Praying the Psalms

So we finished our last week oft he Psalms looking at "God's Prayer Book" - the Psalms. What a great resource God has given us so that we can "learn how to pray" We noted, three related comments about the Psalms. That they are....

(1) - God’s words that he has given us, so that we can speak/relate to him

(2) - Words FOR us not words to us

(3) - Groves we can run down in order to connect with God (which Jesus used in his greatest moment of need - Psalm 22.1 (Matt 27.46), Psalm 31.5 (Luke 23.46) + Psalm 69.21 (John 19.28)

We looked at a model for prayer called ACTS

  (1) Adoration
  (2) Confession
  (3) Thanksgiving
  (4) Supplication

And how reading, mediating and then praying the Psalms with these 4 categories of prayer in mind is really helpful.

We noted how praying through the Psalms could see 3 things happen to us

(1) We’d gain the power and perspective of God (inner transformation. CS Lewis said

    “The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at your like wild animals.
    And the first job of each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice,
    taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in”

(2) We’d learn a vocabularly with which to relate to God - words that we start to mimick but then within time become our own words that we can use spontaneously. And words that can be used to help us (a) engage our emotions or (b) not be ruled by our emotions.

(3) As we praise God (for what he has done) and adore/delight in him (for who he is) OUR joy increases - we become more fulfilled.

We should never feel guilty if we don’t pray (Jesus died for our guilt - Romans 8.1) but we can feel gutted (that we missed an opportunity to connect to God).

We then went through Psalm 62 looking at how mediating on this Psalm would lead us to pray in all 4 categories. And this is what we saw

Vs1-2: What he knows (belief) - with God he can never be shaken.

Vs3-4: What he experiences (emotions) - I am being shaken

Selah - he pauses to reflect

Vs5-8: What he does (reading/meditation/prayer) - Urges himself to find God now

Lloyd Jones in his book on spiritual depression said

    “have you realised that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that
    you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself”

Vs9: What he knows (belief) - The truth about his enemies/situation

Vs10: What he mustn’t do (sin) - put trust elsewhere

Vs11-12: What he knows - ultimate truths

Reflection, Application and Prayer

(1) What did you find helpful when learning about how we can pray through the Psalms?

(2) Which are your favourite Psalms and why? What do they tell you about God? How do they connect you to God? How do they help you process your emotions?

(3) Have you ever come across the ACTS model for prayer? Do you think that could be helpful?

(4) How could Psalm 63 be prayed through - either for yourself or for someone else?

- title: what is the setting?
- vs1: what is he experiencing? Can you relate to that?
- vs2 - what has he known in the past? Can you relate to that?
- vs3-5: what does he say to himself? Is he thinking about the past, present or future? What is he doing?
- vs6-7: what does the present look like for him? What is he doing?
- vs8: How would this truth help him? How does he feel? What does he KNOW God is doing?
- vs9-10: what truth does he speak to himself? Why might this help?
- vs11: How does he end? What truth does he speak to himself?

Once you have understood David’s situation and what he prays, how could you join him in praying for yourself and for others?

Through the week

(1) See the blog from 3 weeks ago (praying with Jesus) - for further resources and ideas

(2) Commit to memorising Psalm 1 and Psalm 23.

(3) Read the following Psalms and become familiar with them for times when you (or others) might need them

Psalm 1 – Commiting yourself to God
Psalm 8 – Praising God
Psalm 19 – thanking God for his word and his creatio
Psalm 23 – Enjoy him as Shepherd
Psalm 42 – longing for God
Psalm 51 – Confess your sin
Psalm 62 – Finding rest in God
Psalm 62 – longing for God
Psalm 73 – struggling with injustice and doubt
Psalm 84 – delighting in God
Psalm 88 – when God seems gone and you’re all alone
Psalm 90/91 – the eternity of God
Psalm 93-100 – praising God for being king
Psalm 103 – praising God for his goodness
Psalm 131 – finding rest/contentment in God
Psalm 139 – the intimate knowledge of God

(4) Read through all 150 Psalms and write down everything that it tells you God has done (and thank him) and who God is (and adore/delight in him).

Turkey Martyrs

Please Pray....

I watch this last night in bed and after hearing (and reading) all about our Turkey mission and the 3 churches our guys connected with I thought it would be great if we can be praying for Turkey as a church - and the persecuted church in general

http://www.challies.com/dvd-reviews/malatya

On a related note, the word for “martyr” literally means “witness.” We understand it to mean “someone who is killed for their beliefs” but that was exactly what it was to be a witness in the 1st century. What a challenge for us in the West today. When we say “witness” (Acts 1.8 - you will be my witnesses/martyrs) we don’t think “there is a 90% chance I will die for standing tall for Jesus”

Be great not only to pray for Turkey but that we might learn from them too!!!

