A Prayer Against Spiritual Amnesia

  • June 2, 2023
  • /
  • Park Forum

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 6.12
12 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Reflection: A Prayer Against Spiritual Amnesia
By Dennis Nicholson

Sprinkled throughout the pages of the Pentateuch is one recurring word: remember. 

Sometimes the authors use it to describe God acting in covenant faithfulness to his people. In the wake of a cataclysmic flood, God remembered Noah and his family and commanded the waters to subside (Genesis 8.1). When the people of Israel cried out under the aching burden of slavery, God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and executed swift justice (Exodus 2.24).

Many times the authors use “remember!” as a command. They exhort their readers to re-envision their circumstances, priorities, and responsibilities through the lens of God’s actions, character, and commandments. Throughout his life and writing, Moses pleaded with the Israelites to remember God’s mighty power, his steadfast love, and his just laws, so that they would obey him and enter the flourishing, prosperous land he had set apart for them (Numbers 15.37-40, Deuteronomy 6.13, 25). 

When we remember God’s past faithfulness, we find strength for present obedience and hope for the future.

Sadly, like the ancient Israelites, we are afflicted with spiritual amnesia (Numbers 11.5). Just as Israel turned away from following the Lord and forgot his gracious care, we are distracted by a thousand other voices and forget to heed the voice of Jesus. May this prayer recenter our hearts and minds on the God whose love we are prone to forget.

God, we remember that you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: faithful to the thousandth generation of those who love you (Exodus 34.6).

We confess that…
We have failed to remember your covenant faithfulness. 
We have let anxiety cloud out your provision. 
We have let guilt foot the bill for sins your blood redeemed in full.

We are nearsighted; our spiritual eyes have grown dim.
We suffer from memory loss; we continually forget to seek your face.

Open our eyes, so that we can see the full brightness of your steadfast love.
Renew our minds, so that we always remember your forgiveness and embrace.
Remind us of your sovereign care with each passing sparrow we encounter today.
Strengthen us to obey your commands, that we may grow in our love of you.

Father, impress your salvation on your children’s hearts.
May we talk about Jesus when we lie down and when we get up.
Inscribe your laws on our hearts by your Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6.6-9).

In all things, may we remember. In remembering, may we obey. In obeying, may we live.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Bless our God, you peoples; make the voice of his praise to be heard;
Who holds our souls in life, and will not allow our feet to slip. — Psalm 66.7-8

  – From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 6 (Listen 3:13)
1 Corinthians 16 (Listen 2:54)

This Weekend’s Readings
Deuteronomy 7 (Listen 4:13), 2 Corinthians 1 (Listen 3:52)
Deuteronomy 8 (Listen 2:58), 2 Corinthians 2 (Listen 2:13)

Read more about Forward-Looking Remembering
Remembering is not “living in the past” or “longing for the good ole days,”…it informs our hope for a future that God has for us.

Forward-Looking Remembering

Read more about Meaning in Remembrance
Remembering is not just the recall of facts. Remembering is powerful. God often commanded the people to “remember.”

Meaning in Remembrance

The Shema and The Lord’s Prayer

  • June 2, 2021
  • /
  • John Tillman

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 6.3-9
3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Matthew 6.9-13
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: 
“ ‘Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
10 your kingdom come, 
your will be done, 
on earth as it is in heaven. 
11 Give us today our daily bread. 
12 And forgive us our debts, 
as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
13 And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from the evil one.’

Reflection: The Shema and The Lord’s Prayer
By John Tillman

Many people today pray daily using The Lord’s Prayer which Jesus taught his disciples in the New Testament. Jesus and his disciples however, already grew up saying a daily prayer. It was a prayer taken from Moses’ speech to the people about to enter the land and was, in Jesus’ day, said twice daily. Jesus answered using this prayer when he was asked what the greatest commandment in the law was. (Mark 12:28-34; Matthew 22.36-40)

This prayer is called, “the Shema.” The Shema takes its name from the first word of the prayer. The Hebrew word shema is sometimes translated to listen or hear. In this prayer, and elsewhere in scripture, hearing and obeying are intrinsically linked in the Hebrew language. Shema implies not just hearing words but carrying them out. 

