Of Mountains and Prayer

I was spending a little time with the Lord, reading in Mark, when I came across the account of Jesus healing a boy possessed by an evil spirit (Mark 9:14-29). Jesus had taken Peter, James and John up a mountain for some time apart. It was at that time that Jesus was transfigured and the three disciples had the epitome of the mountain top experience.

In the meantime the others were left at the foot of the mountain and instead of seeing glory, they were faced with needs. Apparently lots of needs, as there was a crowd around them. One of those needs was a young boy who suffered and whose father was seeking help for him. He had approached the disciples but they were unable to be of help, and when he saw Jesus he went directly to him. A good move and the results were that his son was healed. This left the disciples puzzled, however. "Why couldn't we drive it out?" Jesus replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer [some manuscripts add, "and fasting"]".


What a drammatic illustration of the power, and importance, of prayer. One moment a child is rolling around on the ground experiencing something like an epileptic fit and the next moment he is fine. And Jesus says that only by prayer can this kind of thing happen. He doesn't wax eloquent about it, in fact he doesn't wax anything. He simply states it as a fact, like the world being round or water being wet or breathing being important. Prayer is powerful. Prayer matters (ask the little boy or his father).

As I thought about this I had to be honest with God that I struggle with prayer. I know how important it is, that it is necessary and all that. But I don't pray consistently in a manner I would like to. Simply put, prayer, as simple as it is, is hard to do consistently day in and day out.

I am not the only one who struggles with prayer. Even some of the saints who have grown strong in prayer acknowledge the difficulty of prayer. I think E.M. Bounds said that the more spiritual a work is the more difficult it is to do, and that prayer is the most spiritual of work.

As I reflected on this I remembered my prayer journal. Over the years I have written down my prayer requests and then recorded the answers. I have not used the journal since December, so I pulled it out with the intent to begin using it again as one way to become more consistent. When I opened it up I found that I had not recorded the answers to the last of the prayer requests I had made. As I looked through those prayers I realized that all but two had been answered since December. One in particular caused me to laugh out loud. I had been praying for some mountains to be moved and had written "the mountain of Cary" (my brother). I realized that God had answered that prayer by literally moving him! (Tee-hee!) God is good.

Six or seven weeks ago a Kenyan missionary was introduced to me. He is working in a part of Africa that is near some refugee camps and his story is amazing, inspiring actually. In the face of great obstacles he has been used of God to touch many, many lives. Every year he and his staff devote forty days to prayer and fasting. When someone asked why the emphasis on prayer he replied simply and matter-of-factly, "It's all we have."

Perhaps that is a clue as to why we in the Western world are so haphazard about prayer.

If you struggle with prayer, know that there is a reason. It's not because you're faith is defective but because prayer is hard work. And if you struggle, know that you aren't alone. Keep fighting. Keep praying.

In His Grip.

Join the Struggle

In the last portion of Romans 15 Paul urges the brothers and sisters to join with him in his struggle. Hear how they could do that.

Join the Struggle

Congo News

Tom Cairns translated this piece of news he received from the Congo on Friday. It speaks specifically of Gemena, where we will be for the vision trip. Could God desire to use us in some way to help with the education of Congolese children, especially young girls? Be praying.

GEMENA: More the 900 grade school finalists fail the national exam, due to lack of school funds

Information provided by the chief of the sub-division of primary, secondary and professional schools, EPSP/Gemena. The scholastic loss strikes especially at the girls, according to the same source to radiookpai.net.

Mme. Yvonne Biye adds that there were about 4700 registered candidates. This number is far inferior to that of previous years. For her this scholastic loss is due to the parents lack of financial means. In this environment, she adds, the majority of the parents are peasants. They live essentially from agriculture. Yet the terrible disrepair of the roads doesn’t let them get their agricultural produce out to the markets in the large centers. There is also the fact that the salaries of the government employees arrived late relative to the date of the test. These two factors, explained Mme. Biye, are the basis of the high scholastic failure rate.

The chief of the EPSP sub-division also took note of the very low rate of participation of girls at the test: “The majority of these girls were pregnant before the test, and were thus not able to take the test.” According to her, these students will have to wait until next year to take the test. However, Mme. Biye was glad for the participation of 159 other students, the former child-soldiers who were in the care of Conader and those of four remedial centers initiated by UNICEF.

Challenge

The church of Jesus Christ has faced its share of challenges through the centuries, but one challenge that is perennial is one-upsmanship and the tendency to put other believers down because they don't practice their faith in the same way that we do. It can destroy a church and is truly a big Challenge

Citizens

In Romans 12 Paul speaks of how the believer should respond in light of what God, through Jesus Christ, has done for us. Believers are to be people of worship, transformed minds, service and love. In Romans 13 he says they are also to be good citizens.