Turkey 2010 – Day 9 – Wednesday 18th August

Today’s blog is written by Ella. Watching another sunset over Turkey, as we travel through Izmir and are wowed yet again by how vast and beautiful this city is, we are all aware of how our time here is coming to a close.

A city or a country is understood not merely by its buildings, politics, belief systems and history but by its people. Although we’ve been in Izmir for only 3 days, it really does feel like these days have stretched out against the rule of time as Izmir stretches along and inland from the Aegean coast. I know for me, as I’m sure it is for the rest of the team, it has been the people we have met here that have made our trip so precious.

Yesterday we had the chance to go out ‘treasure hunting’ in Izmir. The group I was with were led to a lovely couple. He was wearing white branded trainers similar to the ones that Neil had seen when he was praying. The most amazing thing was that, out of the 4 million people that we could have met, she had visited the church here before! She also spoke some English, so we were able to share with them how much God loves them, and share a New Testament with them.

Later in the day most of the team set off with some of the Life groups, carrying bags, boxes and bottles in tow for what promised to be a fun picnic. I have been staying with a Turkish host here, and it was good to be able to spend some more time with them and meet other friends, and of course to eat more Turkish food!

In the evening yesterday I was able to pray alongside a few others from the church with someone as they made a commitment to Jesus- it is so exciting to be there with a new believer! Although I couldn’t translate what others were praying, and had to ask what was being said, I could see the beauty and excitement in her face! Through a volunteer translating I was able to share a bible verse and a word I felt I had for her, and to hear another being shared. How awesome is God!

This morning’s devotion was focussed on the resurrection of Jesus in the gospel of John. How yet again he fulfilled the needs of the old covenant in order to bring the new. How yet again he challenged the expectations of the disciples and the Pharisees, this time by first appearing to a woman. How yet again he has given us authority in his name and has commissioned us, so that we know both freedom and forgiveness and the responsibility to share this with others that this brings. Katie also reminded us that ‘our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against… the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).’ Please pray for us against spiritual opposition as we see God move.

Our morning was spent getting very dusty and sweaty by helping to clear out and order a storage area owned by the church. Animal puppets, angel wings and a T-Rex were found alongside a library of kitap (books), office equipment, and a fridge. We obviously were not at all distracted by any of the more fun items. Obviously. By that I mean that, yeah, we may have played hunt-the-thimble with the plastic T-Rex, and the occasional moment of dress-up with bits of Christmas costumes…. But we did work hard as well! Our evening meal was in an old Greek style house, where I was able to learn from another life story, this time from our host, as I helped to prepare the salad. Yemek çok lezzetliydi (the meal was delicious).

It’s the people who have made our time here. (As well as the food, the gorgeous landscape and sunny skies!) This evening we were welcomed into the home of a Kurdish family to share çay (Turkish tea) and biscuits with them. Was brilliant to hear how they discovered Isa! Even though it was sıcak (hot) (I know we shouldn’t complain about the sun…) we had a great time chatting and being taught clapping games (I wasn’t very good!). Has been amazing to be invited in and welcomed by so many people.

Tomorrow is our day trip to Ephesus! We’re really expectant to experience more of an understanding of the context in which the bible was written… I am sure we’ll describe in detail and with copious pictures exactly what it’s like! But for now, görüsürüz (see you),

Ella and the Team.

Turkey 2010 – Day 8 – Tuesday 17th August

Today’s blog is written by Emily. Only our second day in Izmir and God is working and moving yet again! Rolling out of bed to a bowl of cornflakes was a very exciting start to the day, didn’t think I could miss cereal quite as much I have seemed to! An early start saw us heading to the church for a prayer meeting, which was well worth getting out of bed for! The enthusiasm and expectancy of God continuing to move in Izmir and the longing of the spirit to breakout was so encouraging. Prayer was lifted up especially for the group of new believers due to be baptised on Sunday, that they will not be like coal (receive the spirit but then quickly become cold) but that they will be liked diamonds (retract and reflect the light of Christ continually!). The group then prayed over us for a renewed energy and spirit, which was so needed, and for increased boldness knowing that Christ is in us! Amen!

