Power

People assume a lot from the activity known as prayer. We assume it's a way to influence God so we get what we want or think we need. We think of prayer as a way to keep close to God. Prayer guides us, we hope. Some may even regard prayer as a way to listen to God. There is another facet of prayer, I believe, that may speak especially to a techno-driven age.

Prayer is about tapping into power...real power.

This fall our fellowship of Jesus-followers will offer a discipleship-building class on the last book of the Bible; the Book of the Revelation. I can't begin to tell you how many people over the years have told me how the Revelation to John scares them. (It was written during a time of intense persecution of the followers of Jesus in various places throughout the Roman Empire.) The Revelation is about the clash of powers. Christians in the first century dealt head-on with the issue of central power. On the one hand, there was the Roman Empire, the trappings of which surrounded them every day. Rome claimed to be the center of power. Those whom the gods have ordained to rule had power, Rome declared. Whoever had the strongest military presence had power. Whoever amassed the most wealth and, thus, the most control over other human beings had power. Those who had the right connections, the right political and social maneuvering, the right name and lineage - those were the ones who had power. On the other hand, this small grouping of insignificant people in various places throughout the Empire claimed that the one who died on a cross just outside of the remote city of Jerusalem, and the One who they claimed walked out of a tomb alive - this one had the only real power that mattered. That's the choice the Revelation puts before us, the entire Bible puts before us, and all genuinely evangelical presentation of the good news of Jesus the Christ puts before us. Are all who claim the stuff of power around us the ones with real power? Or is Jesus really Lord, and does genuine power originate and end with Him?

Prayer is tapping into that power. That's both scary and exciting, I think. What do you think?

I'll be involved in an extended meeting on Monday and Tuesday, so I probably won't post again until Wednesday. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.