{"id":2882,"date":"2018-02-12T21:18:35","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T02:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/?page_id=2882"},"modified":"2022-03-09T13:25:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T18:25:45","slug":"let-servant-go-peace-responding-god-prayer-lent-2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/let-servant-go-peace-responding-god-prayer-lent-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Your Servant Go in Peace: Responding to God in Prayer &#8211; Lent 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div align=\"center\" class=\"youtube-responsive-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Q31C1Cn2bV8?rel=0&amp;modestbranding=1\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"564\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"summary\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Here, Dr. Scott Powell talks about Zachariah and Simeon, he points out how sometimes we are similar to Zachariah that we tend to waver in our faith in times of difficulty. He encourages us to emulate Simeon with his faith especially during times when God wants to reach out to us in ways we don\u2019t expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for watching and participating in this retreat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Not Registered, yet? Don\u2019t miss the rest of the talks! Register for the Pray More Retreat!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/2018-lent-retreat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Click Here to Register!<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"downloads\">Downloads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"audio-mp3\">Audio MP3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/audiolent\/13%20-%20Scott%20Powell%20-%20Let%20Your%20Servant%20Go%20in%20Peace%20-%20Responding%20to%20God%20in%20Prayer.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Click&nbsp;here&nbsp;to download audio file.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"printable-study-guide-pdf\">Printable Study Guide PDF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let-Your-Servant-Go-in-Peace-Responding-to-God-in-Prayer-Study-Guide.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Click here to download the printable study guide.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"printable-transcript-pdf\">Printable Transcript PDF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let-Your-Servant-Go-in-Peace-Responding-to-God-in-Prayer-Scott-Powell-Transcript.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Click here to download the transcript of the video presentation.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"reflective-study-guide-questions\">Reflective Study Guide Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cLord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.\u201d <\/p><cite><em> (Canticle of Simeon, Nunc Dimittis, Luke 2:29-32)<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The prayer that Zachariah said &#8212; the one that the angel Gabriel tells him has been answered, is a prayer that was asking God to come and intervene, and to save them &#8212; to lift them from the darkness. It wasn\u2019t the prayer that he was saying to have a child, even though we can probably assume that was one of his heart\u2019s desires. If we look at this situation, we learn from it that the most important prayer we say is one that asks for God to be more present in our life, and not necessarily for whatever else it is that we\u2019re hoping for\u2026 How can you assess your prayers and perhaps change them to focus more on asking for God\u2019s presence in your life, instead of the intention that is a desire of your heart?<br><br><\/li><li>Zachariah responded to the angel skeptically when he told him that his prayers were answered. How would you have responded? Would you, today, have the faith to believe him if he told you this today?<br><br><\/li><li>Simeon doesn\u2019t have the gift of this angel in glory telling him the answer. Instead, he has the eyes of faith to see what is hidden. Are you a Zachariah or a Simeon?<br><br><\/li><li>How can you develop the eyes of Simeon this Lent and throughout Easter? What can you do to work on seeing what may be hidden, on seeing God in your presence even when He doesn\u2019t send you an angel?