Listen, Then Pray

Today is Monday, June 17, 2019.

Day 22,376

Seventeen days until July 4

Quote of the Day

“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.”
George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist and socialist, 1856-1950
The Quotations Page

I have two today.

“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.”
Christopher Morley, American author and journalist, 1890-1957
The Quotations Page

Word of the Day

flounce ~ to move with exaggerated jerky or bouncy motions; to go with sudden determination; flounder, struggle (Merriam-Webster)

Yesterday was a nice day. Our “scattered” worship time was really great. It may have even been better than the first one. We did, essentially, the same thing. We split into some smaller groups, then we read three passages of Scripture, and shared what stuck out to us. One thing that didn’t happen, at the request of the pastor, was that there was no “cross-talk,” which, in this context, means that no one critiqued what anyone else said. I like that. It’s challenging for some of us, but I like it. After the reading, we prayed the Lord’s Prayer together, then we prayed for each other. Then we went back into the larger group and took the Supper.

For Father’s Day lunch, we went to Whataburger. Yep. That wasn’t by my request. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, or even if I was hungry, yet. But we saw a Whataburger billboard on the way to Kroger to pick up our grocery order, and it looked good. So the advertising worked. After we got home, I received my gift from S (and C), which was a bag of theater-sized boxes of Hot Tamales, Lemonheads, and Red Hots. Oh, yeah!! Three of my favorites. Blood sugar, beware!! Oh, I forgot to mention . . . Saturday, R gave us bags of premium popcorn, and a copy of Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered, by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, the ladies who do the “My Favorite Murder” podcast. That was a combination Mother’s Day/Father’s Day gift. Because, you know, we were in Vegas on Mother’s Day. The rest of yesterday was pretty much spent doing what we normally do on Sunday afternoon. Nothing!! Well, something, but nothing even remotely productive, you know.

The Texas Rangers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 11-3. Not a good outing, but they won the series. Ariel Jurado took the loss. They are 38-33, still in second place in the AL West, still 9.5 games behind the Astros. They are now tied with Boston in the second wild card spot. Funny thing . . . everyone in the AL West, except for the Seattle Mariners, lost yesterday. The Rangers are back home today, playing the Cleveland Indians, who, I hear, are rather hot right now. Lance Lynn will take the mound for the Rangers.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-6, yesterday, behind a monster blast by Rafael Devers. Brandon Workman got the win in the game. The Red Sox are now 39-34, in third place in the AL East, 5.5 games out. They will be in Minnesota tonight, to take on the red hot Twins. Rick Porcello will take the mound for Boston.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS
All Scriptures are from the ESV unless otherwise noted

My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.
Psalm 34:1

Today I am grateful:
1. For the loving family that I have
2. For the music that fills my soul and flows out of my fingers and my mouth to praise God
3. That God has provided me with his word, which allows me to listen to him
4. That my prayers need to be in response to what I have heard from God
5. For the fellowship and support of brothers and sisters in Christ

“Almighty God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”
(The Book of Common Prayer)

I’m running short on time, this morning. But the thing that is speaking most to me is a segment from Eugene Peterson’s book, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer. In the chapter on “Story” (Chapter 4), there is a segment on how important it is to listen before answering. It is an established truth that most of us, when we are in conversation with someone else, spend more energy thinking about what we are going to say next than we do listening to what is being said to us. And I have to say that this is one of the reasons that our pastor insisted that we refrain from “cross-talk” in yesterday’s worship gathering. We need to spend more time listening. One interesting thing about Dallas Willard was that, when he was asked questions, there was always a long pause before the answer. He took time to listen, then he formulated a response.

The Psalms are response to God. In fact, Peterson points out that there are five sections of the Psalms, which correspond to the five books of what the Jews call the Torah. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The Psalms were shaped by “editors,” or, perhaps a better term would be “spiritual masters.” They are divided into five “books.”

Peterson speaks of what he calls “presumptuous prayer.” “Presumptuous prayer speaks to God without first listening to him.” Then he says, “If we pray without listening, we pray out of context.”

So, today, before I pray, I plan to try to listen first. That should always be my practice.

Father, help me to hear you before I speak to you. May my prayer always be in response to what I have heard from you, not simply blurting out words that specify a need.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:24-25

Grace and peace, friends.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!