Prayer Guide: The Grace of God (Titus)
As I write this (on Monday), the sky outside is overcast and cloudy. Rain is expected. A lot of rain. We’ve had about 5 inches of rain in Sarnia since Friday. This was after about four weeks of very little rain, mostly blue skies, and hot, sunny weather. The grass in most places was dried up, the ground was cracked, and vegetable gardens were crying out from thirst. Then the deluge came, and now we’ve had, ironically, too much rain in a very short period of time. Our lives can feel a lot like this at times. Everything is good (sunny), but cracks begin to form—and then a storm erupts (rain). Sometimes the storm can be overwhelming—there is too much “rain” in your life. Sometimes your basement floods—both metaphorically and literally. In these moments, prayer grounds you. When you can reflect on the truth of scripture and praise God for who he is, you can find peace. When you pray biblical responses for yourself, you can find motivation to pray even in the storm. And what better to focus your prayers around than the grace of God, and God’s salvation for you and his church? Let the book of Titus feed you this week. I recommend that you read it daily (it’s short), meditate on it, and use this prayer guide one section at a time to let the truth and hope of the gospel lift you up. Prayer Guide: Matthew 6 (Trust and Faith in God)
Matthew 6 is one of my favourite chapters in the New Testament. I appreciate how, in such a lengthy block of teaching, Jesus took the time to address spirituality and spiritual growth. These are often considered the “dry” topics of faith…many Christians would rather focus on doctrinal teaching, or the statements of chapter 7, or the morality of chapter 5, rather than the hard, difficult work of how we grow spiritually. But Jesus teaches us that, unless we are focused on God, our spiritual practices are often in vain. And who doesn’t this apply to? Who among us never struggles to pray as we think others want to hear, to announce our spiritual practices so others know what we are doing, or to give or serve out of expectation? Just today, I found myself reading my Bible as a chore, just reading to get through it, rather than soaking in the words of God that I was reading. There is always room to grow, always space to meet God in secret, always a room where we can close the door and simply be with God. This week as you pray, let God question your motivations in meeting with him. Let him challenge you to seek him and him alone. Let your spiritual practices be refined by God in your secret place with him. |