Citizens

Fellowship of Yeast Buds

I thought it was going to be the usual time making pizza dough when something out of the ordinary happened. As I opened up the new package of “Active Yeast” I discovered that what I thought active meant and what it really meant was quite different. What changed my understanding was that I heard a variety of sounds! Voices, actually.

Now this was unusual, and I do not mean the fact that I could hear the little voices when I have a hard time hearing my wife. What I mean is that I had never heard yeast talk before. I was intrigued.

I put the package to my ear and I listened in. Apparently they were having a wonderful conference, and it wasn’t just any old conference. It was a conference of Christian Yeast Buds. They had the latest in technology, including a very pleasant voice recording telling the day’s schedule every few minutes. In between were short plugs for the plenary sessions and the high-powered buds who would be speaking (“Billy Bud, a rising star in the Evangelical Yeast Association, will teach you how to double the size of your congregation in three easy steps, guaranteed!”). There were even seminars on “Financing Your Ministry”, “Protecting Baby-buds from Unwanted Moisture” or “Simple Steps to Yeast Bud Spirituality.”

The Buds were quite excited, especially one group that had apparently found a barista who would make the espresso drinks “just right” (and “he’s cute, too!”). They sold the latest in fashion (armless T’s with Fellowship of Yeast Buds logos and phrases like “I don’t smoke, I don’t chew, I don’t go with buds who do!”), how to books (“Never fall again!” “Budding Relationships God’s way”) and music (the “Budding Stars” label seemed to be hot, especially as I heard teen-buds arguing with their parents over the style—“that’s not music!”). It was really quite an event and I hated to break it up, but I needed to get the dough made so we could have dinner.

As I tipped the package I heard an awful sound. The Yeast Buds were screaming! When I set the package upright again, they settled down, but now the recorded voice boomed out an advertisement. “God was merciful to us this time, but don’t be caught unaware. The end is near and you need to be ready. Billy Bud’s newest book on the end times can help you be prepared. On sale now.”

I tried to stifle a chuckle, but I could not help myself. It struck me as humorous! Then something else happened. Silence. The Yeast quit talking. So I opened the package a little more and peered in. The sound system crackled to life, but this time it was not a recording but a somewhat strained, older sounding voice. “Are you God?” it asked me. “No, I’m not God” I replied. “Then who are you?” “I’m the person who bought you at the store and plans on using you to make pizza dough.”

“No! Please don’t do that!” the voice said. “Why not?” I asked. “Because it isn’t safe out there! In here we are very comfortable and have such warm fellowship, but out there we might never be accepted.” “But my recipe calls for yeast, or else the dough won’t rise,” I said. “Yes, but in your recipe are all kinds of ingredients, like eggs and flour, that are different than us. Especially baking soda. It’s from the other side of the tracks, if you know what I mean, and it’s so bitter! No, it is much better if we stay together and reach out to those like us.”

“But aren’t you yeast?” I inquired. “Isn’t it your nature to get out of the package and mix with other ingredients? Without you my kids may never eat my pizza again!” “That may be so”, replied the voice, “but we really aren’t ready yet. We need to do more training and fund-raising. Please use some other yeast. Maybe next year we will be ready.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” --Jesus

Thoughts About Church

This message is a break from Romans to take a moment to reflect on how we think about church and to put forth a prayer request.

Thoughts About Church

Dreaming

A friend sent this me in an email. Enjoy

By Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen

Dream the dream . . . again.

Walking with God--personally, intimately, faithfully.
Being transformed into God's likeness.
Absorbing God's love, seeing His holiness, witnessing His faithfulness.
Shedding anger, losing lust, giving up personal advantage.
Reframing ego--from our glory to His glory.
Praying, fasting, worshipping . . . communing with God.
Bowing before Him, acknowledging that He alone is Lord.

Walking in community--personally, intimately, faithfully.
Journeying together with God to become like Him.
Putting on love which binds us together in perfect unity.
Loving the unlovable, accepting the unacceptable -- within each of us.
Encouraging the young, listening to the old, growing together in Christ.
Expecting the miracle--bondage broken, addictions cured, bodies
healed.
Confessing sins to one another--feeling freedom, love, and acceptance.

Walking on mission with God--personally, intimately, faithfully.
Emulating the ministry of Jesus.
Becoming God's ministers of reconciliation.
Becoming spiritual friends with searchers and skeptics.
Equipping God's people for works of ministry.
Doing church God's way- not my way.
Training leaders to plant churches that plant churches that . . . .