Affectionate Father

Psalm 103:13 (ESV)

As a father shows compassion to his children,

    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

Am I an affectionate father? Like the geyser “Old Faithful,” do I spontaneously spew out love and affection on my children? Am I faithful to fill my son or daughter’s emotional tank with a warm embrace or a kiss on the head? Or am I so caught up in my own career and needs that I have no emotional capacity to give affection? Affection must be displayed.

A father with affection reflects his heavenly Father’s affection for him. It is out of an overflow of being comforted and loved by Christ that redeemed fathers show affection to their children. When the Holy Spirit gives us a warm and secure hug, we can’t help but hug our children and grandchildren. Eternal affection translates into earthly affection.

Perhaps you have a routine of kissing and hugging your children each time you leave home and when you arrive home. There is no rushing out the door until you have made emotional deposits in your most valued relational account. Your child is your lock-box of love, waiting with a tender heart to be touched by their daddy. Initiate hugs and kisses.

When a child’s heart hurts from fear, rejection, or physical harm, move closer with care and compassion. Listen with empathetic ears and outstretched arms. Affectionate fathers are up close and personal, distant fathers are unsympathetic and impersonal. Your seeds of affection reap a harvest of healthy adult children who want to come back home.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20b).

Since He sets His affections on you, you set your affections on Almighty God. A father who is first loved by his heavenly Father has the capacity to love his children appropriately and fully. Adult children who have experienced their father’s affection more easily show affection. So seek affection above and then apply it below.

Dear Lord, help us as fathers to show Your love to those You have given to us. Help us to strive to be the Father You have for us to be. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Conversation between best friends

Luke 11:5-8 (ESV)

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

Have you seen or heard conversations between best friends? Do they converse in a formal manner or do they use fancy words? Absolutely not! In fact, it seems like both have common interests and passions. God calls us His friends. Find out the heart of God and make it your burden and you will cultivate your friendship with Him.

If we’re friends with God, will we be spared from troubled times? Midnight hour - temptations, storms and discomfort will come. Never lose hope. Run to Jesus because He has life’s answers for you.

What do we learn from Jesus’ parable? Just as the friend in the story kept knocking, we shouldn’t give up but keep praying. Friends don’t give up on each other, do they? Persevere in the assurance of relationship.

Was the friend borrowing for himself? No, he was pleading for another friend. When was the last time you knocked the Gates of Heaven on someone else’s behalf? Have a Spirit to help others, to pray for others, only then can you develop a culture of mutual interest with God.

Dear Lord, thank You for being our friend whom we can approach any day or anytime. We are privileged to have a friend like You who gave up everything for us. We need more of your grace and power to be the hands and feet of You. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus' prayer life

Luke 11:1 (ESV)

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

There are differences in the ways we pray because all of us are raised differently. Thus, our upbringing shapes our prayer style. For example, some religions focus on posture while others concentrate on chants. When we accept Jesus in our lives, we bring with us our old perceptions and mannerisms of speaking to God. We can’t say that any one style is the right way. What would then be the ‘ideal way’ to pray to God? Let’s follow the teachings of Jesus. Let’s neutralize our backgrounds and in its place develop a culture of prayer life based on the Holy Bible.

Luke 11:1 – Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

What can we learn from Jesus’ prayer life?

1. Jesus had a ‘certain’ place and time for prayer – that’s value and discipline for prayer.

2. Jesus started praying and He finished praying which means Jesus prayed with some sense of order and dignity.

3. Notice that Jesus’ disciples came to Him after He ‘ceased’ praying. Why? Because they knew that they could disturb Jesus while He multiplied bread, when He was tired and resting, or when He slept during the storm to wake Him to calm a storm. But the disciples knew that they couldn’t disturb Jesus when He was praying.

Dear Lord, thank You for showing us the right way to pray. We want our prayer life to be taught individually by You because our life cannot be compared with another and because You have a plan for our life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The Blessing

Luke 24:50-51 (ESV)

50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

What was this blessing that Jesus gave to these disciples as He ascended to heaven? Whatever He said, it caused the disciples to stop and worship Him. Then they returned to Jerusalem with great joy—not just joy, but great joy! How could these disciples, who had been through so much with Him, leave that place full of joy, even after Jesus had vanished to heaven?

The answer is simple: Jesus had all authority, and now it was going to be bestowed on them. In a short time they would engage the most powerful force in the universe—Spirit-empowered prayer. How could they not be filled with unspeakable joy?

Those in the teaching profession recognize that there are many ingredients that make an effective teacher. Nonetheless, no matter how many teaching theories or strategies emerge, the greatest and most effective method that teachers identify is example, example, and example. Jesus’s life was the supreme example of prayer. He began His ministry in prayer at His baptism. He prayed about all things. Now, Jesus was ending His time on the earth in prayer as He ascended to the Father.

Because we have many different gifts and unique parts to play in Christ’s church, we will leave a variety of legacies. However, there is clearly one great legacy open to all of us. I believe it is one to which we all should aspire. Let this be our prayer, Lord: “May the legacy of our lives be answered prayer, as was Yours.”

