CORONA VIRUS PRAYER FOCUS The “Unnecessary” 40 Days: Week Two – 40 Days of Love!
CORONA VIRUS PRAYER FOCUS
The “Unnecessary” 40 Days: Week Two – 40 Days of Love!
He presented Himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking to them about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
True to expectation, protesters are pushing government and health officials to relax some of the restrictions that have been imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Political wrangling and posturing produce the kind of jockeying where each party hopes to come out with an advantage over the other. The atmosphere is ripe for tempers to boil over and hate to prevail. Such an environment is where the church can inject Christ-like love.
We have called the forty days between Christ’s resurrection and His ascension, the “unnecessary” forty days because it seems that when Christ rose from the dead there was no real reason why He should not have proceeded immediately, or at least momentarily, to the ascension. Last week’s prayer focus gave us some insight why these days really WERE necessary. They were necessary to round up the sheep who had scattered when the Shepherd had been struck (Matthew 25:31). In order to bring His straying disciples back into the sheepfold, Jesus went out of His way to meet various disciples in very personal ways to retrieve the “one” so that each “one” could join the “ninety and nine” (Luke 15:4-5). What motivated Jesus to do this? In a word it was “love.” The very thing that motivated Him to conduct this round up was the same thing that motivated Him to leave Heaven and Eternity and enter the world and temporality. It was love.
He who had loved His disciples to the end demonstrated that love by washing their feet in the Upper Room (John 13:1-14). In that same room He offered a prayer for them in which He prayed for the disciples and also for you and me (John 17:20) to know the love which He has enjoyed eternally with His Father (John17:24-26). He had given to them a new commandment that they were to love one another as He had loved them (John 13:34). Following His resurrection, how could He expect them to love one another as He had loved them if He did not extend that love to each deeply wounded disciple?
Time of Praise (Love the Lord your God with all your heart…)
One of the most powerful ways the Resurrected Jesus showed His love during these forty days was through the retention of His crucifixion wounds. These wounds were just the medicine that the deeply wounded disciples needed for healing.
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
The consistent response of love that the disciples made to the Risen Christ was worship.
· When the woman were returning from the tomb to inform the disciples of the resurrection, they encountered the Risen Lord and worshipped Him (Matthew 28:9).
· When the eleven saw Christ on the mountain of commissioning in Galilee, they worshipped Him (Matthew 28:18)
· When Jesus showed doubting Thomas His crucifixion wounds, the latter fell worshipfully at his feet exclaiming, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
· As Jesus was ascending to heaven, Luke 24:52 states: “And they worshipped Him…”
The Greek word for worship that Is used in these passages is proskuneo which literally means to prostrate oneself at another’s feet. In the New Testament it is used exclusively to identify the object of our prostration as divine. When the disciples saw the resurrected Christ they saw in His still visible wounds His human suffering on our behalf, but, they also recognized His divinity. This man Jesus was God and He was worthy of their adoration!
While we are confined mostly to our homes, we might have the mistaken idea that we can’t worship our God. Just this morning I talked to another pastor who lamented that live streams are okay but it’s just not the same as being together for worship. I have to agree to an extent but I also have enjoyed some intense times of worship during this confinement. There is beautiful, worshipful music available to us that is just a click or a dial turn away. There are inspirational messages online, on the radio, CD’s, DVD’s, etc. Most importantly, there is the precious Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Take time right now to think about how Christ was crucified for your sins. Praise Him for demonstrating His love to us in this way. Read Isaiah 53 slowly and meditatively noting all the ways Christ suffered for us. Now read Revelation 1:9-18 contemplating the majesty of that exalted, risen Lord who at the same time is described in heaven as a slain lamb! (Revelation 5:6).
Spend time in prayer praising God for such love! Sing a song of praise if you’re not afraid someone will think you are crazy… well, consider singing it even if they will!
Crown Him the Lord of love,
Behold His hands and side,
Whose wounds yet visible above,
In beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky
can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends with wondering eye
at mysteries so bright!
-- Matthew Bridges
Time of Reflection (… ss yourself)
For several decades, Christian counselors have been making much of the idea that we can’t love others properly if we don’t have a healthy love for ourselves. Although I think this concept has often been overused in this narcissistic age, I nevertheless agree that there is a nugget of proper application here that is indispensable. The way we view ourselves necessarily impacts how we view and treat others. It is at this point that a proper understanding of how God loves us can adjust our wrong attitudes about ourselves and enable us to better love others in ways that are pleasing to God.
During the forty post-resurrection days, no one had more inner conflict going on than Peter. When that rooster crowed following his threefold denial and then his eyes met the eyes of the very Lord he had denied, it most have felt like a lance was launched through Peter’s liver. No wonder he went out and wept bitterly (Luke 22:54-62). Prior to this he had fallen asleep three times when Jesus had asked him to stay awake with him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46).
Last week we noted how tenderly Jesus wooed Peter back into the fold by specifically having the angel instruct the women at the empty tomb to “Go tell the disciples and Peter…” (Mark 16:7). That special invitation for Peter’s sake was, however, only the scheduling of an appointment for radical heart surgery on the wounded fisherman.
While waiting for Jesus in Galilee, Peter decides to go fishing and is joined by the other disciples (John 21:1-14). The next thing you know, the whole scene of Luke 5:1-11 was playing out again. They had fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus, incognito, calls to them from shore to fling the nets to the other side of the boat. Voila, there’s a massive haul of fish, 153 to be exact! Peter sees himself for who he is when he recognizes Jesus for who He is. There follows a fish breakfast that Jesus prepared. It must have recalled the good times, shared In bygone days….
And then the surgery begins (John 21:15-17). Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” It is rather obvious that there is one question for each time Peter denied Him, and it was obviously a painful process for Simon Peter. Yet a closer examination of the passage reveals that Jesus was using the scalpel of His words to cut much deeper than is first noted.
Two Greek words are used in the text, phileo (brotherly love) and agape (unconditional love). In His first two questions Jesus asks Peter if he loves him with agape love. Peter, being embarrassed and knowing how lame he would sound to the other disciples, answers that Jesus knows he loves Him with brotherly love (phileo). The third time that Jesus asks the question, our Lord lowers the bar and uses phileo. No wonder Peter was grieved the Lord asked him this third question. It was not only a reminder of the three times he had denied Christ, but it was, in effect, Jesus agreeing that Peter did not love Him fully. To help clarify this, consider the following paraphrase of the conversation:
Jesus: Simon, son of Jonah, (I know you’re used to me calling you “Rock,” which is what Peter means, but we all know you haven’t been rock solid lately): Do you love me supremely?
Peter: Of course, Lord. You know I am very fond of you.
Jesus: Simon, do you love me supremely?
Peter: Yes, Lord, I am most fond of you, love ya like a brother man!
Jesus: So Simon, you’re really fond of me then?
Peter: Lord, you already know the answer and why I can’t claim to love you supremely. Yes, Lord, I truly am fond of you!
The surgery was complete and the brash, prideful, control freak Peter was on the road to healing. The surgery also included the formula for rehab. Each time Peter answered Jesus’ question, our Lord followed up with a statement about care for His flock. “Feed my lambs” … “Tend my sheep” … “Feed my sheep” … By forcing Peter to face his failures and disappointments Jesus was not only restoring him but reaffirming the role of leadership that Jesus still was calling him to fulfill.
I’m sensing that some of you are reaching critical mass in this pandemic isolation. For some of you high-energy people, it may be you’re just feeling bored. For others it’s a genuine longing for things you love that are being denied to you now? Still others are perhaps being forced to confront things about yourself that you can normally avoid dealing with because demands on your time drown out the disturbing voices within.
The first time Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, he also threw in the phrase “… more than these?” “Do you love me more than these?” Some suggest that the “these” are the fishing nets. Others suggest the “these” are the other disciples, in other words, “Do you love me more than these other guys do?” Either way, it forced Peter to deal with troubling thoughts.
Take some time to reflect on your “love life,” that is, your love for the Lord. Are there trouble spots within that need dealt with? Issues from the past? Stresses in the present? Strained relationships?
Ask the Lord to help you sort these things out. Doctors treating COVID-19 patients in some places have the difficult task of triage, deciding who is treatable, who can survive with a ventilator, who can survive without one, etc. Ask God to show you what you just need to leave with Him in prayer, what you may need to deal with that concerns another person, and what you may need some help with in terms of ongoing prayer or counseling. And, finally, ask God to get your heart into a condition which will enable you to help feed the other sheep.
Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare,
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer.
