Tag Archive for: prayer
One of the delights of deciding to write a book on the Psalms is the excuse to read many books on them. Here are the six best books on Psalms I’ve found, ordered from broadest appeal to narrowest. They’ll enhance your prayer life and deepen your understanding of these prayer songs.
By the way, the Bible study guide I wrote with Pam Farrel and Karla Dornacher, Discovering Hope in the Psalms, is due out August 2017. It will walk you through praying with and understanding psalms as you discover eight hopes in the psalms for you.
Six best books on Psalms for prayer and understanding Click To TweetBest Books on Psalms #1
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society
Audience: Christians wanting to draw closer to God
This superb book is by the translator of The Message. It contains sixteen inspirational chapters on the Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120–134). The Jews sang these songs as they made their way to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem, and so Peterson presents them as “’songs for the road’ for those who travel the way of faith Christ.” This is a book to read over and over. If you can read only one book on the Psalms, this is the one.
Quotation
I knew that following Jesus could never develop into a “long obedience” without a deepening life of prayer and that the Psalms had always been the primary means by which Christians learned to pray everything they lived, and live everything they prayed over the long haul.
Pros
Easy to read and understand. Delightful writing style. Folds many Christian disciplines into praying psalms.
Cons
If you don’t own it already, you should.
Best Books on Psalms #2
Psalms as Torah: Reading Biblical Song Ethically
By Gordon J. Wenham
Audience: Thoughtful Christians with good biblical background wanting to worship with psalms
This book transformed the way I prayed psalms. I already prayed laments (prayer request psalms) and praises, but Wenham’s insights into how praying a psalm becomes transformative deepened the way I approached these psalms and emboldened me to memorize psalms for prayer. It also showed me how to pray other types of psalms, such as wisdom and royal psalms. This book is rich and deeply layered, with chapters such as “The Unique Claims of Prayed Ethics” and “Virtues and Vices in the Psalter.” The chapter, “Appeals for Divine Intervention,” examines three of the harshest psalms: 35; 69; 109. This is an outstanding theological work on interpreting Psalms. I return to it often—it’s that good.
Quotation
If we praise a certain type of behavior in our prayers, we are telling God that this is how we intend to behave. On the other hand, if in prayer we denounce certain acts and pray for God to punish them, we are in effect inviting God to judge us if we do the same. This makes the ethics of liturgy uniquely powerful. It makes a stronger claim on the believer than either law, wisdom, or story, which are simply subject to passive reception: one can listen to a proverb or a story and then take it or leave it, but if you pray ethically, you commit yourself to a path of action.
Pros
Thoughtful, clear discussion of ethics in the psalms and how praying the psalms should transform our lives.
Cons
Requires a good biblical background, and that may deter some.
Best Books on Psalms #3
Interpreting the Psalms: An Exegetical Handbook
By Mark D. Futato
Audience: Christians who want to understand Hebrew poetry and who are comfortable with college reading level
This is a 200-page introduction to interpreting Psalms. It’s the first book I read on Hebrew poetry, and it answered questions I’d always had as well as questions I hadn’t known to ask. It spurred me on to read even more. The first chapter explains Hebrew poetry. The second examines the Psalter’s arrangement. The third touches on historical influences. The fourth discusses psalm categories. The fifth and sixth help the teacher develop an outline. While this book isn’t directly about praying the psalms, knowing how to interpret them enhances prayer. If you can’t afford Ross’s commentaries below, then get this.
Quotation
My objective is to acquaint you with the principle that parallelism is the art of saying something similar in both cola [line segments] but with a difference added in the second colon. Hebrew poets thus invite us to read slowly, looking for a difference in the second colon, be that difference small or great.
Pros
Excellent introduction to interpreting Psalms and understanding Hebrew poetry. Fast to read.
Cons
No transliteration of Hebrew (though English translations are supplied). The last two chapters are really too short to be useful.
Best Books on Psalms #4
A Commentary on the Psalms: Volume I (1-41)
Best Books on Psalms #5
A Commentary on the Psalms: Volume II (42-89)
Best Books on Psalms #6
A Commentary on the Psalms: Volume III (90-150)
By Allen P. Ross
Audience: Pastors and Bible teachers comfortable with graduate reading level
I own quite a few commentaries on Psalms, but this three-volume set far surpasses the rest. Volume I has an introduction to interpreting biblical poetry that equals or surpasses that of Futato above. Ross supplies a history of psalm interpretation (as do Wenham and Futato). He also details literary forms. Then comes the psalm-by-psalm commentary—this is where Ross shines. Each contains the author’s translation; composition and context notes; exegetical analysis (including summary and outline); the main commentary on the text; and message and application notes. This last section has preaching tips and is where Ross’s pastoral heart comes through clearly. There are extensive footnotes, including many Hebrew word studies on difficult words such as she’ol.
Volume I Quotation from introductory chapters
A type is a divinely prefigured illustration of a corresponding reality (called the antitype) it is a form of prophecy, the major difference with direct prophecy being that the passage can only be understood as prophetic once the fulfilling antitype has come into full view. This topic will be discussed in the notes on the royal psalms.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Ps. 22:1)
The words of the psalm hyperbolically describe the suffering of David but become historically true in Jesus.
Volume II Quotation from Psalm 51 message and application
We, like the psalmist, can and must have complete cleansing before we can fully and freely serve God in any capacity. Our eternal destiny may not be in doubt when we sin, and neither was David’s because he appealed to that covenant relationship, but our fellowship and service will be. God will not tolerate unconfessed sin, but will discipline for it.
Volume III Quotation from Psalm 137 commentary in expository form
All of this is to say that the communal prayer of Psalm 137 was a prayer in harmony with the prophetic oracle concerning the coming judgment on Babylon. They were actually praying for God to do what he said he was going to do, bring punishment on the Babylonians that was a just recompense for their barbaric activities.
Pros
Comprehensive. Many word studies (index in Volume III). Teaching and application tips. If you’re teaching or writing on the Psalms, this is the commentary set to get.
Cons
Typographical errors in verse references. No transliteration for Hebrew words, though English translations are always supplied.
6 Best Books on Psalms for Prayer and Understanding Click To Tweet
Long Obedience in the Same Direction, by Eugene Peterson
To forgive, combine confessing and forgiving as Jesus taught. Part 3 of “Forgive Intentional Sin—Don’t Just Manage Emotions.”
Jesus said something astonishing in the Lord’s Prayer about confessing and forgiving. He said we should pray,
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Matthew 6:12
In so doing, he linked confessing and forgiving. He followed up with this:
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14–15
New Testament scholar D. A. Carson says, “There is no forgiveness for the one who does not forgive. How could it be otherwise? His unforgiving spirit bears strong witness to the fact that he has never repented” (Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World, 75).
A wayward son finds forgiveness and his father’s embrace in “Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (circa 1668)
Confessing and forgiving are strongly connected. True repentance is the necessary path to true forgiveness, for those who haven’t honestly and deeply repented of their own sins lack the capacity to forgive others.
Previously
In my last two posts, I discussed what forgiving isn’t and said that the first step towards forgiving is committing to forgive. I began the story of how I realized that I had been excusing my mother’s sin by saying, “I forgive her because she doesn’t know better.” When the fact that she had known better bowled over my excuses, I felt betrayed. Rage overcame me. Instead of excusing sin, I needed to do the much harder job of forgiving sin.
Confessing and Forgiving Come Before Confronting
When we’ve committed to forgive, the next step is not confronting those who’ve sinned against us in the hope they’ll apologize and make forgiving easier. Tim Keller explains why: “Only if you first seek inner forgiveness will your confrontation be temperate, wise, and gracious. Only when you have lost the need to see the other person hurt will you have any chance of actually bringing about change, reconciliation, and healing” (The Reason for God, 197). Yes, Jesus said to talk to Christians who’ve sinned against us (Matthew 18), but we must forgive first.
The next step is to pray to forgive in the way Jesus taught: “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). The prayer’s order is essential: confessing and forgiving.
Confessing and Forgiving: “Forgive Us our Debts”
When I need to forgive someone, I begin by confessing my own sins. This reminds me of the grace I need and thus prepares my heart to offer grace. Without regular confession, pride slithers in, and pride doesn’t forgive.
1) Ask the Holy Spirit to Reveal Recent Sins
I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal my sins, and then I allow my mind to skim over the events of the last day or so. If anything causes a twitch in my conscience, then I stop and ask the Holy Spirit to show me if I’ve done wrong. I ask him to remind me of verses that might apply.
If I’ve sinned, then I name the sin and confess it to my heavenly Father along with a Scripture that applies: “Father, I took up a reproach against Kathy. But Psalm 15 says those who draw near to you must not take up a reproach against a friend. I confess this was wrong and I ask for your forgiveness.”
It’s important to name the sin so I don’t treat it lightly.
2) Ask the Holy Spirit to Reveal Similar Sins
The Hundred Guilder Print, by Rembrandt
Next I ask the Holy Spirit to show me if I’ve ever committed the same sin I’m about to forgive. Most often I have. If not, I look for similar sins.
With my mother, some offenses I had surely repeated, but no, I’d never committed some of the worse offenses. I had, however, intentionally hurt others. One example rushed to mind: at twelve I lied to my friend Kathy’s mother to get her in trouble.
Initially, I wanted to excuse this because I was retaliating. She had told our schoolmates that she had seen my mother hitting my head as I tried to get out the door on the way to school. She told them that there must be something terribly wrong about me for my mother to hate me like that. I was furious and wanted to pay her back by proving her mother hated her too. Was that a good excuse? No. God judges us by how we judge others, not how we judge ourselves. I had intentionally tried to hurt someone. I needed grace, and I needed to give it.
Besides, retaliation is itself a sin. Kathy may have hurt me unintentionally when she gossiped (at twelve, she may not have known her words would wound). But I believed it wrong; when I retaliated, I did what I believed was wrong. That’s always sin:
For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
Romans 2:1
3) Ask the Holy Spirit to Reveal Associated Sins
I ask the Holy Spirit if I have sinned in any way that is associated with the sin of the person I want to forgive. For instance, if there was a disagreement, did I misspeak in any way? If so, I need to not only confess that to God, but I need to apologize to the person for my part in the difficulty, no matter how small.
In the case of my mother, at the moment I discovered she had known her actions were wrong I hadn’t reacted in any sinful way. But something was nagging me about Kathy. I remembered that when my mother saw Kathy watching her, she ducked behind the kitchen cabinets. I had realized then that she knew her actions were wrong. There was another time, too, when a security guard threatened to call the police if he ever saw her speed around hairpin mountain roads with us in the back of the car again: she turned red and hung her head in shame.
Speaking Truth in the Heart
In my heart, I had known she wronged us intentionally. Why then had I grabbed so quickly to my teacher’s explanation that abusive parents were either ignorant or abused? Besides, it didn’t even make sense biblically. Jealousy drove Cain to kill Abel, not ignorance or wrongful hurts. My teacher was wrong: ignorance and hurt aren’t the only reasons people hurt others; we can, like Cain, choose sin.
I’d lied to myself and to God. Why? Partly because I held the false belief that thinking bad things about people made me a horrible person. But also because I believed good Christians forgive and good Christians aren’t filled with rage. Clinging to the lie pushed the anger underground and let me believe I was a good Christian doing the right thing.
