Often when I pray with people it seems that they think God has "put them through tough times" deliberately in order to develop their character, help them grow, or whatever. Let's take a look at this concept through the lens of Joseph's story. If this concept is true, then God meant for Joseph to be sold into slavery in order to punish him for sin, or develop his character and turn him into a great leader, or even just to get him to Egypt from his homeland. First, if all God wanted was to get Joseph from Canaan to Egypt, God could have done that any number of ways without putting Joseph through turmoil and suffering. Second, Joseph's suffering helped to develop his character and abilities as a leader, but God is not the one who sold him into slavery, or falsely accused him, or put him in prison. People did that, not God. Third, clearly God was with Joseph throughout this time. Genesis 39:2-3 tell us that God was with Joseph in Potiphar's house and that Potiphar recognized this fact and that Joseph was a blessing to him. In Genesis 39:21, it clearly says that God was with Joseph in prison where he rose to a leadership position and he had favor with the warden. When Joseph went to work for Pharaoh, it became obvious that God had raised him to that position to save Egypt from the famine. God was continually blessing Joseph, not punishing him. Finally, Joseph himself recognized that what his brothers had done to him was not the work of God. "You meant evil against me; but God has used it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive," Joseph tells his brothers after they are reconciled (Genesis 50:20). The evil, the slavery, the imprisonment were not God's doing. As with Joseph, God is with us in our trials, with us in our suffering. For reflection: How has God been with me in my trials? For what problems am I blaming God? Let us pray. If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness
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Grandparents often joke with their children about getting the same kind of children they were, especially if they were rascals. "Just you wait," they say. "Your children will be just like you when you were growing up." Often that is true. Let's continue to look at Jacob and his life for a moment. Yes, Jacob showed favoritism among his sons and they were rivals for his affection. Where might he have experienced favoritism and sibling rivalry in his own life? Jacob had a twin brother named Esau. He and Esau were rivals for their parents' affection. The Scripture tells us that Esau was a hunter and a man of the open country while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. Their father Isaac loved Esau, and their mother Rebekah loved Jacob. So Jacob grew up with favoritism being shown by his parents and in rivalry with his brother Esau (Genesis 25:19 -27:45). As a father himself, Jacob showed favoritism among his sons and experienced rivalry among them too. His boys turned out just like him and his brother Esau. For reflection: What habits of my parents have I carried forward into my life? Are they good or bad habits? Let us pray. Father God, I thank you for my parents. I thank you for the love they showed to me and that they did their best to raise me to adulthood. I thank you for being my Father also, for keeping me under your wing even today. I ask you to help me forgive my parents for not being everything that I needed them to be. I repent of judging them for what they did and did not do. I forgive them for not being perfect parents. (It is important to forgive them as specifically as you can in this type of prayer.) I ask you, Father, to bring to my mind the other things for which I need to forgive my parents. (Pay attention to memories that come up in the next couple of weeks. As God brings these to mind, forgive your parents for them.) I repent of carrying on my parents' bad habits in my own life and with my children. Forgive me for the bad ways I have acted toward my children (again, be specific and pay attention to memories that arise in the next couple of weeks). Help me to see my children through your loving eyes, Father. You are the only perfect Father. Help me to be more like you. "O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people" begins the last of the O Antiphons. Emmanuel means "God is with us." God has been here with us in a way he never was in the days of Isaiah. God sent his son, Jesus, Emmanuel, to be with us physically, to show us the way, to be our light, our key, our Lord, to be the fulfillment of his promise to us. This last of the O Antiphons brings us to the end of our reflections for the Christmas season. Let's enjoy the music and artwork below for our reflection and prayer today. "O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart" begins the sixth O Antiphon. Since we looked at the kingship and Kingdom of God in November and December, we won't spend much time on it today except to say that he is not the usual type of earthly king. The Israelites expected a king in the mold of David who would wage wars against their enemies. Isaiah says, "Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a child is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever" (Isaiah 9:5-7). Our God is not a God of war, but a God of peace. His weapons, our weapons, are spiritual because people are not our enemy. Our enemy, God's enemy, is Satan and his works. When we complete the defeat of Satan, full peace will be restored in the Kingdom of God on earth. Our weapons are prayer, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, salvation, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 13). All of these destroy Satan's stronghold and deliver people into the Kingdom of God. For God wants everyone to be saved and to join him in his Kingdom. For Reflection: Have I slipped into the mindset of considering any person to be my enemy? Let us pray. Jesus, you are Messiah, King, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God and Prince of Peace. The government of justice and righteousness is on your shoulders. Change my mindset and give me eyes to see my true enemy. Let me be a warrior using your weapons to bring peace and justice. "O Radiant Dawn" is the next title for Christ in the O Antiphons. It is especially appropriate, for those of us in the northern hemisphere where Christmas comes during the darker time of winter, to think of Jesus as our bright light. He is the light of salvation that overcomes the darkness of sin and death. He is the light for our path that leads us in his ways. He is the light of a new day, a new beginning, a new era. The star of