Tuesday March 8, 2022

Today is Tuesday, March 8 and this week we are exploring what the Bible says about the nature of God.

As I begin this time of prayer, I pause and become still. I breathe slowly and deeply and focus myself entirely upon the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pause and Pray

Holy and Loving God, I worship you in the stillness of this new day with a grateful heart. I stand in awe and wonder of your glory and goodness. Speak to me through the power of your Holy Spirit and help me learn to hear your voice above all others. Amen.

I worship the Lord and praise his name with the words of Psalm 96.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. Psalm 96:7-9

Pause and Pray

Jacob, the trickster, deceives his father and impersonates his brother Esau to steal his birthright and rightful blessing. When his brother finds out, he is furious and wants to kill Jacob. His mother sends him away to her family until Esau cools off. Jacob flees for his life. He heads out of town and travels to his mother’s family home miles away. He stops for the night at a lonely, desolate place when it becomes dark. He lays his head upon a stone and has a dream, a vision from God. Jacob is not looking for a conversation with God, God’s voice pursues him. He is certainly not worthy of his encounter, he is a liar and a cheat. He has no remorse for his misdeeds, he is only selfishly concerned for his life and safety. God initiates the encounter despite Jacob’s evident unworthiness. God’s word enters into Jacob’s life, he and his future are forever changed.

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” Genesis 28:10-16

Jacob’s vision of angels ascending and descending verifies that there is a constant correspondence going on between heaven and earth, between God and humanity. As God interrupted Jacob’s journey, God interrupts my journey. God comes when I least expect or anticipate him to arrive. God intervenes in my story, intrudes into my existence, pursues a relationship with me and shows up in unexpected places. God is trying to reach me. He has a word of life to share with me, a plan for my future, guidance for my situation, encouragement for my circumstances. God has a love letter to read to me and a promise to fulfill. God has blessed me and I am blessed to be a blessing to others. Like Jacob, God promises to go with me and watch over me wherever I go. He will not leave me but will fulfill his promises for me. Perhaps I will come to recognize that, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

Ask: How can I grow in my awareness of God’s presence in my life? How can I learn to “tune in” to God’s communication channel?

Pause and Pray

Holy Lord God, thank you for the promise of your presence on my journey of life. I trust you to watch over me wherever I go and look after me whatever I do. I am grateful for your promise to not leave me, but bring me home to you. Awaken me from my spiritual slumber and impart a greater awareness of your presence. Help me discover the “bethel” places in my life where I can hear your voice. I read the words from Genesis again and listen for the message you have for me.

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” Genesis 28:10-16

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

I am learning to listen to God’s word with the ear of my heart, not just reading the text for information but meditating deeply upon its message. I repeat the word or phrase that stands out to me and record it in my journal. I consider my “stopping places” throughout my day and into the evening. My altars in the world. My respite moments on a busy day. The pillow upon which I lay my head and fall asleep. What are the promises God may want to speak over my life from the rising to the setting of the sun? The Lord says all the people of the earth will be blessed through Jacob’s offspring one of whom is Jesus the Messiah, the world’s (and my) greatest blessing. How might God want to bless me today in my circumstances? I hear the promise spoken directly to me – I am with you, I will watch over you wherever you go, I will bring you back to this land, I will not leave you, and I will fulfill my promises.

Pause and Pray

Blessed Lord my God, I invite your communication. As the angels ascend and descend upon the stairway to heaven, come descend upon the stairway of my heart. Bring your divine words, reveal your messages, speak your correction, whisper your guidance, shout your truth into the ears of my deafened soul. Surely you are in this place and I was not aware of it. Amen.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4a

As I leave this time of prayer, God goes with me, speaking words of love and peace into my life so I can speak goodness into the lives of others.

Amen.