Well….we were 30 minutes late to the church service so that meant we missed the praise and worship which is a big bummer for me. I’m a musician and worship leader. I love worshipping God with other folks. Unfortunately though, because I do play and sing, I can sometimes be critical of the musicality and technical aspects of the service. So maybe God was keeping me from being critical this Sunday. …. Yeah, that’s why we were late. It was God’s plan all along. :)
Not much to comment about the service other than it was your typical charismatic word in faith message where we were repeating things the preacher was saying and turning to our neighbors and saying things like “god is good” and “your miracle is coming” throughout the message. Oh well, both Jeanne and I grew up attending charismatic churches so none of this was new to us, rather, it was very old. Too old to be exact.
The most significant thing that happened was when the pastor closed the service. He asked, “if anyone would like prayer, our prayer team will be up front here to pray with anyone for any need.” So after the close, I went up immediately and asked for prayer for more wisdom to be a better husband and father to my family. The couple prayed a 30 second prayer for me and then proceeded to give me a 2 minute message on how I can be a better husband and father. I could have done without the message, but I thanked them for the prayer and then met up with Jeanne and Selah and we left. On the drive home, I began to reflect on praying for people at church. Out of the 300 people in attendance there that day, only 5 of us went up for prayer after the service.
This bothered me……Here’s why:
Picture yourself at the end of a church service and just before the pastor dismisses everyone, he says, “Today, we are giving away a free book that will greatly help you deal with the problems in your life?” Wouldn’t you go up to the front after church to get the free book? Or what if he said that they will be handing out free $5 gift certificates to eat lunch at Moes? I bet you’d get in line for that….a free burrito at Moes! Or what if he said they were giving away free ice cold cokes. Would you go up to the front after the service to get a free ice cold coke? I know I would.
Yet when the church offers free prayer, why is it usually only a few people go up to receive it? Do most church goers have their lives so together that they don’t really need prayer? What if it was Jesus himself standing in front of the church offering the free prayer. I bet the line would stretch outside the church doors to receive that. Didn’t Paul say in Colossians 2:9,10: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” So if we have been given fullness in Christ, than there should be no difference if Joe Christian or Jesus himself is doing the praying. James even goes a step further and says in James 5:14,15 “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.” We are commanded to go to the elders of the church to receive prayer.
The reality is simply that everyone needs prayer. We all have issues and need God’s supernatural intervention to remedy it. How else is it going to happen if not through prayer? From this experience, I have made a commitment that anytime I am offered prayer, I am going to take it. Why? Not because I think prayer is some quick magic formula that will fix everything automatically, but because I don’t have everything figured out and in this journey called life, I need all the help I can get.
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7 comments:
is "joe christian" related to joe-the-plummer?
good thoughts brian, i am enjoying your blog
btw, a friend of mine just told me about a church in greenville that you should visit, and i can't remember the name... lifepoint i think
jeremy
Interesting comments about the prayer at the end of the service. I go to a church that at the end of the service invites anyone who wants prayer to come down to the front to pray. I also think this is great for those who the Holy Spirit is guiding to do this, but I don't think that it is for everyone, especially every week. If someone is in God's Word & praying every day and if that person is involved in a small group of fellow believers who is praying for one another, prayer at the end of the service may not be in the cards for them.
It encouraged me to hear what you wanted prayer for: becoming a better husband and father. That has been a focus of my prayer life lately as well. Each time that I think that I have a handle on things and begin to pat myself on my back, God lets me take a blow to the stomach and reminds me that I am nothing without Him. I will keep you in my prayers for these things and I ask the same from you.
Your brotha from another motha (and frustrated Nole's fan), Mark.
joe christian IS joe the plumber!!!!
mark, you bring up a good point, in reality I don't envision everyone going up front for prayer, but I think most folks need it. I guess I look at it as an opportunity to get more prayer. can you ever have enough? I do agree with you that there are other ways to receive prayer like a small group etc.
I will stand in the gap with you for a better fatherhood! We need it! ......and maybe as well for a better offense from our beloved noles.
I like your choice of topic. It is very thought provoking and it is something everyone has an opinion about, Christian or not.
I agree with Brian in that everyone can use prayer and we should accept prayer when offered; however, I agree with Mark, not everyone is meant to pray for others. The person offering prayer needs to be aware of their spiritual gifts and it may not be intercession. Irreversible damage, (okay, nothing is irreversible with God but…) may be done (spiritually speaking), or at the least serious setback, for the one receiving prayer if the person praying is not sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
The pastor MUST have a spiritually sensitive team working for him/her (him/her brings up another issue, please excuse me I will stay on topic), just one more thing to think about for an already over burdened pastor.
A good reason for not having mega churches, is it not? I mean Jesus only had 12 disciples and even then one got out of line.
Brian,
Good to see you are writing.
What if they offered coupons to Moe's on condition they could look through your wallet?
Could it be that folks know they need prayer but they have second thoughts about opening up to a "prayer team member?"
It is hard enough for me to get past "what do you do for a living," much more expose raw need to people I am not close to, even if they are solid Believers. I know you are a spiritual - I should say, a Holy Spiritual person, but you have also been in enough chuches to know that many are not safe places to leave yourself exposed. That is the tragedy and the great sin I think of our modern Church, and why small community groups with good support are so important.
I think you nailed it on the head with the whole "2 minute message" afterwards. Maybe the habit of that from the leadership gets in the way of just the simple prayer.
Let God do the work, not the leader's pride... my 2 cents.
Hey Bri!
Just found you here. The email you sent it to,I only check every so often. BLOGGING is the best! I have one too- tell Jeanie.
andbabymakesfour-martinez.blogspot.com
Didn't know you guys moved again. Now we have a reason to go to the Carolinas! :)
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