Be The Revival: "Just" Pray

Do you want to witness mass confusion really badly?

Get a group of Christians together and ask them how prayer works.

I have heard it all.

"Its for us, not for God."

"Scripture says if we beg God enough, He'll listen to us."

"Well...okay...its like...um.  Like, God is going to do what He wants but prayer is how we become part of His great plan.  If we pray toward something, and that thing happens, we get to share in the blessing of it."

"God is all powerful...but He changes His mind...if...we...um, pray?  Is that right?  That doesn't seem right."

"Prayer is like the fuel that makes angels do God's bidding."

I am by no means knocking these responses.  Fuel for angels...I don't know about that one...but the rest seem logical...the begging thing is even Biblical (Luke 18:1-8), and, well, bless the Fuel for Angels people's hearts for trying!

I have to be honest with you.  I have no idea how prayer works.  But I know it does.

And its essential if I want to Be The Revival.

Confession:  I'm bad about praying.  I'm a doer.  I'm a solver.  I am not a pray-er.

Just look at my first attempt at a Bible Study.(this link isn't posting, go here: http://theyankeepeach.blogspot.com/2013/01/be-revival-appointed.html)

I just did it.  And no one showed up.  Now, turns out it was a good thing I still did it!  But I believe God allowed me to play to my weakness to eventually reveal His strength.

Confession:  There is a little more to that very first Bible Study than just "No One Came"  I wanted you to see to what depth God was working by fast-forwarding to my neighbor's phone call.

But, if you notice, I stopped the narrative at 10:30am on that fateful Friday.

10:30am...I had waited 30 minutes for someone to come.  Truly, no one came.

10:31am...I got a knock on my door.

It was another neighbor...a believer, down the street named Mary, that I had met before.

I have to admit, I was super disappointed.  "Great!", I thought, "Another Christian.  I was trying to reach seeking people, this lady is a waste of my time!"  (I'm so nice)

Mary was checking in to see how my Bible Study was going, having received a flyer but also having a commitment that day.

Mary sat down and I told her about my heart to reach my friends.  She told me that she struggled with the same thing.

We talked and talked and talked.  We talked about how Great our God is.  We wondered why we were so scared.  We started wondering what God could do through us.

Then...we did something I hadn't really done alot of...we prayed.

Oh did we pray.  Mary is a prayer.  We wept and plead with the Lord.  We confessed things.  We lifted each other up.  We worshiped.

We decided to meet again the next Friday..."just" to pray.

Why do we always say that?  Why do we always say, "All I can do is pray!" as if, by praying, we've thrown our hands up in the air in total and utter defeat?

Why does prayer feel like a gesture of helplessness?

Well, at the time, it did feel that way.  I'd tried the Bible Study thing.  I'd done something bold and beautiful and failed.

Might as well try praying...

Mary and I met the next Friday.  I don't know when it happened, but our conversations started changing.

The more we prayed, the less helpless we felt and the more strategic we became.

What was once, "God help us!  We don't know what to do!"

Was now, "You know what, God?  Isn't it interesting that (insert neighbor's name) just asked Mary to pray for her after years of turning a cold shoulder to any talk of faith?  Interesting..."

Names came to mind, people were specifically mentioned before the throne of God.

We began "noticing things".

A couple tragic things happened on our quiet little street that suddenly brought the concept of eternity right to the forefront.  We did not rejoice in these tragedies, but weeks and months later we noticed that they occurred and realized that we'd had some very honest conversations with neighbors.

I noticed that, instead of just trying to share the gospel quick...like taking off a band-aid...to say I'd done it, I was actually forging deep friendship and relationships built on trust.

Sometimes, I over-strategized.  Sometimes, I could not stop talking to Mary about how overwhelmed I felt and helpless I felt to reach so many people.

"Calm down!", Mary would say.  "Let God work.  Just be patient."

I did feel so helpless.  I felt like I was "just" praying.  In my mind people that "just" prayed for their neighbors instead of DOING something were being wimps.

But that's where I was wrong.  Prayer IS something.  Prayer is EVERYTHING.  Prayer is the artillery barrage before you send in the ground troops.  (Me being the ground troops)

Every Friday.  We prayed.

Then, 7 months later, I get the call from Melissa, who was interested in attempting the Bible Study again.

Its interesting to me that, about the time Melissa called, Mary started fading out of the picture.  She often had migraines.  It wasn't her fault.  And she is still a vibrant prayer warrior.  But, God phased out our season of prayer as I began my journey toward action.  Mary passed the baton to Melissa, so to speak.

"How does prayer work?"

I could not explain to you in theological terms how prayer works.  But I can tell you this.  Planning this second Bible Study was an entirely different ball game.

It felt like God had literally prepared the way for us.  He had actually "gone before us". As real as I see the street in front of my house, I could see God raising up individuals out of the woodwork.  It was effortless.

I am trying to parse out a thousand layers of my life into blog posts...its very difficult.  There is more.  More from Melissa, more about our Bible Study.

But for now, your new Be the Revival rule is this:

4.  You Never "Just" Pray

My friend just posted this quote today on his Facebook page:

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work." Oswald Chambers.

You want to Be the Revival.  But you are too scared.  You just had a baby.  You just moved.  You aren't sure if you are supposed to start a Bible Study or just plain old talk to your friends.  You aren't sure WHO to talk to or what to say.

Pray.

Its your first bit of practical wisdom from the Be The Revival series.  Pray.

Pray passionately.

Pray consistently.

Pray strategically.

Pray persistently.  

I mentioned Luke 18...the parable about the persistent widow...I love how it starts:

"Then Jesus told them a parable to show them that they should always pray and not...lose...heart."


Here are some other things I prayed...often personalizing these prayers to read as if they were for me (ie, "Help me to be wise in the way I act, making the most of every opportunity")

Colossians 4:3-6
³ And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Psalm 20:7
 ⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (for when I felt overwhelmed or scared)

1 Corinthians 2: 4,5
⁴ My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

 There are so many more.  As I think of them, I'll post.

Pray these verses.  Mention your friends to the Lord.  What a cool thing, to know that you can bring your friend or family member up before the very throne of God!

So the next time someone asks "How does prayer work?"

Be ready with your own story.

I can't wait to hear it!