West Park Baptist Church

Prayer

By

Daily Dose of Faith (6/12/2020) – Humble Minds

Today’s blog prayer is written by Tony Sims, husband and dad, church member and deacon and servant leader on the West Park Prayer Leadership Team.

1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. (ESV)

Heavenly Father,

What an awesome Father you are to your children. You are a Father of light in whom there is no darkness at all.  You declare us as your children to participate in your kingdom.  Lord, we understand that we are a fallen people and do not represent you as we should in this dark world.  The choices and stances we often take bring shame to you and how we affect our brothers and sisters in Christ.  You are clear in your Word that we are to humble ourselves under your mighty hand that we may be exalted by you at the proper time.

Our nation, government, media, social networking, and families are suffering from a lack of humbling ourselves before you.  We fail miserably in listening to others who are hurting during a time when the “author of confusion,” our enemy, is at work.  Father, we choose to listen to the many voices around us in the world and refuse to even attempt to look through the lens of others as to how our actions impact your kingdom which includes our brothers and sisters in Christ who you dearly love.  You boldly asked us not to be conformed to this world but be transformed through your Word.  We humbly ask that you help us to see how you value love in all our relationships.  The only way that we as brothers and sisters in Christ can show the world that we are your image bearers is that we show love that is active and not passive.

Thank you, Father, how you demonstrated love through Jesus during His ministry on earth.  Your attention was on the marginalized, the rejects of society, the oppressed, those who had no voices and the disqualified.  Your Word says that you came to set at liberty those who are oppressed.  Give us sensitive ears and humble minds and hearts to see how our choices and fallenness impact your intentions for your kingdom.  We understand that suffering precedes glory as it has been demonstrated by the prophets of old, the apostles, many saints before us and, most importantly, by Jesus who suffered for us and now is glorified. Help us to be poor in spirit, mourners, meek, willing to comfort others, peacemakers, merciful, pure in heart, and to hunger and thirst for righteousness in this world.

We need you to please give our church leaders your Word that will spark a spirit of humility in the behavior of your people.  Help us to understand it is not about us, but it is all about you.  Father, help us to remember that this world is not our home and we are only pilgrims passing through.  While we are here, help us to follow your example by having a humble, open mind towards you and especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Help us to love you with all our heart, soul, and mind and love our neighbors as ourselves in fulfillment of your command.  Forgive us for not loving our neighbors and for not taking on the mind of Christ so that your name will be glorified throughout this world.  Now, Father, we commit our hearts and all our thoughts to pleasing you because of what you did for all of us through your Son at Calvary, by humbly taking on our sins to make us right with you.  It is in Jesus’ precious name we ask these things.  Amen

By

Daily Dose of Faith (6/11/2020) – Tender Hearts

1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. (ESV)

A Prayer for Today:

Most Holy Father, 

You shower us daily with love and care from the abundance of your tender heart. Even as we pursue Peter’s command, we cannot begin by our actions to scratch the surface of Your infinite tenderness. You did not leave us to wallow in our lost state, for in tenderness of heart You sent Jesus for our great need of forgiveness. We believe You change not, so Your tenderness will minister to us still today. We need You, Father. 

Jesus, our Lord, You understand the world of men. You who lived among us know our tendency toward closed hearts… hard hearts. Where You constantly met the needs of others who came to You for help, we tend to close ourselves off from others, not wanting the inconvenience of feeling their pain. We are guilty of making excuses so that we feel less guilty when we leave the suffering of our fellow man unaddressed. Forgive us for our hard-hearted apathy. Yet in the wonder of grace we receive Your forgiveness and cleansing for even this sin! You are so faithful to us in Your tender love. 

Holy Spirit, please help us to live the good life that Peter describes in this verse. It is the good life of following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus: He who loves with such tender-hearted love. Help us to see the needs of those around us and be softened. Help us to pray for those on our screens protesting right now, seeing their needs for which they cry and praying for their greater need of Christ their only Hope. Help us to see our law enforcement officers fulfilling their duty with the tender heart of Christ. Their service in these days is crucial, and we pray You would grant our believing brothers and sisters in the police force and military with tender hearts for those in front of them. 

