August 28

Day 167: Lubrication

I prayed with other men this morning. I gathered with Mark, Joe, Paul, Daniel and Joel. Early in the morning. Sitting in a circle in Joel's garage. Coffee in hand.

I think this is the most important and effective thing we do to serve our church. (I could stop right here, but allow me to continue.)

Each time we gather, Paul comes with a chosen text in the Bible as our prayer guide, almost like a script.

It's like we're praying God's words back to Him. (His words are better than ours anyway.)

Praying through Scripture gives us content, and the Spirit uses that content to alter and direct our prayer priorities. It is amazing how what seemed so important to any of us leading in is replaced with what truly is important.

We pray together, filled with the good and right stuff as fuel to pray for what is good and right. Today's passage was Romans 8, a text that has been used by God to bring unbelievers to salvation in Him. Martin Luther among them. Personal friends of mine also.

Meanwhile, there are some places in Scripture where any of us could be tempted to just breeze on through. Descriptions of the Tabernacle, or the Jerusalem Temple come to mind. Those seem to be not much more than just building plans, materials and regulations.

Exodus 25:6 includes the following in a much longer list of stuff that the tabernacle will need to be fully operational. "...oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense..."

Like us, the people back then realized they couldn't have interior light without lamps. Their lamps needed fuel. The right fuel. Oil.

Charles Spurgeon comments on this very thing. "Not every oil could be used in the Lord's service." He goes on to say that other oils (petroleum, fish oil, oil extracted from nuts...and I would add essential oils) may have been more plentiful and available, but these were not appropriate for the intended purpose.

Only top shelf virgin olive oil would do. Pure and free from sediment. If the other oil options represent our own efforts to save ourselves with other false truth sources, the Lord would not be pleased, even if that oil were to run in rivers.

Back in Exodus they didn't know this, but we can. The fact that the Garden of Gethsemane was an olive orchard, symbolizes how we believers can draw our supply of grace from the Lord Jesus who was crushed there.

What's my point, you ask?

The pure oil, that without sediment, is a picture of God's grace; that which refuels us; that upon which we believers are dependent.

God distributes that grace, by His Spirit, through His Word, His Scriptures. We need that grace of God's Word in order for us to be continually fueled, to fulfill our intended purpose. Like a lamp fulfills its purpose.

We can avoid being like the foolish virgins in Matthew 25 who ran out of oil. But only to the extent that we each realize how vital it is, and how dependent we are on being constantly filled with the oil of God's grace to us in His Word.

And, it sure lubricates our prayers too!

- Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau