Prayer! It's a wonderful thing
DISTURB US, O LORD Disturb us, O Lord when we are too well-pleased with ourselves when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, because we sailed too close to the shore.Disturb us, O Lord when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life when, having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.Stir us, O Lord to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas where storms show Thy mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes and invited the brave to follow.Amen. Musing on this...Prayer. It's a wonderful thing but a dangerous thing. A few weeks ago, I prayed the above prayer, and God has been answering it. ....that's the dangerous part! I am being disturbed. It feels as if God is waking me up. Waking me up to the plights of others in the world in a way that I have not been awake before, waking me up to how comfortable I have become in the life that I live. He is calling me into waters that are new and strange to me. In this place I find myself feeling like the disciples in the boat during the storm. I know Jesus is with me and yet I am still afraid, worried that he might be asleep. Oh I of little faith! It feels like a scary place much of the time and yet, somehow exhilarating. Knowing that God is for me, that nothing can separate me from Him and his love, that He has only good things for me and is committed to making me more like Jesus, how can I resist following Him? The truth is, sometimes fear gets in the way and I get stuck, paralyzed, unable to move and follow Jesus where he would have me go. It is at these times in particular that I am thankful for the close friends I have, who will pray with me and for me in these times, who encourage me and hold me to account, who remind me of the truth of who God is, what Jesus has done and who I am in Christ. Prayer. It's a dangerous thing but a wonderful thing. It enables us to commune with God but it also enables us to be in community with one another.Do you need prayer today? There is a team of us who would love to pray with you after the service. Please come.
Diane