God, grant that we as a church would have tender hearts toward one another. Make us like You.

In the name of Jesus, Amen. 

By

Daily Dose of Faith (6/10/2020) – Sympathy and Brotherly Love

Today’s prayer comes from Jeff Wiggs, husband, father, member of West Park and servant leader on the West Park Prayer Leadership Team.

1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. (ESV)

As we are spending time with Peter in this passage from his letters to the church, I am struck by how powerful his advice to them is. The church was growing and was persecuted. There were many things vying for their attention and their allegiance. They needed to find their true identity in one place: the person of Jesus Christ.

This doesn’t lessen the other parts of who we are, it prioritizes who we are. We are aliens and foreigners to this world. We are His people, His nation, His priesthood to this world. We must have a unity in our minds around Christ. The outflow of this is sympathy and brotherly love because we see people for who they are and ourselves for the redeemed sinners we are.
This is an encouragement to me and gives me hope in the beauty of the community of Christ.
 

Let us pray together…

Our Loving and Faithful Heavenly Father, You are just and mighty. You are a strong tower that we run to for shelter in the midst of the storms of this life. How it is storming right now. We have brothers and sisters who are sick and need comfort; who are sin-sick and need a word from You; who feel mute because no one seems to listen to their pleas for justice, for a change; who are desperate for a reprieve from the isolation and separation that is their lot right now. I pray that your Spirit would help us see those around us, sheltering in the base of your tower, weeping at the foot of the cross, and that we would sympathize with them. I pray that  we would remember what it is like to be there and have compassion on those we see hurting. 

You have sent us as your royal ambassadors, messengers of the King to this world we are traveling in. You had a plan for us before this world began. You knew we would turn away but you set it in motion because you loved us still. This plan involves a great mission, to show your kingdom to those who would hear and to bring the message of your good news to the poor and hungry of this world. We bring a message of freedom to the captives and a promise of hope to those blinded by this sin-sick world. Help our words to pour out from our brotherly love. Help us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to judge those around us. To be sympathetic to the frustrations and needs of our brothers and sisters. We are one race, one people, you are making of us one nation. Let the differences we see be beautiful in our eyes and the love that you have for us filter our vision of each other.

Knit us together in unity of mind that we may be effective in this mission you have before us. Teach us to repent: to turn from our sins and to follow hard after you. Teach us to forgive: to not hold a grudge, but to offer a meal, an ear, and a helping hand to all who are in need. Let us fight for the dignity of our brothers and sisters and to surrender our pride as we look to represent you on this earth. We pray this in the name of the one who unites us, who loves us, and who sent us. We pray this in Jesus’ name.

And so let it be. Amen.

By

Daily Dose of Faith (6/9/2020) – Unity of Mind

1 Peter 3:8–12

[8] Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. [9] Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. [10] For

“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
[11] let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
[12] For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (ESV)

 

I wish I had answers that could solve all the turmoil I see around the country right now. The kind of answers that would quickly end the suffering, stamp down the pride, and see people of all walks of life prosper and thrive.

But if we want to see change happen in society, it must first happen within the Household of God.

Peter wrote back in the 1st Century a message that is still needed today because the counsel is God’s timeless Word. While I can’t come up with quick answers to change people’s hearts, God can. Today through Friday let’s turn to 1 Peter 3:8-12, seeking God’s plan for how we should respond at all times to our fellow believers in the church and towards those outside the church. Join me in prayer today for unity of mind (3:8).

Most Holy Father,

We turn to You because You are the Truth. You have established Your Word and it stands firm. No matter the course of human history, no matter how buffeted we are on this earth, no matter how shifting the tides of culture may be, You change not. We read in the Bible that Your steadfast love never ceases, therefore we are not consumed. How great is Your faithfulness!

Yet, Father, we are confronted by images on our screens, devices and newsfeeds of the turmoil in our country. How far we have fallen from the unified goal of being Your image-bearers. Instead we have succumbed to the darker strains of our fallen natures, preferring one over another, giving priority to some and not others, placing distinctions on the human race and, even worse, within the church. Forgive us, Father.

