I’m blessed, challenged, and encouraged by the writing ministry of Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes, a retired United Methodist pastor. I’m grateful for permission to pass along many of them on my blog.
Consider subscribing to his blog, www.unfoldinglight.net.When you do, his prayers will appear in your inbox Monday through Friday. – Lisa <><
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. —Hebrews 11.1
Hope is not optimism, not wishing, not a bet on the future, but trust in what is already present, unseen. I hope in the sunrise because the earth is already turning. My faith is not that God will intervene and make things better or fix problems; my faith is that love is at work. I trust in hidden love even as injustice runs loose. I believe in our Oneness even as war and racism wound us. I know our Belovedness even as we assault each other. Even though we damage the earth, though the violent rage and the rich oppress the poor, still this world is born of Goodness, and grace flourishes even in bad places, and Love holds us in aching but untiring arms. Even when the way is not well lit, I live in hope.
People who speak of faith make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. — Hebrews 11.14
Beloved Dark Mystery, among the places I have gone, the places I have stayed, the places I long to see— I am seeking a homeland. A place of deep belonging, of rest and safety, where my story is part of the story, my life is part of the beauty. Whether a native in my native land or an immigrant still rooting or a ceaseless nomad, I know my true home, my original soil, is you. I am at home in you. You are my womb, my earth, my people, my root. You, Love that births all being, you are my homeland, and I am always coming from you and traversing you and returning to you. Here is my gratitude, my peace, and my belonging. Thank you. Amen.
Prayers Based on Matthew 23:1-12 Jesus Denounces the Scribes and Pharisees
Prayer: The Humble Way
Jesus, you are lowly, vulnerable
You choose to be with us in our weakness
You win the world with your love, sacrifice, and humility
Your power is made perfect in
our weakness
our transparency
our vulnerability
our surrender
our honesty with our dusty condition
Free us from posing as experts with all the answers
Free us from burdening others with mortal mandates
Free us from chasing human favor and status
Let us know nothing with certainty other than the eternal truth
that you are the Messiah, the Suffering Servant, the Liberating King,
who was crucified and raised on behalf of all creation
We receive you and your saving
We receive you and your teaching
We receive you and your humilty
Hallelujah! Glory to your Holy Name. Amen.
Prayer: My Heart is Not Proud
Jesus, Savior, my heart is not proud
I trust you and need you and honor your blessed presence
Cleanse and nurture my soul
that I may rejoice in what delights you,
see as you see, love as you love
Cleanse and nurture my soul
so my thoughts are as yours,
so I am quick to respond to your bidding
Cleanse and nurture my soul
so that I may leave this world more as you intend it to be
I place myself honestly and humbly into your care,
for you know me truly and love me completely
Amen
Prayer: A Holy Centering
Eternal and Beautiful God,
The One who births us and names us
Grant us perspective
A holy centering
of truth, humility, and our belovedness
Not too high that we fall away from you
our need of you
our need of others
Not too low that we fail to trust
to reach out for you
to reach out with you
In you, with you, for you we are
humble and powerful
unique and alike
common and regal
priceless and dust
Grant us perspective, Merciful One
A holy centering
So we may persevere in faith
in hope
in following
in becoming
Amen
______________
For the next few months, I’ll be posting prayers to accompany Bishop Ken Carter’s Bible Study on Facebook. Each week, Bishop Carter will bring in a guest to speak about the passage. We’ll be walking through the last chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.
You’re most welcome to read along and to join this Facebook discussion group. You don’t need to be a Methodist or attend a Methodist church. All are welcome and all means all.
May the grace of God’s word, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <
How do I stay resilient in the midst of so much violence, evil, corruption, need, and pain? Is there a way to stay awake to the needs around me without becoming overwhelmed and despairing?
I wish I could’ve asked these questions in such a thoughtful way, but I couldn’t. I was crying and had lost count of the number of tissues I’d used.
My spiritual director listened with great compassion and then asked a simple question. “Do you practice lament?”
I didn’t. I didn’t know much about it. I learned and started that same day. It’s become an essential spiritual practice for me as I stay on the front lines with so many in need.
What is Lament?
“Lament is not despair. It is not whining. It is not a cry into a void. Lament is a cry directed to God. It is the cry of those who see the truth of the world’s deep wounds and the cost of seeking peace. It is the prayer of those who are deeply disturbed by the way things are.” – Emmanuel M. Katongole and Chris Rice, Reconciling All Things
Common Fears of Expressing our Anguish to God (Fear of Practicing Lament)
I don’t want to appear weak. I have to be strong for myself and others.
