Moving and living in a culture that expresses being ‘woke’ as a negative virtue of liberalism, perhaps needs to be revisited.  Both in our scripture for today and Sunday’s scripture (Eph. 6:18) the admonition for God’s people is to “keep alert”, and to be awake.  If we’re going to be ‘woke’ or awake, perhaps we should be remaining alert to those evils that tend to destroy us spiritually or awake to the presence of God’s love present around us.  Whatever the circumstances, being awake (or woke) and alert to those spiritual dangers that compromise our relationship with God are of the highest priority.

• Where is there spiritual warfare happening in our world or culture that that seeks to deny or destroy God’s love in Jesus Christ that we need to be alert or ‘woke’ to?
• What can we do to become more faithful in our efforts to stay awake?

Todays Prayer

Loving Christ, give me the wisdom and ability to remain alert and awake to those times when my spirit is being challenged by the world we live in.

     Prayer (at times) seems like such a powerless form of protection.  Yet, prayer is actually one of the most powerful weapons to use when engaging in spiritual warfare.  Sometimes we find ourselves unable to speak because we can't find ‘the Word of God’ or we’re unable to find just the right words to say.  At times, life so overwhelms us that we find ourselves speechless.  It’s at those times of weakness that the spiritual armor of prayer is our most potent offense and defense.  The spirit is able to communicate with God in ways that we can’t in a language of groans too deep for words.  It’s at those times God is able to hear our petitions even though we can’t articulate them with our mouths.

• Have you ever found yourself needing to pray but were unable to find just the right words to say?
• Does it provide you with a sense of power knowing your prayer can break through the sound or silence barrier and be heard by God?

Todays Prayer

Holy God, teach me to rely more each day on prayer as a way to defend myself against those unseen spiritual enemies that seek to destroy me and my relationship with You.

     We have all (at times) underestimated the power of God’s word.  We sometimes believe that the more we say or the louder we say it will have the power to persuade people to believe and trust what we are saying.  While at times we are comforted by other’s acceptance of what we say, we have in those moments been less likely to influence people.  The danger that lies within is sometimes our willingness to distort God’s word to accomplish our purposes.  Satan did it to Jesus in the wilderness.  I’m convinced that we’re capable of doing it as well to achieve our purposes.  But God’s word brings a power of its own to separate the truth from the lie, and the will of our flesh from the power and will of God’s Word.

• Why is it so important to rely on God’s word rather than on the opinions, ideas, and reasonings’ of other people?
• What is the benefit of trusting in the word of God to guide every part of our lives?

Todays Prayer

Almighty God, grant me the wisdom to rely on Your Holy word to help me discern Your will above mine, and Your truth above all other proposed truths.

     Often today we find ourselves being led by what we see, or what we thought we saw, or what we hear, or thought we heard.  There has always been a disconnect between what someone said, what someone meant, what we heard and what we understood in our hearing.  That misunderstanding is what explains why two persons can see the same accident and supply two vastly different explanations of how it happened and often leads to unfair judgments.  Perhaps it’s because everyone tends to tell the story that points people in the direction of favoring their particular truth.  God tends to take a different view.  Instead of discerning base on hearing, God’s understanding is based on what is right for the poor and God will be faithful to that.

• Have you ever had to settle an argument or dispute based solely on what you heard, not fully capable of discerning who was being truthful?
• Did trying to resolve it by what was right, or fair bring any comfort to your spirit?

Todays Prayer

Gracious God, help me to strengthen my spirit through a process of discerning what is righteous and fair, giving me the wisdom to know the difference between Your will and my preferences.

     Suffering has never been one of the strongest human desires.  It’s not something that appears in the top 10 of our ‘be like Jesus’ to do list.  And if we’re honest, we never put ourselves in a position of having to physically suffer for what we believe in.  Our Scripture reminds us to “arm ourselves” mentally, or as is recorded in Philippians, “Have this same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus …”. One way to accomplish this is to always “having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness …”.  There is no greater joy than having suffered for righteousness’ sake.

• Under what circumstances might you be willing to suffer physically for righteousness’ sake?
• How might suffering for righteousness’ sake strengthen your Spiritual relationship with God?

Todays Prayer

Loving God, empower me to arm myself with the same mind and thinking of Jesus that if I suffer, I will know that I suffered for the righteousness’ sake to glorify You.

     We often live in a world where often physical and mental strength receive the highest praise.  And yet, not very often is the idea of becoming spiritually strengthened promoted.  Nevertheless, being spiritually strengthened is God’s recommended pursuit for those born of the Spirit of Christ.  It’s not for the purpose of saying we are Spiritually strong, but for the ultimate purpose of understanding the love of Christ in all of its power.  Knowing the full power of Christ and his love brings us to a deeper and more profound understanding of God.

• What do you believe are some spiritual exercises you could do to become spiritually strengthened in your understanding of Christ?
• How would you measure your spiritual strength following such an exercise?

Todays Prayer

Loving God, give me the wisdom to grow my spiritual muscles so that I may gain a greater understanding of You and Your love in Jesus Christ.

