Prayer Makes the Difference
History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being, … The future belongs to whoever can envision… a new and desirable possibility: which faith then fixes upon as inevitable. – Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers.
I believe the psalmist’s prayer says it best, “You have multiplied, O Lord my God, / your wondrous deeds . . . / none can compare with you./ Were I to proclaim and tell of them, / they would be more than can be counted” (Psalm 40:5)
As a visionary, when people ask me to name the most important single element in the transformation process, I always say the same thing. We are learning to pray. In prayer, we continue to discover what it means to live and lead out from a life of prayer. Prayer means we feel the pulse of the Spirit of God at work within and through our life, individually as well as corporately.
Prayer makes a difference when there is a humble awareness of our need of God’s mercy. It grows out of a keen awareness that at our very best, we are incomplete, fallible human beings. Our greatest strengths are weak in comparison to the strength of God’s redemptive purpose in the world. It’s the kind of prayer that engages us in the process of transformation by which the self-giving love of God is made real among us in Jesus. It’s the kind of praying that gives us a tender heart for people outside, the blind, the lame, and those in need. It’s the kind of praying that enables us to love God more than ourselves.
Prayer is a process of listening for God’s direction rather than asking for God’s favors. And when we hear God’s direction, we want to live in the kind of obedience that says, “Here I am, Lord” and delights in doing God’s will.
If you noticed, “there is something going on at Mt. Vernon.” And what’s going on is a direct result of learning to live and lead out of a life of prayer. The more we see God doing, the more we are encouraged to open our ears, eyes, and hearts to live in joyful obedience to God’s will.
The future belongs to whoever can envision… a new and desirable possibility. What kind of future do you envision for Mt. Vernon, and how can you use your presence, your talents, your gifts, and your witness to create a new and desirable possibility? I encourage you to pray in this direction and let us see together how God will multiply the growth, life, and ministry of our part of the body of Christ.