Out Of The Miry Clay

 

Out of the Miry Clay

"He brought me up up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings." Psalms 40:2

Emil Brunner wrote that we are stuck so fast in the mire that we cannot help ourselves. We are all sinners in a wrong relationship with God and hence with our neighbours also. We are seeking ourselves. We wish to appear clever and to attain the highest by means of our own intrinsic powers. In our inmost being we have each gone astray. We are godless, loveless, self seeking, God-escaping. (Ref 1)

He is right. The Bible states in Romans 3, 'For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.' In the Old Testament, Isaiah said, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way." (Isaiah 53:6a).

We are sinking in quicksand, the more we think we are in control of our lives, the more messy it becomes and in the clay pits we sink deeper. Fortunately, I learned the lesson of letting go and letting God early in medical school. When going through a period of examination failure, a classmate shared with me this verse from Psalms 40:2. She shared that when going through difficult times, God is there to set me right, to lift me out of the miry clay. 

Subsequently I learned a follow-on lesson from Psalm 37:23-24, 'The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.' In the struggle of life, it is not I who need to grab and cling to the hand of God, instead, God's hand lifts me up.

This truth of not being afraid to lose your life rang true in the testimony of martyred missionary Jim Elliot. Elliot and four other missionaries, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming and Nate Saint attempted to bring the gospel to the Huaorani Indians in South America but were slaughtered by 10 Indian warriors on 8 January 1956. His biography was written by wife, Elisabeth Elliot and published under the title 'Shadow of the Almighty.' (Ref 2). In a journal entry on 28 October, 1949, Jim Elliot penned these words, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

In similar fashion, Jesus said "Whoever finds his life shall lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt 10:39), Jesus meant that we must learn to lose control of our lives and hand it over to Him. We must not make ourselves and our survival the only point of our lives. If like the poet Henley we think, 'I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my destiny' we will find that instead of being in control, we will be at the mercy of forces beyond our control. We will sink deeper into the quagmire. Be like Saint Francis of Assisi who concluded, "It is in dying that we are born to eternal life." It is the same proposition as 'Let Go and Let God.'

More than just lifting us out of the miry clay, the Bible informs that something good will come out of our lives.  My Christian friends, Kenneth and Huiwen are a husband and wife, team who founded Studio Asobi. Their works of art are inspirational. Huiwen wrote, "Making something out of clay, which is essentially worthless dust, and transforming it into something of value gives us a sense of responsibility." if we learn to surrender like useless lumps of clay to the potter, then something of value and worth will be the product.

Let God the potter do His work and shape our lives. He will fashion something of worth and beauty as we pray 'Change My Heart Oh God.' Isaiah said, "Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." Isaiah 64:8.

Lionel     

Ref 1: Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter. Plough Publishing House 2003.

Ref 2: Elizabeth Elliot. Shadow of the Almighty, The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot, Harper Collins

He Touched Me

'For God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.'John 3:16 

He Touched Me. The first time I heard this song was in 1982, twenty years after it was first written. I was sitting on the floor of the Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is a very famous place to listen to Jazz music for free, a small crowded shop house near Bourbon Street where jazz musicians would gather each night to play. A tall bearded Negro stood up and with his banjo played this song. I sat there enrapt by its plain lyrics and simple rhythm. It became my favourite Christian song. 

This is a song about salvation. Salvation is the greatest event in the Christian life; it marks the start of it. I was saved in 1967. I distinctly remembered that day after school, I attended a Youth for Christ meeting at Wesley Methodist Church. I had been searching for a belief in a God whom I could relate to. Before this time I had either been exposed to ancestral worship at home or brought in front of idols in Chinese temples. I did not find any meaning in that kind of worship or belief. 

At the end of the YFC meeting, a person named Charlie Tan whom I have not met again since, introduced me to Jesus Christ, telling me that through Christ, I can be saved from my sins. More importantly, I could be restored into a rightful relationship with Christ. That day, I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour and have not looked back since; for the rest of my life, which is now going on towards 70 years and beyond. That day Jesus touched me. 

I did not know it then but this song, He Touched Me, encapsulates the experience of my Christian life:

Shackled by a heavy burden,

'Neath a load of guilt and shame.

