I was listening to a song earlier in the week by Vineyard songwriter Jeremy Riddle entitle Prayer for the Church, in which he sings of the different states the church often finds itself in (such as times of strength, weakness etc) and asks God for the appropriate response through prayer. As I listened to it I became painfully aware of how little time I spend praying for my church. God has blessed me greatly with the people that surround me every Sunday and yet I devote almost none of my quiet times or moments spent in prayer meetings to that body of people. Don't get me wrong, I will pray for a friend going through a hard time or a group in the church that's struggling, but I can't remember the last time I prayed for the congregation of Orangefield Presbyterian as a whole.
I am of the opinion that Christians who don't go to church because they believe they can serve God anywhere and don't have to confine they're experience to a building on one morning of the week are fooling themselves. I don't doubt that everyone (if there is anyone!) reading this is fully aware of the meaning of and reasoning behind a church: it is meant to be more than simply a place where we can meet to worship a God we individually serve, but a family of people, bound together by the blood that was shed for them. It is a communal thing. People are very much aware of this, because they have been told it over and over again. This, in itself, is dangerous. The more we hear something, especially it would seem, something that is about our Christian life, the less important it seems to us. Let's face it, with each Easter service it gets harder and harder to experience the same joy about the resurrection. Each Christmas we get more complacent with the importance of the birth of a Saviour. We know these things inside out, and therefore we think about them less.
The result is of course that we are quick to notice the personal gain in the idea of a church, but we overlook the challenge. Group worship to give us a sense of family? Check. People to go to if I'm in trouble and need a chat or a prayer? Check. A multitude of groups to keep me focused? Check. The list goes on and on, and never let it be said that the church is not a blessing for all these reasons and more. But how often do we see the challenge in being a part of a church?
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. Acts 20:28
Sometimes we are not to be the one in need of prayer but the one praying for others. Sometimes we have to offer something in a group rather than only take. Personally if I look at my own church life I'm very rarely a shepherd, and I suspect I'm not the only one.
I'm currently trying to pray more for my church, and for those who have not heard the song I mentioned earlier, the lyrics of the bridge say of the church,
Now she's shining
Her light is blinding as she sings Your name
Now she's beauty
Up from the ashes, Your love is on her face
I guess it's plain and simple: If this doesn't sound like the church you're currently a part of, then prayer is desperately needed. I say desperately because desperation is something we so rarely feel about our calling. The song speaks of small divisions, moral crises and things which nibble away at churches; things which need to be prayed against, until His love is on the face of our churches.