     American Express Card once ran an advertisement created to help people understand that when unpredictable financial situations arise American Express card can be relied on for that needed layer of financial security.  Their catch phrase was, “American Express – Never leave home without it.”  It is important to remember the necessity of carrying certain things with us when we leave home.  Because we’ve come to depend so heavily on our mobile device, leaving home without it is a cause for panic with most people.  If rain is in the forecast, an umbrella is a must for those who will be out in the environment.  Yet, I’m not sure that we give the same amount of consideration to our care where spiritual matters are concerned.  At times we take our faith for granted, accepting whatever truth is placed before us, sometimes going along with the crowd failing to discern what’s right from what’s popular.

                  Where our spiritual lives are concerned, God invites us to always be aware of the spiritual forces that represent a danger to us.  So, like the encouragement to “never leave home without our American Express Card” We are encouraged to always be prepared for the world by putting on the full armor of God and never leaving home without it.  The last thing God wants for us is to be hurt by unseen spiritual forces because we left home spiritually unprotected from those things that could compromise our relationship with God.

Todays Prayer

Almighty God, enable me to always be adorned in those spiritual safeguards You’ve provided for my safety so that I will always be able to stand strong against every evil scheme directed toward me.

     Lives are touched and changed when the story about God is conveyed with integrity. It doesn’t matter about your background or what one might be going through. It is the story we tell others about “this life” — a life lived in relationship with God that seems to be the way to do evangelism. The power of belief comes from having heard the story. And to hear the story, its important for those of us who believe to tell our story. It may be the most convincing story of all.

• What is the nature of your story about God and Christ and how you live in your relationship with God?
• Do you think your story might be important enough that if someone else heard it, they might be convinced about God?
• Why or why not?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer — Loving Christ, empower me to put aside whatever issues may prevent me from telling others the story of my life with You.

     Having a story to tell doesn’t necessarily lead others to believe.  It’s simply a reflection of the truth about our relationship with God.  There may be times when God’s activity in our lives simply goes beyond what others are able to believe.  And yet, what others are able or willing to believe shouldn’t interfere with our willingness or ability to tell our story.  Perhaps, it will be our story that might explain something that has occurred to them that they hadn’t thought about.  Who knows how God will work?

• Have you ever had an experience in your relationship with God that seemed too difficult to believe?
• If so, how does this affect your willingness to tell your story to others?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer — Holy and gracious God, empower me to continue telling others the story of my faith, regardless of how unusual my story might be to others.

     Telling our story or finding God’s reality and presence in the midst of story isn’t new.  God’s presence and activity in our lives and world has always been revealed in the stories of others.  It’s reflected in the stories of saints of the past. Today, the continuing message of God to others is reliant upon our story and what we’ve experienced in our relationship with God. Our story is the most contemporary story we can tell of God’s reality.

• What Bible story do you remember that has had an impact upon your relationship with God?
• How does the bible story you remember and the story of your relationship with God express the truth about God’s in today’s world?

Todays Prayer

Daily Prayer — Loving God, give me the courage and wisdom to continue to tell others of Your love through the experiences of the Bible and my story.

     The very beginning of our faith journey begins with the story.  And while it’s true that the story has been forthcoming for a long time, it was, in fact, John the Baptist who had the responsibility of being a verbal witness to the One who was coming into the world. John’s voice has been silent for a number of years, but not his story.  His story has become our story to tell about the One who has not only come, but who is now raised and lives forever.

• Do you ever reflect back on when your story of your relationship with Christ began?
• What was that experience like for you?
• How might you continue to tell others your story as a way to continue helping others to see God more clearly?

Todays Prayer

Daily Prayer — Almighty God, let me be faithful in my relationship to continue telling the story of how you came into my world that I might see you more clearly.

The story of Saul’s conversion is really a two part story. The first part tells of his encounter with Jesus Christ and being blinded. The second story is about Ananias sharing the story of God in ways that connect him to Saul. Two different people — the same story of redemption. It’s possible that God can allow two people to share the same story of God’s reality in our world. Two people sharing the same story is a powerful witness to the reality of God.

Today, think of those who shared the same story of God in different ways ( example: John the Baptist and Jesus, Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch, David and Jonathan).

• Is there someone who might share the same story with you?
• If so, how?

Todays Prayer

Daily Prayer — Gracious God, enable me to see the connecting relationship between my story and those of others as a witness to Your presence in my life.

     We often shy away from telling others about our relationship with God. It may be that we’re afraid that they won’t believe us. It may be that we’ll offend them with what we believe is true about God. Nevertheless, telling others our story is like sowing seeds of faith. We don’t know whether the seeds we plant will bring forth fruit. We don’t even know how we came to believe. What is true is that telling our story is one way to plant the seeds of faith in others. God will provide the increase.

· Have you ever shared your story of your relationship with God to anyone?

· How did they come to know and accept God because you shared your story?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer — Loving God, empower me, when the world around me is caving in, to rely on a faith that cannot be seen except through my trust in You.

