House of Prayer Part IV

 House of Prayer: Part IV June 25, 2009

“These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my alter; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isa 56:7)

Our father which art in heaven, I come before you with praise and prayers this day. We are your people and so I come before you because of who you are, and what you have done for us. Lord I seek to make true what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah and what Jesus longed to be true, that your house will be a house a prayer.

Lord help me to start with myself, right where I am. I confess that I have not always prayed as I should. I confess that I often let myself be too busy to pray. And often, when I pray it is not until things look grim and I need your help most. Too often, my prayers are only for myself and not on behalf of others. Lord here the prayer of your servant this day.

For the newly elected mayor and city council. I pray that in this economic down turn they may have wisdom and discernment to do what is best. For law enforcement and emergency services. As they help maintain the peace, safety and quality of life I enjoy, and as they sometime put their own lives on the line for others, give them strength and patience to serve faithfully. For all the government officials and agencies in Brookings County, I pray that they may continue to be a blessing.

I pray for all those who provide employment or housing and for each and every business. As they provide goods or services and employ most of the town, give them the needed support and wisdom to do what is best for all. For the banks that hold our mortgages and the landlords that collect our rent, for the self employed, and those that run farms, Lord may you see them through any difficult times they may be facing.

I pray for the health care industry. I thank you that we have such quality and compassion from those that serve us. We are so blessed that you have allowed them to find ways to help heal and restore our health. May you care and bless them as they bless us.

Christ said, “do not forbid the children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of heaven.” So, I pray earnestly for our children and youth of Brookings. I pray for daycare providers, boys and girls club, GAP, babysitters and all that care for the safety and well being of our children as we work. I pray for our schools, preschools, elementary, middle, & high school, as well as SDSU. I pray for all the staff that teach, oversee and maintain the quality of educations to help our children to grow and learn for tomorrow. I pray for every church that holds VBS this summer and every program that helps them to learn more about God's love for them. Lord may you bless our children and youth and help them to grow and learn and love the world and the people which you have created.

Father God, I pray also for those children and youth who struggle and suffer each day. For those that go hungry, may you bring to them a warm meal today. For those that are lonely, may you bring comfort and peace. For those who may be abused or neglected, may you give someone the courage to get involved. Lord you know the needs of all your children, help us to see and act to fill their needs, and not just our own.

Lord I pray too for our service organizations, charities, non profits, and churches. May you bless their work and may you be glorified and praised for what you do through them. Lord, I also pray for the new ministers to Brookings. May you bless them and their families. May this community bless and care for them, as they care for your people. May your spirit fill and use them.

For every individual and family in Brookings, Lord may you bless and care for them with your everlasting grace and mercy. For all who pray this prayer, I pray that God's seeking comfort find you, that His loving arm's bind you, that His might will protect you and wisdom direct you, I pray that the joyous love of Jesus Christ will be with you and those you know, now and forever more, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I pray. Amen.

House of Prayer Part III

 House of Prayer: Part III - June 18, 2009

Jesus said, “My house will be called a house of prayer.” (Luke 19:46)

Over the past two weeks I have talked about ideas of re-visioning the way we pray to become a “house of prayer.” I have talked a bit about how we pray and what prevents us from praying or becoming a people of prayer. This week I want to spend more time reflecting on the who are we praying for.

Paul wrote, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all in authority.” (I Tim 2:1-2a)

Well, that doesn't really narrow it down very much, when we read pray for “everyone.” But Paul does includes specifics in regards to those in power. Plus, we know that Jesus told us to pray for those that persecute us. So, from a quick glimpse in scripture, it would seem the answer to “who we should be praying for” is simple. Like Paul says, “everyone.”

So, how do we even begin to pray for everyone? Well, I think we begin by again doing what Reggie McNeal talks about, and pray for our community. As I share some of this idea of praying for our community I want you to know that some of it is already taking place, and some of it may not yet be happening. However, I believe that if we begin to do these things, we may soon see that we could become “houses of prayer” in Brookings.

So, lets start with those in authority. We should be praying for the mayor and city council. In this economic down turn they will face many difficult challenges. They will need wisdom and discernment to do what is best. We need to pray for law enforcement and emergency services. These are the people that help to maintain the peace, safety and quality of the lives we enjoy. And sometime they even put their own lives on the line for others. There are judges and court officials that ensure that justice prevails. They serve unnoticed by most and those that they see, often show contempt for them doing their jobs well.

