Fellowship - Prayer Blog

My dear readers, let us not forget our brothers -  new believers who have just committed their lives to God. Seekers who have found an answer in God's love, and desire to learn more about him.

Too often we forget about these hopefuls. Seasoned Christians forget how hard those first few steps of faith can be, how lonely the beginning can be, how easy it seems to turn around and go back to life before faith. New believers have just started down the path of a life lived for God and they have questions; they want to know what faith is about, they need guidance.

I'm sure that most of you - in fact, most of the church - knows one or two new believers, and, as brothers and sisters in faith, let us not forget the newcomers; let us take them under our wings, teaching the ways of God, showing them his wonderful hand at work in their lives. Let us set them on the straight path towards life eternal. Let us become of one mind - the mind of Christ - nurturing the newcomers, bringing life where there is none. Let us all be the hands and feet of Christ and bring in joy to the dark places of the world. Let us, brothers and sisters, not forget those who need us most. Let us bring answers to those who have come seeking them; let us remember all who come searching.

Prayer:
Dear God,
Give us all a heart for new believers, people who have committed to you and desire to walk in the way that you have set for them. The Bible says that even heaven rejoices when one new person enters eternity, so let us be joyful also. Give us joy for the newcomers; let us rejoice and teach them. Give us a heart to see the world reached. And, Lord, let us all - new and old believers alike - have eyes to see the lost and hurting, those who have no hope. Fill our hearts with your love, that the whole world may know who you are and experience your love overflowing.

Photo Credit: Fellowship Bible Church

Prayer Blog - Everyday Prayer

How often do you pray, if at all? Once a day, before meals, when you're about to walk into that important meeting and you need a little extra help, before you turn off the lights before bed, with your kids at the side of their beds before their bedtime?

I've noticed that there seem to be designated times in Christians' days when they remember to pray. They need help or they're stressed so they give God a tap and ask for the situation to go away. Christians remember to pray before eating because that's probably what they were raised doing. Even if you didn't grow up in a Christian household, your parents most likely said grace before a meal, because that's just what they did. Praying with your kids seems like a no-brainer; it calms them down before lights out and reminds them not to be afraid of the dark. These are the times of the day when Christians are most likely to pray because it's force of habit; they pray at the same times every day, most of the time saying the exact same words, and then they can move on with their days because they've done their duty.

Praying at the same times every day is not a bad thing; in fact, it is is encouraged in the Bible. Matthew 6:6 says, "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you." God encourages believers to set time aside from their lives to read his teachings and to dwell in his presence. But, sadly, most Christians take this too seriously. They set certain times of day to pray, stop what they are doing, open up their Bibles, and then pray the contents of their hearts to God. The bad part of this is that believers get to set in their ways. They make sure their Bible study is at the exact same time every day. They read the same verses, pray the same prayers, and ask for things they want instead of giving God glory. They forget why they set this time apart; they forget that God wants us to enjoy our time with him.

Christians should enjoy their time with God. "Pray without ceasing," says 1 Thessalonians 5:17. So, more often than not, time set aside for God should be spontaneous and Spirit-led. Christians shouldn't have to worry about staying within a certain time limit or being overrun by work. They are to enjoy God and love the time they spend with him.

Prayer -
Dear Lord, help us to enjoy your goodness and glory. Never let us forget that we serve a great and mighty God who we should never stop praising. Let us not become weighted down by our earthly responsibilities; instead, let us only be concerned with glorifying you, God. Let the Holy Spirit prompt us at unlikely times to praise you and to give you our time. And put on our hearts new prayers to you that we have not prayed before. Let us enjoy your presence by never ceasing to glorify you. 

A challenge to my readers: Be spontaneous this week. Pray to God just to praise him. Give him some time in your week that you would never have thought of before.

Unplugged

How many of you have seen The Matrix? Probably at least 30% of you have. It is the story of computer programmer Neo who lives his normal life despite feeling like there should be more to it. He doesn't feel right at work, at home, or doing anything else, but he just can't seem to find a way to be content. After searching for answers, Neo is found by Morpheous, a mysterious dark man who offers him a way to say good-bye to "wonderland" and step into the "real world" - an opportunity that Neo takes without a second thought.

Taking a red pill, Neo is transported out of what he thought was his life and into a rundown dystopian world of machines and computers where he once again meets Morpheous. Morpheous explains that all humans are plugged into what is called The Matrix, a hyper-real computer system that was created by AI to keep humans in superfluous slavery. Neo is shocked by this revelation and immediately begins to regret giving up his past life. Over time, with help from many other freed humans, Neo realizes how much better a life of freedom is and begins to work to free other humans from The Matrix.

Now, The Matrix can be taken one of two ways; it's either a fun movie that is an enjoyable watch or a metaphor for our own lives. I'm not saying we as humans are plugged into a huge computer system, unaware of the real world; I'm saying we can parallel The Matrix characters' lives with our own.

Most of us have a very comfortable life - a good job, a place to live, and maybe even a family, but these luxuries blind us to a glaring truth. This world is fallen and we are not living the lives we were meant to live. God created a perfect world for his creatures, man among them, to live in, yet because of our failure, sin entered the world and doomed it to destruction. Unwilling to acknowledge this, humans created their own paradise, forgetting God and shrugging off our sin - in a way plugging ourselves into The Matrix of what we want our lives to be. We knowingly blinded ourselves to the problems hanging right over our heads and continued with our "normal" lives.

Every once in a while one of us will desire more in our lives; we search and look, and a "Morpheous" finds us. He tells us what is wrong with our lives, but we must be shown to truly understand. We take the red pill and become a Christian based soley on faith and trust. We then see the real world with all its flaws and fallenness, and we instantly regret our decision. But slowly with the help of others, we, like Neo, realize how much better our lives are when we are free; we see the wonderful Creator who saved us and everything else melts away.

But that's not the end of it. We still have one more thing to do. We are still responsible for each other while we are on earth; it's our job now to free others from The Matrix. We have to come into their lives and unplug them, and stand by them. Our mission is not over.