/IWEDma12

Inspiring Women

MAR/APR 2012

Every Day

March

Lord, teach us to pray Lyn Gitchel

April

God’s presence in hard times Jeanette Henderson Plus ‌ Special Article, Ministry Report and CWR Events Page

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 1

28/10/11 14:57:09

Lo

Lyn Gitchel Lyn Gitchel has taught Bible Studies for many years. Having headed up National Young Life Campaign in her hometown, Lyn has much experience in establishing firmly committed Christians.

Born and educated in England, Lyn worked as part of the team for the first Billy Graham Crusade in England in 1954. Ordained to the ministry in 1964, she worked with CWR in England, before visiting the United States in 1968. Meeting her husband there, they both pastored churches in that country until his death in 1997. Lyn is a popular Bible teacher and author.

Her easily understood manner makes her studies helpful to all ages.

Jeanette Henderson

be ina dra Him of let wil

Jeanette Henderson serves God itinerantly in the UK and East Africa, sharing His Word through preaching, teaching, singing/ songwriting and training others. She is also a freelance writer whose publications include the first two books in a series of biblical studies called LLT (Life’s Like That): Meeting God In the Everyday and Meeting God in Life’s Challenges. Work has now begun on Meeting God in Life’s Storms.

Jeanette also contributes to UCB Inspirational radio’s ‘Godspot’ slots.

so all an us to ask con the int fel

Copyright © CWR 2011. Published by CWR, Waverley Abbey House, Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8EP, UK. Tel: 01252 784700 Email: mail@cwr.org.uk Registered Charity No. 294387. Registered Limited Company No. 1990308.

Front cover image: Getty Images/Jacqueline Veissid. Concept development, editing, design and production by CWR. Printed in England by Linney Print. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of CWR. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from the Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV), copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society.

Other versions used: Amplified: The Amplified Bible, Old Testament copyright © 1965,1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright © 1958,1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.’ GNB: Good News Bible © American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992. Used with permission.

NRSV: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Used by permission. The Message: Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

TLB: The Living Bible, © 1971, 1994, Tyndale House Publishers.

tim yo the yo kn yo an bu tha

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 2

28/10/11 14:57:10

yn ns. rst

r.

g/

es n

nic,

on

76,

Lord, teach us to pray

F

rom the days in the green hills of Galilee when the disciples of the Master asked Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’, the same cry has been on the lips of His followers everywhere. Our own inadequacy, coupled with the hunger of our hearts to draw closer to the infinite God, causes us to cry out to Him to teach us that greatest of all lessons, the lesson of prayer itself. As we go into this month’s readings, let’s study them with the heartcry to the Lord that He will indeed bring each of us to new levels in prayer.

Often we question why prayer is necessary. It seems so unnecessary for us, mere creations of an eternal, all-knowing God, ever to have to ask Him about anything. As a Father, God has promised to look after us and guide us so why would we have to ask Him to do so. But it is a mistake only to think of prayer as asking God for things. How would we feel if the only conversation we had with our children was when they needed something! Prayer is not all praise or intercession either. It is a time of communing, of fellowship and sharing together.

Today, try something different. Set aside a little time and then, instead of the usual way you conduct your prayer time, sit at a table, or desk, and talk to the Lord across the table, listening also to Him, as if you were talking to a close friend. Don’t assume He knows anything. Talk to Him as if you were talking to your closest friend. Tell Him all that is in your heart and listen to Him as He shares with you the hopes and burden of His heart. And, as you listen, you will realise that you are in the presence of God Himself.

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 3

THURS MAR 1 Genesis 18:22–33 ‘When the L ord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.’ (v.33)

For prayer and reflection Father, help me to come into the same kind of relationship with You that Abraham had when You were able to call him Your friend.

28/10/11 14:57:10

FRI MAR 2

When shakings come?

