I've never looked at the account of Jesus turning the water into wine as a lesson on prayer. What an eye opener!
Lesson #1
There's a problem. (boy, can we relate to that?!!) Mary considers the problem at hand. In her mind there was only one source of help. (96) She tells Jesus.
Lesson #2
She asked boldly, confidently in faith! (But) his answer also confirmed that her faith was not misplaced. "Not yet" is not "no". Jesus was essentially telling Mary, as he tells us when we come to him for help, "Leave it to me. I will take care of it when the time is right." (97)
Lesson #3
She trusted that there was no problem in her life too insignificant to bring to Jesus. She didn't waste time worrying or scheming; she came straight to God's Son. She didn't tell Jesus how to solve her problem. She merely brought it to his attention, confident of his help. (97)
Lesson #4
The devil works hard to keep us from coming to God in prayer. It's a conspiracy to be aware of! He does this with the worries that we insist on carrying, the doubts we don' let go, the busyness of everyday life and the distractions of our day. We are kept so busy trying to solve our own problems that "when we finally begin to pray, we have already tortured ourselves half to death." (98)
I need to treasure these lessons and ponder on them for awhile!
Turning water into wine. A miracle! But more than that - a sign Jesus would use ... to reveal himself to his disciples as the Son of God. (98) His glory spilled out and revealed his identity as the Son of God, "and his disciples put their faith in him." That was the purpose of this miraculous sign.... Now his first miracle revealed that his words were true. (99) And Mary would be encouraged by this, too! She was no longer a "congregation of one".
Mothering Like Mary
I really like the idea of praying aloud for your little ones and modelling what prayer can sound like. There's beauty in the simplicity of prayer! And likewise, the mom's reaction to the childlike faith and comfort that her children rest in knowing that their prayers are heard is a lesson for us! Jesus is taking care of it!
In my house we take turns praying around the dinner table after devotion. This has been a way we have modelled prayer to our children. It's also an intimate way to hear what's on their hearts and what their concerns are.
When we are at the beginning of a long car trip and when it comes to an end, we pray with our children for God's protection, safe travels and praise him for his guidance!
Ponder
How is Mary's "prayer" an example to you?
She has showed me to go to Jesus right away. Do not pass "Go". Do not collect $200. Just go right to him!
Be bold and confident knowing that Jesus will answer according to his will, according to his time. He is taking care of it!
There is nothing too insignificant to bring to Jesus. He cares for all my needs and concerns.
Worries, anxiety, busyness, doubts are all tools the devil uses to draw me away from my Saviour. Put these at the foot of the cross and trust in Jesus!
6 comments:
I so appreciated the reminder of lessons to be learned from Mary's "prayer" as well.
I have a question to throw out to readers/fellow participants - Why do you think she turned to the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do? What may have been her thinking or reasoning to include them and not just assume Jesus would handle it Himself in His own way? I had not really thought about this until reading and pondering this chapter and especially as it pertains to prayer and trust in Gods answer(s).
Mommy Su..
My thought's on this. I personally think her action was two-fold
!. To put her trust to action.
2. To stir the souls of the servants, "A great man in in your presence." watch him, not just now, but in the future.
Our Wednesday evening Bible study is going through the book of Genesis. A few days ago, we were reading about how Joseph was given the position by Pharaoh to organize the collecting of food for the years of plenty in order to be prepared for the years of famine. As Pharaoh declared him to have this important job, he essentially was saying - "do whatever this man says! He's in charge!" What absolute trust Pharaoh had in Joseph - so convinced was he that Joseph spoke from the Lord after being able to understand Pharaoh's dreams.
I think that this can be true in Mary's case also. What absolute trust Mary had in Jesus - so convinced was she that Jesus was the Son of God and capable of anything!
I get that's pretty much point #1 that HISchild makes. #2 I hadn't though of and is a good point:)
Just contemplating the discussion here. The suggestions for reasons behind Mary's words to the servants make sense to me. I wonder whether it fits into the application at all. Maybe another lesson in the list (or maybe part of what Rachel calls lesson 3) is that while we wait in trust for God's answer to our prayers, we focus on obedience to him...? Or something like that. Just a spur-of-the-moment thought I had.
Another question/thought:
Sometimes I don’t know how to take Jesus’ words to his mother. When he was 12 years old and “missing” and Mary and Joseph found him, it was “Why were you searching for me?” and “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” And now it’s “Woman, why do you involve me?” and “My hour has not yet come.” In both of these cases Jesus responds in the form of questions, and to our modern-day ears they sound, to be frank, kind of sassy. Of course, Jesus obeyed God’s law perfectly, so we know that he “honored his father and mother” perfectly. That rules out the sassy tone as being the correct interpretation, it seems to me. I’m so glad Sarah Habben chose to address the issue in both chapters. She takes the angle that both moments mark turning points in the mother/son relationship. I wonder if there is another aspect as well. Is there something cultural we don’t understand about the way Jesus spoke to Mary? Has anyone heard any reputable commentary suggesting this?
Rachel mentioned the Luther quote in her Lesson #4. Such a good point it makes! And the prayer that follows on page 98 is one I need to pray for myself.
-Mothering-
A little something I learned from my son's kindergarten teacher 6 years ago has become one of the key ways we teach our children to pray. It is a simple echo. We pray the words for them, one phrase at a time, and they repeat after us. This helps them to keep their attention on the prayer we are leading, and it gets them used to vocalizing the words of "spontaneous" (non-memorized) prayers.
-Ponder-
Evaluate: "I don't know if God is answering my prayer with a 'not yet' or a 'no,' so I might as well stop praying." This is a good one! I can relate! In fact, many times God has answered my prayer long after I’ve forgotten I even prayed it. So why keep on praying if God’s going to do what’s best anyway? The Bible does teach us to be persistent in prayer (“The Persistent Widow,” Hannah praying for a child, Abraham praying for Sodom and Gomorrah, Paul praying for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed…). I think it is for the benefit of our faith that he asks us to do this. This is assuming, of course, that all our prayers come with a “thy will be done.” If his answer is “no,” it helps us to accept that because we are repeatedly expressing our submission to his will.
RunningFromCrazy - concerning your thoughts on Jesus asking questions - thanks for pointing that out. It is interesting to note. I asked my husband if he had any pertanent info on the culture at the time concerning this. He didn't, but noted that Jesus was the "Master Teacher" and knew how to ask questions in order to get people thinking and to teach lessons. We know for sure that it wasn't meant to be "sassy" as you mentioned because he's perfect! Anything beyond that is hard to say.
I like your practice of teaching your children to pray. By example!
I would like to thank those of you who responded to my question of why Mary told the servants/servers at the Wedding in Cana to do whatever Jesus tells them to do; what would lead her to think of that in response to Jesus' words to her just before, Woman, why do you come to me? My time has not yet come.
Your comments gave me pause to think more on this. The fact that God had used humans and human events to further His purposes already in her (Mary's) own life mothering Jesus, starting with an earthly father, Joseph, may be another thought. The proclamation of the census by Caesar Augustus, the shepherds, the wise men, the disciples, and so forth and the way she "pondered" and held in her heart the ways in which God worked His will and kept His promises throughout the ages may have influenced her quick response to the servers/servants. As most of you said, a quiet trust but a quiet trust in action. Once again, may we be like Mary in our quiet but active trust in Him, His will, His purposes in our own lives.
Anyway, thank you.
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