How will you pray?

Last month our church almost closed it's doors for lack of financial support. However, the few faithful attendees rallied to pull together enough funds to pay the rent for the month of March. The reality is although we managed to continue to worship, we knew we were on "borrowed" time. Our lead pastors had been prayerfully considering relocating to another town. So, we began in earnest to contact other churches and potential properties that would be open to renting to our small church body. There was a sense that of all the possible locations we were considering, Auburn, MA. kept coming to mind. So we focused our efforts towards that town. In speaking to my spiritual director about our dilemma, he posed a question to me. He in essence had me think about our situation as reflecting the Israelite's challenge as they faced the Red Sea with the Egyptians in hot pursuit behind them.(Exodus 14) The question I was to consider was like Moses, we as a church were at our "Red Sea" moment, so how was I going to pray?

How was I going to pray?

 I admit I was stymied and couldn't really come up with a reasonable answer. My spiritual director went on to comment that many Christians when they pray tend to try and hedge their bets with God. They pray for His will to be done, which is appropriate as that needs to be our heart's desire. However, the underlying intention is more like an attempt to try and brace themselves for ultimately being disappointed. Moses had brought the Israelites out of Egypt according to God's will but now it looked like their journey was going to come to an abrupt end. Likewise, our church had been planted and survived many challenges in Southbridge, MA. for over 5 1/2 years and now it seemed like the doors would be closed for good, despite the fact that the remaining congregants wanted to continue to minister as a body for the Lord. Additionally, my husband and I had been through our own "wilderness experience" searching for a new church home for over two years. When we came to New Vision Church, we knew we had arrived at "home." Now we were feeling "betrayed" in the sense that God was going to send us back out into the wilderness. My spiritual director went on to challenge me as he put it, "to pray as if a situation already is, until God says it is not." In other words, no hedging our bets. We were to believe God was going to find us a new church home in Auburn before the end of March until it turned out otherwise. When I returned home, I looked at the passage in Exodus 14 and realized how much my attitude reflected the Israelite's thinking that God brought us to this point to figuratively speaking "let us die." I decided to listen to God's word to Moses in that moment and adopt a different mindset. Moses told the Israelites, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today....the Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." (Exodus 14:13a,14)

The Lord will fight for you!

 I am happy to report that the Lord indeed has found us our new church home in Auburn. We will be sharing a space with another church which has graciously blessed us. Easter is less than two weeks away and there was another prayer of desperation that was lifted to God in a garden called Gethsemane. Jesus, in His time of anguish knowing He was going to the cross prayed, "Abba, Father, everything is possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:36) Jesus wasn't hedging His bets with God. He knew what the outcome was going to be and was confident that He would see the deliverance the Lord would bring to Him through the resurrection. So, the challenge before us all, this Holy Week, is how will we pray in our "Red Sea" moments? How will we pray in our personal gardens of Gethsemane? Will we trust God for the outcomes we desire until He says "it is not?" Let us commit to praying in a new way this Easter and watch the fruit of the resurrection bring forth new life in our situations and circumstances.
Hallelujah! Christ is Risen! 
Pastor Sheree