From the Word: They all fled (from Matthew 26:47 - 75)
“ …then all the disciples left Him and fled.”  (Matthew 26:56  NASB)

Lord, I must realize that I, too, would have run away and abandoned You to Your captors.  How presumptive it is for me to think that I might have stuck with You!  Each of these guys had determined ahead of time that they wouldn’t abandon You - v35.  But when the situation sprang upon them and the real heat was on, each one of them, all of them, reacted spontaneously and took off.

O Lord, I must not think that I would be any different from any of Your chosen men.  But I also have the opportunity to make numerous choices through my day that are not made under the same press of circumstances.  I can deliberately think through my priorities and look back on my previous decisions and actions.  I can trust You to give me the strength and wisdom to make the right choices now, and train myself in right reactions, before I have to face the unexpected pressure of the moment. A good place to start is to admit that my natural tendency would be to react selfishly.  Help me to rely upon You to overcome my weaknesses and to get past my personal fears and tendency toward self-protection and preservation.  May You be honored by my ‘natural’ reaction to things that You bring across my path.   Amen.

Please pray with us: Lifetime laborers for the future…
The compelling call of Jesus to me is from Matthew 9:37,38 - “…the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”  Years ago, after praying over this passage for several months, I told Jesus that “whatever a laborer is, I want to be one.”  In cities around the country, The Navigators are focused on training men and women in their 20s and 30s to be God’s labor force for the future, as they are the ones who in the next ten to twenty plus years will advance the gospel into our nation and around the world.  Please pray with us that “the Lord of the harvest will raise up laborers” as we seek to pass on our heart, faith and vision to the young men and women in the major cities across the US.  Thanks.

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From the Word: Three Options: (from Matthew 25:1 - 46)

1 - Prudent?  Or foolish? (from Matthew 25:1 - 13)

2 - Faithful?  Or lazy? (from Matthew 25:14 - 30)

3 - Sheep?  Or goat? (from Matthew 25:31 - 46)

Prudent?  Or foolish? (from Matthew 25:1 - 13)
“For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps…  Be on the alert, then, for you do not know the day or the hour.”  (Matthew 25:3-4, 13 NASB)

What is prudence - what does it look like?  Not a commonly used word these days; some translations say ‘wise’ here.  As prudence is one of the pillars of wisdom (Proverbs 9:1; 8:12), if I am to be wise, then that includes being prudent.  The exercise of moderation, of caution, of sensibility.  Good sense.  Good judgment.  The restraint side of wisdom.  Those are qualities that are part of being prudent.  Lord, I often pray to be wise; should I also pray to be prudent?  Help me to be wise and prudent, and to make good decisions today, Lord.  Amen.

Faithful?  Or lazy? (from Matthew 25:14 - 30)
“ ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground.  See, you have what is yours.’  But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave…’ ”  (Matthew 25:25-26a  NASB)

Lord, why do I identify with this poor bum who allowed his fear to keep him from being smart!  Fear affects sound judgment and can override common sense.  Lord, save me from my natural tendency to hold back.  Is my reticence a quality that I have received from You, part of Your design, or is it my insecurities and fear of failure?  I need to see the big picture as You see it, Lord.  So long as I am concerned with my own interests, I will hold back.  So, how to step out in faith with my eyes fixed on You?  Won’t work in the flesh.  What I need to fear is hearing those dreaded words, “You wicked, lazy slave…” May I plan my day so as to bring honor to You at the end.  May all that I do, not just bits and pieces of it, be in line with Your plans and purposes for us.  I commit my day to You, to see it through Your eyes, Lord, and not mine.  I really need the help of Your Holy Spirit on this one.  Amen.