After a YUUUUMMY plate of Turkish food we headed over to a different area of Izmir on the ferry. Whilst sitting in some necessary shade we did our daily devotion. We looked at John 9, the cure of the man born blind, which brought about the discussion of fear. In the passage, how the blind man’s parents are scared of being expelled from the synagogue by the Pharisees and how this fear of rejection is also very evident in the culture in which we are currently working and staying in. We then set off treasure hunting, Ella, Neil and I came across many of our clues but not one of the people we approached spoke any English. We finally saw a guy with white Nike trainers on (one of our clues), he was with a girl who replied “a little” to our question, “Ingilizce biliyor musunuz?” (Do you speak English?). We told them we were followers of Jesus Christ and that we wanted to tell them of the love Jesus has for them both. We offered them the church’s card and asked if they had heard of it at all. To our surprise the girl had not only heard of the Lighthouse church but had visited!! Out of the 4 million people in Izmir, God had put us face to face with people who were familiar with the church and open to hearing about Jesus, confirming once again that He is the all powerful, all knowing and living God!! We then offered them a New Testament and got them to read John 3:16, leaving them with the knowledge that God sent his only son for them both individually and promised we would pray for them. An incredible afternoon!,

A quick pit stop at our host’s houses to refresh and change, and then off to a picnic with one of the Church’s house groups. Sharing food, conversation and a game of Frisbee brought about once again a fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ living in Turkey.

Turkey 2010 – Day 7 – Monday 16th August

Today’s blog is written by Katie. Wow! What a long day it has been! Travelling all night on a bus from Yalova to Izmir, a few of us managed to get some zzz’s (to the background soundtrack of late-night Turkish radio and the occasional snore). We arrived on the out-skirts of Izmir at 5am where we then discovered we had to get on another bus to get to the centre of the city! By this time, a few of us were a little giddy due to lack of sleep (ok…mainly me…) and we pleased when we finally arrived at an air-conditioned MacDonalds at 6am (the first customers of the day) and were greeted by Jerry- one of the guys from the church in Izmir. Over breakfast we chatted about the church, the city, and what the plan was for this week. Much coffee was consumed.

After meeting our wonderful hosts, Jerry and his wife Terry took us on a whirlwind tour of the city. We started out of the waterfront and made our way into the centre of the city to some key landmarks including the Yali (Konak) Mosque and the Clock Tower. As we walked around, feeling very much like foreigners, we prayed for the Holy Spirit to come and fill the city, and that the Lord would be made famous in every government building, in every workplace, and every household in the city.

We caught a bus up to the top of a huge hill overlooking the city, on which the famous Velvet Castle (Kadifekale) is situated. From here, we could see the whole city of Izmir, stretching out for miles and miles in each direction. It was overwhelming to see the vastness of the city how much poverty there is in many of the districts. There are about 4 million people living in Izmir and out of this it is estimated that there are only about 400 Christians. There is such a need for God in this place! We spent time praying and seeking God whilst on top of this mountain overlooking the city. Although it was quite overwhelming to think about how many lost people there were right before our eyes, we were encouraged and strengthened by the TRUTH that God is sufficient, he is holy, he is glory, he is all powerful and he is mighty to save! As disciples, we are simply his vessels, his tools- all our strength comes from him and we have the almighty God living in us and equipping us to make disciples of all nations! Hallelujah!

The afternoon was spent trying to keep cool (not too successful- it’s 40 degrees here now!) and doing a little but of shopping in the market places. We went out for a lovely Turkish meal in the evening and then ventured down to the waterfront for our daily devotional time. It was a beautiful location for read scripture and pray- the sun was setting over the sea and there was a much appreciated breeze!

As we have been away for a week now and had a very action-packed time, many of us are feeling very tired. The heat is exhausting and a few people have painful heat rash. Your prayers would be appreciated for energy and refreshment for the remainder of our time here. Also for Chris as his knee and foot are painful at the moment. My back has made a remarkable recovery, and although still a bit sore, is much better that it was, so thank-you for your prayers for that! Darren is still suffering with his back so continued prayer for him would be great.

I’ll leave you with some verses from Isaiah 61. As we were praying on the mountain, we were struck by the fact that amongst so many broken down houses and walls there were hundreds of plants growing- beautiful trees, the Lords creation, crying out to praise him! There is hope for this city!

“The Sovereign Lord will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.”
Isaiah 61 v11

Katie and the team x

Praying with Paul

This week was the second installment of our 3 week series “learning to pray”. Last week we looked at how Jesus’ prayed and what he taught about prayer. We heard that prayer has to be learnt; we are motivated by the privilege of praying to our Abba Father; we pray because we are utterly dependent on God; and that prayer requires us to persist and wrestle with God.

This week we turn to the Apostle Paul’s prayer in the letter to the Ephesians (3:14-21) and look at what it can teach us about prayer. We ask 3 questions of this passage:

• Why does Paul pray?
• What does Paul pray?
• How does Paul pray?

1) Why does Paul Pray?

