Abandoned and Alone

“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”–which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

(Matthew 27:45-46)

Reflection:
It didn’t get worse than this. For the very first time in His existence – both as Divine and human – Jesus was separated from God. The darkness that came over the land would have been as nothing compared to that which had appeared within Him. Such was the effect upon Jesus that it tore this cry from the very depths of His spirit. Jesus had taken our sin upon Himself.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

It was our sin that came between God and Him and brought about this terrible separation. As ‘the wages of sin is death’ so sin brought death to that relationship and consequently death to the human Jesus as well. In terms of His own illustration the branch had been cut off from the Vine. Jesus experienced the deepest and blackest spiritual hell so that we would not have to.

Steadily, and seemingly without end, the sin and sin guilt would have poured upon Him. The sin of Adam and Eve, of Cain, of the people of the flood, of the bondage in Egypt and the unfaithful years in the desert, the sin of David and Bathsheba, the repeated idolatries and adulteries of God’s chosen people, the sin of the Great Wars of the 20th century, the Holocaust, the genocides, the apartheids, the abortions, and all the other sin and sins of the countless individuals from the beginning to the end, and of all the nations and even the churches as well. He would have sunk beneath the weight of sin without number or end, and been spiritually suffocated by the rising tide of thick and impenetrable darkness.

Alone, lonely and desolate, Jesus hung there. Lacerated within and without, flooded with darkness, pinned to the Cross not by nails but by agonising love, Jesus hung on to set us free.

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven, and let us in.

(C.F.Alexander)

Prayer:

Open my eyes Lord, I want to see Jesus……

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Come in Lord

“He said, “It’s written in Scripture, My house is a house of prayer;
You have turned it into a religious bazaar.”

(Luke 19:46 – MSG)

Reflection:
Jesus was speaking of the Temple as He cleared it of those carrying on business there. It is a stark reminder that the House of God is set aside for His glory as a place of prayer and worship. This should be true of all churches and other places of worship today.

 However if that should be true for our churches it should also be true for both our own houses as well as the bodies which house us. As Paul reminds us

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

 Worship and prayer should become a natural and ongoing part of our everyday lives. God is with us always so even when we go about our daily business and social lives He should be acknowledged and invited to be a part of them.

 Our lives, homes and places of work can become spiritually cleaner and clearer, and more blessed and pleasant, as we worship God and pray Him into and through them.

• “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
• “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
• “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:18)

Response:
Dedicate your home to the Lord by praying in each room and asking Him to enter and take possession of it. Practice worshipping and talking to Him as you move about your home. Next time you bathe dedicate your body to Him as well.

Prayer:

Father my home is You home, my body Your temple. Bless and honour them with your presence and make then holy to You. Amen.

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Eye of Love

“According to Your love remember me”

(Psalm 25:7)

Reflection:
When we are down – feeling lost, lonely, sick, a failure, inadequate, whatever it may be – it is so easy to transfer our feeling of remoteness on to God. It is also easy to imagine that he looks at us in the same way that we look at ourselves – with disgust, despair, frustration, anger or shame. But this is, unintentionally, to make Him in our image when He is not like us at all.

David picks this up. He asks God to remember and love him the way God is and not the way David is. There is a huge difference. God’s is a love that is higher, wider, deeper, and greater than any love that we could imagine. It is a love that has given everything for us, even God Himself.

The closest we might get to this is to see or experience it in the love of a parent for a child – which might continue in the face of rejection and failure. The parent loves because of the love in the parent, not because of the love in the child, or displayed in the child’s actions. God loves us because of the love in God. In fact the best single word that John could find to describe God was that ‘God is Love.’

God does not love us because we are worthy. He loves us because He is God, and because of the love that is within Him –a glorious, abundant, overflowing, creative, life-giving, forgiving, cleansing, never-ending, sacrificial and holy Love.

So David prays

“Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
According to Your love remember me.”

This is replicated in the prayer of the thief dying next to Jesus on a cross. In asking Jesus to “Remember me” he is praying that the Lord will do so out of His sacrificial love and not for the sins that had brought the other to judgement and to death.

