Abide – Prudence
Hello Tyndale family and welcome to Abide, a prayer practice that we have together where we go into our inner room and close the door and spend time with the Creator of the universe. What a privilege. And we're beginning this beautiful series on the ancient Christian virtues, last week in temperance, and this week in prudence. Such a beautiful virtue that has been somewhat lost in our times.
Prudence can be translated many different ways but let me give you a few words to help you get an idea of this word. Wisdom or foresight, practical judgment, counting the costs, pondering, thoughtful consideration, movements of right action at the right time. And so, this is our prayer as we move into this time of quiet together to seek God in this area of prudence, and to have the ability to discern appropriate courses of action in and through our days, in appropriate times to follow through with these actions. And so, prudence is our word for these 30 minutes.
So just begin to get settled in your seat, or on your walk, or on your commute. And you know, we often think we should sit down and pray when we're in the mood for it or when life is convenient for it. But, you know, case in point, I come down to have my prayer time and there's a, there must be a wasp nest in our house so there's about 15 or 20 wasps around, but I have closed the door, and I think they're all out right now. So, you know, there's not always a great time to stop. You don't always feel like it. But what I would say is that when we choose for it and when we carve the time out right in the middle of a chaotic day or, or you're fatigued or just overwhelmed, that we go to the Lord in this space and in this time to reconnect with our source, with our Creator and with the deepest love of our lives.
And so come as you are, and just begin to settle your body, and let's take a gentle breath in through the nose together, and then to exhale out together. And again, inhale through the nose and follow your breath all the way into your body. And then follow it out all the way. Begin to calm the muscles of the face, relaxing the face, relaxing the shoulders, the hips and down through the body into your feet. Just becoming aware of your whole self, body, mind, heart. And here in this space, we recognize the presence of Jesus here, and that he gazes upon us in love, in tenderness.
God has a generous heart and wants to deepen us and grow us in these beautiful virtues, so we just bring an open heart.
I invite you to repeat after me these phrases: Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am. Be still and know. Be still. Be.
Hear these words from Psalm 119:
Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I might follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! In your righteousness, preserve my life.
May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise.
In the stillness with the Lord, begin to notice your breath once again. And as you inhale, inhale his loving presence into your body. And exhale out loving presence into the space you are right now. And again, inhale this unfailing love. And exhale out unfailing love into the space that you're in right now.
And in this space with Jesus, we get settled in and allow ourself to be looked at by God and gazed at, and we gaze at him. And this is a time for us to bring up gratitude from our inner being, from deep within us, out into the open space for God to hear. And so today, we're just going to reflect where we have experienced the Lord's unfailing love in the last day, in the last week, in the last hour. We just ask you, Holy Spirit, to come and guide and help us to notice and see our lives and where your unfailing love is continually reaching out for each and every one of us.
And I'll give you a moment for you in the Spirit to gaze and notice where that unfailing love has been in your life in these days.
And if it's hard to find where that might be, because there's just a blockage, your eyes can't see and your ears can't hear, that's OK. Just settle in your seat now and maybe notice the gentle sunshine on your face or the way your shirt gently keeps your body just the right temperature. Just notice the gentle, loving hand of the Father now in this present moment.
Wonderful. And as we're in this space and time with Jesus, in gratitude for his love, He brings forward this word, prudence, into this intimate time. And He also brings along the Scriptures for us to have a living, breathing example for us to ponder together.
And so today will be in the book of Esther, Chapter 4. And we're going to get to notice how Esther exemplifies this virtue. And the story of Esther begins with her winning this beauty contest of sorts, and she becomes the Queen, queen of Xerxes. And in this story, Haman is the bad guy or the enemy of sorts, and wants to destroy and exterminate Mordecai, Mordecai, Esther's cousin, and all of the Jewish people of that time. And so, we pick up here in Chapter 4. And the people are in great distress, so we're going to start in at the story of how they will use prudence to move forward in challenging times. Let's hear this word together.
When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, he put on sackcloth and ashes, and he went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. But he went only as far as the king's gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. In every province to which the edict and the order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. And many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
When Esther's eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the King's eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate. And Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king's presence and to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, “All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned, the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remained silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions.
Allow this story to settle within your being in the silence now.
I'd like to reflect a bit on this story and bring out some thoughts and give you time and space to simmer with these words in your own heart and see what the Holy Spirit brings out in you.
I first recognize that Esther is in quite a challenging situation where there is many that are mourning and distressed, and she too is. And yet, she doesn't back away and freak out and hide her face. You sense that she is centered in her being and pauses to think about right action at the right time. And we see her do several things, some very physical tasks like sending out clothes to Mordecai so he doesn't have to be in sackcloth. She also seeks and asks questions with letters and back-and-forth conversation, to seek truth and what is truly happening and what might be the right course of action, so there's time that's being taken to read and then write and then read again and then write.
