Meditations

“Fasting is calculated to bring a note of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven. The man who prays with fasting is giving heaven notice that he is truly in earnest…Not only so, but he is expressing his earnestness in a divinely-appointed way. He is using a means that God has chosen to make his voice to be heard on high.”

Arthur Wallis (1922-1988) in God’s Chosen Fast (Ft. Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1968) 42.

Why pray in earnest by adding fasting during Lent? Wallis says it best: it is “the divinely-appointed way” to send a message to the Father. Thankfully Jesus gives us instructions on how to do it. He says, “When you pray…When you fast…” (cf. Matthew 6:5-17). Do we? Rewards await those who pray and fast. The best news is that we don’t have to stop this practice when Lent ends but can continue on “the divinely-appointed way” the rest of our lives.

“Our Lord showed me a spiritual sight…I saw that He is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us: He is our clothing that for love wrappeth us, claspeth us, and all encloseth us for tender love, that He may never leave us; being to us all-thing that is good, as to mine understanding…

He showed me a little thing, the size of an hazelnut, in the palm of my hand; and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereupon with eye of my understanding, and thought: What may this be? And it was answered generally thus: It is all that is made. I marvelled how it might last, for methought it might suddenly have fallen to naught for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasteth, and ever shall for that God loveth it. And so all things hath being by the love of God.

In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it, the second is that God loveth it, the third, that God keepeth it. But what is to me verily the Maker, the Lover, and the Keeper…Also our Lord God showed that it is full great pleasance to Him that a helpless soul come to Him simply and plainly and homely. For this is the natural yearnings of the soul, by the touching of the Holy Ghost (as by the understanding that I have in this showing):

God, of Thy goodness, give me Thyself: for Thou art enough to me, and I may nothing ask that is less that may be full worship to Thee; and if I ask anything that is less, ever me wanteth, but only in Thee I have all.

For His goodness comprehendeth all His creatures and all His blessed works, and overpasseth without end. For He is the endlessness, and He hath made us only to Himself, and restored us by His blessed passion, and keepeth us in His blessed love; and all this of His goodness.”

Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) in Showings, also known as, Revelations of Divine Love (CSD edition) excerpt from the First Revelation.

Yesterday we determined that sometimes prayer is a quiet time when we don’t hear much from God. Other times, like this one recounted for us in ancient English, we have revelations, showings, or in modern terms, “a-ha moments,” where the lights come on and things become clear. Why include “a spiritual sight” from Julian today?

The reason we practice the discipline of prayer, often in silence and solitude, is so that, should God reveal Himself, we are in a posture of receiving and sharing His gifts. Personally, I think most people are so busy and their lives are filled with so much noise that they allot no time for prayer or solitude and could not hear God’s voice if he shouted to them with a megaphone.

For David, the Psalmist, the “showings” only happen in the stillness and out of the stillness emerges the gift of “knowing.” Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10. That means all people (“nations”) and all creation, (“the earth”), including hazelnuts, shout the wonder of our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.

Think on these things in silence for five minutes today with our Maker, Lover, and Keeper as the celebration of “His blessed passion” draws ever nearer.

“I have come to see prayer as a privilege, not a duty. Like all good things, prayer requires some discipline. Yet I believe that life with God should seem more like a friendship than duty. Prayer includes moments of ecstasy and also dullness, mindless distraction and acute concentration, flashes of joy and bouts of irritation. In other words, prayer has features in common with all relationships that matter.

If prayer stands as the place where God and human beings meet, then I must learn about prayer. Most of my struggles in the Christian life circle around the same two themes: why God doesn’t act the way we want God to, and why I don’t act the way God wants me to. Prayer is the precise point where those two themes converge.”

Philip Yancey in Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) 17.

Yancey simply and powerfully summarizes the range of experiences associated with prayer. As we approach this discipline, don’t expect the heavens to open daily, a ray of light to magically fill the room at a specified time, or angels to appear with a message in response to our petitions. Most of the time it may be pretty quiet.

Think of Daniel, fasting and praying for twenty-one days, twenty-one long days, before having a angel visit him (cf. Daniel 10). Consider Anna, the eighty-four year old prophetess, who fasted and prayed every day in the temple, waiting for the redemption of Israel (cf. Luke 2:36-38). Both eventually experienced God. Eventually.

Whether Daniel or Anna, you or me, each of us has moments or even days of dullness and not much ecstasy. So why pray? Don’t do it out of duty, do it because it’s a gift. What is so profound about this gift, in short, is that the themes that converge in prayer are His strength and our weakness.

