Prayer Archives - call me pasturescott

a little wine for your troubles

Today I’m braving a huge ask of the Father.

I find myself emboldened to do it based on a morning reading from one of the ancient prophets. No doubt we’re all familiar with the famous verse where the Father invites Jeremiah to,

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
Jeremiah 33:3, ESV

As happens so many times (for you too, I’d wager), I had just unrolled on the Lord a heavy burden before turning to the Word. In short order I sensed the Spirit opening to me the Father’s heart in the very place I was reading.

Here I found my Ebenezer.*

The Lord challenged Jeremiah to do something bold, mind-stretching, and unthinkable. He invited the prophet to ‘accost’ him with a demand (that’s the Hebrew sense of the word); to open his mouth and throw up on the Almighty all that was in his heart.

Don’t hold back, my son, he commanded. So I’m not.

If you set the passage in its context you’ll find this is part of an ongoing dialogue between Potentate and prophet. In verse one we see the call for holy boldness is embedded in the “second” of three separate promises made to Jeremiah.

The first promise comes in the previous chapter:

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?…”
Jeremiah 32:26-27, NIV

I’m not going to tell you what I’m asking of the Father but I can tell you the huge favor I’m regurgitating on him is not for me but for another. This person needs a miracle and they needed it yesterday.

“Is anything too hard for Me?”

The answer, we already know in our hearts, is no. Nothing is outside or beyond him. When life gives you lemons, God makes us a pitcher of lemonade. Or wine, as the next promise elucidates.

The second promise is sweet to the palate. God tells Jeremiah to “call out,” unload upon, barrage the Almighty with his request.

You mean it, Lord? Jeremiah must have wondered.

“I most definitely do…and what’s more, when you do it, I’ll take you down to My wine cellar and produce the finest vintage** you can imagine!”

We have the promise that (whatever we ask) the Father won’t ridicule us or tell us we’re stupid. He’s never in a “condescending” mood toward his trusting children. Ask, he tells us. Go ahead, he proffers. I dare you. I want you to “blow up my feed.”

What a picture. We share with him an agony of soul and he responds by placing a glass of his choicest wine in our hands. What does it mean? It means we have royal access to his vault and whatever burdens we bring are met with heavenly vintage.

Wine is often code for “joy” in the scriptures. Rest assured, beloved, your Father trades in joy and he means to get you in the same mood and mindset he’s in.

I said there are three promises given Jeremiah (and by extension, US too, as each can be borne up by scripture) in this running dialogue. The third promise reads this way:

…keep watching! I will restore this city and heal the wounds of My people. I will lavish them with peace and stability.
Jeremiah 33:6, Voice

Restore.

Heal.

Lavish.

Jeremiah was weeping for the City. He longed to see the wicked removed and the holy shine come back. He was sick of the lies and deception from the most powerful voices and wanted them muted. He yearned to see all wrongs righted and a Righteous Day return.

God said, Keep your eyes on the City. It’s still MY City. You’ll be tempted to lose hope but I have plans for My City. Keep watching. You’ll see it in due time if you don’t lose faith.

Today I am arming myself with this trio of promises and storming the throne room. I’m asking God to uphold the cause of a wounded soul and restoring to them all the years the locusts have ravaged. I have something very specific in mind. And bold. I believe it’s a righteous ask. Amen.

And, as Paul counseled Timothy, I invite you to drink some wine for what’s ailing you. Perhaps leave a “pray with me” or a “pray for me” (nothing more need be shared) in the comments?

In any case, I pray for him to restore, heal, and lavish Himself for you in your great hour of need.

Selah, beloved.

*Ebenezer means ‘Stone of help’

** “hidden” is synonymous with ‘inaccessible’ but the Hebrew adds the wonderful nuance of ‘vintage’ (as in grapes)

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gospel sanity in insane times

Crazy times, huh?

Back in the 80s Billy Joel had a hit song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” in which he lyricized his life from 1949 to 1989 through the headlines, some good, mostly bad. His song cited 118 key moments he’d lived through. Again, over a lifetime.

If you’re alive in these strange days, you could add 118 of those kind of moments….in just the last 18 months!