Paul begins his prayer by writing “For this reason I kneel before the Father…” To find out what “this reason” is we need to look at what Paul has written previously. The preceding passage (2:11-3:13) describes God’s plan to bring the gentiles, who were separate and excluded from God’s promises, into God’s family through the work of Christ! Paul has clearly been overwhelmed by this awesome plan and not only wants to give his life to be part of it by going to the gentiles but also by falling to his knees in prayer! Why does Paul pray? Because God is his Father and a Father on a mission.

Paul prays a bit like a sportsman warming up before a game. Though it can often be hard work (particularly if we are tired and it’s cold and dark outside!) it is essential if we are to be physically and mentally prepared for the task ahead. So too with prayer! We ready ourselves for prayer by:
• Reminding ourselves of who God is - Read verses about God’s character and let them stir you up and lift your sights to for whom nothing is impossible!
• Remember what your Father God has done for you - Think about how God has saved you and transformed you by his grace.
• Remember prayers that your Father God has answered in the past - Let God’s faithfulness give you faith to ask for more, knowing he hears you and responds in love and faithfulness.

Let truth about God and his character catapult you into fervent prayer! Be motivated to pray as Paul was by the fact that you have a heavenly Father who is on a glorious mission and he wants to partner with you to achieve his purposes!

2) What does Paul pray?

So we Paul is motivated to pray because he knows he has a Heavenly Father on a mission, what does he actually pray?

Paul prays that “out of his glorious riches [God] may strengthen you with power through his spirit, in your inner being.” Importantly it is God’s power and through his spirit that strengthens us. We do not strengthen ourselves. God starts and finishes the work in us, and completes it entirely by his power. And even more than that, this power comes from his glorious riches! It’s not just a little power that God offers but a never-ending supply in abundance!

Where does Paul pray that we are strengthened? “...in your inner being.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 tells us that though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly (our inner man) we are being renewed! Though the world focuses on the outward appearance, this will fade and eventually perish. However God looks at the heart, the inner man that will endure for eternity. Paul is praying for that which his Father values most highly. Though God loves it when we pray about our physical health and our current situations, these fade into insignificance next to the eternal glory prepared for us! Paul teaches us to pray about that which God considers highest value, our inner being.

Paul continues. Why does he pray that the Ephesians might be strengthened in their inner being? “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Or put in another way, that Jesus might take up residence and make his home in your heart. When you make somewhere your home you gradually remove what you don’t like about it, and make it a place where you feel comfortable. You leave your mark in every room by what colours you put on the walls, what pictures you hang and even what food you have in the fridge. So Paul is praying that Christ may take up residence in the hearts of the Ephesian believers and might remove that which is not of him and leave his mark everywhere! And he does this as we continue to put our trust and our faith in him.

Paul goes on to pray that they “being rooted and established in love, might have power together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” Paul is not simply referring to knowing in the mind, but to experiencing and taking hold of God’s love tangibly. How does God tangibly demonstrate his love to us? Romans 5:8 tells us “That God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” God, in love, has paid the debt of sin that we owed! Paul is praying that the Ephesians might be able to grasp tangibly the truth that Christ has paid for their sin out of the depths of his grace and love.

3) And finally how does Paul pray?

• Paul prays on his knees (3:14)
• Paul prays confidently (3:20-21)

By saying he prays on his knees Paul is telling us that prayer is a discipline. He understands what is at stake, and knows that he comes before God empty handed and undeserving. Prayer is often difficult but requires our full attention! “Prayer is a discipline before it is a joy, and remains a discipline long after it is a joy” (Ben Patterson).

But finally Paul prays with utter confidence knowing that he prays to “him who is able to immeasurably more than all we ask or imaging, according to his power that is at work within us”. When we rise from our knees we can shut the door behind us knowing with full assurance that God is able to ddo everything that we have asked him for, AND IMMEASURABLY MORE!

Questions

(1) What motivates you to pray? How different is that from Paul’s motivation and how might your prayer life be different if you were motivated by the same reason as Paul?

(2) What are some of your favourite verses about God’s character? What are some of the prayers God has answered in the past? Do you start here when you pray? How might this spur you on to pray with faith?

(3) Do you most often focus your prayers on external or internal things? Do you focus your prayers on yourself and others? How might your prayer life look different if you respond to what we learn from Paul?

(4) How does your physical stance in prayer reflect your internal attitude when you pray? Do you take prayer seriously?

(5) Do you rise from your prayers confident that God is able to do even more than you have asked? If not, why not? If you believed verses 20 and 21 how would your prayer life be changed?

