Pray 2 Launch!

Many of you who read this blog are already visiting the Pray 2 Launch site daily (see web links to the right). If you're not, I hope you'll take a moment to subscribe to the site and begin praying with us from now through our dedication service on 10/28.

God works when people pray. Don't ask me to explain it, but I've experienced it too many times to ever doubt that it's true. I took a trip to Romania back in the '90s, not long after that country's dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, had been executed and the country had opened up to the West. I'd never seen anything like it: massive amounts of money had been invested in construction of beautiful cities, but no money had been invested in infrastructure. There seemed to be no plan for how to repair, supply, and keep the cities running after they were built. We were doing concerts in beautiful performance halls, but half of the light bulbs were burned out and there was no heat. Cars and trucks would sit on the side of the road for weeks or months, because repair parts weren't available. People would line up on the sidewalk if a store got a shipment of toilet paper, and leave their faucets on all day with buckets underneath them, waiting for water to actually come out. I found Christians in Romania to be people of great faith: because they were devoted to Christ in a nation whose government was hostile to Christianity, and because what they needed to survive didn't happen unless God worked miracles. They were very resourceful, and very prayerful. And I watched God answer their prayers daily: government officials turned a blind eye this day; unexpected work came on that day; a friend got extra gas in the gas line and shared it today. And always (as God apparently loves to do) just in time.

We middle class Americans are blinded by our excellent infrastructure into believing that meat just appears at the grocery store, that gas just appears at the pump, that water and electricity just appear at home (even "home" is an assumption). But this adventure we call Church @ the Springs is just far enough outside our infrastructure that we can't depend on things to "just happen." We have to pray in order to have a location where we can hold services, and God answers that prayer through other Christians at the YMCA who show us favor and partner with us in this ministry. We have to pray in order to have financial resources, and to date we've had what we needed "just in time." Today we have a payment to make on the equipment we need for our services, and we'll have almost no money left, but we have enough today and we pray for what we need by the end of the month. We pray for volunteers to serve children and transport our equipment on Sundays, and we have a great response just a few weeks before our first service. We're living like the Romanians did, and I haven't felt like that, haven't been that in touch with God's daily provision, in over a decade.

Hopefully things won't always be like this. But hopefully we'll never lose sight of the fact that nothing happens unless God opens doors for us. People won't come to faith in Christ, won't have their lives and families and neighborhoods transformed, unless someone prays and God works. We are those someones, so pray. Pray every day.

Core Practice: Prayer
Creed: I pray to God to know Him, to lay my request before Him and to find direction for my daily life
Text: Psalm 66:16-20
http://www.ibs.org/niv/passagesearch.php?passage_request=psalm+66%3A16-20&tniv=yes&submit=Lookup