Sheep?  Or goat? (from Matthew 25:31 - 46)
“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.”  (Matthew 25:32-33  NASB)

Lord, what distinguishes the sheep from the goats?  At issue here is what people did, not what they thought or said or ‘intended’ to do.  In fact, what is remarkable here is that when they showed compassion and helped the needy, they didn’t consciously connect their actions with You, Lord, with the idea of doing it to You or for You.  And when the goats did not do acts of kindness, neither did they relate their lack of compassion with You, either.  Lord, this brings to mind the 2nd commandment for me:  the first - to love You with all my being, and the second - to love others as myself.  Come to think of it, I hardly ever imagine that I am engaging with You as I relate to others.  I see them simply as other people.  But You have created all of us; Your imprint is evident in each of us.  I need to stop and think about this…  I don’t want to contrive imagining You in other people as I go through the day, but to treat others with the respect and dignity that they deserve in their own right.  As You have treated me, may I treat them, with patience, tolerance, forgiveness.  I must act, not just think or talk about this.  Amen.

Please pray with us:
It was just about a year ago that I asked three men to hold me accountable that I might finish well.  Each agreed to be a friend and advisor in that regard.  And I have even unexpectedly ‘backed in’ to another old friendship which has also turned out to be quite helpful for both of us regarding finishing well.  Thanks for your prayers over this past year.    Don’t stop praying; the journey continues, day by day, week by week.  As with Paul, I do not want to delude myself into thinking I have arrived, but “forgetting the past, and pressing forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (from another recent quiet time in Philippians 3:12-14)

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From the Word: “On the alert” - am I alert? (from Matthew 24:32 - 51)

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming…  For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”  (Matthew 24:42, 44 NASB)

Well, Lord, this statement causes me to ask myself, “Have I allowed my house to be broken into?”  (v43)  It seems right now that there are an awful lot of things not going well right now, things that if I just left them or ignored them - like the plumbing leak - the situation could only get worse, and pretty soon!*   And then there are the fun or helpful things that I might want to do but I may never get to them, like making that bottle stopper on the lathe or putting up the wall light in my office.  Life can go on without some of those things, although they are a part of what brings interest to the landscape of my life.  Then again, to neglect the plumbing problem or the leaky roof will soon result in much bigger problems!  O Lord, I pray for wisdom to know where my priorities should be and how I should spend my time when these minor emergencies are not demanding my attention.  Amen.

* - I had just finished fixing a plumbing leak when I wrote this - when I found the dripping pinhole leak it wasn’t too bad, so I thought of waiting to fix it.  Just 30 minutes later it was no longer a drip, it was a stream.  That helped me decide I needed to fix the leak right then and to postpone my quiet time until the afternoon.

Please pray with us:
This Tuesday evening (Aug 31st) we are hosting a dinner event for recent college graduates living in the greater Philadelphia region who have previously been involved in a Nav ministry on campus.   There are a number of these folks who never contacted us when they moved to this area.  We are benefitting from the visit of two men from our national headquarters who are coming to encourage them in their walk and refresh the vision that they were exposed to in college.  Please pray with us that God would bring out the people He wants to be at our gathering, and that He would use our time together to develop relationships with some that could lead to open doors for the gospel here in our region.    (NOTE:  If you are reading this request after the event, please pray with us that the results would be lasting - John 15:16)  Thanks.

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From the Word:  Inverted Priorities  (from Matthew 23:13 - 22)

From the Word: Being a Servant (from Matthew 23:1-12)
“But the greatest among you shall be your servant.”  (Matthew 23:11 NASB)

This should not be difficult!  Serving and helping others is something we all must do.  The world elevates leadership and focuses all kinds of energy and resources toward developing leadership and training leaders and teachers.  What is out there for developing servants?  Where is the manual?  Where are Your committed followers lining up for training on how to serve?  There have been a few booklets and articles that have popped up from time to time, but there are no extensive ongoing programs that I am aware of.

Apart from just going out and doing it, how do we learn to be servants?  With my self-centered nature, I think it is something that won’t come naturally.  May I serve You, Lord.  May I be observant, may I initiate, may I respond to the needs around me.  Not even because in Your eyes greatness is associated with servanthood, but because there are needs all over the place.  And help me not to react selfishly if I am treated like a servant; I must let others decide what I do and how to do it, on their terms.  May I serve You with all my heart and soul and mind and strength and might - every moment of every day.  Amen.