Perhaps a second kind of authority would be those who provide employment or housing. We should pray for each and every business. They provide goods or services and employ most of the town. In an economic down turn they have many difficult decisions to make. They need support and wisdom to do what is best. The banks that hold our mortgages and the landlords that collect our rent, make where we live and work possible. There are also those that are self employed and those that run farms. They too contribute to the community.

We need to also include those that are entrusted with our youth. We should be praying for daycare providers, boys and girls club, GAP, babysitters and all that care for the safety and well being of our children as we work. We need to pray fro our schools, preschools, elementary, middle, & high school, as well as SDSU. For all the staff that teach, oversee and maintain the quality of educations to help our children to grow and learn for tomorrow.

We likewise, should pray for the health care industry, social services, service organizations, charities, non profits, churches, and every individual and family in Brookings. The list can go on and on of who we should be praying for. But we should be praying for “everyone.”

I invite you to join me over this summer and the months ahead to find ways that you can pray for this community in which God has placed you. Perhaps, if we like Nineveh were to pray from the greatest to the least, we would all know and see God do great and mighty things in and through us. So, this is a call to prayer with out ceasing, to become a people of prayer, and to build houses of prayer.

Just: pray, pray, pray, pray, pray.

House of Prayer Part II

 House of Prayer: Part II - June 11, 2009

Jesus said, “My house will be called a house of prayer.” (Mark 11:17)

Somewhere along the line it is easy for one teaching about scripture to be elevated above another. Sometimes this happens as a kid. Sometimes by not knowing other teachings. And perhaps sometimes by neglect. Whatever the case those long held beliefs are hard to abandon.

Jesus said, “whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24) Pray without ceasing. (I Thes 5:17)

For me, I recall as a kid learning that, if you pray for something once and believe that God will do it, then that shows the depth of your faith. But if you pray for it a second or even third time, it shows that you really didn't believe it the first time you prayed. I'm not sure if that teaching was from the Mark passage above or not.

But as I have spent more and more time with scripture and prayer I find that there are far more passages that say pray without ceasing. Jesus even tells a parable about the persistent widow and the unjust judge, in Luke 18, to teach that we should always pray and never give up.

As I mentioned last week my hope is for us to work to make Jesus' statement about being called a “house of prayer” true. And it seems to me that in order for that to be true we need to become a people who pray. Yet, I am more prone to think I have already prayed about it, and since God knows my prayer, I don't need to pray for it ever again, than I am to spend time daily without ceasing. So too, we all may have patterns of prayer that keep us from becoming a people of prayer.

We need to re-vision the way that I pray. As I have been seeking to do that I have seen God leading me to find new ways and new opportunities to be in prayer. I want to just share one of them with you this week.

I have a friend who has started a new church in Sioux Falls. Each week he puts out a prayer letter to include request for the church and for himself.  When I asked him if I could receive the prayer letter his reply was, only if you are serious about praying for us each week.  I was taken a little back by this responses at first.  But then I realized just how often I hear, what Reggie McNeal calls Christian for the conversation is over, “I'll pray for you.” I realized that far to often we say we will pray for someone with great intention but we never actually do it.

So with, a greater sense of commitment to pray, I told him that I would commit to pray for him every week. That as soon as I got his e-mail I would pray.  After receiving and praying for him and his church for a month I sat down to pray for them again upon receiving his e-mail.

Now before I share what struck me, I just want to talk a bit about how most pray lists/requests I have seen are often organized. Most often, what I have seen is a list of names followed by the request. Some may include a section for prayer for external issue events too. But in most cases what it is, is a list of who and for what you should pray for.

This letter started out the same way. Please pray for the following..... But in the middle of the second paragraph it was different. It said Lord we pray for.... Wow! What a difference it made for me. Now, I was not reading a check list of things to include when I prayed, I was praying as I read it. This idea and experience so impacted me, that I have begun using it myself. Now instead of listing prayer requests I write out prayers to be read, over and over without ceasing.

Perhaps, one of the reasons we are not yet a “house of prayer” is because we have been listing prayer requests instead of actually praying. We have been giving people a list of selections and leaving it up to them to know how to do the rest. Jesus didn't just give his disciples a prayer list and say go pray for these things. No. He gave them and example of how to pray and what to say. So, if we want to become a “house of prayer” maybe we should do the same.

House of Prayer Part I

Our town newspaper has requested that a minister from town submit articles to the newspaper every Thursday.Some write once or twice a month and some for a whole month. I have taken it upon myself to write each June. So in addition to Blogging at Synod I was writing for the paper. I would like to share those articles with you. So I, will post them over the next few weeks.

