Tuesday September 7, 2021

Today is Tuesday, September 7 and this week we are exploring how restoration is God’s deepest desire for us.

As I enter a time of prayer, I pause and become still. I calm my thoughts and silence my mind. I breathe deeply and slowly. Breathe, just breathe. I center myself upon the presence of God.

Pause and Pray

Come Holy Spirit, I have come here today to hear a word from you, God. Speak to my heart and my mind in the name of Jesus Christ. Speak words of life. Amen.

Today, I rejoice that I am God’s beloved child. I praise Him for what He has already done in my life with the ancient words of Psalm 40.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Psalm 40:1-3

Pause and Pray

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, everywhere he traveled he encountered people who were bound by various physical infirmities and ailments. In today’s passage from the gospel of Luke there is a woman who has been bound for eighteen long years. Jesus uses this opportunity to set her free despite the criticism he receives for healing someone on the Sabbath day. Jesus compares her decades long ailment to an ox or a donkey that has been tied up in its stall and prevented from receiving a drink of water.

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” Luke 13:10-16

I reflect upon three images and what they have in common. A woman is bound by a physical infirmity that left her crippled for eighteen long years. A helpless animal is left bound in the heat of the day unable to receive a drink of water. The psalmist is sucked down into the quicksand and unable to be freed from the mud and the mire. As I consider these various images of imprisonment and bondage, I consider the places in my life where I feel bound. What circumstances or emotions keep me stuck in the muck? What people or situations have left me bound and thirsty? What has the enemy done to me that has crippled my life and prevented me from living fully? Perhaps I have been bound for a brief time. Or perhaps I have been bound for a long time, like the woman who was bound for eighteen years.

Ask: Holy Spirit, please show me what binds me, cripples me, and keeps me stuck. Give me a vision of where I am trapped and how you want to unbind me and set me free.

Pause and Pray

Holy Lord Jesus, reveal where I am bound by a hardened heart, unhealthy relationships, sinful behaviors, addictions, attitudes, anger, fear, sadness, depression, grief or sorrow. Enable me to recognize whatever it is that binds me and give me a vision for what true freedom looks like. I read the words from Luke again and seek your direct message for me today.

Ask: What image, word, or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage?

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” Luke 13:10-16

I notice that Jesus did not blame the crippled woman for her ailment. It was not her fault that she was unable to straighten her back, lift her head high and look into the eyes of her companions. Similarly, Jesus did not blame the ox or donkey, whose uncompassionate owners left it tied just a few feet from refreshing, life-giving water. Jesus also does not expect the person trapped in quicksand to pull himself up from the “miry bog” on his own. They are bound and helpless.

I might also feel bound and helpless in my circumstance. That is why I need a savior. I need Jesus. Jesus came to “proclaim release to the captives” and to “let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18.) Whatever is binding me, God wants to set me free and Jesus has the power to set me free. God wants to release me from the infirmities of my life and remove my bonds. Quiet. Listen. I hear the words of Jesus speaking to me, “Woman (Man), you are set free from your infirmity.”

Pause and Pray

Holy Lord Jesus, thank you for having compassion on people like me who are trapped in places and feel stuck. Thank you for noticing my circumstances and recognizing that I need your healing power to release me and set me free. If the enemy has bound me, I have faith that you have the power to free me forever. Amen.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

As I leave this time of prayer and go throughout my day, I rejoice that in Christ I am set free, to live a life of freedom. Lord, show me those who are trapped and let me share the hope and encouragement of a relationship with Your Son my Savior, Jesus. Amen.