I confessed my lie and the presence of anger and rage I knew shouldn’t be there.
My prayers changed that day: I started examining my emotions as I prayed so I could be utterly honest about what was inside me. Such honest prayer was humbling: it forced me to admit I’d thought too highly of myself.
Confessing and Forgiving: “As We Forgive our Debtors”
When I’ve confessed my sins, I pray, “Forgive me my sins as I forgive those who sin against me.” Then in prayer I move to forgive those who’ve sinned against me.
1) Ask the Holy Spirit to Reveal the Truth about What I’m Forgiving
Rather than brushing all sin under the carpet of unintentional, I now try to understand whether the evidence supports intentional or unintentional sin. Because “Love … believes all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7), I give the person the benefit of the doubt based on the actual evidence. I refuse to judge hidden motives:
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts
1 Corinthians 4:5
This helps me forgive what actually happened. Forgiving something that didn’t happen isn’t true forgiving. Scripture calls sin a debt, and we can err on both sides of the debt equation. If someone owes me $1,000 dollars and I accuse her of owing me $10,000, then I will have a difficult time forgiving because doing so demands that I hold to a fantasy of having been wronged more than I have. On the other hand, If someone owes me $1,000 and I offer forgiveness for $100, the hundred is easier to forgive, but it requires I hold to the lie that the other $900 wasn’t taken.
Christ Preaching (La Petite Tombe), by Rembrandt
Either way, the truth has a way of poking through lies.
Those who wish to dwell with God must speak truth in their hearts (Psalm 15:2). If what we’re forgiving is unintentional sin, then we must forgive it as such. If we’re forgiving intentional, even malicious, sin, as much as it hurts, we must acknowledge it.
2) Name the Person and the Sin
When in prayer I forgive someone, I name the person and the sin:
- “God, I forgive Kathy for gossiping about me”
- “I forgive my mother for driving at high speeds around hairpin turns while drunk with us in the backseat”
Naming people individually keeps me from letting this be a flippant exercise rather than part of worship. Naming the sin ensures that what I’m forgiving is an actual sin. If I cannot name the sin according to what it’s called in the Bible, then I confess that I have held something against someone that was not a sin and ask the Holy Spirit to show me why I’ve done so. Naming the actual sin often leads to meditation on why God calls that action sin. It also leads me to the next prayer part.
Confessing and Forgiving: Ask God to Forgive Me as I Forgive
I then ask God to forgive me as I forgive this person: “I forgive my mother as I want you to forgive me; I give her the grace you’ve given me.”
This prayer does not mean forgiving others causes God to forgive me, as if I must pay for forgiveness (a paltry payment indeed, compared to what really bought my forgiveness). Rather, it reminds me of what my Lord wants me to do so I may do it at once.
***
In most cases, confessing and forgiving as I’ve outlined here is all I need do. But if I’ve suffered a great loss, I must pray three more prayers.
Confessing and forgiving are linked because true forgiving requires true repentance Click To TweetForgive Intentional Sin—Don’t Just Manage Emotions | In this series:
- What Forgiving Isn’t: 5 Stand-ins that Masquerade as Forgiving
- Must I Forgive THIS Sin?
- What Makes Confessing and Forgiving Inseparable
- Four Sins that Require Faith to Forgive
- The Ultimate Reason Behind Unforgiveness
Our twenty-one-year-old Green Machine (aka Honda Accord) won’t pass the next California smog test, so we’re car shopping. (We save oodles of money by driving a car till it or Sacramento calls it quits. Since I don’t commute, that can take years.) As we drove into the big parking lots with rows of shiny cars, fluttering flags, and bright signs announcing “New!” and “Deals!,” I favored Honda because this is our second Honda that lasted twenty years with few trips to the shop.
Look for God’s hidden blessings & you’ll find joy
But last week our eleven-year-old silver CRV needed $1200 work to put out an engine light, and today it needs $1600 to fix the air conditioner that gasped, clattered, and died amidst a triple digit heat wave. Thankfully, it perished on a Sunday so driving a black labyrinth of freeways winding through brown and olive-green hills with the windows down and a big barrette clamping my hair back was rather nice. We even made a game out of counting cars with open windows during the thirty-mile drive: There were three.
But while I had forgotten the fun of a weekend open-air drive, I clearly remembered summer weekdays in stop-and-crawl traffic before AC when I would arrive at work with damp hair plastered to my forehead and neck and with the back of my blouse soaked. Yuck. Thankfully, we have the funds, so Clay took it to the Honda dealer first thing this morning and pounded away on his laptop in their chilled waiting room that smelled of coffee and just-baked chocolate chip cookies. (Yes, he indulged.)
The two big repair bills a few days apart made me wonder: Was it really that Hondas are exceptionally well made that we’ve been so blessed with low maintenance costs? Or have I been attributing to a carmaker something that was really God’s hidden blessings during tight times? There’s no way to know for sure how active God was in all of this, of course, though we do know that God takes good care of us.
God’s Hidden Blessings Come Daily
Psalm 71:15 God’s hidden blessings are beyond counting
In fact, Psalm 71:15 tells us that every day God acts for our good in ways we don’t even know about:
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
This gem is in the middle of an elderly saint’s prayer psalm. He’s walked with God since childhood. He’s met many troubles, and he knows how to pray with hope and praise. He’s described his dilemma, recounted God’s character, and recalled God’s past help.
And something happens: He remembers his purpose is to tell others what God has done for him—a purpose that old age can’t rob from him. He announces how he’s going to do just that, for God does so much for him in twenty-four hours that he doesn’t even know the extent of God’s help!
