Scripture Focus: Isaiah 38.15-19
15 But what can I say? 
He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this. 
I will walk humbly all my years 
because of this anguish of my soul. 
16 Lord, by such things people live; 
and my spirit finds life in them too. 
You restored me to health 
and let me live. 
17 Surely it was for my benefit 
that I suffered such anguish. 
In your love you kept me 
from the pit of destruction; 
you have put all my sins 
behind your back. 
18 For the grave cannot praise you, 
death cannot sing your praise; 
those who go down to the pit 
cannot hope for your faithfulness. 
19 The living, the living—they praise you, 
as I am doing today; 
parents tell their children 
about your faithfulness. 

Reflection: The Impression That We Give
By John Tillman

Have you ever been close to tragedy or been close to folks who have?

If you are humming a tune right now, you probably recognize the question above as the opening line of a popular song from 1997. “The Impression That I Get” doesn’t give the first impression of a song with deep meaning. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones bouncy, ska-infused beat sounds like a perfect summer party jam for the beach or pool, with a chorus people love to scream-sing along with. But the lyrics are deeper than a party pool or the shallow swim area at the beach. The song discusses seeing someone’s tragedy up close and doubting if you would have the faith, the strength, or the courage to face it.

“I’m not a coward, I’ve just never been tested
I’d like to think that if I was I would pass
Look at the tested and think “There but for the grace go I”
Might be a coward, I’m afraid of what I might find out”

We find out a lot about Hezekiah’s faith when he faces a deadly illness. Hezekiah described a painful time of emotional anguish as being crushed by the jaws of a devouring lion. Yet in prayer, weeping, and lament, Hezekiah reached out to God and was miraculously healed.

In Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, he found that the survivors of Nazi death camps had in common a transcendent source of meaning outside of career, family, or possessions. The greatest sources of inner hope and meaning are not self-created but discovered in God. 

With purpose, we suffer on. With hope for something better, even if we’ll never experience it, we endure the present. Meaning and hope discovered in God create and sustain courage and cannot be taken away in suffering, even if everything, including your life, is. 

What we discover in God, we must help guide others to discover. Hezekiah’s psalm isn’t a party jam but it is a freedom song, a testament of faith and hope not fear and panic. The next generation has plenty of panic and fear. They need the hope and purpose we discover in the gospel. Pain is not purposeless and God’s grace is sufficient for us. (2 Corinthians 12.9)

What stories of suffering have you been telling and what songs of hope have you been singing?
What impression of God’s faithfulness do we give?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm
Therefore I will praise you upon the lyre for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing to you with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will sing with joy when I play to you, and so will my soul which you have redeemed.
My tongue will proclaim your righteousness all day long, for they are ashamed and disgraced who sought to do me harm. — Psalm 71.22-24

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

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Today’s Readings
Isaiah 38 (Listen 3:20)
Acts 25 (Listen 4:40)

Read more about From the Crucible of Suffering
Deep richness comes to people who face suffering biblically…joy and contentment difficult experiences cannot steal.

Read more about Worthy of Suffering
Every time the work was hindered, the apostles persevered. They had to…no, they got to continue preaching through many dangers.

Readers’ Choice Bonus:
This is a “bonus” Readers’ Choice from 2018. Thank you for your readership. You don’t have to wait until next Summer to send Readers’ Choice selections. You can submit them all through the year at the following link: Submit a Readers’ Choice post today.

Today’s post was originally published, on June 6, 2018, based on Isaiah 38.2-3.
It was selected by reader, Susan Houg, Ft. Jones, CA: “I had just about bought into the false premise about prayer not changing things – except for oneself – when this essay posted. The Lord used it to revive my expectation, based on His character, teachings and history, that He is honored and glorified and, indeed, pleased when we bring our urgent as well as long-term needs to Him. Recently I had occasion to pray, “Even the wind and waves obey You. Please stop these winds from spreading this fire.” And you know what? That fire (McKinney) laid down and stayed within its containment lines. Firefighters considered it “unusual.””

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 38.2-3
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Reflection: Prayer Beyond Petitions—Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

The adage, “Prayer doesn’t change things, it changes us,” is a cop-out.

If it is anything other than a cop-out it is at best a description of only part of what prayer is. It diminishes prayer to a self-counseling tool, a mere coping mechanism.

Todd Edmondson discusses this in his essay, Praying for a Change:

Such a perspective, however neat and tidy it might be, is profoundly unsatisfying and contradictory to what the Church has long held to be true.

When we envision prayer solely as something we do, as a work of human agency, it is almost impossible not to see it as a ritual designed for our benefit, as an incantation in which only the most superstitious or simple-minded people believe.

The healing of Hezekiah from his illness is a unique scriptural example of a prayer for change for several reasons.

• God directly tells Hezekiah that he will not survive. This is not an event where God’s will is unknown.
• There is no reason given for this illness. It is not a punitive judgement, like David’s child.
• Hezekiah’s prayer is bitter, but he makes no direct request for healing. He simply asks to be remembered, as the thief on the cross did.
• Isaiah delivers the message that God has changed his mind due to hearing Hezekiah’s prayer.

There is not a formula to be applied in a prayer for change other than giving ourselves to a relationship with God. We cannot attribute success to Hezekiah’s words or the words of any recorded prayer. We must, instead, get to know Hezekiah’s God.

That our prayers to God would bring the realities of this world into contact with divine purposes, or that God would join us in our this-worldly struggles, should not strike us as odd or irrational, because it is exactly what God has been doing for thousands of years… Indeed, other methods of affecting change and other recipients of our trust—from politics to technology to military might—would seem to be far less proved than prayer, if our memories were not so short and our imaginations so easily manipulated by the kingdoms of this world.

It is more important that we know God through prayer than petition him. God answers Hezekiah’s unasked prayer through relationship. Our needs, like Hezekiah’s will be apparent to God, when we invest time in a relationship that goes beyond petition.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.” — Luke 12.32

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

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 11(Listen 3:53)
Romans 14(Listen 3:28)

Read more about Finding God :: A Guided Prayer
Even today my complaint is bitter;
his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.

Read more about Artful Prayers
May we live artfully in the power of the Holy Spirit, creating with our lives a prayer that may be seen, heard, felt.