I don’t want to burden my loved ones and friends.
Fully expressing my pain will only increase my pain leading me down the path of despair rather than the path of hope. What if I can’t stop the floodgates once I get started?
It feels unfaithful to question, complain, doubt. (Here’s the good news, it isn’t!)
Lament is not a failure of faith, but an act of faith. We cry out directly to God because deep down we know that our relationship with God is real. God cares. God understands our pain. God can and wants to help.
Psalm 130: 1-2, The Message Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help! Listen hard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy.
Lament in the Scriptures
We find laments from the beginning to the end of the Bible. From the ground crying out over the murder of Abel in Genesis to the martyrs crying out for justice in Revelation.
1/3 of the Psalms are laments
Much of Job is lamenting
Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?”- Job 3:11
The Old Testament Prophets often lament. The prophet Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet.
For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no healer there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? – Jeremiah 8.21-22
If only my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for the wounds of my people.”- Jeremiah 9:1
An entire book of the Bible is called Lamentations- written concerning the fall of Jerusalem
Jesus Lamented
Jesus weeping at the grave of his friend Lazarus. This reminds us we can lament our personal pain.
Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. This reminds us we can lament people not recognizing the gifts of God’s grace and salvation. We can also lament the brokenness of society. If they only knew the things that make for peace (Luke 19:42)
Jesus weeping all night in the Garden of Gethsemane. This reminds us we can be totally honest and totally vulnerable. No feeling or thought is taboo.
Jesus crying out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” from the cross.
How to Practice Lament
1. Rest
To lament, we must stop. Feel it fully. Recognize what we’re up against.
We medicate with activity. Busyness keeps us distant and the pain at bay.
Rest is “not an invitation to become unconcerned about the conflict and chaos in the world but to imagine that the salvation of the world does not ultimately depend upon us.” – Katongole and Rice
Rest enables us to cease from grasping, grabbing, striving, trying to be God
2. Direct our cries to God
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!” (Psalm 130:1)
3. Make your Complaint
express your anger, pain, heartache, sadness- Uncensored feelings
ask heartfelt questions
“How long, O Lord? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I harbor sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me? (Psalm 13:2-3)
I do not understand what is going on. This makes no sense. How long? Why?
Questions can be more than requests for information, they can also be cries of pain.
4. Make Your Request
Describe the affliction. It might include rage against your enemies
Look toward me, and have pity on me, for I am alone and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress. Put an end to my affliction and my suffering, and take away all my sins. Behold, my enemies are many, and they hate me violently. Preserve my life, and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. (Psalm 25:16-20)
5. Affirm your trust in God
God’s presence
God’s power in the past
The attribute/character of God
The promises of God that you’re thankful for and that you are claiming
Psalm 130:5-7 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord, there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
Message 4 of 5
Scripture: Isaiah 40:3-5
These are the notes from a message offered 11/4/18 at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota Florida. I’ll be posting the series on Fridays in the coming weeks. I pray they are an encouragement to you.
Romans 5:1-5, The Path to Hope
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Isaiah 40:3-5, The Way to Make the Path
A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Shall, by Lisa Degrenia
The time is now, for you have called, O God
The place is now, for you have spoken
Yes, it is a wilderness, a desert even
So dry, so rough, so uneven
Yes, the gap is so very wide between the high and the low
But, you have called
You have spoken
Not an if or when or maybe
Not even a try
You have spoken shall
Every valley shall be lifted
Every mountain shall be made low
The uneven shall be made level
The rough shall be made smooth
So we will persevere in this wilderness of preparing
We will not forge a path or blaze a trail but make a highway
A highway for your coming
For your glory, O God shall be revealed in this place
And all shall see it
All shall see it together
LEWIS AND CLARK AND THE MEN OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1804 to find the Northwest Passage
Purpose: Commerce
Finding the route believed to connect the Missouri River with the Pacific would make commerce possible across the continent and the riches of Asia that lay beyond.
Purpose: Control
Whichever nation found the Norwest Passage first, and then controlled it, would control the destiny of the continent.
What they thought would happen:
Travel the Missouri River to its source
Over the next hill, they would find another river. They could then calmly coast to the Pacific Ocean because that’s the way the river would be flowing
What they found was the Rocky Mountains, mountains like they’d never seen. So high, so long, so steep. They were unprepared. Everything they had been told was absolutely wrong.
