Following up on yesterday’s blog on prayer, here’s a simple example.
I’ve published this blog daily beginning January 6, 2019, a daily miracle, as a fellow daily blogger declared. I make no pretense to actually write every day. The streak has become important to me, so I try to stay a few days ahead.

On a recent Saturday, I scheduled three blogs before 10 a.m. Then nothing on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, not even an idea. On Wednesday morning I prayed, “Lord, I’d really like to write one or more blogs today.” Bingo! Ideas came, and I wrote three more that morning. 

You have not because you ask not. (James 4.2, NKJV)

I don’t often recommend sermons: there are hundreds or thousands out there that are worthwhile. However, my brother-in-law Jim Cross of Lexington, NC, put me on to this one, and it is worth the 26 minutes. Rear Admiral Barry Black, USN Retired, now Chaplain of the US Senate, preached this at the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast. Appropriately enough, it’s about prayer!

Here’s a snippet of what he said with the scripture he used:

• Pray for all people

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. (1 Timothy 2.1, NLT)

• Pray from a sense of need

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. (1 Chronicles 4.9, 10, NKJV)

• Pray intimately

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You. (John 17.1, NKJV)

• Pray for our leaders

Pray…for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2.2 – 4, NKJV)

He closed with his personal story of growing up in inner-city Baltimore. His mother encouraged her children to memorize scripture, and soon Barry was searching for scripture to help him know Jesus better as we suggested a few days ago. He closed with the words of an old hymn, saying that his security was not in his position nor in the government but in Jesus:

All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household. (Philippians 4.22, NKJV)

As of this writing, because of the novel coronavirus, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is considering playing games in empty arenas. Such an action has already been taken by some professional sports in other countries.

Reacting to this news, Lebron James, one of the game’s biggest stars, made his feelings clear:

Nah, that’s impossible. I ain’t playing. If I ain’t got the fans in the crowd, that’s what I play for. I play for my teammates, I play for the fans. That’s what it’s all about. If I show up to an arena, and there ain’t no fans there? I ain’t playing.

My initial reaction was, “Poor baby.” Not all of us can play to a packed arena of adoring fans. Most of the work done by most of us gets done “in the quiet.”

Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. (1 Thessalonians 4.11, 12, ESV)

On the other hand, all of us have an audience according to Hebrews 12.

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? (Hebrews 12.1, MSG, referring to the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11)

Lebron would have such an audience too, by television. He would have to play to them by faith, the same as we do.

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. (Hebrews 11.1, 2, MSG)

A Christian news service is reporting on “accommodation for religion” issues, including a Christian mail carrier who refused to work on Sunday, even when Amazon mandated Sunday delivery. Without going into the merits of whether or not we NEED Sunday delivery, and without discounting the importance of religious liberty in our country, can Christians push for their rights too hard? 

One issue is there are lots of jobs that require work on certain days or around the clock: nurses, doctors, police, firefighters, shift workers of all kinds, people in the military. Does God not want his people in those positions? Or is it more important to God that he/we have a presence in as many walks of life as possible than that we observe a certain day as our Sabbath?

Another issue is do I want to be known as the guy who won’t do his fair share of the work? Who values his perfect record of church attendance more than his responsibility to serve?

Jesus was flexible. Why can’t we be? He healed on the Sabbath, he touched lepers, he talked with a Samaritan woman, none of which would be done by an observant Jew.

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (Mark 3.1 – 5, ESV)

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8.1 – 3, ESV, emphasis mine)

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” … The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) (John 4.7 – 9, ESV)

As we take on the challenge to listen to Jesus, a recent blog from Heather Holleman makes the point very eloquently that we read the Bible in order to get to know Jesus better. She writes:

As I once again read Michael Reeve’s book Delighting in the Trinity, I underline this quote about his fear of how we read the Bible. He writes:

“[Don’t] merely study the Scriptures as interesting texts instead of hearing them as God’s very words that hold out Christ and draw us to want him. For the Spirit breathed out those words, not that we might merely alter our behavior, not that we might merely know about Christ, but that, as John Calvin wrote, we might have a ‘sincere affection’ for him, that we might ‘cordially embrace him’.”

It’s easy for me to study the scriptures; after all, I have a PhD in literature…But to approach the Bible as a book, not of texts to study but as words that lead to the Word, spurs us to love scripture and to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us this supreme affection for Jesus.

It’s hard to improve on two accomplished authors!

And [Jesus] said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24.25 – 27, ESV, emphasis mine)

Here’s a lesson from the transfiguration:

Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light. Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him. Peter broke in, “Master, this is a great moment! What would you think if I built three memorials here on the mountain—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah?” While he was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him.” (Matthew 17.1 – 5, MSG)

As usual, Peter’s not knowing what to say (see Mark 9.6) didn’t stop him from saying something! And Peter, like most of us, is taken with the spectacular and wants to memorialize or preserve it. But God himself gives us a good word:

Jesus is my focus. Make him your focus. Listen to him. (Bob’s paraphrase of verse 5)

Sounds like a call for daily time with God to me!

