Forgiven to Love - Praying the Scriptures

Our praying can be enhanced when we pray using words from Scripture. These prayer segments come from Matthew Henry, Pray the Bible, available online at http://www.matthewhenry.org.

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We have every reason to be humbled for the pride of our hearts; 2 Chronicles 32:26(ESV) for we have thought of ourselves more highly than we ought to think and have not thought with sober judgment, Romans 12:3(ESV) nor have we walked humbly with our God. Micah 6:8(ESV)
 
We have leaned on our own understanding, Proverbs 3:5(ESV) and trusted in our own minds, Proverbs 28:26(ESV) and have sacrificed to our own net. Habakkuk 1:16(ESV)
 
We have sought our own glory more than the glory of him who sent us, John 7:18(ESV) and have been arrogant concerning that for which we should have mourned. 1 Corinthians 5:2(ESV)
We have been quick in our spirits to become angry, and anger has lodged in our bosoms. Ecclesiastes 7:9(ESV) And when our spirits have been made bitter, we have spoken rashly with our lips, Psalm 106:33(ESV) and have been guilty of that clamor and bitterness which should have been put far from us. Ephesians 4:31(ESV)
 
We have been very guilty concerning our brother; Genesis 42:21(ESV) for we have not pursued what makes for peace or for mutual upbuilding. Romans 14:19(ESV)
 
We have been ready to judge our brother and to despise him, forgetting that we must shortly stand before the judgment seat of God. Romans 14:10(ESV)
 
Contrary to the royal law of love, we have boasted and been arrogant, have been rude and insisted on our own way; we have been irritable, have rejoiced at wrongdoing, 1 Corinthians 13:4-6(ESV) and been secretly glad at calamities. Proverbs 17:5(ESV)
 
We have been conceited, provoking one another, envying one another, Galatians 5:26(ESV) when we should have considered how to stir up one another to love and good works. Hebrews 10:24(ESV)
 
Our hearts have been closed against those who are in need; 1 John 3:17(ESV) and we have hidden ourselves from our own flesh. Isaiah 58:7(ESV) Indeed, perhaps our eye has looked grudgingly on our poor brother, Deuteronomy 15:9(ESV) and we have dishonored the poor. James 2:6(ESV)
 
And if in anything we have transgressed and wronged our brother, 1 Thessalonians 4:6(ESV) if we have walked with falsehood, and our foot has hastened to deceit, Job 31:5(ESV) and if any spot has stuck to our hands, Job 31:7(ESV) Lord, discover it to us, that if we have done iniquity, we may do it no more. Job 34:32(ESV)

Being justified by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through him let us have access into that grace in which believers stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2(ESV)

 
Remember us, O LORD, with the favor you show to your people. O help us with your salvation, that we may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones and may rejoice in the gladness of your nation and may glory with your inheritance. Psalm 106:4-5(ESV)

Forgiven to Love - Overview

This week at Bellevue Christian Reformed Church we are digging into what it means when we pray “Forgive us our sins as we also forgive those who sin against us.” Jesus didn’t mince words explaining that we are required to forgive each other, but he also doesn’t say that God sits back passively waiting to forgive until we have earned it by forgiving others. God always takes the initiative in blessing and saving us. God forgives us freely, but at the highest cost to himself – the death of his own Son. The forgiveness God asks of us pales in comparison to the forgiveness he showers on us. 
As has been the pattern all fall as we have focused on prayer, each day we'll look at it from a different angle. 
May we forgive as we have been forgiven and love as we have been loved.

Our Daily Bread - Learning from Others

- from Randal Working, From Rebellion to Redemption. 288-289.
The fourth request reveals the compassion of the heavenly Father who knows we are needy creatures. He desires to fill our needs and also that we might humbly trust him for them. He tells us to ask for our “daily bread,” which sums up all of life’s necessities. Just like bread, we need shelter, food, drink, clothing, and transportation – to say nothing of spiritual food, comfort, and shelter. This petition encompasses everything we need to nurture body and soul. Daily bread is everything we need in order to live.

…The request implies perhaps a limitation. As Dale Bruner points out, we are invited not to pray for cake but for bread. Most of us in the West have been richly blessed materially, yet impoverished spiritually. We are allowed to pray for what we need, but are not given permission to pray for luxury beyond our need. There are times when God gives cake anyway, and then we are free to gratefully receive the gift.

…Praying for our daily bread reminds us that God alone is the source of all good. Without his blessing, nothing prospers. Even the material things we need are not products of nature but gifts from God. Rather than strive for more than what we have, we can learn to desire the good that God has for us. In so doing, we will grow in humble confidence in God. Putting confidence in anything else is futile and is what the preacher of Ecclesiastes calls “vanity.” Friends disappoint, retirement funds are swindled, business deals collapse, and strength withers. The only sure hope is God, the font of all blessings. Without him, even abundance leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

The children of Israel learned a lesson with bread and meat in the wilderness. Exodus 16 tells how every morning, God covered the ground with flakes of bread called manna; every evening, he drove quail to cover the camp. Each person was to gather as much as was needed for the day, and there was enough for all.

…Manna served to graphically demonstrate to Israel that God would care for his own. God was pleased when they would simply accept his gift, trusting him for what they needed. We are invited to do the same as we come to him day by day.

Our Daily Bread - Rooted in Scripture

Paul’s letters to Timothy are letters from one pastor to another – from the mentor to the mentee. Paul gives Timothy instruction for how to care for his local flock, and here the lesson is on stewardship and trust.

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1 Timothy 6:6-21

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

²⁰ Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, ²¹ which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.

Grace be with you all.

Our Daily Bread - Singing Our Prayers

One of the foundations of trusting God to provide what is best for daily bread is trusting in his faithfulness. If God is not faithful, we have nothing. I love the echoes of Lamentations 3:22-24 in the chorus.

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Great Is Thy Faithfulness (PsH 556)

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

there is no shadow of turning with thee;

thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;

as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

Refrain

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

all I have needed thy hand hath provided.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest

sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

join with all nature in manifold witness

to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.  Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!  Refrain

Text: Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923.

Our Daily Bread - Praying With the Church

This prayer is called “Morning Needs,” and it comes from Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. While the prayer is more spiritual than physical for a “daily bread” prayer, it contains this week’s text of Proverbs 30:8-9, and it really covers the needs of the day so well. Think of a day (or life!) framed with this at every new dawn.

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Morning Needs

O God the author of all good, 

I come to Thee for the grace another day will require for its duties and events.

I step out into a wicked world; I carry about with me an evil heart.

I know that without Thee I can do nothing, that everything with which I shall be concerned, however harmless in itself, may prove an occasion of sin or folly, unless I am kept by Thy power.

Hold Thou me up and I shall be safe.

Preserve my understanding from subtilty of error, my affections from love of idols, my character from stain of vice, my profession from every form of evil.

May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore Thy blessing, and in which I cannot invite Thy inspection.

Prosper me in all lawful undertakings, or prepare me for disappointments.

Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny Thee and say, Who is the Lord? or be poor, and steal, and take Thy name in vain.

May every creature be made good to me by prayer and Thy will.

Teach me how to use the world and not abuse it,

to improve my talents, to redeem my time,

to walk in wisdom toward those without,     

and in kindness to those within, 

to do good to all men,

and especially to my fellow Christians. 

And to Thee be the glory.

 

Amen.

Our Daily Bread - Praying the Psalms

It is one thing to read a psalm; it is another to pray it. Psalm 104 is a psalm of praise that celebrates God’s providence. God sustains all parts of creation with their “daily bread.” As you read and pray, note the celebration that God doesn’t just provide, but that he showers all things with good gifts.

Psalm 104

¹ Praise the Lord, my soul.

Lord my God, you are very great;

you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

² The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;

he stretches out the heavens like a tent

³and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.

He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.

⁴ He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

⁶ You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷ But at your rebuke the waters fled,

at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

⁸ they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys,

to the place you assigned for them.

⁹ You set a boundary they cannot cross;

never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰ He makes springs pour water into the ravines;

it flows between the mountains.

¹¹ They give water to all the beasts of the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹² The birds of the sky nest by the waters;

they sing among the branches.

¹³ He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;

the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

¹⁴ He makes grass grow for the cattle,

and plants for people to cultivate—

bringing forth food from the earth:

¹⁵ wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine,

and bread that sustains their hearts.

¹⁶ The trees of the Lord are well watered,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷ There the birds make their nests;

the stork has its home in the junipers.

¹⁸ The high mountains belong to the wild goats;

the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

¹⁹ He made the moon to mark the seasons,

and the sun knows when to go down.

²⁰ You bring darkness, it becomes night,

and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

²¹ The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.

²² The sun rises, and they steal away;

they return and lie down in their dens.

²³ Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening.

²⁴ How many are your works, Lord!

In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.

²⁶ There the ships go to and fro,

and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

²⁷ All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.

²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.

²⁹ When you hide your face, they are terrified;

when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.

³⁰ When you send your Spirit, they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works—

³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,

who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,

as I rejoice in the Lord.

³⁵ But may sinners vanish from the earth

and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.