Ephesians 5:17 – Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
The congregation of St. Andrew has truly been blessed by the leadership and guidance of Pastor Tom during this period of transition. His gifts of calm, steady support and insight continue to be the nourishment we need in our “wilderness journey”. Okay, well maybe he isn’t exactly Moses <wink, wink>, but definitely God answered our prayers by sending him to us…right?
Pastor Tom is also a gifted educator. His sermons, and private conversations, tend to break things down into simple terms. Often times this is through a verbal footnote to set the stage or provide the back story. Other times it is just in the new way he says something you’ve heard several times before.
Last Sunday, during the sermon, I grabbed my bulletin and the pencil to jot down this note, “Do I pray for God to answer my prayer…or…pray for myself to understand God’s answer?” Pastor Tom didn’t directly ask this. It isn’t a quote. It may not even have been an intentional key point in his message. But it somehow stopped me in my tracks, as many sermons over the years have done.
During the Prayers and Intercessions when we pause to “pray for others, either silently or aloud”, I typically take a mental journey into the homes of my friends and family, as if I am somehow trying to help God notice and support them. How foolish and backwards I have been in my thinking! Who am I to lead God when all along it is God who is trying to lead me?
My paradigm about prayer, a topic I have struggled with for years, was suddenly turned on its end. My prayers need to make a complete 180° turn in perspective. In my “mental journey”, I need to view God from within these people, and view these people from within my own heart. Is there something I can do to help them understand God’s plan forward? Yes, God has a plan for us to follow, but it isn’t just a nudge from behind. It is the hand outstretched towards us for us to take hold of.
Through our Call process, God will not answer our prayer with some final “solution”. But by God’s extended hand, a pastor will come to join and partner with us as we, the congregation of St. Andrew, continue to pray to understand God’s extended hand to us.
Thanks be to God!
David Krueger