Resurrection in Prayer

Pastor Laurie Barnes writes:

What is it about our Thankful Day of Prayer Vigil at church that makes prayer special?  Why do we encourage people to come to the Wesley Covenant Chapel on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to pray? 

We are praying in community. It is encouraging to each one of us to know that our brothers and sisters in Christ are also praying.  As we see friends and neighbors and members of our small groups come in to the Chapel to pray, we are reminded that we are all a part of a Christian community where prayer is a valued discipline. 

We are praying in a sanctuary.  Stepping outside of our home and intentionally coming to another place to pray somehow elevates the prayer experience.  We know that God is with us, no matter where we are, but once in a while, when we leave the distractions of workplace or home, we can better focus on God and on hearing his still small voice.  In the peace of the Chapel, we can sense God’s presence in a way that we can’t always experience in the routines of our days.

We are interceding for others in our community.  One of the blessings of the Prayer Vigils at Church of the Resurrection is the understanding that each and every member will be prayed for, by name, at least once during the 16 hour Vigil.  The congregation is divided up into one-page lists of 20-30 families and each person who participates in the Vigil is encouraged to take a list and pray for each person during their time in the Vigil.  The prayer of intercession is a holy one.  By taking the time to pray for others, we demonstrate our love for our neighbor in a unique way.

We are encouraged to continue our prayer time at home.  It is our hope and expectation that all who participate in the Prayer Vigil will be so encouraged by their time in prayer that they will continue, or increase, their commitment to daily prayer at home. 

We hope you will find the time between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday November 25 to come to the Wesley Chapel and join us as we are a congregation in prayer together.

We talk a lot on this blog, and everywhere else, about the importance of spending time in prayer. And that IS important. Prayer brings us close to the heart of God, enables us to communicate with the Creator of the Universe, equips us, empowers us, enables us, and changes us.  However, this week I was reminded that at the end of our time in prayer, we have to “get up and get going.”

This reminder came while discussing a chapter of a great book of lessons on prayer, Traveling the Prayer Paths of Jesus, by John Indermark (Upper Room Books). In this chapter, Indermark paints a picture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night he was betrayed. The night Jesus and his disciples spent there was time in sanctuary. Jesus spent the time praying about the things he knew were to come. The disciples spent most of their time sleeping. All of them were removed from the world for a while, safe at least temporarily from the difficulties of the outside world. The disciples did not know it yet, but it was the last few hours they would spend alone with Jesus until after his resurrection. But the time came to an end. The time of sanctuary, peace, and prayer was to be followed by action and activity.

In Matthew 26:45, Jesus tells his disciples, “Get up, let’s get going! Those are the closing words of his prayer, not Amen.  He called his disciples to move on out into the world. Indermark calls it “where life unwinds and faith unfolds.”

We can’t spend all of our time in sanctuary, no matter how safe and wonderful it is to be alone in a quiet place with God. He is calling us to take the strength and the spirit we find there and “Get up!”  He wants us to get going and be about the work he has given us.

Where is God calling you to get up and go?  Are you spending enough time in sanctuary to refuel and get ready to go where you are called?

Pastor Laurie Barnes, Pastor of Prayer and Congregational Care writes:

Last spring, the Tuesday morning Christian Believer class started a list of the things we knew about prayer.  Here is the beginning of our list.  What would you add to it?

• Prayer works!
• Prayers are answered – not always the way we WANT them to be answered.  They are answered yes or no or not yet
• Dialogue with God
• Relationship
• Jesus prayed
• Jesus modeled (deceptively) simple prayers.  We are praying more than we realize in the Lord’s Prayer
• Individual and community
• Power of prayer
• Prayers rising like an offering to God
• More you do it, the more you do it.
• Prayers can be without words (Romans 8:26-27)
• Thank Him for everything
• Prayers are a place for confession (1 John 1:9)
• Sentence prayers can be offered throughout the day
• There is a time/place for private prayer (Matthew 6:5-6)
• In the Lord’s Prayer…

–we are praying “Our Father”

–Hallowed means honoring God

–the word “I” isn’t in the Lord’s prayer

–“Thy Kingdom come” – I am part of making that happen

–Kingdom implies a God is a King

• Someone said if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.
• “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

Compiled by the 2007-2008 Tuesday morning Christian Believer clas

Only a few days more, and the long election season will be over.  I hope each of you takes advantage of the marvelous privilege we have to participate in the process of choosing our leaders.

