Tagged: prayer

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

This text is used for the Lectionary Year A on July 9, 2017.

How do we hear from God?  I grew up hearing people say that God spoke to them or God showed them what to do.  This is often one of the ways Christians make others feel inferior.  We talk in lofty terms when we speak of the divine guidance from God.  Does he speak audibly?  How does he reveal his will in your life?  Our text for today is a beautiful picture of a servant looking for God’s hand and his guidance.

This story is about obedience, faith, prayer, God’s activity and work, and a response of worship.  Abraham and Sarah had lived long faithful lives.  They both received a promise from God and new names to remind them of that promise.  They were given a son in their old age, a son for whom they had longed for many years.  The covenant God made with Abraham promised (Genesis 15:14-21) that he would give him a son through his own body.  God promised he would make his offspring as numerous as the stars.  He made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:14-16) that his descendants would live as strangers in this country and they would be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years.  God promised he would punish the nation that oppressed them.  God promised Abraham that he would be buried at a good old age.  Finally, he promised that in the fourth generation his descendants would come back to this land.

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Luke 18:1-8

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on October 16th, 2016.

 

widow3As a modern day reader, and considering our familiarity with the Bible and the general structure of parables, our first inclination might be to think that the author is describing how the judge and the Lord in this parable are similar.  In fact, this parable sets up a contrast between how the Lord administers justice to those in need and the judge who administers justice after being inconvenienced by constant pleas from the widow.  While the judge gives justice because of badgering, the Lord gives justice to someone who “always prays and [does] not lose heart.”

This parable is focused on prayer and plays on the contrast in status between a judge and a widow.  In those times, the role of a judge was to maintain peaceful community and resolve disputes among the Israelites.  Women, on the other hand, relied on the support given by their husband.  When their husband was not in the picture anymore, they did not inherit property from their husband; instead, it was passed on to either the husband’s male offspring or his brothers.  In some cases, these widows were taken in by the other family members of her late-husband or left to fend for themselves.  Since there was no jury to hear the case of the widow, the judge carried the sole responsibility of dealing with her complaint in a fair and impartial manner – as according to the law set out in Deuteronomy.  Additionally, they were required to show the same amount of respect to the small cases as the large.

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Luke 11:1-13

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on July 24, 2016.

Hermano Leon
Hermano Leon

“I need you to pray for me.” “How can I pray for you?” “Can you add my friend to your prayer list?” “I don’t know what to pray.” These and other statements on prayer can be heard at any church on any given Sunday. Obviously people believe prayer is important, but why then is praying such a struggle for people? Many of us are, or at least we know people who are, Prayer Warriors. Why do their prayers seem so natural and powerful? Is it a learned skill? Is it a sign of spiritual maturity? Can anyone learn to pray like Jesus? After observing Jesus praying one day, his own followers asked him to teach them to pray. Jesus answered his disciples in Luke 11:2-4, with what we refer to as the Lord’s Prayer, or the model prayer. Jesus covered a lot of ground in this prayer, from honoring the Father, to asking for God’s forgiveness. Jesus never intended this prayer to be the only way we pray, or that these words should be recited at every prayer. More importantly than the form, he called attention to the importance of praying regularly. He stated, “When you pray,” not if you pray; He had an expectation that his followers would pray. Jesus set the example by being a man of prayer, and by giving instructions on how to pray.

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Luke 22:14-23:56

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on March 20, 2016.

Hermano Leon
Hermano Leon

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus used tables to announce the Kingdom of God.  Table fellowship, which was an important act of hospitality for all people in the Mediterranean world, was absolutely essential for Jesus’ ministry and an indicator of how he understood the nature of God’s Kingdom.  Jesus spends a great deal of time in this gospel teaching his disciples of table manners in the Kingdom.  Don’t take the seats of honor.  Don’t invite only those who can reciprocate.  Over and over again, the table of Jesus is illustrative of the ways of the Kingdom.  This Passover table in 22.14-23 – along with the one in Emmaus – should remind the reader of all the tables that have frequented the entire gospel.

It was at the table that Jesus announces Judas’ betrayal.  One of Jesus’ own disciples betrayed him.  One might expect betrayal from someone on the periphery, but for the betrayer to arise from Jesus’ inner circle intensifies the scandal.  The betrayal occurred amidst a larger debate amongst his followers as to who was the greatest.  In a gospel saturated with reversal stories, this argument over who is the greatest portrays the disciples as extremely dense.  On the other hand, Judas’ betrayal and the disciples’ ignorance are not limited to that particular table or to the first century.  To the degree that Jesus’ followers continue to have this argument, we continue to follow in Judas’ footsteps.

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