What faith! The many ways he’s seen God act assures him that God has acted invisibly, too.
Noticing God’s Hidden Blessings
The psalmist’s attitude isn’t natural. It’s easier to forget God when things go well and blame him when things go awry. Ironically, people who are quick to grumble that God didn’t intervene in misfortune seem slowest to acknowledge the divine hand in blessings.
Conversely, those who are attune to God’s blessing begin to see his blessings even in the midst of hardship:
- Jacob held to God’s promises, despite grief over news of his son’s death. He was unaware the young man was alive and in God’s care.
- Joseph obeyed God, despite betrayal and false imprisonment. He was oblivious to God’s plan for him to save his family.
- David sang of God’s faithfulness, despite King Saul’s jealous pursuit. He didn’t know how God would fulfill his promise to make him king.
- Daniel prayed faithfully, despite the king’s edict against prayer. He wasn’t privy to God’s purpose to use this to proclaim his power throughout the empire.
- Paul sang hymns, despite imprisonment. He didn’t suspect God planned an earthquake to open the prison doors.
Am I Missing God’s Hidden Blessings?
So am I oblivious to God’s hidden blessings in my everyday life? When my health is good, do I take it for granted or do I give thanks? When it’s bad, do I complain first or do I thank God for my prior good health? Likewise, when a project goes well, do I congratulate myself on my exceptional foresight, skill, and hard work? Or do I thank God for giving me skills and help? When a project falls apart, do I blame God or do I acknowledge how my past successes may have depended on him?
Praise for God’s Hidden Blessings
The psalmist saw God’s saving hand everywhere. He knew God acted daily in his life. Looking back, he remembered that even when God made him see calamities, God always revived him. He acknowledged that God delivered him more times than he knew. And so he praised God.
Today I pause to thank God for hidden acts:
- the car parts and house pipes and computer drives that lasted through the recession until funds arrived
- the dangers avoided during many travels
- my elderly father-in-law signing over his trust a few weeks before a mini-stroke left him mentally unfit
- the mistakes I could have made but didn’t
- the friends and mentors who’ve encouraged and guided
Surely, I do not know the number of his righteous acts, and I give thanks for God’s hidden blessings
I'm thankful for God's hidden blessings Click To Tweet
By Jean E. Jones @JeanEstherJones
Did my last post, Why Memorize Psalms? 10 Good Reasons, leave you wondering just how anyone would go about memorizing psalms?
Now, I know people who can read a long passage a few times and it’s memorized. I’m not like that. So when I decided to memorize some psalms, I first read up on memory tricks. Here are six tips I’ve found particularly helpful.
1. Pick a Bible Version that Aids Memorization
Tips 1+3. Indented lines help you memorize psalms–so does drawing in your Bible
Memorizing will be easier if you choose a Bible version that breaks the psalms into stanzas and lines rather than printing them as paragraphs. Hebrew poetry consists of poetic lines with parallel parts, and being able to see those parts one above the other will help you see their relationships, and that will help you memorize. For example, look at Psalm 30:5 as it’s indented in ESV (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version)
For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
See the relationships? That helps you remember.
2. Recite Aloud Every Day with One New Verse per Day
Andrew M. Davis wrote a helpful little book called An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture
- “Yesterday’s verse first”: Begin by reciting the verse you added the day before ten times aloud, looking if you need to.
- “Old verses next, altogether”: Recite everything you’ve memorized to date aloud, peeking if you forget anything.
- “New verse”: Begin memorizing the next verse in the passage by saying it ten times while staring hard at the words.
Tip 3. Hyssop linked to snow to remember Psalm 51:7
Davis emphasizes saying the verses aloud and “photographing the verses with your eyes.” To help me “photograph” the line, I cover everything below it with a white card while I say it and stare at it. When I’ve said it enough times to remember it, I’ll cover the line, picture it in my mind, and say it, then immediately uncover and read the line to reinforce it.
3. Use Linked Mental Pictures
Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas in The The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play
This is very easy with visual psalms such as Psalm 23, but let me show you how to do it with a passage that has intangibles. Here’s Psalm 51:7-8 with a key word in each line in bold:
Tip 3. Snow linked to hear (ear) to remember Psalm 51:7-8
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
For intangibles, substitute an image of something that sounds similar (ear for “hear” or Mary for “marry”) or connects in some way (a hand holding a tissue for “blot”). The pictures demonstrate how to associate each key word with the next. You can also sketch the pictures in your Bible.
4. Review with a Recording
When I’ve memorized several verses of a psalm, I play a recording while I recite it. This seems to engage a different part of the brain than reading: I stumble in different places! You can use the audio feature of Bible apps such as YouVersion or record yourself reading the psalm slowly and with feeling into your cellphone’s recording app, pausing between stanzas. (I usually start with YouVersion and switch to my own recording when I’m just about done with the psalm. By that time, I know how I want to read it.)
Tip 3. Hear linked to bones to remember Psalm 51:8
Of course, if you’re musically inclined, put the psalm to music like the Israelites did and you’ll learn it even faster.
5. Remember the Stanza Flow
Make a mental note of each stanza’s central point so you can remember their order. Here’s Psalm 30 by verse numbers:
- 1-3: Praise
- 4-5: Divine description
- 6-7: Dilemma
- 8-10: Dilemma’s prayer
- 11-12: Thanksgiving
6. Pay Attention to Parallelism to Memorize Psalms
The most significant aspect of Hebrew poetry is its use of parallelism. Parallelism is a huge help in memorizing, as you can see in Psalm 1:1:
Tip 6. Noticing parallelism helps you memorize psalms
See how much easier it is to remember how the line flows when you see the parallel parts laid out like this? The structure here is diagrammed like this: A / B C D / B’ C’ D’ / B’’ C’’ D’’. Most Hebrew poetic lines are either A B / A’ B’ or A B / B’ A’. Paying attention to how the parallel elements relate to each other helps your memory. I often write out stanzas with the parallel items stacked so I can visualize them better.
