Breathing prayers

Do you know what a breath prayer is? This short phrase or sentence is repeated while breathing in and out. The most famous is the "Jesus Prayer," prayed over centuries.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I've prayed that short prayer to the rhythm of walking, of crying, and of desperate silences when other prayers drifted like fog on the air. I've prayed it in confession, adoration, and utter joyful abandon to God.

Different seasons bring different breath prayers. We petition God. Worship Him. Give thanks. Lay our burdens down.

Under our conscious thoughts, breath prayers acknowledge our dependence on a Good God and our trust that He is in control.

How do you find a short prayer that prays your heart now, to steady you when life feels abundant, overwhelming, or unbalanced? Ruth Haley Barton's book Sacred Rhythms suggests the following:

1. Listen to what God is saying to you through scripture, prayer, the Church, circumstances, and people.
2. Listen to your heart's deep desires - what do you want God to do in you? For you?
3. What name of God speaks to you at this time?
4. Combine the name of God with the longing of your heart - into a 6-8 word prayer.

Then pray often, not thoughtlessly or carelessly. Breath in and out, telling God how wonderful He is (His name) and what you need from Him. The prayer becomes part of waking and sleeping, a meditation on God's provisions and greatness.

What is your breath prayer? My current prayer is:
   Lord, set me free to love you.

Read more:
*All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 ESV

*Your sins have deprived you of good. Jeremiah 5:25 ESV

*As Jesus went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Mark 6:34 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5 NIV

*See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. Hebrews 12:15 ESV
Moravian Prayer: Lord, we often go about our daily lives forgetting to seek your guidance. Turn us back to you and forgive our waywardness. Help us to live in peace with all people and to share your message of grace.

Blessed Jesus, you came to earth for us and you took upon yourself all our sins. Thank you for that great sacrifice. Daily we need your care, your leading, and your protection. Thank you for watching over us and loving us. Amen.

Life under God

Our family is reading and discussing With, a book that reflects on our postures in relationship to God. Mostly, it deals with our attempts at manipulating God so we control our surroundings and ward off our fears. We often life:

• For God: "I'll serve him" (then he'll be nice to me)
• From God: "I want prosperity / health / wealth / happiness" (he should provide for me)
• Under God: "I need to appease him because he sets the rules" (don't make God mad)
• Over God: "Who cares about God?" (he may or may not have set the world into motion, but what does that have to do with me?)

The author suggests living WITH God in deep communion and trust. More on that in another post.

In my 1-year chronological Bible reading, I stumbled across Elihu again. He's Job's "Comforter" and "friend," a punk with all the answers. He admits to listening to his elders and then disses them with:

• I've heard you and you don't have anything wise to say
• I've considered deeply and don't have to be old to know what's going on
• You should listen to my wisdom. I've figured it out
• No matter what your protests, I'm right
• Do it my way and you'll succeed

Cheeky. Arrogant. Stupid.

It doesn't matter if parts (or even most) of what Elihu says is true. His attitude stinks. And his approach is totally "Under God" - if we follow the rules, God also has to follow the rules.

• The wicked get punished. (So hey, if you're suffering, you don't have enough faith, you've got sin in your life, you don't understand your own evil heart, etc.) 
• The good prosper. (If you're rich, healthy, and have a good reputation, you must be doing something right.)
• God is unmoved by our plight. (Stop asking him for help, confess your sins, be a better person,  and pull up your own boots to get to work.

What I find fascinating is that God doesn't respond to Elihu at all. If he's got it all figured out, why bother to interact?

On the other hand, God asks the other three "comforters" to bring sacrifices and have Job make them on their behalf. God is willing to restore relationship with them.

Oh Lord, for all of our youthful or immature "right answers," our arrogant suppositions, and our silliness in thinking we have you figured out, we're sorry! Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! (Benedictine) and Lord have mercy! (Michael Smith and Amy Grant)

Read more:
*By the ordinances of the Lord is your servant warned. Psalm 19:11 (NIV)

*Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever. To him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1-5 NIV

*No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. Luke 6:43

Moravian Prayer: King of kings and Lord of lords, our desire is to do your will. Come into our hearts, rescue us from darkness and sin so we may bear good fruit in your name. Amen.

Lent Day 5: Thankful for new beginnings

"Yikes!" I just picked up the dissertation sent in last week. The editors and I missed a few things. How can there still be dozens of improvements after dozens of readings and hundred of dollars spent for edits?

Laying aside the copy (at p.35 of 350 already zoning out with all the qualifiers - get to the story, get to the story!), I'm reflecting on the grace of God at the cusp of another week. Some of you are hunched over your keyboards at work. Some are unloading tools for manual labor. Some stretch in their beds after a long weekend or a night shift.

God is extending his favor to each of us. Lent, the time for thanksgiving and meditation on Jesus as Savior, reminds us that God's mercy is new every morning. We do not have a Father in heaven who looks for the smallest infraction so he can thump us and cow us with power and anger. Our Father calls us into relationship, allowed us to kill his Son to ransom us from eternal banishment, and then--and then--lets us choose for or against his provisions. No other world religion or folk traditions can dream up a God so tender, so lovingly sacrificial, or so merciful!

This morning, I'm asking God for wisdom and understanding. I want to recognize him when he speaks. To obey him better. To follow more closely. To swim in his sea of new beginnings and surf his waves of grace. How about you?

Read more:

*Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8

*My child, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and people. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine. 

My child, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke because the LORD disciplines those he loves as a father the child he delights in. 

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the watery depths were divided and the clouds let drop the dew. 

My child, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight. Preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked for the LORD will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.

*I will set my eyes upon them for good. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. Jeremiah 24:6

*So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:7

Moravian Prayer: God of heaven and earth, as we worship, let us praise you as Lord who is able to shape us as a people of one mind. You are the one who also provides for us the life-giving water needed to sustain our growth. Amen.

*But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV

In with the Old...

In with the Old Testament, that is. I listen to the Bible on radio a few times a day. 

I find the Old Testament really depressing. It's not that God is unfaithful or uncaring. It's that we are such stupid people, generation after generation. (I'm not using the term "stupid" lightly, either.) 

From the time the first people began to reason, we think we know better than God. Adam and Eve choose "the knowledge of good and evil" over knowing God and the wonderful surprises he had planned in his relationship with them. By the time Noah is told to build the ark, humanity is so corrupt that God chooses to start over with Noah and his family. Researches note that Noah would have had to take about 3,800 species into the ark to keep diversity as we see it today; everyone and everything could have fit into his boat as long as Noah saved the lower tier for manure. Ugh stinky. But after all that work, one of his grown sons is disrespectful and consigned to serve everyone else. The writer of Genesis doesn't say if Noah had a temper, but his curse on his son sure sounds like it.

Then Moses, the murderer, impulsive caretaker, and meekest person on the planet. Gideon, who keeps making excuses why he shouldn't lead and builds an idol from the spoils of God's victory. Rehaboham, Solomon's heir, who splits the kingdom by being a tyrant. Israel, who goes "whoring after other gods" time and time again... 

It's just depressing. Some people find the OT uplifting because of God's faithfulness. I think that's the only good part of the story. People who are faithful to God get thumped by their peers. They're told they are out of step and idiots to serve God. Evildoers hunt them down and kill them when possible. Much of the Old Testament contains God's warnings of the horrible punishments his righteous judgment will inflict. Does anyone pay attention? Very few do. Very few indeed.

It gives me a heavy stomach to read the stories. I find myself stopping and losing track between all the prostitution, killing, and idolatry. Which is why I have scripture read to me on UCB Bible. I can focus on the words, the scope, the ongoing movement of God among us through history.

I don't understand most of what the Bible says about God. He is like the wind whose movement is seen and felt but cannot itself be captured. The more I know, the less wisdom and understanding I seem to have. The older I get and the deeper into a life of faith, the more trust it takes to pray, "Not my will but yours for this day." I want to shout, every time I see horrible things on the news, experience another surgery alongside my daughter who lives in pain, or hear of marriages breaking up, financial ruin, and people taking advantage of others-- "PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION! DON'T BE SUCH MORONS!!! GOD WHERE ARE YOU?!!"

But would anyone mind a warning? I'd probably be sent away to an asylum for disturbing the peace, if not for appealing to God for help.

Yet I also sin. Continually. I break the law and cut into line, looking out for myself rather than my neighbor. I look without pity on the poor and needy and walk by those who need my help, the Pharisee hastening on the other side of the road so I don't become "defiled" or waste precious time (Luke 10:25-36). 

Grrrr. After all these years of reflection and saying to God, "I'm yours. Help me to obey. Help me to love you with all my heart," I'm still a sinner, continually washed by God's grace and a once-for-all blood sacrifice.

I am comforted by reading the stories of Abraham (liar, coward, God's chosen) and David (adulterer, murderer, deceiver - pretend-madman, God's chosen). Both kept coming back to say, "Sorry! I'm actually and truly yours, in spite of what I just did. Please help! No other gods before you."

The God who had mercy on them looks on me with pity and compassion, too. "Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord have mercy!"

I'm praying with the Orthodox church today, after listening to a half hour of genealogies from 1 Chronicles. Oh please - how about some cheerful psalms? Like #150. 

Read more:
The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145:8-9 NKJV 

Thanks be to God.