Is it all right to pray for the outcome?  If we do, isn’t there someone else praying for the exact opposite?  How should we pray? I think God wants us to communicate in prayer about every area of our lives.  I came across this prayer, and I think it is a good example of how we should pray for this important day in American life:

Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Enlighten the minds of our people. May we choose a President of the United States, and other government officials, according to Your Divine Will. Grant us the wisdom to give You what belongs to You, our God. If we do this, as a nation, we are confident You will give us an abundance of Your blessings through our elected leaders. Amen.

So, if you haven’t already, don’t forget to vote, and always be in prayer for our leaders, and for the wisdom and guidance that will make us all better citizens of the United States, and of the world.

A blank sheet of paper is not necessarily a friendly sight when it is Friday afternoon and you are trying to write your blog post, but it can be a wonderful prayer tool.  Prayer journaling can add focus, depth, and an appreciation of the power of God to your practice of prayer.

Here some ideas for beginning or expanding your prayer journal:

•    Use that blank sheet of paper to clear your mind.  If you find it difficult to concentrate in prayer, if thoughts of things to do or random pieces of daily life intrude, stop and write them down. Then set them aside and promise yourself you will come back to them when you are through praying.
•    Write out a psalm of praise to begin your prayer time.  Good psalms for this: Psalm 9, 27, 34, 40, 84, 92, 103, 111, 135, 139, 146, 149, 150 and many others. As you write, really concentrate on the praises the psalmist wrote. When you reach the end, write your own psalm of praise!
•    Write a letter to God.  Use the rules for letter writing you learned in school: begin with a greeting, naming God. Next, an opening paragraph telling God about you and your relationship to him.  Then, the body of the letter.  Pour out your heart to God, who wants to hear all you have to say.  Close your letter with whatever requests for action you have.  Sign off in a way appropriate for communication with the creator of the universe – praise!
•    Don’t limit your prayer journal to just one kind of writing.  Don’t have a lot of rules about what goes into your prayer journal.  Let the Holy Spirit lead you in your writing.  Some days it may be a letter, some days a simple list of requests, some days just psalms and words of praise and on other days it might be examination of a portion of scripture and what it means to you. It might even be pictures you draw or doodles!
•    Periodically go back and review your journal.  Do you see a pattern in your journaling?  Is there an issue or issue that always seems to come up?  Have you made progress in working on that issue with God, or do you need some help to work it out?  What answers do you see to your prayers?  Add those to your list of praises!

There is only one real hard and fast rule in prayer journaling, and it is the same as in any prayer:  focus your journal, and all your prayer on God.  Unlike a diary, a prayer journal is not about you.  It is about the relationship between you and God.

If you haven’t ever tried prayer journaling, or if you journal regularly, let us know about your experience with prayer journals.  You can leave your comments here.  Would you be interested in a workshop or class that included prayer journaling?

A few years ago when my step-kids were in high school at Shawnee Mission North, I participated in a weekly Moms in Touch prayer group.  Moms in Touch is a wonderful ministry that encourages moms with school-age children to regularly gather together to pray for their school, teachers, administrators and their kids. There was a specific model for prayer that was followed so we always began our prayer time together with Praise.  We praised God for who He is.  Thanksgiving was separated out from praise so the opening part of the prayer time was focused solely on praising God for who He is. 

This week, let’s remember to spend some time praising God for who He is before we jump right to supplication.  Jumping immediately to supplication (for myself and for others) is often my tendency unless I discipline my thoughts.  Here is just a small sampling from the Bible of ways we can praise God for who He is. Praise you God for being:  a faithful God (Deut 32:4); a forgiving God (Neh 9:17); an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1); the God of grace (1 Peter 5:10); my light (Psalm 27:1); and our refuge and strength (Ps 46:1). 

In your Bible reading this week, find dimensions of God’s character that you can use in your prayer time.  Write them down in a journal or notebook and add to your list.  Let us know if your prayer time is enhanced by beginning your prayers with praising God for who He is.

Laurie Barnes is the Pastor of Prayer and Congregational Care at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.

Last night at the closing session of Leadership Institute 2008, the Prayer Initiative Vision was cast by Pastor Dagney Pullin for the 1600+ people in attendance.  Pastor Dagney described how the Prayer Initiative dream was born at a recent gathering in Atlanta of 80 United Methodist pastors of the largest United Methodist churches in the U.S. The dream was articulated for United Methodist congregations all over the U.S. to be encouraged to pray for the same thing for a week.  All the prayer requests are directly related to the renewal and revitalization of our churches.  How exciting is this!!

Monday we are to pray for laborers for the harvest.  For God to raise up 2000 young United Methodist clergy in America.

Tuesday we are to pray for 400 new United Methodist Churches in America where there is no vibrant witness for the Gospel right now.

Wednesday we are to pray for God to use the United Methodist churches to alleviate poverty and stamp out malaria and HIV/AIDS.