Then the hand of Jesus touched me,

And now I am no longer the same.

He touched me, Oh He touched me,

And oh the joy that floods my soul!

Something happened and now I know,

He touched me and made me whole.

Since I met this blessed Saviour,

Since He cleansed and made me whole,

I will never cease to praise Him,

I'll shout it while eternity rolls.

He touched me.......

The touch of Jesus put me on the path of developing a relationship with God. Up to that time, original sin and my own sins got me shackled and imprisoned. Oscar Wilde (Ref 1) wrote: 

... And thus we rust Life's iron chain

Degraded and alone:

And some men cursed and some men weep,

And some men make no moan

But God's eternal Laws are kind

And breaks the heart of stone.

And every human heart that breaks,

In prison cell or yard,

Is as that broken box that gave

Its treasure to the Lord,

And filled the unclean leper's house

With the scent of the costliest nard.

Ah! happy those whose hearts can break

And peace of pardon win!

How else may man make straight his plan

And cleanse his soul from Sin?

How else but through a broken heart

May Lord Christ enter in?

We speak of the salvation we received as a touch from the Lord but we should not presume that it was so simple nor cheap. Salvation is free to us but it is costly to God. It costs God his only begotten Son.

The late Rev Billy Graham was the most effective evangelist that ever lived. He preached salvation. But he did not make it sound easy even though miracles happen when he gave the invitation to receive Christ as millions came forward. He preached God's plan for all of us to be saved and pointed out what needed to happen:

1. All are sinners and stand under the judgement of God. 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' Romans 3:23. Graham said that we might believe that we are good enough to win God's favour or that we can perform certain religious acts to counterbalance our bad deeds but 'There is no one righteous, not even one.' Romans 3:10

2. We need to understand what Christ has done to make our salvation possible. Christ died on the cross as the complete sacrifice for our sins. He took upon Himself the judgement that we deserve.

3. We must repent of our sins. Graham said repentance carries with it the idea of confession, sorrow, turning and changing, God's gift of eternal life becomes ours only when we take it. We must turn from our practice of sin as best we know how and turn by faith to Christ.

4. There is a cost of coming to Christ and following Christ. A person must determine to leave his sins behind and turn from them. Jesus declared, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23. Graham preached, it costs to follow Christ but it also costs not to follow Christ.

5. Salvation is intimately linked to the cross. Graham asked, "Why was Calvary's cross so special, so different from hundreds of other crosses used for Roman execution?" It was because on that cross, Jesus suffered the punishment for sin that we all deserve. He was our Substitute. He suffered the judgment and condemnation of death that our sinful nature and deeds rightfully deserve.

6. Faith is essential for salvation. We must be absolutely clear on what we mean when we speak of 'salvation by faith.' Faith means more than intellectual belief. It involves trust and commitment in which we commit our lives to Jesus and trust Him alone as our Saviour and Lord.

After Billy Graham preached millions came forward singing the song, 'Just as I am' which means asking Jesus to receive them, heal them of their sins and lead them to everlasting life. Perhaps many were just overcame by the emotions of the moment but many others knew not only in their minds but in their hearts and spirits what they were doing. They were determining their fates from that day forward. That was when Jesus touched our lives and we never looked back since. 

Lionel

Ref 1: Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. 1868

The Prayer Habit

'Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.' Mark 1:35

I used to find difficulty praying. My mind can never be still on a single topic for any sufficient length of time. I think too many thoughts at one time. Soon after I have settled on a prayer item, my mind would begin to wander. I have struggled with this disability for many years.

I used to watch my late father-in-law, the Rev Kao Jih Eng pray. He was a very active Chinese pastor for more than 40 years. He made for himself a ‘kneeling’ platform on which was attached a reading stand with a cross. Under this stand was a shelf holding 2 compartments. He would place cards with prayer petitions from his parishioners in one compartment. As he prayed through each item he transferred these cards into the other compartment and back again. He woke up early every morning to pray.

I read about St Theresa of Avila for whom prayer is the journey of the mind into the depths of the soul. She described prayer as moving from one room into another in one's spirit. Then, in the innermost sanctum of one’s being, one finds God and ecstasy.

