Prayer is a subject that most people, especially people of faith, are very familiar with, but do we really practice it? More to the point, are we really knowledgeable about how to go about it and comfortable with it? I suspect that we are often intimidated by the mere suggestion, by the mere prospect. I, for one, thought for years that there needed to be a particular place, time and pattern for prayer for it to really 'count' as prayer. Sister Doreen of the Sisters of St. John the Divine was most helpful in this regard, in suggesting that prayer can be at any time or any place. Even a hasty muttered prayer or thought prayer while at a stop light or in busy traffic 'counts'.

Even so, I still find myself reluctant to ask God for things, especially if they seem trivial or unimportant in the larger scheme of things. It is almost as if I don't want 'to bother him.' But Jesus, in today's Scripture, encourages us to ask, and even lays down some guidelines, some suggestions, as to how we might go about doing so. Anyway, I found this quite helpful. I hope you do as well.

God has a way of 'throwing us for a loop', of putting us into situations or directing us into them that are not at all what we expected--and certainly not within our comfort zones. The lawyer in today's passage about the Good Samaritan had his own comfort zone, one that certainly did not include the likes of Samaritans. It made me think of my response to people who fall outside 'my' comfort zone, people who are nasty and belligerent, especially over matters like vaccinations and global conspiracies, or people who have a well-developed, well-honed sense of superiority or sense of entitlement. These are people that I, for one, have trouble loving 'as I love myself.' And yet, Jesus tells me--and us--that not only are we to love them, but also that we should imitate them when they earnestly put themselves out in order to care for others. Ouch. That's a hard one, but then, that is what our God often calls us into.

The apostle James, in the Letter from James found in the New Testament, has a rather searing indictment of those who know God's will, God's word, and fail to put it into practice. In chapter 1, verses 22-25, he likens it to a person who looks at him or herself in the mirror, and then goes away, forgetting entirely what he or she has seen there. He likens the word of God to a perfect mirror that shows us as we are and then prompts us to act upon what we have seen there.

Today's passage from Psalm 119 also talks about the need to follow up our 'knowing' with doing. Knowing and understanding God's will and word are great, but unless they are put into action, they are insufficient, and, to be honest, somewhat useless.

The people in Nazareth, Jesus' former neighbours, had a problem. If they were to accept what Jesus said about Himself, namely that He was the long-awaited Messiah, then that would force them to re-evaluate their lives and change many things there. And, this they were not prepared to do. And we, too, if we take seriously who Jesus is and what He says about Himself, and about us, then there are also some serious consequences in terms of our priorities, thinking and actions. What the people in Nazareth did not realize was they would have been far the better for having done so. It is something we need to remember as well.

Jesus' famous Parable of the Great Feast, what I call the Parable of the Lame Excuses (see Luke 14:15-24), suggest some reasons why people might pass up on God's great and incredible offer. In today's passage, also from Luke, we see four other things, possible hindrances or obstacles, that might impede or stop us from faithfully following and obeying Jesus. Sadly, I find that they are all too pertinent to my own life and choices. There are some challenging notions here, I would think. What about you? Anyway, something to ponder and think about. Hope you enjoy this meditation.

To me, today's passage and meditation are extremely helpful and useful, in that they address the question of our priorities in life. So often, if you are like me, it is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day details of daily living, the myriad of things that we have on our to-do lists, and fail to see or take stock of the bigger picture, the picture as God sees it. And, according to how I read today's passage, that bigger picture, God's picture, always has to do with people, so it is very timely to be reminded of that.

I think that the Lord is perhaps trying to tell me something, and maybe you as well. I just 'happened' a few minutes ago to look at my accompanying note for my September 2 meditation and noticed what its overall message was. It was about how we tend to look only to ourselves for strength and help and guidance rather than going to the Lord and relying upon the Lord. Often, if you are like me, God is my last resort--even if I bother to go to Him at all, which far too often I don't. Anyway, I don't know about you, but for me, I need to be more intentional and more frequent in going to the Lord.

Today's passage and meditation remind us just of how wonderful and caring our Saviour Jesus Christ is. He is interested in our entire beings, body, soul, spirit, everything that we are and everything we do. That means that there is not a single aspect of our beings, or of our lives, that is not of interest or importance to Him. Everything, without exception: what a wonder and a joy that is!

The Scripture passage for today returns to one of my favourite books of the Bible, the book of Jonah. I like it because it is so very real, so very human, and because it has some very real lessons for all of us--today's lesson, for instance, on the necessity of faith also issuing forth in action is always pertinent for my life, as it probably is for all of us. I hope you enjoy this meditation and find it helpful.

This morning I was rather surprised, and delighted, by the passage selected by the author of today's Forward Day by Day devotional booklet and by the meditation that this author penned. It had all to do with thanksgiving, which was rather appropriate given what day today is for us Canadians--and rather surprising, seeing that the author is American. Anyway, I was delighted.

And, true to what our author says, we need to make sure that our thanksgivings are actually directed to the real source of our blessings, namely God. Far too often, I read Thanksgiving weekend messages from school children or notes in the press expressing their thankfulness--without even once mentioning the name of God. It is almost as if they felt that the blessings just appeared from nowhere, or as if they somehow 'deserved' or merited or earned them, which, of course, is the furthest from the truth.

Today's speaks of our civic responsibilities, which seems rather appropriate to this Thanksgiving weekend.

This meditation speaks of our need to listen, to listen carefully to what God says, and respond appropriately.

The famous Parable of the Soils, often called the Parable of the Sower, graphically describes, in picture form, the various responses that people can have to the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. And while many of those responses take place with 'other people', my thought is that the situation of the weeds is the one that impacts us more frequently than the others. It may not centre on riches or pleasures, but on busyness instead, on our conflicted and over scheduled lives. I fear that these things may have the effect of choking out the good seed and preventing it from growing up and flourishing as it should. Instead, let us be like those faithful women mentioned here, who did let it grow and flourish in their lives, and which resulted in a great harvest of good works and giving.

Psalm 131 is one of the shortest books of the Bible, but even so, it still packs a punch. In a sense, I was quite taken aback by it. Coming from an English background where men were encouraged--no, expected--to be self-reliant, self-sufficient and independent, this psalm was a bit of a wake-up call--a call to sometimes be a bit more 'selective' in what we take on, and to more readily call upon others--including God--for help and advice.

It would seem that these days many, many folks are asking, "How in the world could all these things be happening in the world around us?" Injustice, discrimination, poverty, division, hostility, lack of respect and care, crime, and war and disruptions of various sorts seem to be everywhere. Often it seems that there is virtually no good news.

But these concerns and questions are nothing new. Countless people have wondered and asked about these things in times past. And certainly, Micah in today's passage, and Habakkuk a few days ago, were asking about this back in Israel's time. And the answer to them, as to us, is the same. All this bad stuff won't last, but God will, and God will bring about a time of justice, restoration and peace--but in His own good time. And so, in the meantime, we wait and we trust and we try our best to alleviate the problem and not to be part of the problem ourselves.

Life can be filled with a multitude of 'what ifs', such that we could rather become obsessed with the infinite range of past possibilities. However, dwelling on them and speculating about what 'might' have happened is a useless and unproductive pursuit. Better to simply seek the Lord and His will and seek to do it, and leave the rest to Him. That is what today's meditation is about.

Today's Scripture lesson and its preceding few verses have to be some of the most perplexing passages in the entire Bible--not for what it says literally, but in how we are to apply them. It concerns the question of judging. How can we ever, amidst the conflicting claims of life, avoid making some kind of judgment call? Anyway, that's what my meditation is about today. I hope you find it stimulating--and helpful.