Look to Heaven and Pray
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where all you could do… is simply look to heaven and pray?
Several times this past week, I found myself there, while down with our Mission Team in the Dominican Republic. It was a tremendously moving experience and very formative and there will be plenty of time in the coming weeks to hear and share stories from our 10-member team. Colleen and I did some at the Session meeting Monday and Cathy and I did some sharing with the staff on Tuesday. I hold two things true – God was present there, among us – we saw the face of Jesus in so many, and at the same time, there was deep need and massive challenges that we could not simply overcome with words, actions or by emptying our wallets or bank accounts, for that matter.
So, we were left with prayer.
It seems we were in good company. In John’s gospel, we get the most detailed description of the final night in the Upper Room (the celebration of communion – which we will be doing Sunday, in worship), and Jesus’ venture into the Garden, where he was arrested. Ahead of his arrest – and what would eventually be his beating, sham trial, and execution by the religious and political leaders – Jesus prayed.
The prayer takes up the entire 17th Chapter of John’s gospel, and we’re going to spend the next four weeks in worship, looking at it carefully, and seeking to learn and grow closer to God through this prayer. I’d invite you to read it, slowly, over the course of the week, and open yourself up to God through it. There are so many deep and profound things going on in this prayer – from a look at Jesus’ deity and the Trinity, to a word about our Christian unity – across denominational boundaries – protection and spiritual warfare.
What can we learn from this prayer? I expect a lot!
But at the root, is learning to pray – especially when the world around us seems too big, too scary, too complicated to fix, much less understand.
I often find myself in this place, without even traveling with a Mission Team. I just need to scroll through my news feed, to see stories from Israel & Gaza, Florida and California, Brazil and Canada – I desperately want to fix what is broken, heal what is hurting, right what is wrong… is no one seeing what I’m seeing? I can feel so helpless.
And then I pray.
I lean into the One who holds the entire world in His hands – a world that is too big for me to hold. And as I surrender, I not only discover a little peace, I discover a little light, pointing me to take a step forward, to reflect a little bit more of the love of God in a way I hadn’t always imagined before.
I invite you, through prayer, and this prayer in particular, to do the same with me this next month.
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus,
Pastor Don