A Time to Pray

Prayer is war. Not with a person or ideas, but with the rulers and principalities of this world. Prayer is war against all things that are in rebellion against the kingdom of God. Prayer is trusting in God to move in and with us as we aim to spread His kingdom among the world. 

In the world we live in today, prayer has been weaponized by those who claim Christ to be a means of apathy and lack of action. Prayer in some evangelical spaces is merely a pass time rather than a calling on God to do what only He can do and sadly, the world has taken witness to this. Those around us see the hypocrisy of what some call prayer without its real life implications being lived out. What good is prayer if it means I’ll continue on doing nothing in my life to change the damage and sin happening around us. 

My hope and prayer is that you would feel a call to action because of the prayers you’ve made to God. If the people of God won’t even fight to right the wrongs of this world, who will? Let us be a people who live out the things we speak and pray about.

A CALL TO ACTION

Much of my life I thought if I did good things, then I would be in right standing with God. I saw the effect my life had on the people around me when I served at the food kitchens, donated clothing, or went on mission trips, but I often neglected the state of my heart. It wasn’t like I had bad motives for wanting to go serve, I just wasn’t invested in what God was going to do in me versus what He was going to do with me.

I was in a place where it was completely possible for me to continue on doing good things despite God never calling me to do them. It wasn’t until later in my life that I began to see who God had made me to be and who He called me to be within this world. I’m more contemplative, thoughtful, and slow paced. Doing a bunch of busy work and manual labor is something I could do and what I had done in the past, but it wasn’t what God had gifted me to do. I began to see the people and the community change around me when I began to speak and write to others.

From the prayers I wrote out for people in their time of need, the words on this site and others that blessed people's lives and the situations they were going through. This was entirely different from what I experienced earlier in my life or from what I had seen others do when they felt a call from God to go and serve the community around them. But through gentle reminders along the way, I realized that I had finally found the space where I could serve others while remaining deeply joyful.

What it means for you to serve the community could look entirely different than the two examples I just gave. You could be serving the community through the vocation you have, by reading aloud to school children and caring for them well, or volunteering to clean and feed the local fire department. Whatever God has gifted you with and called you towards, go and do that very thing. Even if it’s hard, scary, or something you’ve never done, you have an obligation to love others with the love of Christ even in the unknown.

THE POWER OF PRAYER

While true that prayer and action are two things that should never be disconnected, the effectiveness of prayer should never be diminished.

Prayer is one of the few practices that has lasted and been preserved through the ages. Prayer is both speaking to God and hearing from God. It is the place where we both get to experience the love of God and express our joy to God. Prayer is where the heart centers back on its origin by experiencing God for who He truly is. Prayer can be defined in a number of different ways, but one way it must never be spoken of is it being ineffective.

When tragedy occurs, it is a right and good response to turn to prayer. And while it’s true that we should take action with prayer, we can never do less than prayer. If we bound ourselves merely to what you, me, and the world is capable of, then we’re limited. But if we call on the one who has infinite power and wisdom to move with and for us, what can’t we do? It’s not the easy path or even the most desired path to turn to God for many, but it is the most effective. To turn to the Creator of heaven and earth and to trust what He will do for us relieves us of the perception that we are in control and allows us to rely on the One who is over and above all.

In short, when you trust God to do the work that only He is capable of, the world begins to take shape and His kingdom will spread to the communities and people around us. All that we must do is pray, believe, and trust that He will on our behalf.

PRAYER

God, may we never forget who you are. May we remember that when we’re weak, that you possess all strength. May we remember that we don’t know what the next step forward is, that you contain all wisdom. May we remember all of who you are and trust in you fully. It’s by the power of your Spirit that we pray. Amen.