Jesus is Lord
Weekly Worship
Prayer for this week
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Faithful Father, we begin today by giving you thanks. Your love endures forever, it never fails. Though there are many ways in which we have failed, we have not exceeded the supply of your mercy and grace. We thank you for revealing yourself to us through your word. As we open the Bible today we pray that we would hear your voice. We ask that your Holy Spirit would be at work, opening our ears to hear and our hearts to receive your word. May we be transformed into your likeness. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
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Patrick Prior
What is our focus?
Matthew 5:1-16
Luke 23:32-43
During life at times we feel lost, unsure where we should turn because our reasonable logical plans have been turned on its head. Or maybe we have times were we feel broken, in pain, feeling the weight of unanswered questions. I know I have moments like this in life, and it is during these moment I cry out to heaven and ask why? During these times my knees hit the ground as well as my pride as I watch my plans crumble around me. In these times I have no answers, all that I have left is the gifts God has given me. Unfortunately it sometimes takes tragedy for me to see that what I have planned for my life and what God wants for my life are not necessarily the same thing. I need to go back to the basics of reading His word and communicating to Him in daily prayer. It is then a new world of possibilities and hopes are opened up to all who shift their thinking and have a Godly perspective on life and realise that it is all about Jesus.
Matthew 5:3
You are blessed when you are at the end of your rope, with less of you there is more room for God and his rule.
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It is all about God. It is all about Jesus and the victory he has won over all the evil in this world. No matter what happens to me it will never change or shake the fact that Jesus is Lord.
Yet although we believe this we can still struggle with doubt and unbelief. It all comes down to what we are focusing on, through all situations in life.
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Matthew 5:4
You are blessed when you have lost what is most dear to you, only then can you embrace the one most dear to you.
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What a powerful radical shift in thinking, we are blessed no matter what happens, because through every situation there is a new way, a new appreciation for who God is and his place in our lives. We no longer focus on the loss, but we focus on what we have in and through Christ. Jesus has a way of achieving the impossible and that includes providing blessed when there is no earthy reason to be blessed. Blessed because can experience God and his love in new and profound ways. A prayer in time of trouble for a little more rope is answered with Jesus taking your rope and replacing it with a new coil. A prayer for love will find you surrounded by a love so deep and so wide the oceans can’t contain it. But we first must be willing to let go of our plans our rope and our pride and give it all to God in prayer so he can transform it into something new. No matter the situation, if we focus on God we will receive blessings we would never have thought possible.
And when we focus on God and his rule it frees us to be content with just who we are.
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Matthew 5:5
You are blessed when you are content with just who you are, no more or less. That’s the moment you find your selves proud owners of everything that cannot be bought.
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When we give up something to God we receive something far greater and everlasting in return. My father once told me that the farm doesn’t belong to him, he is a caretaker of the land for the next generation. I believe this to be the same for all our earthly possessions we don’t own anything, everything we have belongs to God, you and I are merely caretakers of what we own. The only thing in this world that we can truly call ours and can never be taken away from us is the salvation and righteousness that Jesus has given us through his death on the cross. Everything will fade, break or be passed on when we leave this world, but Gods love for us displayed on the cross will remain ours for all eternity. We need to identify what earthy possessions we are holding on to and shift our focus from the worldly to the heavenly, letting go of what isn’t of God and taking hold of the gift of salvation we have through Christ. We must focus on Jesus and his will for us each day through prayer and reading his word. When Jesus went to the cross I believe he was focusing on the love that he held for each one of us, his focus was on the heavenly plan. Likewise we need to shift our thinking our heart and energy onto pursuing the only possession that will last for ever.
Peace with God.
And the good news is the possession of salvation that we have through Christ cannot be bought, because it is already paid for by Jesus on the cross.
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Matthew 5:6
You are blessed when you work up a good appetite for God, he is food and drink in the best meal you will ever eat.
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Once again Jesus is telling us all that is worthwhile and everlasting come from God. He is the best food and drink you will ever eat. For me this verse foreshadows Jesus words at the last supper, when he breaks the bread, his body and takes the wine, his blood, giving it to his disciples in remembrance of him. It is all about Jesus, he is enough to sustain us, in fact what he has given us through his torn body and blood is true fulfilment. This fulfilment is only possible when we accept Gods invitation to come into his presence and dine with him. To be filled with his sustaining love, peace, hope, and joy. Once again we are required to focus on Jesus and his call for our lives.
