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As I continue in congregational leadership, I have become convinced that there is much more that God wants to do than we ever allow him to do.  God really wants to heal the sick.  God really wants to cast out demons.  God really wants to change lives and bring people abundant life.  God really wants to pour out his Spirit - in the supernatural kinds of ways that we see in the New Testament and elsewhere.  God really wants to even raise the dead. 

And yet, we don’t pray anywhere near enough for this to take place.  Moreover, oftentimes, the prayers that we pray are weakened by the expectations of failure or, perhaps worse yet, survival rations of God’s Spirit.  Sadly, we often don’t expect God to respond.  Especially not immediately. 

What if the Church - and yes, our local congregation, too - were to pray 24-7 as a habit: not just in a few places, mind you, but as a habit for congregational life?  What if we were to expect the miraculous?  What if we were to expect God’s will to actually be done in our lives?  What if we were to invite the full giftedness of the Holy Spirit to come down upon us - to give us what we need for ministry, and to form God’s character in us? 

If?  Then: then we would see God transforming our communities organically through the work of the Spirit-filled church.  Then we would see the message of Christ connected to the lives of many people who otherwise would see this as just so much more talk.  Then we would see radical revival.  Are we ready for this?

Then let us pray: not just for the extravagant, but for the mundane.  Let us pray expecting that God will speak to us.  Let us pray, knowing that he hears us.  Let us pray, knowing that he desires to grant us Abundant Life.  Let us pray - knowing that God desires the church to grow as we do his work.  And let us do so together, as much as possible. 

God, move your Spirit upon us.  Cleanse us from our sins.  Heal our bodies, souls and minds.  Grant us emotional healing.  Provide for our needs.  We want to give you glory, honor and praise.  Pour out your Spirit and let your Kingdom come. 

Amen!

So I’ve continued my work of prayer this week, seeking God’s vision and direction (while not neglecting my other pastoral duties).  It seems like I’ve been interacting with God at a very deep level regarding some issues we’ve been experiencing in our Congregation.  And the conversations I’m having reinforce what I’ve been praying for. 

I think we as followers of Jesus tend to under-play extended periods of prayer as valid for Christians - espeicially “professional church leaders.” 

I’m realizing it needs to be more balanced, now.  Definitely more time for prayer - in solitude and in groups.  No doubt about it. 

Now… how to get that to take hold congregation-wide…

As our congregation has transitioned from a high-conflict situation coupled with a systems-wide change situation to a point of stability and growth, I have noticed a change in the use of my time. 

Initially, I was working hyperactively, firefighting (in a sense), working long hours, high stress, etc.  This was also a time of managing out-of-bounds conflict and strategizing the change in church systems that needed to happen to bring us to health. 

As the conflict moved to the back burner, the hours-per-week slowly came down into the “reasonable and customary” needed to really be sustainable life.  Nevertheless, I was still working on the systems stuff.

At the moment, we are working on developing new bylaws for the church which will ultimately change the way we govern ourselves and make our systems more Biblical and give us accountable flexability within visionary leadership.  As this transition occurs, we are working to come to leadership consensus as we begin to teach the concepts of such new governance to the congregation at large. 

Now, I believe we have come to a place of quiet re-grouping, a place that can be bathed in prayer - because now there is time to do that.  I think we will find a happy medium in this, such that we can now structure prayer into ministry from the beginning, rather than trying to use it to fight through things later.  I think this is a very positive transition, one which I feel will flow throughout the congregation and bring true healing and Kingdom transformation - and therefore, growth. 

Stay tuned as we continue this process, and please pray for us!