Prayer - Brightwood Christian Church

Prayer Lessons March

There is a fascinating exchange from Jesus to Simon Peter on the night that Jesus was betrayed. Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, look! Satan has asserted the right to sift you all like wheat. However, I have prayed for you that your faith won’t fail. When you have returned, strengthen your brothers and sisters.” (Luke 22: 31-32)

This statement Jesus made has a note of urgency within it. It is a warning and a promise to Simon Peter. Jesus tells Peter that Peter is about to face a crisis so severe that Jesus is praying for him. Peter is about to be accosted by the enemy. Furthermore, Jesus is sure that Peter will struggle throughout the ordeal. He may even fail. It won’t be an ordeal limited to only Peter. It will include all of his disciples. However, Jesus is sure that Peter will come through the ordeal, no matter how severe it may be, and when he does come through it he will be in a position to better serve the other disciples and help them recover from the similar crisis.

This episode teaches us a mighty lesson about prayer. Jesus is the Son of God. He has all authority. He has all strength and might. He is praying for Peter and the disciples for the strength to win this crisis that they will face with the enemy of God. Jesus is certain that Peter can pass the crisis however painful and difficult it will be. When he does pass the ordeal and when he comes out on the other side, Jesus knows that Peter will be stronger and better to help and serve the other disciples who likewise will pass through the ordeal. The ordeal is real. It is not pretend. Jesus describes it as Satan asserting his right to sift Peter and the disciples like wheat. Wheat is not very strong. Satan has the right to test the disciples. Jesus prays that Peter and the disciples won’t fail, but will actually conquer the contest and the enemy.

This episode should cause us to ask a couple questions. First, if Jesus knows that this crisis is coming and the disciples don’t, why doesn’t Jesus simply stop the struggle before it even happens? Second, if Jesus is stronger than Satan and can accomplish all things, why does he allow Peter and the other disciples to enter into a crisis that could essentially be fatal to Peter and the other disciples? If Jesus has the authority to know a crisis in advance and he has the power to stop a crisis at any time, why does he allow the crisis to happen?

This is important for you and me to learn. How often has it happened to us or to those that we know that we face a severe test and we ask God to take the test away from us but we have to face it anyway. Once we face it we question why God made us go through it. The phrase we hear a lot is, "it's not fair!" Then we hear someone quote Jesus saying that “whatever you ask in my name I will do it." We wonder, what's going on here! We asked to be spared from a conflict and it didn't happen. We believed, but we still had to face it.

This episode is essential to our understanding of prayer. Jesus does not save us from every crisis that we face. That's right. He doesn't halt every crisis. In fact, it is the wrong way to pray to simply ask Jesus to take away our pain, our crisis or any other thing that would short-circuit the situation. Jesus recognized that it was important for Simon Peter and the disciples to struggle! He did not stop their struggling. The reason that he didn't was because through the struggle Simon Peter and the other disciples could come to a place of deeper faith and relationship to God. They would learn how to rely on God all the more. Simon Peter had to discover something profound about himself and about the love of God for him that could only come through a crisis struggle.

But there is a strong word of comfort here. God wants us to know that He is praying for us. Jesus went to Simon Peter to explain that Satan wanted to sift all of the disciples as wheat (Judas Iscariot failed the test). But Jesus wanted him to also know that he was praying for them. In the most significant moment of Peter's life, Jesus told Peter what he was praying for him, namely that Peter's faith would not fail and when he had returned to Jesus that Peter would strengthen his brothers. Peter got to learn that Satan's attack on him wasn't going to stop him. In fact, it was going to make him strong enough to help others Satan wanted to beat him. Heaven was praying a different plan. Jesus was praying, that is, conversing with God, that Peter would not only survive the crisis but thrive and excel and come out a bigger and better person. Jesus wanted Peter to discover how profound the love of God is.

Whenever we are scared or facing a test, we ask God to save us from the situation, never realizing that maybe God wants something else for us. Instead of saving us from a situation God may well want us to learn from the situation something about ourselves and something about the love of God that will propel us to face life in such a way that we will live large and be better for it. If that is the case, then our prayers are actually contradicting the will of God. Instead of asking God to save us or others from a situation, we might be better served to ask God to help us through the situation, help us not to fail, and help us to learn how deep and wonderful is the love of God. Now this won't be easy. In some ways it goes against our very nature of survival. But look at Simon Peter and the disciples after the ordeal and after the resurrection. Wouldn't you like to have that kind of faith, power and perseverance?

So instead of approaching God in such an urgent way, it might be good to begin our prayers by thanking God for all the grace and love he has already lavished upon us, praise him with song, and simply ask him to show us what it is that he would have us learn. When we pray in this way, we can be certain that God will hear our prayers and answer them according to His heart's desire.

Yours for learning to pray.

Bob Jackson teacher

Your Money Matters

Money represents for most of us security. When we are broke we feel great anxiety. This is true whether we are talking about an individual, a family, or a church. Going through a great recession that now seems to be extending to its fourth year, we Christians can feel pretty nervous about giving and generosity. The anxiety of money can overwhelm us to the point that we no longer feel the freedom that we once had. In fact, we may feel threatened.

And yet, churches that are healthy congregations are marked by, among other things, a sense of generosity. Generous people seem to be the norm, not the exception. Some health experts say that not only is this true with churches, this is true in personal and physical health. The more generous a person is the more healthy they seem to be physically. In fact, the word misery derives from the word miser. A miser is someone who holds on to everything they have, which essentially invites that person to become unhappy, lonely and anxious. Misers only trust themselves. A pioneer in the researcher of stress, Hans Selye, notes that gratitude enhances the immune system. Giving thanks is life affirming.

In an article on Healthy Congregations, Peter Steinke claims to have noticed five particular things in healthy and generous congregations. First, he noticed that healthy congregations are centered in God's grace. Grace is something that cannot be earned but only given. We don't deserve God's grace, nor do we create it. Grace is received. Steinke compares it to the scent of roses, a happy personality, or a person’s genes. Grace is a gift. When we receive grace with gratitude it shapes and informs our acts of giving. A thankful heart is expressive. Giving is no longer viewed as an obligation but as an opportunity. Gratitude flows from grace. We reflect the spirit of gladness when we bathe in God's grace.

Second, healthy congregations do not divide the world into the material and the spiritual. When we are rich in grace we realize that everything is spiritual. We learn to trust the giver, not the gift. Salvation and savings accounts are not unrelated. Suddenly our salaries and portfolios are tied to our view of needy people and pastoral care.

Third, healthy congregations are not shy about talking about giving. People in healthy churches understand that part of their DNA is to be a congregation of givers. People in healthy congregations respond to the needs that are pointed out by pastors and leaders. People understand that "this is who we are and what we are about," giving.

Fourth, healthy congregations understand that generosity is developed. When we begin by considering our own needs we come to see that we lack certain blessings that could benefit our lives that those who are generous don't seem to lack. As we grow we come to understand that life is not simply about benefiting personally but by becoming a blessing to others. God continually blesses those who are actively blessing others. God's gifts are not intended for our self-indulgence. Blessings are to be shared. When we bless we confer vitality, well-being and strength. The Hebrews referred to this as Shalom, which means that blessing embraces everything in life.

Fifth, in healthy congregations, whatever gift is given is appreciated. Your gifts count. You make a difference. When it is known that gifts benefit folks generosity is enlarged. Meaningful gifts spur on the spirit of generosity. My dream is for Brightwood Christian Church, and you specifically, to know the joys of being gracious and grateful.

May you be strengthened by your giving.

Bob Jackson, steward.