Praying about our Problems

How to Pray about Problems
January 16, 2011

James 5:13-15

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.

Here’s a little story about prayer ... (from the Hampshire Gazette).

Travelers along the eastbound stretch of the Massachusetts Turnpike between Palmer and Sturbridge may have seen a shrine that stands watch from a wooded glen. When it is illuminated at night, it appears in a clearing as if coming out of nowhere.

The statue attracts a lot of attention. Travelers will call the police, or a local church, to inquire about it. Some have been known to even stop on the turnpike to leave prayer notes, flowers or Catholic rosaries.

The little shine is known to some as “the Madonna of the Turnpike,” or “the Lady of the Highway.” It’s a two-foot statue of the Virgin Mary on a pedestal of field stones. It has stood there for 47 years since Alfred Brodeur erected it.

It was Alfred’s mission to give glory to God that his wife, Eldora, diagnosed with breast cancer, and had recovered in part, he believes, because of their faith and their prayers.

As Alfred’s daughter, Diane, says, “[My Dad] was just a little old farmer man who loved and believed in God very much. He put the statue here to thank [God] for my mother’s [recovery] and to inspire faith and prayer in others who drove by. They would think of Jesus and to think of God.”

I have no doubt that God answers prayers. I have no doubt the prayer impacts the outcome of illness. I have no doubt that God can and does suspend the ordinary to present the extraordinary.

But I also know that what we want, or what we expect from our prayers is not necessarily what God does. And here is where I find the thoughts of James particularly helpful.

James mentions two specific times when we really need to pray:
1.Prayer when I’m in trouble (maybe sick, emotionally or physically, spiritually hurting)-
2.Prayer when I’m happy

The two go hand-in-hand just as life is loaded with the vicissitudes between ups and downs, health and illness, prosperity and austerity, joy and sorrow.

You may also notice that James mentions praying when you are sick. This might be a third category, but he is using this more as an illustration of the first two categories (trouble and happiness) than as a third category.

Here’s why... It seems that by the time we get to the New Testament (and we have been brought into a one-on-one relationship with God), the word we have come to translate as “sick,” or “ill,” carries a connotation of “weakness.” The word literally means literally, “to be without strength,” ... when you are totally wasted, fatigued, bedridden, unable to work. It's the word describing Lazarus in John 11. It is the word to describing Dorcas in Act 9. It is the same word describing the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5, who sat there for years and years without enough energy to get up and get into the pool.

This is key, for to assume that we don’t get sick and die is irrational. My mother was sick. My sister had cancer. My uncle suffered with polio. I battled Gianne Barre. We are not immune from getting sick, nor from death.

But to recognize that in our sicknesses and grief and sorrow and pain and death that there is a deeper issue of “weakness”... ... this is keen.

I sense that James is reminding us that when we are in trouble, the big concern is our spiritual health.

Scan down to verse 15. James notes that the affects of prayer are not necessarily physical health (although physical health is never beyond the power of God), but – catch this word – to rise!

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person [ or the weak person, or the person without any strength] well; the Lord will ... raise them up!”

What is this “raise them up” associated with in the New Testament? Resurrection!

Connect this verse from James with Paul’s discussion of “rising” that he conveys in his letter to the Christians in the Greek port city of Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes,
The body that is sown is perishable,
[but] it is raised imperishable;
it is sown in dishonor,
[but] it is raised in glory;
it is sown in weakness,
[but] it is raised in power;
it is sown a natural body,
[but] it is raised a spiritual body.

The hope of the Gospel is not only the power of God to heal our infirmities, but – more importantly – to raise our souls to glory in their weakness. Spiritual wholeness!

How do we pray about our problems? For health? Okay, ... but not on the presumption that prayer is a magic bullet to manipulate the laws of nature. But... prayer for health and recovery of our weakened soul in the midst of trouble! That’s the key. And that makes us happy.

My mother took ill, and died. My sister was stricken with cancer, and died. My uncle fought the residual effects of polio, and died. But, I know that by prayer, their weakness did not overcome them.

By prayer, they were strong. In fact, they were, dare I say, they were happy: They could still give God the glory. They could still smile.