When we need to we too can ask God to remember us, to consider and deal with us, out of His love and not in terms of our lack of love or faithfulness.

“According to Your love remember me”

We know that He will.

Response:
Dare to believe and accept it!

Prayer:

Father, please help me to accept the way that You see me from Your love, and not to think it is the gloomy way that I sometimes see myself. Amen.

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True Identity

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:
sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”

(Colossians 3:5)

Reflection:
Having been called to raise our hearts and minds to the things that are above (Col 3:1-2), Paul now urges us to let go of the things that hold us back. These are what drag us down and prevent us from fully becoming our new and true selves. In fact, he goes further and tells us to put them to death, to kill them, to make sure that they can have no further part of, or influence in, our lives. Whatever form sin takes it is vile and terrible in the eyes of God. Jesus also spoke out strongly when He told us,

“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30)

Paul lists some of the things that he has in mind – sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, as well as anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language and lying. His reason is clear,

“since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:9-10)

Response:
You are not the old person. You are a new person in Christ. Live out your newness.

Prayer:

Lord help me to cast off the ways, desires and habits of the old self and step more fully into the character You have created for me. Amen.

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Be Real with God

“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

(Luke 5:16)

Reflection:
One of the most important aspects of our prayer life is to make it personal and real. Set prayers are very useful in group settings such as church services and many of them resonate with deep truth and meaning. However it can be difficult sometimes to truly engage with them privately.

Wherever possible allow your feelings to join your mind. For example if you are praying for the Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted remind yourself that each one would be someone’s daughter, sister and friend. Pause to think how you would feel and react if it was your own daughter, sister or friend – or yourself – and let your prayers flow from there. Tell the Lord how you think you would feel – and let that point you to praying for their families, and even for their captors too!

We operate behind masks as far as the world is concerned but with God we can take the masks away and be real. Remember that it is the real you that He loves and for whom Jesus died – not the imaginary one! Sometimes when I begin the Lord’s Prayer I stop after the words ‘Our Father’ and just tell Him how I am and how I feel before I carry on. It often reminds me to thank Him for the way in which He has been my Father.

Prayer is our communication with God –and so we can communicate the truth fully and freely. In doing so we invite Him to share His love and blessing with us.

Response:
Pause right now – tell God how you feel – without excuse or explanation

Prayer:

Father you love me and understand me more than I imagine. Please help me to be real with You. Amen.

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Pattern of Prayer

“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

(Luke 5:16)

Reflection:
There are a number of different ways in which to organise our prayers. The following three main headings can be useful as a pattern. They will naturally overlap at times.

• Looking at God
• Looking at ourselves
• Looking at others

Looking at God would incorporate praise, worship, thanksgiving and listening to His Word .
Looking at ourselves would include confession and thanksgiving as well as prayer for our own needs and situations.
Looking at others would embrace family, friends, and colleagues as well as domestic, national and international situations and people.
Each area would include both regular items as well as things of the moment – for example ill health, exams, etc.

Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern for prayer and for living. I start and end with it and have come to love and savour it – sometimes going off into its various sections as if I was exploring a particular room in my life and allowing it to speak and minister to me.

Response:
Good patterns become good habits – and they can set us free to go deeper and higher.

Prayer:

Lord please help me to develop (further) a pattern of prayer that will bring me closer to You. Amen.

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Our Lonely Place

“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

(Luke 5:16)

Reflection:
We can pray at any time and in any place. Jesus did so Himself. However if our prayer life is to become more than arrow prayers addressed to God, and our relationship with Him is to deepen and become more intimate, then our prayers need to become more intentional.

Luke tell us that ‘Jesus often withdrew to lonely places’ to pray. The key words are withdrew and lonely. In other words Jesus walked away from people and the everyday situations to a place where He could be alone and undisturbed with God. It was there that He could focus on God, worship Him privately and speak with Him – that is both talking to God and listening to Him.

Wherever possible we need to find our own ‘lonely place’ – and one which will become associated with God and prayer. A desk or other work place is, therefore, not a good idea because there are too many other associations and ‘silent voices’ clamouring for attention. It should also be a place that we can get to quickly and easily. As Jesus said,

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father” (Matthew 6:6)

For some years the only lonely place that I could find was the bathroom! It was the one closed door that three little people would respect. Anywhere else and they wanted to do exactly what I was doing – talk to their father! Whilst not ideal it worked for me – and I still find it very easy to pray there.

