Project Pray and Prayer At The Heart

We must find ways to get outside the church, away from the campus, and interface with both neighbors and work associates. When we have jurisdictional authority, we should consider it a gift from God to be in such a leadership position. We cannot, in such a case, divorce our faith life, from our work life. We are missionaries cleverly disguised as doctors or lawyers, politicians or social workers, salespersons or bankers, teachers or television-radio-media professionals. This is God’s way of sowing a missionary force into every sector of the culture. Sadly, one that is unengaged, leaving too much to the institutional church and to professional pastors. Where we do not have jurisdictional authority (position), we have the power of influence (relational authority). And when we lack both, we have spiritual authority. We must be salt and light. Silence is no longer appropriate. We have both the power, privilege and the responsibility to bless others. It is not an option. In the 1990’s a neighborhood evangelism model was introduced into the USA. I served as one of the trainers. In one area, we discovered a church of several hundred that grew out of a neighborhood Bible study. In another example, one couple used Christmas as an opportunity to host neighbors for light refreshments and sharing, neighbors who lived next to one another but barely knew each other. The festive informal gathering featured a closing moment in which each neighbor introduced themselves to one another and shared stories of their most meaningful Christmas. Without the host prompting, inevitably, one or more of those stories involved the Christ of Christmas. Introducing the BLESS Prayer In some places, such seasonal gatherings have become a highlight of the year and the occasion of neighbors connecting one with another more frequently. Some neighbors have taken such gatherings to another level with summer block parties designed to get everyone out of their backyards and into the same street to meet one another. Bless Every Home Now, the Bless Every Home app allows you to see your neighborhood and adopt neighbors for personal prayer. The app sends you the name and location, with reference to your home, of five neighbors daily. You simply click the link, noting that you have prayed for them, met them, or shared Christ with them. It is simple to use and churches can sign up as well to see the neighborhood prayer activity of their congregation with the goal of adopting every home in the city. SALTY Groups Another tactic has been to take Christ to work. Most of us know, or have a suspicion, that other fellow workers are Christians, often concealing their faith in the marketplace. As we go public with our faith, we gently nudge other Christians to work together to become salt and light in the workplace. Not to aggressively and annoyingly buttonhole people with a witnessing technique that is offensive. But to be discreet witnesses, and to support one another in inviting the presence of Christ into the workspace. These believers would agree to meet, say, at lunch, for thirty minutes, weekly. They would share their concerns and pray together inviting God to come to the place where they spend forty or more hours weekly. They may not own the company or be in a position of management, so they may not have jurisdictional authority. And they may feel that they have little relational influence on the management. But there is another source of authority. Heaven has commissioned us to be kings and priests. When we have neither jurisdictional authority nor relational influence, what we do have is spiritual authority. This is no small thing. It is not merely metaphorical language. We can humbly exercise spiritual authority by inviting God’s kingdom into the workplace, praying for His will to be done, and for His name to be hallowed – and for a blessing on the company and all who work there. This is a ‘salty’ group. A group of believers who together, are motivating one another to be salt and light at their workplace. They are praying, Supplicating. They are realizing that they are Anointed, even at work, to represent God. They are His Light in what may be a dark place. They are extensions of His Love. Their Talk is wholesome and when appropriate, they are Telling others about the goodness of God. They are prayerfully yielding their lives to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. SALTY! Operation Andrew The Billy Graham Association used what was called Operation Andrew. Remember, Andrew brought Peter, his brother to Christ. Andrew became an apostle and impacted nations. But Peter was considered the leader among the apostles. Peter is mentioned 191 times in the New Testament. He gives us two epistles, and Mark’s gospel is considered Peter’s gospel. Operation Andrew encourages believers to list their family and friends, work associates and neighbors, and begin to pray for them. Separate the list into the most open, somewhat open, and closed. Concentrate on those most open. Pray for them daily. Find two other Christians who will use the Operation Andrew model and agree to meet for prayer weekly. Pray for the grace and courage to share the gospel. Pray for those most open on all three of your combined lists. The Billy Graham organization says that the overwhelming success of Billy Graham’s ministry was believers bringing friends. Eighty percent of the crusade conversions involved relational evangelism. Operation Andrew, believers praying for, sharing with, and bringing their friends to the crusade was the key to success. The BLESS Prayer One of the best acronyms for prayer is the ‘bless’ prayer, which I learned in my work with neighborhood evangelism. Father, today, we BLESS ___(Name)__________. • We pray that ___________’s BODY would be blessed, healed, rested, able to fully function without pain. We ask for your touch on them physically, for special grace and strength. • We pray for _______________’s LABOR, their ability to work on the job and at home. That you would grant them strength to be fully functional. Give them mobility. Protect them from accidents. Give them a fulfilling job, one with benefits and compensation worthy of their effort. Bless them in their LABOR, and bless the place where they labor, and the people for whom they work, and with whom they work. • We pray for __________________’s EMOTIONAL well-being. For their peace. For greater levels of joy – for a fulfilled life. For healthy friends and caring relationships that leave them feeling warm and grateful. Protect them from the bruising and battering that life brings us too often. Let them know your love and grace. • We pray for _____________________’s SOCIAL circle. For their family. For their children and grandchildren. For family-like friends. That they will not be alone. We pray for healthy relationships. For warmth and love. For them to live in a place where they feel secure and loved. • We pray for _________________’s SOUL. For them to know you and the power of your resurrection. For them to have a personal relationship with you that transforms them. For their lives to be directed by you, guided by you – and that any design of the enemy or malevolent evil interference would be broken. Let them experience a truly transforming, redirecting experience with Christ. We bless them, praying that they would know your goodness. Amen. This is the BLESS prayer. It is hardly objectionable. If someone asked you, “Are you praying for me?” You can say without hesitation, “Yes!” And if they probe, “So, just what are you praying?” You can reply, “I am praying for God to BLESS you! – your body, your labor, for your inner life and emotional well being, for your family and social circle – and for you to know how much God loves you!” Who can object to such a prayer? The bottom line for us is this – we can no longer be silent. In Psalm 39, the consequences of silence are seen. “I was mute with silence. I held my peace even from [saying] good” (Psa. 39:2). David was intimidated in the presence of the wicked (39:1). So, he muzzled himself. As a result, he lost his joy and was overwhelmed with sorry. His heart burned within him, like a convicting fire – he knew his silence was a sin (Psa. 39:2). Finally, overcome by inner conviction, he broke his silence, “Then, I spoke with my tongue” (Psa. 39:3). He searched for the reason of his intimidation and concluded that life was too short to live in disobedience to God and with a fear of man (39:5). “Every man, at his best state,” David concluded, “is but vapor.” He “walks about like a shadow” (39:5c-6a). “What am I waiting for?” – he asked himself. “All hope is in God” (39:7). In the end, he discovered a sobering reality. “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry.” Then note words, “Do not be silent…” His silence had provoked the silence of God (Psa. 39:12). We dare not be silent.