Praying in unity

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! Psalm 133: 1

As I wrote yesterday, the Body of Christ – the Church – has a high calling to dwell together in unity to bring about God’s incredible plans and purposes.  

I was reminded this morning that when we stand with others in heaven, either when we leave this life, or when Jesus returns, we will stand in perfect unity. Our focus will be on one thing and one thing only, our Lord and Saviour, the King of the Universe, Jesus Christ. 

Everything we do in eternity, and I firmly believe we will busy about the King’s business, will be for him and for his glory.  Our training ground is our life on this Earth. All that we have learned and accomplished here will be carried forward into eternity. Everything from our days on earth will be tested in his fire (1 Corinthians 3: 12 - 15) and those things that withstand the fire will be rewarded. Everything else will be burnt to ash. 

C S Lewis wrote If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. 

With this thought in mind, dwelling together in unity now, will yield incredible treasure in heaven.  It prepares us not only for our life in eternity but also brings about what God desires in our lives, churches and nations now.

Jonathan Edwards said When God is about to do a mighty new thing He always sets His people praying.

If there is one thing that Brexit has achieved in the Body of Christ in UK has been prayer. I do not think there has ever been as much prayer for the nation since the Second World War. However for our prayers to be truly effective we must ‘Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace’ Ephesians 4: 3. 

The only way to do this when praying about this highly contentious issue is ‘to fix our eyes upon Jesus’Hebrews 12: 2.  When we focus on him, not on our wishes and opinions, I believe we will move closer and closer together and will find ourselves praying ever more effectively for his will and his Kingdom to come. 

Desiring and praying for God’s plans, laying aside our personal opinions on the subject, no matter how much we believe we are right, will release a mighty outworking of Kingdom power that will startle us, our nation, and the world. 

The unity of the Spirit

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4: 1 – 6

When Paul wrote these words to the church at Ephesus it was in the context of unity in the church between Jew and Gentile.  He was showing them how to live in the unity that God was calling them to.

Never have these words been more appropriate recently than in the UK where the country appears to be tearing itself apart over Brexit.  

Within the Church there are as many different opinions over Brexit as outside and no matter how much we believe we have heard from God, our attitude to those who may differ is vital. Having a condescending, superior, patronising attitude to those we disagree with will only reinforce divisions but the Church is called to live and work in unity. The Church in the land needs to model and show a different way and not join in the highly opinionated, wholesale anger and frustration that is so evident.

God has an incredible plan and purpose for the UK but it involves bringing his Kingdom and his will into the land. Brexit is part of that process but not the destination. The Church has a great calling to rise above the divisions and dissent and focus on the Lord and his designs. 

I don’t think any part of the Body of Christ does not earnestly desire God to move in sovereign power and bring revival to our land. All of us want to see loved ones saved. All of us, I am sure, long for God to breakthrough with miracle working power to bring healing, restoration and reconciliation but for our nation to benefit from this, it requires the Church to arise in unity; to deal with jealousy, personal and selfish ambition, to show love and grace to those we disagree with. The Brexit process is a great learning experience. 

Paul shows us the way. First we must be humble and gentle. That is a million miles away from the worldly sense of entitlement especially to personal opinion that is so prevalent. Being humble means considering others before ourselves, listening calmly even to things we would never agree with and not shoving our opinions, no matter how Biblical, down the throats of others even if they are trying to do this to us.  

Secondly we must be patient, a quality most of us struggle with. We want things now, we want our opinion heard and we get frustrated when others do not see the sense in what we are saying. The key here is prayer. God can change opinions, even our own, in a microsecond with his divine revelation. Asking God to intervene, to show us where we may be in the wrong and to grant us patience with others of different opinions, will achieve far more than half an hour’s carefully crafted argument, let alone ten minutes haranguing. This will help us bear with others in love.  

Finally Paul exhorts us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.This excludes loud arguments, flouncing, huffing and puffing and nasty looks. Instead we must focus our eyes on Jesus, looking to him to and trusting him to work out his plans and purposes for our lives, for the Church and for the nation. 

As the Body of Christ, we have a high calling to pray and bring in God’s Kingdom and will for our nation. But this will only be achieved as we model unity in the Church to the nations.

Father, I pray that you would show us the way of unity, to love those we disagree with and to be one, even as you are one. Forgive us for our jealousies and pride that drive divisions into your body and the nation and help us look to you who loves us all. We declare you have a high calling on United Kingdom. Show us how to participate through prayer and attitude in your plans. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Welcome to Africa

A week after our return to South Africa and some of the differences between our two life styles have become apparent. Superficially and perhaps surprisingly we live in a very similar house, in a very similar tree-lined street in a fairly similar town to our UK one except the South African place boasts a kilometre of beautiful golden sands.

Fish Hoek beach

Shopping is by no means a Third World experience either. There is little that we cannot buy here that we might wish and there are some bonuses – great meat and buttery avocados to name two. With the impeding arrival of our two inquisitive grandchildren aged 6 and nearly 4 I have tried imagining the differences they might notice. In common with most of Africa, the ladies carry their babies on their backs not in pushchairs. People sell a wide range of products by the side of the road, risking life and limb at traffic lights and you may even have a man with a large plastic bag offering, for a few rand, to take away the rubbish from your car.

A more amusing occurrence is finding someone around lunchtime lying on the grassy pavement by the side of the road. In UK we would immediately phone 999 fearing a collapse or even worse. Here it is just someone having an afternoon nap after a hard morning’s work.

However one morning in church and the differences become very apparent. A lady told of some American nurses here on placement spending a night in the Emergency room at the local hospital. This is in our quiet town not in Johannesburg. It was a night of stabbings and drug and alcohol overdoses. The nurses were trying to process their unexpected experiences.

Another church member who works with Metro Ministries in Lavender Hill, one of poorest areas of Cape Town, told of the shocking incident of a gang shoot out which had left 8 dead and 32 injured and children traumatised.  He was about to go to a meeting between police and gang leaders so he could speak up for the children in the area and to ask the gang leaders to consider the effect of their lifestyle of crime and violence on them.

Finally, another church member, a former missionary to Libya, spoke about how a colleague had just been kidnapped in Niger where he had spent over 30 years working with the locals in providing more secure food sources for them. No one knew where he was though fortunately his wife and children were safe in US.

 

What could we do but pray and pray we did. It made the topic of Brexit in UK and the Trump / Clinton presidential election seem very far away. But all these events, here and abroad, can be overwhelming for the man in the street or the Christian in the church. Do we sit back and howl about the immensity of these problems or do we take them to the Lord in prayer?

These are pivotal days. Our nations need our prayers and considered thoughts. This is the time for the Church to arise with God given wisdom and prayer.  We can show God’s perspective for the poor and needy, his great love for them and his desire for the Church to share that love with those around them and in the furthest corners of the globe. Drought stalks Africa and the effect of Hurricane Matthew is most visible in Haiti. They need our prayers and aid. Haiti desperately needs some God given long-term solutions to their problems.

Haiti

Our politicians and governments also need our prayers and for the Church to speak with wisdom and compassion about God’s view on Brexit and the presidential election because, believe me, God does have a perspective.

When the problems of the world seem overwhelming, God has some answers and he is happy to speak to whoever asks and seeks him. We may not have access to the ear of government but we have access to the highest courts in the universe, the courts of heaven. There we can hear God’s heart and petition him for our communities and nations. There we can change our world through our intercession and there we can make the most profound difference both to the rich and mighty and to the poor and suffering of our world.