occurs among isolated strangers, but the norm among the people of God.
Christians saw God at work from time to time while pre-Christian friends did not see it at all. It wasn’t God not doing anything for pre-Christian friends. It was the problem with the focus. When we focus on our relationship with God from time to time, we saw how He at work around us and among His children. It is a reality that God is actively working among His people; He either uses the environment to save us or shape us. Pre-Christian friends may describe God’s miraculous intervention as ‘coincidence.’ But when ‘coincidence’ happens on a daily basis, it cannot be coincidence any more. It is a ‘pattern’ or ‘norm’ of how God at work among His people. When one Christian shares his or her testimony of how God at work, all other Christians echo and affirm such experience to be true, because it also happened to them before. Therefore, don’t stop sharing your testimony. It helps to bring out more echoes of praises and thanksgiving from among the hearers.
Love you as fellow witnesses of Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. The tree in my backyard is totally covered with bright red flowers in announcing the coming of spring. Trees outside of my office window are also budding with little green leaves even though they still look kind of barren. Little birds are feeding on those fresh green leaves for breakfast. They are so noisy in singing praises to God for His wonderful provision of daily fresh meal. It reminds me to do the same when I am enjoying a fresh new day with all the provisions that my Creator God has graciously given to me.
If the LORD had not been on our side-- let Israel say--if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.… (Psalm 124:1-5). The proper work for the Christian is witness, not apology, and Psalm 124 is an excellent model. It does not argue God’s help; it does not explain God’s help; it is a testimony of God’s help in the Form of a song. The song is so vigorous, so confident, so bursting with what can only be called reality, that it fundamentally changes our approach and our questions. No longer does it seem of the highest priority to ask, “Why did this happen to me. Why do I feel left alone?” Instead we ask, “How does it happen that there are people who sing with such confidence, ‘God is our help’?” The psalm is data that must be accounted for and the data are so solid, so vital, have so much more substance and are so much more interesting than the other things we hear through the day that it must be dealt with before we can go back to the whimpering complaints.
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, let Israel now say—if it had not be the LORD who was on our side, when men rose Lip against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then over us would have gone the aging waters.” The witness is vivid and contagious. One person announces the theme, and everyone joins in. God’s help is not a private experience; it is a corporate reality—not an exception that occurs among isolated strangers, but the norm among the people of God.
Christians saw God at work from time to time while pre-Christian friends did not see it at all. It wasn’t God not doing anything for pre-Christian friends. It was the problem with the focus. When we focus on our relationship with God from time to time, we saw how He at work around us and among His children. It is a reality that God is actively working among His people; He either uses the environment to save us or shape us. Pre-Christian friends may describe God’s miraculous intervention as ‘coincidence.’ But when ‘coincidence’ happens on a daily basis, it cannot be coincidence any more. It is a ‘pattern’ or ‘norm’ of how God at work among His people. When one Christian shares his or her testimony of how God at work, all other Christians echo and affirm such experience to be true, because it also happened to them before. Therefore, don’t stop sharing your testimony. It helps to bring out more echoes of praises and thanksgiving from among the hearers.
Love you as fellow witnesses of Christ,
Lawrence
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Devotional 110210
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I woke up at 5 this morning because of jetlag, even though my body was still half asleep. It was good to get up early to read and interact with God in silence. Once I overcame and subdued my fatigue body, I was able to concentrate mentally on my reading. As a full human being, I believe our Lord Jesus went through similar struggle in prayer and meditation just like we do. He made effort to maintain an intimate walk with His Heavenly Father on a daily basis. He did not have access to spiritual books or even personal Bible like we do. But our Lord stayed focus on His Father constantly in prayer…
While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with him went looking for him. They found him and said, “Everybody’s looking for you.” Jesus said, “Let’s go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I’ve come” (Mark 1:35-38 Message). The single most widespread American misunderstanding of prayer is that it is private. Strictly and biblically speaking, there is no private prayer. Private in its root meaning refers to robbery. It is stealing. When we privatize prayer we misuse the common currency that belongs to all. When we engage in prayer without any desire for or awareness of the comprehensive, inclusive life of the kingdom that is “at hand” in both space and time, we deprive the social reality that God is bringing to completion.
