Forty Days of Apostleship: Believe Your Prayers Have Power

Forty Days of Apostleship: Believe Your Prayers Have Power

During this 40 Days of Apostleship, we are looking at how to expand our faith from a disciple to the faith of an apostle. That means up-leveling your faith from believing in Jesus to believing like Jesus. My theory is those who believe like Jesus can do the kinds of things Jesus did. Last week we looked at Jesus’ belief in divine partnership. This week, we explore a second of his beliefs: that his prayers had power.

Jesus’ Belief: Prayers Have Power

I have to believe that Jesus believed that his prayers had power. Consider the chutzpah it took for him to call forth a dead Lazarus from the tomb. Yet, Jesus preceded this bold act with a prayer: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me.” (John 11:41-42a) Only after he prayed, did Jesus cry out, “Lazarus! Come out!”

Not only did Jesus believe that his prayers had power, he believed that your prayers have power. Listen to this audacious advice from Jesus found in Mark 11:24 and elsewhere, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Whatever?! Yep, that’s what the scriptures say.

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus says elsewhere in the Gospels, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:21-22).

Did you catch that? When you believe like Jesus, you can ask for whatever you want in prayer. No matter how outrageous. All it takes is faith and belief. But when doubt enters in, it can derail you. Somehow, you have to suspend disbelief and refocus on faith.

I envision prayers working as a conveyor belt. The answers to your prayers go on the conveyor belt and begin to make their way to you. Click To Tweet

Soul Work: Allow Your Prayers to be Answered

Let me tell you how I visualize prayer working. I envision a constant conveyor belt of blessing and abundance that flows from God to us. You ask God for answers. The moment you ask for something, the answer to your prayer gets plopped on the divine conveyor belt and begins to make its way to you.

But what if, along the way, you second-guess your request? Or worry about your ability to handle the blessing? Let’s say you’re not sure you can integrate the new state of affairs the answered prayer would bring. Then what?

If felt strong enough and long enough, these doubts can slow down, stop, or even reverse the conveyor belt of blessing. In other words, you can unintentionally work at cross purposes with your prayers.

To allow your prayers to be answered, you have to weed out a doubt. Begin to notice and name the doubts that may accompany your prayers. As you name them, send them on a different conveyor belt back to God. Then ask God to strengthen your faith and increase your belief as you refocus on joyfully receiving whatever you have asked for in prayer.

Embrace the Belief: Start Small

Several years ago, I began to experiment with believing like Jesus. When it came to the belief that my prayers had power, I decided to ask God for something small, inconsequential that wouldn’t trip the wires of self-doubt.

I asked God to have someone gift me with a mug. Then, I practiced believing that I had received the mug by visualizing the act of opening my hands and seeing a mug placed in them. I rehearsed the feeling of happiness that would accompany it. I did that for about a week, then I forgot about it.

One afternoon, three or four weeks later, the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw a man I didn’t recognize.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“I’m Willie,” he answered. “This mug is for you,” he said, handing over a slightly misshapen blue ceramic coffee mug. “Well, for your husband. I made it for him after the last construction job we finished. It’s been sitting on the floor of my pick-up truck for months. I just never got around to stopping by. Til today.”

I could hardly believe it. “Why, thank you,” I beamed, holding the mug in my hand. “You wouldn’t believe it, but this is just what I’ve been praying for.”

Apostolic Action: Build Your Faith

Now a coffee mug isn’t that big a deal. But believing like Jesus is. Master the art of believing without a doubt, and you can have a greater impact than you could ever imagine.

As you move from discipleship to apostleship, doubtless, you will want to make a bigger ask of God than a mere mug. There are wrongs to right, loaves, and fishes to multiply, and wounds to bind up. But start small. Build your faith in your ability to ask and receive. Then visualize the conveyor belt delivering all kinds of answered prayers and the delight you’ll feel when the doorbell rings.

Adapted from the forthcoming book, Believe Like Jesus, © copyright 2020 Rebekah Simon-Peter

Christmas and the Last-Minute Leader

Christmas and the Last-Minute Leader

If you are a last-minute leader, you’re not alone.  You’re not the only one putting finishing touches on a worship service, sermon, play, piece of music, bulletin or outreach effort.  In fact, you can be forgiven for thinking your timing is right in line with the theme of the season.  With no room at the inn, Mary and Joseph are ill-prepared for Mary to comfortably give birth to Jesus.  Much of Jesus’ early life, too, is spent on the fly avoiding Herod.

As Biblical as being last-minute maybe, there’s a cost for today’s church leader. We are in danger of missing the very spiritual qualities we are preparing to share with others.

Last-minute activity, done under pressure, activates the release of adrenaline. Once adrenaline is released, it gives us a heart-pounding rush, energizing the system. There’s a feel-good component to that. At the same time, it shuts down the part of the brain that is tuned in to the mood. And it messes with the heart’s rhythms, creating discordance instead of coherence. The ragged heart beat that results disconnects us from the people we love, unable to relax or connect in meaningful ways.

I remember one Christmas Eve in particular, where I had been scurrying around like the proverbial chicken with my head cut off. I had successfully managed one urgent matter, calmed down two anxious people, and counseled three lonely people. I felt very useful, but strangely empty. When all was said and done, I had many things I could check off the to-do list, but I had no sense of peace in my soul.

Here’s the thing: there will always be last-minute things we cannot control. There’s something about Christmas that seems to bring the unexpected to the forefront. At the same time, there are many things we can control. For instance, there are no surprises about when Christmas comes. Christmas Eve comes like clockwork on December 24. Christmas Day falls reliably on December 25. Advent is always the four weeks leading up to Christmas. We can plan for these holidays, folks.

Here are some last-minute recommendations for the last-minute leader.

First, congratulations on managing all the things that need your attention at this time of year; good job!   Give yourself some love; this is not an easy calling.

Second, consider all the people you will be serving this Christmas. It may well be the highlight of your year—a full sanctuary, new people coming in, beautiful music, people who know the stories and the words. Pray for these folks in joyful anticipation. Bless them. Open your heart to them.

Third, spend some time between Christmas and New Year relaxing. Getaway for at least a little bit. Give attention to your own spirit, your own family, and your own well-being. Play and rest. During this time, I like to reflect on the wins and losses of the previous year, to count my blessings, and write out my celebrations. Once Christmas is over, spend time on this most important of activities. It will help you set the stage for a powerful 2020.

Fourth, don’t wait til Fall 2020 to look up the dates of Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas and New Year. Map them out now. Think through the timing of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Watch Night services, and surrounding Sundays. Make note of the lectionary readings. Begin to collect stories and let your imagination connect with the scriptures. Put your notes where you can easily find them next year. And then, breathe deep. After all, Lent is coming.

 

 

Is Your Advent Prayer Missing the Point?

Is Your Advent Prayer Missing the Point?

The Advent the liturgy instructs us to pray—solemnly, hopefully, deeply—is “Come, Lord Jesus, come.”  This hopeful prayer set against the backdrop of darkening days—both seasonally and politically —implies waiting with expectation.  Yet I can’t help but wonder if this prayer misses the point.

What are we waiting for?  We all know Jesus has already come.  While he was here, incarnate on earth, he already showed people how to do what he did. How to bring health to illness. How to bring light into darkness.  How to bring truth to an empire of crushing power.

Instead of waiting on Jesus to work through some heavenly redemption, perhaps Jesus is waiting on us to work some earthly miracles.

During Jesus’ life, he was very clear about sharing his power with his disciples and apostles.  He wanted them to be able to do the very things he did.  To heal the sick.  To cast out demons.  To feed the hungry.  To proclaim the Kingdom.  To expand the ranks with new apostles of peace.

If you are praying for Jesus to do something he has already taught you how to do, then maybe it’s time to take up some new prayers.

I’d like to suggest the following three prayers this Advent:

Pray the Apostle’s Prayer. “Lord, increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5) When the apostles prayed this, they weren’t asking to have more faith in Jesus, but to have more of the faith of Having that sort of faith is what it takes to do the things he did.  And to go beyond it.

Pray the Prayer of St. Francis. I love this prayer because it instructs me in exactly how to   be an apostle of peace, a force for good in the world.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy
O Divine Master, grant that I may
Not so much seek to be consoled as to console
To be understood, as to understand
To be loved, as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
And it’s in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it’s in dying that we are born to Eternal Life
Amen

Pray “I believe; help thou my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) I pray this prayer when I find myself wavering in my ability to be courageous in the face of evil, or hopeful in the face of darkness.

Praying these prayers will align your life, thoughts, actions and soul with Jesus’ call to us:  to be apostles of peace, healing, comfort, and Kingdom.

There’s one more thing I invite you to do this Advent.  Register for the DARE to Dream Like Jesus course.   You will learn about Jesus’ big dream for the world, the DARE model of dreaming, and how to grow in the faith of Jesus to make a true difference.

Pray “I believe; help thou my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) Click To Tweet

Beyond Thoughts and Prayers

A flurry of well wishes were unleashed across the United States in the wake of the Dayton and El Paso shootings ten days ago. These well-meaning expressions of sympathy were tweeted, emailed, texted, written, preached, and whispered:  You are in our thoughts and prayers. 

 

While words of comfort are always appropriate, in and of themselves, they are increasingly inadequate as a ministry response.  Maybe thoughts and prayers were an adequate response after Columbine.  But here we are 20 years later.  What was an isolated incident of horror has become a public health crisis.  So much so that in 2019 there have been more mass shootings than days in the year.  According to Gun Violence Archives, a mass shooting is defined as four or more people killed, not including the shooter.

 

As a nation we seem to be stuck and paralyzed, unwilling or unable to prevent further mayhem.  Is there anything the church can do when the government can’t or won’t?  Absolutely. As vessels of divine love, who carry light into the world, you are empowered to co-create new realities with God.

 

How does this spiritual reality translate into visible action? It involves shifting your focus from comfort ministries to challenge ministries. 

 

Jesus engaged in both kinds of ministries.  He not only healed others who suffered the crippling effects of sin and powerlessness, he created a new kind of community in which those distresses couldn’t take root. Because you are made in the image and likeness of God, you can do the same.

 

Let’s take a look how.

 

Up until this point, comfort ministries have been primarily employed in the case of mass shootings.  Thoughts, prayers, impromptu memorial sites, community services, and counseling for the bereaved have pulled together traumatized communities. But they haven’t bound up the brokenhearted families or brought the dead back to life.  Nor have they put a halt to public shootings at the movies, food festivals, concerts, yoga classes, and stores.  They haven’t stopped a gunman from killing people in church, synagogue, school, or at home. Because they haven’t dealt with the why or the how of the violence.

 

Challenge ministries get at root causes.  What are some of the root causes of these shootings?  One common denominator is domestic violence. Investigations are beginning to reveal that many of these gunmen have a history of domestic violence.  This is compounded by the ready availability of military-grade weapons, coupled with an inadequate system of background checks, and spurred on by a darknet of hate-promoting sites. It all brews in a culture of toxic masculinity and fear of loss of power as the US and world population grows increasingly multicultural.  This fear of the “other” includes a fear of black and brown-skinned people, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Amish, gays, Mexicans, immigrants, and women.  It’s made all the more heinous by a lockdown on treating this as a public health crisis. 

 

What can you do in the face of this?  Keep reading to discover five ways. But first, let me invite you to join me for a free one-hour webinar to discuss how to respond to mass shootings, Beyond Thoughts and Prayers: Responding to the Unthinkable.  Email us to register and receive a link.

 

Back to the five steps.  But first, before I tell you what they are, be aware that they will require all the courage the Christian life has to offer.

 

  1. Remember who you are. You are made in the image and likeness of God.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, you bring love and light into the world.  As a partner with the Holy Spirit, you co-create miracles through willingness and faith.

 

  1. From this space, forgive the shooters, the factors that led to their violent deeds, and the paralysis of the nation. If you can’t do that, imagine God’s unconditional love and Jesus’ forgiveness for them even in the midst of the evil. If you can’t do that, at least ask God to help you set those feelings aside temporarily.  Why?  If you meet their anger, hostility, loathing and fear with your own, then the atmosphere of us v. them has simply increased. Love and light cannot win in that environment.  And love and light must win.

 

  1. Next, lift up your thoughts and prayers in a brand-new way. Turn your thoughts to the covenant you have made with the community of faith: “To accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression.”  Pray on those words.  Gently turn aside the thoughts that say you can’t make a difference.  Go back to praying. Couple that with reading Matthew 17:20 and John 14:13.

 

  1. After this, redirect your attention from the trauma at hand to an expansive vision of the Kingdom. What would a community look in which the thought of shooting others wouldn’t even occur for people? In which a violent fear of the other couldn’t take root? Envisioning this will take holy imagination, creative conversation, and much prompting of the Holy Spirit.  Allow the Spirit to take you there.

 

  1. Ask God what action or actions you can take toward that vision. Be aware that this will require more than one person or a few people to accomplish.  And likely more courage than you currently have.  Be brave.  Be faithful. Trust that God trusts you to do this.

 

Do share this process with others.  Invite them to forgive, to re-direct their thoughts and prayers toward the freedom they have to act, to envision the Kingdom, and to choose an action.