Will you pray for me?
A few days, on my way home, I called a friend (I’ll call her T.) that we have been getting to know on Saturday mornings (see “Opportunities to Serve“). T. is a sister in Christ who has been struggling recently with several different problems. On Saturday mornings we have had the opportunity to talk with her, pray with her, listen to her, and even provide the Bible on CD and other helps for her.
When we go to her home, T. often thanks us for spending time with her, and we remind her that we need her as much as she needs us. Until recently, I don’t think she believed that last part. I do think she’s beginning to believe that we love her and care for her, but I don’t think she believed that we needed her as much as she needed us. (And, in a way, I’m still learning this as well.)
So, I called T. to check on her. The last few weeks have been especially rough as she has dealt with some family issues on top of other things. I asked how she was doing, and she told me about her week. I encouraged her and told her that I was proud of some of the decisions she had made.
As I was beginning to end the phone conversation, T. asked if I would pray for her. I told her that I pray for her often, and that I would continue to pray for her. She said, “Will you pray for me now over the phone?” (Yes, I was dense and didn’t realize this was what she was asking.)
I agreed and prayed for her right then over the phone. When I finished praying, she thanked me. This was when God taught me something. I remembered the last time I had talked with T. – how I had told her that I needed her as much as she needed me. So, I asked her to pray for me. She also said that she prays for me often. And I said, “Will you pray for me now over the phone?”
At first she stopped… like I said, I think she still thought of me as the “minister” and her as the one being ministered to. But, then she prayed for me. And, in the middle of her prayer, as she was thanking God for me and my family, T. said, “And, God, I really think they needed to meet me as much as I needed to meet them!” And she said it with much more enthusiasm than my one exclamation point.
So, it seems that God is teaching both of us. We need one another. Yes, there are ways that I can help T. deal with some issues in her life. But, at the same time, I can learn from and be encouraged by T. as well.
Why? Because God works through his children to the benefit of his other children – whether they are young or old, rich or poor, male or female, novice or mature. We need one another.
Pray without ceasing
I wrote this post almost one year ago as part of a synchroblog on prayer (“Pray without ceasing (synchroblog)“). In the last few years, as God has been teaching me about communicating with him, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (“Pray without ceasing”), has been both a troubling and an eye-opening passage for me. God has helped me understand how I can recognize that I am in a constant communal relationship with him, which includes communication. I am not claiming to be an expert on prayer. But, perhaps this post will help others as well.
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I have been taught many things about prayer. I’ve learned that some of these things have more to do with tradition than with communicating with God (i.e., bowing your head, closing your eyes). Other things that I have been taught or have learned have proven very beneficial. For example, a long fast once taught me how to rely on God instead of material things that I thought I needed to be happy or to survive. I’ve learned how to spend long times of quiet solitude talking and listening to God. I’ve learned how to rest in his presence.
I have gone through many seasons of prayer in my life. Some seasons were marked by times of long prayers in the mornings. In other seasons, I mostly prayed at night. There have been times when songs and psalms dominated my prayer. There have been times of lament, and other times of praise. In each of these seasons, I’ve learned more about prayer, more about myself, and more about God. More importantly, in each season, I have found that God is speaking and communicating whether or not I am listening.
A few years ago, a new friend (at that time – now a dear friend) began to remind me often of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “Pray without ceasing”. This is a verse that has scared me in the past. I never understood how I could pray without ceasing. I wanted to pray longer. I wanted to pray more often. But, there was always something that would interrupt my times of prayer – and that something was usually life. Life happens. And, when life happens, life interrupts prayer. Right?
At first, it was easier to simply mark up 1 Thessalonians 5:17 as an example of hyperbole – exaggeration. Paul did not really mean that we should pray without ceasing; he simply meant that we should pray as much and as often as we possibly could. This was a nice, clean, doable answer for me. And, there is the problem. It was doable. This means that I could pray more and longer and feel good about myself. Thus, in this vein, prayer becomes an effort to reach God instead of the grace of God communicating with me.
But, if “pray without ceasing” is not hyperbole, then how should I understand it? Not too long ago, I was reminded about a little book by Brother Lawrence (1610-1691) called The Practice of the Presence of God. In the “Fourth Conversation”, Brother Lawrence says:
[W]e might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and in simplicity… [W]e need only to recognize God intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment, that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.
