Good morning! I’m glad to be together on this Tuesday in the Pastor’s Workshop.
Flexibility is key to our faith. Sometimes when things don’t go the way you thought, you have to be open to the possibility God had something else in mind. That’s where I am today.
Yesterday I introduced a new July series on Reopening, thinking this step was in our immediate future. But for good reasons (the rise of the cases of Covid virus in Dallas county), that’s not to be the decision for now. I’ll be sending you and all our congregation a letter in the next few days going into more detail. Suffice it to say, we’ll shift that series until later and we’ll shift “gears” into something else.
As an alternative we’ll spend some time on the subject of Prayer. Prayer is very personal topic. It can be preached from many perspectives. We’ll be taking an “active approach” in this series. The question we’ll be exploring, “How can you get on board with what God would doing in your life through prayer?” The title of the series is ”Prepare with Prayer”.
This Sunday we start the series with a great Scripture from the Book of Psalms, which is sometimes called the “Prayer book of the Bible”. Our text is Psalm 118:19-24.
“Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
Since this is the first day of our creative process with this Scripture, we’ll begin with our usual practice. Immerse yourself in the text. As you read and re-read, write and re-write you’ll begin to see this passage holds lots of possibilities. What is God “opening” to you today? What are you “entering into”? What are you “giving thanks” for? What are you “building on”? What is God “making” in the midst of all that’s happening with you today? How will you “rejoice and be glad in it?”
Prayer time can be moments in your day when you ponder those questions. Prayer is powerful when you open your eyes and your mind to faith choices you make and God’s answers that come. This is a day the Lord is making!
I look forward to exploring this text with you. I’m excited for the blessings this Scripture and this series will hold for you.
In that hope, I’ll let you get to work. And I’ll see you again tomorrow in the Pastor’s Workshop.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank You for the gift of today. Thank You for the blessing of prayer. Thank You for how the day and prayer come together in ways You would go to work in our lives. By Your Spirit let this be a day You are making. We will rejoice and be glad in it! In the name of our “chief cornerstone”, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.