7. Use Tricks for Synonyms to Memorize Psalms
Tips 3+7. Face linked to blot and lips sighing (SI=Sins Iniquities) to remember Psalm 51:9
I found Psalm 51 difficult to memorize because of all the synonyms for sin. So I made a mental picture of “TIS” next to the first stanza (standing for Transgressions, Iniquity, Sin) and “TSSE IS” next to the second stanza (Transgressions, Sin, Sinned, Evil, Iniquity, Sin). For the third stanza, I took the mental picture of face linked to blot and added sighing lips to remind me of “SI” (Sins, Iniquities; see the illustration).
***
There you have it: the seven tips and tricks to help you memorize psalms!
Have you used these tips and tricks? What additional tips and tricks help you memorize?
Related Links
- Memorize Psalms? 10 Good Reasons
- Who are “the Righteous” in Psalms and Proverbs?
- Spontaneous Praise
- Psalm 137 and Dashing Babies on Rocks
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Part five of a five-part message accompanying chapter 2 of The Story
What happens when we know what’s right to do, but doing it is a struggle? I resonate with Jacob’s seven courageous steps as he returned home despite his brother’s vow to kill him. In earlier posts, I mentioned that Jacob in faith immediately started on his way. When circumstances worsened, he prayed and repeated God’s promise to him. He arranged to repay the debt he owed his brother. Then he risked losing everything dear to him by sending his family and all his possessions across the river where Esau advanced. We come now to Jacob’s final two courageous steps.
Wrestle in Prayer
- Peter Paul Rubens, “The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau,” 1624
Several years ago I wrestled in prayer late into the night seeking wisdom. Finally, at 2:00 a.m. the answers came clearly, I understood the situation in a new way, and realized what needed to be done, and was at peace.
The next morning I turned to a Psalm, and there found a verse declaring God’s attitude towards the type of situation I faced. Marveling at God’s continued guidance, I scribbled notes in my Bible’s yellowing pages and pondered over how often it seems that effective wrestling prayer happens at night. Paul talked about “wrestling in prayer … that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Colossians 4:12). Wrestling prayer is transformational and especially suited for finding God’s will and standing firm in it.
From there I turned to Genesis and read that just as I’d wrestled through the night as I prepared to meet my situation, so Jacob wrestled through the night as he prepared to meet Esau.
After Jacob sent his loved ones and treasures across the cold river in the darkness of night, he remained behind. By the river’s banks in an outward struggle that mirrored the conflict within him, he wrestled with a man through the night (Genesis 32:24). It turned out this was no ordinary man: the Divine had appeared in a physical form that allowed Jacob to interact.
Jacob wrestled until daybreak, when the man touched Jacob’s hip, wrenching it and making obvious the man was no human and could have disabled Jacob at any time. Now Jacob lost the physical strength on which he depended, and would be unable to fight if his brother attacked.
The man commanded Jacob to let go of him, but Jacob refused, entreating the man to bless him first. The man then said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome (Genesis 32:28).
Wrestling through the night transformed him from Jacob—“he who supplants”—to Israel—“God struggles.”
Just as Jacob wrestled until he was transformed, so we wrestle in prayer until we’re transformed and God blesses us with the understanding and peace we need.
The man disappeared and Jacob had just one step left.
Just Obey
As the sun arose, Jacob crossed over the river and limped ahead of his family to meet his brother. He bowed seven times before Esau.
Limping, weak, and tired, he courageously faced that day’s challenge.
In so doing, he showed his changed character. He advanced first before his family, not holding back in case he needed to escape. He bowed to Esau and called him lord, thus respecting him as older instead of trying to supplant him. He humbly acknowledged all he had came from God instead of greedily grasping for greater. He made restitution, and when Esau refused it, he insisted on repaying his wrongs.
God gave Jacob the covenant blessing. It was a gift, not a treasure taken by treachery. His character was transformed. And God delivered him as promised, for unbeknownst to Jacob God had already changed Esau’s heart: “But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And he wept” (Genesis 33:4).
By humbly and courageously obeying God, Jacob had allowed God to change him.
***
Do you have before you a task which takes courage? Here are the seven ways Jacob courageously obeyed:
Start on the way
Be still and pray
Promises say
Try debt to pay
Risk come what may
Wrestling pray
Then just obey
Related posts
Courage: Jacob’s Example Part 1
Courage: Jacob’s Example Part 2
Part two of a five-part message accompanying chapter 2 of The Story
- Peter Paul Rubens, “The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau,” 1624
Sometimes doing what’s right brings hardship. An addict who finally seeks help must face all those things he was running from that got him hooked in the first place. Obeying Jesus’ command to talk to others about sin can strain relationships. Moving because we sense God’s call brings difficult adjustments and many losses. As happened to me, addressing a co-worker’s inappropriate actions can increase tensions in the workplace. The courageous course often passes through dark valleys.
Jacob’s was. In my last post, Jacob courageously started on his way to obey God’s command to return home, but heard Esau was coming with four hundred men.
With adrenaline flowing and heart racing, Jacob planned for the worse. He divided the people into two groups, thinking if Esau attacked one, the other could escape. Perhaps he considered fleeing back with the escapees if God didn’t come through.
But Jacob was a prophet and God’s command to go home was unmistakable. He didn’t allow panic to rule: he took another courageous step.
