Pray for us

I always have found that phrase at the end of Ephessians to be a necessary reminder of the humanness of the apostle, and by extentssion of my deep need for others to pray on my behalf.  Yet it amazes me to realize that so few of us spend time praying for each other.

We pray for those who are sick, and we pray for those who are missionaries, but our focus is not on the proclamation  of the Word but on the comfort of our bodies.  

This week has been full of hurting bodies, hurting hearts, and hurting spirits. As we have reached out to our community we have encountered more and more brokenness, financial  struggles, and relational travail. There is cancer and heart disease, divorce and job loss, all of it drawing out pity and soliciting funds.  And in the midst of it my need is most fundamentally that I have a team of people praying that I may speak the Word of God with boldness and clarity as I ought.

Brooks bodies will heal, but only for a while.

Broken hearts will begin to trust and over again, but there will be more pain.

A new job will eventually be found, but it will change.

The financial crisis will pass, and another will come.

But the promise of hope in the Gosspel will not ever spoil, or fade, it is secure in heaven with all the blessings of God in Christ. The restoration and renewal of the Gospel transcends the physical pain, overcomes the broken heart, and gives meaning and comfort in any financial woe.

And that is why I need your prayers, that I may be given words and the courage to speak them, in a timely way.

What were you thinking?

Really, "What were you thinking?"I have been tempted to say that several times in the last week. I am beginning to win the opportunity to speak into people's lives, and some of what lies beneath is just what it looked like from a distance, silly sheep stuff. 

Much of the pain in people's lives could be avoided if we knew how to think Biblically. If we added to love for God and neighbor  a healthy helping of God given knowledge, and with that framework in place, we practiced the energy intense discipline of wisdom.

The flip side of that was a conversation this week where I asked a young man what he was thinking. Specifically I asked him when he thought the Gospel had finally made sense to him, he pointed at the passage we were studying in Romans 5 to the word "righteousness" and said "Right about there."  "And what are you thinking we need to do next?" I asked him. "Get baptized." He replied pointing to the note from Matthew 28 scrawled in our notes.

I'm glad I asked.