A Prayer For This Little Church

Dear God,

Thank you for the body of believers that you’ve placed here in our lives. We thank you for all the different paths you’ve lead us down to bring us together in this place in this season of life. We thank you for all the kingdom building work that you have done through them and through this church over the last few years and we pray that through your grace, you would allow it to continue for many more years to come. Your grace is what saves us, it’s not through anything we can do (thank goodness for that!) and I pray that you would remind us of the extravagant grace you have for us so that we can show that same grace to the brothers and sisters walking beside us. Reconnect us with the simple truths of your Gospel. Remind us that it’s not about the eloquence or delivery of the sermon but about the truth being preached though your Spirit (1 Cor 2:1–5): that you sent your son Jesus to live a perfect life only to be murdered to pay the penalty for something He was innocent of; for all the sins we have and will continue to commit until the day you call us home, and that through your immeasurable power, you resurrected Him, declaring your victory over sin and death. May we all remember that this is the number one message we must proclaim to build your kingdom here on earth.

Lord, we confess that we’ve often gotten distracted from sharing this message with the world. We’ve allowed our attentions to be pulled in so many directions that we no longer have the time for you that we should, and even less time for sharing your Gospel with the world around us. And many times we’ve walked even further from you by turning on our brothers and sisters in Christ, on the body of believers that you’ve so graciously placed around us to encourage us and build us up. Instead we’ve begun tearing each other down and consequently tore down part of your kingdom as well, the kingdom we’re supposed to be building. It wasn’t intentional, but it happened just the same and we’re so sorry for that.

Father, I pray that you would lead us all to repentance, may your Spirit be at work changing our hearts and turning them fully to you. Let us be a body of believers after your own heart just as David was (Acts 13:22). Help us to obey Paul’s instructions to the church in Ephesus; that we would not let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Eph 4:29). So many of our words lately have been the exact opposite. They are half truths, personal opinions, and outright lies passed along through gossip and rumors. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing but these things ought not to be so! (James 3:10) God, we aren’t doing it on purpose but we’re destroying the unity you’ve graciously given us through your Spirit, the unity that you command us to strive for as your children (Eph 4:3–4). Please help us to see the destruction we’re causing and give us the power and strength to change from those sinful ways! Open our eyes to see our own planks before we comment on each other’s specks (Matt 7:1–5). Turn us around from the direction we’re going. Remind us that we are your body (Rom 12:3–8) and that we need to be praying specifically for each other (Eph 6:18).

Guide us to stay committed to you, to following the truth of who you are and what your Word says, not just in knowledge but in obedience as well. Give us clarity and discernment to examine the scriptures to be sure that what we’re hearing and believing, from the pulpit, from our friends, and from the world, is in fact true (Acts 17:11). Lord, grow us. Let us become spiritually mature so that we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. (Eph 4:14–15) Soften our hearts to be receptive to the correction and tough love that we may need in order to grow, because it’s only through growth that we can be sanctified and made holy as you are (1 Peter 1:13–16). Some teaching may make us uncomfortable, it may rub us the wrong way, it may even offend us but I pray that in those moments, you would fill us with the self discipline to truly examine the words and test them against our lives, because it may be our sinful flesh responding trying to keep us from growing in you. Then again, it could truly be a false teaching and I pray that in each one of those situations, you would give us the discernment, clarity, and wisdom to know the difference and to act accordingly. Teach us to examine our own lives (before even thinking about looking at someone else’s) to see what fruit we’re producing, and let that examination serve as warnings or confirmation of our standing with you, and let it motivate us toward action so that our lives can truly be pleasing to you (Matt 7:16–23).

Lord, I pray specifically for this (little c) church, that you would continue to use us to build your (capital C) Church. We desperately need you, every day but especially today. Bring us unity and peace. Protect us from the evil one, for he is certainly at work here, sewing discord and disunity, trying to destroy what you have built here in this little basement church. But God, you are so much bigger and stronger than him. When we’re rooted firmly in you with our armor battle ready, there is absolutely no reason he should be able to divide us even an inch! (Eph 6:10–18) Unfortunately we’ve gotten lazy; we’ve lowered our shields and swords and made ourselves vulnerable to his attack. Let this be the wake-up call that we need to motivate us to stand back up at attention, ready to defend each other and your Church. May we fight not with the weapons of this world but with the weapons you’ve given us, the ones with the divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Cor 10:4). Give us eyes to see the big picture, that it’s not just about us in this little basement church, it’s about being part of your global Church reaching out to a nation and world full of people who are lost and going to hell unless we step up and do what you’ve called us to do (Matt 28:18–20). And for all the leaders in this little c and your big C Church, I ask a special blessing upon them. Put a hedge of protection around them, guarding them from Satan’s lies and deceit. Fill them with knowledge and discernment to take every thought captive to make it obedient to you (2 Cor 10:5). Speak to them and through them so that they can lead us effectively in righteous living. Humble them and remind them of your heart for humanity, that you desire for all to come to know you and live righteous lives in obedience to your commands (2 Peter 3:9). Guide them to guide us in our walks.

Lord, we praise you for who you are! Just the simple fact that you know us intimately and have made yourself knowable to us as well is unfathomable in light of your greatness and majesty. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. (Eph 3:20–21)

A Note from Natalie:

Life is hard. And its even harder when we try to live God’s way. It’s a thousand times better, but its still just as hard. Especially when we’re living in close community with other broken sinful people (which is exactly what God calls us to do). So many times it would be easier to just walk away when things get ugly, unfortunately, that usually doesn’t solve any problems. Many times, we just have to stick it out, swallow our pride and be the bigger person for the sake of the greater good. Especially ESPECIALLY when the ugly is within the church. Trying to BE THE CHURCH is not easy and I can’t even imagine trying to run one. Just read some of Paul’s letters to the churches that he helped to start (2 Corinthians for sure!) or Jesus’s preaching to the religious leaders. Those are some harsh words that are hard to read! But at the same time, its the truth that the people needed. If it wasn’t needed, it wouldn’t have been written and it certainly wouldn’t have been included in scripture. But it was. So we need to pay attention. It’s not easy living the Christian life, not if you truly understand what its all about. If you think its easy, then I’m sorry to tell you but you’re missing something. Because Jesus tells us that we will have troubles. But the Word of God is also full of grace and love. God calls us to live opposite the world around us, He calls us to do some hard things, but He loves us so much that He’s already given us all the grace and strength we need to succeed through His Son. It’s not one way or the other, it’s hard but there’s grace. That’s what makes it worth it. But we also need to be aware that the evil one is OUT TO GET US and he’s going to make it as hard as he knows how for us to keep on following Christ. In a sense though, his attacks can serve as confirmation to us that we’re on the right track because the more we look like Jesus, the greater enemy we are to Satan so he’s going to work even harder to throw us off track. Don’t let him! Stand firm! This little basement church is under attack and its past time that we stood up and stopped letting him gain ground. We all need to put aside our differences for the sake of the kingdom. Who knows, maybe He’s calling us to start two little basement churches, or three, or four?! We don’t know what God has in store for us, but we do know that no matter how many little c churches we become or what they may look like, we are all part of ONE big C Church. ONE family of God. ONE body of Christ. And we need to be so careful that in our pursuit of little c anything, we don’t damage the big C.

Because we’re called to be ONE.