Be Still and Pray
Jacob stopped his frantic planning and prayed, a courageous step both because he had to pause from preparing to protect himself and because honest prayer opens us up to hearing what we might not want to hear, such as a word to move in a direction we’d rather not go.
Here’s Jacob’s faith-fostering prayer:
First, he recalled his relationship with God: He called God the God of his grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac. He cried out, “O Lord, who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper’” (Genesis 32:9).
Second, he remembered that God’s blessings are undeserved: “I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups” (32:10). When we fear losing something, remembering that what we have is undeserved keeps us from concluding God owes us.
Third, he honestly stated his fear: “Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children” (32:11). Sometimes we think fear is of itself sinful, and that keeps us from admitting our fears to God and honestly asking for what we need. But Jacob didn’t do that: He told God exactly what he was afraid might happen.
Prayers like this calm fear. Do we fear financial ruin and loss of status? Do we worry about others’ opinions? Do we dread the loss of a beloved who brings us joy, companionship, and strength? Are we anxious over our child’s uncertain future? We can pray like Jacob.
Jacob’s prayer had a fourth element, but it’s so important that it stands alone as an important step of courage.
Promises Say
Jacob repeated God’s promise to him: “But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted’” (Genesis 32:12). Can’t you just hear peace calming his heart in the words, “But you have said,” as Jacob courageously put his trust in God’s promise? “But you have said” turns our focus from fear to faith.
Few things build faith and calm fear more than repeating God’s promises. When we need courage, we can write out God’s promises on cards and place them where we’ll see them often. We can memorize his promises and repeat them over and over until they’re a part of us. We can pray, “But you have said.” There’s nothing like God’s promises to bring peace in the presence of fear.
Jacob still hadn’t completed God’s task, though. We’ll continue this story in the next post.
Related Posts
Courage: Jacob’s Example Part 1
Courage: Jacob’s Example Part 3
Courage: Jacob’s Example Part 4
Courage: Jacob’s Example Part 5
Twice I stopped dicing onions and alerted my husband he was blocking my light. Wondering if a fluorescent bulb in the kitchen ceiling fixture had gone out, he climbed atop a chair and carefully removed the first of two lighting panels. As he lowered it to the ground, the light in the room doubled. It turned out that the aged, yellowed panel now blocked more light than it diffused.
From “Joy Comes in the Morning” by Rae Jones
When he removed the second panel, we found two more problems: One bulb was indeed dead, and the other barely glowed from its failing electrical ballast.
In the morning as I started tidying in the increased light, I noticed the cobalt blue mixer which usually blended in to the royal blue walls now stood out. But it didn’t shine. I examined it closely and found—ugh—a thin grimy film previously invisible.
I scrubbed nearly the entire kitchen while Clay replaced light fixtures, bulbs, and lighting panels. Four pots of hot, soapy water and half a cup of bleach later, the kitchen sparkled under the new, bright lights.
The old lights had dimmed so gradually over eighteen years that I’d no idea how much light we’d lost.
Which is exactly what can happen in our spiritual lives: We can drift from God’s light so slowly that we don’t realize we no longer see clearly the spiritual grime that needs cleaning.
Spiritual Grime
Jesus said people who fear light exposing bad deeds stay out of the light, but those who live by truth come into the light (John 3:20-21). Part of walking in light and truth is admitting our sins to God and receiving his forgiveness and purification:
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:6-9
Though God cleanses us when we in faith turn to Jesus as Savior and Lord, as we traverse this world, our feet get dirty and need regular washing. That’s why Jesus told Peter, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean” (John 13:10).
Five Ways to Walk in Light
How do we walk in the light so we know when our feet need cleansing?
1. Examine Life under Scripture’s Light
Just as I examined my counter accoutrements under good light, so I can examine my life under Scripture’s light. When I read what pleases and displeases God, I can reflect on how well my life matches. For instance, when I read Paul’s Colossians 3:8-9 list of what to dispose of—anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying—I can pause at each to consider if they’re MIA.
2. Bring Weaknesses to God Daily
Because stainless steel surfaces show fingerprints even in dim light, I know they need extra attention and I polish them almost daily. Likewise, in my daily prayers, I can bring before God my weaknesses that need extra attention, praying, “See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23).
3. Confess Sins Immediately
We all know it’s important to wipe up spills as soon as they happen. Similarly, we should address anything we notice wrong immediately. For example, the instant we have an envious thought, we can confess it and replace it with thanksgiving for what we have. The Apostle John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Confessing immediately is like wiping up a spill as soon as we see it.
4. Get Help from Experienced Mentors
Our 25-year old countertop tiles are cracked and the grout is chipped and discolored beyond bleach’s power. While we could retile ourselves, rather than continuing to battle grout, we plan to hire an experienced installer to put in a solid surface. In the same way, if we continue to battle a particular weakness, it may be time to get experienced help in the form of an accountability partner, a counselor, or an addiction recovery program.
5. Rejoice in God’s Mercy
After I finished scrubbing my kitchen under the bright new lights, I stood back and admired how the mixer and glass canisters sparkled. In the same way, when we’ve acknowledged and repented of our sins, we should recognize that God has forgiven us and washed us clean.
We should never try to punish ourselves because that shows a lack of faith that Jesus’ work on the cross was enough to cleanse us. Nor should we berate ourselves as bad, for God said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15). We should accept God’s forgiveness and move forward. After all, “whoever lacks” virtue, godliness, etc., “is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Peter 19).
The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. That’s something to rejoice about!
How do we stop drifting from God's light where we can see spiritual grime? Click To TweetSometimes God tells us No to test whether our hearts are faithful and obedient.
My sister's dog Kaze obediently jumping through hoops
Imagine a master dog trainer who supplies dogs to the ATF, DEA and police is training a newly hired apprentice.