Response:
Find your own lonely place – and ask God to bless it. Keep making it special in some way.

Prayer:

Father please help me to withdraw with You to our lonely place every day – and to enjoy being with You there. Amen.

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Appointment with God

“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

(Luke 5:16)

Reflection:
We can pray at any time and in many different ways. However it is unlikely that we will develop a deep and satisfying prayer life which enhances our relationship with the Lord if we pray ‘on the run.’

Jesus prayed at many times and in many places – for example at His baptism, with the disciples and in Gethsemane. But Luke tells us that He also had a far more regular pattern of prayer, for ‘He often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.’ It seems that this was mainly at night after the crowds had returned home.

We would all benefit from a regular time set aside for prayer. For many people the early mornings are the best when both the day and their minds are fresh. Others may need to have it later in the day. But it does need to be ‘fenced off’ and maintained to be of benefit. It helps to make it an ‘appointment with God’ and to be aware that He will be waiting for us.

To start with 15 minutes would seem to be a minimum time although it is not very long. The aim should be to extend it to 30 minutes as soon as possible – particularly as the value of spending this time with God begins to be apparent during the day.

Response:
Make your own appointment with God – or review the one you have.

Prayer:

Father please help me to draw closer to You in prayer and to cherish the time we have together in this way. Amen.

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Jesus – The True Light

“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

(John 1:9)

Reflection:

When John refers to Jesus as the true light he means true in every sense of the word. Real as opposed to illusion, complete as opposed to incomplete, true as opposed to false, life-giving as opposed to life-distracting.

 Men and women seek after light on many ways – in knowledge, in experience, in activities and in relationships. They may find flickers of the truth, faint glimpses of reality and maddening glimmers that lead nowhere. None of these are complete and will never be truly satisfying. Many are merely partial lights and some will be false lights – but people will still follow them in their search for personal meaning, power and satisfaction.

 Jesus comes as a Person who is ‘the truth’. He is real, complete and true in every way. But He does not come to merely inform us or add to our knowledge. He comes to shine a new and very personal light into the dark and unsettled areas within and amongst us.

 He comes as the revelation of God to settle our doubts. He comes with guidance and empowerment to deal with our despair. He comes with new life to deal with our fear of death. He comes with an intimate relationship with the Almighty Father to deal with our loneliness. He comes with the acceptance of love to deal with our rejection and isolation. He comes with forgiveness and salvation to deal with the sobbing agony of sin and failure. He comes with a place in an eternal home to delight the spirits and hearts that know no peace and rest. He comes with the healing, cleansing and life-giving light that is at the heart of His being. He comes to give it to all those who will look to Him and believe and receive it.

 Jesus comes to offer God’s love and healing life to everyone who will receive Him. There are no social or other barriers or exclusions – everyone may turn to Him and know Him, if they will.

Response:

Draw closer to Him in prayer, reflection and simple conversation this Lent. He will draw closer to you.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus forgive me for holding on to my independence, my fears and my sins. Please help me to turn more fully into Your light and presence and to entrust myself to Your wonderful and sacrificial love. Amen.

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Jesus is God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.”

(John 1:1)

Reflection:

John moves on to state quite clearly that Jesus is Divine – He is God. He lays this foundation right at the beginning of His Gospel.

 In making this definite statement he is not saying that Jesus is identical with God. What he is saying is that Jesus is so perfectly in the image of God in mind, in heart and in being that He perfectly reveals to us what God is like. We will find nothing in Jesus that is not also in the Father. So Jesus could say to His disciples when asked to show them the Father,

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

 Such is their unity that to believe in Jesus is to believe in the Father, and to receive Jesus is to receive the Father as well.

• “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.” (John 12:44)
• “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me”  (John 14:11)
• “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)

Response:

“My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

Prayer:

Lord Jesus please help me to love You as Saviour, to honour You as Lord and to worship You as God. Amen.

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