What Does it Take?
"What does it take to get on your church's prayer list? Do you have to have a heart attack?"
These words grabbed me this morning as I was listening to an interview with Alistair Begg.
I'd been awake since 3:45 this morning. My heart was heavy with concern for the spiritual lives of several of our boys. I'd been laying it before God, but I was also hurting and feeling alone. I was questioning my parenting and wondering where I had gone wrong. Part of me feared judgment if I reached out and asked for prayers for some of the struggles. I was fighting my own spiritual battle of feeling like giving up. There was the temptation to wash my hands of it all and walk away. I felt drained.
My husband, understanding my need to rest and refuel, sent me to my room today and ordered our younger two "to leave mom alone." After listening to a couple sermons, I read the book of Colossians. At the close of the book, Paul instructs the believers to "Devote yourselves to prayer." I find it interesting that his request for prayer wasn't for him to be released from his chains, but rather it was for opportunity to share God's Word and to proclaim it clearly.
Also, in looking back to Colossians 1:3-14, Paul prays that the Christians in Colossae would be filled with the knowledge of God's will, that they would live lives worthy of the Lord and please him, that they would bear fruit in every good work, that they would grow in the knowledge of God, and that they would be strengthened with all power so they would have great endurance. Paul's prayer list didn't include deliverance or physical healing. It was all centered around the spiritual well-being of the believers and the gospel being spread.
This sent my thoughts back to the question I heard this morning. "What does it take to get on your church's prayer list?" So many times my prayers center around deliverance from a situation or healing of a sickness. God certainly cares about these things. However, what is most important? The spreading of God's Word, our spiritual well-being, and all glory being given to God through our lives seems to far outweigh deliverance from hardship and illness in its importance in Paul's prayers.
What if we changed our church prayer lists? What if we prayed more for the spiritual lives of our Christian brothers and sisters? What if we focused on the good news of Christ being spread? What if we asked that our lives bring glory to Him?
I know as a mother that there is a battle out there for the souls of our children. I am on my knees begging for victory in their spiritual battles. Look at Colossians 4:12. Paul states that Epaphras was wrestling in prayer for them. Wrestling. That implies discipline, hard work, perseverance, and a fight to win. My children need my prayers just as the Christians in Colossae needed those prayers. In addition to that without feelings of embarrassment I should be able to say I need your prayers. I need you to pray I can trust God with the future and with my children. I need you to pray that I won't give up and that I'll keep battling and wrestling on my knees for my children.
I need to be on the church prayer list. How about you?
These words grabbed me this morning as I was listening to an interview with Alistair Begg.
I'd been awake since 3:45 this morning. My heart was heavy with concern for the spiritual lives of several of our boys. I'd been laying it before God, but I was also hurting and feeling alone. I was questioning my parenting and wondering where I had gone wrong. Part of me feared judgment if I reached out and asked for prayers for some of the struggles. I was fighting my own spiritual battle of feeling like giving up. There was the temptation to wash my hands of it all and walk away. I felt drained.
My husband, understanding my need to rest and refuel, sent me to my room today and ordered our younger two "to leave mom alone." After listening to a couple sermons, I read the book of Colossians. At the close of the book, Paul instructs the believers to "Devote yourselves to prayer." I find it interesting that his request for prayer wasn't for him to be released from his chains, but rather it was for opportunity to share God's Word and to proclaim it clearly.
Also, in looking back to Colossians 1:3-14, Paul prays that the Christians in Colossae would be filled with the knowledge of God's will, that they would live lives worthy of the Lord and please him, that they would bear fruit in every good work, that they would grow in the knowledge of God, and that they would be strengthened with all power so they would have great endurance. Paul's prayer list didn't include deliverance or physical healing. It was all centered around the spiritual well-being of the believers and the gospel being spread.
This sent my thoughts back to the question I heard this morning. "What does it take to get on your church's prayer list?" So many times my prayers center around deliverance from a situation or healing of a sickness. God certainly cares about these things. However, what is most important? The spreading of God's Word, our spiritual well-being, and all glory being given to God through our lives seems to far outweigh deliverance from hardship and illness in its importance in Paul's prayers.
What if we changed our church prayer lists? What if we prayed more for the spiritual lives of our Christian brothers and sisters? What if we focused on the good news of Christ being spread? What if we asked that our lives bring glory to Him?
I know as a mother that there is a battle out there for the souls of our children. I am on my knees begging for victory in their spiritual battles. Look at Colossians 4:12. Paul states that Epaphras was wrestling in prayer for them. Wrestling. That implies discipline, hard work, perseverance, and a fight to win. My children need my prayers just as the Christians in Colossae needed those prayers. In addition to that without feelings of embarrassment I should be able to say I need your prayers. I need you to pray I can trust God with the future and with my children. I need you to pray that I won't give up and that I'll keep battling and wrestling on my knees for my children.
I need to be on the church prayer list. How about you?
Comments
Post a Comment