Friday, November 11, 2005

A Small Fish In A BIG Pond

Each of us, as Christians, have a work to do. Some do it well; others seem to be on ‘auto-pilot’ – that is, doing the work, but finding no joy in doing so. Some just choose to do nothing but go in the doors on Sunday, hear the sermon, and go out again, waiting on the next Sunday service. We call them ‘Sunday Christians’.

How each of us, claiming Christianity, handles the expectations of our Savior, is left up to the individual. I know I must fall short, at times. I try my best to study the Word, make it to Church, when the doors are open, although I do miss occasionally. Praying enough is probably my downfall.

I read ‘Fit As A Trout’s’ article on “Who Wants to Be a Preacher?” He talked about vulnerability, being real, and expectations by others. I know a preacher has many more problems than us lay people, in that there is only one of him and many of us!

But, this preacher talked about his sermon and how one young lady had come up afterwards and said, “thanks, that’s just what I needed to hear right now…” Many times a preacher must preach, wondering if he reaches any of the congregation or not. ‘Fisherman’, as he calls himself, went on to say, “I know enough now to simply pray…”

Prayer changes things, whether it’s in our own lives, or lives of others. Fisherman prays before each service, I am sure, because he had mentioned about praying before this particular service. My pastor prays before he preaches, in his office beforehand, and as he takes the pulpit. I know he is in prayer at all hours for the people in his church.

But, we shouldn’t leave praying to the pastor. In fact, we should be praying for the pastor, that God uses him in a way that touches lives, even our own. We need to pray for the church, that, we, the people of the church, only do the work of the Lord, and don’t stray over into what man thinks church is. We are all ‘small fish’ in a big pond, and it’s up to each of us to whether we ‘sink or swim’. The pastor is the leader, but he can’t be held responsible to bring us the ‘lifeboat’, if we choose to jump overboard, when things go wrong! We have to do a little work ourselves, in this regard. But, rest assured; he will be praying!

HT: See-Through Faith - Today's Thought

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2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

:)

I came to your site - to be honest - expecting the worst because I'd seen the first paragraph quoted and I was about to say - how can we know what's going on in the hearts of those who seem to come to church only on Sundays, or the 2-4 ladies who NEED the midweek communion as in Fisherman's post

But What I find instead is a GREAT post about praying enough. How we are to pray FOR our pastor(s) and not simply expect them to carry US in prayer.

So thank you for this encouragement. It's not easy to pray, it's easier to give up and be discouraged, but yesterday when I walked the dog I was praying for people I'd promised to (mostly bloggers) and a spontaneous song came

He is seated at the right hand of the Father - hears our prayers, prays with us

and then I prayed for X

and again the song

and prayed for Y etc

outloud, outside and my JOY was from the Lord, strengthening and encouraging.

Press on woman of God and thank you so much for this encouragement.

Barbara said...

Thanks, Lorna, for your comment. We all need to hold each other up in prayer. I try to do this for others, and especially those asking for prayer. But, perhaps I don't do enough. I noticed you prayed for bloggers, and I think we need to, so that, when we post, it's not just us posting, but the Spirit living within us, teaching us what to say. Then, we can 'be heard' by others.