8-10-06 Since You Mention It
Why is it so hard for us to pray for one another. I don't mean make some kind of cursory mention of a person's needs during prayer or check their requests off on a list we have on our refrigerator. I mean really PRAY for them.Paul wrote: "First off, I challenge you to make supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving for everyone...This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."I desire to see everyone everywhere praying, lifting up holy hands without anger or doubts." [1 Timothy 2:1, 3, 4, DiVietro paraphrase]
Something fueled Paul's desire. He had an intense attachment to praying for others. There was something deep inside who he was that shifted his focus immediately onto the needs of those around him. One way or another, the barriers that kept him from praying were broken down in his life. And when they were
broken down, Paul became a praying machine. If we could figure out his prayer secret, maybe we could break through to.
I'm not sure I understand all of it, but I think that the driving force behind Paul's shift to praying for others came from his shift from selfishness. Now most of the time, when people talk about shifting from selfishness, they want you to focus on others. They dredge up some quote from Mother Teresa and try to prove that you must focus on others in order to be any good to God.
I think that is backwards. Paul did not shift his attention from himself to others. He shifted his focus from himself to Christ. "I determined that I would not be known for anything except Christ and him crucified." [1 Corinthians 2:2] He did not focus on others; he focused on Jesus.
Maybe true Christian prayer really is otherworldly. It is totally and completely alien. The passion for others comes not from focusing on them but specifically from not focusing on them and instead dedicating ourselves to, as Thomas a Kempis put it, The Imitation of Christ. I mean imitation not in the "do it like him" way but the "become like him" way.
When we draw so close to Jesus that our lifeforce is literally merged with his, we feel his passions. His heart begins to beat in our chests, and we truly and genuinely feel his love and desire for the good of other.
posted by Pastor Erik DiVietro @ 7:55 PM
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