A Message to Pray On

Dear Lord; Good morning Father.  For the last day or so Lord, I’ve had a Bible verse on my heart.  It’s always been one of my favorites, but I’m feeling like I should be paying particular attention to it at the moment; That somehow it’s important that I keep it at the front of my mind.  The verse is from the Book of Joshua :

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Now, I’ll admit to having been discouraged about a number of things as of late so maybe that’s the key here, but I just feel there’s more to it than that.  I went back this morning and reread Joshua 1 in it’s entirety to put the verse in full context, and found another passage that set off bells in my head as well :

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:7 (NIV)

This immediately clicked with a blog posting I read last night on the website “A Mile in My Schu’s” about how we can get “Off Course” from our path to You.  I always find it fascinating how when You need to get a point across to me, I seem to see it repeated and led to in so many places.

Ok Father, I get that this verse is important for me at the moment.  It’s certainly a positive message, and one I try to remember when my life heads in uncertain directions.  However I still feel there’s more behind Your insistence to me to focus on this missive than I’m seeing right now.

For example, these verses both enforce the command to “Be strong and courageous”… Hmmm, have I been that lately?  If I’m honest with myself Lord, probably not so much as I should be.  There’s so much to contemplate and pray about here…

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your constant Presence and Guidance in my life.  Please give me the clarity and focus to serve Your Will as You intend me to, and to see through my own flaws so I can focus on Your Glory.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Better Than a Hallelujah

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!  As I was driving in to work this morning Lord, the song “Better Than a Hallelujah” by Amy Grant came on the radio.  While the inspiration of those wonderful lyrics settled over me, it started me thinking about some the other fantastic messages I’ve received through Christian Music as of late.  As yesterday’s discussion we had was about the disturbing direction some media has taken, I thought today we could focus on the positive message that these songs bring to us instead.

Let’s start with the chorus from “Better Than a Hallelujah” :

“We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah”

What a wonderful way to say that You love us for who we are, and when we honestly seek You that our plea comes through loud and clear.  It’s a beautiful song, and always warms my heart when I hear it.

Another one I’ve become extremely fond of, and actually posted the video of as a dedication to my wife on Facebook the other day, is “Dancing in the Minefields” sung by Andrew Peterson.  Towards the end of the song, the lyrics contain the following verse :

“Cause we bear the light of the son of man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadow lands
Till the shadows disappear
Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos baby
I can dance with you”

I love this!  What an amazingly powerful metaphor connecting marriage and the way that You love us.  It just makes me want to hold Shannon tightly when I hear it… What a wonderful message.

One more for the day Lord, and it comes from the song “Lead Me” as performed by Sanctus Real :

“To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can’t
Don’t want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

Father, lead me, ’cause I can’t do this alone”

We’ve talked about this song before Father, but this truly represents my hopes and prayers as a father and Your Child so well that it can’t be repeated enough.  I see this song as a prayer from my heart, and strive daily to be the man this verse describes.

There are many more examples as well Lord, but these are a few that touch me the most.  It’s comforting to know that while Your Word may not be on millions of TV screens this Sunday, the airwaves do still carry Your Message of Love to us each day.  Thank You for reminding us of Your Love and Aspirations for us through these talented artists.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Integrity in Broadcasting

Dear Lord; Good afternoon Father.  As You’re aware Lord, I’ve had something on my mind the last few days that’s been bothering me.  The funny thing is, my aggravations are regarding an event I’ve never really had much interest in; the Super Bowl.

I’ve never been a big football fan.  In fact, other than a couple of games I went to when I was in college, I’ve never even attended a live game… It just never really caught my interest.  This year really wasn’t much different, until I read a news story about a commercial that had been rejected by Fox Broadcasting Company for “delivering a religious message”.  As I’ve seen some pretty racy and scary Super Bowl commercials over the years, I went and sought out the “offending” segment :

Really??  This was deemed to contain too much religious doctrine??  Wow… I am so terribly sorry Father.  We’ve truly fallen from You as a society.  From a country that has “In God We Trust” on our currency, this truly makes no sense to me.  Fox certainly isn’t worried about offending viewers with the content on shows like “Family Guy” or Fox Sports’ Internet show “Cubed”, but they’re concerned that someone might take a reference to a Bible verse as an affront?

