FOOTSTEPS IN PRAYER
This is a year long journey of prayer through the books of the Bible from Genesis through to Revelation. Each Sunday evening a prayer station will be emailed out. Each Prayer Station is designed to last a week with seven stopping points that take you through different passages from the Bible book for the week. It is hopefully structured in an easy to follow way. Hoping that you don’t need the guidance below but just in case:
Each day:
- The title slide helps you know you are in the right book.
- The second slide helps you settle with a choice of music links.
- The third slide provides a link to a piece of music chosen for the scripture of the day to begin your time of prayer.
- This third slide then gives you a link to take you to the slide with the reading of the day.
- The reading of the day slide has on it:
- The reading for the day.
- Guidance on how you may use the passage in prayer.
- A link to listen to David Suchet reading the whole of the chapter or to the context the passage is taken from by clicking the underlined link in the bible reference in the title.
- In the final line of the guidance on this slide, there is a link to a new page with a further piece of music chosen for the day. You may wish to continue your prayer time with this.
- The final slides include a psalm, a passage from proverbs, a closing written prayer and an idea for creative prayer.
Over the week you might also like to read the whole book of the week, or listen to John Suchet reading it on YouTube.
The Footsteps in Prayer are in reverse order, so the latest week is at the top and you can scroll down for older ones. That will make it a lot easier once we get further into the Bible (there a LOT of books).
9. Samuel
Samuel is a book about politics, personality, potential, power, preaching and prayer. While it, along with Kings, tells the history of a people, it is really more a collection of stories about people. The two main characters are Samuel and David. The stories are not for the faint hearted. Infertility, incest, rape, polygamy, murder, family discord, betrayal, temptation, disloyalty, civil war, deceit and the use and misuse of power. But is it also a a book about loyalty, friendship, love, respect, faithfulness and the appropriate use of power. Above all it is a book about the faithfulness of God. Bookended by two psalms, one of which is sung by Hannah and is resonant with the Magnificat, the storyteller ensures that ‘the whole story is read in the context of the God who turns the world’s values upside-down, the living Rock who gives power to the weak, transforms failures and longs to bless those who serve him.’ (Mary Evans, The Message of Samuel, IVP).
These seven days of prayer focus on the call of Samuel and of David, and on the faithful God who is our rock in whom we can take refuge, our shield and the horn of our salvation.
8. Ruth
Rhona writes: Ruth is the most beautiful story of God’s providence. It doesn’t shy away from the traumas of life, the brokenness of suffering, but it does place it within the bigger picture. Ruth, like Rahab, chooses to follow Yahweh, the God of Israel, and in doing so, like Rahab, takes her place in the genealogy of Jesus described by Matthew. The Moabitess chooses to follow the God of Israel.
In the story of Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, we also begin to see a story that heralds the work of The Redeemer. We are like Ruth and are in need of rescue. We cannot do it ourselves. We need a kinsman-redeemer named Jesus. We also see a hint of Jesus the bridegroom, and us, the church, his redeemed bride. And maybe also a hint of the Lord’s supper where we too are asked to sit down and dine.
7. Judges
‘When Israel forgets its God, might makes right’. So says the commentator in the Bible Project video on the book of Judges – a book that is not for the faint hearted. A phrase in the book that is repeated a number of times is ‘everyone did what was right in their own eyes.’ And this is what the book portrays – repeated cycles of deliverance by God leading to peace which are then thwarted by the people turning from God, doing what is right in their own eyes, leading to judgement. The final part of the cycle is that of repentance as once again the people seek God and are delivered.
The progress through the book shows the increasing spirals of depravity where ultimately Israel no longer knows the character of their God. While God may empower his people with his spirit – and will guide and lead and advise on action – the choice of how we decide to act remains with us. Judges shows us what happens when our decisions go against the call of God. The wages of sin is death. As Israel turns away from the God who loves and saves them, they seek their own self-destruction.
