Leading & Learning

Prayer has always seemed like an amazing privelege to me. And this past year even more so as I have really dove in and taken it seriously. In hindsight I’m not sure what changed. It could be that I was going through some sort of spiritual crisis. Or maybe a mid-life crisis? Who knows. But I suppose it doesn’t really matter much as long as my prayer life is growing and going.

Today I spent some time studying passages that illustrate God’s response to prayer. Hezekiah pleaded with the Lord, crying out for healing (Isaiah 38). Peter was miraculously released from prison after the church fervently went to the Lord in prayer (Acts 12). Fellow believers, God has given us an opportunity to bring Him the requests of our heart. We should take this seriously!

So I would like to ask you to pray with me about a few things that are heavy on my heart. Will you join me in prayer? If so, then thank you. God will hear us. And I will wait on Him and trust His answers when they come…

1. Healing for Jane – Jane is a faithful servant who has plodded away at Dare 2 Share for several years as a program coordinator, writer, editor, and recently content manager. She is a quiet pillar of strength devoted to communication and Truth. Diagnosed with breast cancer awhile ago, Jane took the news like a warrior. Surgery and treatment was going fairly well until a couple of weeks ago when she heard she had signs of uterine cancer. A full hysterectomy was hoped to be the end, but it isn’t. She needs to go through chemo and radiation too.
2. Recovery for Tina and Emily – good friends of ours, Tony and Kris, headed to Ft. Collins to be with their daughter Tina as she gave birth to new little granddaughter Emily. The pregnancy had been normal, so no complications were anticipated. But a sudden C-section was required and Tina lost a lot of blood. She would require transfusions and has been too weak to even hold little Emily. Emily has problems of her own. What they thought was pneumonia is now looking like some sort of infection – bacterial or viral, doctors don’t yet know. She is in the newborn intensive care unit.
3. TJ’s health – with TJ taking his last class for his degree we knew we were taking on some risk with him not having any health insurance. For the last few days he’s had a chronic problem that may need some medical attention if it doesn’t start subsiding.
4. Mom’s health and travel safety – my mom has had numerous health issues, but the last few months has experienced so much weight loss that is alarming. She is down to 120 pounds and counting. I am going with her to her GI specialist next week to try to get some answers. Her and Dad are headed to Vegas for a wedding over the weekend, so I hope she is able to relax and enjoy without being sick.
5. Ministry provision – The recession has hit many ministries hard and Dare 2 Share is not an exception. God has provided some amazing opportunities this coming week that could siginificantly bless the ministry! Several meetings out-of-state for Greg and some significant follow-up calls along with the submission of a couple of key strategic foundation proposals – pray for favor.
6. Creative and strategic energy – there are also some pretty important meetings going on this week. We will be working with our program and production team on next year’s tour and new product ideas. We are also going to Colorado Springs on Friday to work with the Dare 2 Share Korea folks. We need an extra dose of creative and strategic energy during this time. We have been functioning in reaction mode for a few months so the shift back up to 30,000 feet will be tough.

Thanks for praying with me this week. I appreciate your fellowship and love. God bless you!

Do you remember those words? If you’re like me, you heard them time and time again from mom and dad as they followed up your inquisitive “why?” At first I didn’t question them further. I just accepted the fact that they were the parents and that was enough. But as I grew older, “because I said so” just wasn’t good enough to motivate me to do anything anymore.

So now, as an adult, I am learning how to respond to this phrase all over again. This time from my heavenly father. Even though obedience is still something that I am working on, I had an experience a bit ago that brought this familiar phrase to mind once again.

After intense prayer and planning, our executive team knew we had to cut 4 staff positions. We prayed through the timing and put together a plan to move forward on Monday, January 5th. None of us wanted to do it. But the leadership team had already cut 600k from their budgets the first half of the year and we knew that even if we continued to cut expenses at that rate it still wouldn’t be enough.

That morning we met offsite one more time to pray… and as I got into my car to head into the office my conversation with God went something like this…

Lord, why are you making me do this? You know I would rather cut off my right arm then face these wonderful, committed team members and deliver this life-altering news. I do not want to do this. Please give me an excuse to turn this car around. Why me, Lord? Why us?

Simply put, this is the response I heard in my heart…

Because I said so.

And it was tough. So tough it has taken me weeks to even post this blog. I still wish I could have changed things. I still wish I didn’t have to deliver the news to my colleagues. But as difficult as it was, I have learned a lot in the days and weeks since then – that I need to stay really close to my Father during good times and bad. There is no replacement for spending time with Him and in His Word.

He speaks to me through His Word and through His Spirit – I just need to take time to listen. So I’m trying to create some space in my life to hear Him – just Him. Pray that I can find it.

A short time ago I decided that I needed to really nail down God’s purpose for me. I think the final motivational straw came as my small group was going through Gospel Journey Maui and we found ourselves, a group of mostly middle(+)-aged folks discussing our purpose in life (or lack thereof).  Interestingly, many of these folks were still searching too – even though most of them had already lived a half of a century!

Not coincidently, I ran across a book that had been sitting on my bookshelf. I have no idea when I got. I have no idea where I got it. But boy was it an answer to prayer!

So I dug in to Max Lucado’s The Cure for the Common Life. Lucado does a great job referencing plenty of Scripture and I like his simple writing style. So far I have taken the time to be sure to look up the verses and read the notes in my study Bible too. This isn’t the most efficient way to get through the book, but I like the rhythm and it has allowed me some great study time.

Today I was reading about why/how we should “applaud God loud and often.” Lucado referenced David’s prayer of praise in 1 Chronicles 29. It’s beautiful. But I couldn’t help going back to chapter 28 and diving into the whole story.

David was basically getting ready to hand over his crown to Soloman. In chapter 28 he makes the announcement in front of a crowd (and God, of course).  And in the midst of his speech he is sure to be very specific about what Soloman needs to keep as his “main thing.”

…be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God. …learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind.

And then, as if he knew Solomon would be overwhelmed with the responsibility, he quickly adds:

The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work.

As the story continues, David takes it upon himself to do everything in his power to setup Solomon for success. He gathers all the materials and gold and silver. He gives all of his own private treasures and then calls the crowd to give sacrificially as well. All the while he continues to encourage Solomon to be strong and to trust the Lord.

David demonstrates how to worship through is prayer of praise. Solomon, as well as everyone there, is left with no doubt about pure worship! But at the end of all this he offers up a final prayer, this time for the people.

…make your people always want to obey you. See to it that their love for you never changes.

See a theme here?

• Obedience
• Worship/Praise
• Trust
• Love

I may not ever really understand the specifics of my role here on this earth. Or perhaps during those moments when I do get it I may become discouraged or afraid.  In any case, the Lord has used His Word to once again remind me of what must come first… and last.