OrganicJesus.org

(1) Prayer is effective.

A friend of mine is a church planter in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He makes short-term visitors spend much of their time praying - not repairing homes or leading VBS groups. When they ask, "Why aren't we working here when we can pray anywhere?," he invariably replies: "Because prayer is the work."

Prayer undeniably changes hearts and lives. I thank God for those who have prayed for me on my journey toward Him. And I thank him that he continues this slow process of transformation today.

(2) Prayer is implicative.

Even when prayer does not seem effective, it is always implicative. By offering our concerns, doubts, and insecurities to God and to one another, we find ourselves curiously bound in community with our sisters, our brothers, and our good King.

"Form 6431PR" maximizes the efficiency of prayer by minimizing its implicature. Sometimes it takes forever to pray for everybody we're invested in -- and that can be a bit annoying. But the moment I choose to pass over a prayer request I know I'm obligated to offer up to Jesus, I can feel the heat of the coals I heap upon my head.

Sometimes it's wise to limit the circle of people we're invested in. Fame backs a lot of excellent, God-fearing and people-loving pastors who just happen to be well-known into this corner. Rather than spreading themselves impossibly thin, they pour into a few close brothers and sisters who, in turn, do the same to a few others. And multiplicative ministries are born.

(3) Prayer tenderizes.

"Pray continually." For the good, the bad, and the hopeless. By praying for the least among us, even those whom we feel powerless to help, God makes our ears and our hearts sensitive to their pain.

In Jesus' time, a common test for leprosy was to rub a feather across one's skin. The disease inhibited sensation, making it impossible to notice the feather. Once diagnosed, lepers of the time found themselves unloved, outcast, and numb. God help us if we cannot feel for those who cannot feel today.

(3) Prayer is restorative.

I had a disagreement with a close friend awhile back. As we cut off communication, we exaggerated our mental caricatures of one another and started imagining words that neither of us had said. Our non-relationship turned quite toxic.

But then we felt led to pray together. And in doing so, we discovered that each of us had a genuine heart for God, his people, and his mission. The Spirit crushed us with the fact that we were brothers, binding us together in Christ.

In developing a missional consciousness, I've found it easy to fall into mini-dramas like this one. New vocabularies and lifestyle shifts are bound to confuse and upset people. But rather than talking to one another, heretics and pomophobes tend to talk about each other in books, blogs, and bagel shops. Perhaps this division could be avoided by a mutual recognition of our desire to glorify King Jesus through prayer.

(4) Prayer is transformative.

Finally, prayer transforms us. The heart of love that the Spirit cultivates within us is a dangerous and powerful thing. Prayer destroys our three-year plans and wrecks our lives. But I've not met anyone yet who's regretted it.

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I may have been preaching to the choir in writing this series. If so, I hope that you have found it edifying. But if not, may you and I be transformed. Peace be with you.