In The Lord’s Prayer, action is also implied. Praying “your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven,” is not intended to be a passive wish with no participation on our part. In both the Shema and The Lord’s Prayer, we are expected to engage in concrete actions once we stop praying.

We will pray today, combining these two prayers from scripture. Before you rise from prayer, ask God to guide your feet and hands to enact his word.

Hear, Listen, Obey
We ask you to hear us, God, but we need to hear you.
You alone are God, our only Father in Heaven
Your name is holy as we are to be holy.
Father, Son, and Spirit are one, as we are to be one.

You alone are the provider of our bread.
You alone are the forgiver of our debts.

In return, Lord, we love you with all our heart, showing your love to others in forgiveness
In return, Lord, we love you with all our soul, opening our inner being to your indwelling
In return, Lord, we love you with all our strength. The strength of our body and mind, we give to you for your service and will.

Tie your Word to us that…
In your strength, may we resist temptation.
In your love, may we rescue the falling.
In your Spirit, may we speak the gospel with our words, carry the gospel with our feet, and enact the gospel with our hands.

Video: (Shema — The Bible Project)

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.” —- John 14.21– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 6 (Listen – 3:13)
Psalm 89 (Listen – 5:29)

Read more about Lewis on Prayer Without Words
For many years after my conversion I never used any ready-made forms except the Lord’s Prayer… — C.S. Lewis

Lewis on Prayer Without Words :: Readers’ Choice

Read more about Public, Prayerful, Persistent Protest
Daniel prayed in defiance of an unjust law. He was guilty before the law of the land, but blameless before God.

Public, Prayerful, Persistent Protest

Generational Faith Transfer

  • May 31, 2019
  • /
  • John Tillman

Deuteronomy 4.9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Deuteronomy 6.6-9
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Reflection: Generational Faith Transfer
By John Tillman

Moses, as he commissioned the Israelites to move in and begin to establish the nation, could see that the failure or success of the nation would depend on intergenerational transfer. In 1986, John Paul II, said, “As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.” I would, echo that in a smaller way. As the family goes, so goes the church in which we worship.

Whether you are a parent or not, a part of every Christian’s faithfulness is to ensure that intergenerational transfer is enabled and supported by the church.

The following tips are condensed from a blog by Jason Tilley that was written specifically to be shared with parents:

Take Your Own Faith Seriously
You cannot expect your kids to see the effects of the gospel in your life if you are not pursuing God in everything you do. Spend time in God’s word, make prayer an active part of your life. Apply what you are learning to your life. Talk about God and how he influences everything in your life often and out in the open. Your kids can tell if you believe what you say you do.

Have a Plan For Your Child
Be intentional with your child’s spiritual development. Set aside time during the day to engage your child. It could be Bible reading in the morning, prayers before bedtime, a weekly walk where you talk about how God made the world, how he loves us, how he gave his son for us. Make a plan and follow it through.

Make Church Participation A Priority
Active involvement in the church is a powerful force for shaping your child’s spiritual growth. So is not participating. Your child values what you value, so if soccer practice or lazy Sunday mornings always win over going to church, don’t be surprised when they value sports over God. Between the ages of 4 and 14 what a child learns, informs their thinking for the rest of their life.

Participation involves connecting with the living body (read: the people of the church) on a regular basis. This includes (in no particular order) attending services and other programs, serving somewhere in the church, spending time with other believers, and being generous.

*For Jason’s full post see the link above the condensed section. Jason is one of our ministry partners and board members and we work with him to aid and support children’s ministers and parents. You can find more information about Jason and Ministry Accelerator at Ministry Accelerator.org.

Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Everyone will stand in awe and declare God’s deeds; they will recognize his works. — Psalm 64.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 4 (Listen – 4:33) 
Psalm 86-87 (Listen – 2:26)

This Weekend’s Readings
Deuteronomy 5 (Listen – 4:25) Psalm 88 (Listen – 1:58)
Deuteronomy 6 (Listen – 3:13) Psalm 89 (Listen – 5:29)

Thank You!
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Read more about Cultivation Must Be Learned
Spiritual wisdom and knowledge, like agricultural knowledge, must be passed on, with its seeds, from one generation to the next.

Cultivation Must Be Learned

Read more about A Generational Lament
For many Millennials and those in Gen Z, prior generations of prosperity and ease have melted into a constant fear of scarcity.

A Generational Lament