Through the week…

(a) Why don’t you use the words of Paul’s prayer to pray for others in our church family. Then why don’t you also pray this for your friends and family who are yet to know Christ!

(b) Have a look at some of Paul’s other great prayers and see what you can learn from these too (Ephesians 1:15-23; Colossians 1:9-14). Try praying these for people you know and also for yourself.

(c) Try using the psalms to pray too. Pray through Psalm 62, which is will be looking at in next weeks preach.

Turkey 2010 – Day 6 – Sunday 15th August

Today’s post is written by Katie. Greetings from Turkey on Day 6 of our trip! Today started rather bleary eyed at 7.30am as we all trooped into Becky’s excessively large hotel room for our daily devotional time. Despite all of us feeling extremely tired after last nights fun and antics at the church, the time we put aside to spend seeking God through scripture and prayer is always so fruitful and encouraging. By 8.30am we were ready to start the day and made a swift exit to breakfast!

I think we were all looking forward to this morning’s service at the church in Yalova and were excited to experience Sunday morning in a new culture. It was lovely to see our brothers and sisters, whom we had been building relationships with throughout the week, and worship together as one. It has been amazing to see how, despite speaking different languages and growing up in completely different cultures, the team and the church have all been united through our love for Christ and our passion to see his name glorified throughout the earth! Not only have we been able to serve the church here and hopefully bring encouragement to all the people we’ve met, but we have been so well looked after in the process! The hospitality of the Yalova church has been incredible and we are all very sad to leave behind all the wonderful friends we have made, as we continue on our way to Izmir tonight.

This afternoon, some of the team and a few guys from the church had a fantastic time at the beach, and arriving back at the church tonight, we all look rather sun-kissed! We managed to brave the jellyfish (hundreds of them, but luckily not stingers!) and had rather a lot of fun splashing around in the sea. We hired out a pedalo and a couple of canoes and, flexing our muscles, got down to the business of having a jolly good time. What a great way to end our time here in Yalova!

Thank-you for all your prayers and support- it makes a real difference knowing that we have all of you back at home cheering us on! We have been so encouraged by everything we’ve seen so far, and God is truly doing some amazing things here.

At 10pm we will be catching our overnight bus to Izmir so your prayers for sleep and refreshment would be much appreciated! We are all excited about the next few days and what we are going to see God do!

Lots of Turkish sevgi (love),

Katie and the team x

WORD OF THE DAY:

The last word of the day was teşekkürler
[te-shek-kewr-ler] which means ‘thanks.’ Sorry for the lack of word of the day the last 2 posts.

Today’s phrase is:
Çok güzel [chok guh-zel]

Practise saying this phrase over the next day (pronunciation is in brackets underneath), and wait until the next blog to find out the meaning and try a new phrase! Join us as we enjoy this language challenge…

Turkey 2010 – Day 5 – Saturday 14th August

With yesterday evening off, the team slept in this morning (it is amazing how much the heat and constant language challenge is taking out of us). Half the team then headed to the bizarre to look for more cool (in terms of temperature) clothes and the rest headed for tea and a book by the beach!

A midday walk to the church followed by lunch launched us into an afternoon of planning for tomorrows service (the church has asked to us to present some Turkish introductions and some fun testimonies about ‘Treasure Hunting’ - looking for who God wants to speak to) and the party we led this evening for the church family.  We also continued our devotions in the gospel of John and prayed for Darren’s back (he is struggling to sit down for long periods of time without dull aches and pains in his lower back).

The afternoon went really well and we were all set for tonight when Katie had a fall on the marble steps outside the front of the church and jarred and bruised her lower back and shoulders.  She has spent the afternoon with aches and pain but is beginning to feel better - the team prayed for her and have sent her to bed!  It has been amazing to see her trust God in the situation and for the teams response to be to pray for her healing immediately - mission trips do help us to rely on God more for everything!

Throughout this trip, God has been reminding me that being on mission trips to other cultures is such a fantastic opportunity to get His heart for the world.  It’s one thing to have a theology that says that God wants people from every tribe and tongue, it’s totally another to engage with those people and their culture and see directly their and our need for the living God.  God is speaking not only to Turks here in Yalova, but also to us as he puts in us His desire to see all people come to know Him- this in turn is making us more hungry to share the good news of Jesus Christ with more and more people and to pray for people at every opportunity.

Some prayer points for our trip so far:
1. That katie and Darren’s backs would be fully healed.
2. That those we have spoken to about the church and Jesus would find the church and meet Him.
3. That the Church in Yalova would be blessed beyond their wildest dreams.
4. That our overnight bus to Izmir tomorrow (Sunday) evening woudl not be too bad and we’d get some sleep.

Thanks for your prayers.