"Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary (Magdalene) stood .." Jn 20:10-11
We all have different expectations and experiences of our encounters with the Lord Jesus. John's gospel shows us the reactions of three individuals when they discover the empty tomb which can teach us something about our prayer lives.
Peter, John and Mary
Peter behaves true to form. When he hears the tomb is empty he rushes to the scene to see what is going on. He doesn't get there first but, once he's seen the proof that what he was told is true, he's off home again. It's hard to see that this experience does anything more than cause puzzlement for him. His time at the tomb does not answer any questions for him.
John, on the other hand, gets there first and has longer to take in what's going on. He, we are told, sees and believes. His time at the tomb takes him beyond the plain facts which Peter saw and into the realm of faith before he, too, goes home.
Mary's experience, however, is the most powerful. The word, "stood", could just as well have been translated "waited" as it is elsewhere in John's gospel. Unlike the men she doesn't go straight home, she remains there weeping. She doesn't understand what's going on but this emotional woman seems to want simply to be as close to Jesus as possible and that, for her, means staying at the last place where she knows he was.
Three amazing things happen. First she sees two angels, a remarkable enough experience on it's own. Then she has the single most privileged encounter in history for she is the first to meet the risen Lord Himself. Finally she receives the commission from Jesus to go and tell the other disciples. She is the first person to preach the resurrection of Christ, she is the one to report, "I have seen the Lord!"
Make It Personal
In our personal devotions we can be like Peter, dashing in and out of our prayer time without any encounter with Jesus. Or we can be like John, with a degree of discernment which enhances our spiritual experience.
Or we can be like Mary Magdalene, someone who can be totally themselves with Jesus, who waits around in the prayer closet until He arrives with His own unique love and compassion, meeting every need and commissioning for service.
The question is, are you prepared to "waste time" hanging around waiting for Jesus?
Prayer College Assignment
Waste some time being yourself with Jesus this week.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Bless You
"Bless and do not curse."
Romans 12:14
The first time I tried to prepare this post my Blackberry decided to close down in the middle of it. Despite having already saved it three times, my work was gone, deleted, never to be seen again. It seems to me this is an important message.
Praying A Blessing
I have been reading The Grace Outpouring by Roy Godwin. It is the account of what is happening in a small retreat centre in Wales called Ffald-Y-Brenan. It is a remarkable tale of God working in people's lives to bring salvation, healing and wholeness.
What has thrilled me about what is going on there is that the leaders of the centre simply pray blessings over people and then step back and allow God to do what He wants. It is a very simply but powerful ministry steeped in prayer.
Expanding Our Prayers
It seems to me that when we pray for others we tend to pray "Accident and Emergency" prayers. We become aware of a problem and pray that it will go away or that God will help the person through the difficult time. For some time I've been aware that we need to be more expansive in our praying going beyond the A&E prayers and praying prayers of protection. But this book has opened my eyes to the power of simply blessing people.
The Caleb Prayer
We are familiar with the Levitical blessing in Numbers 6:
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make His face to shine upon you & be gracious to you,
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
That is a powerful scriptural blessing which we can pray over one another. But out of Ffald-Y-Brenan has come another blessing we can use to pray for our nation, known as the Caleb Prayer:
O High King of heaven,
Have mercy on our land.
Revive your church;
Send the Holy Spirit
For the sake of the children.
May your kingdom come to our nation.
In Jesus' might name. Amen.
Prayer College Assignment
Begin praying blessings over people in your prayer time in addition to your usual intercession and see what God will do.
Romans 12:14
The first time I tried to prepare this post my Blackberry decided to close down in the middle of it. Despite having already saved it three times, my work was gone, deleted, never to be seen again. It seems to me this is an important message.
Praying A Blessing
I have been reading The Grace Outpouring by Roy Godwin. It is the account of what is happening in a small retreat centre in Wales called Ffald-Y-Brenan. It is a remarkable tale of God working in people's lives to bring salvation, healing and wholeness.
What has thrilled me about what is going on there is that the leaders of the centre simply pray blessings over people and then step back and allow God to do what He wants. It is a very simply but powerful ministry steeped in prayer.
Expanding Our Prayers
It seems to me that when we pray for others we tend to pray "Accident and Emergency" prayers. We become aware of a problem and pray that it will go away or that God will help the person through the difficult time. For some time I've been aware that we need to be more expansive in our praying going beyond the A&E prayers and praying prayers of protection. But this book has opened my eyes to the power of simply blessing people.
The Caleb Prayer
We are familiar with the Levitical blessing in Numbers 6:
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make His face to shine upon you & be gracious to you,
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
That is a powerful scriptural blessing which we can pray over one another. But out of Ffald-Y-Brenan has come another blessing we can use to pray for our nation, known as the Caleb Prayer:
O High King of heaven,
Have mercy on our land.
Revive your church;
Send the Holy Spirit
For the sake of the children.
May your kingdom come to our nation.
In Jesus' might name. Amen.
Prayer College Assignment
Begin praying blessings over people in your prayer time in addition to your usual intercession and see what God will do.
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