This I Pray

9 / 23 / 159 / 21 / 15

Let me tell you about an evening I experienced a little over a week ago. If you weren’t there, I would encourage you to seek out the next opportunity. If you were there, I hope you share some of this perspective, and I welcome your commentary. IF:Pray – a gathering of women whose purpose is “to ask God to move in our generation…to advance the good news of Jesus, that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” This evening was fitting in its timing because I’ve found myself struggling with offering up time to pray. I mean, I find that I pray throughout the day with great frequency, but those are often short bursts of prayer sprinkled here and there. What I needed to be reminded of, and give myself space and time for, is the kind of prayer we engaged in at IF:Pray.

For a Monday night, the parking lot was already crowded when I got there and the Student Center was cozier than I’ve ever seen it. But what was most striking to me was the sheer number of women in that room and their exuberance for the meeting about to take place. Sitting to my left: someone I shared the IF:Gathering with back in February and who I dearly admire. Sitting to my right: someone I didn’t know but found great encouragement from (and likely without her even realizing it). When we entered, we were excited and intrigued. When we left, we were connected – not just to each other because of the proximity of our seats but because there was a palpable, tangible sensation that swept over the room. The connection was something I sensed across space in those moments. Women were gathered all over the world to pray. It was electric. Not a shocking volt, but a far-reaching wire.

The scripture most referenced during this meeting, this time of prayerful worship, was John 17. Jesus speaks to God for this entire chapter. I won’t copy it all here, but I encourage you to look it up. First, we are called to prayer to offer gratitude, and what a great reminder that when I pray, I should start with what is most important: thankfulness. My prayer was heartfelt and quiet and internal. It was movement between my beating heart and my constantly-rapid-firing brain and the God who loves me bending down to be in that space. I could feel the prayers in the room being lifted. It was beautiful.

Jesus says, “I’m praying for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours” (John 17: 9 CEB). This struck me particularly because of all the recent media coverage of the refugees fleeing the Middle East, and how God’s people – Christians all over the world – are being targeted. Jesus is praying for His Father’s people in verse 9. If He is openly and boldly doing that, shouldn’t I? And not just folks in far-flung locales – I should be on my knees praying for the people in my church with just as much urgency as the ones fleeing ISIS.

Jesus continues “I gave your word to them and the world hated them, because they don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t belong to this world. I’m not asking that you take them out of this world but that you keep them safe from the evil one” (John 17: 14-15 CEB). If we aren’t bold for God now, will we ever be? Jesus wasn’t ashamed of me when He willingly and knowingly went to the cross (and truth be told, he probably should have been). So, it’s my turn to love Him openly. I may not ever get to any of those far-flung places where our sisters (and brothers) are boldly worshipping our God and suffering for it, but I can pray them here and now. I can share the message of the cross here and now with those I do come into contact with. And I can pray some more.

Jesus doesn’t leave out the rest of the folks walking around on this planet in His prayer to God. “I’m not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me” (John 17: 20 CEVD). I do pray for our world, but honestly out of selfishness sometimes, because I have two precious boys who are growing up in it. Jesus gives me more to pray for here: Pray for those who don’t believe, or don’t know Him, and that they might encounter believers who show them by word and deed what it means to follow Him. Jarm Turner, Student Ministry pastor’s sermon this summer on “What Would Jesus Say” addressed this as well. Watching the video of the children—kids the same age as mine— are being taught to hate, taught to kill and destroy. I need to pray for them that somewhere at some point they will meet Jesus in such a way that they can’t help but fall in love with Him. I need to pray for the people in my own community who don’t have any idea what Jesus is all about, and I need to be more cognizant of the message I send in my everyday life so what they see might be Him in me.

We closed IF:Pray with a time to pray for unity and love. The notes on our journal reminded us that Father and the Son are “in perfect unity” and we can, then, believe that unity is attainable. We can and should see other people through God’s eyes (remind you of something Bob said this past Sunday?), and that people around the world might know God by our love. “If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples” (John 13: 35 CEVD).