T

here’s no other way for plants to become deeply rooted except by being shaken and shaken again. When you plant them, you shake them causing the soil to go down tightly around ‘And I pray that you, being rooted their roots. Then more soil is added and more shaking, and established and the soil beds itself even more tightly. Of course, in love, may … a little treading down helps as well and water, lots of grasp how wide water, more than just a sprinkling. More like floods that and long and high come with a storm. and deep is the Sometimes we wonder why we have to go through love of Christ ...’ some of the shakings and trials of life. Why do storms (vv.17–18) come, why the trials? Surely, we think, we could be better Christians without the shakeups and difficulties. If life were more peaceful and all sunshine we’d always be walking in the victory, we think. Or would we? No, it’s the shakings that cause us to be tightly rooted in the Lord.

Paul prays for these Ephesian Christians to be so deeply rooted in Him that they cannot be moved, but with that prayer went the knowledge that it would take shakings and trials to bring that about, so he continues by asking that they would also be fully aware of the For prayer and tremendous love that Christ has for them. The Christians reflection of those days were persecuted, and in some ways that made them better off than we are. They became firmly rooted in Christ as they prayed through it all; many Father, I do want were firm enough in their faith to die for Him. to be a channel Thought: There’s a little chorus about being a for Your love to channel for the river of God and it asks God to dig me flow through. deep, Lord, and dig me wide … Being made into a Make me willing for all the shaking channel for the Holy Sprint to flow through is a painful process, but it’s worth it in the end. and lessons that Ephesians 3:14–21

might take.

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 4

28/10/11 14:57:10

d g,

at

If be he

e s

ans t y

MAR 3/4

weekend What prayer is

For reflection: Luke 11:1–12 ‘When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”’ (v.1)

T

he obvious place to start in the lesson of learning to pray is to look at the lesson Jesus gave to His disciples in answer to their request. Personally, I don’t feel the Lord’s Prayer is so much a form prayer as an example of how prayer should be formulated, how we should approach the Father in heaven. Jesus teaches us first to become conscious of the greatness of God and to praise and worship Him for all that He is. When we begin to ponder the greatness of His kingdom and the sufficiency of His power, we begin to see that whatever happens He is in control and that He has a plan and purpose behind it all. When we see this, our own needs suddenly become very small and take less place in our prayer time.

Try this. Start with the first phrase ‘Our Father’. Then think of all the implications of having God as your Father and praise Him for each one separately as you think of them.

You might like to read the meditation I wrote over the page.

Optional further reading R.T. Kendall, Did You Think to Pray? (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2008)

l

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 5

28/10/11 14:57:10

MON MAR 5

Our responsibility

R

ecognising God as our Father brings with it responsibility. Accepting having a father is one thing, whereas accepting the ‘I am no longer worthy to be called responsibility of being a son is quite another. I suspect your son; make me that each of us, at some time or another, has had some like one of your sort of ‘distant country’ experience, either wandering hired men.’ (v.19) away or going against God and losing sight of Him for a while. The son in this story had come to his senses enough to realise that he’d be better off back in his father’s house, but he returned with a plan. He wanted to go back to the comfort and stability provided by the father’s house: to be provided for and to live without having to worry where the next meal was coming from, but he didn’t plan to pick up the responsibility of being a son anymore.

And it’s possible to get into this mode of thinking even without the distant country experience.

Complacency may set in, bringing us to this way of For prayer and thinking, too. It’s so easy to expect God to be there reflection for us when we need Him and to supply our everyday needs, but living up to the responsibility of being a ‘son’ is more demanding – sometimes we’re not even Father, I don’t aware it is expected of us. Of course, being a ‘son’ in want to be the this context refers to women as well. The responsibility kind of person rests equally on both sexes. It is the responsibility of who is always each of us to accept the need to maintain a relationship only asking for with his or her heavenly Father. He expects us to talk things. Please with Him, share our thoughts with Him and spend time teach me to have with Him just to be with Him and to love Him. That a relationship of means laying aside the list of things we want Him to do companionship for a little while and spending time simply communing with You, one of with Him. love.

Luke 15:11–24

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 6

28/10/11 14:57:10

M

F o ‘ o m a ‘ c

F n ‘ p J ‘ b J

F c ‘ y t e H

F r ‘ o ‘ w J

t e

d e

m, g

ty

ip

e

do g

Meditation on our Father God ...

Father means that it is His choice not ours that we are in His family at all ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope …’ 1 Pet. 1:3 ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you …’ John 15:16 Father indicates a love relationship, not a servant relationship ‘The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.’

John 3:35 ‘… the Father himself loves you because you have loved me …’

John 16:27 Father denotes that there will be chastisement, correction ‘… do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’

Heb. 12:5–6 Father means that obedience is required of us ‘... he humbled himself and became obedient to death.’ Phil. 2:8 ‘… chosen … through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ …’ 1 Pet. 1:2

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 7

Father indicates a sharing of responsibility ‘… the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.’

John 5:19 ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ John 20:21 Father means there is receiving of an inheritance ‘Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance …’

Eph. 1:13–14 ‘… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.’ Col. 1:12 Father promises to provide for his own ‘Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?’ Matt. 6:26 ‘And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.’ Phil. 4:19

28/10/11 14:57:10

ok de

y, d

! en

s

ore e

o

Special article

The Resurrection and the Life

H

is pulse was weaker, his breathing shallow, he no longer responded to their voices. Fear clutched at their hearts. The two sisters looked at each other. Yes, they must send for Jesus: it might not be too late! Martha rose and spoke urgently to the young man waiting outside, and he hurried off.

She resumed her vigil, crouching by the bed with Mary, stroking her brother’s hand. They stayed there until dusk turned to night, and his breathing was no more.

Weeping, they anointed the body, and wrapped it in the grave clothes.

A solemn procession accompanying the bier wound its way to the hillside where a cave carved out of the rock gaped open. The corpse was carried in, and a huge circular stone was pushed along a groove until it sealed the entrance. Desolate, the sisters now gave themselves to their overwhelming grief, for four days.

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 31

Adding to their misery was a question: why had not Jesus come? He could have come and healed Lazarus!

They were such close friends! But He hadn’t, and that hurt; it hurt a lot ...

Yet we see only one side of the story. To Mary and Martha it was hard to understand why Jesus would deliberately stay away from His sick friend, when He alone could have healed him! But Jesus had a greater plan in view, and His plans ripen in His time. He invented time, and His timing is always right. His delays do not contradict His love, as we shall see.

On the fourth day, Jesus came.

When Martha heard that Jesus was at the outskirts of the village, she hurried to meet Him. In her confusion and grief, she blurted out, ‘Lord … if you had been here, my brother would not have died!’ ( John 11:21). Then, perhaps feeling that she had spoken reproachfully, she added, ‘But I know that even now God will give you

28/10/11 14:57:14

whatever you ask’ (v.22). What did she mean? For sure, she was not expecting a resurrection miracle; but perhaps still looking to Jesus to bring some hope out of the tragedy.

Jesus said, ‘Your brother will rise again’ (v.23). And then made His astounding assertion: ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ (v.25, my emphasis). All through the Gospel, He has offered life: living water, living bread, sight to the blind; now He says ‘The life is Me!’ He is the embodiment of the promise of life and salvation from God. ‘Through him all things were made … In him was life …’ ( John 1:3–4).

Could Martha believe that? Can you believe that? Perhaps Martha could not fully, but she could affirm her belief that He was the Christ, the Son of God. We shall never, in this life, fully comprehend that He is truly all He says He is. But He requires our simple acceptance that He is the Son of God, and therefore Lord of life and death; Lord of all.

Then Mary came and, falling at His feet, wept with heart-wrenching anguish. Jesus, deeply moved by the sorrow of His friends, wept also. He knew what He was about to do, but

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 32

it did not prevent Him from feeling their pain. We have a High Priest who sympathises with us (Heb. 4:15). Real tears poured down His face; He felt their sorrow keenly … and I believe He feels ours too.

Yet there was another element to His emotion. The Greek word used, embrimaomai, indicates not just sorrow, but anger, indignation. Jesus was witnessing and participating in the ultimate effect of sin on the human race – the oppression and distress, the misery and finality of death under the tyranny of the devil – and He burned with rage. But Jesus came to destroy him who has the power of death (1 John 3:8), and what happened next was a sign of His authority.

Jesus approached the tomb and ordered the stone to be removed, despite Martha’s protest that by now the body would be decomposing.

Jesus then prayed so that everyone could hear: ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me’ ( John 11:41).

Remember, He only did what He perceived the Father was doing; He now wanted to make clear that what He was about to do was with the Father’s authority. Then He shouted,

28/10/11 14:57:14

‘La com La aw

exp out rev

shu It i mu sho sur

am fig fro bei wit hav the exp exp con rot

bu to res bac

ho l

o

w,

he he d

t

,

‘Lazarus, come out!’ (v.43). It has been commented that if He had not used Lazarus’ name, His shout would have awakened multitudes of dead people!

I wonder what the onlookers expected? A horrible smell pouring out of the darkness, embarrassing and revolting them?

A shrouded figure appeared and shuffled out of the doorway. Lazarus!

It is difficult to imagine the effect this must have had on those who watched: shock, fear, astonishment, wonder. Not surprisingly, many believed in Jesus.

This was a real event, but for a moment let us also see that Jesus figuratively wants to roll away stones from people’s lives and call life into being out of the hopeless corruption within. People can be scared of having Him call their name because the ugliness of their sin might be exposed. But Jesus comes, not to expose us to humiliation, ridicule and condemnation, but to call us out of rottenness into new clean life!

Mighty as this miracle was, it was but a pale foretaste of what Jesus was to accomplish by His own death and resurrection. Lazarus was brought back to life in his human body, which

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 33

was destined to die again. Jesus was raised to a new, resurrection body, never to die again. He is the firstborn of a new race, whose human bodies die, but who receive a new eternal life in a resurrection body.

Jesus has defeated our greatest enemy: death. In Him, we also overcome death. It is but a curtain through which we have to pass in order to reach the realm beyond, where all things are made new, and we shall understand what has hitherto been a mystery to us. ‘He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’ (v.26). This is the heart of the gospel.

This extract is taken from the book Magnificent Jesus, by Wendy Virgo, part of the Cover to Cover Lent Study Guide series, suitable for both individual and small group use. For more information/to order, visit www.cwr.org.uk/store a Christian bookshop or call +44 (0)1252 784710.

28/10/11 14:57:15

MAR 31/APR 1

weekend God’s presence in hard times

For reflection: Isaiah 43:1–5 ‘Do not be afraid, for I am with you …’ (v.5)

P

icture the scene! A huge field of sunflowers; thousands of tall, proud plants, heads raised majestically towards the sun; golden petals glistening in its rays – an awesome and inspiring sight!

Now picture those same sunflowers only days later. Plants that had once seemed invincible were now bedraggled and limp. Regal heads so recently held high now drooped and looked pathetic and miserable. Flowers that once stood tall and erect were now bent double instead.

The reason? The weather had changed! The sunshine they usually basked in was now a raging thunderstorm. With heavy raindrops mercilessly pelting them, the sunflowers struggled to cope.

Isn’t this how our lives can become sometimes? Mostly we rejoice as we ‘bask’ in God’s ‘sunshine’. When things go well we stand strong and ‘tall’ spiritually – but then the ‘weather’ changes. Dark clouds of trouble mask the sun, the ‘rain of hard times’ bombards us; we become bowed down and miserable until the storm passes and we can bask in spiritual sunshine again. True?

What’s the ‘weather’ like where you are now?

‘Unsettled’? Then read on …

Optional further reading The lyrics of ‘Hard Times’, copyright Jamie Owens – Bud John Songs/ Copycare. (These can be found online using google.com or you can listen to the song on YouTube.) Psalm 18

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 34

28/10/11 14:57:15

Yo

frie sic us pre tha Bu pe chi Jes

po (M an to mo wo an be rel

pu We str tha rem tha fac cre

R1

You will have trouble …

d T

s

–5 .5)

ow

th

he n

he ‘rain of hard times’ can fall on our lives in the form of difficult circumstances, eg opposition and trouble at work, problems with friends or neighbours, family issues, financial worries, sickness etc. Now God, being God, could easily shield us from these circumstances or, better still, step in to prevent them ever happening. He could plan things so that every day all we did was to bask in His ‘sunshine’.

But He doesn’t! In fact He warns us that times of personal sorrow and suffering will increase in His children’s lives (Matt. 10), especially in the ‘last days’.

Jesus never tries to hide this from us (16:33). Why? He knows that the devil, wanting to dim God’s allpowerful light in us and to dull our Christian witness (Matt. 5:14–16), sends hardship to try to disable our faith and distract our spiritual focus. God’s aim, however, is to make His light shine even more strongly in us and more effectively through us to this dark and dying world. He can use anything (Rom. 8:28), even sorrow and suffering, to stir this up in us – like coals of a fire being agitated so that they burn more brightly and release greater warmth and light.

This month we will study some of the Lord’s purposes in allowing the ‘rain of hard times’ to fall.

We’ll discover His special promises and an even stronger and more intimate sense of His presence that we can experience in each of life’s ‘storms’. We’ll remind ourselves too of the amazing privilege and prize that will be ours when we finally meet Jesus face to face as the ‘more than conquerors’ (Rom.8:37) He has created us to become.

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 35

MON APR 2 John 16:1–4, 12–15,20–28, 32–33 ‘In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart!

I have overcome the world.’ ( John 16:33)

For prayer and reflection Father, as I study Your Word this month, please help me to learn and to grow in Jesus, for His glory.

28/10/11 14:57:15

Tues Apr 3

Strength through weakness

W

hen faced with biblical warnings of difficult times to come, how do we choose to respond? Do we: • ignore these as being too negative, wanting to focus only on the ‘positive’ in God’s Word? The ‘head in the ‘… I delight in … insults, in sand’ type of believer tends to concentrate only on hardships … in Bible passages that encourage and bless, disregarding difficulties. For everything else. God, however, tells us to ‘resist’ the when I am weak, devil (1 Pet. 5:8–9) which would seem to refute the then I am strong.’ practice of ignoring all things negative.

(12:10) • try to avoid personal hardship and heartache at all cost. This ‘dodge ‘em and duck it’ type of believer will go to great lengths to avoid risk of any kind. However the Lord does not want us to shun ‘the rain of hard times’ when it falls, for reasons we will see later.

• accept these biblical warnings as coming from God; and then go on to prepare ourselves in God (ie with His guidance, courage, help and power) to face hardship as it begins to appear in our lives. The ‘more than conqueror’ type of Christian takes Jesus at His word: ‘I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you For prayer and have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; reflection but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world.

[I have deprived it of power to harm you and have How do you choose to respond conquered it for you]’ (John 16:33, Amplified).

They ask God to prepare them in the power of His to God’s ‘forecast’ Spirit to face all enemy attacks and then trust Him to that the ‘rain of grant them the absolute victory that Jesus’ death and hard times’ may be ready to fall on resurrection has already won for us!

2 Corinthians 11:23–33; 12:7–10

your life?

IWED MA 12_internals.indd 36

28/10/11 14:57:15

A

inv pa he no pe for pe sla yo acr fro of

‘gr inv suf suf wh pre it a

sor ab mi cal we un exa