    Jesus tells many stories about God through a form of storytelling called the parable.  His efforts were an attempt to get people to see the everyday reality of God all around them — to allow them to connect to the reality of God through their everyday lives.  Some people understood it.  Some people didn’t.  Perhaps because no one had endeavored to tell stories about God and their relationship with God in that way before.  Perhaps it was because they refused to see God in the context of everyday events and images.  And yet in all of these years, God hasn’t changed.  Nor has our way of communicating and connecting others to the realities of God.  Even in this twenty-first century context of experiencing the things about God, we endeavor to get people to see God and God’s truth through the telling of stories.  Yes, we use the bible story.  But the most powerful story we can tell is one in which we are the characters in the story we tell.  It’s our story of our relationship with God that’s most likely to attract others to God’s truth.

Todays Prayer

Gracious and eternal God, enable and empower me to tell my story of my relationship with You in such a way that others may see and understand You and Your Kingdom more clearly.

Judgment comes to us whether we want it or not.  Perhaps it has already come when we face and accept the truth about ourselves.  Truth has an ability to cast a light of revelation about who we really are and what we are really about.  Is there grace?  Absolutely, but grace without a look into the mirror of truth is a grace forced to cover a multitude of sins unrealized.  Allowing ourselves to look into the mirror of our own life is shows that God is responsible for any transformation.

Todays Prayer

Holy God, allow me to look without hesitation into the mirror of Your truth so that my life may witness to Your power to transform me through grace.

I would imagine that the greatest sadness we experience is the pain that comes our failure to please God, or to show God’s love to someone who needs it because we’ve misjudged them.  Perhaps the latter is the more painful because it usually means that we are now faced with the need to admit we were wrong.  And yet it is that truth — admitting that we were wrong that shows we were willing to stand in the mirror of our own failings and see a God of grace.

Todays Prayer

Loving Christ, help me to stand without fear in the mirror of Your truth so that I may receive grace when I fall short and offer grace to others like me.

Being judgmental has been the immovable stain on who we are as Christians and people in general.  It has led to us being labeled hypocrites, among other things.  The fact that the word of God forbids us to judge has not stopped us.  And yet, the truth is still there that for every finger we point at others, there are three of our own pointing back at us.  Perhaps a deeper look into the mirror of our own lives would invite us to seek the kind of spiritual transformation that the Holy Spirit desires to do in us.

Todays Prayer

Loving Christ, lead me away from the criticism of others and move me deeper into the transformational relationship of self-understanding found in You.

When we are in the position of having to view sin and crime, we understand sin or crime to be a very targeted assessment.  We see what others have done specifically and reason that we’ve never done anything as bad as the thing(s) they’ve done. We therefore judge that they must be guilty and we, more innocent than they.  Christ, however, sees sin and judgment, not by a particular sin, but by the violation of the much narrower spiritual code of love and forgiveness.  How the world would change if we saw others as God saw us in God’s mirror of grace.

Todays Prayer

Gracious and forgiving Christ, transform me so that I can only judge others if I, myself, can stand on my own record of righteousness.

There is something about looking in the mirror from time to time that is revealing.  If we’re honest with ourselves, we can see where we’ve changed.  We can also see where change has been slow.  We can see where we’ve grown.  We can also see where growth has been stunted.  Our inability to see clearly what needs to be changed is, in some ways, due to our lack of total self-understanding.  We don’t know why we do what we do?  Fortunately, God does.  And God will lead us into full transformation in God’s time and at God’s speed.

Todays Prayer

Loving God, empower me to see myself more clearly in Your mirror of truth so that I may come to a greater understanding of myself and others.

It’s not very often that we think of self-knowledge and understanding as critical to who we are.  It’s possible to get post graduate education in the world and never be compelled to examine who we really are.  But the discovery of who we are as children of God isn’t meant to be hidden.  It isn’t meant to be secret.  It would benefit the entire world if we could admit that we fall short of the glory of God.  If we don’t confess it, it will eventually become evident.

Todays Prayer

Gracious Christ, enable and encourage me to look into the mirror of Your truth and admit what soon becomes everyone’s reality — we all need Your grace.

What appears to be a disconnected model of philosophy for living actually translates into a meaningful model for the Christian life.  It is, perhaps, because when we seek God‘s wisdom, we are ourselves blind to what God is trying to reveal to us.  Or perhaps it’s because we, too, are prone to make errors in judgment without knowing another person’s story, hurting people and needing forgiveness when we meant no ill intent, or simply withholding a needed grace from someone because we’ve judged incorrectly.  If we could all see through the eyes of Christ, these human typos could be eliminated from the human landscape.  Life in the mirror is a unique invitation by God to enter into self-evaluation, but more importantly understanding of others.  We so easily see what’s wrong with others and know all too well how to fix them. However, fixing ourselves is a greater problem.  If we’d spend greater amounts of time trying to understand our weaknesses, we might have a deeper insight into another person’s weaknesses.  True change happens when we have a greater understanding of ourselves after looking at ourselves in the mirror.

Todays Prayer

Holy and gracious God, give me the courage to look in the mirror that reflects my life and see where change is needed.  Enable me to humbly submit to your transforming power so that I may be made anew in your image.