Category Archives: Hebrews

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.

Hebrews 6:1

Dear God, I’m sure I’ve read this verse before, and I probably had the same reaction them that I am having now. I think this is one of my problems with the majority of the preaching I hear on Sunday mornings. The lessons that pastors teach are from the same playbook I’ve heard my whole life: God is love. There is grace for you. Love others.

Growing up, the pastor of my formative years really, really, really focused on your grace every week. I am probably being unfair, but my memory is that every week was a call to accept your grace and let go. And that was great as far as it gave me a very healthy attitude about your unconditional love for me. But when I got college I started to hear more sophisticated Bible teaching that encouraged me, challenged me, and helped me to start to enrich myself.

So now I’ve started to think about leading a local Bible study, with a focus being on getting men from a cross section of the community. Some lower class. Some middle class. Even some upper class. I’m not sure what it would look like. I’m not sure who I could get to come—or who you would bring to it. But I’m thinking this might be something for me to consider this fall. If we say we want to bring you to our community and we want our community to embrace you, doesn’t it include something like this?

Father, help me to really hear you and find you through this. I don’t want to do anything that’s not of you, and I don’t want to do it in a way that leaves out your blessing. Guide me, give me ears to hear, eyes to see, and the will to completely submit to you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1

Dear God, there have been a few people I’ve prayed for over the last week regarding physical ailments. The mother-in-law of a coworker. The great nephew of another one. A patient at the clinic where I work suffering from alcoholism. But what kind of faith am I exhibiting in these prayers. What do I ask for, what do I hope for, and what do I expect?

I used to go to a church in Waco that was a little more charismatic and taught to have high expectations in terms of what miracles you can perform when it comes to healing. I remember feeling at the time that my faith was very inadequate. I had a hard time believing you would (not could, but would) intervene at that level. But I saw miraculous things happen. My best example is a woman with cancerous tumors in her back. Our small group prayed for her and laid hands on her in our living room, and when the doctors went to operate the tumors were gone and there was nothing for them to remove. It was a true miracle. I remember telling my wife at the time that we had evidence that the Holy Spirit was in our home in at least that miraculous moment.

Over time my attitude has morphed. I’m not the kind to go in and make a display of your miraculous power, but I am thoughtful about how I pray about something. So when I’m praying for someone, as I think about it now, there are specific parts to the prayer.

1. I acknowledge your power and your right to answer my prayer however you want regardless of the outcome I desire.
2. I pray about the situation and the answer that I would like to see happen.
3. I pray for those around the person or situation, that you would comfort and strengthen them. I also pray that you would use this painful time to heal and grow everyone involved.
4. If you say yes to the prayer, I pray that you will help all of us to live up to the responsibility we now have because you granted our request for a reason.
5. I pray that, above all, your will be done.

Father, sometimes I don’t have enough faith that you will heal in every situation, but I do have enough faith that you will heal for your purposes and for your plan. I also have faith that you will use stressful situations to guide all of us into your overall plan of purifying our hearts so that we might become closer to you. Thank you for being a God who cares, who listens, who loves, and to whom I can pray to, even on a morning like this.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

Hebrews 12:4-7

Dear God, is it bad that I disagree with verse 7? Because while some hardship might be the consequences of my sin, I simply don’t think a sin-free life will lead to no hardships. So I have a hard time accepting that part of this passage.

But I do, however, accept the overall thesis—you love me. The only comparable thing for you to use is to compare it to our love for our children, but the truth is that you love us even more than that. And when I fall and make a stupid decision, you are there to let me work it out. When I pursue you, you help to guide me into a deeper understanding of how I need to intentionally decrease and let you increase.

I’ve been getting a lot of love from others lately on some things I’ve been doing in the community, and what is exciting me is that I’ve been genuinely uncomfortable with the acknowledgement coming my way. Not 100%, but I’d say 95% of me wishes that I could just do this stuff anonymously and have no one notice I’m involved. While having 5% of me still looking for some of the love isn’t necessarily good, it’s A LOT better than it used to be. I’ve always wanted some strokes for the “good” things I do. Now, I’d rather just keep my head down and press on.

Father, I’m still on this journey, and I need a little more of you today. I need you to flow through me. It’s the humble you can use, not the proud. I’m sorry for my insecurity and pride. I lay that at your cross today. I lay my sin, my strengths, my worries, and my love there—all of me. I need you, I’m no good without you, and I will pursue you because I know that you and your love are where my peace and joy comes from.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Dear God, the cloud of witnesses is a beautiful thought. I wonder who is watching me? I wonder what they can see that I don’t see. For example, I often wonder about the daughter my wife and I lost while my wife was newly pregnant. Whenever I’m going through something with one of our kids now, I picture her praying for all of us. I’m sure she loves her brother and sister and is rooting for them. I know we’ve told them about her, but I wonder if they will be surprised to meet her one day on the other side. Even though I have this head and heart knowledge about her, how surprised will I be.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about other relatives who have passed and are cheering me on. Compared with my wife, I haven’t lost that many, but I think of my grandparents, my mother-in-law, my grandmother-in-law, and others who are for me. Frankly, especially with our daughter, the thought of her cheering for me and being concerned about me gives me some level of accountability. I think about her watching me—especially when I’m struggling as a father. I even talk to her sometimes. I should probably acknowledge all of them more. I am grateful for their love. I’m grateful for your love too, and I know you are watching me.

Father, I will run to finish the race you laid out for me. You have been good to me, and I am grateful. Now I must press on. It’s not time to step back. It’s time to throw myself into you. It’s time to be there for those you have put around me. It’s time for me to love mercy, live justly, and walk humbly with you. I’m doing it for you most of all, but part of me is doing it for them too. I don’t want their love for me to be in vain.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.Hebrews 4:12-13
Dear God, while I think “word of God” CAN refer to Scripture, I think to limit its definition to that in this passage would be to miss the breadth of your power and how you interact with us. What I read in this passage is the ways the Holy Spirit convicts us. 
So what are the ways that you use to reach us? Well, they are limitless, really: Scripture; sermons; reading books, essays, articles, etc.; friends; dreams; and, of course, that still small voice–“What are you doing here, John?” (1 Kings 19:13). The questions I need to continually ask myself are, am I putting myself in position to hear your voice, have I limited the avenues I allow you to use to reach me (isolate from friends, don’t worship you with others (i.e. go to church, etc.)? Am I worshipping you and listening for your still, small voice? Am I bringing my ideas, beliefs, and behaviors to Scripture and testing them against your original word? 
Father, guide me. Make my path straight so that I might find my way into being the most of who you need me to be that I can. In return, I seek only your peace in my life and my over my soul. 
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen

Hebrews 10:26-29 Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. 

Dear God, sometimes I run across passages that get me into uncomfortable territory. A lot of times they are the ones about heaven/hell and salvation/rejection. It can be frustrating to try to figure out where your lines are. I try to stop and think, Okay, as a dad, where would my lines be? But I am too flawed as a human father to possibly figure out where my lines would be compared to yours. 

As for my own behavior, am I intentionally sinning in any areas of my life? I watched a show last night that I enjoy, but one of the characters openly denies your existence. Is my watching of that show allowing Satan a foothold in my life, or is it just a harmless show that gives me entertainment? Are you holding anything against me?

Father, I guess the final answer is that I hope you find me faithful. I hope my life is an adequate living sacrifice–not because I want to do enough to get my fire insurance, but because you deserve that from me and you ask it of me for my good. 

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen