PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 103: 13-14, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“The Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

REFLECT
Bible: Matt. 4:1-4)
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”‘

Book passage: I prayed like I’d never prayed before, helplessly convinced that I was watching my wife die. I begged God to make the convulsions stop so that she could at least draw breath. I prayed in the name of Jesus. I tried to have faith. I invoked the power of His blood. I rebuked and renounced everything I could think of rebuking and renouncing. This was not prayer for a parking space or a sunny day. This seemed to me to be a matter of life and death. Sammy was turning blue, and bloodied spittle was blotting the pillow. The ambulance was taking forever. My prayers weren’t working. (p.19)

ASK
Ask myself: Your wilderness won’t look like mine, but notice that it is the Holy Spirit who leads Jesus “into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1). This isn’t the sort of thing we expect the Holy Spirit to do. Isn’t He supposed to protect us from satanic onslaughts, not lead us into them? As I think about my own wilderness, could it be the Holy Spirit who has led me here into this dry and difficult place? And if so, why?

Ask the Lord: I am generally hungrier for physical food than the spiritual variety. Admitting this to the Lord now, I ask Him to radically increase my desire for “every word that come from the mouth of God” over these next forty days.

YIELD
Finally, as I embark upon this journey into the desert, I get my heart right with the words of Psalm
51:1-3, 10-12, traditionally prayed around the world on Ash Wednesday:

Have mercy on me, 0 god, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me … Create in me a pure heart, 0 God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Amen.

The post Day 1 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 23:4, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

REFLECT
Bible: Over the next five days we are going to explore the prayer of Jesus on Maundy Thursday in the garden of Gethsemane, beginning today with Mark 14:33-35:

[Jesus] took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.

Book passage: When our souls, like Christ’s, are overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, we do not necessarily pray like Jesus. In fact, we may barely pray at all …. I was scared that Sammy might die if I didn’t pray enough, or if I didn’t have enough faith, or if I didn’t fast enough, or if I didn’t bind some disembodied principality, or if I didn’t repent of some root sin, or if I didn’t strap her body on a stretcher bound for Bethel or Lourdes. Surely, I thought, God would not disqualify her on a technicality? I’m ashamed to admit that this was how my prayer life looked when it really counted. Sammy’s faith frequently amazed me, but I prayed at best like a child and at worst like an addict needing to score. (p. 24)

ASK
Ask myself: In Jesus’ hour of need, He asked Peter, James, and John, His three best friends, to support Him in prayer. Who are these people for me? Ask the Lord: I take a little time now to thank the Lord for those He’s put around me, being honest, too, about any disappointments I may feel (His best friends failed Him too in Gethsemane; see Mark 14:37- 41).

YIELD
A fourteenth-century prayer of trust from Thomas a Kempis:

0 Lord my God, do not be far from me.
My God, have regard to help me.
I have many thoughts and great fears afflicting my soul. How will I pass through unhurt?
How will I break them to pieces?
This is my hope, my one only consolation,
to flee to you in every tribulation, to trust in you,
to call on you from my inmost heart,
and to wait patiently for your consolation.
Amen.

The post Day 2 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 46:7 and 10, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress ….
He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ ”

REFLECT
Bible: Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, recorded in Mark 14:36, is just twenty-one words long. Today, we are going to think about how it starts:
“Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Comment and book passage: In His darkest hour, Jesus addresses Himself to “Abba, Father.” The power of prayer depends almost entirely upon our apprehension of who it is with whom we speak. When we are scared and hurting, when life feels chaotic and out of control, it is more important than ever to anchor ourselves in the absolute and eternal truth that we are dearly loved and deeply held by the most powerful being in the universe. Let this be the great non-negotiable in our lives, the platform for all our other thoughts, and the plumb line for our prayers. (p.29)

ASK
Ask myself: Do the difficult things I’m experiencing ever make me question the Father’s love? How much does He actually care about my predicament? Is He trustworthy?

Ask the Lord: A prayer of Soren Kierkegaard: “Father in heaven, when the thought of you wakes in my heart, let it not wake like a frightened bird that flies about in dismay, but like a child waking from its sleep with a heavenly smile.” (p. 28)

YIELD
A prayer of trust from Psalm 131:

My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quietened myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore

Amen

The post Day 3 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 62: 11-12, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: ‘Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love.”‘

REFLECT
Bible: Today, we continue to explore Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane, recorded in Mark 14: 35-36: Going a little farther, [Jesus] fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you.”