Fox issued a statement last week that stated :

“As a matter of company policy, Fox Broadcasting Company does not accept advertising from religious organizations for the purpose of advancing particular beliefs or practices. The Fixed Point Foundation was provided with our guidelines prior to their submission of storyboards for our review. Upon examination, the advertising submitted clearly delivers a religious message and as a result has been rejected.”

Ok, so the reason they’re airing commercials for the new movie “The Rite” is because it’s not from a religious organization?  Wow…  I’m completely at a loss on this one.

I realize that as a private company Fox has the right to choose what they do and don’t air on their network within FCC guidelines, but if a little of that “concern” about offending viewers were redirected to examining some of the programming and advertisements they do broadcast, I have a feeling the lineup would be far different than it is now.

Heavenly Father, thank You for letting me rant on about this today.  As always, You’re a wonderful listener.  Please fill our hearts and minds with Your Presence and Understanding, so that everyone can experience that Hope :

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Prayers on a Wintry Day

Dear Lord; Good morning Father.  Well, the storm came and went Lord and while those North of us got hit quite a bit harder, we were spared the bulk of it’s magnitude.  We got just enough snow to keep the kids home from school and for Shannon’s workplace to close for the day, but not too much for me to make it out to the office.  Thank You so much for that balance!

As you know Father, I’ve had quite a bit on my mind and in my heart as of late so I thought today I’d use our time together to cover some of those thoughts in prayer.

Heavenly Father, several days ago a friend of some friends of mine and his family suffered a horrendous house fire and lost all their earthly possessions.  While I don’t know them personally, several of my friends know him quite well and are working diligently to try and help them with getting the necessities his family requires.  Please provide Your Comfort and Healing to this troubled family Lord, and Bless those working to help them get back on their feet.

As we’ve discussed quite a lot recently Lord, many of Your Children are living with heightened levels of financial and occupational uncertainly in their lives.  Please send them Your Strength and Fortitude, and help them quiet the “noise” that fear and doubt places in their minds so that Your Voice can guide them down the proper path.

An old friend of my wife is fighting a battle with ALS, and has suffered one setback after another the last couple of months.  This is a truly terrible disease Father, and has caused him and his family significant pain and turmoil.  Please give them the Comfort and Peace that can only come from Your Presence Lord.  Help him see Your Light, and know Your Love in this difficult time.

As always Father, thank You so much for being the guiding light in my life and for listening to my prayers.  In Your Loving Hands I place all my hopes, dreams and burdens secure in the knowledge that Your Path is righteous and just.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Grant me the Serenity…

Dear Lord; Good morning Father!  First off, I want to send out a quick prayer of support for my wife Shannon.  She’s been dealing with a very difficult professional situation as of late that’s had her mind wrestling with her heart, and it’s taken a toll on her.  She’s an amazing lady Lord, with a giving and caring spirit that seems to know no end, but in some cases those wonderful qualities can make necessary decisions much more difficult.  Please send her Your Strength and Guidance to make the right decisions, and comfort her with the knowledge You’re with her.  Thank You.

Yesterday, I read a posting on one of my favorite Christian Blog Sites (Mothers On Mission) that brought to mind one of my favorite prayers.  It’s referred to as the Serenity Prayer and is attributed to a gentleman named Reinhold Niebuhr :

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

There’s that word Accept again!  You know Father, since You placed that focus in my heart it seems to just pop up all around me.  As You’re well aware, the plea “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…” is something I pray for on a regular basis.  The more my life seems to veer away from my control, the more I realize that much of what I struggle with never was mine to direct in the first place.

I’m getting there Lord… Thank You for bearing with me.  Amen.

~Phather Phil