The trainer points to three calmly sitting dogs and says, “We just received these dogs that received their initial training elsewhere. We’re going to test them to see if they’re suitable for us and, if so, what level of training they should receive next. The unimaginative breeders named them Black Dog, Yellow Dog, and Spotted Dog.”
The trainer calls over Black Dog and tests how he obeys basic commands such as sit, stay, and heel, as well as trickier commands such as back up and growl. Then he tells the apprentice to test Yellow Dog and Spotted Dog. All dogs do well.
The trainer says, “Now test their obedience with food.”
The apprentice tells the dogs to sit. They obey. He opens a bag of kibbles and three dog noses twitch and turn his way as the grainy smell fills the air. He plunges a scoop noisily into the bag and the dogs’ ears perk. He pulls out the scoop full of brown bits and pours them with a clatter into three bowls as three pairs of eyes watch. Yellow Dog licks his chops and taps one forepaw on the floor. Finally the apprentice places the bowls before the dogs and commands, “Take it!” All the dogs leap forward and devour the kibbles in minutes.
The trainer says, “That’s not what I meant. That test means nothing because the dogs are doing what dogs do naturally. I can’t tell whether they’re eating because they’re obeying you or their own cravings.”
The trainer refills the bowls with kibble, commands, “Leave it!” and places the bowls before the dogs. Yellow Dog eats his kibbles, but the others sit quietly.
The master trainer says, “That shows me Yellow Dog may not work for us, but it doesn’t show me how obedient the other two are because their bellies are full. Don’t feed the dogs for 24 hours, and then we’ll test them again.”
After 24 hours, the apprentice brings the dogs to the master trainer. Yellow Dog growls and snaps at him, Spotted Dog whines, and Black Dog is quiet.
The trainer says, “Now test them like I showed you yesterday.”
The apprentice commands, “Leave it,” and places bowls of kibble in front of the dogs. Both Yellow Dog and Spotted Dog eat their kibble. Black Dog sits quietly, and Yellow Dog eats Black Dog’s kibble too.
The trainer says, “Now we know Black Dog is obedient from the heart: she’ll obey even when hungry. Give Yellow Dog away, for she won’t meet our needs. Put Spotted Dog in intermediate training. I’ll take Black Dog for now and reward her with a steak, for her desire to obey her master is greater than her desire to obey her hunger. I have great plans for her.”
And so it is with us. God tests us to expose what’s in our hearts. He gives more training to those who need it. And to those who don’t, He entrusts with greater tasks and rewards with eternal riches.
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” ~1 Peter 1:6-7
“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” ~Deuteronomy 8:2
Injured eagle rescued & now protected within cage in Sitka, Alaska
Why does God sometimes say No to things we seem to really need for peace and happiness?
Many years ago a small business I worked for shut down unexpectedly, leaving me unemployed in the middle of a recession a few months before I was to be married. I had a tough time finding a new job. Finally the owner of a small family photography studio offered me a receptionist position that would meet my former salary if I worked 48 hours per week. I took it.
On my first day, I discovered that what Tom, the owner, had called “some phone work” was really telephone solicitation, and that it was to be my main duty.
I hated it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make my quota and my stomach tied in knots every morning as I faced another day of failure. Additionally, Tom listened to everything his staff said via intercoms so he could correct every mistake and critique every lost sale.
Though I was grateful for a job that allowed our wedding to go on, I felt I needed a less stressful job and prayed regularly for such. But time stretched on and I remained there.
***
The Israelites faced something similar. During the trek through barren desert to the Promised Land, God fed them manna. It sustained them, but they grew tired of it day after day, morning, noon and night. They craved lamb and fish and garlic and leeks. Why wouldn’t God give them a varied diet?
Later Moses told them one of the reasons God met their needs, but not their cravings, had been “to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3). In other words, sometimes God says No to teach us important lessons.
He wanted to teach them that just as their bodies craved physical food, so their spirits craved the spiritual food of God’s words, even though they didn’t feel hunger pangs in the same way. Cucumbers and melons could support physical life, but not spiritual life. They needed to seek spiritual life in His words.
The fact is, our deep spiritual longings can be filled only with eternal things.
Some people never grasp this. They chase pleasures, possessions and positions. They may feel a fleeting satisfaction whenever they grab one, but it soon fades and the chase resumes.
But God wants us to live by His words and seek fulfillment in the Creator rather than creation, in the eternal rather than the temporal.
***
I persevered at the job I hated. In God’s Word I found that He wanted me to respond by trying my best, being thankful that He could work this job for my good, and looking for ways to share the gospel.
After nearly a year, two co-workers turned their lives over to Christ. We met regularly before work for Bible study. Then we all found new jobs.
I discovered that having a job I liked wasn’t a need, but a desire, and life isn’t just about enjoying myself. It’s about doing things that have eternal purpose, things that God rewards eternally. That was deeply satisfying, more satisfying, in fact, than even the agreeable jobs I’ve had since.
Are you in a difficult situation where you lack some of the things you really desire? Go ahead and ask God to change it, but until He does, seek satisfaction in Him.
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ~Deuteronomy 8:3
Related: Why God Says No: A 3 Dog Tale
A slab leak pushed a bathroom remodel ahead of other projects in 2005
Five book ideas competed for my attention like auditioning dancers. All seemed exciting, but working with any would be daunting. And then there was the completed Bible study guide that had been well received at two churches. Should I submit it to a publisher? That meant creating a blog—another time consumer.
I thumbed through my black leather Bible’s pages to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. You see, Nehemiah knew how to tackle a difficult project.