Please pray with us:
The Navigators collegiate ministries are conducting eleven training programs around the country this summer for college students and recent grads.  I attended a number of summer training programs (STPs) and greatly benefitted from them.  Imagine spending four to twelve weeks with other like-minded believers in an environment that focuses on deepening your walk with God and expanding your vision for helping others find Christ and walk with Him for the rest of their lives!  Please pray for the Spirit of God to work in the lives of those involved in these programs, that their lives will be transformed for a lifetime of service to the King.  You can check out the specifics of the different programs by clicking here . Thanks.

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From the Word: Two foundational commandments (from Matthew 22:1-46)
“On these two commandments depend the whole law and the Prophets.”  (Matthew 22:40 NASB)

Amazing to think, Lord, that these two commandments are the basis for everything else written in Scripture!  To love You wholeheartedly and without reservation, with all my being and with every faculty focused on the goal of loving You, and then to love others as I love myself - their interests and needs on equal par with mine.  How unnatural that is, especially the second!  The first commandment seems unattainable, the second strikes me as unnatural.

How then am I to fulfill these, Lord?  You wouldn’t have issued these commands if there was no way to live by them.  It is my heart’s desire to live these out and to honor You by the way I am living.  Yet I accept the fact that in my flesh this is impossible.  I must live for you in Your strength, Lord.  With You all things are possible! (Matt. 19:26; 21:22).

I ask You in faith to strengthen me for a life completely yielded to You and devoted to You, a life of faith believing You that You will do - You can do - whatever You want, and obviously that means whatever You purpose to do, regardless of the circumstances.  You are not limited by the physical laws You created, yet I know that You follow them most of the time.  As You strengthened Paul to serve You (I Tim 1:12), my ability to live out these commandments will also be based on Your strength.  Lord, may Your Holy Spirit strengthen and show me what it is You want me to do and how You want me to live today.  Amen.

Please pray with us:
The Navigators missionary team here in the Philadelphia area is an experienced and committed group.  I count it a real privilege to serve with them.  Please pray with us as each of us pursues the calling and ministry God has placed before us.  A number of us are facing serious challenges that include health concerns, discouragement, as well as the distractions and demands of the busyness of life.  Pray also with us for a spirit of unity as we pursue the unique opportunities and contribution each of us is trusting God for.    Thanks.

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From the Word:  Actions Overshadow Attitudes  (from Matthew 21:23-32)
” ‘Which of the two did the will of the father?’  They said, ‘The first.’  Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.’ ”  (Matthew 21:31 NASB)

Well, Lord, this is an illutstration that always intrigues me:  how important is my attitude?  Or my intentions?  Did the second son intend to follow through?  Fact is, he didn’t.  And the first son, initially resistant, later regretted his posture and did what his father wanted.

A recent discussion focused on the intentions and attitudes of the sons.  But You didn’t address the attitudes, Your main point was what they did, their final actions.  And in context, You are addressing this parable to the chief priests and elders who were challenging Your authority (21:23-27).  They rejected John the Baptist’s exhortations - thus the reference to the tax collectors and prostitutes who will get into the kingdom before them.  The chief priests and elders chose to reject John’s message to repent and believe, but the ’sinners’ responded in faith.

Let me take the main message of this story to heart, Lord.  May I have not only a cooperative attitude, but a commitment to follow through on what I know it is You want me to do.  Amen.

Please pray with us:  Now that it is summertime with kids out of school, college kids home, and various holidays and other activities, and with more flexibility in our schedule, we want to take full advantage of opportunities to spend time with friends and family.  Please pray for us that as we engage in the events and activities, that God will be doing His transforming work in and through us in the midst of the events and relationships.  Thanks.

