Holy Spirit: Spirit of Imaginative Prayer
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
Prayer: The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen.
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
Romans 8:19-27. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
(Romans 8:19-27 NLT)
Thought for the Day:
Prayer is made for the imagination. Sometimes all our prayers are based on the evil we see and we ask God to fix it. But prayer is where God invites us into his creative space and asks us to imagine what your world or community be like if God’s kingdom reigned here. Pray for that. Pray for the good that you do not yet see.
To do this you need to be familiar with what God values most in life because it his Kingdom that we pray will be “on earth as it is in heaven”. We only have Jesus’ teachings to guide our imagination. And imagination sometimes leads to action when the Spirit gets involved. But prayer is more art than science.
Many of us have got out of the habit of dreaming and imagining and even the most prayerfully creative get stumped. But there is good news for all of us; the Spirit helps us in this weakness of prayerful imagination. The Spirit hears our yearnings and our deep desires that things be simply better and interprets this for us to the Father’s heart. Even our rambling prayers are made effective because the Spirit is joined to our spirit and knows what we mean even if we can’t … like… well … err… what I am trying to say … perhaps I should begin again… I just really wanna say … oh dear this is getting awkward …sorry.
Holy Spirit Week: Spirit of Love
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
This week we are focussing on who the Holy Spirit is in Scripture in the lead up to the festival of Pentecost when the Spirit was given to all people of faith not just a special few. May you discover the richness of what God has given for you.
Prayer: Fear not
How many times, after I had sinned,
you comforted me, as a good father,
and you kissed me warmly as a son or a daughter,
and you stretched out your arms to me and cried out:
rise up, fear not, stand up, come! Amen.
Excerpt from a prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ,
St John of Damascus, 7th-8th century
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
Romans 8:14-17. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
(Romans 8:14-17 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
It is theologically correct to say God is Father but it is life changing to “cry” Abba, Father.
Holy Spirit Week: Spirit of Teamwork
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
This week we are focussing on who the Holy Spirit is in Scripture in the lead up to the festival of Pentecost when the Spirit was given to all people of faith not just a special few. May you discover the richness of what God has given for you.
Prayer: This bundle of life
O God,
who has bound us together in this bundle of life,
give us grace to understand
how our lives depend upon the courage, the industry,
the honesty and the integrity of others;
that we may be mindful of their needs,
grateful for their faithfulness,
and faithful to our responsibilities to them;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
1 Corinthians 12:4-14. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
(1 Corinthians 12:4-14 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
I once had a couple who I had never met, come to me to discuss the baptism of their baby. As we went over the promises they would make we came to a sticking point. The church promises to help them with the discipleship of their child and they promise to help their child live out the Christian faith in the context of the child’s new church family. The parents were confused; what did the church have to do with being a Christian? Surely you can be a Christian and not have to go to church?
I have had many responses to this oft repeated question over the years but my favourite is this; “Where’s the fun in that?!”
Following Jesus is at its best in a loving community that works together to make the world a better place. We were born (again) to be in a team that does wonderful things together. Playing sport on your own is merely exercise but playing together on a winning team is heaven. And that is what the church is meant to be when Paul talks about the body of Christ having different gifts that work together for the common good with Christ as the head (captain coach).
Where is your place on the vast team that is the church on earth (not restricted to just LFC)? Some know it, some are looking for it, and some are in between.
May you taste together, again and again, some of the sweet achievements for God that comes from working as a team.
Holy Spirit Week: Spirit of Freedom
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
This week we are focussing on who the Holy Spirit is in Scripture in the lead up to the festival of Pentecost when the Spirit was given to all people of faith not just a special few. May you discover the richness of what God has given for you.
Prayer: For the Knowledge of God’s Will
Almighty and everlasting God,
in whom we live and move and have our being,
who has created us for yourself,
so that we can find rest only in you;
grant unto us such purity of heart
and strength of purpose,
that no selfish passion may hinder us
from knowing your will,
no weakness from doing it;
but in your light we may see light clearly,
and in your service find perfect freedom;
for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
Book of Common Order, 1940, Church of Scotland
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
Galatians 5:13-25. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh(sinful nature); rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:13-25 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Keep in step with the Spirit; this is the life of freedom. Two things may sound odd to the average person:
1. That we walk with the Spirit and Paul the writer of the letter does not say Jesus here. I wonder why? Perhaps it is because Paul sees the absolute unity of Jesus and the Spirit in both presence and purpose.
2. The Christian life is described as freedom. Maybe this is because society’s idea of freedom sounds more like ‘doing’ what you want whenever you want including holidays, finding love, and trying out lots of pleasurable things. I think the Christian idea being portrayed in Galatians is about ‘being’ free to be the person God created you to be (fruit of the Spirit). On top of that this freedom is most enjoyed in a community of people who walk by the Spirit. Which freedom do you set your heart on?
May you walk with the Spirit today.
Holy Spirit Week: Spirit of Truth
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
This week we are focussing on who the Holy Spirit is in Scripture in the lead up to the festival of Pentecost when the Spirit was given to all people of faith not just a special few. May you discover the richness of what God has given for you.
Prayer: Fulfil our Request
Christ, our God,
who has made it possible for us to pray together
and who promised that
when two or three are gathered in your name
you will give what they ask:
Fulfil now our request,
(insofar as it is good and according to the special needs of each),
granting us in this world the knowledge of your truth
…
For you are a loving God
and to you we give glory,
to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever. Amen.
Adapted liturgy prayer
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
John 14:15-27. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you. Jesus shares with his disciples in the Upper Room the day before his crucifixion.
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
(John 14:15-27 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
In a world in which everything is just opinion and every opinion is contested by another, what is truth? How would you recognise it? Is the opposite of truth deception or someone else’s personal truth? Or is the search for truth a yearning to know what is real and what is not real? Is Love at the centre of the universe or something else?
We humans need to know what life is about and how we fit into it. We invent philosophies and economies, advertising, and political ideologies to make sense of it or to imagine the world we would like to see, but what is real. Jesus says just before our passage that “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” But then he tells them that he is leaving (dying and ascending to heaven), so who will help us to discern what is real and true in life; the Spirit of Truth. She is not neutral towards us and our needs. Instead she is given as an ‘advocate’ to guide and defend us in this confusing world. And best of all, to help us recognise the Truth.
Holy Spirit Week: Jesus needs the Spirit
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
This week we are focussing on who the Holy Spirit is in Scripture in the lead up to the festival of Pentecost when the Spirit was given to all people of faith not just a special few. May you discover the richness of what God has given for you.
Prayer: A prayer for the Lord’s Day
Eternal and most glorious God,
you dwell in light which no one can approach,
and live and reign for ever and ever:
we bless you that you have brought us by your grace
to see the light of another day.
Help us, O Lord, this day
to commemorate the rising of our blessed Redeemer;
and let our hearts be raised to the heavenly world,
and to Jesus, who sits at your right hand in glory.
May the blessed Holy Spirit visit us with divine influence,
and remain with us in both public and private worship,
for without the blessed Spirit’s gracious assistance,
we can do nothing that is acceptable to you.
May we attend with cheerfulness and holy desire
on the ordinances of your house this day,
and may we find your presence in the assembly of your people.
May our souls be lifted up to you
in the prayers that will be offered,
and may our lips sing your praises with holy joy.
Let us come away from your house
under the light of your countenance,
satisfied with your love
declared to the world in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Isaac Watts, 1674-1748 (abridged)
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
Matthew 3:13-17. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
(Matthew 3:13-17 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Getting baptised and beginning the Christian life is strongly associated with repenting of your sins and symbolically dying to the old life and rising to the new. Less often, we also celebrate that when we begin this Christian walk we are simultaneously given the Holy Spirit to empower the new life. So we get confused by Jesus getting baptised. Did he have sins to repent of? No. However, he was starting a new life that needed the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Remember that when he became fully human at Christmas he had to empty himself of all power and be vulnerable like the rest of us. (Phil. 2:6-8)
His ministry and his encounters with people and his inner peace all needed the help of the Holy Spirit to make it happen and to make it fruitful.
If Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to walk the Christian walk then so do his disciples. We will never make it on our own and we don’t need to.
Things that Endure
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
Prayer: The freedom of serving God
O loving God,
you are the light of the minds that know you,
the life of the souls that love you,
and the strength of the hearts that serve you.
Help us so to know you
that we may truly love you;
and so to love you
that we may faithfully serve you,
whom to serve is perfect freedom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gelasian Sacramentary, 7th century
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
Matthew 6:19-21. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Matthew 6:19-21 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
The more you look at these verses the more it makes you wonder. While Jesus is clear what earthly treasures are, it is less clear what treasures in heaven might be.
In the light of our LFC Thanksgiving Service today for the life of Murray you might be inclined to think Jesus is talking about an investment in the next life. But maybe that is only a part of the truth. Remember that for Jesus relationships are what he values most. Another treasure ‘the pearl of great price’ referred to in his parable is in fact a loving relationship with God.
Seen in this light maybe the treasure in heaven is your relationship with God. Here is something to be enjoyed in this life and the next.
Enjoy.
My Father’s House
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
Prayer: Hymn of the Resurrection
Christ, our Lord,
you have abolished the curse of sin by your cross.
You have done away with the power of death by your burial.
You have illumined humanity by your resurrection.
Therefore we cry out to you:
glory to you, O Christ, our Lord and benefactor! Amen.
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
John 14:1-7. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you. Jesus is speaking in the Upper Room with his disciples on the night he was betrayed.
1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
(John 14:1-7 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Most of us hate a nervous silence; the feeling that something is wrong but you are not sure what because you don’t understand what is happening. For many people that is how it feels when they think about death. I don’t mean the bravado you often hear where people say they don’t fear death. I mean what people really think when they are alone at night with their thoughts and their own death approaches.
Jesus doesn’t want you to feel that nervous silence. He wants you to fill that silence with knowledge; the knowledge that God has got you and its going to be ok. His words in this passage are not necessary for the disciples. Instead he is simply being kind. It is the character of Jesus that as the worst night of his life approaches leading to his own death, he is thinking about his disciples and what they think about death. He shares the peace and confidence he feels when he puts himself in God’s hands. That is his real gift to you.
I don’t know what the Father’s house will be like but I do know this; it will feel like home.
Co-workers
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
Prayer: Prayer for True Abundance of Life
Eternal God,
grant to us this day and every day
such readiness and delight in following Christ,
that whether our lives are long or short
we shall have lived abundantly;
in Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Source A New Zealand Prayer Book – He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa quoted in A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:5-9 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
We human beings are a funny lot. Our reading continues yesterday’s theme of how Christians can take Jesus’ teachings and tweak it so that it misses the point. Today Paul the Apostle addresses the issue of people having their favourite leaders in church. As I understand it, Paul started up the church in Corinth from all new believers in Jesus Christ. But his calling was to plant new churches in new areas, so he eventually moved on after a couple of years.
Then Apollos moved into the area and pastored the church as it put down roots and became a more established community. But the sheer variety of personalities in that church pulled the church in all sorts of directions and some of those directions were against Christ’s teachings. Apollos did what he could, and Paul helped out with a few well-placed letters.
But with so many competing viewpoints, people developed favourites; some liked Paul’s theology and style better, others preferred Apollos’ style and theology better, and still others liked to go to their favourite, Peter.
Paul reveals to them what they have done. They have turned theology into a competitive team sport like football and turned on each other. Instead, Christ meant the variety to be complementary and necessary for the building up of a diverse group of people. As long as they shared the same foundation that is Jesus Christ as Lord, the variety is part of God’s grace to the church.
Do you see differences in belief and approach as a nuisance or a gift? When is a difference too much so that you can no longer share the same foundation of Jesus Christ is Lord? How would you know?
Most of our differences are part of God’s gift so that a greater variety of people can be communicated with. Who do you own as your co-workers that enrich by being different?