The book begins with Nehemiah in a fortress of Susa (in modern-day Iran), his brother having just told him that their fellow Jews were in great trouble and disgrace. About 140 years earlier Babylon had broken down Jerusalem’s walls, burned its gates and buildings, taken its treasures, and exiled the inhabitants. A Jewish remnant eventually returned and rebuilt a temple and homes. But the city still lacked walls to protect it from enemies.
Nehemiah wept for his people. He wanted to help. But he had a fulltime, prestigious position as cupbearer to the Persian King Artaxerxes. The king trusted him to serve him wine that wasn’t poisoned, something Nehemiah ensured by drinking first. He had the king’s confidence and ear. It wasn’t the kind of job one could choose to quit.
Nehemiah took five steps as he contemplated what to do about Jerusalem’s need.
First, for days he fasted and prayed, mourning over the need and confessing his sins and those of his people. He offered himself as a servant to God, willing to help how he could.
Second, Nehemiah devised a plan. He wanted to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls. He calculated what he would need and how to get it. He estimated the time it would take. He did not, however, waste time planning particulars that wouldn’t matter if the plan were nixed.
Third, he picked a day to present his plan to the king. He didn’t wait around anxiously pondering endless what-if scenarios. He set right to finding out if God was going to bless this venture.
Fourth, when the day came, Nehemiah asked God to grant him favor before Artaxerxes, the person with the power to say yes or no—and who had decreed previously the walls not be rebuilt (Ezra 4:21).
Nehemiah was ready when the opportunity came suddenly: when he brought the king his wine, the king asked him why he seemed sad.
Finally, despite his fear, Nehemiah seized the opportunity and told Artaxerxes what was on his heart. The king asked what he wanted. Nehemiah prayed again and asked for a leave of absence to rebuild the city. Then he laid out his plan.
Artaxerxes granted his request. That’s when Nehemiah knew God had answered YES!
I considered Nehemiah’s five steps carefully:
- Seeking God through fasting, prayer, confession and willingness
- Devising a plan
- Setting a date to present the plan
- Asking God to grant favor
- Seizing opportunity despite fear
I had done step 1. I’d gotten stuck on step 2 by planning unnecessary details. So I dropped those distractions and set a date to test whether I could manage a blog: if within two weeks I could write five, I’d set a date by which I’d pitch the Bible study guide.
Within five days I wrote eight blogs.
November is my goal for presenting a proposal for the guide.
What about you? Are you contemplating a move, seeking a new job, pursuing a new passion? At which step are you now? Which step is usually most difficult for you?
“When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” ~Nehemiah 1:4 (NIV)
Next: Nehemiah thwarts mockers.
Like many Christians I’d memorized verses such as “all things work together for good” and “give thanks in all circumstances (Rom 8:28, 1Th 5:18). When bad things happened, I’d quote these verses, thank God for the good He would work, and push away questions. Trying to trust God, I did something akin to closing my eyes, putting my hands over my ears, and saying, “Lalalalalal—just have faith—lalalalalala.”
After a second trimester miscarriage, I dutifully did these things and refused to think about problems. I thought I was fine. I didn’t feel angry at God; actually, I didn’t feel anything towards God. That concerned me, but I dismissed it as emotional exhaustion.
But when I noticed I was often mad over minor matters, I wondered if I were angry with God.
I looked up “anger” in my Bible’s concordance to see how God might respond. I found that He is slow to anger and full of understanding and compassion. I found too that God expects me to be patient and forgiving towards others’ anger, so that must be what He’s like.
I decided that if I were angry with God, He already knew it so I may as well talk to Him about it—not with a raging heart, like the fool in Pr 19:3, but in the same way I might talk to anyone whose actions I didn’t understand but whom I knew dearly loved me.
I headed out to a deserted schoolyard and prayed, “I think I might be mad at you, God.” I listed what bothered me (the things I’d been refusing to think about) and quickly discovered I was mad—really mad.
I admitted everything I was angry about, even the minor things such as, “Now I can’t enjoy a future pregnancy!” I disclosed every fear: “How will I face those church members who think my loss was due to lack of faith?” I asked every question: “How could you let something bad happen when I’m Your child?”
Surprisingly, such honest prayer helped three ways.
First, some issues resolved immediately. No sooner were the words out of my mouth about not being able to enjoy a future pregnancy than I realized the complaint wasn’t valid—irritation over not enjoying something is merely peevish.
More importantly, when I demanded, “Everyone else can have children; why can’t I?” I instantly realized my error. Many women cannot have children; some also have no husband. Ignoring my secret thoughts had kept me believing a lie and thinking God was denying me a right—and that was the basis of my anger.
Second, the fact that some issues resolved immediately gave me hope the others could resolve too. I still hurt, but now I had peace.
Third, the still unresolved questions were now exposed so I could seek answers. Before I had felt as if a craggy, deep red and black mountain had plunged onto the path before me, its height insurmountable and its dark shadow engulfing me. Now I felt as if the mountain were gone. Ahead my path approached a manageable hurdle, then another, then eventually it climbed a small beige hill and in the distance a larger hill behind which the sun shone brightly, lighting my way.
The difference between how I was attempting to trust God before and after may seem subtle, but the effects were significant. Before, I was closing my eyes lest something be exposed that weakened my faith. But while closed eyes can’t see problems, neither can they see God. When I opened my eyes and took questions and problems to God rather than ignoring them, I began to find answers and understand God better. Instead of weakening, my faith in God’s goodness grew. I still quoted verses and trusted God over what I didn’t understand, but out of faith rather than fear. I was searching for understanding “as for hidden treasures,” and was beginning to find it (Pr 2:4-6).
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalms 139:23
You can read more about contentment with life’s circumstances in my article, Journey of Childlessness, on www.Kyria.com.