Pray for your Christian community
Start by praying for your wider community of faithful followers of Jesus
This week, I’ve talked about praying for yourself to give more of yourself to your world in need as well as praying for your specific church, your specific group of believers that you share life with…
…well, let me kick off this discussion about praying for your wider Christian community with a story.
I was once part of a little house church (or at least an attempt at one). I was also full-time at a church, but this was something special.
All of us were connected by one person in particular, the guy who started it. But, other than that, we were all fairly different from a wide range of backgrounds.
Some of us weren’t even entirely believers (and we frequently had a Rabbi neighbor join us for the sake of discussions and conversations).
And this, out of everything in my life, was honestly and truly my first foray into experiencing a wide range of beliefs under one roof.
The whole group wasn’t entirely made up of WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants). There was a variety of backgrounds, beliefs, and practices all centered around the discussion of what it means to faithfully follow Jesus.
So, yeah, you need to be praying for the believers outside of your church or even your denomination!
Because, whether you like it or not, they follow the same Jesus as you. And Jesus was not often concerned about the what or the how as much as he was concerned about the why.
Jesus wanted your heart to be chasing after right relationship with God.
And praying for those who you disagree with (maybe even strongly disagree with) is a part of that right relationship with God…because, at the end of the day, they are still following Jesus just like you, building the Kingdom just like you, and praying just like you.
And, whether you believe it or not, you need them…and they need you…we all pray “Our Father” because we are all a community of believers serving the same good God.
My prayer for today
Our Father, open our eyes, ears, and hearts to those believers who are different from us. Jesus, keep reminding us that you love them just as much as you love us. Spirit, help me pray deeply and earnestly for those who are vital to my community of faith, no matter how I feel about their beliefs or practices. Amen.
Remember
If you don’t have a friend from a different denomination, church, or branch of theology from you…then go make one this week. That’s your homework ;) and remember that they, too, likely want to know how to serve Jesus better and understand how to pray (so refer them to Our Father Daily, yeah?)