House of Prayer: Part I - June 4, 2009

Jesus said, “My house will be called a house of prayer.” (Matthew 21:13)

Now while I understand that Jesus was in the temple when He said this, most Christians call the churches or places of worship “God's house.” So, my questions is simple. Is it true? Is your place of worship a House of Prayer?

I think sadly for most of us the answer is a very quick, “No.” And while some of us may have grown up with a weekly prayer service, most of us may be very uncomfortable going to a prayer meeting, praying in public, or even lead fellow believers in prayer. Over the next four weeks I want to challenge the faith community of Brookings to begin making changes that will make Jesus' statement true.

Why prayer? Why now? If we were to take a look at church history, we see clearly that great movements in the faith, follow great times of prayer. Both the great awakening and the second great awakening follow on the heals of a small group beginning what becomes a prayer movement. We live in a down economy and a global world that faces global issue never before seen. The church in north America is in continued decline, while people are hungry for spiritual things.

My focus on prayer has been growing in the past six months. It really began a little over a year ago when I heard Reggie McNeal tell how he asks his waitress/waiter if they have any prayer requests, or how could he ask God to bless them, when he is going to bless his meal. I kept wanting to try it but it never really felt like me. And I really didn't want to come across as phony.

I kept trying to see how I could change the idea to be mine, but it didn't really happen until earlier this year when I got to see Reggie again at another conference. This time he again shared about praying for wait staff, but he also talked about praying for your community. He challenged us to go throughout your community and praying “God help me see what You see.”

I came back and eagerly tried it. After all, I could do it without anyone knowing I was doing it. Since I did that, I have been continually re-visioning the way that I pray. I see God leading me to find new ways and new opportunities to be in prayer. I want to just share one of them with you this week.

The Brookings Ministerial Association (BMA) meets on a monthly basis. At a meeting earlier this year I shared a desire to create a VBS communication chart. It would be useful to help churches know who was doing VBS on which dates and with what program. The reason I suggested it was since I had found that three churches last summer had the same program the same week. This tool would be to help those who wanted to be informed before making a decision.

Recently, I had a conversation with one of the members of our VBS team that was seeking to create a prayer team to prayer for our own VBS. In the midst of discussing the various ways in which we may want to do so, I had what I call a God moment. You know when an idea suddenly enters your mind that really feels like it is beyond you. Well, the thought was what if instead of just praying for ourselves we prayed for every VBS.

As I shared the idea, it was clear to us that we needed to do this. The more we talked about how we were going to do this the more excited we got. The next thing I did was e-mail the BMA with the idea. And again the response was, yes, of course we should do this. And while each of our churches may select different ways to organize the prayer plan, there are as of now nine churches committed to praying for each other on each day that we have VBS in Brookings. Four of those churches are conducting VBS this week. What a great start.

While we are not yet there, my hope is that over the next month you may begin to seek more and more to ways to begin to make true what Jesus said. So that, if someone where to ask you about what your faith community is like, you might answer them by saying, “It is a house of prayer.”

How far will unity, justice, & reconciliation invade?

I like many delegates came to synod not yet having made my decision about the Belhar. And through a great process of conversation, explanation, deliberation and prayer, synod approved it. Yet the spirit of our desire for the themes of Belhar have not been limited. Rather they have been broad.

We celebrated 30 years of wome's ministry, only to morn the loss of the position that supports women's ministry. So, we committed to rectifying and correcting it.

We embraced the sixth dimension of our call, a multiracial future freed from racism, and voted to declare racism a sin!

We debated whether or not the mandatory retirement age of 70 was age discrimination.  While we did not choose to act on it, the vote was close, and those that did not support it, did so out of a love to have a respectful way in which to be able to end a relationship between a church and pastor.  I don't think that we are done with it yet.

But how far will we really go?  Will we perhaps let the Belhar allow us to reconcile with the CRC?  After all isn't the division of the SA churches, the soil from which the Belhar comes, a similar soil to that which divided us?

But most of all, what will we do in our communities? Will we engage in the lives of those different than ourselves? Will we, seek to bring healing and the good news to the outcasts in our city? I could go on.... but let me ask just one more question.

Are you going to pat yourselves on the back for what we have done, or are you going to let the Belhar spur you to unity, justice, and reconciliation? 

You will have to decide for yourself.