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“It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” The Master Here are some neat little insights from Max Lucado on the prayer our Lord Jesus taught us to pray. “Give us this day our daily bread…”
Since we’re talking about prayer this month (Click here for Manna) I thought it would be neat to share some insights to the tefillin (pronounced (te-fee-LEEN). The word tefillin comes from the word for prayer tefillah. The term is a post biblical word referring to the tradition of wearing to two small leather boxes that have portions of Scripture hand written on pieces of parchment by a scribe inside of them. During prayer men will tie one of the boxes to his hand and arm and the other to their forehead. This tradition comes from the biblical command found at Deuteronomy 6:6-8. What did God have in mind when He commanded this? Could it be that sometimes we need a visual reminder because the mind is quick to forget? We see in Joshua 4:1-3 a similar concept as God told the children of Israel to set up a memorial pillar from the stones of the Jordan River after they had crossed it. Or could it be something else?
“Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills like chaff.” (Isaiah 41:15) In this passage God is speaking of His servant whom He loved, Jacob. Jacob’s family was the weakest of all the tribes of Israel. It was weak like a worm having no strength except in its mouth! It’s interesting to note that some Bible commentators link “threshing” with intercession. Through this correlation we can see that even when we feel small and weak (like a worm) there is power in our mouth as we lift up our voice in prayer.
“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) When things are falling apart, it’s easy to pray…but hard not to lose heart. Therefore God needed to dramatically change my understanding of prayer in order for me to enter into this spiritual principal. Click here to read a powerful Monthly Manna on prayer titled “Praying When You’ve Lost Heart””.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and ALL that is within me bless His Holy name!” God is good and He is faithful this we know, but that doesn’t mean that life is always good. Nevertheless the soul is called to bless the Lord. How is this possible? How can the soul – our emotionally based facility (the soul/nephesh (Strong’s #5315) is literally the seat of our emotions and passions) – bless the Lord when the sky is falling all around it? How do we “proclaim it” when we are not “feeling it”? We know faith is not a feeling – yet when God breathed into us we became nephesh a living soul with feelings that are very much a part of us. The answer is Bitachon - Trust in God. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23). We pray this soaking music finds you wrapped in the Father’s love and that you are able to hold onto His faithfulness with new strength. B’rachot (Blessings) – Tiffany Ann and the DWTF Ministry Team. DWTF Ministries is licensed with ASCAP.
It’s a Divine paradox that it hurts to be healed. As I shared in this month’s manna I had a mountain of pain in front of me. I didn’t want to deal with the mountain, I wanted to worship God and be over it. However, the reality was that I wasn’t over it, I was just ignoring it. The Lord didn’t want me casting the mountain in the sea, He wanted me to come face to face with Him and be healed. “How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings.” (Ps. 36:7 NIV)
With their backs against the Red Sea and their enemy (the Egyptian’s) quickly closing in on them, the newly delivered children of Israel began to panic. If God didn’t come through…they were through. Can you identify? I can, therefore I would like to share with you something the Lord encouraged me with. The children of Israel were getting fearful because although they had seen some miracles…they didn’t personally know this God they were being delivered to serve. Sure, they might have heard the accounts of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they didn’t have an encounter with the living God. All they had was 400 +/- years of bitterness and bondage feeling like God forgot them and turned a cold ear to their cries. How could they trust Him now? How can you trust someone/something you don’t know? God has sent you a Divine Valentine. Enjoy soaking in His presence through this prophetic song.
I was asked how to pronounce the two Hebrew words for trust that I have been writing about; batach and chacha. Batach, the most common word for trust is pronounced: baw-taCH. The “CH” indicates a sound that is made in the back of your throat. It’s called a guttural sound.
“…The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.” (Psalm 27:1-3) The Hebrew phrase, “in this I will be confident” uses the word batach literally saying, in this I will TRUST. Batach (Strong’s #982) is the most common word used for trust in the Bible and means: to trust, trust in, to have confidence, be bold, to be secure.
Chasah is a Hebrew word for trust yet it holds a very unique quality. Chasah/trust is not just something a believer has; chasah is someplace where the believer can run for refuge. Chasah (Strong’s #2620) means: to seek refuge, flee for protection, to put trust in God, to hope in God, and to make someone a refuge.
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Copyright 2010 Tiffany Ann Lewis | |||||||||||||