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"text-responding-to-god-in-prayer\">Text: Responding to God in Prayer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Hey everybody, Scott Powell here, and I\u2019m excited to talk to you today about 2 biblical figures, folks from the New Testament, who have been popping up a lot in my life, in my own spiritual life and my prayer life lately. And they\u2019ve kind of been haunting me. So, I wanted to share those with you. They are Zechariah and Simeon. And they\u2019re probably 2 of those biblical figures that you might not know all that much about. Maybe you\u2019ve heard the names before, but they have been teaching me a lot about my own prayer life. And maybe this can be helpful to you too. So, before we jump in today, let\u2019s open in a prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"opening-prayer\">Opening Prayer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord Jesus, thank You so much for the gift of this retreat. Thank You for the gift of all of the people listening on the recording, and watching, the people who have put this together. Please be in my words. Let me not say anything that\u2019s outside of your will. Help us understand what it means to be a people who know how to respond to You. Help open our minds, our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to what You have to teach us, and please form us into people after Your own heart. We thank You, Lord, for calling us here to this place and this time, and we pray that You would bless our time together. And we pray all these things through Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-gospel-of-luke\">The Gospel of Luke<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, the folks I\u2019m bringing up today, I know it\u2019s a little bit Christmassy for a Lenten retreat, but I think it fits pretty well. Zechariah and Simeon show up in the beginning of the <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/the-good-news-ization-part-ii-healing-2020\/\">gospel<\/a> of Luke, and it\u2019s the only gospel that they actually appear in. Zechariah, you might remember, was the father of John the Baptist. So he would have been Jesus\u2019 uncle, right. So they show up. A word about what they\u2019re kind of doing in the story though. I love the gospel of Luke, it\u2019s one of my favorite out of the gospels, one of my favorites. I love them all, but I do love the gospel of Luke, because I love the way that he sets up the story. I really dig literature, and part of the reason I like Luke so much is that the gospel of Luke begins sort of like a Shakespearian play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if you know anything about Shakespeare, Shakespeare loves, before he would introduce you to the main character, the protagonist, he would give you the background cast, and they would all sort of come up on stage and introduce, in their various ways, the main characters. And that\u2019s kind of what Luke does. So before you really get into Jesus and His ministry, there\u2019s this whole background chorus of characters who come and sort of prepare the way. And if you read it carefully, there\u2019s three couples, three sets of a man and a woman who sort of prepare the way for Jesus, and His ministry, and His gospel. So the very first people you meet in the gospel of Luke are Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/impossible-things-can-happen-the-story-of-zechariah-elizabeth-and-john-avent-2020\/\">Zechariah and Elizabeth<\/a>, they\u2019re a priestly couple, so Zechariah is a priest, he\u2019s a Levitical priest, which means it\u2019s his job to offer sacrifice and prayer on behalf of Israel and the temple. His wife, we\u2019re told, is also from the priestly line. She\u2019s of the family of Aaron, who\u2019s actually the family of the high priest, which is a big deal. So they both are&#8230; she\u2019s not an ordained priest in the same way, but they\u2019re a priestly family, which is kind of cool. So they show up there, of course the birth parents&#8230; the parents of John the Baptist. The second couple that we meet are <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/the-genealogy-of-jesus-and-why-it-matters-advent-2020\/\">Mary and Joseph<\/a> themselves, right. We know a lot about Mary and <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/st-josephs-side-of-the-story-advent-2018\/\">Joseph<\/a>, the parents of Jesus. They\u2019re a kingly, a royal couple. Joseph, of course, we know is from the bloodline of King David, and there\u2019s reason to believe, if you dig into some of the minutia of the genealogies of Jesus, that Mary actually shared some of that royal blood as well. So you have a kingly, a royal couple. And then lastly, after Jesus\u2019 birth, when His parents go up to the temple for the presentation, right, forty days after Jesus\u2019 birth, when He\u2019s presented in the temple, given back to God in a certain sense, there\u2019s 2 people: A man named Simeon and a woman named Anna, who are sort of waiting there to meet them. And they\u2019re both prophets. A prophet and a prophetess. They are the only ones who are not married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what do we have in this story? So, setting the scene for Jesus, who is the priest, prophet, and king, we have a couple who are priestly, a couple who are kingly, and a couple who are prophetic. Priests, prophets, and kings, setting the stage