Powerful peck of purposeful prayers-wanted

When I speak at churches I make it a point to say that being a pastor's kid cured me of any desire to be a pastor. That is not the only reason. The other is that I really stink at alliteration. See title of post for example. As we all know one must as a pastor have the ability to turn any sermon outline into an alliterative, acrostic, or eponymonic force so as to increase the retention of the flock. I don't do it very well...

Here's the ad:

Wanted: a group of totally committed prayer warriors to go beyond the 5 second prayer for us and to regularly battle and tear down walls by fervent Spirit driven prayer. Applicants must have a willingness to be open to God, and a keen understanding of it's prime place as a source of offensive power in combating the rulers of darkness of this age. Applicants do not need to feel that "they have arrived" in their walk with God and actually if you do think that maybe you should pray for someone else. We are accepting applicants from all walks of life and age ranges.


When I speak to churches I tell people that we may succeed in our endeavors from the worlds point of view without prayer. We may spend years in the ROC, raise up a hospital, raise the standard of living, earn the nobel peace prize, be instrumental in halting the spread of AIDS and curing malaria, but it will all be for naught if we do not have people praying for us. ON the other hand if people are praying for us regularly, fervently, and guided by the Holy Spirit even if we do not have "worldly" success based on our cure rates, conversions, and even length of service we will touch more lives, and by more Godly successful than we can ever know or imagine.

However, i do feel guilty asking people to commit to prayer even though I know it's importance. Why, because I know its importance and I know that others beside missionaries and people crazy enough to take their kids to Africa and put them in danger there need prayer just as much as we do. My only answer to that is to say that if God is not laying on your heart to pray for us then don't. Search God's will for this,
do what He would have you do.


Why do we need prayer? Cyberspace is not big enough to handle why we need prayer but here is an example. Last Thursday I got a call from the head of our child protection services (CPS) team here in Browning. They had a 6 wk old who was born with spina bifida and who was currently in Denver CO. The mom was out of the picture for several reasons, and the family was (a) afraid of the child's health issues and (b) also unable for personal reasons to take the child. The director wanted advice. Did I know what we could do with the child? "She's ready for discharge" she says.

Well my wife and I talked and I volunteered us since we were licensed has a foster care home during the preparations for our adoption. So Friday I flew down to Denver, got the child, and came back Saturday. We now have a 6wk old with vocal cord dysfunction, near persistent stridor, and a newly repaired myelomenigocele (Spina bifida) living at home with us. Her name is Jamie Lynn. For our purposes here dealing with prayer....should we have done this? Aren't we getting distracted when we should be focused on leaving Browning? I don't think so. Anna doesn't think so either. However we need wisdom to handle these life choices.

So as we make these decisions remember to pray this prayer for us . It is Col 1:9-10 (prayers from scripture I think really seem to focus us) :



Please do not cease to pray that we will be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that we would walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

If you would merely pray that prayer for each of us as we face our transitions and seek to minister where we are then I am confident that God will handle all else.

Thanks

Stephen