One particular story in the Gospels
that will ever hold my attention is the story of Jesus healing a woman who had
had a menstrual haemorrhage for twelve years. If you remember the story, Jesus
is walking through town and people are crowding him and brushing against
him. The woman sees him and thinks to
herself that if she just touches his clothes she will be healed. So, she stealthily works her way up to him
and touches his clothes and immediately she is healed. But then, quite oddly, Jesus stops and says,
“Who touched my clothes?” The disciples
note the ridiculousness of such a question in the midst of that crowd pressing
against him. But Jesus says, “Someone
touched me: for I noticed that power went forth from me.” Then, the woman fearfully comes forward and
owns up. Jesus tells her, “Daughter,
your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.”
Recently, I heard a bit of a sermon
on this passage. The ministerasked the
question, “which are you doing – are you just crowding Jesus or touching him.”[1] That question wasn’t original to him. It’s been around Evangelical Christianity and
Revivalism for centuries. It’s meant to
get us thinking about whether or not we have a life-giving personal
relationship with Jesus. Are we just in
the crowd or are we actively reaching out and touching Jesus because we know he
is the only means to wholeness, to well-being.
“Am I touching Jesus?” That question
being asking, whether the answer is yes or no the question that would follow it
is “How so?” How does one touch
Jesus? I’ll share a bit of my own
experience here.
Back in my university days I
participated in something called a Discipleship Group. We were a group that the campus pastor threw
together because we were all going through something whether it was grief
because of a death, a break-up, parents divorcing. We didn’t choose each other. We came from all walks of life, but we agreed
we would meet together on a weekly basis, have a short devotional, share how
things were going, and pray for each other.
The presence of the Holy Spirit was richly in our midst. To varying degrees we all got emotionally
better. The troubled circumstances of
our lives worked out for the good. We
grew in faith, in trust. None of us
could doubt the existence of God after our experience in that group.
One may ask what was the difference
in this group and group therapy. Well,
that answer’s easy. The overwhelming
sense, felt-ness, that Jesus was present with us, that he loved us, and that he
was working and would work things to the good.
In group therapy all you’ve got is the hope the therapist knows what
she’s doing otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels with no clear direction.
Every one of us in that group can
tell you what it feels it is to experience having Paul’s prayers here for the
Ephesian Christians answered for us each personally. In our weeks and months of meeting together
we all sensed that we were being strengthened by the Holy Spirit in our inner
selves. We all sensed that Jesus was dwelling
in our hearts and was changing us and that we were coming to know God more
fully. We all came to have a deeper
understanding of God’s deep love for us.
That God was deeply interested in our lives, indeed personally involved
in it for our good, with a love that would not let us go. Six strangers who were awkward on all accounts
and who would not have been friends otherwise began to trust and love one
another to the extent of being able to share our lives in healing ways and pray
for each other. That’s remarkable. We
met. We shared. We listened.
We prayed. Jesus was there. We touched him and he saved us from our
brokenness and healed us. We were filled
with all the fullness of God. He did not
hold himself back from us. He was with
us in being and act.
Well, since I believe, since I know
that praying for one another is crucial to growing in Christ I would like to
introduce you to something called a Prayer Covenant.[2] Does anybody know what a Prayer Covenant
is? It is when two or three people agree
to pray the same prayer for each other everyday for a month. It is rooted in the idea that where two or
three are gathered in Jesus’ name he is in their midst.
Since he is in our midst when we are
gathered in his name the type of prayer that we pray in a Prayer Covenant is
specific to growth in Christ. It is not
the sort of thing that we typically wing out there like “God bless Bob and help
him endure his bunions.” Granted, if you
have ever had to deal with bunions that is an important prayer and should be
prayed. The Prayer Covenant prayer is
different in that it asks for strength to be Jesus’ disciples. The Prayer Covenant prayer goes like this
“Lord, grant Bob and me the grace today to commit our lives to the Lordship of
Jesus Christ without reservation, and grant Bob and me further the grace to
know your strength and your guidance this day.
Amen.”
Timothy and I have agreed that we
would like to impose this discipline on the churches of the Coop for the
purpose of congregational revival.
Renewal so often begins with intentional prayer directed at each of our
personal relationships with Jesus Christ.
This Sunday and next in each of the congregations we are asking that
each of you approach somebody in your congregation and become Prayer Covenant
partners for a month. Then in a month we
will ask you to do it with somebody else.
Eventually, we hope you will begin to do this with friends and
neighbours.
To facilitate this task we have made
some business card size cards to help our memories. From here on out there will
be a ready supply of these cards available in each church. I am going to come now and pass them out to
you and when I give you one, please go to somebody nearby. This will be your Prayer Covenant partner for
the next month. Then, we are going to
practice asking somebody to be a prayer partner. And yes, I do appreciate that
this is not a comfortable thing to do for some people. I am one of those people. I would not be asking you to do this if I did
not know and had not felt for myself what a difference this makes.
Here’s how you establish the
covenant. Person on my right you get to go first. Ask your partner, “____, do you know what a
Prayer Covenant is?” Person on left
please play uninformed and say “Why no.
What is a Prayer Covenant?” Person
on right says, “Jesus, said that whenever to or three are gathered together in
his name he is in their midst. A Prayer
Covenant recognizes that and helps us to become more aware of his being in our
midst and helps us become more like him.
I have a business card with a prayer on it that we can pray for each
other every day for a month. It may
sound strange but I believe praying for each other will help us both.” Person on left, “Sounds great. Let’s give it a try.”
Now, so that no one gets slighted
person on left gets to practice asking the person on the right. Let us close with this prayer and let’s just
say us for the name: “Lord, grant us the grace today to commit our lives to the
Lordship of Jesus Christ without reservation, and grant us further the grace to
know your strength and your guidance this day.
Amen.”
[1]
http://www.vitalchurchesinstitute.com/enews_posts/view/1120
[2]
This idea comes from Stan Ott
at the Vital Churches Institute. http://www.vitalchurchesinstitute.com