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3.18, ESV)

Just in time to support our Lenten intentions of cutting back on one thing so we can do another, author Ed Cyzewski offers the little book 10 Ways to Use Your Phone Less…and Pray a Bit More. At only $0.99, it’s worth the money and the 10 – 15 minutes it takes to read it.

Here are a couple of my takeaways:

The stability of prayer and our awareness of God will begin to motivate us to pray rather than relying on our phones to numb or to disconnect us. (From Idea 1: Identify your motivation for phone use and for prayer)

It’s far better to start small with the things you know you can do, even if they prove to be a very slight challenge. For instance, if you’re using your phone for an average of four hours per day, try to bump that down to three and a half hours over the next month. If you average fifty minutes on a social media app daily, try cutting it down to forty minutes. (From Idea 6: Set realistic goals for your phone use and prayer practices)

Remember, please write me a note to share what you’re doing this Lenten season (bob@ewell.com). I’ve heard from some of you already.

[Jesus] would withdraw to desolate places and pray. (Luke 5.16, ESV)

I’ve written before about accessibility as an important concept in discipleship training. People need to be able to start immediately and experience progress: instant participation/instant success. But here’s another benefit to accessibility – it is required for participation.

Seth Godin’s blog on February 26, made this point about what he called “better.”

Here’s the thing: Swedish matches are better. They might be the best in the world. They do everything a match should do–but better. They light more quickly, burn hotter, and give more match satisfaction. Except you probably don’t have a box in your house. Because you don’t care that much about matches. – Seth Godin

The interesting thing is that although I don’t care that much about matches (except I like for them to work when I need them to), I clicked on the link and found myself at Amazon where I could buy 320 Swedish matches (10 little boxes) for $6.39! So why not? Click, click, and they are on the way.

What’s the lesson? If something is better, AND it’s ACCESSIBLE (easy to get, priced right, easy to use) then why not? The same product in the brand we usually use is $4.51 on Amazon, an insignificant (I think) $2 less. 

In this case, accessibility is a function of Amazon. If I had had to go to a new web site, put in my info, etc., I wouldn’t have bought the Swedish matches. But with Amazon, the highway is already paved. 

So, in a church, for example, it helps if the delivery system is there. It is easier to implement The Navigators 2:7 Discipleship Series if there’s already a culture of small groups. Within 2:7, teaching people how to read the Bible or, to use Seth’s word, to teach people a better way to read the Bible, is easier if people are already in the habit of reading.

Even if the delivery system such as a culture of small groups is not there, The 2:7 Series still makes the better lifestyle of discipleship accessible to everyone. And we always have to sell better as Seth did with the Swedish matches (light faster, burn hotter).

Finally, have you made your better Lenten choices accessible?

“Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” (Isaiah 57.14, NIV)

I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life… (Deuteronomy 30.19, 20, NIV)

Along with the human toll of the coronavirus, especially in China, (see yesterday’s story from my daughter who lives in Dalian), there is a huge worldwide problem in manufacturing. Fortune Magazine reported on February 21 that 94% of the Fortune 1000 are seeing coronavirus supply chain disruptions. I don’t know all the details, but I do know that most things that come into my house are “made in China.” And now China isn’t making anything. 

It seems that today’s manufacturers have forgotten a basic principle that goes at least back to King Solomon’s day:

Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. (Ecclesiastes 11.2, ESV)

The verse is most often applied to investments: diversify your stock portfolio, for example. It could also apply to income streams: if you’re an independent contractor, try to have more than one client! But what about the means of manufacturing or even sources of supply? If they all come from the same country, and that country is knocked out of commission…

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring… (James 4.13, 14, ESV)

My daughter, Melody Gifford, and family live in Dalian, China, about 1200 miles from Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak started. Nonetheless, they are in virtual quarantine. I wrote earlier about their Valentine’s Day gift to their fellow shut-ins. Here’s what she wrote a few days ago:

From my windows in my empty choir room I can see a mom and three little girls playing near the track and the trees. I want to share their story to explain a little better the challenge of our lives right now with virus prevention laws in place.

All neighborhoods are closed. No one comes in or out except that we have government-issued vouchers, one member of the family can leave once every two days to buy food. We can have things delivered and pick them up at the gate.

Anyway, this mom and three girls used to swim every day. Then they closed the pool. Then they would run in the gym and do some exercises on machines. Then they closed the gym. So then they played on the playground and the sandpit… then those areas were also closed. Yesterday this mom told my husband, “now the kids play in the trees… until next they will decide to close the trees!” She explained that they have to take some time each day to run around and blow off steam, get some air. Too many hours on the screens, and 95% of it is troubleshooting. I feel her pain. But I loved the smallest child’s response when she heard her mother’s desperation. She smiled and said, “Mommy, no one can close the trees!”

Right, kiddo! Look for the positives. I’m thankful that we still can go outside. We still can walk around our beautiful campus. We still have the trees.

When I talk to my students in other areas of Dalian or other parts of China, I’ve learned that most of them haven’t been outside their apartment in a month! So, thanks for your prayers. And in the meantime, if you can, enjoy your trees!

Good lessons. Sometimes life is tough.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! (Habakkuk 3.17, 18, NLT)