Pray Biblically Series

HoHum:

Can we do a series on prayer? Well, I’ll pray about it. Bob Hostetler found himself praying about if he should help with a new product called the Prayer Bible. Bob accepted the writing assignment. Bob spent the next 2 months reading and praying through the last half of the OT, from Job through Malachi. As he prayed he jotted down prayers and added notes. any additional material. Job 26:14: “And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?” Bob prayed here: “God of power and might, even the ‘minor’ things you do are amazing, though they merely whisper of your power. I praise you for all your works; they are much too wonderful for me to understand.”

David in the Cave of Adullum in Psalm 142:3: “When my spirit grows faint within me,

it is you who watch over my way.” Bob prayed, “Life overwhelms me, O God. You alone know the way I should go; please whisper your will in my ears with every step I take.” When Ezekiel unfolded his vision of the valley of dry bones, I prayed, “Thank you, Father, for the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. Empower me today to live in the newness of life that you have given me.” As Daniel spent the night with lions, I prayed, “God, I thank you that you are able to keep me and protect me through every circumstance, and bring me into your ‘glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy (Jude 24).” I prayed all the way through Malachi’s prophecy, and in the 4th chapter, where he promised the coming Sun of Righteousness who would arise with “healing in his wings (Malachi 4:2),” I prayed, “Thank you, Father, for the healing righteousness that you sent through your Son, Jesus Christ. May he rise in more people’s hearts, like the bright morning sun.” Now the notes in the Prayer Bible can be used to help people in their devotional lives. The book of common prayer has been used for centuries to bless people as they go through the prayers and readings. Often hear the serenity prayer today: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time. Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever. —Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971. Now this is good but much like the model prayer it can become vain repetition. Many people today are saying that we need to go back to the Bible and base our payers on Scripture.

WBTU:

Jesus, when he battled the evil one, triumphed over the devil with Scripture. 3 times Jesus quoted Scripture. Jesus used the Bible to defeat temptation. Did we know that Jesus prayed Scripture, leaving us an example to follow. How do we know this? Go to Matthew 27:46. People have puzzled over Jesus’s cry here both then and now. These words show that Jesus felt forsaken in His last moments of life. At this moment the Father turned His face from Jesus, unable to look on Him because of all the sin He bore. Ok, but we are missing out on the fact that Jesus is quoting from the first line of Psalm 22. Go to Psalm 22. This was written about 1,000 years before by King David but they reflect with starling accuracy- Jesus’s situation on the cross: Read vs. 6-8, then vs. 14-18. Matthew 27:46 says that Jesus cried out in a loud voice. Need to mention that Jesus is on the cross. To say anything from the cross required strength to lift oneself up and to say anything took precious energy. Jesus said 7 things from the cross; why was he not preaching a sermon?; unable because of weakness, because of limited lung capacity; every word said from the cross has great meaning. Jesus said the first line of Psalm 22 employing the common technique rabbis used, a verbal shorthand in which part of a command or sentence served to evoke the whole, much like a modern speaker might say, “A penny saved,” trusting others to fill in the rest “is a penny earned.” There seems to be little doubt that Jesus, drawing from His Jewish upbringing and education, prayed biblically in that moment, drawing from this psalm that was most keenly applicable to His situation and most fully expressed His agony and His confident hope. He probably was praying the rest of the psalm silently for his own benefit. Read vs. 19-21 give a prayer from the victim. We see the Lord’s answer in vs. 21-24. In vs. 30-31 we see the results of the resurrection.