In this short passage, I think Brother Lawrence hits on a key to prayer: recognizing God as intimately present. God’s intimate presence is not dependent upon my activity or lack of activity. God’s intimate presence is not dependent upon silence or lack of silence. God’s intimate presence is not dependent upon solitude or lack of solitude. God is intimately present with his children through his Spirit at all times, in all places, in all circumstances and situations. Thus, prayer as communication and communion with God is possible at all times, in all places, in all circumstances and situations.
Through the short passage from Brother Lawrence, I learned about a misconception that I had about prayer. Prayer is not simply a two-way conversation between God and myself that can be interrupted by life. Instead, prayer is a two-way conversation between God and myself that, when life happens, turns into a three-way conversation between God, myself, and life. Thus, life does not interrupt God’s conversation with me; instead, life enters into God’s conversation with me as a third conversation partner. God does not stop communicating with me when life happens. It is possible that I stop listening to God when life happens, but that does not mean that God has stopped communicating with me or that I must stop communicating with God.
I love to sit in a group of friends as we talk with one another and listen to one another. I love the interaction and the symphony of many voices reaching understanding. I do not consider it an interruption when there is more than one other person present. In the same way, God is always a conversation partner – a constant, dependable, trustworthy, and true conversation partner. In fact, God is the only constant, dependable, trustworthy, and true conversation partner. The only difficulty in praying without ceasing is choosing to listen to God’s voice over the roar and den of the world as life happens. God is speaking. But we must listen.
Do I pray without ceasing? In some ways, yes, because God is always a part of my life and conversation whether I recognize it or not. But, in another way, I do not pray without ceasing because I do not always recognize and respond to God’s constant and intimate presence. Do you pray without ceasing?
Practical deists?
I had a good conversation recently with some friends. I suggested that we say that we believe that God is present with us always. But, we often live as practical deists – that is, we live as if God is far away from us.
What do you think? Do we live as practical deists? If so, how does this generally demonstrate itself in our lives?
Why did God say…
Why did God say that we should love one another? Because he knew that people would be unloving toward us, and he knew that our natural reaction would cause us to be unloving in return.
Why did God say that we should forgive one another? Because he knew that our brothers and sisters would hurt us, and he knew that our natural reaction would cause us to hold grudges against them.
Why did God say that we should be patient with one another? Because he knew that people would get on our nerves, and he knew that our natural reaction would cause us to give up on people.
Why did God say that we should accept one another? Because he knew that we would set expectations that people could not live up to, and he knew that our natural reaction would be to reject those who don’t meet our expectations.
Why did God say that we should teach one another? Because he knew that our friends would need help, and he knew that our natural reaction would be to allow others to help instead of taking action ourselves.
Why did God say that we should edify one another? Because he knew that we would want to grow in maturity, and he knew that our natural reaction would cause us to focus on our own growth instead of the growth of those around us.
Why did God give us the Holy Spirit? Because he knew that regardless of how often and how loud he commanded us, we would be unable to follow him on our own.
Why do we still prefer to follow rules instead of following the Holy Spirit?
God works through my wife too
Last week, in a post called “Opportunities to serve“, I mentioned that our family has been spending time Saturday mornings in a government assisted housing neighborhood where one of our friends lives. There is one more story that I would like to tell concerning this.
When we first started going into this neighborhood, we would take bags of produce and speak to people – trying to get to know them. Some of the people were very receptive. Some people seemed more distant and less interested in getting to know us. We did not push ourselves on people.
A friend of mine told me to expect this kind of mixed response. Many groups do service projects in neighborhoods like this. Usually they drop off food or clothes, or do other projects, but they rarely spend time getting to know the people. So, the people in this neighborhood are accustomed to people coming in, doing their thing, then leaving.
Meanwhile, each week we would come into the neighborhood and try to get to know the people. In one family, the single mother seemed distant. She would thank us for the food, but would not talk to us beyond that. To be honest, after a few weeks, I was ready to give up on her.
Soon, we were spending more and more time talking with the people in the neighborhood. Also, some friends were coming with us. So, we were walking around in a large group but not touching more people. About three weeks ago, we decided to split up into smaller groups. Margaret would take some of our friends and some bags of produce to some of the neighbors, while I would go to others with more produce and other friends.
