I wonder--April 17

One of the joys of session meetings here at Bethesda is "Elder Enrichment." This is the part of the agenda each session meeting that I inherited--and I see the value in it. "Elder Enrichment" that takes place immediately following our Dwelling in the Word (devotions). This is how we start every, single, session meeting. 

Each month I bring a passage of scripture to the session meetings and we talk about that passage together.  We spend time together listening to how God is shaping each of us through the Word and we think and meditate upon it. Spending 20-25 minutes as a session considering God's Word is a good way to begin the meeting. I believe that it is the most important way to begin session meetings.

At the end of this month's discussion on 1 Peter 2:2-10, I planned to 'enrich' the elders with a deeper conversation about their prayer lives. 

It occurs to me that many meetings at church take on a more functional role rather than a spiritual one.

Now I understand why that is necessary. I know that without the constant attention of the session some aspects of our church would fall apart. We need elders who will examine the physical buildings to make sure they are secure, clean, and in proper order when we gather together. We need elders to examine the worship, the Christian education program, and a host of other items so that life at Bethesda continues to bring glory to God in all that we do. 

With that in mind I wanted to make sure that the elder who God chose to lead this church spent time together contemplating prayer. As we began our conversation about prayer I was reminded of something that Agnes Sanford wrote. She said: 

"So the first step (in prayer) is to relax and remind ourselves that there is a source of life outside of ourselves." 

The words "relax and remind ourselves" spoke to my heart as I opened the conversation up. Together the elders last evening gently, and openly, spoke about how it is that they pray. They talked about when they pray and what makes up their prayers. They talked about how they conceive of the language they will use in prayer before God. On and on the conversation went for nearly 45 minutes.

But this should not a conversation that should be left only to the leadership of the church. 

I wonder how is it that you pray? I wonder how you "relax and remind" yourself that you need to plug into God? 

Perhaps today take a little walk, pause in your daily practices and work, and notice how you pray. . .