Skip to main content

Let us pray!

I recently spoke on these simple words from St Paul:
Brothers, pray for us. (1 Thess 5:25 ESV)
There are three things that immediately struck me when I looked at this seemingly simple request.

First, this is Paul the Apostle requesting spiritual help from young new believers at Thessalonica. We must emulate Paul's humility.

Second, this is Paul the great Apostle acknowledging that he needs God to do all things. We must emulate Paul's helplessness.

Third, Paul recognises that all all believers have high level security clearance to enter the Holy of Holies, including young believers at Thessalonica. We are all in form and substance the new High Priests before our God. Quite extraordinary that a struggling believer is heard by God. What mystery!

There's a lot more in that simple verse. We can speak about the basis of the request ("brothers"); the direction of the prayer ("us"); the nature of the request itself ("pray" - what is that? is it a command pr request?); and, much more.

In short God's word is a treasure trove which we must use every moment to meditate on. Simple it may be do that all may understand - yet rich it certainly is so that all may profit.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Am Mother

I think it is true to say that the Netflix film I Am Mother is one the most disturbing movies I have watched for a long time. The film is set in a near future. Human life has been wiped out. An artificial intelligence (AI) called Mother is living inside a bunker where thousands of embroyos are stored. It selects an embryo and initiates a program to grow a baby within 24 hours. The AI then goes on to raise the child as its mother over the next few years.  After 16 years, the girl, who now goes by the name of Daughter (Clara Rugaard) is a teenager. She has never been outside because Mother has told her that the air is toxic. Her time is spend being home schooled in science and ethics so that she can become a perfect human being. The bond between Daughter and Mother is unusually strong. To our surprise there does not appear to be any mental or pyschological trauma of having a machine as her mother.  The strength of the bond between man and machine is tested when a nameless Woma...
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →

Images of God (Legislator)

We have already seen that God reveals himself  in the Bible as judge, prosecuting attorney and defence lawyer. The final image of God from the court of law is that of God as the legislator or law give. The most well known scripture on this is Isaiah 33:12, which declares “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us”. God is the legislator, the one who sets forth the law. This is not the place for a full treatment of this area. But suffice to say that God’s law is a revelation of God himself. And this law goes beyond “moral laws” set out in the Bible. His law includes his general standards and norms with respect to the cosmos as a whole. God has put in physical and spiritual laws for the functioning of the universe. These laws are for our good and for His great glory.
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →

I am what I am by Gloria Gaynor

Beverly Knight closed the opening ceremony of the Paralympics with what has been dubbed the signature tune of the Paralympics. I had no idea Ms Knight is still in the singing business. And clearly going by the raving reviews she will continue to be around. One media source says her performance was so electric that "there wasn’t a dry eye to be seen as she sang the lyrics to the song and people even watching at home felt the passion in her words" . The song was Gloria Gaynor's I am what I am . Clearly not written by Gloria Gaynor but certainly musically owned and popularized by her. It opens triumphantly: I am what I am / I am my own special creation / So come take a look / Give me the hook or the ovation / It's my world that I want to have a little pride in / My world and it's not a place I have to hide in / Life's not worth a damn till you can say I am what I am The words “I am what I am” echo over ten times in the song. A bold declaration that she ...
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →