At the start of every year people who keep track of trends publish a list of things that are trendy along with a list of things that have become passe'. One of the things I continue to struggle with in my own faith journey is the temptation to jump on the latest bandwagon of the latest trend when it comes to the church. Rather than taking the time to stop and pray about if this is right for the church or for my life it is easier to try to grab a hold of the latest trend to see if it will work. In most cases I have found such an approach to have excitement for a while but the long lasting results of that style is really short lived.
It is easy to give into the temptation of the moment because it is right in front of you and can be had for a minimal amount of effort. But if long lasting results are what I desire (and i do) then I have discovered I have failed miserably at the overall goal. Trend jumping from latest gimmick to the next great thing that comes along only takes away energy that could be used in more productive areas.
Rather than jump from trend to trend I have discovered the need to put an idea to prayer rather than jump into a program or idea headfirst. This helps me to seek the direction of God for this idea along with allowing the excitement for the project level out so a more balanced decision can be made rather than on just emotion alone. Praying about such an idea also gives me the time to share this idea with some other people to see how they respond to it and see if God is leading them to make such a commitment to the project. It is much easier to move forward with others on board for a project rather than try to push others to get on board an idea they have not had time to think about.
Patience is needed on my part because if something is long lasting it will stand the test of time rather than just go out as last year's hot idea.

I have become more convinced as time goes on the strength of a church lies in it's prayer life. I have seen very good churches struggle when they forget to pray. I have also seen struggling churches take on new life when they begin to develop an active, vital prayer life. The same can be said for individual Christians: the stronger the prayer life the more vital their faith. I know this for a fact when I am going through a difficult time it is more than likely because I have not taken enough time to pray about the issue.
But effective prayer is not treating God like a genie in a bottle, something we use when we wish for something to happen but more often than not that is the extent of the prayer life of a lot of people. Effective prayer is simply communicating with God, talking to God and listening to God. It is making contact and allowing the presence of God to touch your life.
About thirty years ago I was asked the question: if your whole church had your prayer life would it be considered a praying church? At that time I was a college student and had a very active prayer life. I would be constantly talking to God about everything that was going on in my life. Since that time when I have thought about the question I think back and wonder what happened. My prayer life is not what it what once was I have gotten busy with other things and put prayer aside as an option for my life or when I really get in a mess.
Let me share with you a story of two churches: the pastor of the first church wanted to make prayer a priority so a time of prayer was started prior to the services on Sunday morning. The service was sporadically attended by a faithful few but there was always room in the chapel where the service was held to put a few more people. The pastor talked for a while about how he wanted the church to be a praying church but the time spent in prayer in worship and in the meetings and in the groups of the church stayed the same. Other than the program beginning nothing else changed.
In the second church the pastor also wanted a renewed emphasis on prayer and it began in the meetings of the church. They decided before they make any sort of decision in a meeting time needs to be spent in prayer over the issue seeking the direction of God for the church and for people's involvement. After a while some things began to happen, people began to take a more active role in the church, then tried new ideas, the began to reach out more and life in the church became much more vibrant.
After several years both churches have changed pastors and have had their share of issues but the second church has been moving forward while the first church is struggling and I believe it is because they only give a verbal appearance of how important pray is for the life of their church.
How is your prayer life?

Learning From Life

I had two things happen today which spoke to me in the same way. I attended and participated in an ordination service for a person in my region. I love going to ordination services because they remind me of the day I was ordained and when the candidate is acknowledging their vows for ministry I am reminded of the vows I took almost 26 years ago. In giving some advice to the candidate the speaker giving the sermon reminded the candidate (and all the people present) that ministry is not about us but about being a servant of God.
The second thing which happened today was I was reading a blog of a colleague who is staring a new church and in that process he is striving to turn his life over to God. In doing so he is getting out of the way and allowing the Spirit to work in his life in this most important mission.
As I thought about both events I began to realize both are saying the same thing if I am going to be a follower of the Christ then I need to trust God with things both big and little and then I begin to see how God is able to work in my life and the lives of those around me.
Take a moment and think about the thing which are hindering you from having a closer walk with God. What are some of those things and what would it be like to turn them over the the Christ?