A Different Kind of Prayer Work

A room full of supplies, the night before the festival

I recently coordinated the children's activities at the local community festival. It may seem like an unconventional place for prayer warrior work, but I pray in advance for opportunities with those who rarely, or never, enter a church. 

In between the jumping house and the chicken croquet station, I had one of those few-second opportunities to reach out a bit for the cause of Christ. A young boy and his mom arrived and, as I often do, I squatted down beside him, introduced myself, and asked his name. 

"Jonathan." 

"That's a great name," I said. "Did you know your name comes from the Bible? Jonathan was the good friend of King David." 

His eyes widened. "Wow."

"Yep. Jonathan was willing to risk his life for his friend. He saved the king's life. Boys who are named Jonathan should grow up to be brave, and wise, and loyal. They should recognize the King and serve Him. Like Jesus. He's a king, too."

As we talked, a grin spread across his face. "My name is friend of the king." He looked up at his mother. "Hey, Mama. I'm friend of the king."

It was a brief encounter with a child that had never heard of King David or his friend, Jonathan. I wasn't sure he'd heard of Jesus, either. With those few seconds, I tried to plant a seed deep in his heart that, with the right care somewhere down the road, may yield a harvest.

A little later I heard him talking with his grandmother, who had joined them. "Hey, Mimi, I'm Friend of the King. Did you know that?"

It wasn't a traditionally evangelistic seed, but it was an opportunity, never the less.

As we go, in church and out, let's pray for opportunities to scatter seeds of truth far and wide, then pray for our Lord to grow the harvest. 

What seeds have you planted this week?

"...and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth." Acts 1:8 nasb 
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Demolishing Strongholds and Choosing to Be Free
#evangelism

Comfort, Convenience, and Christ

Constrained by the skin-wrapped limits of humanity, Jesus was tired, so He sat down by the well of Sychar to rest while His disciples went into town to purchase lunch. (John 4:6)

You probably know what happened next. The Samaritan woman who'd had five husbands came to draw water from the well. Jesus engaged her in conversation, and, in the course of their chat, offered her Living Water. He described this Living Water as eternally thirst-quenching, eternally renewing. 

She seized on the offer. "I want some of that," she told him. She wanted it "so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw." 

She didn't want transformation of her soul, or to change her lifestyle, or forgiveness of her sins. She wanted comfort (no more thirst) and convenience (no more trips to draw water from the well). 

She sounds a lot like us, doesn't she? 

We, too, love comfort and convenience, but that's not why Jesus came, and it's not what He promised. 

In fact, He promised difficulty. The Holy Spirit would come, He told His disciples, and convict us of our sin. He'd lead us in paths that would be risky and difficult. We would have many struggles, but Holy Spirit would help us. 

On my recent trip to Colorado, the "group rate" hotel was both comfortable and convenient. The rooms there are large and beautifully appointed. The beds are super-comfortable. They give you fresh-baked cookies when you check in. It's a great place to stay.

I've stayed there before, but, this time, I stayed in a low-star hotel for $30 less a night. It was a missionary-budget rate. I'm content to have a cheap hotel now because I know that I'll walk on streets of gold later. 

The comforts of this world will end when we step into eternity. Looking back, they'll seem so little in comparison to heaven's riches and glory. 

Comfort and convenience are not bad, but they can draw our eyes away from Christ. That was the temptation the woman at the well faced, but Jesus offered more. He gently confronted her sin and drew her to a new (and transformed) life. When she accepted His offer, the inconvenience of the well didn't matter at all.

Today, let's look at our own priorities. Do we want comfort and convenience, or are we willing to accept less to serve Christ more? 

Let's take our eyes off ourselves and put them on Jesus. Let's ask how we can serve, instead of what we can get. Let's allow such transformation that we'll be willing to tell everyone, as the Samaritan woman did, "Come and see this Jesus who gave me living water and changed my life."

"but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 4:14 nasb
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Bear That Jesus Sent

I'll have an update on the Sam's Kids Boot Project with tomorrow's post.
#Jesus #livingwater 

When Our Hearts are Revealed

There are passages in the Bible that shock me every time I read them. One of those is in Luke 4.

"and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way." (Luke 4:29, 30 NASB)

Jesus stood up and taught in the synagogue in Nazareth, his home town. 
People were impressed from the start, and commented on what a great job He was doing. 

He continued by saying that a prophet is not welcome in His own town and no miracles could happen there. When they realized Jesus was talking about their town, the praise turned to rage in an instant, and the men of Nazareth rose up to kill Him.

The men chased Jesus out of the city and to the edge of a hill, where they planned to shove Him down the cliff. Despite all the pushing and shoving, Jesus managed to quietly move through their midst and walk away. 

He was right from the beginning. No miracles would happen in Nazareth.

My surprise is not because their praised turned to rage so quickly, but that they were "in church" when it happened. 

The people in the synagogue looked like they belonged there. 

They had done everything that outwardly indicated they were godly. They were in the synagogue at the appropriate time, and they participated in prayer and studying the Scripture just as if they "meant it". 

Their hearts, however, were not fixed on God at all. They were full of pride, greed, anger, and murder. Their god-fixation was not even skin-deep.

I wonder what our hearts would reveal if Jesus confronted us in church today they way He confronted the men of Nazareth? Are our hearts focused on Christ or our own desires? Do we listen to the Scripture and teaching, or sit quietly while we compose to-do lists in our heads?

Today, let's pray that we would see our hearts the way Jesus sees them and it would trigger a desire to change. 

Let's pray that our hearts would be so ready for Jesus that He would not only be welcome, but that we would be receptive to whatever miracle He wants to perform.

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Here's how you can pray for me:  I'm starting a new mission prayer project today. I'll write about it once it unfolds, but it's fairly involved and will take multiple people working together to accomplish it. IF it goes well, it will provide much greater prayer support for missionaries. 
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Power of Telling: Healing Body and Soul
Here's the link to the trafficking post: The Heartbreak of Human Trafficking

Here's the link to the prayer guide: The Prayer List 

Here's the link to my Global Outreach page: Leanna Hollis MD
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#Jesus