We brave souls who have already weathered 9/11 and the war on terror, have been conscripted to face the bungled Afghanistan pull-out, COVID-19, shelter-in-place, George Floyd, Critical Race Theory, Capitol riots, and cancel culture.

Mix in the perfect storm of $28 trillion national debt, full-term abortion, impeachment, social injustice, racism, human trafficking, police brutality, nationalism, BLM, white supremacy, #MeToo, pronouns, and gender identity.

Talk about piling on.

Of course the disciples of the early 1st century didn’t have the pandora’s box of issues we face in the 21st century but they lived in worrisome times too. They were a conquered people living under the imperial thumb of Rome, and right along with their countrymen they longed for a Savior-Messiah to break into their story.

Over three years, based on the information they had, the disciples believed their hoped-for hero was now standing in their midst. Trouble was, he didn’t quite fit their idea of how such a king should accede to the throne. Here’s how he put it to them:

For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. BUT FIRST HE MUST SUFFER MANY THINGS AND BE REJECTED BY THIS GENERATION.
Luke 17:24-25, ESV

Say what, Jesus?

Talk of lightning and thunder and glory are themes we can get behind. Swooping in and saving the elect and wiping out the wicked? Yes, Lord, more of that, please. Inject it into our veins! But suffering and rejection? AYKM?!?

Jesus wasn’t finished. He went on to paint an even more dire picture of future days saying it wasn’t going to be all roses and rainbows for his followers either. Times would “wax” worse and worse with unimaginable terrors unleashed on an ill-equipped world. It would be thus right up to the end. Matthew’s gospel adds the gut-checking news that only those who “endure to the end will be saved.” Even Jesus wondered aloud, “When the Son of Man returns will he find faith on the earth?”

If you’re bothered by the trajectory of things (“just how bad is it gonna get?”) take heart. Jesus’s band of brothers wondered too.

And you know what Jesus did to settle them? He told them a little story.

A widow, it seems, was the victim of a pyramid scheme and lost her life savings. She heard the circuit judge was coming to town so she went out to have her case adjudicated. To her dismay, the corrupt judge wouldn’t give her the time of day.

Next morning, she got herself dressed and went out the door to where the judge was holding court. Same answer. No, lady, go home.

Next day, same.

And the next.

But she never stopped going as long as Mr. Justice was in town. She was determined to get a hearing. He was going to take her case or, by golly, she was going to die trying.

Unfortunately the pitiful woman was penniless and had nothing to offer the shady judge by way of bribe. Still, she ventured out to the “justice tent” all the same.

This was likely her last chance. The judge could be packed up and gone the next day. This was it. Please, Universe, Higher Being, Whoever, be on my side, she prayed. (We don’t know if the fictional widow was saved.)

That morning, the judge asked who was out there beyond the folds of his tent and his assistant told him the same old lady who’s been coming every day. He shook his head disgustedly.

“Her again?”

He thought about it, then thought about it some more, and then he broke character.

“Send her in,” he said with a sigh.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Well, not without Jesus they didn’t! Which is the point. Try and do life without Jesus, and you’ll end up a pillar of salt or vulture lunch.

So what does the story have to do with being ready for what’s coming? Simply put, readiness requires faith (God is good), faith requires a “just” Jesus (God is wise), and it’s all fueled with the aromatic incense of prayer (God is able).

The people of God “ought always” to pray, Jesus said.

Was this the answer the disciples were hoping for? Probably not, and it’s not usually what we’re inclined to accept. Pray? Come on God, isn’t there something more concrete?

Yeah, he says, there is something more. Pray….and don’t give up!

[Smiley face emoji]

I’m pretty sure Jesus added that enjoinder because he knows the last days will be hard. We’re taking hard, hard, hardhardhard, so much so the elect (the people of God) will shrink and fail and cower and wonder if it’s all worth it. What if he isn’t coming? What if it’s been a trick the whole time?

Jesus hasn’t changed the formula. Methods and styles come and go, the times they get worse then better and ever worse again, but it’s always been a praying people abiding in the shelter of the Almighty who overcome through the worst of times.

I hear some of you saying, “That sounds like works, Scott.” I totally get that. Problem is, you consider prayer a task to be done — a human work — rather than a lifelong conversation with God. The praying Jesus is speaking of in verse one can be linked to his question in verse eight.

A “praying people” are a “faithing people.”

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can’t let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
— Rich Mullins, If I Stand

The praying Jesus is referencing is not suppertime thanks or bedtime rhymes. He’s telling us that our assurance of enduring to the end is our clinging to the Savior (“not give up”) through thick and thin, hard times and lean times, rest and unrest. It is a lifestyle and testimony of trusting Christ to carry us all the way home.

Does the little story really answer the questions and fears of the disciples? On the surface, it seems almost a redirect. On closer inspection, we see it’s exactly what we need to hear.

The widow shows us “praying” is “coming” to our One True Authority. Like her, we are to come faithfully, enduringly, single-mindedly, hopefully, and trustingly. Day after day, all our days, until Jesus comes. This is how we endure to the end.

Unlike the widow, we don’t have an unjust judge in the heavenlies who demands a bribe before coming to our rescue. He doesn’t expect us to “shape up” before he will act in mercy. He doesn’t require us to ‘perform’ some empty ritual of contrition so as to move him to respond. The only prerequisites are neediness and faith.

Each and every morning you wake up, as soon as you say the word “Father…” you can rest assured his eyes are already on you and he’s inviting you into his tent. Beloved, you are on his docket for the day, all day. Go to him. Ask him. Have faith he will hear you and be good to you.

[I was blessed to be able to share these thoughts with the generous and loving congregation at West Huntsville Baptist Church recently. If you’d like to view the full video service, simply click here.]

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yikes & yays

**Occasionally you’ll find some really good stuff on Xian social media. This was a Twitter thread I ran across,* instantly saw its value to this site,** and ‘unrolled’ it to equip and encourage you in your discipleship.

I hope you enjoy Ashley’s colorful take on Peter as much as I did.

So Peter.

Walks on water. Yay.
Jesus says his testimony will be the bedrock of the church. Yay.
Jesus says he’s doing Satan’s work. Yikes.
Argues who’s the greatest. Yikes.
Makes big bold claims for Jesus (I’ll go with you to death!) Yay.

Follows Jesus from a distance. Yikes.
Denies Jesus altogether. Yikes times infinity.
Weeps and repents. Yay.
Restored to Jesus. Yay.
Runs to the empty tomb. Yay.

Makes moves in the early church. Yay.
Falls into fear of man/racism & gets rebuked by another apostle. Yikes.
Writes some letters that end up in the New Testament, helping other Christians not make his mistakes and giving wisdom for how to be a church. Yay.

Many moments in between, he’s putting his foot in his mouth and getting it wrong. In other random moments, he’s getting it right.

(Let’s not forget the Mount of Transfiguration where he literally needs to be interrupted because he won’t shut up in a really important moment, and he’s super slow to what’s going on. Yet another “Yikes” moment. I could go on.)

In all of these Yay-or-Yikes moments, Jesus’s words in Luke 22:31-32 give me hope.

“Simon, look out. Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

These very words are said immediately before Jesus tells Simon Peter that he will fail! As in Jesus prays for his friend right in the middle of Peter’s absurdity and failure.

And eventually, that prayer did come to pass after a lot of other cyclical failures.

What strikes me is that Peter didn’t have this perfectly linear story. He went through cycles of belief, unbelief, and repentance. He went through various versions of rebuke as he grew. Even as an apostle! This gives me so much hope.

In the end, Jesus’ prayer DID come to pass. The road was rocky, he went through lots of Yays-and-Yikes, but Peter did stay true to his faith in the end, and he did “strengthen the brethren” in his epistles.

And Jesus’ prayer gives me an example,an answer for what I should do if I, or someone I know, is in the “Yikes” season.

I should pray!

I don’t know who in your life is being sifted like wheat, or denying Christ, or in a Yikes season. But let’s pray that their faith won’t fail.

Let’s believe that God has a way of turning Yikes into Yays and with his intercession on our side, he will keep us and convict us and bring us round to resurrection glory.

He did it for Peter. Let’s not act like he can’t do it for any one of us. Let’s pray like that’s our God.

–Ashley Gorman

*Alas, Ashley no longer has a Twitter account, so I’m unable to give a fuller citation of credit to her…but I’m very glad I had the foresight to copy and paste her original thread!