In one of the novels I was recently reading, a girl wants something very badly, and the author says “she wished (for she wouldn’t call it ‘praying,’ which she instinctively knew should be reserved for very special needs)” (The Wizard of London, Mercedes Lackey). 

Now this is not an author I would ever take spiritual advice from; she does not claim to be a Christ-follower. However, I think that this idea that prayer is only for things that are somehow important enough to be prayed about is a misconception we find among Christians as well. Even when we pay lip service to the notion that we can (and should) pray about everything, we often don’t pray about the “little” things.

This reluctance to pray about things we see as little can come from a lot of different places. Those of us who are Americans were raised in a very do-it-yourself culture. Even though “God helps those who help themselves” is not biblical, many of us were raised on that phrase. We believe that we shouldn’t start praying until we’ve done all that we could do in our power. When we do this, we are trying to use God as the hero who rides in to save the day at the end of every episode. But that’s not what God is willing to be for us. He offers us a relationship to walk with him in everything. He’s not looking to be the superhero who comes in only when all is lost. He is our savior, but that was a one time act. One we have accepted that gift, he becomes our helper and comforter, intending to interact with us on a continual basis. Relegating God to the role of occasional hero is missing the point entirely.

We may be reluctant to pray about things we see as small simply because God is so great. We sometimes think he wouldn’t care about this little thing that matters to us but doesn’t have an impact on our ministry, or maybe even an impact on anyone else in the world. It’s hard to believe that the creator of the universe actually cares about me, but he has said that he does. “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12: 6-7 ESV)

I like to tell the story of one of the little things that mattered only to me (or maybe me and my immediate family). My glasses had broken on Saturday night. They were plastic frames that had snapped at the nose piece. This had happened to me before a couple of times over the years, and we glued them as we had before, but we didn’t expect the glue to hold long, because it had never held for as long as a day before. I could not get to the eye doctor until at least that Thursday, and I had a lot of driving and graduate classes to deal with on Monday through Wednesday. So I asked my Sunday School class to pray for my glasses to somehow hold. And they did, not coming apart until I was sitting in the optometrist’s office. A little thing, for the glue to hold for four days instead of one, but something that made my life much better for those four days.

As I tell that story again, one thing occurs to me: what isn’t little to God? He spoke the world into being. What can we ask of him that he would think is a big request? There are things God won’t do because of his character. There are things he won’t do because he has a better plan for us. There are also times when he waits to act. But there is nothing we can ask that would cause his to say, “Oh, that’s hard.” Paul reminds us that he “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20b ESV). Since everything we might ask is small to God, there is no reason why some things should be considered too small.

Of course, the biggest reason for praying about everything is that he told us to: “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6b). Not in some things, not in the important things, but in everything. When we are tempted to think, “Oh, God won’t care about that,” or “I can handle this problem by myself,” we should remind ourselves that God intends for us to pray about every single thing, large or small. Then, we should pray.

 

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

At this time of year, my local radio station transforms completely, playing only Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving until December 26. I’m torn in my opinion of this change. I miss my usual soundtrack for driving, but the selections on the station have gotten better. After all, where else can I get a mix of traditional carols and more modern favorites of mine like “Joseph’s Lullaby” or “What a Strange Way to Save the World”? And I’m always delighted to hear holiday selections from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

My favorite thing about my particular radio station during Christmas time is the opportunity to hear newer Christmas songs from Christian artists, some of them quite thought-provoking.  One song that has recently joined my list of modern Christmas favorites is “2000 Decembers Ago” sung by Joy Williams. While the title bugs me a bit since we know Jesus was probably not born in December, I think the song does a great job of capturing the wonder of the nativity. As I was listening to the song again recently, part of the chorus really captured my attention: “Was anyone able to look at the stable and not see a child but a King?” 

I think the answer to that question at the time in Bethlehem was yes, at least in part. While Mary and Joseph probably saw a baby more than a Son of God at that moment, their experiences with the angels surely influenced their vision. And I believe the same is true of the shepherds. Certainly, when the wise men arrived (probably much later and not in the stable), they understood that they brought gifts to a king.

However, I think the important question for us is not about what people saw over 2000 years ago, but what we see today as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Who do we see in the manger, and who are we celebrating?

We should, in part, see that infant. Think about who Jesus is and what his existence was like prior to his birth.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 ESV)

Jesus was, and is, God. The Bible says creation occurred through him. That means he was able to simply speak things into existence. He gave that up to become a human baby. He not only suddenly had physical needs for food and warmth, but he was also entirely dependent on the humans around him to fulfill those needs with no means of communication about them besides crying. In choosing to become a fully human baby, Jesus went from being all powerful to being helpless.

Paul describes it this way: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:5-7). How awe-inspiring that Jesus would choose such a dramatic loss for our benefit!

Yet, even if we see the baby Jesus in this light, we still miss the point if the sweet little baby is all that we see. We have to remember that Jesus had a purpose in coming to earth, and it wasn’t about being an infant to have lullabies song. His purpose was to show us sinless human life and ultimately to be our perfect sacrifice and then our Lord and King.

We have an advantage over those who were at the stable. We’re not dependent on hints from the angels about where the story is going. We get to read how it ends. As those who have a relationship with the resurrected Jesus, we have no excuse for failing to see the king in the manger or for forgetting that the whole point of Christmas is that Easter is coming.

 

Image by Jeff Jacobs  from Pixabay 

I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction. I enjoy the genres for a number of reasons, but one of those reasons is that speculative fiction allows the author and readers to explore relationships and culture in interesting ways, because the story takes place in a different world with its own rules. One of the things that makes me both thoughtful and sad in this exploration is the treatment of religion. With a few exceptions (can you say C. S. Lewis?), those who explore religion in any serious way usually don’t have a pre-eminent supernatural creator at all, or they have one who doesn’t care about the creation.