That first week after we split into two groups, Margaret stopped by the house of the single mother who had seemed very distant. This is where things get very interesting. The woman who would not talk to me, started warming up to Margaret. She told Margaret about her family situation, her work situation, and her education situation. She told Margaret about some of the needs that her family has. She has asked Margaret to pray for her and her family.
We often thought this woman was a little rude, because she would talk on the phone when we stopped by her house. Yesterday, Margaret found out that she takes orders over the phone for her job! She wasn’t being rude; she was working!
Yesterday, Margaret also found out that her son needed a few school supplies – nothing major, just a few things. So, Margaret was able to help them out with those supplies.
It would have been so easy for me to give up on this family. Of course, that would have been very arrogant on my part. I would have given up because I wasn’t able to build a relationship with them. And, of course, that assumes that God couldn’t use others – like my wife – to reach out to them.
I thank God that he continues to teach me to rely on him – and not myself and my abilities – and that he continues to teach me about what a great wife I have!
She said, "I’m very close."
I saw Mrs. Jenny again last Saturday and last Monday (see “I think we’ve been adopted“). When I first met Mrs. Jenny, she told me, “I didn’t grow up with religion. I’m not an atheist, but I don’t know much about religion.” She’s told me that twice.
Monday, I took an early lunch and went to the nursing home where Mrs. Jenny lives and where some of my friends have “story time”. During “Story time”, they read a couple of chapters of the Bible, sing hymns that the residents request, and spend time touching and talking to each resident that comes to “story time”. When my friend reads Scripture, he often asks his boys and others to read certain parts. His oldest son read the parts where God speaks. Another son read Cain’s lines. A girl who was with them read for Eve. Me? He asked me to be the serpent… is he trying to say something?
After reading and singing, I went over to where Mrs. Jenny was sitting in her wheelchair. She had a bag in her lap, and I asked her about the bag. She showed me a painting she had made in her art class for our friends who do “story time”. She had painted a cross. This is where the conversation started:
Mrs. Jenny: (pointing to the cross) “I’m very close.”
Me: “Are you?”
Mrs. Jenny: “Yes.”
Me: “Would you like to talk about it sometime?”
Mrs. Jenny: “Yes. I have some questions. I can’t read well yet so I can’t read the Bible for myself.” (She’s having cataract surgery in a few days.)
Me: “Let’s plan to talk about it the next time I come to visit.”
Mrs. Jenny: “I would like that very much.” (Then she told me how precious my wife is. I agreed.)
So, God willing, my family will visit Mrs. Jenny again today. God has been working in her life. She has heard Scripture read. She has heard many hymns sung. She has seen and been the recipient of the love of Christ through many of his children. I think that God is drawing her to himself. I look forward to what God continues to do through her, and how he continues to teach me and mature me through her.
Handing off our responsibilities…
In several posts, I’ve talked about how Christians tend to “hand off” their responsibilities as followers of Jesus Christ to others – especially to leaders. (see “That’s not my responsibility” and “Representative Obedience“)
Now, Bob, the Planter, has written something similar in his post called “When???” In fact, I think Bob says it clearer and more direct that I do. Here’s a sample:
When making disciples becomes a corporate Church responsibility it often ceases to be a personal responsibility.
When giving to the poor becomes a corporate church responsibility it often ceases to be a personal responsibility.
When teaching our children becomes a corporate church responsibility it often ceases to be the parents responsibility.
When reaching out to the community becomes a corporate church thing it often ceases to be every believers responsibility.
What do you think?
Disciples follow Jesus
It sounds simple and obvious, doesn’t it? Disciples follow Jesus. Notice this passage in Matthew’s Gospel:
Now when Jesus saw a great crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. (Matthew 8:18 ESV)
That’s a simple order, isn’t it? “Go to the other side of the sea.” That has to be the most simple and direct command that Jesus gave. What was the response of the crowd?
And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:19-20 ESV)
One man jumped up right away… “Yes Sir, Jesus! I’ll go wherever you want me to go.” I think he probably started humming to himself, “Wherever he leads, I’ll go. Wherever he leads, I’ll go. I’ll follow my Christ…”
Jesus warned this enthusiastic fellow to count the cost before agreeing to follow. Discipleship is not something to be taken lightly. Following Jesus is hard work. Jesus says, “Are you sure you are ready to give up everything? Enthusiasm doesn’t count for much when the going gets tough.”
Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:21-22 ESV)
Another person jumped up and said, “Yeah, Jesus, I’ll follow you. I’ve thought about it, like you said, and I need to take care of some things first.”
Jesus didn’t cut this guy any slack either. He said, “Either follow me, or go home. All or nothing.”
I imagine there were other responses as well. “Jesus, I’ll follow you as soon as my job is more stable.” “Yes, Jesus, I’ll be right there as soon as I finish school. My education has to be a priority right now.” “Jesus, you know that I want to follow you, but let me raised the kids first. You might lead me to places where I wouldn’t want to take the kids.”
So many responses to Jesus. How will Jesus ever determine who is sincere and who is not? How will we ever recognize the true disciples?
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. (Matthew 8:23 ESV)
Doesn’t that sound simple? Jesus issues a command, and those who are his disciples obey by following him. The ones who speak up first are not necessarily disciples. The ones who delay and are admonished by Jesus are not necessarily disciples, nor are they necessarily NOT disciples.
Are you a disciple? Are you following Jesus? That’s the simple test. Start with Jesus’ most important commandments: Are you following Jesus by loving God and loving other people?
Opportunities to Serve
Recently, on Sunday mornings, we have been asking people to share how God is using them to serve people – both other believers and also unbelievers. We do this for several reasons, two of which include 1) giving people examples of service to follow and 2) giving people opportunities to serve. Yesterday, it was my family’s turn to share how God has been using us to serve. I haven’t shared all of this on my blog before, so I thought I would share what we have been doing on Saturday mornings.
First, I want to explain a few things that led up to this. Several months ago, we took part in a ministry to children one Saturday morning. Several people from different churches gather together at a community center in a government housing project to play with the children, feed them lunch, and share a Bible story. The people there were building relationships with the children, but they were not finding it as easy to build relationships with their parents.
Second, a friend of ours noticed that many groups bring left over food – old food from grocery stores and old cakes and cookies – to some of the poorer sections of our town. After talking with one of the residents, my friend found out that these groups rarely interact with the people; they simply left the food. And, unfortunately, the food was rarely healthy.
Taking these two events into account, we decided that we wanted to serve in a way that we could provide healthy food for people, and in a way that we could begin to build relationships with both adults and children. So, on Saturday mornings, we stop by a local farmers market and buy some fresh fruit and vegetables. We don’t spend alot of money. As a matter of fact, our family has set aside $25 per week. This allows us to buy enough produce for 5 small bags. When other people join us, if they decide to buy some produce as well, we put more in the bags and/or we prepare more bags. We usually buy beans, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, peaches, grapes, apples, oranges, or plums. Occasionally, a friend of ours has baked fresh bread for us to take as well.
We then take these bags of produce to the neighborhood where one of our friends lives. This is very important. Since the people know her, and since she often introduces us, we’ve found that we can get to know people better. We offer the bags of produce to her neighbors with no strings attached. We tell them that we have some fresh fruits and vegetables, and ask if they would like a bag. We don’t announce ourselves as part of any church or group, we are simply Alan, Margaret, Jeremy, and Miranda wanting to serve our friend’s neighbors.
We have only been doing this for a couple of months, and already we have begun to build relationships with many of the adults in the neighborhood. Often they invite us into their homes where we sit and talk for a few minutes. Once we get to know them, we talk about spiritual issues. For those who are believers, we try to help one another grow in maturity in Christ, and we pray for one another.
We have talked about addiction, sickness, loneliness, work situations, education, reading and understanding Scripture, surgery, children and child care, death, friendship, and church. In other words, the people are already opening up to us as they see that we are not trying to get anything out of them. Instead, we come by because we care about them.
As a side benefit, we have also started building a relationship with the lady who runs the farmers market stand. She asked us why we buy so much produce, and we’ve explained what we’re doing. There is always the possibility that we could get a better price or a better selection at another stand, but now I feel like I would be neglecting another opportunity that God has given me.
We’ve been able to touch about eight or ten houses in this neighborhood. This is probably only about one third of the houses. However, God does not call us to do everything. Instead, he calls us to use what he’s given us. Right now, this is what he’s given us. It would be very easy to start organizing and become more efficient and forget the reason that we’re there. I never want to lose the one on one contact with the people.