for the priest, prophet, and king. It\u2019s a really beautiful way to begin a gospel, so just a note on that. But I want to focus in on, again, probably the 2 that we know maybe the least about of those characters. Zechariah, he\u2019s the first one. Here\u2019s what we know about Zechariah: He\u2019s a priest again, he\u2019s serving God, and we\u2019re introduced to him in the beginning of Luke, in Luke chapter 1. Again, he\u2019s actually the first person we meet in the gospels. And we\u2019re told, this is chapter 1, verse 5 of Luke, that in the days of King Herod, the King of Judea, there was this priest named Zechariah. He was the division of Abijah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The priests in Jesus\u2019 time, back all the way from the time of Leviticus, were divided into 24 divisions, because there were thousands of Levitical priests. They couldn\u2019t all fit in the temple at the same time doing their thing. So they would take shifts, and each of the divisions would come up for a two week shift, and they would do the priestly duties, and then they would go back home, and the next shift would come in. But we know that Zechariah and Elizabeth, remember, they live out in the hill country of Judea. They don\u2019t live in Jerusalem, because <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/turning-mary-advent-advent-2016\/\">Mary<\/a> goes and stays with them during her pregnancy. So anyway, it\u2019s the time when his division was on duty. He has a wife named Elizabeth of the daughters of Aaron, and they were righteous before God. They walked in the commandments, they walked in the ordinances of God. They were blameless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luke kind of goes out of his way to show how holy and righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth are. Why does he do that? Well, he does it because of what he\u2019s about to tell you next, and the next thing that Luke tells you is that they were barren. They had no children, and they were both advanced in years. This is not a biblical understanding, but the cultural idea was that if you were barren, if you didn\u2019t have kids, then surely you must have done something wrong. You must have committed some <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/overcoming-shame-and-sin-lent-2021\/\">sin<\/a> to deserve it. Something was up. And Luke wants to go out of his way to show that \u201cYeah, they\u2019re barren, they haven\u2019t had children, and they are getting older. But they\u2019ve done nothing wrong. They are blameless. They walk with God in the commandments. They are righteous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"burning-of-incense\">Burning of Incense<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So there\u2019s a bit of a conflict immediately in the text. Here\u2019s what happens: While he was serving as priest before God, while his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priests did it fall to him, by lot, to enter the temple of the Lord and to offer incense, to burn the incense. Burning incense, it might not be one of those things that we think about very often because, depending on where you go to church, you might see incense all the time, or maybe you see it once in a while. But in the Jerusalem temple in Jesus\u2019 time, to burn incense was the most important thing that a priest could do, outside of the high priest. The high priest, he was the only person who was allowed to go into the holy of holies, which was where they believed God\u2019s presence literally dwelt in the tabernacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if you weren\u2019t the high priest, and he could only go in once a year, on the feast of Yom Kippur, but if you weren\u2019t the high priest, then if you get to offer the incense, that meant that you got to go as close to the holy of holies as any other human being could ever go. As close to the presence of God that you could get. And if you got to offer the incense, you could only do it once in your lifetime. It was a big deal, because what he was doing in the moment of offering incense, yes he had the proximity to the presence of God, but it meant that he stood on behalf of the whole of the people of Israel, and offered their prayer. Biblically, incense always represents the prayers of God\u2019s people rising up before Him, and they\u2019re a sweet odor to God, we\u2019re told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So Zechariah is standing on behalf of God\u2019s people, offering prayer, offering the incense, right next to the presence of God. The throne room on earth, so to speak, of God. Outside the temple, while he\u2019s doing this, the whole multitude is gathered, and they\u2019re praying as well. And what are they praying? Well, in Jesus\u2019 time, we know it\u2019s one of the darkest times in Israel\u2019s history. Things are a mess. They are not the people