Lewis and Clark List of Hardships
ANIMALS: Plagued by Mosquitoes and Small Pesky Flies. Encounters with Grizzly Bears
MISSOURI RIVER: Fighting against strong currents and shifting sandbars. Dangerous hazards caused by navigating rapids and obstacles in the water
Exhaustion from the daily grind of moving the heavy keelboat up the Missouri River that involved arduous rowing, pulling the keelboat through shallows using a rope from onshore (called cordelling) or pushing the heavy boat with long poles (poling)
The boats were not canoes but a keelboat (55 feet long, 22 oars at its sides, and a cannon mounted in the bow)
The Great Falls proved to be a difficult challenge. The men had to bypass the falls which involved carrying their canoes, supplies, and equipment all by hand for over 1 month
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS: Later in the journey it was necessary to abandon travel by water and physically carry the boats. This process called portaging, proved to be very draining and extremely time
Traveling over harsh, tough terrain
The harrowing journey on the rough Lolo trail through the Bitterroot Mountains
WEATHER: Enduring extreme weather conditions such as intense, blistering heat, the bitter cold, blizzards, hailstorms, snow, and continuous rain
In the winter months, it was often difficult to find food
NATIVES: Confrontations with hostile Natives and Natives who were invaluable to their survival and success. (Sacagawea)
LENGTH OF THE TRIP: The outward journey and the return journey home covered over 7000 miles. May 14, 1804, to September 23, 1806 – two years, four months and ten days
As the journey progressed illnesses became an increasing problem
Hard to find supplies along the way
Their journey was nothing like what they expected. Everything they had been told was wrong. They were unprepared.
Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Somewhere you never expected? How does it feel to be that out of your element? That unprepared?
At that point, you have a decision to make. Lewis and Clark had a decision to make. You can turn around and go back. (Sometimes you can’t go back.) Or you can just stay where you are. Pitch a tent. Build a city. Or we can try to move forward. Off the map. Into the unknown.
Lewis and Clark decided to move forward. They adapted. They abandoned the boats, their safety net because they were no longer helpful. They were known for their skill on the water and now they would need to become hikers.
They moved forward. This is resilience, perseverance, endurance. Moving forward in the face of adversity. Moving forward in the face of the unknown. Moving forward in the face of suffering. Moving forward.
So many of us find ourselves in these positions. I did not expect to be here- divorced, fired, widowed, my family in multiple states, financial crisis…
So many of us did not expect to find ourselves in the face of the unknown but because of the grace of God, the power of God, the presence of God, we can move forward.
Lewis and Clark were able to move forward because
they made the decision to move forward
people came alongside them to move forward
We too can move forward. We can make the decision, we have people who will come alongside us, and we have God in Jesus Christ, the pioneer, and perfecter of our faith who is already out there ahead of us. For us, with us, behind us, before us, above us moving us forward.
I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. Christianity is a movement. A movement forward. We are a pilgrim people.
Isaiah 40:3-5, The Way to Make the Path A voice cries out: The voice is God shouting “Come on!”
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
This is what our God does. Our God moves that mountain so we can keep moving forward. Our God raises us up out of that valley so we can keep moving forward. Our God fills in the potholes so the rough places are made smooth. Our God takes those winding, curvy, rollercoaster-y ways and makes them smooth so we can move forward
It may not feel that way when we’re walking it. It may feel like a mountain high or a valley low or rough and twisty. But God is making a way where there seems to be no way.
This is resilience. Do you trust God to make a way where there seems to be no way? Trust God.
God is not only going to make a way for you, but God is also going to help you make a way for others. All of a sudden you’re going to find yourself a Sacagawea helping someone make their way.
It’s all grace. It’s all goodness. That’s the God we serve, we know, we love. That’s the God who saves us.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
In Christ we are resilient!
*****************
I’m excited to now offer mp3’s of my Sunday messages. A huge thank you to Mark and my brothers and sisters at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota for all their help in making this possible. If you’re ever in Sarasota, please drop by for worship Sundays at 9:00 am or 10:30 am, or join us live on our Facebook page at 9:00 am Sundays or drop by during the week for a chat or small group. You and those you love are always welcome.
Message 3 of 5
Scripture: Psalm 130
These are the notes from a message offered 10/28/18 at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota Florida. I’ll be posting the series on Fridays in the coming weeks. I pray they are an encouragement to you.
This message and recording also include our annual All Saints Remembrance, where we thank God for our departed loved ones and friends, especially those who have helped us to find faith or grow in our faith.