I am not sharing this with you to brag about what we’re doing. Instead, I’m sharing this in order to encourage those who may not know how to serve others. Perhaps you don’t know how to reach out to “the least” in your community. If you live near Wake Forest, NC, send me an email and I’ll be glad to help you get started.
I am also sharing this for those who are serving but who may sometimes feel that they are the only ones who care. Be encouraged! There are others who are serving alongside of you. God is at work in many, many ways in our communities.
Finally, I’m sharing this for the many seminary students who read my blog. Attending seminary is not a ministry. If you are not serving people, then you may need to check your priorities. You do not demonstrate God’s love by reading books and writing papers. It may be time for you to start getting your hands dirty.
How is God using you to serve people?
Sailing against the prevailing winds
On Saturday, July 26 at 2:44 pm, Dave Black posted a picture of the start of the final chapter of the book that he’s been writing. I couldn’t help but sneak a peak…
It’s time to summarize and conclude. Are you in a mainstream congregation? In an emergent church? In a home meeting? It doesn’t really matter. The paramount question to ask is this: Are you willing to wash the feet of others? Are you willing to use your gifts to enrich the Body of Christ? Are you willing to forgo pyramids of power? Are you willing to surrender what is rightfully “yours”? In the end, it doesn’t matter what denomination or church we belong to. What matters is that we faithfully pursue the downward path of Jesus regardless of the religious structures around us. What matters is that we work from the bottom up. “Don’t be arrogant,” writes Paul, “but be friendly to humble people” (Rom. 12:16). “Excel in showing respect for one another” (Rom. 12:10). And we are to do this whether or not we agree with our brother and sister in every area.
One of the most important aspects of walking with Jesus is learning this lesson of serving different parts of the Body in times of special need, even if that means sailing against the prevailing winds.
That is all that I can read from his photo. I realize that this book will still go through an editing process, but this passage alone speaks volumes to me. This passage may not make it into the book in this form, but God is already using this words to affect me.
If the church can learn this simple lesson of humility and service, it will change the world as we know it. I don’t mean the kind of “humility and service” that causes us to stand up in front of a room of people and tell them what we know. I’m talking about the kind of “humility and service” that causes us to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty by washing dirty feet.
This lesson is simple, but very profound and completely impossible in human nature. And, we love to do things in our human nature. We even mimic social research that tells us how people like to do things in their human nature. Its time to “sail against the prevailing winds” and catch a new wind – the wind of the Spirit, who blows where he desires, not where we desire.
Jesus touched lepers, and the demon possessed, and women with fevers, and dead bodies, and the lame and blind and the deaf, and prostitutes, and heretics (Samaritans), and Gentiles, and tax collectors, and sinners. He got his hands dirty, and the religious people of his day noticed and did not like it. They accused him of every sin given by God and a few they made up on their own. And, Jesus ignored the religious professionals – except to point out that they had replaced God with a god of their own making – and he continued to touch those in need.
The religious professionals attempted to sway the crowds – telling the people that Jesus was dangerous. But, all the people could see was that Jesus loved them, and he showed that by touching them, hugging them, going to them, caring for them, providing for them. As he was doing so, he told them that God loved them so much that he came to them. He told the people about the kingdom of God – and that the kingdom was near to them. The people refused to listen to the religious leaders because they saw that Jesus cared.
Next, the religious leaders decided to kill Jesus. They insinuated that they would also kill anyone who sided with Jesus. The people gave in – even Jesus’ closest friends. But what did Jesus do? He continued to touch as many as he could, including a soldier who came to arrest him. He continued to care for as many as he could, including the thief beside him who was casting insults at him previously. He continued to love them, even his “followers” who had run away, calling on John to take care of his mother.
After Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, he “re-instated” Peter by asking Peter to care for Jesus’ flock the way that Jesus did. Peter asked about John, and Jesus said, “What does that matter to you? You follow me.”
Jesus is still calling us to follow him. It doesn’t matter what your neighbor does, or what your friend does, or what your pastor does, or what your teacher does, or what your parent does. You follow Jesus. And, Jesus is continue to lead us to touch, and care, and love, and serve. Jesus is continue to lead us to wash dirty feet. Are you willing to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty?
Disciples are not recognized by the claims to following Jesus. Disciples are recognized by actually following Jesus. It is time to “sail against the prevailing winds” and follow Jesus.