No other gods

No other gods

No other gods is the four and centerpiece of the T.R.I.N.I.T.Y. prayer acronym (see earlier posts).
This is the time where we commit to only serving the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We want to purge all other gods.  We want to throw them in the trash.  It may be my iPhone, pornography, a TV show, financial data, news, a person, my personality, or a thousand other things.  What in my life am I paying a lot of attention to?  My dogs look to me for their next move, always following me around waiting for me to act.  Am I that devoted to Christ, always yearning to see his next move and being in readiness to act with him.  What is it that is getting in the way?  This could be something bad or something not bad - it might even be something great, like the Bible!  Don't be afraid to ask God what is getting in the way of your relationship with Him.


Your idea:  make a list of the top ten idols historically in your life, and ask God to purge you from worshiping them, and if need be, destroy them.  Write your one idol on a piece of paper and burn the paper.  If it fits, burn the idol.  Please do not burn the idol if the idol is a person or an animal.

In Between

In Between

In Between in the third part of the T.R.I.N.I.T.Y. prayer acronym (see earlier posts).
This is the time where you are the In Between for someone and God.  You are the one standing in the gap, you are interceding for someone.  I always pray for my family, but it is encouraged to not only pray for "your four and no more" but for those you know need prayer, whether that be people going through divorce, experiencing death, being diagnosed with cancer, facing difficult decisions, etc.  We also follow Jesus' rule of praying for our enemies.  So we want to make sure the people who annoy us or frustrate us the most are at the top of our prayer lists.  I also think it is good to write down specific requests and also write the date, and the date that they are answered.  This is also the time to pray that God would soften the hearts of people who do not know Jesus Christ, that they would know him.

Your idea:  since Jesus called 12 disciples, write down on a piece of paper 12 people that you will commit to praying for daily, and pray for them, lifting them up to God, do not forget to have at least one of those 12 who is your chief enemy and who you do not like.

#blacklivesmatter vs #alllivesmatter

A conservationist in Africa began to be concerned about the Rhinoceros species.  Although there are approximately 20,000 rhinos today, about 20% of them are in captivity (zoos), while over 20% of the overall population is being poached each year due to the value of their horns.  At that rate it appears that the species cannot stand for long except behind the bars of incarceration.  

While this conservationist was starting a movement called the #rhinoslivesmatter movement, one of his friends told him that he was offended that he was saying that rhinos lives matter when in fact all the animals lives matter, including the African buffalo.  The conservationist told his friend, “Yes, the African buffalo is a wonderful animal too, but while there are 900,000 buffalo, the rhinoceros is endangered, and if something is not done it will go extinct.”  

The friend said, “But I always see pictures of rhinos in my flip calendar, and when I take my kids to the zoo the rhinos are always there.  I think I am going to start a movement called the #allungulatesmatter movement, proving that all ungulates, whether buffalo, bison, rhino, zebra, deer, or hippo.  It’s not just the rhinos that matter, but the other ungulates matter too.”

The conservationist replied to his friend, “I am in no way against other ungulates, but this is a critical point in history for this species of ungulate.  Rhinos are being murdered and incarcerated at rates beyond other ungulates so that very soon the only way to see a rhino will be behind the walls of a zoo or it horn that was cut off.  African buffalos are also a beautiful animal, but they are not being poached or taken captive at near the same rate.  The poachers have a great monetary incentive to kill the rhino, while no such incentive exists with the buffalo.  The reason I am saying #rhinoslivesmatter is because it seems that I am a lone voice in a world bent on the extermination of the rhino, and rhinos need someone to advocate for them before it is too late.  For you to say #allungulatesmatter misses the whole point that it is rhinos lives that are being poached in such numbers that threaten speciesicide.  Friend, would you understand that I need your help.  Are you listening?  Do you hear my heart?”

#blacklivesmatter in a Christian context is like one body part hurting and needing the body to respond to the hurt.  “If one member suffers, all suffer together” (1 Corinthians 12:26).

I, as a white male, cannot understand what it is like for a black man in today’s culture.  So I pray that I will listen more to my black brothers than talk about them or to them.  I pray this as someone who loves to talk and is bad at listening.  “Lord, give me a listening spirit.  Amen.”

Christian idea: listen to my brother

A great book to provide information on the topic of the mass incarceration of black males is The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.  

Real Life

Real Life

Real Life is the second part of the prayer acronym T.R.I.N.I.T.Y. (see previous posts).
Real Life means that there is nothing off limits in prayer.  Please feel free to come to God with things that seem too trivial or too weighty, because it is all intended to be brought to God in prayer.

For me real life includes my strained hamstring, my sin, my pride, the insulation in my house, my dogs, my family, my job, my feelings of inadequacy, my feelings of accomplishment, the weight of this world, the weight of my heart.

Our real lives must be brought with all their weight and triviality and mess to God in prayer.

So much of the lament Psalms of the Bible are great for Real Life prayer.

One of the most honest Psalms is Psalm 22 which Jesus quotes, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Psalm 88 is probably the saddest Psalm and yet refreshing in its honesty.   Not that all real life prayers have to be sad depressing prayers.  Some may be joyful.  Some may be confusing.  Some may be boring.  Real life can be all those.

Idea for you:  Read Psalm 22 and then talk to God about your life for 15 minutes.