The first part of the oft-repeated phrase ‘everyone did what was right in their own eyes’ is ‘in those days there was no king in Israel’. The tragedy of the book of Judges demonstrating the depravity of humanity, also has a two glimmers of hope – of a final lasting deliverance and of a coming king. And so the stage is set for kingship in Israel, and for a King that will rule his people. ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders … and he will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness’ (Isaiah 7).
6. Joshua
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua is one of the hardest books to read in the Old Testament. It seems to be full of violence and death, and indeed it is the book that the new atheists hold up as being the the evidence that the God of Israel is not a God of love.
However, as with so much of history, we need to ensure that we don’t look at the stories being told with the ‘retrospectoscope’, where we impose our cultural norms and values on a society and then judge it according to those values. We need instead to look at the cultural norms and values of the society we are reading about and understand it within the context in which it is set. We also need to look beneath the surface and beyond the obvious, and dig deep into the text. While it may not calm our emotional and psychological aversion to some of the stories, it will at least help us to see the theological truths underpinning them, and hence understand more clearly what they mean for us today.
David Firth points out in his commentary that an eighth of the book of Joshua is devoted to the story of Rahab and Achan. Rahab, is a Canaanite prostitute, who confesses faith in Yahweh and who with her family is saved from the destruction of Jericho. Mentioned in both Matthew and Hebrews she becomes part of God’s people and is an ancestor of Jesus. Achan, on the other hand, is an Israelite who turns away from Yahweh and disobeys God and as a result suffers the wages of sin, death. Israel is more that an biological group of people, it is those who have committed themselves to Yahweh’s purposes. Those who choose actively to oppose God are excluded. Those who choose to follow God are included. Caleb, the Kenizzite is an example of this, as are the Gibeonites.
If we find ourselves disturbed when new atheists use terms like genocide and ethnic cleansing about the book of Joshua, it is worth doing some more research and reading. As Firth points out, deeper reading of the texts reveals how only combatants were killed and an alternative was always available. ‘Divine judgement will, perhaps, always make us uncomfortable. We would like God, as a loving Father, never to act in judgement – but that would be contrary to his nature. However, what emerges from the book of Joshua is that judgement remains his ‘strange’ work…. it is something he does with a heavy heart, which is why in the midst of judgement an alternative is always available.’
5. Deuteronomy
“Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”
Deuteronomy is a retelling of the story of the Exodus – but it is a retelling in a very different way.
It is Moses’s autobiography, in which he erases himself from history. It tells of how Moses the prince of Egypt, who would have expected mummification and a pyramid grave, with his children inheriting his power, dies leaving no body, no grave and no dynasty. In the words of Micah Goodman, it tells of taking the Jews out of Egypt, but also tells of taking Egypt out of the Jews. It tells of a people moving from the security of slavery to the uncertainty of liberty. It tells of a people being asked to trust and serve only the Lord God.
Deuteronomy is composed of three speeches of Moses made into one, followed by a song and and ending with a blessing. In these Moses tells the people eight times that it was God who brought you out of Egypt. It was God who led you through the desert, God who provided water, manna and quail. It was not me.
Central in the book of Deuteronomy is the idea that if you violate God’s word, if you violate the covenant, you will be devastated and exile will follow. A graphic description of this is found in chapter 28 where the devastation the Israelites are threatened with for turning away from God includes boils, plague, darkness and locusts, reminiscent of four of the plagues visited on the Egyptians. The Israelites who have left Egypt and are about to enter the promised land are warned against the danger of becoming Egypt. And so it is a preparation for the book of Joshua where the people of Israel are asked who they will serve. Moses in Deuteronomy is preparing the way so that they can all say, with Joshua, ‘as for me and my house we will serve the Lord’.
The prayer station also includes links in the final slide to a summary of the book on YouTube by the Bible Project and an overview by Fuller Theological Seminary.
