It seems that the having a meal together has a spiritual quality to it.  It was central to the feeding of the five thousand.  It has become central to every Holy Communion meal.  It was central to Jesus’ time with the disciples following his resurrection (Luke 21:12; 24:30-35).  It has become central to the life and the tradition of fellowship in families, in the church, and at friendly outings.  For many of us, the idea of eating a meal or breaking bread with someone cannot be done unless someone first gives thanks for the meal about to be eaten.  Whether it’s done with heads bowed around the table, or standing within a group, the spirits of everyone present are lifted up in some way while they look up to God as the receiver of their praise and thanksgiving.

         Looking up to God doesn’t always have to be a physical looking up, lifting our heads and eyes to the skies.  It can be done through the act of thanksgiving.  How else can one give thanks to God without looking up in praise and adoration and giving thanks for providing something as simple as sustenance for the time at hand.  Each time we offer thanksgiving to God for being our provider, or asking God to provide for us, we are essentially looking up to God.  Sometimes it happens spiritually.  Sometimes it happens physically.  But it happens each time we go to God with thanksgiving.  When we lift up God, we cannot help but to look up to God.

• What other ways can you think of by which you are looking up to God, whether in giving thanks, breaking bread, or in some other way?
• How important is it to you to look up to God in any of your life’s circumstances?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious and loving God, whether my eyes are cast down to the ground in humility, or open looking toward the skies, I look up to You. I am humbled and looking up spiritually to praise You regardless of my physical posture.

         He looked up to heaven and prayed.  It sounds like a simple thing to do.  Often when we pray, our heads are bowed.  It in many ways says we are humbling ourselves before God.  It’s been a long‑held tradition of our church, in some ways following the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9 ff.).  And yet we see Jesus looking up to heaven to offer his prayers.  It’s not an unusual stance.  It is often how religious leaders of his day prayed.  They looked up to the heavens where they believed God lived and reigned.  And it doesn’t say that he followed any of today’s instructions — “eyes closed, heads bowed”.  It’s as if as he lifted up his eyes to heaven, he wanted God to look into his eyes to see his compassion — to hear in his sigh the depth of his concern — and to hear in his voice the depth of his faith in his God to deliver.

         Perhaps there is a lesson here for those of us who bow our heads and close our eyes without looking up to heaven.  It’s one thing to be humble to be justified.  It’s another thing to “by prayer and supplication [to ask for earnestly and humbly] with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)  Perhaps looking up to heaven isn’t a display of arrogance but of sincerity.  Perhaps it is why those of us with faith are instructed to, “16 … approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16).  

         Is it possible that miracles happen — not because they exceed what we want to happen — but because we earnestly look up to heaven and trust that God will be responsive to our supplications.  Yes, Jesus was special, but the same God that heard the prayers of Christ hears our prayers.  Perhaps our bowed heads with closed eyes is more of a hindrance to the miracles of God than if we lift up our eyes to heaven and allow the sighing of our Spirits speak to the God who hears our groans too deep for words, and answers in kind — just a thought.

• What difference do you feel your prayers might have if you looked up to heaven to pray as Jesus did?
• How does the idea of looking up to heaven to pray affect your feelings of humility?
• What would create more confidence in your willingness to look up to heaven when you prayed?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, encourage me to pray to you in a way that miracles can happen because of them whether I humbly bow or courageously look to heaven.

         This connection between faith and action must have been a core principle of James as he — perhaps — watched Jesus do many of the miracles.  Seeing people in need and sending them away empty was not Jesus’ style.  He showed himself to be a man of faith and action as he sought to bring his ministry of healing to those who were in need.  He was able to merge his compassion into acts of mercy that met both the spiritual and physical needs of those seeking his mercy.  And so, the question James asks is simple.  “How can we say we have compassion when — given the opportunity to show compassion — our actions don’t line up with our actions of faith?”  And, conversely, “How can we say we have faith when — given an opportunity to display our faith through compassion — we shut the door on our compassion, merely paying lip service to our faith?”

         There’s a story about a little girl who was sent on an errand by her mother.  She took too long in coming back.  Her mother demanded an explanation when she finally did return.  The little girl explained that while on the way she met a friend who was crying because she had broken her doll.  Her mother said, “Oh.  So, you stopped to help her fix her doll?”  “Oh, no!”, she said.  “I stopped to help her cry.”

         Merging our faith with action takes many forms.  It would seem that looking up to God would invite us to consider what it is we’re praying for, for whom we are praying, and how to make our faith an authentic expression of God’s compassion in the world.  And maybe looking up to God invites us to give due consideration regarding how we match our faith to our compassion so that others may be healed through their contact with the grace of God through us.  Looking up to God cam have an amazing impact on who we are, even from time to time enabling God to accomplish miracles through us.

• How might looking up to God when facing opportunities to connect your faith to your works impact the level of your compassion?
• What might you be praying for when you look up to God in situations to combine your faith with action?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, help me to consider those who are truly in need. As I look up to you in prayer, help me to merge my faith into an action that provides what someone else truly needs.