And it seems as though Esther is taking it in and she's counting the costs of the situation. We read that she knows that something needs to be done. And she says, “When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it's against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
She realizes that she's in this situation for a purpose, and how can she be used to contribute to the whole of this situation as God would have her? We also see that she calls a fast, and time to pray and trying to seek God, not only herself, but includes her close family and friends, and also encourages others to seek the good will of the Lord in this. And then she says she'll move forward in trust.
So there's a lot for us to uncover here, for ourselves and this virtue of prudence, of wisdom and right action in the right time, foresight. And as we sat with Esther in her situation, I just invite us all now to sit in our own lives a bit. And I invite us all to consider, with God, a big situation that you're concerned about in your life, maybe it's a decision you need to make about your future or maybe it's just a big conflict within your family, or friendship web, or church family. And it just seems big, it's very much out of your control and there's many parts and working pieces and it's overwhelming. So, speak this situation out to the Lord in this space, and describe it to the Lord, and describe your distress in it.
We seek you, God for wisdom in these big situations that just seem so out of our hands, and we have so much emotion around things and frustrations, or even hopes and dreams around things that might not fully evolve. And so, we seek you for wisdom and right action in these situations, and if we have a part to play, something physical to bring, whether it's clothes or whether it's inquiring and asking questions within the situation, whether more prayer or fasting even is required. God, we just give you these big situations in our lives, and we long for prudence, that how we move forward in these situations would not only benefit ourselves, but also the greater good, the whole that we would be able to see and discern the whole.
Thank you that we see Esther considering her people. And as she makes these step-by-step-by-step prudent decisions and actions, freedom comes to the people and Esther changes the course of history because of her choices.
Let us go now into some smaller everyday circumstances, conversations with our family members and friends, interactions with our colleagues, maybe people that we’re living with, our roommates, our class members. Just think about the conversations you might have with them and the interactions.
Notice where there might be strife.
I recognize this in my own life just this week where I came in from work and was ready to just share all the challenges of the day into the household. And I thought, Lizzie, remember prudence? Remember what we're studying this week? And I said, oh, yes, that's right. And I paused and walked in and I asked a question: How was your day? Tell me, tell me more. And it really just changed the atmosphere to the greater good, to the whole, not so much for myself, but for all.
And so, Lord open us to wisdom within our everyday relationships and comings and goings, the things that we're saying, the words that we're using, the conversations. Are there places that we need to pause and rethink? Are there places where we rush into things? Or maybe conversations we’re lazy to and don't give attention to. Lord, we seek wisdom in our everyday lives with others.
And lastly, I'd love for us all to just look over our digital lives, our text messaging, our emails, our Facebook posts and Instagram posts and Twitter, and just what words we put out into the world, and how we respond to others’ words. And I wonder if we might be able to practice prudence in this area. We often just respond quickly or react, and this is a time where we can just create some space and wonder what should be said or how shall I communicate so that this creates a thriving environment, one that can be fruitful and be built up and not be brought down. How can we bring this virtue of prudence, this beautiful fruit, into our environments of our digital lives? I give you a moment to talk with God about that.
God, we see Esther's virtue of prudence here of discernment and wisdom, of right action at the right time to benefit the whole. We too want to grow and mature and become more aware of our action and our behaviors. May they be more in line with your pace, Lord, your love and your plan. We give you our big situations that are just too much for us to fully understand or know how to move in. We give you our smaller everyday relationships and comings and goings. We give you our written exchanges. And Lord, we just want to practice pausing more and considering before we rush in. May we remember you and seek you in all of these circumstances for guidance, for such a time as this. Esther was placed in her situation in her family, in her people group, for such a time as this. It's this way for us, too. You're meant to be in your family. You're meant to be in your place of work. You're meant to be within your community, your church, your fellowship. No matter what the different struggles and challenges and ways in which you're being stretched for such a time as this, you, you, you are meant to be where you are. And so what will you do in the space that God ordained you to be in? How will you contribute? What does prudence look like in the way that you move, speak, act?
Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees that I may follow it to the end. And may your unfailing love come to me, Lord. Your salvation according to your promise.
So as we close this prayer, I just invite you to gently lay your hands on your heart, just to receive this blessing of prudence, this virtue to just soak in deeply into your being and the help of God and the Holy Spirit to allow this to be activated in you. And then take your hands and just put them out in front of you, ready to give these, these virtues, this right action and discernment and foresight into your family and friends, community groups. And then take your hands and lift them up above your head, way up above your head so that you can offer this practice and this virtue to the greater good of the world, for the glory of God. So go in peace, my friends, in his love and in this beautiful virtue of prudence.
