Your helplessness is your best prayer

"Listen, my friend! Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas. He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness." - Ole Hallesby

In our willingness to admit that we can't solve everything, we humbly offer ourselves to the mercy of God. This helplessness is not a defeat, but rather an offering to the Great Helper. 

My helplessness opens the door for God to do his best work. My stubbornness in trying to always be strong, sends to God the following message: "I don't need you!"

Matthew 9:36 - When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Psalm 10:12 - Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.

Thought: May our helplessness be a prayer to Jesus.

Living in grace

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An empty, open hand

"Faith is like an empty, open hand stretched out towards God, with nothing to offer and everything to receive" - John Calvin

In this week, when we remember the significant changes brought to the Church, through the Reformation, I thought I'd share a few inspiring words from John Calvin. Although he is not everyone's favourite, John did have a remarkable impact on the Church and Theology. Here are a few more of his insights:

"Humility is the beginning of true intelligence."

"People will never worship God with a sincere heart or be roused to fear and obey Him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how much they are indebted to His mercy."

Matthew 9:2 - Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Living in Grace

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The Crowds

Wherever Jesus went he was followed by a crowd of people. The more the news about him spread, the greater the crowds became. The Bible tells us how Jesus felt about these people:

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." - Matthew 9:36

I am sure it was impossible for Jesus to speak to each person individually, especially when the crowds were in their thousands. However, we notice that he treated them as if they were the only people around at that time - his words spoke to the hearts of each individual.

Sadly, it was the anger of another crowd of people that pushed Jesus to the cross. Jesus became their scapegoat, and they satisfied their anger by turning on an innocent man.

Thought: Holy Week is a moment when I reflect on my own propensity to appease others. To go along with the crowds. To avoid independent thinking and to turn my back on Jesus. What about you?

Living in Grace

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Nine

Jesus takes delight in calling the Rif-Raf to himself. Those on the fringes; the outcasts; the marginalised and the broken - each one of them had been cast aside by the religious people of his day, but Jesus saw these people with different eyes. He saw them as they could BECOME and not as they were in the moment. He had the compassion to look beyond the dirty clothes, dirty lives and dirty souls - Jesus knew that if they chose to come to His Father, they would be changed for ever.

"While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” - Matthew 9:10-13

Let us take Jesus' words to heart this week and contemplate what it means to 'desire mercy' and 'not sacrifice.'

Question: Who deserves MERCY in your community/family this week?

Living in Grace
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New ways

Very few people enjoy change. A handful of pioneers seek out change, but the majority of us take some time to embrace new ideas. And of course there are small group of us who dig our heels in and refuse to accept change at all. I am not sure which group you fall into, but it will usually be in 1 of these 3 groups.

As a Christian community we also confront change - sometimes not as quickly as we should, but we do encounter change. A quick glance at the book of Acts will show us that the early church dealt with changing situations on a weekly basis. I strongly feel that in order for the church to grow and to be Incarnational, we need to be dynamic. Our Message should never change, but the medium we use should be scrutinised appropriately.

·      “When we follow Christ, we must be prepared for new ways to live, new ways to look at people, and new ways to serve.” – Bible Commentary

    Jesus was a pioneer of change and look how he changed the world. 

¹⁶ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷ Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” - Matthew 9

Living in Grace
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