that God called them to be. They\u2019ve fallen into profound <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/letting-go-of-sin-for-the-hopeful-life-lent-2021\/\">sin<\/a>. The whole <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/facing-goliaths-famous-old-testament-story-weve-never-heard-lent-2018\/\">Old Testament story<\/a>, they lost Jerusalem, they lost their kingdom. They have this guy, Luke pointed out there\u2019s a guy named Herod who\u2019s reigning over them as king. He\u2019s not really king, he was a puppet, you know, a dictator put there by Caesar. He\u2019s not even Jewish. He\u2019s not Davidic. They don\u2019t have a Davidic king, he\u2019s gone. And as far as anybody knows, the bloodline has been wiped out. They don\u2019t even own their land, it\u2019s controlled by Rome and by Caesar, and they\u2019re just tenants there, and they\u2019re oppressed, and they\u2019re over-taxed, and they\u2019re abused, and it\u2019s horrible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the whole of the people, I guarantee, is praying this prayer \u201cHow long, O Lord, how long are we going to dwell in this darkness? How long until You set things right? How long until You step in and fix things?\u201d That\u2019s the prayer that Zechariah is offering that day, because he\u2019s not standing on his own behalf, he\u2019s standing on behalf of the people. And as he\u2019s there, offering the incense, offering this prayer, what happens? Well, on the most important day of his life, when he\u2019s burning the incense, big deal, the angel appears. And an angel appears in glory, right beside him, which is a huge thing, and he says \u201cZechariah, your prayer has been answered. Your prayer has been answered. And your wife, Elizabeth, is going to bear you a son, and you\u2019re going to call his name John.\u201d It goes on to describe what John\u2019s going to be like. \u201cYour prayer is answered, and you\u2019re going to have a son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So here\u2019s the question: What\u2019s the prayer that Zechariah is offering at that moment? Well, yeah, he wants a son, I\u2019m sure that\u2019s his personal prayer, and that\u2019s his intention. But at that moment, he\u2019s doing something far greater: He\u2019s offering the prayer of the whole people of Israel, and that prayer is \u201cHow long, O Lord, until You step in and You set things right?\u201d That\u2019s the prayer that the angel, who will introduce himself in a minute as Gabriel, says is answered. \u201cGod has heard it. Now is the time that God is going to step into human history and set things right. Now is the time that He\u2019s going to lift the veil of darkness and sin. He\u2019s going to bring in forgiveness. And you\u2019re going to have a son named John, who\u2019s actually going to be a big part of this.\u201d It\u2019s never the way I heard this. I always thought the prayer that\u2019s answered is John. But the angel is clear: \u201cYour prayer is answered, and you\u2019re going to have a son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, the question is this: What\u2019s his response? The most important day of his life probably, he\u2019s offering the incense, he\u2019s on duty, he\u2019s right next to where they believe <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/letting-god-dwell-in-our-hearts-our-homes-advent-2020\/\">God dwells<\/a>. The angel appears, \u201cYour prayer is answered.\u201d Oh my gosh! And what\u2019s his response? \u201cYeah, right.\u201d His response is one of skepticism, and he basically says \u201cI don\u2019t know about that, Lord. I don\u2019t know about that Mr. Angel, Mr. Gabriel.\u201d He said \u201cI don\u2019t know. My wife is really advanced in years, she\u2019s old. I don\u2019t know if I buy it.\u201d And he responds with skepticism. And as a result of that response, he\u2019s struck mute, and he can\u2019t speak for the duration of Elizabeth\u2019s pregnancy. It would be interesting, I know some of you are probably parents out there. Imagine, wives, if your husband wasn\u2019t allowed to speak throughout your whole pregnancy. He just had to do whatever you said. Anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a fascinating scene, and I\u2019ve always sort of read this story and given Zechariah and a really hard time, and thought \u201cWhat a bonehead.\u201d I mean, he\u2019s right there. He\u2019s in the temple. He\u2019s praying this prayer, he\u2019s doing his job, and the angel says \u201cYour prayer is answered.\u201d And he responds with skepticism? What\u2019s wrong with you? Yeah, you were right to be struck mute, right. I\u2019ve always sort of given him a really hard time, until recently. And the more I\u2019ve thought about Zechariah, the more I\u2019ve been a little bit more sympathetic to where he\u2019s coming from. Because Israel at the <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/the-power-of-hope-prayer-in-dark-times-healing-2018\/\">time really was living in profound darkness<\/a>. Things were hard, sin was rampant, and this question of \u201cHow long, O Lord\u201d was a pretty acute one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-long-o-lord\">How Long, O Lord?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t know about you guys, but the world we live in, the times that we dwell in are pretty dark. We\u2019re pretty ravaged by sin. Every day I listen to the news and I feel like it\u2019s getting worse and worse every day. Every natural disaster, or war, or whatever, I feel like it\u2019s always the worst one of whatever it is that we\u2019ve ever had before. Times are dark, and I bet there\u2019s a lot of us that are similarly asking that question: \u201cHow long, O Lord. How long until You lift us out of this darkness?\u201d Which is a great reflection during <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/getting-to-know-jesus-better-this-lent-lent-2020\/\">Lent<\/a>, because Lent is the time that we\u2019re supposed to reflect on that and be like \u201cWow, Jesus took on all of that darkness. But I still feel it.\u201d Because He hasn\u2019t come again. The second coming hasn\u2019t come, the veil hasn\u2019t been fully lifted. He has freed us from our sin, He has forgiven us, He has lifted the darkness, but we still feel it, right, until He comes again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I ask the question: \u201cHow long, O Lord.\u201d And I\u2019ve got my own problems, some personal struggles, some family things. We carry a lot of weight, and I wonder what would I say? What would my response be if God appeared or sent an angel to me and said \u201cScott, your burdens are all lifted. It\u2019s done. Case closed. Everything is going to be great now.\u201d And I wonder if I would have the <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/having-hope-in-a-faithful-god-lent-2020\/\">faith to say \u201cPraise be to God<\/a>, thank you. Your will be done.\u201d Or if I\u2019d be like Zechariah and be like \u201cI don\u2019t know, it\u2019s been a long time Lord. It\u2019s been pretty hard. Things are pretty difficult. I don\u2019t know if I buy it.\u201d And that\u2019s my fear in my own prayer. If God were to answer me today and say it\u2019s all done, would I have the faith to believe Him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"simeon\">Simeon<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other end of the story, after Zechariah, after Jesus\u2019 birth, when Jesus is taken up to the temple to be presented by Mary and Joseph, you have another figure named Simeon. Simeon is an interesting character because we\u2019re told he\u2019s an old man who\u2019s standing on the steps of the temple, basically saying the same prayer that Zechariah was praying. Asking \u201cHow long, O Lord? Waiting for the revelation of God, for God to say \u201cNow is the time. He\u2019s been waiting, he\u2019s been standing, he goes day after day after day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But here\u2019s the thing about Simeon: He doesn\u2019t have an angel appear to him in glory and give him the answer. No, he doesn\u2019t get a gift like that. Rather, he\u2019s standing on the steps of the temple, as he does every single day, probably fatigued, probably tired, asking \u201cHow long?\u201d And what does he see? He sees a peasant couple with their little baby maybe wrapped in stained, dirty, old cloths, coming up the steps, because they\u2019ve had a long journey. And he sees the most humble of families, and he says. \u201cThat. It\u2019s here. I recognize it. God has answered my prayer. I see it. Now,\u201d he says to God \u201cYou can let Your servant go on in peace, because my eyes have seen the salvation which You have promised in the sight of every nation. Now I have seen it, finally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He doesn\u2019t have the gift of this angel in glory telling him the answer. He has, rather, the eyes of faith to see what is Him. So here\u2019s the moral: I am a Zechariah, but I want to be a Simeon. I have the prayer life of a Zechariah, or I try to do my thing, I try to do my prayer. But I wonder how much faith I actually have, and I wonder how I would respond if God said \u201cNow is the moment.\u201d But I want to be a Simeon. I want to have the eyes of faith that sees even when it\u2019s not faith, even when there\u2019s a veil over it. Because that\u2019s how God likes to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He doesn\u2019t come to us in lightning bolts and thunder cracks from the sky, and speaking to us from the clouds saying \u201cHey, Scott.