– William W. Walford
Time of Intercession (Love your neighbor…)
Slowly but surely the Risen Savior was turning the disciples from fear to faith, from inward fixation to outward focus. When Jesus challenged Peter to feed and care for the flock, He was helping to shift his thoughts away from reactive self-abnegation to proactive ministry to others. On the Galilean mountain of commissioning (Matthew 28:16-20) the eleven were finally in one place where Jesus had wanted to meet them. Although some of the disciples were still struggling with doubt, Jesus was preparing them for their future ministry which included “… teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…” Let us remember that the supreme commandment he had given them was to “love one another” and that fulfilling the great commission was predicated on that commandment. “By this shall all know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
Until the disciples were given the green light, they were commanded to wait. But waiting was no longer hiding in the Upper Room shuddering in fear. Now as they waited in the same Upper Room they did so with joy and love for one another that was expressed in prayer. The evidence that love was present is seen in that they were in one accord and the evidence that they were outwardly focused is seen in that their numbers were growing from the elven and a handful of others (Acts 1:14) to 120 which had to be gathering outside the Upper Room (Acts 1:15). The spirt of prayer continued as did proactive ministry (Acts 1:24).
The downtime caused by the pandemic need not, indeed cannot, must not diminish our love for one another. In fact, as the saying goes, absence should be making the heart grow fonder. What I’m hearing from more and more of you is how much you miss seeing one another. Your love for one another is increasing a you look forward to the day when we can assemble together again.
Prayer for one another is a wonderful way to show our love for one another in the Christian family, for our neighbors and even for our enemies. Prayer is a wonderful way to show love not only in and of itself, but, it opens the flow of the Holy Spirit to give us creative ideas and motivate us to put feet to those ideas as we reach out with love to our communities.
Take time now to use the prayer sheets that have been provided to guide your prayers of intercession. As you pray remember that prayer is a supreme act of love and that the efficacy of our prayers is contingent upon the love we have for one another. “… and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. And this is the commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has loved us” (I John 3:22-23).
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
Our comforts and our cares.
– John Fawcett
Jesus ascends … the Spirit descends (the “new normal”)
A number of references to “40 days” were mentioned in week one. Two that were not mentioned were Goliath’s intimidation of Saul’s army (I Samuel 17) and Elijah’s flight from Jezebel (I Kings 19). In both these cases, a hopeless situation was completely turned around into a triumph; because of David and his slingshot in the former and the Lord’s intervention in treating Elijah’s depression in the latter. The turnaround in the disciples during the 40 days of Jesus’ post resurrection appearances was no less miraculous.
Jesus used those forty days to get the disciples to where he needed them not only in terms of location, the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, but, more importantly, in a spiritual condition where they could receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost ten days after the ascension. This spiritual condition was characterized by love and this is evident in the fact that during those ten days they were found to be in “one accord” (Acts 1:14). The Greek word used to describe being in “one accord” is homothumadon. One source describes this word as creating an image that is “almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone.” (https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/homothumadon.html)
Rick Warren popularized the Biblical theme of 40 days as a spin off of his best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life. First there was “40 Days of Purpose,” then there was “40 Days of Community.” Perhaps the way you and I need to see this Corona virus pandemic confinement is as a time for “40 Days of Love.”
Last week I asked you to focus on Ascension Day, May 21 this year, as a prayer target and focal point to remind ourselves that “this too will pass” and things will eventually get back to “normal.” I also reminded you that, in terms of our spiritual journeys, our goal should not be a return to “normal” but rather to grow stronger spiritually, to look beyond our symbolic Ascension Day (when the pandemic restrictions are lifted) to our symbolic Pentecost (when God moves us to greater ministry and service).
The “new normal” is a term that is being bandied about. This may mean that we will be encouraged to wear masks in public, to have our temperature checked before we enter various venues and to continue to maintain social distancing for an indefinite period of time. My prayer for myself and you is that the “new normal” will be to love God more, to love people more, to serve people more and be more ready to give my life to the cause of Christ.
Last week, I asked you to seek God for one area of your spiritual life that He might be leading you to pursue once the restrictions are lifted; some ministry to support or serve in; some needy family to help; some unfinished business; some educational goal; some short term mission trip; some acquaintance that needs renewed; some business transaction that needs to happen; some health improvement that needs to be made… What one thing is God laying on your heart that might help propel you toward your “new normal” in your spiritual journey?
As you close your prayer time, ask God to give you a Pentecostal filling of the Holy Spirit that overflows with love for God and the love of God towards others, and that, in His time, propels you into a deeper and more productive walk with Him. To Him be all glory, honor and praise! Amen.
More love to Thee, O Christ,
More love to Thee!
Hear now the prayer I make
On bended knee;
This is my earnest plea:
More love, O Christ, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!
-Elizabeth P. Prentiss