So, what did God stir in me on that Monday night? I can (and should) be more focused on pouring out my heart to Him (Psalm 62:8) and directly lift up the people around me and those farther afield. If I truly want to get intentional about it, my focus can be less about me and what I need, and more about what He needs from all of us here and now. Will I still pray direct prayers over my children or family or friends? Yes. But I can expand my prayer horizons a bit more and do more good by remembering everyone else, too. Friends, “I pray that the Lord will bless you and protect you” (Numbers 6:24 CEVD).

Jessica

Let’s Touch The Sky As Our Knees Hit The Ground

9 / 2 / 159 / 1 / 15

It was one year ago.

Twenty women in the community from different churches sat on picnic tables under a candle-lit shelter at a baseball field. It was on a cool, drizzly September evening, but it didn’t stop hands from joining, heads from bowing, words silent, whispered and called out loud to our God. They were prayers that brought glory and praise to the Creator of all things. Prayers that cried out to our Redeemer for help. Prayers that asked our Protector for protection. Prayers to the Prince of Peace for unity in our community and around the world.

John 17 was prayed.

And it wasn’t just those 20 women praying that night – it was thousands all over the world. That night IF:Pray took place.

IF:Gathering is a ministry whose purpose is to gather, equip, and unleash women in the next generation to live out their purpose through Christ. Some of you at SMC attended the two day IF:Gathering at Elon University this past February and experienced an holy time with the presence of the Holy Spirit and communion with other women in Alamance county.

A few other ways to equip women is to be solely in the Word through IF:Equip, host IF:Tables (more to come!) and once a year invite women from around the world in one night to be in prayer together crying out to our God.

He listens.

He’ll be listening again as we gather to pray at SMC on September 14, 2015 from 7pm-9pm. Women in our community are invited to join with us this holy evening. Again, we’ll be praying John 17, for God’s people, the world, and for unity and love as the Body of Christ. We’ll be on our knees in confession and we’ll be worshiping.

Not only will we pray with gratitude to our Maker, but there will be hard prayers to pray, too. God doesn’t want us to sweep reality under the rug and ignore what’s happening around us. We need to be desperately asking God’s Spirit to move in the hearts of His people and for us to have the courage and boldness to hold up the Light of the world in our daily lives.

This time of the year is busy for most, but we need everyone to make the time to beg our Savior for delivery and unity, especially because of the conditions of the world these days.

We’d love for you to come. Begging you to.

You can register at www.exporesmc.com and you’re encouraged to invite friends, co-workers, neighbors and family to come with you!

At last year’s IF:Pray, authors and bloggers, Jennie Allen, Ann Voskamp, Rebekah Lyons and Bianca Oltoff, to name a few, wrote prayers for the occasion. Jen Hatmaker was also one who prayed that night, and I want to pray this prayer again. Will you join me in prayer?

“God, our world is crumbling and warring, murdering and destroying each other. There is injustice everywhere and sometimes we wonder if You see us down here struggling and aching for hope.

We need You!

We live in this broken down, terrified world and sometimes hate and fear threaten to ruin us all. We pray for peace.

Please, God. Deliver peace.

We beg for peace between nations and neighbors, races and relationships. Give us eyes of love to look upon each other as brothers and sister. Raise us up not just as peacekeepers but peacemakers. Show us how to make peace beginning in our own fearful hearts. Teach us not to fear ‘different,’ but to learn and listen instead.

Give us hands to reach out with hope and community. Give us feet to travel to new neighborhoods, new people, new places, new spaces where we may not understand but we are willing to learn. Give us courage God, courage to love our neighbors as ourselves. Courage to lay down our weapons and pick up the mantle of peace. Courage to admit our errors and listen with humility.

We pray for peace in this troubled world. The peace only You can give.

We believe You for it, God.”

Let us touch the sky as our knees hit the ground.

Are You Eager This Christmas?

12 / 18 / 1412 / 18 / 14

What a gift we have to read this week before Christmas, this last week of Advent. Jessica Russell from SMC is writing for us today sharing how this Christmas season is like no other to her this year. Thank you, Jessica for taking the time in this busy month to write and give us this gift of your Christmas story.

ADVENT… emergence, dawn, the arrival of a notable person, thing or event.

