Series: Resilience
Message: Safety
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira

Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 22:9-18.

Read:  Daniel 10-12 - As you read in the NLT translation, note 1-3 insights/questions that arise.

Reflect: The answer to Daniel’s prayer was answered before he asked, which is a reoccurring theme in the Bible, a clear message that God is engaged and knows what is best for us. Jacques B. Doukhan in his book Secrets of Daniel, p.161 shares this great illustration. 

“The content of prayer is more important than the form it takes. The words have no power per se. It reminds us of the story of a very pious man who, upon forgetting all his prayers, rushes to the rabbi and cries: ‘I have forgotten how to pray! What am I to do?’ To which the rabbi answers” ‘Don’t worry, just recite the alphabet and the angels will compose for the most beautiful of  prayers.’ A child’s stuttering sometimes speaks louder than the elaborate and eloquent invocations of the great professionals of prayer. God’s answer depends on neither the quantity nor the quality of words.”

In his book “Simply Good News”, N T Wright offers a powerful insight into the Lord’s prayer and our own prayer life. Chapter 8 of his book takes you through  a process that unpacks the power of connecting practically with God through the model prayer.  He ends chapter the book with this final paragraph:

“All Christian prayer, then, and supremely the Lord’s Prayer, enables us to be fully at home in God’s house, whichever door we come in by. But we don’t come in simply to rest and be refreshed. We enter in order to learn and share God’s plans and purposes. Prayer is one way we do both these things. Only with prayer at the center will the work of the kingdom go forward. Once we are grasped by the good news, we must learn to be shaped by the good news. In prayer, we learn to become good news.”                                                                                                                   

Recalibrate:

1. What were the best prayers when you were younger? What would they sound like today?

Respond: Pray for patience.

Research:  Read N T Wright’s book Simply Good News.