That is heart-breaking to me, especially since I know that many people believe that one of those two things is the case in the real world.

Of course, it’s not only those who are outside of Christianity who seem to believe that we have a God who doesn’t care. Even some Christian depictions of God emphasize judgment to the exclusion of all else.

Any of these beliefs about God lead to lives that are less than they could be. If we believe that God doesn’t exist or just doesn’t care, then we struggle on alone and believe there are no answers and no relief for the issues in the world beyond human action. If we believe that God is only a judge looking to condemn, then we live in fear and constant concern over how we might offend. Alternately, we might simply give up and decide that there is nothing we can do to appease him, so we might as well live selfishly.

The good news is that these are not accurate pictures of the God of the Bible. Scripture depicts not a distant God who ignores his creation, but rather a God who is active in history and has relationships with his people. He walks with Enoch. He instructs Noah. He calls Abraham and speaks to him a number of times, even allowing him to bargain. He calls Moses and leads the people of Israel, repeatedly interfering with natural processes as they leave Egypt, wander about, and ultimately conquer and settle the land of Canaan. He speaks to judge after judge after judge, ending with Samuel. He calls David to be king and protects him repeatedly. He speaks to many prophets. He protects Daniel from the lions and Daniel’s friends from fire. Over and over we see him speaking and acting to work out his purposes.

All that action could still be the work of a demanding and vengeful God, but as we look at his relationships with his people, we can see that it is not. We see him using those others condemn. Rahab, a prostitute, helps the Israelite spies escape, and so is spared along with her family, and becomes an example of faith. That could only happen with a God loves people and values mercy as well as judgment. That only happens with a God whose word proclaims that “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13b ESV).

God sends Jonah to warn the Ninevites of coming judgment. Jonah is furious when the Ninevites repent and God relents in his judgment failing to understand that God sent him exactly so that the people would repent. God’s caring and kindness consistently confound even his own prophets.

We have a God who comforts his followers. When Elijah is alone and despairing, ready to lie down and die, quite literally, God sends an angel with food and water who encourages Elijah to eat and drink and rest. Only after that recovery does God reassure Elijah that he is not alone and send him on a new mission (1 Kings 19).

In Jesus, we see the ultimate expression of God’s caring. We see it in his ministry. People flock to him, and we see him repeatedly responding to their needs–healing, blessing children, even raising the dead on a few occasions. His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well could have gone very differently. She is shocked that he even speaks to her because of the enmity between Samaritans and Jews. He could have ignored her. He could have looked down on her. He could have condemned her for her sinful behavior. Instead, he gently points out the truth and offers her hope and a better life (John 4).

There are many such examples of caring in as we look at the gospels, but the biggest example is, of course, his purpose in coming to earth at all. 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16-18 ESV)

God is a holy and righteous God who cannot tolerate wrongdoing, but his solution for that was to sacrifice himself so that we could have a relationship with him despite the wrong we have done. As Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 ESV).

And still more good news is that God’s caring doesn’t stop with the cross. We have the Holy Spirit and a number of promises that God will always be with us, if we have chosen to turn our lives over to him. 

It can be hard, at times, to remember that we serve a loving God. This is a broken and sin-filled world with a lot of problems and a lot of pain, and we have a God who chose to give us free will and the freedom to make our own choices whether good or bad. But we serve a God of peace and love who will bring us through this world with hope and joy if we hold tight to him and allow ourselves to remember that he does care.

 

Photo by O12 on Unsplash

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend a concert that I thought sounded interesting but would have conflicted with other plans. On the other hand, I completely changed my initial plans for a week of travel, spent a few hundred dollars, and took my first trip on a Greyhound bus in a few decades in order to spend time with a dear friend whom I had not seen in far too long.

Those two choices got me thinking about priorities and how we make decisions about how to spend our time and money. There are a lot of things that I want to do, or at least say that I want to do. However, some I will only do if they require little time and effort and don’t really disrupt my life. For others, I will go to great effort and completely rearrange my life. 

God knows this about us, and he expects us to desire him in such a way that we will rearrange our lives as a result of knowing him.

Some may say, “Wait a minute! Salvation is a free gift of God. What are you talking about?”

It is true that salvation is a gift that we cannot earn. Paul clearly states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV). However, focusing too much on those two verses may lead us to ignore the next one: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV).

The reality is that when Jesus called people to follow him, he asked a great deal of them. “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Luke 9:23 ESV).

In another passage, Jesus makes an even stronger statement, and calls upon those following him to count the cost of a commitment to him.

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-33 ESV)

So, that leaves us needing to ask how: much we want Jesus and salvation? Are we willing to offer all that we are and all that we have to follow Christ? This passage calls for the sacrifice of our closest relationships, our own lives, and all that we have. 

I think most who claim to follow Jesus would say that they are willing to sacrifice everything, but I also think most of us still struggle to live this out in practice. Are we willing to spend time in prayer? What about Bible reading or study? What about Christian fellowship? Are we willing to spend our money? Do we tithe? Do we do more than tithe if called by God to do so? Are we willing to give sacrificially to others in need? Are we willing to cultivate relationships that will allow us to share Christ with others? Have we been called out of our current homes and jobs into some other place of service, and are we willing to go?

The only meaningful answer to these questions is to look at our lives and how we actually spend our lives. Do we really want Christ? Do we really want to follow God and become Christlike so much that our desire for God is rearranging our lives?