Resilience Series Review: Resilience isn’t so much bouncing back from adversity but moving forward in the midst of it. Romans 5 reminds us of the path to hope. Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
Psalm 130: 1-2, The Message. The author of this translation of the Bible died this week, Pastor Eugene Peterson.
Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help! Listen hard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy.
When an old wound is triggering unhealthy responses, I seek the help of a counselor to address it. When life is overwhelming, it’s also helpful to speak with a spiritual director. A spiritual director asks, “How’s your soul? How’s your relationship with God during this situation?” After some prayerful listening, a spiritual director often suggests a spiritual practice to help you stay connected to God.
At a session a few months ago, after sharing, the spiritual director asked me if I practiced lament. I didn’t. I hadn’t even thought about the spiritual practice since seminary. I started practicing lament and it helped greatly.
Common Fears of Expressing our Anguish to God (Fear of practicing Lament)
Appear weak. I have to be strong for myself and others.
Burden my loved ones and friends
Only increase my pain leading me down the path of despair rather than the path of hope. What if I can’t stop the floodgates once I get started?
Seems unfaithful to question, complain, doubt. It isn’t!
Lament in the Scriptures
We find laments from the beginning to the end of the Bible. From the ground crying out over the murder of Abel in Genesis to the martyrs crying out for justice in the book of Revelation.
1/3 of the Psalms
The book of Job
Job 3:11 Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?”
The Old Testament Prophets often lament. The prophet Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet.
For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no healer there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? – Jeremiah 8.21-22
If only my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for the wounds of my people.” (Jeremiah 9:1)
An entire book of the Bible is called Lamentations- written concerning the fall of Jerusalem
Jesus Lamented
Weeping at the grave of his friend Lazarus. Reminds us we can lament our personal pain.
Weeping over Jerusalem. Reminds us we can lament people not recognizing the gift of grace/salvation and the brokenness of society.
If they only knew the things that make for peace (Luke 19:42)
Weeping all night in the Garden of Gethsemane
Crying out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” from the cross.
Lament is not a failure of faith, but an act of faith. We cry out directly to God because deep down we know that our relationship with God is real. God cares. God understands our pain. God can and wants to help.
What is Lament?
“Lament is not despair. It is not whining. It is not a cry into a void. Lament is a cry directed to God. It is the cry of those who see the truth of the world’s deep wounds and the cost of seeking peace. It is the prayer of those who are deeply disturbed by the way things are.” – Emmanuel M. Katongole, Reconciling All Things, p. 78
We teach preschoolers how to pray using simple words. Help. Thanks. Wow! (praise) (A big shout out to Anne Lamott for her book of the same title). We need to also teach them Sorry (confession) to lament- Ouch! Us big kids need the same lessons.
How to Practice Lament
1. Rest
To lament, we must stop. Feel it fully. Recognize what we’re up against.
We medicate with activity. Busyness keeps us distant and the pain at bay.
Rest is “not an invitation to become unconcerned about the conflict and chaos in the world but to imagine that the salvation of the world does not ultimately depend upon us.”
Rest enables us to cease from grasping, grabbing, striving, trying to be God
2. Direct our cries to God
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!” (Psalm 130:1)
3. Make your Complaint
express your anger, pain, heartache, sadness- Uncensored feelings
ask heartfelt questions
“How long, O Lord? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I harbor sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me? (Psalm 13:2-3)
I do not understand what is going on. This makes no sense. How long? Why?”
Questions can be more than requests for information, they can also be cries of pain.
4. Make Your Request
Describe the affliction. It might include rage against your enemies
Look toward me, and have pity on me, for I am alone and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress. Put an end to my affliction and my suffering, and take away all my sins. Behold, my enemies are many, and they hate me violently. Preserve my life, and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. (Psalm 25:16-20)
5. Affirm your trust in God
God’s presence
God’s power in the past
The attribute/character of God
The promises of God that you’re thankful for and that you are claiming
Psalm 130:5-8 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord, there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
In Christ we are resilient!
*****************
I’m excited to now offer mp3’s of my Sunday messages. A huge thank you to Mark and my brothers and sisters at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota for all their help in making this possible. If you’re ever in Sarasota, please drop by for worship Sundays at 9:00 am or 10:30 am, or join us live on our Facebook page at 9:00 am Sundays or drop by during the week for a chat or small group. You and those you love are always welcome.
Prayers Based on 
How do I stay resilient in the midst of so much violence, evil, corruption, need, and pain? Is there a way to stay awake to the needs around me without becoming overwhelmed and despairing?
Revlisad.com 