Solitude in prayer is not privacy. The differences between privacy and solitude are profound. Privacy is our attempt to insulate the self from interference; solitude leaves the company of others for a time in order to listen to them more deeply, be aware of them, and serve them. Privacy is getting away from others so that I don’t have to be bothered with them; solitude is getting away from the crowd so that I can be instructed by the still, small voice of God, who is enthroned on the praises of the multitudes. Private prayers are selfish and thin; prayer in solitude enrolls in a multi-voiced, century-layered community: with angels and archangels in all the company of heaven we sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.”
Prayer is a means to an end. But the end goal is not egocentric interest but Theo-centric interest (It aims at Thy Kingdom comes and Thy Will be done, as Jesus taught in the Lord's Prayer). If any prayer detours from this very core foundation, it violates its purpose or true meaning. We are praying to a Heavenly Father who cares for both individuality and multitude. We cannot exclude other Christians and humanity when we address God as Heavenly Father of all. He cares for the needs and challenges of a person but not without the context of the needs and challenges of multitude. God cares for you so that you will care for others. When Peter confessed his love to Christ, he was asked to “feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).
Our solitude time with God is to enter the intimate union with Him (listen and talk to God) or give God the ultimate attention in silence. And this solitude time will always involve the well being of others at the end. God will not whisper a secret word to you without edifying the rest of His people. His love for us is both ‘private’ and ‘public.’ Of course, we will not become a channel of God’s blessing to others without ourselves being connect to His blessing first. Once you are constantly connected to the Source of all blessing and love, your focus of prayer will no longer be egocentric but Theo-centric. You will always look out to the well being of others as a result. Just as Apostle said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil 3:12). Let’s pray for one another in pressing toward this goal of prayer.
Love you in His abundant blessing,
Lawrence
Good morning. I woke up at 5 this morning because of jetlag, even though my body was still half asleep. It was good to get up early to read and interact with God in silence. Once I overcame and subdued my fatigue body, I was able to concentrate mentally on my reading. As a full human being, I believe our Lord Jesus went through similar struggle in prayer and meditation just like we do. He made effort to maintain an intimate walk with His Heavenly Father on a daily basis. He did not have access to spiritual books or even personal Bible like we do. But our Lord stayed focus on His Father constantly in prayer…
While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with him went looking for him. They found him and said, “Everybody’s looking for you.” Jesus said, “Let’s go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I’ve come” (Mark 1:35-38 Message). The single most widespread American misunderstanding of prayer is that it is private. Strictly and biblically speaking, there is no private prayer. Private in its root meaning refers to robbery. It is stealing. When we privatize prayer we misuse the common currency that belongs to all. When we engage in prayer without any desire for or awareness of the comprehensive, inclusive life of the kingdom that is “at hand” in both space and time, we deprive the social reality that God is bringing to completion.
Solitude in prayer is not privacy. The differences between privacy and solitude are profound. Privacy is our attempt to insulate the self from interference; solitude leaves the company of others for a time in order to listen to them more deeply, be aware of them, and serve them. Privacy is getting away from others so that I don’t have to be bothered with them; solitude is getting away from the crowd so that I can be instructed by the still, small voice of God, who is enthroned on the praises of the multitudes. Private prayers are selfish and thin; prayer in solitude enrolls in a multi-voiced, century-layered community: with angels and archangels in all the company of heaven we sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.”
Prayer is a means to an end. But the end goal is not egocentric interest but Theo-centric interest (It aims at Thy Kingdom comes and Thy Will be done, as Jesus taught in the Lord's Prayer). If any prayer detours from this very core foundation, it violates its purpose or true meaning. We are praying to a Heavenly Father who cares for both individuality and multitude. We cannot exclude other Christians and humanity when we address God as Heavenly Father of all. He cares for the needs and challenges of a person but not without the context of the needs and challenges of multitude. God cares for you so that you will care for others. When Peter confessed his love to Christ, he was asked to “feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).
Our solitude time with God is to enter the intimate union with Him (listen and talk to God) or give God the ultimate attention in silence. And this solitude time will always involve the well being of others at the end. God will not whisper a secret word to you without edifying the rest of His people. His love for us is both ‘private’ and ‘public.’ Of course, we will not become a channel of God’s blessing to others without ourselves being connect to His blessing first. Once you are constantly connected to the Source of all blessing and love, your focus of prayer will no longer be egocentric but Theo-centric. You will always look out to the well being of others as a result. Just as Apostle said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil 3:12). Let’s pray for one another in pressing toward this goal of prayer.
Love you in His abundant blessing,
Lawrence
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