Lent Bible Reading Series Week 2

Lent Bible Reading Series  5 March 2014 to 20th April 2014 Week 2/7: by Major Kath Jones, Asst. Spiritual Life Development Secretary

Welcome to the Lent Bible Reading Series
by Major Kath Jones - Asst. Spiritual Life Development Secretary

 

Week Two

Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name.

Monday 10^th

Bible Reading: Psalm 89: 26 – 29, Galatians 3: 26 – 29, 4: 1 – 7

In Old Testament prayer God is not usually addressed as Father. One reference however is found in Psalm 89, where the psalmist describes King David crying out to his father God, his rock and salvation. David recognised the awesome majesty of God, as clearly portrayed in Psalm 8. However in Psalm 89 it would seem David also shared in a father – child relationship with God, one in which he felt sufficiently assured to refer to God as Father.

Consider: How do you address God in prayer? Do you always use the same name?

Pray: Look into the night sky and proclaim Psalm 8.

Tuesday 11^th
Bible Reading – Jeremiah 31: 7 - 9, Romans 8: 15-16

Whilst to address God as Father was not usual in the Old Testament, it has been suggested that this was a term occasionally used in later Hebrew worship. Joanna Collicutt in her book, ‘When you pray,’ comments, ‘one Hebrew word for father, is ‘abinu’ meaning, ‘Our Father’ or ‘My Father’ this would have been a word familiar to Jesus in Temple worship.’ The word ‘abinu’ is interpreted as a father who is somewhat remote, residing in heaven, one whom we approach formally and dutifully.

Consider; To address God as father may not be easy for some whose relationship with their earthly father is not a positive experience.

Pray: For peace and healing for those whose father - child relationship is difficult for whatever reason.

Wednesday 12^th
Bible Reading - Luke 11: 1-2, Matthew 11: 25 - 30

When the disciples observed Jesus at prayer they were curious as to the intimacy with which he approached and addressed God. They often found him praying alone in the open air, or on a mountainside, or early in the morning, without any ritual or formality. They also heard Jesus address God with the Aramaic word for father, ‘Abba’ this being a more familiar expression for father. A comparable meaning for us would be Papa, loving yet respectful. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray in this less formal way.

Thursday 13^th

Bible Reading – Hebrews 10: 19 – 25, Mark 14: 32 – 36

Tom Wright in his book ‘The Lord and Prayer’ says, ‘The name Abba, as Jesus instructed the disciples to use, contains within it not just intimacy but revolution, not just familiarity but hope. To begin prayer by calling on the liberating father was to recognise in Jesus the beginning of the new exodus – a new liberation’. The disciples were introduced to a new order in which all may approach the throne of grace in prayer without fear or formality.
 

Friday 14^th

Bible Reading - Ezekiel 36: 22 – 28, Revelations 4

However we address God in prayer we are reminded that God’s name is to be hallowed, for his name is Holy. The reading from Ezekiel describes how the house of Israel failed in being the light to the nations by profaning the name of the Lord. The sovereign Lord is holy and he is to be approached with reverence and respect.

 Hugh Melinsky in his book ‘Modern Readers guide to the New Testament’ says, ‘God shall be God that man shall not whittle God down to a manageable size and shape’.  

Pray: Abba, as you hold me in your arms, may I hold your name holy.

Saturday 15^th

Bible Reading – Isaiah 6: 1-7, Philippians 2:1 – 11

I find this Isaiah reading very moving, especially if I accompany the words with an excerpt from Faure’s Requiem called Sanctus. I imagine Isaiah entering the Temple, feeling sad at the death of King Uzziah, not knowing that God would in that moment enter into his life in such a spectacular way. Isaiah’s response to his vision of God was to cry out ‘holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory’. Isaiah was overwhelmed by the majesty of God whilst being aware of his own unworthiness.  As Faure’s music crescendos it portrays for me a sense of the sheer immensity of Gods holiness, and causes me to think we can do no more than bow down in worship.

Consider: Take a walk in the country and appreciate the vastness of Gods creative power, or visit a large church or cathedral and observe how the architecture tries to express something of the glory of God.

Sunday 16^th

Bible Reading - Isaiah 53, Matthew 27: 45 – 55, Hebrews 5: 7 – 10

The reading from Matthew’s gospel records the one occasion when Jesus did not address God as ‘Abba’. He cries out ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthan, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me’. It is a desperate plea for help and speaks to us clearly of the humanity of Jesus; in the final moment of suffering a cruel and horrific death Jesus feels the most deserted and afraid. Tarjei Park in the book ‘Seven words for Three hours’ says, ‘the realisation that God is present even when God does not intervene is not a loss of belief in God. It is recognition of who God is and who we are. We are inextricably united to God, but in ways we often cannot detect. Jesus Christ suffered as a human being and that human experience is taken up into divinity, crucified humanity is taken up into divinity’. Jesus understands us when we feel the most lonely and afraid; he hears our cry of despair even when we feel abandoned of any sense of faith in a loving heavenly father.

The following words were found inscribed on a cellar wall in Cologne where some Jews had been hidden for the duration of the Second World War.

I believe in the sun, even when it doesn’t shine

I believe in love, even when I don’t feel it.

I believe in God, even when he is silent.

Pray: Read Psalm 139 to remind us that even if God does not intervene, he is still present.

Consider: The practice was to say the word ‘Abba’ at the commencement of a prayer then to pause, before continuing. This pause recognised the presence of God.