A few weeks ago, I didn’t know what to expect from SMC’s Women’s Advent Bible Study. To be perfectly honest, I’d never really given Advent much thought outside of dully anticipating the lighting of the Advent candles for four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Just another tradition in the little church I grew up in. Just another something else to check off the list.

But, giving it proper time for reflection and study, I’ve discovered that Advent is so much more than that—so much more than another to-do item scratched through, and certainly so much more than just another present not-so-gingerly unwrapped in the haste and excitement of Christmas morning.

Advent is the time in our faith life when we celebrate the arrival of God come to Earth, God in flesh, God gifting himself to us forever and ever. Oh what a gift!

The most moving thing about this gift for me is that I’ve come to know, without doubt, He’s so real…He is, He was, He will always be. This man, our Jesus, and that place called Bethlehem, and the gift of them and that night, spoken down through ages and ages before and after, and continuing to speak into us today. So far away in time and space, yet so close you can feel it. A ribbon through time that connects us all.

This shared heritage…one of peace, one of guidance from our loving Shepherd, one of love. The transcendence of His message and His greatness, the gift of Himself, all that came before Him and all that continued after His earthly life – that connectedness is what takes me over and calms my spirit when I take time to stop and think on it. I know He is here, near to me. I know I can find Him in the most subtle places and subtle ways. Turning my eyes and heart to Him means I can detect His presence just under the surface, when so many other things or people distract me away from Him or drowns Him out.

The eagerness we pick up on when the angels arrive to announce His birth to the shepherds, the eagerness of the Wise Men to get there and honor Him, is the same eagerness I feel for Him today. Now more than ever, should we be eager for Him, with an unquenchable thirst. If we are truly His light in this ever darkening world, what better time than this time of year to outwardly yearn for Him and yearn to be more like Him as we remember His coming, the start of His great rescue plan?

Like moths to the flame of His light, as His followers may we ever draw nearer to Him. Wherever we are in our faith walk, He lets us choose. He’s not a dictator. He gives us the choice because He loves us. If we are awakened in Him, then we will choose Him. We will be His light to our world for folks much farther away from His flame. If we can do that, then we will help them draw nearer and know our Heavenly Father. I can feel that warmth around me, when I’m attentive to it. My hope is that others can pick up on that warmth radiating from me to them, and that they will be eager to seek it out as well, flittering ever closer to light ahead.

Immanuel, God with us, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace:
I pray that we all will feel the connection to You and to each other that this Advent season reminds us of. I pray that these connections will give us strength to pursue you, despite the many distractions swirling around us, so that like moths on a darkened night, we can clearly see your flame shining forth and we will pursue it with an eagerness and zest that is contagious to those around us or following behind us.

Thank you for the gift of Jesus. Merry Christmas! Amen.

Something Beautiful Will Happen

9 / 4 / 149 / 5 / 14

School has begun. Dance and soccer practices are on the calendar. You’re starting to think of the Fall Festivals and pinning holiday, decorating ideas you see on Pintrest late at night. It’s a new season. It’s a new start.

As the calender fills up, are you making time to be in the Word? Oh yes, it’s essential- that one-on-one time with our Abba. Yes, it’s just as important to get involved in a Bible study with others as it is to have coffee in the morning. How beautiful times are when you’re in communion with other women reading God’s truth, applying it to your lives and praying together. Oh, the feeling of the Bible laying open in your lap, holding onto your favorite coffee mug that will warm your insides while God’s promises and your conversations warm your soul.

September 14 and September 21 is Ministry Expo at SMC during all services (except the 5pm on the 21st). There’s going to be so many amazing Bible studies to check out and sign up for. We’re hoping there will be one that’s just right for you (and your calendar).

As the Word says, “When we come together something beautiful will happen as we are encouraged by each other’s faith.” (Romans 1:12)

Let’s come together…

When Grace Happens – Lynne’s Story Part 2

8 / 22 / 148 / 22 / 14

This is part 2 of Lynne Parr's story of redemption.  If you haven't       read the first part, find it here.  As our SMC Super Bowl Sunday    approaches, Lynne's story is a beautiful example of coming out of the  water a new person.  Thank you again, Lynne, for sharing your heart and joy with us!   Hopefully you'll see her this Sunday!  She and her      husband, Craig, will be at the water's edge this Sunday at Lake        Cammack welcoming those getting baptized into the water and cheering  them on...maybe you!