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Matthew 5:7-8
You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
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Once we are focusing on Jesus then we can start to restore and shaping our lives to be right with Christ. Note how God invites us as we are broken lost and once we have accepted his invitation to dine with him does he help us work on aligning our lives to his will. Like in the story of Zacchaeus, Jesus didn’t reject him because he was out of line with God, but took the time to go to his place and form a relationship with him. There was no accusation no blaming or pointing the finger Jesus made time for him and he make time for you too. Once you let Jesus into your life and form a relationship with him he begins to reshape and restore our lives to align with what he wants for our life. Then we will begin to see God and his work in new ways.
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Matthew 5:9-10
“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
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This all leads us on a wonderful journey which brings great joy, but also great trail, causing friends, family and the world to reject or persecute what you believe, but that doesn’t make it any less worthwhile. In fact this verse tells us that persecution for doing what is right by God brings you closer to the kingdom of God. What does that mean, it means that God’s presence will be with you in a new and exciting way, giving you strength, support and love.
So what are we called to do.
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Jesus said
Matthew 5:14-16
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!
Sam Prior
But how should we pray at such a time as this?
Why an honest, heartfelt cry can be enough: a reflection by Martyn Payne.
We will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
Psalm 80:18 (NIV)
Everyone is doing their best during this pandemic. We applauded the NHS last week, but of course there are many others too who are going the extra mile. Some of you reading this will be helping at food banks, encouraging your congregation from your home, checking on neighbours and phoning up the vulnerable and lonely. And the internet has never been so busy. Our current situation of lockdown has prompted a different sort of busyness - online.
But what about our prayer life? What should we pray about? How do we pray, at such a time as this?
This is God's world... everyone will need strength and inspiration from him to get through.
The call to prayer
The Bible Reading Fellowship was founded not just to promote Bible reading but also to encourage a fellowship of prayer. Supporters of BRF over the years have been a praying people - and that praying is all the more vital at a time of national and global crisis such as today.
As Christians we believe that this is God’s world, and God has called us to be those who pray for the world: its leaders and its people; its poor and its vulnerable; its needs and its healing. Quite simply, we are those who are asked by Jesus to pray 'your kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven’.
There are many calls to prayer from religious leaders at the moment. Why? Because this is the one distinctive and vital 'saving health service' that we as Christians can offer the world. Everyone will need strength and inspiration from God to get through the coming months.
But how should we pray?
Prayers from the Bible for times of crisis
Many of us are turning to the Psalms at this time. There we find templates to help us - prayers that capture the huge range of emotions that are churning us up, as we think about this crisis.
The psalms remind us that it’s okay to cry out in pain and confusion to God.
'Why has this happened and why must it be the vulnerable and the elderly who are most at risk?'
The psalms confirm that it’s okay to name our fears to God.
'What about my family? What will happen to my friends now far away?'
The psalms give us permission to express our anger to God over what we hear in the news.
'Why do so many good people have to put their lives on the line?'
The psalms encourage us to ask tough questions of God.
'Why aren’t you doing something about this terrible virus? Why are some people suffering so much?'
The psalms challenge us to lament for what is happening and to repent both for our own failings and also on behalf of the nations.
'Why have we let ourselves drift so far from God’s best for this world?'
Like Daniel and Ezekiel, who prayed on behalf of Israel while in exile, we are those who must connect with God in our day. As Christians, we know that we won’t be able to save ourselves by human strength and skills alone.
Pray from the heart
So, whether alone in our room with an open Bible or with friends over the internet, let us lift up our fearful and hurting world to God.
You don’t need lots of words.
You don’t need lengthy liturgies.
You don’t even need more than a mustard seed of faith.
You simply need one heartfelt cry for help on your lips to our Father, who promises through Christ to answer our prayers.
And if the following repeated words from Psalm 80:19, spoken with sincere faith, are all you can say, it is enough:
Restore us, O God; make your face to shine on us, that we may be saved.
Martyn Payne worked for many years for BRF's Barnabas in Schools primary educational service and also for BRF's Messy Church team, during which time he authored a number of books for BRF. Since retirement he has been involved in various voluntary projects including as a Messy Church Regional Coordinator.
Acknowledgements
Image of hands held out in supplication by Vilada Migerova from Unsplash, cropped and blurred.
Scripture quotations from the Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.