Yes, Kemosabe

Hebrews 10:19-25

I'm going to date myself a bit (it seems like I do that often these days!), but as a kid I used to love the Lone Ranger. (I'm sure it was in re-runs by the time I watched though.) He was always saving the day. With wisdom and speed, he would run the bad guys out of town, put others in jail and help those who needed helping. He'd even make the women swoon.

What a guy! Everyone wanted to be like the Lone Ranger. He was the epitome of the "good guy."

It's his title, though, that has a life of its own; as our society continues to believe we can "do it on our own." We have a Lone Ranger complex. It's probably not a real psychological diagnosis, but it definitely has it's place in most of our lives. I've heard it said often, "I can do it myself," or "I don't need anyones help," even in my own family, even coming from my own mouth!

And as I recall, there was one paradoxical thing about the Lone Ranger that I never fully understood, he wasn't alone!

That's right, he had Tonto who would address him with a respectful, "Yes, Kemosabe," even though none of us knew what that meant! (and still don't for sure.) Maybe it was a reminder that while the Lone Ranger was the Hero, he couldn't have done it without help. (I've always loved this Far Side interpretation.)

It's a good reminder to us, though, that we can't do this faith thing without help. We weren't meant or created to "go it alone." That's why the author of the book of Hebrews was so insistent on not neglecting to meet together, but to support and encourage each other and in doing so, their faith was strengthened...

...and at the same time, they were able to experience the very presence of God more readily.

Yes, Kemosabe, you need help to be fully present with God!

Peace ><>
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Pestering God

Luke 11:1-13

I believe that many people are afraid to pray.

They are afraid that:
they will say the wrong things...
they might make God angry...
they won't get answered anyway...
they are simply pestering God!

Regardless the reasons we don't pray (or are afraid to) the reality is that God is waiting on us to pray. Yes...waiting, with anticipation, to hear from us, from you!

And there is no pestering God.

If there is something on our mind, then we are supposed to pray about it. And if it is there every day, then pray about it everyday...every moment, even. God just wants us to call.

When Peggy and I were dating, we'd spend what seemed like hours on the phone together. I'd sit in our living room at the phone desk (this is way before cordless phones which begins to date me!) and talk quietly so no one else could overhear our conversation. But as I remember it, there wasn't much to listen to because we'd spend much of the time in silence, no one saying anything. Fortunately it wasn't long distance either.

Prayer is simply having God's attention and giving God ours. And if our time together is just sitting quietly together, then that's okay too. It doesn't bother Him a bit..in fact, it's what he wants.

Ask and you’ll get;
Seek and you’ll find;
Knock and the door will open. (Luke 11:9, MSG)

So don't think you will pester God, just ask for what you need...


...and you'll get.

Peace ><>
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That Poor Fig Tree

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. 22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it. (Matthew 21:22-23, NLT)

I had the privilege a few years ago to lead a group of women from our church in a Disciple Class called "Jesus in the Gospels." It was one of the most fun classes I've ever led and one I hope never to forget. We had such great discussions and discovered some amazing insights from these great women of faith. One of my most precious memories of that class took place when we studied this passage.

it follows a story of Jesus going to a fig tree to get something to eat and upon finding nothing, he curses it "never to bear fruit again." As the disciples walk by the fig tree the next day they are astonished as they find it withered and dead. That's when Jesus simply told them that this is what happens when you believe what you pray!

What makes this so memorable is that one of the ladies in the class, Alice Ann, never got over this action by Jesus. Now she did not question Jesus' power or even the message he taught through it, she just didn't understand what the poor fig tree had done to deserve such a curse. And it wasn't just one class session that we discussed this...I believe we talked about it almost every class until the end of the year!

It was a bit comical to be discussing something totally different when Alice Ann would say, out of the blue, " I just don't understand why that happened to that poor fig tree."

I appreciated her questions and her undying trust in Jesus Christ and I'm sure He got that question when Alice Ann got to heaven!

But I also wonder how often we miss the point of something because we can't get over the details?

And I wonder how often we pray without expecting anything in return?

That's really the point of the story anyway. Jesus was always provocative in some way, here he challenged the disciples to see how to pray with expectation; to speak it, believe it and it will be done!

Do you believe what you ask for will happen? Or are you more concerned about the details of how it will get done? This is where our doubts come from and what we need is to over look the details and just wait with anticipation on the results of our prayers.

This group of ladies sure didn't miss this part of the story. In fact, while we talked about "that poor fig tree" all year, we also saw amazing things happen because of our prayers as a class...

...because we believe what we asked and we trusted our requests in the hands of a faithful God.

Peace ><>
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Praying...but never alone.

Matthew 14:23

I always wanted to "go up into the mountain to pray." You know, just like Jesus did. Not that I think there is something special about any particular mountain or that we can get closer to God by being at a higher elevation. Heaven is not reached by height as the people at Babel discovered long ago. But to get away, really away from all the distractions in order to focus on God, on prayer. It sounds great and nearly impossible!

No matter where I've gone, I've never been able to fully focus my mind and soul in prayer. There are always distractions, either by the environment or from within. There always seems to be something getting in the way and not even a mountain can help that!

I've spent some time alone in the Galilee and I discovered something. Even in the places of Jesus' most intimate prayers, he had distractions. Some of them were similar to mine, the weather, the view, the sounds of nature and even the inner distractions of hunger, of the day's schedule, the future. What is strikingly different though between Jesus' prayer time and mine is his focus. He had much more on his mind than we every will, yet he was able to pray. What we miss at times though is that he prayed often all night!

I wonder if it was because of his distractions?

Regardless of what they are or how many there are, the good news for us is that we can get around them just like He did, by simply praying. The truth is, while we are never truly alone, away from our thoughts, or circumstances or even our environment, we are also never alone from God! Which means that if we are not able to get away to the mountain, then we go to God wherever we are, whenever we can. And if our prayers last all day, in between tasks, during down times, while commuting to work or to the grocery, then so be it.

The important thing is to pray...because God is where we are and waiting to hear from us!

Peace ><>
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