Yesterday I met with a group of pastors in WA to teach, encourage and pray for one another. One of them, my friend John, had suffered a terrible blow to his family earlier in the week. His ninth grade son was brutally beat up at school, breaking his nose and a bone below his eye as well as suffering multiple cuts from his braces. His face was so swollen when they saw him at the hospital that he wasn't recognizable. The boy who did this had been bullying him for a time - a classic example of the strong victimizing the weak.
Another friend shared about the (untrue) accusations that some church people had made about his kids as these people voiced their displeasure over recent changes the church was making to reach people for Jesus and live out their faith more fully.
Before I met, as I prayed about what we would be doing in our time together, I decided to apply some of the things I had learned this past weekend in regards to prayer. Daniel Henderson had led us in an approach to prayer that is "Worship-based, Scripture-fed, Spirit-led".
As a group, we chose the scripture. I asked someone to give me a number between 0 and 15. Another person gave me a number between 1 and 9. The numbers that were chosen were 8 and 2. So, we turned to Psalm 82:1-8 and did God ever meet us there! As I led us through the rhythm of prayer of Reverence, Response, Request and Readiness over the next 30 minutes the truth of God's words in the Psalm encouraged us, guided us and comforted us.
Psalm 82 reminds us that God is the great, mighty, fair and ultimate Judge. We can trust him when evil rises up. We can lean on him when unfairness seems to be winning. We can call on his perfect justice.
It was what we needed. It was what my friends needed. The Spirit led, God showed up. It was anything but uninspiring and boring. It was a great fresh encounter with God.
Just thought I'd share.
dc
1 comment:
Amen. Thank you for sharing with us. It's amazing what happens when we lift our faces to gaze upon the face of God.
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