“How happy does our Lord make me, and how sweet and easy is His service on this earth! He has always given me what I desired, or rather He has made me desire what He wishes to give…When the Divine Master tells me to give to whoever asks of me, and to let what is mine be taken without asking it again, it seems to me that He speaks not only of the goods of earth, but also of the goods of Heaven. Besides, neither one nor the other are really mine.”

Thérèse de Lisieux (1873-1897) in The Story of a Soul, X, “The New Commandment” as recounted in Lent and Easter Wisdom from Thérèse de Lisieux, comp. John Cleary (Liguori: Liguori, 2015) 41.

Today’s reading illustrates the transformations that happen within us as we practice the disciplines of prayer and giving. Linked to prayer, how often do we we desire Him and a list of other things, and in our seeking, find that He is all we need, and then from His abundance we receive even more.

Then regarding giving, once we find ourselves with far more than we need, which has all come to us from His hand, rather than enjoying and sharing these material and spiritual provisions we often clutch them too closely. Along these lines, the Apostle Peter might offer this reminder:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3.

When we live according to this reality, how happy we are! But it does not stop there. “His divine power” propels to action. Will it have that impact on us? Now that we realize we have “everything we need,” will we share from our goods of earth and from the goods of Heaven that all belong to the Master anyway?

“Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their needs as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them.”

John Calvin (1509-1564) is widely attributed as the source of this statement on prayer.

As we focus on the discipline of prayer this Lent, let us do so with others in view, not just ourselves. Making intercession for others is, in the words of Calvin, both “powerful and practical,” and it’s likely the most generous gift we can give someone else. How is intercession for others a part of your daily rhythm of life?

Try this exercise. Make a list of people to pray for this Lent. Not sure how to intercede? Try praying Ephesians 1:15-23 or 3:14-21 over them. Keep it in the place where you physically go to pray or in your Bible for daily reference. The Apostle Paul would likely this say is the “first” thing each of us should do every day (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1).

“Learn, then, the lesson of becoming a little one, of becoming nothing. A man who fasts–leaving off all those things his appetite improperly craves–does a good thing. But the Christian who is fasting from his own desires and his own will, and who feeds upon God’s will alone, does far better. This is what Paul calls the circumcision of the heart.”

Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) in Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ (Sargent: CBPH, 1975) 141.

Today marks the third feast day of Lent. Let us feast on God’s will as revealed to us through His Word. It not only washes us. When we leave off those things our appetites improperly crave and feast on God’s Word, according to the Apostle Paul, the Spirit circumcises our hearts (cf. Romans 2:29).

Why become a little one? Why become nothing? Jesus made Himself nothing and the Father’s will was accomplish through Him, the greatest work in human history, the cross, which we will celebrate in five weeks, and we are exhorted to have the same mindset (cf. Philippians 2:1-11).

What’s all this have to do with Lent, fasting, feasting, and generosity? That same text from Paul gives us the answer. When we get out of the way God does His best work through us. We shine like stars in the world (cf. Philippians 2:12-18). Feast on that today, and shine on!

“What if I could freely receive and freely give? When Jesus says, “Seek the Kingdom,” I think he is saying, “Learn to receive.” Here’s what I think. To the extent we can receive from God, our lives will be a gift to others. Doesn’t Jesus say as much?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:32-34

The fundamental brokenness of the human race, the essence of the brokenness that we call sin, is the inability to freely receive. Isn’t that the story of Eden; we preferred to “take” (i.e. steal) rather than receive. Fear and anxiety lead to “taking.” Faith and love lead to receiving.

I’m beginning to think the secret to being a generous person is the ability to freely receive. What if my ability to give is only limited by my ability to receive?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

J.D. Walt is Chief Sower at www.seedbed.com and today’s Meditation comes from his 6 March 2015 daily text entitled “Learn to Receive”.

During Lent many people think that growing in generosity is learning to “freely give” for a season when in reality, it is the time when we must learn to “freely receive” for life in the kingdom (cf. Matthew 10:8). When we think of generosity as flowing from our finite capacities, it will paltry at best. When it wells up from God’s abundance that we have freely received, we become joyful distributors of material and spiritual blessings.

This means that when Lent is over, we get to keep living this way!

And it is precisely how Jesus’ generosity is described by Luke in Acts. He received God’s anointing, then went about doing good. He freely received and freely gave. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38.

Will we learn to freely receive this Lent so that we can freely give in life? That’s my prayer for every man and woman reading this. Teach us to receive, Father! Anoint our lives with your Holy Spirit and power so that people who see us don’t celebrate our generosity but proclaim: “God is with him!” and “God is with her!”

“The hypocrites of Jesus’ day tried to look as gloomy as possible when they fasted. They had even developed ways of disfiguring their faces with special markings in order to make sure people knew they were fasting…Jesus points out they get what they want. They want to be noticed in being “devout,” and they certainly are noticed. “I tell you the truth,” He says again, “they have their reward” (Matthew 6:16); that is the one they were looking for.