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From the Word:  Praying With Faith  (from Matthew 21:18-27)
“And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  (Matthew 21:22 NASB)

Lord, thank you for this straightforward reminder of one of the simplest conditions for answered prayer!  I want to believe You, Lord.  I want to take Your words at face value and act on them.  Sometimes the simpler the truth, the more difficult it is, and the more profound it is: the faith of a child (Matthew 18:3); faith that can move a mountain (Matthew 21:21).

I must take this truth to heart, Lord.  This can be a compelling motivational factor to stimulate my time in prayer.  These past few weeks have been very hectic; I confess to You that I have not protected as I should the time that You want to spend with me.  May this be a reminder that I truly take to heart, Lord. Amen.

Please pray with us:  This month and next, the world’s attention is drawn to South Africa as the World Cup soccer championship matches are being played there.  (And right now I am drinking Indonesian coffee given to me by a friend who is trusting God to use him there.  But back to South Africa…)

Later this year, in October, representatives from many nations will again converge in South Africa for the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town.   Please pray with us for the Lausanne Conference that God will use this conference to advance the gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom.  For prayer specifics, please go to my webpage for comments and requests recently sent out by The Navigator’s prayer ministry.

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From the Word: “But to Serve” (from Matthew 20:20-34)
“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28 NASB)

Thank You, Lord, that even as You were going to Jerusalem, and knowing what was going to happen there (vv. 17-19), You still pressed on with what was the right thing to do, the right priorities.  This comment You made in response to James’ and John’s mother’s request.  May I follow Your example and be found a servant in Your eyes, Lord!

What does that mean for me here in my current role?  Give me wisdom to know, Lord, how You want me to conduct myself.  Yesterday was so difficult!  I felt like a servant; pretty much all I did was what others had for me to do, and I got very little done of my own plans and needs.  How shall I live today?  It shouldn’t matter so much that I am helping and serving others, but that You be honored by my activities today, and if that means not doing anything on my own list in order to help other people with theirs, then so be it.

Please pray with us:
This Friday we head out for a three day conference with The Navigators military staff who are ministering on military bases here in the northeast.  Although our primary ministry focus is no longer with the military community, we still get to serve behind the scenes in a support role with our military staff. That means we get invited to the military staff gatherings like this one, which gives us opportunities to keep up with some of our military friends and to stay current with the latest challenges our military ministries are facing.  Please pray with us that our time together would be personally refreshing for our military staff and would re-energize them to better serve the military members and their families who are facing the difficult demands and dangers of deployment, combat action, and family separation.

From the Word: Envious? Or generous? (from Matthew 20:1-19)
“Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:15 NASB)

Lord, I can identify with both here! If I had gone to work first thing in the morning, borne the burden of the work and endured the scorching heat of the day (v12), I would feel like I deserve more than those who didn’t work as long as I did! That’s the good ol’ American work ethic, and You even say that You will recompense a man according to his work (Psalm 62:12).   Is it wrong for me to identify with these guys who you say were envious?

But then You throw in this idea of generosity, and I can see that, too!   If I was one of the guys who didn’t have the good fortune of being hired early in the day, and had to go home with only a fraction of a day’s wage, I would still need to feed my family on what little I made.   And in today’s economy there will be more of this rather than less, people needing to pay bills with little or no income.   So generosity needs to be extended to those who need it by those who have it.

Thank You, Lord, for the heart of this landowner who was willing to be generous with what he had. I want to learn from You and Your heart of generosity. May I do all I can to work hard, make good choices, be responsible and plan well, and at the same time to trust Your sovereignty in our situation, and do our best to be generous as we have the means to do so.   Amen.

Please pray with us:
In our ministry with people in their 20s here in the Philadelphia Metro area, we are seeing mobility that is typical for this age group. Just this week we got word of a grad student moving to Philly into an area of town that another of our friends just moved out of this past weekend.   Also this spring we have had a few new guys move into town and join our group, while another is leaving next week for a job opportunity in another part of the state.   Please pray with us that we can provide encouragement in their walks with God, guidance in their decisions and relational stability for those who are still experiencing transitions in their lives post-college and early in their careers. Thanks.