Dear Lord, we thank You that we can come to You in prayer. Thanks that we are each given unique gifts to use in Your ministry. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Forsaken But Praying

Mark 15:34 (ESV)

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Have you ever felt forsaken by the Lord? Abandoned? It is a lonely feeling to find yourself in the middle of a crisis or situation you can’t explain or do anything about. Can you trust Him with all the challenging events of life and live in faith? Even in the midst of suffering and pain? We must come to the conclusion and understanding that the Lord uses all things to accomplish His purposes in our lives. The Lord even uses evil things that come from the evil one (Proverbs 16:4).

Jesus claimed God as His Father, yet He lamented that the Father was withdrawing His love and care for Him. The Father abandoned Christ while Christ bore our sins on the cross. It was the greatest price that could be paid for our sin, Christ’s suffering. Though forsaken, Christ remained faithful to His mission—redemption for those who would choose salvation through Him.

There will be times in life when you feel abandoned. The burden may seem more than is humanly possible to bear. We want to ask why these events happen, but why? isn’t the right question. The right question is, will you worship and follow God even if He does not meet your expectations? Will you follow Him even when you feel forsaken? Will you still pray?

Dear Lord, when we feel forsaken and abandoned help us to know that You are always there. Help us to never stop praying. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Persevering Prayer

Matthew 26:36 (ESV)

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”

How much time in prayer is sufficient? Fifteen minutes? Thirty minutes? An hour? Jesus was distressed and troubled, and He needed the disciples to watch with Him in prayer. He had modeled prayer, and now it was time for them to support Him in prayer. But they couldn’t even pray one hour. Is prayer this tough for you?

When we pray in the flesh, we are like couch potatoes trying to run a marathon—we are winded and simply do not have what it takes to finish. When we pray, we must pray in the Spirit. It is the Spirit who provides the strength and the energy to pray. The Spirit, pneuma in the Greek, is more properly termed “breath” or “wind” (Acts 2:2). Just like the couch potato trying to run, our flesh has no strength and no breath, but the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit fills us and gives us the strength and breath we need to pray. By praying in the Spirit, we can finish the marathon of life without running out of breath. We can persevere (Ephesians 6:18). We can develop the discipline of prayer. We can “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

One of the lessons about prayer our Lord repeatedly taught is we must persevere. This may be the greatest stumbling block to the prayer life of most Christians. Answers to prayers don’t come as quickly as we anticipate.

Let’s be completely honest with ourselves here—patience is not exactly something we practice a great deal in our nanosecond-response-time culture. My definition of lust is “I want it, and I want it now!” If there is a sure prescription for failure in prayer, it is the attitude of “I want my answer, and I want it now.” Our love of ease, impatience, and spiritual laziness don’t contribute to persevering prayer.

But why doesn’t God just go ahead and answer our prayers? That’s a great question. God has an end game with us—an eternal, essential purpose. That purpose is oneness with Him and being conformed into His image. Above all things, including answering our prayers, He wants to draw us deeply into Him. Persisting in unanswered prayer is the training ground for increased faith. It’s the place where God extends grace to us, and it is the perfect soil for character building. Unanswered prayer leaves us vulnerable before the Lord, the ideal place for surrender.

Dear Lord, help us to draw deeply into You. Help our trust be completely in You so that we can grow to be the people You would have us to be. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Engaging the Enemy in Spiritual Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (ESV)

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

We need to learn this lesson—we experience the Lord three ways: through our personal experience, through the Word and prayer, and through our fellowship with others in our community. In all three of these realms Satan is at war to destroy God’s essential purpose: unity.

Satan lies to us about our personal relationship with Christ. He constantly attacks the credibility of God’s Word and diverts our attention away from prayer. Satan does this because he knows it is through the Word and prayer that we mature as Christians and become equipped to battle against him. And the enemy schemes to create division in our fellowship with other believers because he understands that division will discredit the love of Christ. Disunity in the body of Christ will cause people to doubt if Jesus really is who He said He is, the Son of God. Much of Jesus’s prayer in John 17 addresses His plea to the Father for the unity of believers with them (the Father and Son) and with one another (vv. 11, 21-23).

The Word of God reveals that there is a furious spiritual battle taking place right now in the heavens and the unseen realms (Ephesians 6:12). Most of us are unaware of this war. And if we are aware, there is an additional rebutting that takes place with many Christians when it comes to spiritual warfare. The thought of battling demons, evil spirits, or Satan himself is overwhelming and frightening.

The truth is that we are to war against Satan. God has called us to use the weapons of our warfare to defeat the enemy and crush him underfoot (Romans 8:37-39; 16:20; 1 John 2:13-14). Everyday people such as you and me are called to put on the armor of light and cast aside the works of darkness (Romans 13:12). We are called to bring God’s kingdom of heaven to earth (Matthew 6:10).

Through prayer and the Word of God we are able to discern the strongholds of the enemy and tear down his defenses (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). The powers of darkness will be broken in our lives and the lives of others as we learn to war in the spirit. We will be God’s warriors, fully equipped to see the forces of evil destroyed and His kingdom and unity established in our midst.

Dear Lord, we pray for strength so that was can stand against the enemy. We thank You for Your word that shows us how to stand firm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.