Get Your “Prayer” Game On!

Get Your “Prayer” Game On!

“And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God..”  Luke 6:12

Over 50 times in the Bible, sports are referenced and the analogy generally translates greatly into our spiritual walk.  Paul talks about “running the race” and “finishing the course.”   It is true in football too.  From Thursday (yesterday) to Monday, we are giving quick prayers that can remind us of our faith and how we can fulfill His call for our lives.  Consider praying these simple prayers as we look at some famous terms used:

Crossbar: The bar at the base of the field goal which holds the uprights.

Prayer:  Lord, in Exodus 26:28, the Bible says, “The center crossbar is to extend from end to end at the middle of the frames.”  Thank you for the ultimate crossbar on which you hung to remove my guilt and shame.  I thank you for your faithfulness.

Cut Back:  A sudden change in direction.

Prayer:  I ask your forgiveness for areas I need cleansed.  David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.”  Wash me clean and let me experience your grace and joy.

Defense:  The unit that is responsible for keeping the opposition out of their end zone.

Prayer:  Help me to stand as a “watchman at the gate” who would keep my home, personal life and family clean from the invasion of the media and television that threatens to contaminate our lives. Give me wisdom to know what pleases you and what is not of You.

Eligible Receiver: One of several designated offensive players on the field that is authorized to catch a pass, as opposed to those offensive players (generally linemen) who cannot.

Prayer:  I am grateful that you have made me eligible to receive your grace. 

1 Peter says, “Once I did not have mercy but now I do.”  Thank you for your salvation, restoration, and hope of eternity.

Encroachment:  A foul in which a defender makes contact with a member of the offense before the snap.

Prayer:  Forgive me for an offensive word or an unkind action that I showed to my spouse, child, neighbor or co-worker.  Release me and help me to take a step toward rectifying the situation.

Face Mask: The bars attached to a football helmet that covers a player’s face.

Prayer:  I want to be real rather than fake today. Please remove any “facemask” that I hold.  InLuke 12: 1,2, you said, “You can't hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the maskwill slip and your true face will be known.” (Message).  I open my heart and life to you, to expose the false, for true living.  

Forward Progress:  The location to which a ball carrier's forward momentum carries him before he is tackled.

Prayer:  Lord, while I know I’m not what I want to be, I thank you that I’m not what I used to be.  Though I sometimes takes two steps back, I’m grateful for the three steps forward that you are allowing me to take in my relationship with you.  Thank you for giving me strength this year in many areas including: (name an area).

Foul:  Any violation of a playing rule.

Prayer:  Lord, you share in Ephesians 4:29 that we need to “Watch the way you talk. Let nothingfoul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word, a gift.”  Forgive me when I’m tempted to see what I can get “away with” rather than seeing what I can get “away from.”  Cleanse me and give me wisdom to know those things that are from you and those things that are not, including dirty jokes, negative comments, or filling my mind with things that bring harm.

From crossbars to fouls, God is willing to strengthen us, change us, and use us for His purposes.  Now you are ready to get your “Game On’ for whatever comes your way!

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)    What does the “Ultimate Crossbar” mean to you today?

2)    How has the cross taken your “minuses” and turned them into  “pluses?”

Copyright 2015- Terry Risser

Are You Ready For Some “Power Prayers”?

Are You Ready For Some “Power Prayers”?

“Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.” Psalm 86:6

As football season is in full stride, I wanted to pass along a few terms I wrote down a few years ago to describe how often the game can translate into faith.  Over the next few days, I will use football terms to prompt several ways to pray as you go through you day.  See if they don’t apply to your life:

Audible: Changing a play at the line of scrimmage by calling out a pre-determined set of signals.

Prayer: Lord, if you reveal the audibles you want for my life and make a change in my agenda and plans today, I am open to hear what you want to speak.  Help me to see and hear what you are saying, the people that you want me to see or help, the encounters you desire that I have.  May I be like Jesus who was always ready to do your will in helping and healing those around Him.

Blindside: The side opposite the direction a player is facing.

Prayer: Jesus, the enemy is out to blindside me.  His “schemes” and plans are to catch me off guard through temptations and traps that stop me in your game plan.  Help me to see what he is doing and remind me that “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”

Carry: The act of running with the ball. In a game's box score, a runner's rushing attempts are listed as carries.