Thursday we are asked to pray for renewed vitality to the United Methodist Church.

Friday we are asked to pray for a healthy unity across the United Methodist Church.

Saturday we will pray that as the Word of God is preached in our churches on Sunday, fruit that will last forever will be born.

For the 500+ churches that were represented at Leadership Institute, this could have an amazing impact on their churches and on the individuals in the churches. 
As Pastor of Prayer at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, I look forward to hearing stories of how churches are impacted by this prayer imitative.  I am going to be attending the Walk to Emmaus later this month and I hope that this Prayer Imitative will be part of the buzz I hear as I meet and interact with other United Methodists from all over the Kamas East Conference area.  Let me hear your stories too so we can rejoice together!  God is so good!

This coming week, Church of the Resurrection will host the annual Leadership Institute at Resurrection.  This year, almost 1600 people from all over the country and beyond will come to our church to be inspired, encouraged, instructed, and filled with renewed enthusiasm and vision for the ministry of their own churches.  We have asked the congregation to be praying for all those who attend Leadership Institute this year, and we ask that you pray, too.  If you are in worship this weekend, pick up a bookmark at the Connection Point with the name of one of our Institute guests.  You can pray for this person during the week.  We hope you also pray for our staff and pastors, who will be presenting workshops on every aspect of ministry.

Please pray for:

• Safe travel
• Health and comfort while they are here
• What they learn here help them grow, change lives, transform communities and bring renewal to the Church
• They experience personal growth, renewed energy and enthusiasm for their ministry

Here is the prayer that is printed on the bookmark.  It is our prayer for each of the churches represented by our guests, and our prayer for the Church of the Resurrection, too:

O God,
We long to be the beacon that
shines your light.  Help us learn
and grow so we may change lives,
transform our communities, and
renew the church.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.

Mark 2:1-12 tells the story of the four friends who carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing.  The biblical text doesn’t tell us the root cause of the paralysis – whether it was physical or emotional or spiritual.  Instead, the story stresses the faith of the four friends who had the love and took the time to carry their friend to Jesus.  Not only did they carry him across town to the place where Jesus was staying, they went up on the roof and dug through the roofing materials so that they could lower their friend down through the roof directly to the attention of Jesus. 

Recently at our Prayer Leadership Team retreat, we did an exercise from the Companions in Christ materials that involved a form of guided imagery.  As the leader read through the story, we paused often to silently visualize someone who we would like to carry to Jesus for healing.  As directed, we silently visualized who that person was and what  the obstacles were that we had to go through to get him/her to Jesus.  It was a very powerful exercise of intercessory prayer. 

Intercessory prayer is a gift of love that demonstrates that a person cares enough about his friend or family worker to carry them to Jesus.  Scripture tells us that Jesus is now our intercessor in heaven (Romans 8:34).  A caution about intercessory prayer is that it can be a considered a club by those who are at a different place in their faith journey.  At an earlier time in my life, I remember being offended when someone told me they were praying for me.  I saw their care as condemnation.  Now, I thank people profusely for praying for me and say “bring it on!”  I am finally at the point of realizing the great gift of love that intercessory prayer can be.

Who is on your stretcher today??

Laurie Barnes
Pastor of Prayer Ministry and Congregational Care

Jennifer writes…

While going through a box of very old family pictures recently, I came upon a treasure. It is a small black cloth bag, obviously hand sewn, and embroidered with a date of 1878, the outline of a Star of David, and some Hebrew lettering. Inside was a tiny metal mezuzah. 

 
A mezuzah is a small scroll, usually in a case, that observant Jews affix to the doorways of their home to fulfill the commandment in Deuteronomy 6:9 regarding God’s words: “write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  The scroll is inscribed with the words of the Hebrew prayer, Shema, which says, “Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God is One,” and “Shaddai,” one of the names of God. When entering the house, or the room, one touches the mezuzah and kisses the finger that touches it, remembering the prayer that is held inside.

 
Some of my mother’s family members were Russian Jews who traveled from the small villages near Vilna and settled in the southern United States. I assume this small bag belonged to one of them. Maybe it even made the trip in steerage to reach their new home and freedom to worship.

 
 I treasure this little bag as a piece of family history, but also as a wonderful reminder of the importance to pray, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “without ceasing.” What sort of reminders can we give ourselves to pray?  Some people schedule prayer time into their calendars.  I know people who put prayer reminders into their computer systems so they pop up periodically throughout the day. Others carry small crosses, or even small “touchstones” in their pockets or purses where they are sure to touch them and remember to pray. Are there objects, like the mezuzah, that you put in your path to help you remember to pray?