Book passage: In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus recognizes God’s unfailing love but also His power. He addressed His prayers tenderly to “Abba, Father” but also reverently to the One for who “everything is possible.” There’s an old Hebrew saying: “God is not a kindly old uncle; He is an earthquake.” This is great news for those of us struggling with unanswered prayer, because a kindly old uncle can merely smile at things that an earthquake can actually shift. Without an omnipotent, omniscient God, there is neither hope for a miracle, nor meaning in our suffering.

ASK
Ask myself: Am I tempted to downgrade my expectations of God’s power in order to protect myself from disappointment? What attitudes and practices might help me to get the balance right between mountain-moving faith and patient trust?

Ask the Lord: Abba, Father, help me to be a bit more like Abraham who “faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God” (Rom. 4: 19-20). Give me greater faith in Your sovereign power.

YIELD
A prayer of limitless trust from the song “Oceans”:

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You’ve never failed and You won’t start now
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior.

Amen

The post Day 4 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 13: 1-2, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How Long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?”

REFLECT
Bible: As we continue to explore Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane, today we consider its five most shocking words: “Going a little farther, [Jesus] fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me … “‘ (Mark 14: 35-36, emphasis added).

Comment: Thus far, Jesus has been following the pattern of His own “Lord’s Prayer,” saying “Abba, Father” instead of “Our Father,” and “everything is possible for you” instead of “hallowed be your name,” but now, at the point where He’s meant to pray “Your kingdom come,” He says the exact opposite: “Take this cup from me.” He is going off script, admitting to the Father: “I don’t want to suffer. I’m scared. There has to be another way!” If Jesus can be so honest with God in His hour of greatest need, then surely so can we?

ASK
Ask myself: In what ways do I pretend when I pray? Are there any “tricks” I use to try to avoid or persuade God? Ask the Lord: I take a little time now to speak to the Father honestly from my heart about what I’m really feeling and thinking, remembering that He loves me, values my honesty, and is never shocked.

YIELD
A prayer of surrender by Richard Foster:

Today, 0 Lord, I yield myself to You. May Your will be my delight today. May You have perfect sway in me. May Your love be the pattern of my living. I surrender to You my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions. Do with them what You will, when You will, as You will. I place into Your loving care my family, my friends, my future. Care for them with a care that I can never give. I release into Your hands my need to control, my craving for status, my fear of obscurity. Eradicate the evil, purify the good, and establish Your kingdom on earth. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.*

*Richard J. Foster, Prayers from the Heart (Hodder & Soughton, 1995), 24.

The post Day 5 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 17: 6-7, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“I call on You, my God, for You will answer me; tum Your ear to me and hear my prayer. Show me the wonders of your great love.”

REFLECT
Bible: Today, we conclude our study of Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane, considering its sobering and challenging final sentence:

“Abba, Father,” [Jesus] said, “everything is possible for You. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:36).

Book passage: Having acknowledged God’s love (“Abba, Father”), God’s power (“everything is possible for you”), and His own terror (“take this cup from me”), Jesus now surrenders Himself completely to the Father’s purposes. Such surrender is never easy:

Maybe God has simply been replying to your prayers with a loving but firm no. I don’t suggest this lightly. It may well be the most painful possibility you have ever had to consider, and it may also seem to fly in the face of everything you know of God’s heart and will. (p. 76)

ASK
Ask myself: Having prayed “Take this cup from me,” is it possible that God might be replying to me, as He replied to Jesus, with “a loving but firm no”? How can I discern what His will might be for me in my situation?

Ask the Lord: I take time now to surrender my will to God’s will. YIELD
The well-loved hymn of surrender, “All to Jesus I Surrender,” by Judson W. Van De Venter:

All to Jesus I surrenders
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him In His presence daily live
I surrender all, I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Savior I surrender all

Amen

The post Day 6 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 130: 5, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.”

REFLECT
Book passage and Bible: Having completed our study of Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane, today’s reading takes us back to Chapter 2 of God on Mute and includes our Bible reading which comes from Philippians 4: 6-7.

As the day of Sammy’s surgery approached, we found great comfort in the promises of the Bible. I’m not just saying this because it’s the sort of thing Christians are supposed to say in situations like this. The Bible addressed our fears in a way that no person could and gave words to things we were struggling to express. Almost every night we went to sleep clutching a verse for dear life. (p. 23)

One of our favorite verses at that time was Philippians 4: 6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This simple exhortation not to worry, with its practical reminder to pray about every little thing we were facing, and its assurance of supernatural peace often brought us comfort at a truly terrifying time in our lives.

ASK
Ask myself: God’s peace “transcends all understanding.” It isn’t index-linked to outward circumstances. In one of the darkest moments of my life, waiting to tell Sammy that she had a brain tumor, “I became aware of a kind of inner warmth … Doctors would probably call it shock, but to me it felt a lot like the presence of God”. (p. 22)

Ask the Lord: You’ve probably noticed, Lord, that I don’t have a lot of faith left for big breakthroughs, but I’m going to try to see Your hand at work in the details of the next twenty-four hours. Let Your peace guard my heart (which is hurting) and calm my mind (which is racing). Make me more aware of You in spite of my circumstances today.

YIELD
The serenity prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr:

God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

The post Day 7 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 62: 5-6, repeating the words slowly, several times: “For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken” (NRSV).

REFLECT
Book passage and comment: The great theologian Karl Barth said that true prayer is primarily very simple. “In the first instance, it is an asking.” This is reassuring for those of us who struggle to issue anything more than six-year-old “Dear God” type requests when we are under intense pressure.” (p.25)

Maybe our simplest prayers are enough.

Bible: [Jesus says] “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.” (Matt. 6: 7-8 MSG)

ASK
Ask myself: When my simple “Dear God” prayers don’t work, what “formulas and programs and … techniques” do I tend to try “for getting what [I] want from God”? Jesus tells us to remember the Father’s love when we pray. Could there be a link between getting over-complicated in prayer and forgetting the simplicity and immediacy of His love?

Ask the Lord: I take a little time now to “pray very simply,” laying my requests before You once again, telling You how I’m feeling, and remembering as I do so that You are not scowling but smiling with an expression of tender affection.

YIELD
The well-loved hymn of surrender, “All to Jesus I Surrender,” by Judson W. Van De Venter:

All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him In His presence daily live
I surrender all, I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Savior I surrender all
Amen.

The post Day 8 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 4: 1, repeating the words slowly, several times: “Answer me when I call to You, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”

REFLECT
Bible: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen (lPeter 5: 7-11)

Book passage: God’s voice can be muted by our wounded preconceptions about who He really is how He speaks, and what we think He will say. But when we approach Him again and again with some deep need, His eyes are not angry, bored, or cold, assessing the merits of our request and the technique of our prayer. Whenever we come to God with an open wound of longing, we come to Abba, Father who loves us deeply. “Cast all your anxiety on him,” says the apostle Peter simply, “because he cares for you.” (p. 30)

ASK
Ask myself: Dr. Gary Chapman identifies five “love languages” by which people tend to express and exchange affection: touch, gifts, words, deeds, and time. Do I have a particular love language in my relationship with God? What are the experiences or circumstances in which His love tends to become especially real to me?

Ask the Lord: Abba, Father, I cast the great burden of my anxiety on You, because You are stronger than I am and You care for me deeply. I name before You now the particular burdens, large and small, which seem to be weighing me down today.

YIELD
A prayer of trust from Psalm 131:

My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quietened myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.

Amen.

The post Day 9 appeared first on BNC.

PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)
I pray Psalm 3: 2-3, repeating the words slowly, several times:
“Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’ Buy you, Lord are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.”

REFLECT
Bible: Many of [Jesus’] disciples withdrew and no longer followed him. So Jesus said to the twelve,
“And are you too wanting to go away?” “Lord,” answered Simon Peter, “who else should we go to? Your words have the ring of eternal life! And we believe and are convinced that you are the holy one of God.” (John 6:66-69 PHILLIPS)

Book passage: One morning, I asked Sammy if she ever doubted God’s existence or His power to intervene. She was back in the hospital after a particularly vicious epileptic attack. It was really more of a confession on my part than a question for her. But without hesitation, Sammy replied, “No! I never doubt God these days, Pete.” Pausing, she examined my face with a mixture of affection and reproach. “How can I doubt God?” she continued more softly. “God is all I’ve got!” (p. 34)

ASK
Ask myself: What doubts do I experience? Is there anything that holds me back from admitting them to myself, to God, or to someone I trust?

Ask the Lord: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). I don’t understand why You don’t answer my prayers, but I’d rather wrestle with doubt, than resign myself to despair. I choose to walk through this with You rather than without You. I choose to believe that my struggles matte and that eternal life awaits.

YIELD
A prayer for a new heart by St. Ambrose of Milan (AD 337-397):

0 Lord, who has mercy upon all, take away from me my sins, and mercifully kindle in me the fire of Your Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of fl.esh, a heart to love and adore You, a heart to delight in You, to follow, and to enjoy You, for Christ’s sake.

Amen

The post Day 10 appeared first on BNC.