LORD, teach us to pray and LORD, increase our faith!

“LORD, teach us to pray!” and “LORD, increase our faith!” (Luke 11:1-13; Luke 17:5-10). 

These two requests the disciples asked of Jesus have always intrigued me. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray it followed watching Jesus go off and pray and shortly after they were sent out in two to make disciples in search of the people of peace, upon their return Jesus told them the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). When the disciples asked for the LORD to increase their faith Jesus had just taught about the importance of guarding themselves against the temptation to sin and not providing forgiveness. Jesus’ answer was found in the model prayer, He provided when the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. The prayer is also found in Matthew 6:9-13. It is a bit longer than Luke’s account. I will use both as the model prayer. 

Jesus said when you pray, pray like this…

Our Father… Notice that this is communal. God is the Father of all creation. 

Who are in heaven… He is eternal and so other.

Holy is Your Name… He is holy and His name is Holy. This means that there is no other like Him. He is set apart/sacred. Therefore, treat Him with respect and awe.

Give us this day our daily bread… Focus on today. Seek to take care of today and trust God to provide for what you need today. 

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us… Today I should make sure that I forgive others as I seek forgiveness. It is important to keep short accounts with others. Do not allow a debt of the mind, heart, soul, or spirit to get in the way of a relationship. I honor His Name as Holy by honoring others as sacred as one of His image bearers. When I keep unforgiveness in my heart I am not honoring on earth as it is in heaven. I must give forgiveness freely because God the Father gave it freely to me through His Son, Jesus. If I should have past debts against others, I should take them to the Father today and deal with it now. Do not let it grow. 

Lead us not into temptation… Dealing with being forgiven and giving forgiveness is one step closer to walking away from one sort of temptation, but there are a whole host of temptations set before us by the evil one. All temptation is common to man. There is none that each one of us put in the right circumstances would not walk into it. This is why we must pray for awareness and willingness to walk away. God promises He will give us the way of escape, but we must ask to be led away from it! 

Deliver us from the evil one… Our world is wrought with evil. The evil one reigns and loves to lead us astray. Our world loves to call darkness light and act like what it is doing is okay. We are reminded in the Bible that when we call darkness light then our darkness is very deep. We must hate evil as God hates evil. This means we must be willing to recognize darkness and walk away from it. It means we must stand up against it. It means that we might have to face it head on so we must beg for deliverance today! Today, LORD, deliver us from evil. Focus on the moment and the now. 

The Bible does not put an indentation for the forgiveness of sins, lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil the way I just did. I did this because it is a daily prayer need. We will face these daily. We must not think that we have it all together and are just fine. And we must not think these are things that are too far off so I don’t need to deal with them now. We also must not be so overwhelmed with what tomorrow will look like or the next year. We must focus on these today. Right now, we must pray “LORD, teach us to pray!” and “LORD, increase our faith!” This is how we deal with the world’s crazy! Pray!

What I have done in the last week as I felt overwhelmed by so many overwhelming needs brought before me through prayer requests, I simply started the model prayer and then after each section, I began to say the need or request. I wasn’t doing this as a form of legalism, but out of these thoughts, “I don’t even know how!” “Do I even have the faith?” By simply praying the model prayer and adding in the requests in my own simple way I sought to honor God and keep His name holy today. 

Maybe, you might want to try it. 

Our Father… Praise HIM!

Who are in heaven… Recognize that HE is eternal!

Holy is Your Name… Recognize that HE is sacred/holy! List out other characteristics of God that you know!

Give us this day our daily bread… Ask Him for what you need today. Go ahead and list them and release them to Him.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us… List out any sins you should repent of that you have not already released and walked away from. List out what you need to forgive of others that you have not already done so.

Lead us not into temptation… List out any temptations that have come before you that you need to walk away from and ask Him to help you walk away through the way of escape that He has provided.

Deliver us from the evil one… Ask Him to deliver you from whatever evil you are confronted with that you need help. The Holy Spirit will come alongside and assist you. Remember, He promises that He will not leave you or forsake you.

Shalom y’all!

Jesus Sent the Disciples to Tell His Story (Witness)

While on a trip in Brazil a long time ago, my interpreter said, "Here, Tara, here!" When I asked him later why he chose those three women for me to share the story of Jesus he said to me, "They were people of peace."

This was the first time in my life I heard about seeking the people of peace. I had read the passage numerous times, but in this moment I caught the truth found in Matthew 10:13.

It's been a couple of days since I had time to do an evangelism Story so, today, I wanted us to turn to Jesus and see what He expected of the disciples. Remember, we want to examine the action words that we are able to do today. 

As I read Matthew 10:5-13, I circled the action words that Jesus commaned the disciples to do when they went to go share the good knows about Jesus.

Please keep in mind in verse 1 it says that Jesus gave them all authority to go and do the miraculous.

1. Go in Jesus' authority not your own.

2. Go.

3. Proclaim the kingdom of heaven. 

What is the kingdom of heaven? 

It is God 's dwelling place. 

You are invited to join Him through Jesus. 

Believe in Jesus and you are a part of the kingdom of heaven.

 

This means you will repent of yours sins and move from darkness to light.

4. Heal the sick. This is God's work. Our role is pray for it in faith. 

5. Raise people up from spiritual death.

6. Cleanse those that are ostracized and bring them back into community. 

7. Give freely the truths you have been given.

8. Find worthy people. These are tge people of peace that are willing to let you share about Jesus.

9. Stay with the worthy people and disciple them.

10. Greet with a spirit of welcome.

11. Give your peace to those that are ready to receive.

12. Hold your peace and move on if a person is not open to receiving the truth about Jesus.

In all of this know that you will have those that want to stop you as you go.

Finding Value

"Our women stand taller because they know the Bible stories for themselves. It makes them confident. They feel seen and heard." This was shared with me in a culture where it is positional and culturally unacceptable for women to be valued.

As I read about the ruler who came to Jesus because his daughter just died and the woman who dealt with a blood flow for 12 years, I keep thinking about my friend's words because I see that Jesus cares (Matthew 9:18-26).

Jesus cared about a Roman ruler's dead daughter and was willing to go touch her so she could rise up. And even though no one knew of the bleeding woman's boldness to just touch the fringe of Jesus' cloak for healing, Jesus knew and cared.

In both of these situations, Jesus saw the person, heard their pain, and healed them. 

What if it isn't about perfect healing but about being seen, heard, valued, touched, and known? 

What if it is about courage, hope, and peace? 

What if it is about being bold and willing to go to Jesus and seeking Him? 

What if it is about surrender and trust?

Daily, I have the privilege of watching the gift of going to Jesus and how it gives all of these and so much more. 

What are you seeking Jesus for in your life? Are you going in boldness to Jesus? 

Or do you have something that you are too afraid to go to Jesus?

Did you know that the Roman Ruler asking for help from Jesus was positionally and culturally unacceptable? But he did it.

Did you know that the bleeding woman had already spent a fortune to find healing and as a woman it was positionally and culturally unacceptable for her to touch or talk to Jesus? But she did! 

Both were granted healing. 

Do you think they knew their value in Jesus eyes? 

Do you think those around them noticed their faith and confidence? 

We are told the report went through all the district about what happened.

Beloved, Jesus sees you. Jesus sees your family. Jesus sees your people. Jesus sees your nation. Jesus even sees the ruler's daughters and the woman on the street no one notices. Go to Him. Share your need and let Him speak life into you.

Be bold! Go to Jesus even when it is positionally and culturally unacceptable! 

Shalom y'all!

LORD, teach us to pray!

One time I had a friend share with me that she was diagnosed with cancer and on another occasion a friend shared a very trying time in her marriage. I found myself struggling how to pray so I asked God to teach me how to pray.

I love that the disciples had the same feeling as they watched John and Jesus pray. They knew they lacked. So, they asked!  "LORD, will you teach us to pray as John taught his disciples?"

Jesus provided a model to pray, but He also used stories to teach the importance of persistence and to trust the generosity of God.

Do you struggle knowing what to pray, too? If so, just ask Jesus to teach you how. I promise it will bless you and give you words beyond your understanding and ability to pray.

Check out the story below.

LORD, teach us to pray.

What makes an effective testimony?

Taken from: http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/two-tombstones-the-story-of-the-samaritan-woman-and-jesus-christ-11582592.html

I am reading through the Samaritan woman in preparation for the podcasts for Wholly Loved Ministries and I am caught by the beauty and simplicity of a testimony! It never ceases to surprise me that when I study a passage that I have studied many times through the years that God brings out something new. Last year I was caught off guard by the reality that the disciples were sent into the Samaritan woman's town to get food. It occured to me that the disciples somehow missed the bigger picture of the harvest. They were distracted by the physical need to get food for their master and in the process forgot to take spiritual food to the villagers. I realized that I could not be upset with the disciples because I do this all the time. You know the drill, I rush into the store to get food and instead of taking time to make eye-contact and have conversations with the strangers in the store. I keep my eyes focused on what I want and need and get out. Instead of going through the longer check-out I might rush to to the self-check out so that I don't have to bother with human contact. Instead of helping the person struggling to get something off the shelf I walk by and move on because I worry they might not appreciate the lack of social distances. I assume and presume my way in and through the store without ever once thinking of the soul harvest right there before me. 

As I reflected on this Samaritan woman this time, God caught me by the effectiveness of her testimony. It helps to know that it would be considered embarrassing for John to write a story about a woman, muchless a Samaritan woman as the one who led the entire village to Jesus. Theologians refer to this type of testimony as validity by embarrassment. They would not tell it unless it was true because honorable men would not talk to women of ill-repute or to a Samaritan woman much less use it as story to share Jesus. Oh the crazy and foolish barriers we put up in culture. GOD forgive us! I love how this woman was so fast! One theologian called it the "Cry of a new life" (Holman Bible Commentary: John, quoting Boice). There is something beautiful about such a cry. It is honest and simple. 

So, I found myself asking, What makes an effective testimony based on the woman at the well? I noticed a few things that caught me. Simple statements like "Come and see!" are inclusive and initiates the conversation. But, the woman didn't just tell them what they needed to know. She asked questions that invited them to reflect on their own thoughts to determine their answer. She asked, "Could this be the Messiah?" I love that she was inquisitive enough to pose questions to Jesus and to those in her community. Her passion was undeniable! She went to go get water, but was so excited she left her jar behind and chose to share her felt experience and express it in such a way that she ignited others to want to join! Her invitation to come and see included welcome and participation! 

It makes me wonder if I give testimony so simply. Am I inclusive and intiate conversations? Do I inquire and ask questions to invite reflection? Am I ignited so that others see my passion and want to join in? Do I invite a spirit of welcome? Her testimony to come and see is so welcoming because her passion and transformation are evident to all who know her. Have you reflected on sharing your testmony? Can you say these are also true of you? Or are you like me and the disciples and have moments where you focus on the need of the moment rather than the harvest fields? I know I want to be more like the Samaritan woman. How about you?