Welcome to Wednesday! Great to be with you as we continue to develop our message and our series on Prayer.
Prayer is a spiritual practice like no other. It invites and enables us to enter and engage each day with the grace of God. It strengthens us to live our lives in and with the love of Jesus Christ.
The title for our new series is “Prepare with Prayer”. Our title for this particular message is “Save the Day!” The Scripture for Sunday is Psalm 118:19-24.
As you recall, on Tuesday we switched our series. So today we “catch-up” in our creative process. We’ll look at both the context of the text and the structure of the Scripture.
As I envision this Scripture, I picture a worshipper about to enter the Temple in Jerusalem. He or she is standing outside, looking at the massive doors of the Temple. They are getting ready to go in and worship God. A thought starts to run through their mind, or maybe a word forms on their lips, “Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will go through them, and I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous shall enter.” (vs. 19-20).
As they cross over the threshold and enter into the courtyards, they have a deeper sense of the presence of God. They are preparing to praise and pray to the Lord. “I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation.” (vs.21)
In praise and prayer they find an anchor and assurance. They can build their lives on God. Even though others may have turned away, God is their rock and their cornerstone. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (vs. 22-23).
And lastly, there comes a celebration. These are words of joy, rejoicing in blessing of this time in the Temple, “This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (vs.24)
As we follow the worshipper through their experience we see the sequence of thought and logic in the text. There is the Entrance, the Praise and Prayer, the Assurance of Building and the Rejoicing. The physical movement reflects a spiritual progression occurring in the heart of the worshipper.
You and I don’t live in Jerusalem. Your daily prayer is your “Time in the Temple”. Prayer is when you move into the presence of God. As we get ready for Sunday I’ll be incorporating this movement into my message: Enter, Build, Rejoice!
Even as we envision a worshipper entering the Temple, I miss entering the sanctuary and worshipping with you. There is a joy in joining together in the presence of our God. I’m comforted though by this faith, I believe as we pray we spiritually come into the presence of God and of one another. There is a unity, a communion of the saints, God makes possible as we spend time in prayer.
In the blessing of prayer and the possibility it holds to live each day to the fullest in the presence of God, I give thanks for this time with you today.
And I look forward to joining with you again tomorrow when we’ll see how the message all comes together in the Pastor’s Workshop.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for this day. It is a day You are making. Through prayer You invite us to enter into Your presence and build our lives on You as our cornerstone. For that great grace which is ours in Jesus Christ and for the ways we can live it out in faith, we give you thanks today and everyday through Jesus Christ, our Cornerstone and Lord. Amen