Christian prayer foundations: Where your treasure is

Sunday, 21 February 2016

Where your treasure is

When word reached Jesus of the fears some people had of the hostility of Herod towards him, Jesus refused to go into hiding, but continued as he intended, to Jerusalem to bring his prophetic ministry to a climax, which he knew inevitably meant laying down his life. Herod's power base was in a mountain fortress south of Roman occupied Jerusalem. After Jesus was arrested, he was taken to Herod to be interrogated, as a perverse gesture of good will on the part of the governor Pilate towards the warlord who accepted Roman domination and exercise power under it.

When Herod met Jesus he was driven more by curiosity than hostility, even perhaps willing to be impressed if he could see a display of miraculous power. Earlier Herod feared Jesus was in fact John the Baptist, whose murder Herod ordered, returned to haunt him. Once he'd put this thought to rest, he lost interest and dismissed Jesus with an arbitrary punitive flogging. Jesus remained silent throughout. There was nothing he could do about this tyrant. His heart was already set on achieving his destiny, back in Jerusalem.

'Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.' (Luke 12:34)

'My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.' (Psalm 57:7)

'I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.' (Psalm 40:8)

Psalm 40 is quoted in accounts of early apostolic teaching, regarding Jesus' fulfilment of his mission. The opposite of a heart surrendered to God is a hardened heart, and whenever the people of Israel become rebellious and resentful against God, they are thus accused.

'The house of Israel will not hearken unto you; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.' (Ezekeil 3:7)

Yet God always appeals to his children to change their attitude, to repent and return to him.

'O that today you would listen to His voice, harden not your hearts' (Psalm 95:8)

It can sometimes seem impossible not to react negatively in the face of painful, difficult and trying circumstances, ending up harbouring resentment, 'the poisonous root of bitterness' as it is called in Hebrews 12:15, which does us no good whatsoever. The reluctance or inability to let go of experiences which have thus caused us to suffer, leads to the hardening of heart scripture refers to, and estrangement from God.

Prayer enables us to re-orient our lives, so they are again fixed on God. Thanksgiving and praise are a sure remedy for healing the hurts life inflicts.

'Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.' (Psalm 42:11)

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About this blog

The basis of Christian Prayer.

Christianity born of Judaism, owes its spiritual mother an immeasurable debt in many dimensions of faith; e.g.

Belief in one living eternal God, infinitely just, true and good, creator, source of all that exists.
Belief that time and the cosmos, despite the repeated cycles of nature, is a process of change with a beginning and end.
Belief that human beings are made in the divine image and likeness of their creator.
Belief that each person is called to find the meaning and purpose of life in relation to God, and develop this by means of prayer and worship throughout life.
Belief in the essential value and importance of understanding who and what we are as spiritual and moral beings, conveying this understanding through stories told about God in relation to humans.
Belief that remembering the story humans tell about themselves in relation with God is at the core of the personal relationship each has with God.
Belief that the rich record of these stories in sacred scripture has a life of its own and can inspire those who read and study them with a sense of meaning and to creative responses that nurture human existence intellectually, morally and spiritually.
Belief in the value of repeating the same annual pattern of scriptural story telling, in response to the cycle of the seasons, as a prime means to development as human beings as our creator envisaged.

Jewish believers derive their core sense of identity and cohesion from remembering the Exodus story and performing the rituals of Passover, and belonging to their ancestral homeland, Israel. Christian believers, keep Lent, Holy Week and Eastertide, to remember the ministry, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, two thousand years ago.

This story is understood as the foundation of personal relationship with God. It imparts a sense of belonging to a global fellowship of believers not dependent upon a specific homeland. The land of Israel plays a central part in the Christian story of faith, yet it's a story that's considered relevant to life, wherever it is told and awakes people to faith.

Forty days of Lent, fifty days of Eastertide is a season to work with the essentials of the Christian story and rediscover their meaning and relevance to lifes today. It is a time of returning and renewal, offering an enriched understanding of faith, and way to deepen the life of prayer.