In the heydays of the Charismatic movement, I would practise praying in tongues. Since my mind always strayed, why not just pray in tongues? I need not focus. Perhaps like St Teresa, I could still achieve the soul-satisfaction she described. But, there was a lingering worry that all I was seeking was some form of self-gratification and was not really communicating with God. 

Finally, I reckoned to live every moment and dedicate every day as a prayer to God. Just live through the day and when a petition, a thought, a praise comes to mind just whisper to the Lord, a word of thanks or a quick petition.

Here is an example of a prayerful moment. Whilst walking down a busy street one day, out of the blue, a song which I had not sung for more than 30 over years came to mind. It’s a composition from Sister Soeur Sourire, the Singing Nun and it is called 'It’s A Miracle.'

How I love to go for a walk along the street,

And to say, "Hello" to the people that I meet, 

And to watch the show of their happy, happy feet, 

And I say to myself, It's a miracle. 

Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu-ia! I sing as I walk along, 

Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu-ia, God gave me such a happy song.

Can’t you feel his love and joy in everything

In the wonder of the sparrow on the wind

In the sky above and the song that I now sing

And I say to myself it’s a miracle

Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu-ia! I sing as I walk along, 

Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu-ia, God gave me such a happy song.

In the joy of his love and the sky up above and the song that I sing

It’s a miracle.

I could not stop humming and singing the tune. So I sang it as a prayer to God and a prayer for all the people I was passing by. This is making prayer ubiquitous, praying all through the day, this is Continuous Prayer.

Henri Nouwen taught me another way to pray, "Listen to your heart. Praying is first and foremost listening to Jesus who dwells in the very depths of your heart. He doesn't shout. he doesn't thrust himself upon you, His voice is an unassuming voice, very nearly a whisper, the voice of a gentle love... This listening must be an active and very attentive listening, for in our restless and noisy world God's loving voice is easily drowned out. You need to set aside some time everyday for this active listening to God if only for ten minutes. 

You'll find it not easy to be still for ten minutes at a time. You'll discover straightaway that many voices, voices that are very noisy and distracting, voices that do not come from God, demand your attention. But if you stick to your daily prayer time, then slowly but surely you will come to hear the gentle voice of love and will long more and more to listen to it." Ref 1

This is Contemplative Prayer. So instead of trying to spend an hour in prayer, it might be better for me to spend short times of 10 minutes to find the place where God is, empty my thoughts and let God fill my mind. I used to think that contemplative prayer is some highly spiritual activity reserved for hermits and the Desert Fathers but difficult for the average person. It is something unachievable by people who are easily distracted. I no longer think this way. The discipline of contemplative prayer is particularly good for people who are busy, people who have many things on their plate so much so that it is good for them to get away for brief moments with the Lord. The Don Moen song 'I Just Want To Be Where You Are ' aptly describe this desire. 

Then there is Community Prayer, Henri Nouwen said, "Prayer is the language of the Christian community. In prayer the nature of the community becomes visible because the prayer we direct ourselves to the One who forms the community. We do not pray to each other but together we pray to God, who calls us and makes us a new people. By prayer, community is created as well as expressed."

When we pray in groups, we bind ourselves together. We learn that prayer is a most precious expression of our individual faiths so it needs the constant nurturing and support of the community. Jesus said

 

"Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree on anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there I am in the midst of them." 

Matthew:18: 19-20 

Lionel

Ref 1: Henri Nouwen. You Are The Beloved. Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living. Hodder & Stoughton, 2017

First Published in May 2007

Unceasing Prayer

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'Pray without ceasing.' 1 Thess 5:17

18 August 2007, my daughter Becky wrote something on prayer: I tend to hang out a lot online and have become a member of a number of prominent message boards. One particular message board struck me, it started a little thread for prayer requests. The introduction of which is as follows,

"I am placing this thread here as a place for Christian players to request prayer. I plan to check the thread regularly, and pray for the requests. I encourage others to also pray in response to the prayer requests. I'll make the first request. Please help me pray for the wisdom, knowledge, and strength to be a better servant of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of the one true God. I hope that God is glorified through this thread." - Shaper Geneson

Although the thread itself isn't really popular, there have been a number of prayer requests from people and it's heartening to see prayer used to help others. 