\u201d No, He comes to us veiled, He comes to us in the hidden ways. And we need to develop the eyes of Simeon to see Him when He comes. That\u2019s my prayer, that\u2019s my prayer for you. Those of us that are Zechariahs, those of us who have got a little bit of a chip on our prayer shoulder, that we could have the eyes of faith and be like Simeon, even though we\u2019ve been waiting for a long time, even though we might be tired and fatigued, when we see the presence of <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/god-loved-world-lent-2018\/\">God at work in the world<\/a>, that we have the courage and the grace to say \u201cYes, there. Thank You, Lord. Now my eyes have seen.\u201d May we all be people with eyes who can see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"glory-be\">Glory Be<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/growing-in-relationship-with-the-holy-spirit-healing-2021\/\">Holy Spirit<\/a>. As it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.<\/em> Thank you all so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"about-dr-scott-powell\">About Dr. Scott Powell<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:29% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"382\" src=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Scott-Powell-Headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-751 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Scott-Powell-Headshot.jpg 310w, https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Scott-Powell-Headshot-243x300.jpg 243w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/speaker-dr-scott-powell\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Dr. Scott Powell<\/strong>&nbsp;is<\/a> a teacher, theologian, author, and the director of the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/thomascenter.org\/aict\/\">Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought<\/a>, an outreach to the University of Colorado in Boulder. Scott has spent the last decade speaking and teaching theology and the Scriptures to groups of all ages. He and his wife Annie are the founders of&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/camp-w.com\/\">Camp Wojtyla<\/a>, a Catholic adventure program for youth based in the Colorado Rockies. Scott also co-hosts and produces the popular Catholic podcast, \u201cThe Word on the Hill with the Lanky Guys,\u201d and he has appeared in numerous Augustine Institute Studio productions, including Symbolon, Beloved, Reborn, YDisciple and the Opening the Word series. He has been featured on EWTN, Catholic Answers Live and numerous other Catholic outlets. He holds a PhD in Catholic studies from Maryvale Institute\/Liverpool Hope University in England. Scott, his wife Annie and their three children \u2014 Lily Avila, Samuel Isaac and Evelyn Luca \u2014 live near Boulder, Colorado.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let-Your-Servant-Go-in-Peace_-Responding-to-God-in-Prayer.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2849\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let-Your-Servant-Go-in-Peace_-Responding-to-God-in-Prayer.jpg 800w, https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let-Your-Servant-Go-in-Peace_-Responding-to-God-in-Prayer-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let-Your-Servant-Go-in-Peace_-Responding-to-God-in-Prayer-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let-Your-Servant-Go-in-Peace_-Responding-to-God-in-Prayer-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"701\" height=\"316\" src=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/The-Pray-More-Lenten-Retreat-Image-without-many-words-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/The-Pray-More-Lenten-Retreat-Image-without-many-words-1.png 701w, https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/The-Pray-More-Lenten-Retreat-Image-without-many-words-1-300x135.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 701px) 100vw, 701px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary Here, Dr. Scott Powell talks about Zachariah and Simeon, he points out how sometimes we are similar to Zachariah that we tend to waver in our faith in times of difficulty. He encourages us to emulate Simeon with his faith especially during times when God wants to reach out to us in ways we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2849,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"plain-container","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Let Your Servant Go in Peace: Responding to God in Prayer - Lent 2018 - The Pray More Retreat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/let-servant-go-peace-responding-god-prayer-lent-2018\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let Your Servant Go in Peace: Responding to God in Prayer - Lent 2018 - The Pray More Retreat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Summary Here, Dr. Scott Powell talks about Zachariah and Simeon, he points out how sometimes we are similar to Zachariah that we tend to waver in our faith in times of difficulty. 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