Tag Archives: prayer

Consumed

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Sometimes I get pretty scared about doing ministry. In my life I’ve regularly attended church on 2 continents and since I was a kid I can remember people talking about what they ‘like’ and ‘don’t like’ about church. I wonder if we’ll ever be able to escape our checklist mindset of church.

I recently attended a prayer gathering that coincided with the end of Ramadan. I don’t know much about Ramadan but I believe it’s a fairly significant period of fasting and praying observed by Muslims around the world. The purpose of this gathering was to pray for Muslims everywhere. I was there to lead a short worship time. Throughout the night we heard a number of testimonies from mostly former Muslims who had found new life in Jesus.

They were powerful stories, and they made me feel a bit uneasy.

One man told of how he ran for days through treacherous terrain attempting to escape his country because he was afraid that this time the authorities wouldn’t stop at torture and imprisonment. He made it out, but not everyone from his group did.

Another man spoke passionately about wanting to return to his country to share the Gospel with his people. They had a group ready to go, but Christians there are being slaughtered and it would not be safe for them to go at this time.

(Side note, please pray for the Muslim world. They need Jesus and the believers there need encouragement. www.30-days.net)

So we serve the same Jesus, right?

It sure looks pretty different here.

The thing is I don’t necessarily think that we have a bunch of disingenuous Christians here. If we do that’s not really for me to judge (though I do all the time which as a reminder to myself and you is probably a sin). I for one know a lot of extremely passionate Jesus followers and I truly believe they would go anywhere and do anything for God.

But personally, I just can’t shake this checklist mentality from how I approach church. I have my worship leader checklist. I have my service flow checklist. I have my audio mix, visuals, greeters, ushers, checklists. I don’t mean to, and sometimes it’s not really there but that would be a rare case. I suck, I feel brutal, but it’s the truth.

In October we are launching a new service at my church. I’m the Creative Pastor for this new service. I feel the pressure of not just my own, but hundreds of people’s personal checklists. Will it be cool enough? Will it be just the thing that the 20 year old is looking for to get back into attending church? Will it be innovative enough? Will it “work”?

Ugh…

We’re too comfortable here in North America, yet this is where we are and that’s not a mistake. I’m not calling for tougher times for Christians or less technology and distraction in church. As with anything that has to do with following Jesus the important thing here is the posture and focus of our hearts.

When we’re thinking about ourselves we come in with a checklist.

When we are fully focused on Jesus and His Kingdom the checklist is gone.

Once again the bible says it much better than I could…

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness. Philippians 3:7-9 (MSG)

 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a rightspirit within me. Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

 

Will we go on “Consuming” or will we ask Jesus to “Consume” us?

 

What Did You Expect?

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You’ve heard the phrase, “you get what you expect”.

Recently I’ve been discussing this idea with a friend and we’ve been talking about how this idea could help guide us as we plan and lead our worship services on Sundays.

Well I think it’s working…

We had 3 awesome worship services this past Sunday at Saanich Baptist Church.

It started with a prayer.  A prayer that we prayed together at the beginning of the service.  It can be so hard sometimes to focus on God when we come in to church, out of our busy lives, out of mini vans with screaming kids, out of a lonely apartment that is now home after your spouse left you, out of the hospital where your child is dying of cancer.

Now I’m not here to say that singing a few songs about God together makes life peachy again.  But I do believe that proclaiming the truth about God with a bunch of other believers and inviting God INTO our tough situations can encourage us in our journey and bring us closer to God.

Here’s the prayer we prayed together this past Sunday.

God, we invite you to work in us today as we declare the truth about You.

We are here to praise You.  You are the God who saves.  You are Jesus Christ who has redeemed us.  And You are the Holy Spirit who leads us.

We invite You in to change us, to interrupt us so that we see you in a fresh way today.

We invite You in to our messy lives because You are the only thing that is steadfast.

Do not let us leave here the same today.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

You could tell that after that prayer there was a sense that God was there and He was going to do something pretty amazing in our midst.

So remember to expect great things from God.  He’ll blow your mind.

 

Do you have any stories of God doing something amazing in your worship gatherings?

 

Tank Up or Tank It

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It’s been a difficult week in ministry.

These weeks happen and they’ll happen again and again.  I’m not going to tell you what’s been tough because that’s not going to be helpful to you or me.  What I am going to tell you is that I’ve been reminded all week that when times are difficult like they are this week I need to press in even harder to God.  I need to “tank up” up or risk “tanking it” so to speak.  I don’t have the power on my own to carry all of these burdens.  So in the middle of this week that is literally and figuratively filled with a lot of dark clouds above me I’ve decided to share some of the specific things that I have been refuelling on.

This song has been on repeat off and on for a total of probably about an hour this week and the week ain’t over yet.

Fill Me Up – United Pursuit/Will Reagan

My Dad gave me these scripture passages and spoke truth into my life.  I’m so thankful for his guidance and friendship in my life, even after I told him the ***t was hitting the fan in my message to him.  He kindly overlooked that remark :)

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” – James 1:5

“David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.” – 1 Chronicles 28:20 (coming from my own father this was powerful)

And my friend shared this verse with me as we met to pray together this morning.

“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.” – John 3:34

Wherever you’re at this week, whatever ***t is hitting the fan, my prayer for you is that you would press into the truth of God.  His fuel will never run dry.

What do you do to refuel?

Triple P

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Practice. Practical. Prayer

Gotta love alliteration.  You’ve also gotta love the fact that we are a part of a global community of believers who can join together across distances in prayer.  We can bring the requests and needs of others to a God who is everywhere and who is all-knowing.  A God who was, and is, and is to come.  A God that knows us better than we know ourselves.  A God that has power over all things.

It’s this God, MY God, that heard my prayers today.

You see today I’m carrying a burden that I don’t usually carry.  I’m often reminded to be in prayer for people in my life who are in need.  They need an Encounter with God, they need God to rescue them, they need God to heal them, they need God to help them understand what the heck is going on.  Those requests are still a part of my prayers today, and actually a lot has happened this week that has emphasized the importance of praying those prayers.

But today the focus of my prayer is practical.  It’s simple.

We need more Audio/Visual techs at our church.

That’s it.  A super practical need and a super simple prayer.  But seriously, we have less than half the personnel we need right now in this area and our church is growing and we need these people to help us move forward.  So I explained this situation to God today and now I rest in this promise.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:19

So how can we pray for each other this week?  For the practical things and the “if God doesn’t come through here I’m toast” things.

Leave a comment and let’s pray for each other.