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salt. C O N F E R E N C E 14-16.07. 2011 know. love.act. opinion * Ali Heise Pastor or credit card? Recently my husband and I cut up our credit cards. We’ve been married six years and have maxed out and paid off our credit card bill repeatedly. We have modified our written budget numerous times—each time working towards paying off the debt only to see the numbers dipping below zero after a few measly weeks. Now the buffer is gone. No second chance. No backstop. Now we have to actually live our budget, not just talk about it. It’s amazing how motivated I’ve become all of a sudden. Now I care. Do we use our pastors like a credit card? Do we expect our pastors to bail our churches out of unfortunate spiritual circumstances? Someone to really get our churches happening? Have you ever found yourself wishing you had a pastor who could preach really meaty sermons that just make you want to go out and yell to the world that Jesus is AWESOME? Someone who could really whip the place into spiritual shape? Wouldn’t that make church just that bit more fulfilling? More real? And relevant? Well, what if the pastor wasn’t there? What if they quit and started building houses and became a regular member like the rest of the church? What if the “credit card” was no longer available? Would our churches die? Would we have an “epic fail” and start looking for someone more spiritual to pull the show together again? Or would we start caring more? I don’t believe a pastor is necessary for a thriving church. Don’t get me wrong; I love and respect pastors a great deal for the amount of their own hearts they pour into the church. I should know—I’m married to one, I’m the daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, granddaughter-in-law and great-granddaughter of a pastor. If anyone is guilty of letting the pastor do it all, it’s me. I’ve got other things to do! I’ve treated all the pastors in my life a bit like a credit card at times. And I wonder if I would care more if they all quit and left me to step up. * Views represented in Opinion reflect those of the author and not necessarily those of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Ali Heise writes from the Gold Coast, Qld. Avondale College Church International Speakers Interactive Workshops Cafe Up-late Sessions register by 30.06.2011 More information: www.collegechurch.org.au 10% Early Bird discount until 30.05.2011 OPINION POLL What interferes with your prayer life most? Busyness Not a high priority Guilt Concentration Visit to answer this poll. Options don’t suit you? Send a letter to the editor (250 words or less)
FEATURE Reach out in prayer by Garth Bainbridge If I was one of the original Twelve, I would have been the one mouthing the request, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). I confess that prayer doesn’t come easy for me—my mind jumps all over the place, or I run out of things to say after just a few minutes. So I often ask, “Lord, teach me to pray”. What has helped me immensely, is to pray along the lines of the answer Jesus gave His disciples—the so-called Lord’s Prayer. It begins with praise, so I spend time praising God for His name, in fact for His many names, each of which expresses a way in which He reveals Himself to us. I enter into His heart’s desire for His kingdom to come, His will to be done on Earth as it is in heaven. I dare to ask Him for specific needs to be met, even to the basic levels of my daily bread. I confess, and ask Him for forgiveness, and for a forgiving spirit so I may be a peacemaker on Earth. And I consecrate myself to Him, asking Him to deliver me from the evils that hold me in their grip. The part of this prayer that we slip through too quickly to get to the “give us this day” bit is, “Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Intercessory prayer is one significant way we can engage with God in fulfilling this request. Jesus tells a story in Luke 11:5-8 to illustrate the effectiveness of praying for others: “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him’. Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything’. I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.” Intercessory prayer is asking God for something on behalf of someone else. Jesus’ story tells us a few things about how intercession works: 1. It happens because someone has a need. A friend of mine sends out an email of prayer requests nearly every day to her network of “prayer warriors”. Each request has arisen out of a need. 2. It happens because someone is concerned enough to pray. Intercessors are a special brand of people who are moved to cry to God out of concern for other people’s needs. Intercessory prayer is totally unselfish. 3. The intercessor feels helpless in the face of others’ needs. The man in the story came to his neighbour with the plea: “I don’t have anything to give my guest”. Every intercessor has a heart-felt desire to see people helped, but doesn’t have the means to help. 4. The intercessor believes God has the means. An intercessor thinks, “I don’t have what is needed, but Another does, and He will give whatever it takes”. They stand between the need and the supply. 5. The intercessor is shamelessly persistent. That’s what the Greek word for “boldness” means. The man in the story bangs at the door until he sees a result. Not that God is unwilling and needs persuading. The story is one of contrast. Verse 12 says, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” But still, there is need for persistence. Verse 9 could read: “Keep on asking and you will keep on receiving; keep on seeking and you will keep on finding; keep on knocking and you will keep on opening doors.” There’s another reason we must persist in asking. We see in Daniel 10, that God’s is not the only hand reaching out across the void. Daniel prayed for three weeks that the king of Persia would let the Jews return to their homeland. But “a great war” (v1) was happening behind the veil of human sight. At last an angel appeared to Daniel and explained: “Since the first day that you set your mind to . . . humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom [an evil angel appointed to influence the king] resisted me 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes [appointed to protect God’s people—see Dan 12:1], came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.” Daniel’s persistence in prayer was vital to the outcome of this unseen battle. So keep asking and you will keep receiving. Keep shouting under God’s window and He will keep throwing bread into your outstretched hands. Keep knocking on His door for someone in need, and He will keep opening doors of opportunity for those needs to be met. Pastor Garth Bainbridge is Ministerial Association secretary for the Greater Sydney Conference. record.net.au • MAY 21, 2011 11
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