Praying With Purpose

Yesterday in our Wednesday night group we studied the sermon given by Peter in Acts 2 and reflected on this text as a means of deeper exploration for prayer.  What stood out to me in this discussion was the importance of prayer as a means to experiencing the presence of God, and while Peter was preaching and not praying in Acts 2, he still gave us direction as to what to pray for when he told the people of Jerusalem to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and the promise of the Holy Spirit.  While these early Christians never fooled themselves with false teaching that they could manipulate the Spirit's work by prayer, they did know the significance of praying with a purpose.  They prayed for people's souls - for repentance from sin - and for grace to receive God's forgiveness knowing that such forgiveness is an extension of the promise that comes with the Holy Spirit's presence.

So last night, during prayer time, our study guide asked us to reflect on our neighborhood and pray for specific schools and organizations within our neighborhood.  I prayed for Brained High School and the Brainerd Renewal project that is seeking to raise funds for the Bible in the Public Schools program that can bring a Bible teacher to Brainerd High.  I also prayed for Girls Inc. who has an after school program in our church 4 days a week plus all kinds of special camps helping to reach out to the young girls in the Brainerd area.  They are doing a fantastic job here in Brainerd.  When we got to the part where we were asked to pray for people's repentance and baptism, I prayed for the gangs of the Brainerd neighborhood.  While there are people far more qualified and educated than me who know how to address the problem of gangs, I can at least pray, and that is no small thing, if we take Acts of the Apostles seriously.  I understand the attraction of gangs for young people is the sense of belonging and sense of community it provides - what if those gangs were transformed into communities of faith and discipleship.  We can't make that happen, but God can make it happen. 

Oh, there will be some who think these are wasted prayers, but no prayer is wasted if it is prayed from a sincere heart and with purpose.  God hears our prayers.  All too often we pray for what we want God to do, and then we try to go and make it happen. What if we pray for what we cannot make happen, and wait to see what God will do with our prayers?

In the meantime, let me use this as a time for my own personal spiritual introspection as I pray for the transformation of others.  Is there anything I need to repent of in my life?  The promise of the Holy Spirit is real.  As Jesus said, the Spirit is like the wind where we cannot see Him or control Him, but He is real.  When you pray, think of sending your prayers up to God where they are taken away by the wind of His Spirit.  Where they go, we may never know, but if they are prayed from a sincere heart and with purpose, God will answer them - in God's own way - in God's own time - for God's own purposes!

Dennis