Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

I assure you, when you did it to
one of the least of these my
brothers and sisters, you were
doing it for me!
Matthew 25:40 NLT

Reflection:

Loving the Least

I remember a poster on a dorm-room
wall during my days in college. The
poster was a picture of a homeless
man lying in a dirty gutter holding a
bottle in a paper bag by his side.
The inscription on the bottom was
a quote from Mother Teresa. It read,
"You love Jesus only as much as
the person you love the least."

For all we don't understand about
the life of Jesus and the true nature
of God, there is one truth that he
made completely clear. The Christian
faith is about service and humility. It's
about helping those who can't help
themselves. It's about loving others
more than we love ourselves—even
the most unlovable among us.

What is the sign of true followers?
Is it the amount of knowledge that
we have? Is it the money we give
to missions? the degrees we've earned?
the number of people we've preached
to? the hours we've spent worshiping
in church? the books we've read or written?

According to Jesus, the sign of the
saved is their love for the least.

It is said that when Francis of Assisi
left his wealth behind to seek God, he
stripped naked and walked out of the
city. The first person he encountered
on his journey was a leper on the side
of the road. He first passed him, then
turned back. He embraced the leper
in his arms before continuing his
journey. A few steps down the road
he turned and saw that the leper
was gone. Until his dying day,
Francis of Assisi was convinced that
the leper was Jesus. Even if he was
wrong, he was right.

adapted from Embracing Eternity by
Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and
Frank M. Martin,, Tyndale House
Publishers (2004), p 3

Prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred . . . let me sow love
Where there is injury . . . pardon
Where there is doubt . . . faith
Where there is despair . . . hope
Where there is darkness . . . light
Where there is sadness . . . joy
O, Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled . . . as to console
To be understood . . . as to understand,
To be loved . . . as to love
For it is in giving . . . that we receive,
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned,
It is in dying . . . that we are born to eternal life.

"But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer".
Luke 5:16, NLT    

Reflection:

I remember when I was a kid there
was one event each week, that I was
not allowed to miss. That was going
to church.  This was a must, with my
mother, I had no choice.  It was a
Swedish Mission Church and one
thing about that church was that those
old swedes loved to pray.  During prayer
meeting, I would sit next to my mother
and listen to these long, extremely long
public prayers.  In my young mind I was
absolutely sure that they were reading
from scripts.
If you read the Gospels you will notice
that Jesus did the exact opposite.
Jesus often withdrew to quiet, solitary
places to pray.  Jesus Christ was
constantly surrounded by people who
wanted to hear Him preach or to have
their diseases healed.  He needed to
get away and pray to  His Father.  We
need to get away and to pray to our
father in heaven.  Remember strength
comes from God, and we can only be
strengthened by spending time with him.

Let us Pray

(From God's Daily Promises)

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to the Most High.
It is good to proclaim your unfailing
love in the morning, your faithfulness
in the evening, accompanied by the
harp and lute and the harmony of
the lyre. You thrill me, Lord, with
all you have done for me! I sing for
joy because of what you have done.
Psalm 92:1-4 NLT

Giving thanks morning and night

What a way to start the day! The
verses in Psalm 92 represent one
of the first prayers on the priests'
lips on the Sabbath day: "You thrill
me, Lord, with all you have done
for me!"

What if before you read your
morning paper, before you head out
the door, before you start the
countless tasks you have to do
for each day, you determine that
you're going to start your day with
praise for how God has "thrilled" you?
Right now, you have the chance to
start afresh. A new day is before you.
Why not start things off right with a
regimen of praise instead of the old
routine? In prayer today, proclaim his
unfailing love, and tonight, before going
to bed, praise him again for his
faithfulness.

Adapted from The One Year Book of
Bible Prayers (Tyndale House) entry
for May 15