Bethlehem signified his arrival and darkness overtook the earth at his death. But now he is the light of the resurrection which will never fade. He is the perpetual, radiant dawn. The Scripture citation today is from Isaiah 9:1, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." For Reflection: What dark thoughts am I hiding from God? It is time to bring them to the Light. Let us pray. O Wisdom, O Lord, O Flower of Jesse, O Key of David, O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice, come, shine on me and in my life today. O Lord is the second of the O Antiphons, a traditional prayer of many centuries duration. Of course, "Lord" or "Adonai" is used throughout the Old Testament and is not in any way unique to Isaiah. But the reference used in Isaiah in conjunction with this antiphon is 33:22. "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King; it is he who will save us." Like much of Isaiah the verse looks both backward and forward. God gave the law on Mount Sinai; he was King of Israel; he saved them from Pharaoh and slavery in the Exodus and continued to save them from their enemies. Looking forward from Isaiah, Jesus gave a fuller interpretation of the law (Matthew 5); he is King of Kings and will return to judge; he saved us from slavery to our sins. For reflection: Let us, again, use the verse from Isaiah as a starting point of praise to our God. Let us pray. O Lord, you are our just judge and righteous lawgiver, you are our King, you are the one who saves us. In the Catholic Church we have a tradition called the "O Antiphons". Although these are usually prayed during the time before Christmas, they provide an excellent way to reflect and pray during the Christmas season. The antiphons give seven titles for the Savior and relate to seven prophecies in Isaiah. They are O Wisdom, O Lord, O Flower of Jesse's Stem, O Key of David, O Radiant Dawn, O King of All the Nations, O Emmanuel. Wisdom, of course, is a common title for God in the Old Testament. In Isaiah we find it among the gifts of the Spirit in 11:2-3. "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord - and he will delight in the fear of the Lord." For Reflection: Many people tell me they have trouble praising God. To praise someone is to compliment them on their good traits or good deeds. So let's use just these two verses from Isaiah to praise God. Let us pray. Jesus, you are wise and understanding, you are powerful and have all knowledge, you give sound counsel and you delight in the fear of God. Dear Friends, This Christmas season I am remembering in prayer all those who read the blog every week. I appreciate your faithfulness in tuning in. Perhaps in the coming year you will post more comments. They are always welcome. In fact, I wouldn't mind if the posts became more of a conversation. I encourage you to keep knocking on Jesus' door through prayer and see what happens. His desire is for us to be whole and healthy, and he wants everyone to be saved. There is more than enough manna to go around. There are three parts to Manna Prayer: the email requests, the phone calls, and the blog and other prayer resources on the website. People who email Manna Prayer hail from around the world – from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates, from Kenya to Kuala Lumpur and from Pakistan to the Philippines. Who calls Manna Prayer? People who know me call; and people who don't know me call. Some who call, call only once for a specific need, others call regularly for prayer for long-term illnesses, ongoing situations, or for a job. Thanks to our merciful Father, people are being healed, set free and having their lives changed. Surprisingly to me, the blog is the most popular part of Manna Prayer. It is available on both Facebook (www.facebook.com/MannaPrayerMinistries) and Twitter (@alicenoe1). There have been over 10,000 hits on the blog. If you have only experienced Manna Prayer through one portal, I invite you to explore the entire website. Also, there is now a donation option on the home page through PayPal. This blog post comes with a prayer for you. May God bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you all the days of your life. May your relationship with Jesus grow stronger every day. He is our Peace. Alice www.mannaprayerministries.com Isaiah's vision of the Kingdom of God is one of beauty, of lushness, of perfection. It is the return of the Garden of Eden, the return of a time and place before sin. It is a return to original holiness. Not just people, but all creation will give praise to the King. "The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy" (Isaiah 35:1-2). As it says in Romans, "creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay" (Romans 8:21). All of creation will be set free from the effects of sin and death. For reflection: What causes me to praise God today? Let us pray. Lord God, you are King of the Universe, King of Heaven, King of Kings, King of Creation. All creation gives you praise. This time of advent, of waiting, of expectation, of praying for the Kingdom to come is not one of passivity. No, we are actively preparing for the arrival of the Kingdom of God on earth, for the second coming of Christ for all. We do this because he wants all to be saved and none to be lost (1 Timothy 2:4). This theme of Kingdom expectation (which has gone on much longer in this blog than I expected) can be traced throughout the Scriptures as we have seen over the last several weeks. It permeates the Old Testament. It threads its way through Jesus and his teachings and prayers. It turns up consistently in Paul's letters. This expectation, this hope, leads us not to sit back and watch, but to go forth and do. All will not be saved if each of us does not do our part. Some are preachers; some are preparers, some are pray-ers (Ephesians 4:11-12). We each have our assignment. The Kingdom of God depends on us. God is waiting too. For reflection: How well have I been fulfilling my assignment from God? Let us pray. Come, Holy Spirit. Fill my heart. Set it on fire for you. Renew me. Empower me every day to do what you expect. Renew the face of the earth. |
AliceI started this website and blog on May 1, 2012. I am a Catholic who has been in ministry for many years. I first developed what I would call a close relationship with Jesus in the early 1970s. Ever since then I have been praying with people for healing and other needs. It is because I have seen so many of these prayers answered that I am so bold as to offer to pray for you individually through this website and phone line. Archives
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