Prayer: Ask your opponent how you can pray for them. “Jesus, the Bible says to “carry one another’s burdens.”  Strengthen (name) with your power today. 

Comeback: When a team is behind at the end of a game and scores a touchdown or field goal to move ahead.  Also refers to a pass route in which the receiver breaks back toward the line of scrimmage, usually to the outside.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for the “Ultimate Comeback” that you made through your death and resurrection.  You shared how you came not to be served but to serve and give your life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45) While your main plan was to die for my sins, your greater plan was to rise again as I can now find victory over sin, death, hell, bondages, and any challenge of life.  Though I may feel a setback at different times, you have made comebacks possible for me.

Completion: A forward pass that is caught by an eligible receiver.

Prayer: I thank you for Philippians 1:6 which says, “He who began a good work in you will be able to complete it.” Your completion rating is perfect in that you have worked in my life to handle situations of the past and you are going to help me complete the race you have called me to run.

Count: The numbers that a quarterback shouts loudly while waiting for the ball to be snapped.

Prayer: Lord, I will “count” my blessings as you have given me: 1) A relationship with you.  2) A relationship with family.  3) A relationship with wonderful friends.

Thank you for these and so many more provisions in my life.

Coverage: Offensive or Defensive strategy calls to assign an individual or group of players to particular opponents for play progress.

Prayer: Lord, as we read in Psalm 32:1, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”  Thank you that you have covered and removed my sins: past, present and future.  What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Conversion: When a team that just scored a touchdown kicks a field goal for an extra point or starts a play at the opponent’s 2-yard line (3-yard line in college) and crosses the goal line to earn 2 points; when successful, it looks just like a touchdown; introduced to the NFL in 1994.

Prayer:  Lord, there are many of my friends and family who do not have a personal relationship with you.   I pray that they would convert to you.  Just like the Apostle Paul who was once not for you and came to know you, I ask that you would give me an open door this week to minister to them by showing your grace, your words and your life in me. I desire to see many “conversions” to you.

Down:  A play, starting when the ball is put into play and ending when the ball is ruled dead. Basically, a down is one play.

Prayer:  When I am down, I ask that you would give me the ability to turn my focus to you and “encourage myself in you.” (1 Samuel 30:6) I am going to put my hope in God no matter what comes my way.

Audibles, blindside, carries, comeback, completions, count, coverage, conversion and downs.  As many understandably focus their attention toward their favorite teams this weekend, take time to say these prayers to move us to the greatest power available to us…the power of prayer.

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)   Which of these prayers most describes you today?

2)   Who is one person you might direct your prayer toward?

Copyright 2015- Terry Risser

The Breakthrough of Prayer

The Breakthrough of Prayer

“But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42

John Sanford, in his book,The Kingdom Within, tells about a well at a farm house where his family spent their summers. Though the well had been a good one, they discontinued using it when a community water system was installed. Some years later, someone decided to draw some water from the old well. Much to their surprise they discovered that it was dry. That seemed puzzling. It had always provided them with plenty of water in the past. Why after years of disuse should it be dry? The answer they discovered was that the well had been fed by hundreds of tiny rivulets. When water was drawn out of the well, it was refilled by water flowing through those tiny openings. After years of disuse, however, the tiny rivulets had become stopped up. The well had dried up not because there was no water, but because the well had fallen into disuse.

Obviously there is a parallel here to the devotional life of a Christian. When we fall out of the habit of daily communication with God, there is a clogging of the channel ways, as it were. The distressing thing is that this clogging of the spiritual arteries is happening to more and more Christians. We are not the praying people we once were and the effect of that neglect can be seen in our homes, in our community and in our church.

One of President Reagan’s favorite stories is the one about the minister’s son who was taken out camping one day. His companion warned him not to stray too far from the campfire because the woods were full of wild beasts of all kinds. The young boy had every intention, really, of following that advice but inevitably he was drawn by curiosity and wandered farther and farther from the fire. Suddenly, he found himself face to face with a very large and powerful looking bear. He saw no means of escape, and seeing the bear advance rather menacingly towards him, the minister’s son did what he had been taught to do. He knelt down to pray for deliverance. He closed his eyes tightly, but opened them a few moments later and was delighted to see that the bear was also kneeling in prayer right in front of him. He said, "Oh, bear, isn’t  this wonderful! Here we are with such different view points and such different lives and such different perceptions of life and we’re both praying to the same Lord."  The bear said, "Son, I don t know about you, but I’m saying grace."