Lord Jesus, You always walked through life looking for who You could encourage, who You could listen to whether that be children, women, or the worst sinners you could find. You did all so You could rescue those trapped and fallen far from God’s glory. You took on full humanity so You could identify with us all. You did this so You could truly be our substitute to endure the wrath of God. We confess again our trust in You. Of all potential saviors in this world, You alone are exalted as worthy and able to save. We need You, Jesus.

Holy Spirit, help us to have unity of mind. Help us to remember who we are as the image-bearers of God and as the redeemed family of Jesus. Help us to prioritize the unity that we have in Christ and apply it in our discussions with one another. Help us to respond to those who differ with the love and patience of Christ. Please do this to glorify our Father God and to produce good in our lives. May You be pleased to do this work in us. And may You be pleased to transform us so that our unity would shine out brightly to a dark world, showing them the glory and majesty of King Jesus.

In His name we pray, amen.

 

By

Abide: Patience

Some things are worth waiting for.

The original chicken sandwich and waffle fries after waiting in a long drive thru

Seeing your child’s face after 9 months of pregnancy

Opening presents on Christmas morning

Patience is required to really enjoy the current time even while we wait for something better to come. For over two months now we’ve been separated from one another in the church, worshipping online yet knowing it’s not at all an ideal substitute. Our wait is almost done, and I’m thankful that we’ll get back together soon, for that’s what God wills and what we need.

Yet right now there’s a different kind of patience that is needed and will always be needed no matter what. It’s the patience that is in the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.

Why do we need this? Let me illustrate with an… illustration. Recently a friend of mine pastoring a church in another state put up this chart on social media:

As you can see, that pastor is dealing with a frenzy of varied opinions coming at him, or at least he’s speaking with a bit of hyperbole about what is really going on. I can identify with him to a degree and not even as a fellow pastor. Just looking around social media these days I see each of those sentiments in one form or another. I know when we do get back together as a church, we will be dealing with competing ideas that come at us and in some ways will be so different from our ideas as to be offensive. Just because we’ll all be together again doesn’t mean we’ll all be united in how we’re thinking and feeling.

When those opinions ring out, think about the need for patience. Patience is the Spirit-produced quality in the life of the believer that enables him or her to bear difficulties without lashing out at others. What seems impossible to personally cook up is totally possible by the power of the Spirit within each of us who believe. What better power than the Spirit’s power do we need displayed right now? I can’t think of any.

Consider the source of patience in this passage today:

Colossians 1:11-12 – May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

One, we already know patience to bear difficulties without lashing out comes only from God. How often have you snapped at someone when pressure was heavy on you? Likewise when did you refrain from snapping when you otherwise would have? The Lord does that restraining by His Spirit.

But another thing to note: we must pursue this patience by seeking the Lord. Paul prays that the Colossian believers would be patient in trials, endure hard times. Please seek the Lord in prayer, asking Him to strengthen you with all power, according to his glorious might to be patient with other people in the days ahead.

I also can’t escape that patience is connected to joy. You can see that in Paul’s prayer – please strengthen these believers for patience with joy. I recall from this that the Fruit of the Spirit is singular in Galatians 5:22. It’s not that the Spirit has all kinds of fruits that appear. The fact that it’s one fruit means that as we grow in patience we will likewise grow in joy and love and peace, etc.

Friends, before we come back together in the new season of transitioning back to Sunday morning worship, please prepare to be patient with one another.

  • Think of one another as precious to God, fellow heirs of Christ, qualified by God to share that inheritance.
  • Think of another’s needs before your own. When someone is particularly passionate about a point, don’t take time to argue how they may be wrong. Seek to understand what drives them to that point. Ask what they’ve been going through. Seek to know them better so you can love them well.

Ultimately we won’t be done with patience anytime soon. We wait for that time in eternity future when we will be with the Lord, when all these hard days are behind us. That is a time, for sure, worth waiting for.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control