Did you realize that "Praise" is used 550 times in the Bible. It is a lifestyle of the Christian: to be joyful. So in the ICU, I give thanks for the nurses. I give thanks for the hospital. I give thanks for the morphine. And yes, I pray for to recovery. So, when the family is falling apart, I give thanks for my wife. I give thanks for my kids. I give thanks for the honesty. And yes, I pray for reconciliation. So when there are more bills than income, I give thank that the house is still warm. I give thanks that for the love between the family. And yes, I pray for wisdom to handle the deficit.

I continue to be touched by Carrie Ten Boom, held by the Nazi’s for harboring Jews. Affectingly, her life was over, and yet her soul soared.

Even in the lice infected barracks of Ravensbrück (through which an estimated 90,000 women and children died), Carrie Ten Boom sang hymns, recited the Psalms and gave thanks to God.

Why? Because, and as James pointed out, in her weakness, God constantly raised her up her soul to a greater glory.

It’s a beautiful day out here in the Meadows. The air has a special lightness in its wispy breeze. The corn is about eight inches high, a startling spurt since yesterday, and the hay meadow has shoots long enough to start waving with the wind. It is a day that celebrates God in his greatness; a day that lives communion with the divine.

How wonderful it would be if we could find our own lives to be just as bright, fruitful and celebratory! That was the message last Sunday, “Have Breakfast with Jesus:” live in the invitation to spend time with God. The meadows do. “See how the lilies of the field do not labor or spin. Not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:28-30)

I really do believe life was meant to be joyful, uplifting, wispy and satisfying. And from what I've have seen over the past five decades plus, life generally is less than this ideal because we forget to live with that from which our essential soul comes. We try too often to go-at-it-alone. And I further believe that spending a little time focusing our consciousness on the eternal can change everything.

So here are some web-links to daily devotional material to help us "have breakfast with Jesus." Some are subscriptions. Some send you daily devotions right to your mail box. Other you simply long into each morning.

Navigators - www.Navlink.org (Navigator’s will email you six days a week)

The Upper Room - www.UpperRoom.org/devotional (from the United Methodists)

Our Daily Bread - www.odb.org (with an audio link)

Blue Letter Bible - www.blueletterbible.org/reader/daily (a daily bible reading program)

"We have challenges to address in the next two months as to how we will organize ourselves to enable us to be an effective presence in ministry and service." Pastoral Blog's previous post

We are now two months into that time frame. It is amazing how the good Lord keeps the mind clear, the life pure, the heart quick and the mind focused when He is at work! So often we can get into a funk, feel a bit discouraged, or sense the task is more than we can handle. True enough, I believe, if we go at it alone. However, the congregation met on April 25, and prayed. Tuesday night the bible study group has met and prayed. The Elders have met three times in the last six weeks, and prayed. Every day I close also in prayer. In essence, it doesn't seem that anyone is trying to "go at it alone," and progress is happening!

This week our Session's report for stabilizing the church and transitioning to a structure necessary to address the expanding ministries in our church is being mailed. It is also being posted on the web site (www.pioneerpresbyterian.org. There is clarity in the process and agreement that the goals are reasonable and attainable.

Maybe we call take to heart a lesson. The closer we keep our consciousness with the divine essence of creation, the more full, uplifting, complete, successful our lives become. It really isn't a mystery. Fact is we were made as spiritual beings, so it follows, that living in closeness to the one spiritual entity that made us spiritual will only make life more of what it is supposed to be.

I look forward to the great adventure ahead. Keep up the prayers. Keep up the commitment. Together, let our lives soar as on eagles wings! (By the way, that's not an original concept of mine. Isaiah had that revelation centuries ago.)

Study Leave Report: What a Joy to Grow!

I visited two churches of interest on Study Leave. Both were planted in the early 90’s. That is when they finished the first stage of their building. But they have around for some ten years prior to this accomplishment, meeting in homes, renting tore fronts and sharing space in other churches. Does this sound familiar? First Presbyterian in the Meadows has also held home meetings, shared space, and worshiped in non-traditional places.

Today these two churches are eighteen years out from the day they finished their first building campaign, and a good twenty-five years out from when they first gathered. That is seventeen to twenty-four years ahead of us.

My first observation is that we need to be patient and persistent. Growth is long and gradual. It does not happen simply because we build a building. So if anyone still holds that thought, it would be wise to discard it. In fact, this perspective leaves a church vulnerable to the biggest mistake it can make: thinking the accomplishment of one task means the work is done. What has marked these two churches’ continued success is their ability to adapt and mold their forms and structures so they can build and grow. Their defining mark has not been that they built a building, but that have been, and remain, willing and able to continue changing and adapting.

A growing church never ever stops. At Mountain View Presbyterian Church, even with 550 members and programs for all ages, they continue to build and grow because they continue to adapt. For about ten years their focus was towards a retirement community of Sun City. But as the church has begun to attract a broader spectrum of members, they have found themselves working at integrating children, families and youth where this was not an issue before. Pastor Linda Kelly clearly pointed out, “It is easy to relax in the familiar things that makes us comfortable and not struggle with the questions that make us change. For us now it is having to work at things like, ‘What do we do with children?’” What promotes the church’s growth is its willingness to let its comfort zone get a little lumpy if it means someone new to the fellowship finds comfort.

I remember a Sunday morning here at the Meadows when the church was full, the music was hitting every beat, and the sermon seemed to hook where people were at. There was a good spirit moving through the congregation. Afterwards a long-time inactive member who had come by to visit her old church stopped me in parking lot and said, “Well, it’s not my church.” It certainly is not. The church she left years ago has been alive at adapting to emerging needs and trends in order to grow and serve. We can't expect a stagnate perspective of a church life to grow a church.

We have challenges to address in the next two months as to how we will organize ourselves to enable us to be an effective presence in ministry and service.

Keep up the prayers. Share your ideas. Keep the discussion going. Be ready to move forward.

Study Leave Report: Experience In-house Marketing

Experience In-house Marketing
Many know that as your pastor I am constantly trying to figure out why there is such a low, low, low interest in non-worship spiritual building activities. When we have a church dinner, we all come out for the great fellowship, but when it comes to delving deeper into the bible, or taking time to join in a prayer group, the interest wanes dramatically.

I’m still looking for an answer as to what keep us from being part of these activities. Still,there is one thing I do know: there any things in our lives that beg for our attention, and despite our best intentions to be take part in the activities that deepen our walk with God, we are quickly distracted by all the other stuff we have to do.

What have I discovered today on my Study Leave that might help this? In-house marketing!

Simply put, what do we do that will remind us of the events of spiritual growth? We use the printed material for Sunday worship. The church I visited today used many opportunities to remind people what was happening. The front door had an announcement board right as you came in. Then, before you moved ten feet into the building, there was a welcome sign with a note to folks to check out the announcement board. At the coffee urn there were small cards with an upcoming event printed on it, and a note for people to bring a card to their friends. Even in the mens room (yes, right above the … excuse me … the urinal) there was a framed announcement board with the upcoming calendar. By the time you left the church, you had a pretty good idea of what was happening.

This is a good thought for advancing our next phase of ministry. Maybe we need more focus on in-house marketing that can remind us of spiritual opportunities around us. Any ideas? Does this interest you?

Study Leave Report: Encounter with the Lost

Encounter with the Lost:
Today I had an interesting conversation with a frustrated woman who has been looking for a church. Here is the verbatim story she told me, as best as I can recall…

"So I was wanting to go back to church since I hadn’t been there for a long time.. Something was just missing. My husband’s Episcopalian and I’m Catholic, so we thought we would look for something both of us could agree on, and we started looking around. We went to a church and I couldn’t believe what happened. We walked in and a man came over to welcome us, but instead of saying, “Hello,” or “It’s nice to meet you,” the first thing out of his mouth was, “You understand that if you are not a member of this Synod you cannot take communion.” I should have walked out then , but I thought it was so out of line that it had to be just this guy having a bad day or something. So we sat down and then the pastor came over. I thought this was nice for him to take the time to welcome someone he recognized as a visitor. You’d think so, right? Well you wouldn’t believe this. All he said was “I want you to know that you can’t take communion with us. “ I was thinking to myself, “To hell with you.” But it gets worth. We should have just gotten up and walked out, but we stayed around. After church? Someone else came over to greet us, and they handed us a membership card that wanted to know how much money we made. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I gave up looking for a church. Just look at all the crap that goes on, and they wonder why people don’t go to church? Shouldn’t they be living the virtue of the faith, and all they do is tell you you don’t mean anything to them but money and you have no business being there? It’s terrible.

