Page 60 - Living Light Spring 2024

Friday May 10 - Listening
A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen;
listen to him.” Luke 9:35
It is probably unprecedented to hear the actual voice of God, even in a prayer meeting. This was another feature of this one-off interaction on Mount Hermon. God speaks from the cloud and makes three points to the disciples: he asserts Jesus’ identity as his Son, he asserts Jesus’ mission as the chosen one, and he implores them to listen to him. If they had any doubts about Jesus, these would now have been dispelled!
We too must learn to listen to him. Quite often our prayer meetings are one-way streets, from earth to heaven, with a list of requests, demands and proclamations. Do we honestly set apart an equal amount of time between speaking and listening? John 10:27 records Jesus’ words that “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” I would much rather leave a meeting having heard the clear voice of God (though probably not audible, of course) than just having submitted a long shopping list of requests for his perusal. In reality, practice is needed to discern his voice but, let’s face it, if this means that we have to increase our attendance at such meetings in order to gain this experience, then surely that’s a good thing! A prayer meeting can be a real oasis, a walled-in space for communion between us and our God. This ought to be a blessing.
Father in heaven, please help me to have ears to listen to you. Amen.
Saturday May 11 - Trusting each other
The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen. Luke 9:36
The prayer meeting was over. There were just the disciples and Jesus left. All the ‘bells and whistles’ had now ceased and they were living through the aftermath. They had seen Jesus transformed, and a visit from the two most revered prophets of old, accompanied by an all-enveloping cloud and a voice from heaven. Wait until they tell the others! Hold on... we are not to speak of this to the others?
‘What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ goes the rather questionable expression. Just as the Catholic confessional is meant to be a place of trust, so must our prayer meetings be. Confidences are being shared, and hearts are being poured out. Prayer may be offered to God, but there are always other ears present, and rightly so, if we are to join God in ministering to each other. What these meetings should not be are branches of the ‘gossip grapevine’, as they sometimes can become. We may think we are doing a service by ‘widening the field to others’, but, in our heart of hearts, we know that a prayer meeting must be ring-fenced as a place of integrity and freedom. Any other view on this would probably be delusional and prompted by ‘the flesh’, possibly leading to confusion and division. Let’s be respectful of each other in these matters.
Father in heaven, help me to exercise wise judgement at all times in my dealings with others. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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PRAYER FOR TODAY