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For some time now, I have been trying to reconcile my background as a Pentecostal Believer with Jewish Tradition. It seems to me, in my reading of the Apostolic Scriptures, and particularly the Gospels and Acts, that the actions and lives of the earliest disciples were charismatic in nature, yet their lives and culture were thoroughly saturated with Jewish tradition.
One particular area in my life where I’m walking through this seeming paradox (what do charismatic Christianity and Jewish tradition have in common, if anything?) is in prayer. The first part of this year, I began using a siddur (Jewish prayer book) in my daily prayer life. I have absolutely enjoyed this for a couple of reasons.
First, using a siddur forces me to focus when I’m praying. It is very easy to just read the words on a page and not concentrate on what is being said. It takes a lot of effort and focus to take the words being read to heart. It is tempting to just go through the motions and get caught up in the externals of what you’re taking part in.
Secondly, using a siddur reminds me to pray. In my life, prayer has always been important, especially spontaneous prayer. But for me, that wasn’t enough. I could pray anytime, and anywhere, but very often, I didn’t feel that I was truly touching the heart of the Father. Part of the reason that I didn’t feel that connection was lack of discipline on my part, but I think that the other part of my distanced prayer life was familiarity with God. Because I knew that God was always listening, it played in to my own lack of discipline. (kind of like many married couples who have been together for years and years. It is rare to see them hold hands and/or show some type of affection for one another due to their familiarity with each other.) Using a siddur forces me to focus on the fact that I don’t know the Father as well as I thought I did.
Very often, the prayers that are expressed in the siddur do much more than I could on my own. It is awesome to me to be daily reminded of my own short comings. How incredibly humbling to come before the Creator of the Universe, the Holiest of all that is Holy, and express my needs to Him. But it is so much more than that. I’m reminded to praise Him daily, confess my sins daily, recognize His sovereignty daily, and live according to His ways.
One of my biggest fears in utilizing a set order of prayer was stifling spontaneity in my prayer life, and my walk with the Master in general. This has done anything but that. I often find myself stopping in the middle of a written prayer or confession and just pouring out my heart to the Father. He alone is worthy of all praise and glory, and to Him alone should we make our needs and petitions known.
As I daily wrestle with not getting hung up on the external part of what I’m doing (donning the tallit and laying tefillin), I’m reminded of the promise of the B’rit Chadashah (New Covenant) in Jeremiah 31:33-34, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: ‘Know the LORD’; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
The external things I believe are important to God, but it is really what is on the inside that matters. If using a siddur, wearing a tallit, laying tefillin etc. are not done from the heart, then they are useless rituals, and in all honesty, they bring the curse of the law, death. The very same Torah that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai is the same one that is being written on the hearts of the followers of Yeshua.
So what does all of this have to do with the Pentecostal/charismatic side of me? Well, I’m still really wrestling through this issue, but let me share some of where I’m at right now.
I believe with all of my heart that the Father wants to pour out His Spirit like never before. He is looking for His Bride to be spotless and wrinkle-free. We get to be that way by living according to His Torah. It is only when we are truly submitted to His Word to work in and through us that we will see His Ruach (Spirit) released in power.
I have come to the realization that I really don’t have a clue who God is, other than my savior and redeemer. I thought that I had things figured out. I thought that I knew how God worked, and how His Spirit moved, and how His people were supposed to behave. Boy, was I way wrong.
As I began to study and realize that the early believers (Jew and gentile alike) were Torah observant, it dawned on me that in order to truly see God move, we have to submit ourselves to His will. Contrary to popular belief, His will is not all that elusive. It is simply following His Word. When we follow the Torah, we find ourselves right where He wants us. We engage in repairing the world and building His kingdom on earth through the power of the Spirit.
I never want to manipulate anyone’s emotions or hype anything up and call it a work of the Spirit. My hearts desire is to know the Father, and allow Him to do as He sees fit. I believe with all that is in me that as I submit to the Torah, He will manifest His power in ways that I never dreamed possible.
After the last three years of studying the Torah, I now feel that I have the beginnings of a foundation upon which I can build my (limited) understanding of the Spirit on. I hope and pray that God’s grace will continue to guide me in my quest to know Him more and more.
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I have been doing some thinking about the command to count the Omer. The command to count the omer is given in Leviticus 23:15-16.
One of the questions that I have wrestled with is this: “How is this command applicable to us today, since we do not have a temple or the Levitical priesthood?”
The importance of counting the Omer is something that must not be forgotten though, regardless of the questions that are raised. I don’t have time this morning to go in to all the details, but let me just say that the parallels that we find in the Apostolic Scriptures with the counting of the Omer are awesome.
We must remember that Yeshua rose from the grave within 24 hours of the First Fruits offering. This is the offering that made any future grain offerings for that year kosher. In the same way, Yeshua was, and is, the First Fruits of the resurrection.
Also, the first disciples of the Master spent the 50 days before Shavuot (Pentecost) counting the Omer. Why? Traditionally, the Jews have counted the Omer to prepare themselves for the receiving of the Torah, which also occurred on Shavuot. The counting of the Omer for the first believers was also a time of waiting for the promise of the Father, the Ruach (the Holy Spirit).
Undoubtedly, there was a great deal of personal examination going on for those early believers. For some of them, they had the opportunity to see the risen Yeshua, but for many others, all they had to go off of was the word of their companions. I’m sure that many were asking themselves whether or not Yeshua truly was the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Was He truly the Messiah? What about His command to stay in Jerusalem until the giving of the Holy Spirit? I’m sure that there was more than just a little hesitation concerning this man who had died such an awful death.
Back to the twenty-first century. What does all of this have to do with me? Well, let me tell you. As our family has gone out of the way to keep this simple command of counting the Omer every day, I have been reminded to continually examine myself. I’m looking forward to the anniversary of the giving of the Torah and the Holy Spirit. I know that I can’t earn anything from God, as His gifts are always given as a result of His grace, but I can continually repent for the things in my life that are unpleasing to Him. I can prepare myself to receive more of what He has for me.
Thoughts on counting the Omer???