"I left my last church because all they did was fight over one scandal after another. They would just get through with one problem and they would have to deal with another one. All anyone wanted to do there was fight about stupid stuff, and never do anything to help you find peace and virtue. It’s ridicules. I mean I’ve just stopped looking. It’s not worth the fight."

Three things I learn from this that all of us should take into account:
First, this woman made up her mind pretty much within the first 30 seconds of walking in the door. The man who greeted her had all the ability to set the tone for the visit. Think of it, the first person a visitor meets, maybe it’s you, has a great gift to extend the hospitality of our Lord, right then and there. This is not great program. You don’t have to be elected to an office to do this. We just need just a willingness to be a friend to the searching soul in the same way Jesus is a friend to sinners. After all, who of us is not searching for some sense of comfort and care on any Sunday when we also walk into worship.

Second, this woman was not interested in doctrinal barriers or church rules, but that is all her heard. She was looking for a place where the virtues of life would be exhibited and nurtured. How often does the religion, or the rules, or the doctrine (as important as they are) instead of being guidelines for being a church, become barriers to someone’s searching heart from finding God. Maybe it is a good idea to keep church business to the enclaves of committee debates, but when living the church, it is incumbent upon us to live with grace that welcomes, cares, comforts, nurtures and loves.

Third, the failures of this one church have hurt all churches. Simply because the experience was so offensive, this woman and her husband gave up all together on searching for a relationship with God through the church. That is a shame. It tells us that what we do and how we do it may have profound influences beyond the limitations of our walls.

In summary, whatever the program, whatever the denomination, whatever the rules and order, how ever we end up structuring the church for the next phase of our ministry and growth, the most critical component will be the warm and comforting heart of the parishioner who welcomes the lost and suffering soul into the fellowship of our Lord’s praise and glory.

Future of Ministry

Dear Friends:

Our finances and structure will change in June. And we need your help to do the correctly.

The manner in which we have been doing ministry for the past six years will not be sustainable beyond June 30, simply because the design we have been using is inappropriate for where we are and where we need to be going. The Session, the Treasurer, the Presbytery and I are keenly aware that if we continue using this structure we will suffocate.

Our mission strategy for the past six years was put in place in November 2004 specifically to secure a pastor-driven program for closing out the ministry in Holyoke, planting a new church and constructing a building in a new mission field. All of us were very successful at this. The ten year task was accomplished in five.

We now need to be equally successful at making our church’s ministry expansive in its comfort the sick and dying, care and feeding of the hungry, and the nurture of hurt and suffering souls if we are to continue to flourish. In many ways this is a grand opportunity. All the energy and resources we put into building a building, can now be directed to service, compassion, teaching, comforting, healing all in the name of Christ our Lord.

This week I will be exploring how to structure our church given our size and financial position so as to advise the Session. But I need your help in this. All of us need to be part of the discussion. Please begin by participating in our Session’s “Designing Our Next Phase of Ministry” questionnaire that was distributed on Easter and is available again this morning.

The questionnaire is asks only five questions. It’s short, but we need everyone’s input. We need to ourselves protect against making inaccurate assumptions from limited input. Answer the questions, drop it at the office, or mail it back.

You can download a PDF version from the website, www.PioneerPresbyterian.org.

Ideas can be shared also on FaceBook; search “Life in the Meadows,” or “First Presbyterian, Granby MA.”

Comments can also be posted on the Pastor Blog, at LifeSparkofFaith.blogspot.com, or Google search “Life Spark of Faith Blog.”