Yesterday in our morning devotion the topic was "Strenuous Praying." To give you some idea, it referred to a few scriptures, Heb 5:7-Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears; and Col 4:12-Epaphras...is always wrestling for you in his prayers. The word agonize comes from the word used in Col. for wrestling. It is used also to describe a man toiling at his work (Col 1:29), a warrior on a battlefield (I Tim 6:12), and striving in the arena for a prize (I Cor 9:25).
This entire devotional was quite convicting, in a good sense. Not meaning that it made me feel guilty but called me to evaluate my prayers and the purpose of them. If it weren't plagiarism, I'd type the whole thing here so that you could glean from it; however, I'll just stick to the one part that has really been pressed on my mind for the last 48 hours.
"True intercession is costly...'Are we asking of God something we could ourselves supply? Can it be intercession until we are empty handed? True intercession demands the sacrifice and dedication of all. Have we given ourselves and all we can for those for whom we intercede, or are our prayers costless and cross-less?" (World Prayer, Effective Prayer, by J Oswald Sanders).
I admit this quote got me. In our mission participation, I have often said that we cannot expect people to sacrifice for something that we ourselves do not deem worthy of our own sacrifice. Every mission trip we've ever done has been at significant personal sacrifice financially and in other ways. For example, we have not been on any vacation of any sort since we went camping for Spring Break in 2009 because since that time, Floyd has used every single vacation day and personal day to help cover some of his missed days while in Uganda. All other days were docked (except one year his gracious employer chose to pay him for the entire 17 days). The last two years, our children have put in their birthday money, Christmas money, and much of their allowance. Now, none of this is to boast or say that we regret it. It is only to demonstrate what I mean about sacrificing for what one feels is worthy. We have been greatly blessed by others who have joined our team in prayer and finances. We have also been blessed in countless ways by what we have experienced and witnessed in our missions experiences.
Oher than the fact that people pray for missions support, it might seem that I've gone off topic here, but let me connect my two points. Praying should be the primary work that we do in all aspects of the Christian journey. This point here in the devotional, however, points out that when we are capable of meeting a need ourselves, we don't need to spend time wrestling with The Lord on behalf of the person in need. The Lord has already provided for the need, you just need to pass it on to its intended recipient. (Now please do not go off making excuses and pointing out all the exceptions where this might not be true...enabling a sinner, something immoral, etc. we already have plenty of excuses, so lets except that generally speaking, this is true; otherwise you disagree entirely with my blog and you're entitled to your opinion.) :)
It seems to me that instead of looking at what we have been given as the Lord's provision for others, we look at ourselves and think of how blessed we are. Sadly, in America, many people who have more than enough for survival and even enjoy plenty of extras, look at other Americans and think they have some how been skipped over by God's blessing becasue the other people have even more than they do; but that could be a blogpost all by itself, so I'll stay on topic.
This evning I finished the biography that I've mentioned a few times, A Long Road to Hope. I have had the opportunity to read the stories of some of the people that I have met during my time here. Every night we go to family devotions. We enjoy the worship and the lesson, but afterwards we usually enjoy playing with the kids, visiting with the older children and the adults, and just spending time together. Also, every afternoon Raegan and Kim spend 2 hours at the baby house, and of course there are all the students we've worked with at the primary school and the adults we've met through different things. Most of the time I forget that they have all suffered in ways that I could never imagine. Either their parents abandoned them, were killed in the war, or died from some horrible disease. Then many of them were mistreated or neglected by other relatives because orphans are not important, they are just in the way. The thing is, while I know that they have all sorts of emotions that we don't experience during our short time here, they do experience joy and laughter and love because of Christ. Some of His people have committed their lives to living here (whether they are Ugandan or not) and countless others have committed financially over the years. These orphans are no longer fatherless.
Near the end of the book, there is a chapter titled "Blessed to Be a Blessing." They share about the missions that they participate in....building mud homes for people who have none, taking short trips to other areas of the country to serve those who have less, helping a stranger in the village who is ill or elderly...the list could go on. These who had so little and have suffered so greatly, realize what is important. They read Issaiah 58:10-11 and take it as truth. They know that this is what really matters. They still have very little by worldly standards, but they have what counts.
Read Isaiah 58:10-11 below and ask yourself some tough questions. Have you sacrificed for others? Do you carelsessly enjoy your blessings, as if they were meant for only you? Do you pray for God to provide for a need that he has already given you the means to meet? Will the promises of the verses be yours because you have met the qualifications?
Isaiah58:10-11
And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
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