4. Numbers
The book of Numbers is perhaps best know for the blessing of Aaron. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. Yet Numbers is not a book we will have heard many sermons about. Although we see countercultural and universally applicable approaches, for example, in promoting the inheritance rights of women in chapter 27, many of the laws and commands are given by God specifically for the Israelites living in that time and in that place and therefore not applicable to us today. The name of the book, Numbers, can get in the way. It has, however, been know by two other names that come from words in the first verse of the book in the wilderness and the Lord spoke. This book is about God speaking to his people in the wilderness. It is a book that was important to Jesus and New Testament writers and is a book that can inform us today.
Raymond Brown helpfully divides the book into four parts: getting ready – about the Israelites’ year’s stay at Sinai having left Egypt and receiving the law; setting out – the initial stages of the journey to the promised land; drawing back – when the people refuse to enter the land; marking time – the period of waiting in the wilderness; and pressing on as the next generation looks to the future and Moses hands the leadership over to Joshua.
In this week of prayer stations we pray with seven passages from the book of God’s words in the wilderness. We pray with the Aaronic blessing and with passages on remembering the word of God, on leadership and God’s guidance and shepherding. We also pray with a powerful passage of God’s redemption and healing that has echoes of the crucifixion and the the reason for our hope. A final passage we pray with encourages us to look back and record our journey with God.
The creative prayer is about prayer walking with physical and virtual ways of doing this. Malcolm Guite has also given permission for us to use one if his prayers due to be published in 2021.
3. Leviticus
‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect’. (Leviticus 26:13).
‘I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.’ (Leviticus 22:32-33)
Derek Tidball says in his IVP commentary, ‘Leviticus is good news. It is good news for sinners who seek pardon, for priests who need empowering, for women who are vulnerable, for the unclean who covet cleansing, for the poor who yearn for freedom, for the marginalised who seek dignity, for animals that demand protection, for families that require strengthened government, for communities that want fortifying and for creation that stands in need of care. All these issues, and more, are addressed in a positive way in Leviticus.’
Leviticus is a book with a deep relevance for today. Our God is Holy. He is holy and strong. He is holy and immortal and He has shown his mercy. Using Tidball’s framework in this prayer station we pray about entering God’s presence and his service; about God’s design and purity and about our ensured forgiveness.
‘Leviticus serves as a preliminary sketch of the masterpiece that was to be unveiled in Christ’ (Tidball).
Throughout the book of Leviticus we encounter the holiness of God and we are encouraged to be holy as he is holy (Leviticus 19:2). It is this verse that is the basis of this week’s improvisation on scripture
2. Exodus – From Pharaoh to Freedom.
Exodus takes Jacob’s family, who have settled in Egypt and prospered, into a time of adversity and enslavement when the ruling powers see the Hebrew people as a threat. God raises up Moses and prepares him for the task of bringing His people out of slavery and into the promised land. Exodus tells us of the life of Moses, his meeting with God at the burning bush, his confrontation with Pharaoh, of the Passover and how God works to enable his purposes. Exodus ends with Moses meeting with God on Mount Sinai and receiving the Law.
This prayer station is designed to take you through seven of the key passages in Exodus over a week. You might like to also read the whole of Exodus at some point this week as well.
The musical improvisation on scripture this week is based on the passage from Exodus 34.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.
Any ideas of how to make these weekly stations easier to use please let me know.
Also please feel free to share with others. All the images are used with permission for this, or are in the public domain or are used under fair use. On the final slide I have also added a link to a website where these and other resources can be accessed and downloaded.
Every blessing this week
1. Genesis
Genesis takes us from the beginning of creation, to humanity’s turning away from God and to God’s saving plan for his world. We see God’s calling of Abraham to be the father a nation who will be God’s chosen people, called to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth. We see this promise being passed on to Isaac and to Jacob. We meet Joseph, whose brothers’ intention was to harm him, God turned to good. We end Genesis with a story of forgiveness and with the people of God joining Joseph in Egypt.
This prayer station is designed to take you through seven of the key stories in Genesis over a week. You might like to also read the whole of Genesis at some point this week as well.
This week also includes a link to a beautiful instrumental soundscape created to be part of this prayer station by someone who has been journeying with us through the Journey with Jesus.
Older Prayer Stations
Can be downloaded from the links below