And then he points us in the right direction for fasting as a practice in kingdom living. “Take a shower,” he says “and fix yourself up. Brush your teeth. Put on lotion and cologne and nice clothing so that others won’t know you are fasting. Your Father who is in secret will see your hidden heart and enrich your life” (Matthew 6:17-18). Once again, one is impressed with what refreshing good sense characterizes Jesus’ words.

Of course, if we are not well experienced with fasting in the spirit of Christ, we may think that we will be miserable when we fast. If we are miserable, shouldn’t we look that way? Could Jesus be asking us to “fake it”? And indeed those who do not fast with God alone in view, or who have not yet learned how to do it well, will be miserable–as, no doubt, “the hypocrites” were.

But Jesus himself knew that when we have learned how to fast “in secret,” our bodies and our souls will be directly sustained by the invisible kingdom. We will not be miserable. But we certainly will be different. And our abundant strength and our joy will come in ways a purely physical human existence in “the flesh” does not know. It will come from those sources that are “in secret”…

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. John 4:31-34

Dallas Willard (1935-2013) in The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1998) 195-196.

Last week we celebrated God’s generosity in giving us the the gift of prayer. Likewise as we fast in body and spirit today let us celebrate the divine sustenance we graciously receive from the One whose abundance sustains all of creation (cf. Colossians 1:17) and us as we do the will of the Father. This is the food the world knows nothing about. Not sure how to partake of it? Try this exercise.

What are all the things the world says you need? You need… You need… You need… Write them on a piece of paper. Now consider things you have recently said you need? I need… I need… I need… List those things too. Look at what you have written down. Now take five minutes in silence and ask God what you need. Journal what comes to mind in secret.

“Pride and avarice mean the drive of energy set towards ourselves and our possessions. Lust and gluttony love too much. Sloth and envy love to little. They all turn up in our relation to the things God gives us to deal with–family, friends, work, and the practice of religion. As we wake up more towards spiritual reality and our world grows, the form of our sinfulness probably changes. The great wrong instincts of self-importance, pugnacity, grab, self-indulgence, slackness, are still there, but gradually pass from cruder to more and more subtle forms–spiritual pride, spiritual envy, spiritual greed: these still lie in wait for souls who believe they want nothing but God.”

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) in “The Mount of Purification” as recounted in Lent with Evelyn Underhill, ed. by G.P. Malice Belshaw (Harrisburg: Morehouse, 1990) 57.

By week three of Lent we are realizing that the disciplines draw our attention to deeper spiritual realities. Few grasped these in the first half of the 20th century like Evelyn Underhill. In “The Mount of Purification” she points the way to overcoming the seven deadly sins (cf. Proverbs 6:16-19).

For Underhill, thanksgiving turns pride into humility; sacrifice transforms anger into tranquility; communion replaces envy with charity; commemoration overtakes avarice with generosity; and mystery is when detachment reigns over greed. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

As we reorient our physical desires in fasting and redirect our perspective toward others in giving and reflect on our experiences in prayer during Lent we realize the “more subtle forms” these sins can take in our lives. May the Holy Spirit help us avoid “more subtle forms” as together we seek nothing but God.

“Listen, sons of the Lord and my brothers, pay attention to my words. Incline the ear of your heart and obey the voice of the Son of God. Observe His commands with your whole heart and fulfill His counsels with a perfect mind. Give praise to Him because He is good; exalt Him by your deeds; for this reason He has sent you into the whole world: that you may bear witness to His voice in word and deed and bring everyone to know that there is no one who is all-powerful except Him. Persevere in discipline and holy obedience and, with a good and firm purpose, fulfill what you have promised Him. The Lord God offers Himself to us as His children.”

Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) in “A Letter to the Entire Order” 116-117 as recounted in Lent and Easter Wisdom from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, comp. John V. Kruse (Liguori: Liguori, 2008) 111.

Few in human history lived with the resolve exhibited by Francis of Assisi. This excerpt from “A Letter to the Entire Order” offers at least two significant clues why the Franciscans went on to influence countless people around the world. It drips with Scripture and unswerving commitment!

We can locate at least four verse from God’s Word that echo through his voice: Acts 2:14; Isaiah 55:3; Psalm 136:1; and Hebrews 12:7. Does Scripture flow as readily from your lips and mine? That only happens when we are profoundly familiar with it, which takes an investment of time.

As we begin week three of Lent, consider in prayer the role of Scripture in your life. Do people hear it in your words and see it in your witness? Francis would say to “persevere…with a good and firm purpose” so that people may come to know the Lord! There is no more generous gift we can give them!