I check the message board daily to pray for friends that I know and quite a  few people that I don't even know their real names. I figured, God knows who I'm talking about, even if I don't. I started to have had online friends who had troubles and told me about them. Seeing as I can't get out to Canada or Switzerland or America in the blink of an eye to give them hugs or advice directly, my best way of helping is to pray for them. I'll tell them that I'm doing it and pray with them over the microphone or just over chat in a chat room. 

God knows best, and it's almost surprising how much comfort people can take in prayer. And the prayers are answered, sometimes in very specific ways, I get feedback from friends about it. This keeps me going, even if I do feel embarrassed praying over a microphone for someone that I haven't even met. In fact, I've had people tell me that they've never been prayed for before. 

I cannot imagine not being prayed for. Praying for others and being prayed for is something I remember from way back when. I remember waking up early in mornings sometimes, lying in bed, I can see Papa or Mummy kneeling by my bedside praying for me. It is something comforting, knowing that God has my back and that I'm not the only one struggling to pray for myself - that other people care as well. To me, prayer is the most powerful tool that we Christians have. I mean, to be able to talk with God? That's pretty important stuff! 

I recall that one pastor in my church once observed that in Jerusalem, they rock when they pray. Why? Because it's GOD that they're talking to when they pray. Why shouldn't they pray with all their heart and soul, mind and body? It's GOD. 

So, take some time off sometime today and do some praying. I generally do every day before I sleep. I take time to tell God what I've done today, thank him for the funny addresses (simple pleasures that keep me going) in my work as well as for the many many blessings he has given me, I thank him for dying on the cross for my sins. I pray for my family, for friends that I know the names of, for friends I don't know the names of and for people I don't know from Adams. Then I pray for myself. Then, I thank God for listening to it all and being patient enough. 

Praying really reminds me of everything that I have to thank and praise him for. The words come out easily. Sometimes, I have so much to say, I fall asleep saying it. But, it's a good thing, because I've touched base with God.

So, take some time now, today, whenever... and just sit down with your family, or someone that you know, or someone that you don't even know but you've been listening to (My pastor even prays for complete strangers he's met on the bus!) ... and pray. Because it's important.  

Lionel adds: We could make our prayers instinctive as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, 'Pray without ceasing.' But how do we pray without ceasing? 24/7? I think the answer is to try weave prayer into our everyday life and routine. To some extent Becky has weaved prayer into her IT routine. We are now learning to have Zoom prayer sessions. 

We can also establish a ubiquitous prayerful attitude for all our waking moments. Brother Lawrence observed that it is a great delusion to think that the times of prayer ought to differ from other times. Henri Nouwen wrote, 'By the discipline of prayer we are awakened and opened to God, who enters into our heartbeats and our breathing, into our thoughts and emotions, our hearing, seeing, touching and tasting. We give ourselves over to this incredible Presence, who takes possession of all our senses. By doing this, our unceasing thinking is converted into unceasing prayer, moving us from a self-centred monologue to a God-centred dialogue.' Ref 1

Dallas Willard noted that 'Prayer is never just asking nor is it merely a matter of asking for what I want. Prayer is a matter of explicitly sharing with God my concerns. And of course he is concerned about my concerns and, in particular my concerns should coincide with His. It is the inevitable result of someone who understands God and is actually living interactively with Him.' Ref 2

The song, The Prayer, popularised by Andrea Borcelli and Celine Dion celebrates this interactive living with God, that resonates in our prayers.

I pray you'll be our eyes, and watch us where we go

And help us to be wise in times when we don't know

Let this be our prayer, when we lose our way

Lead us to the place, guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe

With such a prayerful 24/7 encapsulation of our lives, we become receptacles of the divine through the pathway of prayer.

 

Becky and Lionel 

Ref 1: Henri Nouwen. You are the Beloved, Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living. Hodder and Stoughton, 2017

Ref 2: Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy, Rediscovering our Hidden Life in God. HarperCollins, 1997

1st Published on 18 Aug 2007