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 Monday, September 28, 2009
The Jesus of Nazareth School of Prayer

The 9 Prayers of Jesus

Matthew 6:9-13. Our Father. . . . . .

Matthew 11:25-26. Blessed are you Abba, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Abba, for this was your good pleasure.

John 11:41-43. “. . . Abba, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. . . . . Lazarus, come out!”

John 12:27-28. “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Abba, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Abba, glorify your name!”

Mark 14:36. “Abba, nothing is impossible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Luke 23:34. “. . . Abba, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Mark 15:34. “ Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Luke 23:46. “. . . Abba, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

John 17:1-26. “. . . . My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Abba, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. . . . .”

How might we find ways to bring these prayers into corporate worship? Doesn't it make sense that we would find ways to pray in the way of Jesus? His prayer life is our very prayer curriculum. Ideas?

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posted by John David Walt | at 9/28/2009 10:30:00 PM | 2 comments

 

Thursday, July 09, 2009
Praying the Story in Worship
I once wrote a book called Praying the Story, yet I speak of it so little here. I recalled this material in a worship service just the other day. As the pray-er stood to pray, the Spirit took us somewhere. He remembered segments of the biblical story in ways that convinced me he had been there. These stories lived in his heart and mind, becoming his very own memory. He prayed them in first person, referencing "us" instead of them. Amazing-- the Spirit transported me there too. It went something like this,

"Lord God, you saw us there at the waters edge. You saw the awful armies of Pharaoh breathing down our necks. The only way through was an impossible way. But you reminded us that nothing is impossible with God. You made a way through the sea. And you know us Lord, that we still find ourselves in that spot today, between dying and death. We can't make the house payment. Pharaoh is gaining on us. We can't beat the cancer. The waters cry doom. (insert any variety of suffering circumstances here). But you are a God of the impossible. We say it with Sarah. We shout it with Jeremiah. 'Nothing is impossible with you.'

We were there that awful night, watching your son on the ground as he cried out, 'Abba! Nothing is impossible with you.' Pharaoh of the Pharisees chased him. The waters of death mounted. And Jesus, we remember what you said. "Not my will but your will be done!" [[you see where this is headed]].

What do I learn from this way of praying? 1. To pray like this that story must become my own memory. 2. From the inside of this Story, we can see the living God-- far better than through a series of abstract qualities. 3. This way of praying isn't escapist, but rather it locates us squarely in the midst of our circumstances, identifies us deeply with those who have gone before and grants us the gift of standing in a place I call "Covenant Leverage."

I'll have to develop that idea in a future post, so for now-- what do you think about this? Make sense?

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posted by John David Walt | at 7/09/2009 09:13:00 PM | 4 comments

 

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