Unity and Division

"Is there disunity among believers anywhere that brings reproach on Christ?"  From John Piper's Desiring God, 30 Prompts to Pray.


Oh, Lord, I felt in my heart the direction to seek a prayer prompt for my time with You today.  This is the one that grabbed my attention.  Unity is such a wonderful, lofty concept, and perhaps only a concept as an ideal.

Of course, the first instance and example of this prompt is our church.  How my heart and mind churn with concern and even anger at the divisiveness that I ... what? ... perceive, discern!  But that is no good.  That makes me complicit in the enemy's scheme to divide.  The balance is a difficult one to achieve; to see truth, to see beyond the surface and into people's intentions and hearts, is to see sin.  It may also be filtered through my own sinfulness.  What a quandary.

A second instance is my marriage.  A good one, by almost all standards!  Sometimes, though, I get annoyed at the simplistic, judgmental attitude of my dear husband, even though he presents it in fairly loving ways.  He does not see beneath the surface much.  What he sees...is.  He rarely sees the spiritual battle that takes advantage of ignorance and innocence and lack of awareness.  And that frustrates me, causing me to hold my tongue and to refrain from sharing my deepest thoughts, observations, conclusions, and worries.  He trivializes them and then I feel very misunderstood.  Consequently, I don't open up a lot.  Tim Keller's The Meaning of Marriage touches on this issue a bit--but he is Tim Keller, not my husband.  Tim thinks deeply.  Tim's job is to see spiritual truths and untruths and to call them out.  My husband prefers superficiality, I think.  It is, after all, easier.
 
So, today my prayer is to hold my tongue and to refrain from judgment.  To choose love and understanding and sweetness.  To dwell in the secure knowledge that YOU understand me, and know even more than I do about this spiritual battle the world is in and the church is in and even my marriage is in. 


I rather think it humorous that my devotions are currently in Ecclesiastes, where "all is vanity."  All.  This election is meaningless; the conflict in the church is meaningless; any tension in relationships is, on the surface, meaningless.  "Do not let your mouth lead you into sin." Ecclesiastes 5:6  Great advice.  In Jesus's great and all-meaningful name~~Amen.

Prayer for This Country

Oh, dear Lord.  On this day after the presidential candidate debate, I am more disheartened than ever about the upcoming election and the future of this country.  Although we saw only the tail end of the debacle, it was a disaster.  In terms of presentation, the Democratic candidate clearly held her composure.  The Republican candidate did not.  In my reading today on various news sites, the country is more partisan than ever, and facts or truth make no difference in opinions.  This is a sad time for this country.  

I am reminded of a verse in Scripture: 

But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:20)

Amen, Lord!  Maranatha!  Come, Lord Jesus!

In the meantime, I also recall that You instruct us to pray for our governments.  

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

 So here I am, Lord, praying.  Please guide the course of this election to accomplish Your purposes, and please do not allow Your people, and me specifically, to lose sight of the overriding principles of Godly living--whether the government is Godly or not.  Fill me with love and dedication to prayer and most of all a commitment to Your kingdom of reconciliation.  In Jesus's name~~Amen.