day 18 church
Ann said something in response to the post about trauma (day 9) which has been bothering me ever since. When I asked if she had been able to seek prayer support from her church she replied 'No, I never had the opportunity to ask for prayer about the fear. We weren't in that kind of a church.'
I probably dont need to say anything much about that statement. But it's easy to criticise and bemoan the sate of other peoples churches and tut tut at their shortcomings without removing the plank from our own eyes. How easy do we, do I, make it for people in my congregation to express their deepest, most secret. painful, vulnerable stuff? Ann was a ministers wife. Her husband, the minister, was dying. The congregation must have been in fear and turmoil themselves. Its even harder for clergy to reach out for help than it is for us regular bods. But it is hard for everyone. And we, church, need to be so much better at helping.
The other thing that someone said this week was that they were feeling utterly overwhelmed by the amount of prayer requests she was getting from people who are going through really tough things. So that's the other end of the spectrum. If you do belong to ' that kind of a church' how do you respond to the expressed needs of people who are brave enough to ask for help? And how good are we at reading behind the story we are told to get to the real issues? Im sure there were people praying for Ann and David during the time they lost their son and then during Davids illness. I know I prayed. But I didnt see past the immediate surface issue. I prayed about loss and grief and illness and for healing. But underneath all of that there was so much else going on ( sorry for using you as an example Ann)
We need to be so much better at prayer.
Recently I was partnering up with a visiting speaker who had come to preach at our worship service. He and I were offering to pray with folk at the end of the service. He had come armed with words of knowledge , and the people who came up to receive prayer all responded to a word he had had. It has been a long time since Ive watched someone operating under the anointing of the Spirit so accurately and effectively. I felt completely inadequate and humbled. I used to be like that. Not so much any more. Ive got lazy. Ive become complacent. I realised that Ive been praying without listening to Jesus quite a lot. I pray what people ask me to pray for rather than what the Father is asking me to pray for. God has an uncanny knack of getting right to the heart of the matter right away. But we need to be ferociously in step with Him in order to be able to wield the sword which cuts between bone and marrow.
Every single one of us has a responsibility to be listening to Jesus at all times. It takes discipline and practice and the willingness to make mistakes and move on. Even if we aren't laying hands on people and praying with them we still need to be listening when we are in conversation with people. So that we can ask the right questions. So that we can offer the right counsel. So that we can speak wisdom and truth into situations which are holding people captive. In volunteering in our church cafe I've had countless conversations with people where I've asked a question and suddenly the talk has shifted from chat about the weather to really deep and difficult stuff. People are always dropping hints and leaving clues. A couple of weeks ago a regular came in as he always does and someone said ' Hi, how are you?' and he said that he was really tired cos he hadn't been sleeping well. Easy to leave it at that right? Make some ' oh dear' noises and move on. But something made me ask ' Is there any reason you havent been sleeping?' He hesitated. I could tell he wasn't sure if he really wanted to say it. And then he told us about something really really hard that had happened in his family that weekend. He talked for ages. We gave him coffee and told him we would pray for him. The next time he came in we were able to ask how things were going. A door has been opened. Jesus cares and will take every opportunity we give Him to show that He cares. But its up to us.
Lord, please help me to listen to you more all the time. Where Ive become de-tuned from your frequency, tune me back in. Where Ive become weary of people and all their ' stuff' please re-infuse me with the compassion you have for everyone I meet. When I do hear people's difficulty and distress please give me keys to cut through the surface stuff and get to the heart of the matter. I want to unlock captives and see people healed. Amen
I probably dont need to say anything much about that statement. But it's easy to criticise and bemoan the sate of other peoples churches and tut tut at their shortcomings without removing the plank from our own eyes. How easy do we, do I, make it for people in my congregation to express their deepest, most secret. painful, vulnerable stuff? Ann was a ministers wife. Her husband, the minister, was dying. The congregation must have been in fear and turmoil themselves. Its even harder for clergy to reach out for help than it is for us regular bods. But it is hard for everyone. And we, church, need to be so much better at helping.
The other thing that someone said this week was that they were feeling utterly overwhelmed by the amount of prayer requests she was getting from people who are going through really tough things. So that's the other end of the spectrum. If you do belong to ' that kind of a church' how do you respond to the expressed needs of people who are brave enough to ask for help? And how good are we at reading behind the story we are told to get to the real issues? Im sure there were people praying for Ann and David during the time they lost their son and then during Davids illness. I know I prayed. But I didnt see past the immediate surface issue. I prayed about loss and grief and illness and for healing. But underneath all of that there was so much else going on ( sorry for using you as an example Ann)
We need to be so much better at prayer.
Recently I was partnering up with a visiting speaker who had come to preach at our worship service. He and I were offering to pray with folk at the end of the service. He had come armed with words of knowledge , and the people who came up to receive prayer all responded to a word he had had. It has been a long time since Ive watched someone operating under the anointing of the Spirit so accurately and effectively. I felt completely inadequate and humbled. I used to be like that. Not so much any more. Ive got lazy. Ive become complacent. I realised that Ive been praying without listening to Jesus quite a lot. I pray what people ask me to pray for rather than what the Father is asking me to pray for. God has an uncanny knack of getting right to the heart of the matter right away. But we need to be ferociously in step with Him in order to be able to wield the sword which cuts between bone and marrow.
Every single one of us has a responsibility to be listening to Jesus at all times. It takes discipline and practice and the willingness to make mistakes and move on. Even if we aren't laying hands on people and praying with them we still need to be listening when we are in conversation with people. So that we can ask the right questions. So that we can offer the right counsel. So that we can speak wisdom and truth into situations which are holding people captive. In volunteering in our church cafe I've had countless conversations with people where I've asked a question and suddenly the talk has shifted from chat about the weather to really deep and difficult stuff. People are always dropping hints and leaving clues. A couple of weeks ago a regular came in as he always does and someone said ' Hi, how are you?' and he said that he was really tired cos he hadn't been sleeping well. Easy to leave it at that right? Make some ' oh dear' noises and move on. But something made me ask ' Is there any reason you havent been sleeping?' He hesitated. I could tell he wasn't sure if he really wanted to say it. And then he told us about something really really hard that had happened in his family that weekend. He talked for ages. We gave him coffee and told him we would pray for him. The next time he came in we were able to ask how things were going. A door has been opened. Jesus cares and will take every opportunity we give Him to show that He cares. But its up to us.
Lord, please help me to listen to you more all the time. Where Ive become de-tuned from your frequency, tune me back in. Where Ive become weary of people and all their ' stuff' please re-infuse me with the compassion you have for everyone I meet. When I do hear people's difficulty and distress please give me keys to cut through the surface stuff and get to the heart of the matter. I want to unlock captives and see people healed. Amen
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