Faithful Friends

There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.

Mark 7:32 (NIV)

Today's verse is from yesterday's gospel lesson. It stuck out to me because of a few things. First, because my pastor pointed out in his sermon today that the man didn't asked to be healed. It was the faith of the man's friends that brought him to Jesus. They brought him to be healed. Second, because of the discussions I've been having with many people over the past two weeks.

I have been having a crisis of faith. Not about whether I believe in God, but in what I feel God is calling me to do. Partly it was brought on by the recent division that has sprung up in the church. But I think that issue was masking the other issue - which was my own self-imposed deadlines on doing paperwork to get ready for seminary. What I realized is that I have been trying to make things happen in my time, instead of God's. The same issue I was having with our church is one that I realized was tearing me up on a personal level.

What I learned tonight in a discussion with Juliet Hutchins, is what I need to be asking God for in my prayers. It isn't, "What do you want me to do?" That's pretty clear to me in both my internal and external call. (By which I mean that I feel like God wants me to be a pastor and it's what I want to do, and that people think I would be a good pastor and tell me so.) What I need to be asking, is, "How do you want me to do it?"

I believe that got me through the last two weeks was not my own faith or my own prayers, because I had nothing to say and no will to pray. Instead it was the prayers of others for me. They knew what to pray, even though I did not. Those prayers saw me through. The faith of others helped me, and I just had to share that. After two weeks of not having a Bible verse to share, I suddenly had one I just had to share.

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Pray for One Another

I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

Romans 15:30 (NIV)

These words were written by Paul, and they are a reminder that we all need friends. We need help and support and prayer from them. We cannot do things on our own. At Kairos, Nicole and I split our small group into pairs for prayer partners. We ask people to tell each other what's going on in their lives. Then we ask them to pray for each other. It's something people usually aren't sure about but end up enjoying. It's something that's easy to do when you're there, but I doubt many people pray with their friends when they are home.

If you're like me, even suggesting to say grace when you're at lunch with your friends can feel a bit daunting. Especially if they're not all Christian. However usually if you suggest saying Grace, people agree. Though you usually get the joy of praying. ;) So the next time you're at lunch with friends, suggest saying Grace. It doesn't have to be long. "Thank you God," is easy enough to say. If your courage isn't quite there, considering bowing your own head for a moment and silently praying, "Thank you God." You'd be surprised the effect it can have on people.

If someone's having a bad day, you might consider praying with them as well. It sounds hokey, but it helps. It also tells the person you care enough to go out on a limb like that for them.

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Praising An Awesome God

¹ I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.

² Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.

³ Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.

⁴ One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.

⁵ They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

⁶ They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.

⁷ They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

⁸ The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

Psalm 145:1-8 (NIV)

My iPod played "Awesome God" twice in a row and I took it as a sign. Today was a rather rough day for me. Nothing spectacular, but lots of little things that added up to something less than wonderful. Despite this there were good things in my day. I spent most of it in the company of Patrick Powell - one of my youth who is all grown up and working with me. We did lunch and dinner and his enthusiasm for life was a very nice thing to have today. The picture I chose today is a sunset captured by Alyssa that displays God's power and beauty. As I looked at the photo I could almost see the clouds moving. How majestic!

Sometimes despite the things going on, God sends us what we need to continue on. When Jesus gave us the Lord's prayer, he gave us more than just words to say. He gave us a pattern to follow. It satrts with praise, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." The psalm today is the start of a prayer. It is the start of mine today, and I encourage you to make it yours. Start your prayers with praise and then ask God for the things you need.

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And this is my prayer:

⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,

Philippians 1:9-10

Today's passage comes from Morgan Firing's Facebook status. I read it this morning and it touched me, so I decided to use this today instead of the passage I had planned. The first verse is about growing in love. It talks about how as our knowledge and insight grow, our love will also. This is something we definitely experience at youth events, but it doesn't have to stop there. It's just that often we use those events as crutches, and only bother growing in knowledge and insight when we're at them. The rest of the time it's easier to pine for the next event. I know, I've done that plenty of times. It's a trap that's easy to fall into - even when you're an adult. Nothing can compare to the [insert youth event here] experience, so why bother trying?

But the second verse talks about how we are to apply that increase in our lives. We are supposed to use that knowledge and insight to "discern what is best". We know what's right and wrong. We know what we should be doing. This verse is straightforward. It says go out and do it! Stop making excuses! You don't have to turn your life upside down, but apply what you have learned in little steps.

The reward? To be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. This isn't talking about being good so we have no sins. You and I are sinners. We are also saints - but not vecause we try to do good things. No, we are saints because God's grace covers our sins. So what's being pure and blameless? You know that guilty feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're afraid you're goign to get caught for somethign you did? Yhe regret and the remorse? To be pure and blameless is that contended feeling - the absence of guilt. The absence of remorse. It's that happy tummy feeling. The feeling that you did the right thing. It's not for God that we do the right thing. It's not even for our own salvation. It's because it's the right thing to do. And when we do that - we know it.

I pray for those away at New Orleans, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

I pray this same prayer for all of you at home like me, and I encourage you to pray for those in service this week. Pray that their works will make them to shine like stars in the heaven and make them witnesses for Christ.

Amen

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