Welcome to Week 38 of A 2020 Prayer Life!
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our prayer lives.
Do not short-circuit the process by reading ahead. Take one day at a time.
Do not short-circuit the process by reading only. Spend time in prayer. And allow your prayer time to be guided by each day's reflections and instructions.
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our prayer lives.
Do not short-circuit the process by reading ahead. Take one day at a time.
Do not short-circuit the process by reading only. Spend time in prayer. And allow your prayer time to be guided by each day's reflections and instructions.
September 16
The fourth friend who visits Job -- the last of the four to speak -- includes this statement about God: "Behold, God is exalted in His power; Who is a teacher like Him?" (Job 36:22 NASB)
This week, we want to begin to explore "teacher" as a title for God -- one of His roles, a part of His identity, and an important layer in our relationship with Him.
In your prayer time just now, make that your title for God. Call Him "Teacher." Make that part of how you address Him during your prayer time this week. And as you do, talk with Him about these questions.
(1) What does "Teacher" reveal about You?
(2) What does "Teacher" reveal about my relationship with You?
(3) How could my calling you "Teacher" impact and influence my relationship with You?
This week, we want to begin to explore "teacher" as a title for God -- one of His roles, a part of His identity, and an important layer in our relationship with Him.
In your prayer time just now, make that your title for God. Call Him "Teacher." Make that part of how you address Him during your prayer time this week. And as you do, talk with Him about these questions.
(1) What does "Teacher" reveal about You?
(2) What does "Teacher" reveal about my relationship with You?
(3) How could my calling you "Teacher" impact and influence my relationship with You?
September 17
While the Lord is the ultimate Teacher, He is not the only teacher. On the contrary, most of us have had and experienced a great many human teachers. And so we have a sense, quite apart from God, of what it is to be a "teacher."
Borrowing from our human understanding, then, of what it is to be a "teacher," list some differences between a good teacher and a bad teacher. Be careful not to hurry through this exercise, lest you shortchange the insight available. Take two full minutes to contemplate and list the differences.
When you have finished the aforementioned list of differences, make a list specifically of attributes that would characterize a good teacher. Again, stop to invest a few minutes in thinking about and listing the attributes.
Now with those lists before you in prayer, tell the Lord what you have learned about Him as Teacher. Thank Him for what He has taught humanity. Thank Him for what He has taught you. Praise Him for the kind of Teacher He is.
Borrowing from our human understanding, then, of what it is to be a "teacher," list some differences between a good teacher and a bad teacher. Be careful not to hurry through this exercise, lest you shortchange the insight available. Take two full minutes to contemplate and list the differences.
When you have finished the aforementioned list of differences, make a list specifically of attributes that would characterize a good teacher. Again, stop to invest a few minutes in thinking about and listing the attributes.
Now with those lists before you in prayer, tell the Lord what you have learned about Him as Teacher. Thank Him for what He has taught humanity. Thank Him for what He has taught you. Praise Him for the kind of Teacher He is.
September 18
"Teacher" is another of those marvelously relational titles for God. By "relational" we mean that they are not stand-alone terms, but imply a relationship with someone else. And so, when we use any of the Bible's many relational titles for God, we automatically imply some counterpart titles for ourselves.
If I call Him "my Shepherd," then I am calling myself "His sheep." If I call Him "my Father," then I am calling myself "His child." And if I call Him, "my Teacher," then I am identifying myself as "His student" or "His disciple."
In your prayer time just now, make those titles how you identify yourself as you call the Lord "Teacher." And as you do, talk with Him about these questions.
(1) What do those counterpart titles reveal about me?
(2) What do those counterpart titles reveal about my relationship with You?
(3) How might those counterpart titles impact and influence my relationship with You?
If I call Him "my Shepherd," then I am calling myself "His sheep." If I call Him "my Father," then I am calling myself "His child." And if I call Him, "my Teacher," then I am identifying myself as "His student" or "His disciple."
In your prayer time just now, make those titles how you identify yourself as you call the Lord "Teacher." And as you do, talk with Him about these questions.
(1) What do those counterpart titles reveal about me?
(2) What do those counterpart titles reveal about my relationship with You?
(3) How might those counterpart titles impact and influence my relationship with You?
September 19
Every relationship comes with explicit and implicit expectations. And those expectations vary depending upon the persons involved -- i.e., you have higher expectations of a good boss than you do of a poor boss.
In strictly human terms for a moment, think about the relationship between a teacher and a student. And think, specifically, about that relationship if the teacher is a very good one. Within the context of that relationship, then, make a list of the things that the student might reasonably expect from a very good teacher.
With that list before you, now, talk to the Lord about what is revealed about Him and your relationship with Him.
How are you like a good teacher?
What has been my experience of that?
What may I reasonably expect of You as my Teacher?
In strictly human terms for a moment, think about the relationship between a teacher and a student. And think, specifically, about that relationship if the teacher is a very good one. Within the context of that relationship, then, make a list of the things that the student might reasonably expect from a very good teacher.
With that list before you, now, talk to the Lord about what is revealed about Him and your relationship with Him.
How are you like a good teacher?
What has been my experience of that?
What may I reasonably expect of You as my Teacher?
September 20
We have observed that most relationship titles for God carry with them counterpart titles for us. We have also given thought to the differences between better or poorer examples of each title, with a special focus on the attributes of the better examples. And so, just as we have pondered what characterizes a good teacher, we want also to consider what characterizes a good student.
Thinking again strictly in ordinary (i.e., not specifically spiritual) terms for the moment, make a list of the differences between a good student and a poor student.
Then make a list of what you would think of as the attributes of a good student.
Now, with those lists before you in prayer, talk with the Lord about the sort of student you are in your relationship with Him as Teacher.
To what extent do these attributes describe me?
Have there been times when I have been a better student for You?
Have there been times when I have been a poorer student for You?
What difference have those times made in my relationship with You?
What difference have those times made in what You have been able to do in my Life?
Thinking again strictly in ordinary (i.e., not specifically spiritual) terms for the moment, make a list of the differences between a good student and a poor student.
Then make a list of what you would think of as the attributes of a good student.
Now, with those lists before you in prayer, talk with the Lord about the sort of student you are in your relationship with Him as Teacher.
To what extent do these attributes describe me?
Have there been times when I have been a better student for You?
Have there been times when I have been a poorer student for You?
What difference have those times made in my relationship with You?
What difference have those times made in what You have been able to do in my Life?
September 21
The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk employs the title of "teacher" for the Lord in an indirect way. Condemning the idolatry of the people of his day, Habakkuk declared, "Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!' To a dumb stone, 'Arise!' And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all inside it." (Habakkuk 2:19 NASB)
The implications of Habakkuk's words are, first, that the people were treating their idols as their teachers; and, second, that that role rightly belongs to the Lord, instead.
In your prayer time, talk with the Lord about the people of Habakkuk's day.
How did they make an idol their teacher?
Why would they make an idol their teacher?
What does it mean to have some other teacher take Your place?
Do I inadvertently practice that same idolatry in my own way?
The implications of Habakkuk's words are, first, that the people were treating their idols as their teachers; and, second, that that role rightly belongs to the Lord, instead.
In your prayer time, talk with the Lord about the people of Habakkuk's day.
How did they make an idol their teacher?
Why would they make an idol their teacher?
What does it mean to have some other teacher take Your place?
Do I inadvertently practice that same idolatry in my own way?
September 22
As we conclude Week 38, we turn our attention to a line from an Annie Hawks poem:
"I need Thee every hour;
Teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee."
In your prayer time, make Annie Hawks' prayer your own. Tell Him of your need to be taught by Him. Tell Him of your need to know His will. And explore with Him the truth that you really do need Him, not occasionally, not from time to time, but "every hour."
"I need Thee every hour;
Teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee."
In your prayer time, make Annie Hawks' prayer your own. Tell Him of your need to be taught by Him. Tell Him of your need to know His will. And explore with Him the truth that you really do need Him, not occasionally, not from time to time, but "every hour."