After my nine day inpatient treatment, I completed an eight week intensive outpatient treatment program at Behavior Medicine. After successfully completing this treatment, I continued attending St. Mark’s Church (SMC) and accomplished radical amputation of my previous circle of “friends” of seventeen years.

It was critical I avoided any form of contact with them, which was strongly emphasized in my outpatient treatment. This seemed like an impossible task at first. There was never any more communication with them. With the new life I was experiencing, I didn’t want to take any chances to return to the dark place I feared most. And, it certainly wasn’t worth the risk of losing the presence of peace or my marriage! Gradually, new friendships were established at SMC, whereby I found a genuine and compassionate church family.

Not only did I need God’s encouragement, I also needed fellowship and encouragement from other believers.

When I started my healing and recovery journey with Christ, my new life started to fall into His plan so graciously. Just a few months after my last suicide attempt and coming out of denial, Craig and I joined SMC. It was there where the truth set me free from bondage. It was there I started serving others and attending year-round bible studies to grow in Christ, striving to live more like Him.

My Bible studies proved there will be times when God allows us to go through hardships and struggles. It was reassuring to believe God also delivers his people from all kinds of tribulations. I was astonished that kings, disciples, prophets and other God-loving individuals struggled with trials, loss, and hardships. What they all had in common was their infinite faith, honor and love for God.

This new life of mine became exceptionally peaceful that it starting showing in my life. I was experiencing the authentic meaning of joy by embracing His Amazing Grace! I felt genuine and my love for Christ could not be contained. Craig and I started praying together each morning kneeling and watching the sunrise from our second story landing. We’d never prayed together until this point in our lives. Our relationship with God came first and then our marriage was reconciled and restored stronger than I’d ever imagined.

The real joy came when we were baptized together at Lake Cammack. We were both baptized as infants in the Catholic Church but this was different now. We’d both came together in Christ around the same time, and we were ready to accept him publically as our Savior. During the summer of 2007, North Carolina had a horrific drought so we had to walk quite a way out into the lake. I took this as a sign from God that no matter whom I used to be or what I did in my past, or how far I had to walk in the lake to be immersed, my past would be forgiven. Receiving His Holy Spirit in our lives renewed us; He gave life to my lifelessness and hope to my hopelessness.

Reflecting back on my life prior to my redemption, it never occurred to me that Pastor Bob and SMC would literally save my life. Even though I frequently attended service before my intervention, I always felt like an intruder… trespassing on His Holy church. I did believe in God but I was not a Christian and didn’t deserve to be in church. Still in denial and consumed by guilt, little did I know, I would soon embrace freedom by His Amazing Grace.

If Craig had not accepted an invitation to SMC, our lives would have turned out differently. Mine, tragically. Craig started to change in a new direction, with or without me. His convincing me that Christ was the answer, I longed to have the peace he was experiencing. Because I was still in denial with my addiction, I assumed the messages on addiction were a coincidence? Not at all! I will no longer believe in coincidences as this is how God works through other people. His timing is always perfect in reaching out to broken lives.

Today, I have been drug and alcohol free over seven years. My drug and alcohol habits departed entirely when His Holy Spirit entered my life! I have been forgiven, I have forgiven and my life has been restored through Jesus Christ. I continue my daily faith walk by encouraging those in bondage to be set free. I’m privileged to be a high school link leader, attend and lead Bible studies and sing in worship arts. I cannot change who I used to be and why would I? I would not have the conviction I have today. And, all this time, it was in His plan for me which I’ve learned not to dispute His timing!

What I thought was going to be the worst moment of my life, turned out to be the greatest moment in my life. The results from my written psychological test at behavior medicine diagnosed me with “a desperate cry for help” and not a disorder, I realized

“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.” Psalm 40:1(NLT)

Relying on my renewed hope has provided me with incredible faith. It was effortless to give up my addiction and desire the true love of all times, our Heavenly Father.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.       The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:17