I know what many of you are thinking: Where can I find the time? Many of you sympathize with poor Martha frantically hurrying about the house, serving the food, making certain that all of the guests are comfortable, while her sister Mary sits spellbound at the feet of Jesus. "Lord, don’t you care," says Martha to Jesus, "That my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to come help me.  Jesus’ response was not to downplay the importance of what she was doing, but to up-play the importance of prayer.
I want to list a few things that suggest the importance of prayer in our lives. Nothing in our lives is quite so vital.

1.   First, prayer is the most potent power source available to us:

Evelyn Christenson shares how living life without prayer to vacuuming a whole room and not having the vacuum cleaner plugged into the wall socket. She writes, "We work, we pull, we struggle, we plan until we are utterly exhausted, but we forget to plug into the source of our power." You will remember that Martin Luther said that when his day was packed with appointments and other duties, he found it necessary to spend an extra hour in prayer. It is when our lives are a whirlwind of activity that we most need to take time out to commune with God. "Ten minutes spent in Christ’s presence every day," wrote Henry Drummond, one of the world’s premiere scholars and intellects, "Aye, two minutes, will make the whole day different." Bishop Wescott put it this way, "Prayer is opening up the floodgates to the mighty ocean of God."
That is true of all of us. The really tired part is on the inside. That is the first reason why we must take time to pray. Prayer is the most potent power source available to us.

2.   Second, prayer helps us keep our priorities in order:

Can you see how helpful it might be to you, to spend a few moments each day alone with God, going over the day’s demands and asking the question, "What is it that I need to do today that is really of utmost importance?"  Do you see the practical value in what I am saying?  I hope so. I encounter so many people who are so fatigued and so frustrated, and the problem is right here.  We have neglected our power source and our priorities are out of order.

3.  Thirdly, prayer gives us an inner strength to deal with challenges:

When we pray, we develop the internal core that supersedes and outlasts the outer pressures that come our way.

You and I must take time to pray. Prayer is the key that unlocks the awesome power of God in our lives. Prayer helps us put our priorities in order. Prayer makes it possible for us to face up to our problems, to persevere until that day when God gives us victory over them. You don’t have time to pray? Think again. As busy as our lives are nowadays, who can afford not to pray?

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)   How does prayer make you feel?

2)   Do you agree or disagree that it results in the three areas mentioned?

Copyright 2015- Terry Risser

In The Name Of Love

In The Name Of Love

Born in 1960, few knew that Paul David Hewson, today recognized by his stage name “Bono Vox,” would reach the international acclaim he has gained with his group U2. Born of a Protestant father and a Catholic mother, there was something about his upbringing that would later mold his music and message.  Since the 1980’s, U2 has remained in the forefront of both the charts and popularity around the world.

While a case could be made to promote some favorites of bygone eras including the Mills Brothers, the Drifters, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Creed, Matchbox 20, or any others you might mention; like few others, U2 has used its prowess to intervene in famines in Africa to endorse world peace.

Greater still, Bono not only takes an unconventional approach on subjects, he carries an unusual message as to how people’s lives are changed.

In his book Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assaya, the lead singer and songwriter for the rock group makes an explicit confession of faith.  While many may argue nuances and minutia, there is a grasp of truth.

“It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma.”

Since saying that the idea of karma is central to all religions, Bono explained, “What you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics - in physical laws - every action is met by an equal or an opposite one.  It’s clear to me that karma is at the very heart of the universe.

I’m absolutely sure of it.  And yet, along comes this idea called grace to upend all that ‘as you reap, so you will sow’ stuff.  Grace defies reason and logic.  Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff…

It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for grace.  I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins upon the cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.”

To whatever degree you appreciate today’s music and bands, you have to value Bono’s definition of grace that supersedes the world’s idea of karma.  Over 200 years ago, another music legend, John Newton, shared the timeless idea of God’s “Amazing Grace” that is available to each person.

Then almost 2000 years ago, Paul wrote, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works; so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2;8,9 (NIV).  That’s great news…from the sacrifice of One Man who came in the name of love.

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)   What impacts you about this definition of grace?

2)   What mistakes have you made that God wants to offer fresh grace for today?

Copyright 2015- Terry Risser