DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTOR DAVE MARCH 1, 2023

Belivers in Prayer

You may have seen the prayer request cards that we have at the church. You can find them on the table at the entrance to the Crest Center and in the racks on the backs of the pews. Maybe you have noticed the way a word on that card is spelled. After asking, “How can we pray for you?” the card reads, “As belivers in the power of prayer, we would like to support you.”

Belivers.

Is that a typo? (My spellcheck certainly seems to think so!) Or might it be what the painter Bob Ross would have called “a happy accident”?

I’m sure the word was meant to be “believers.” As “believers” in the power of prayer, we want to do all we can do to support you and those you love by praying with you and praying for you. And I hope that you are a believer in the power of prayer, too. But I also hope that you are a “beliver” in prayer as well.

What does it mean to be a “beliver” in the power of prayer? Maybe it means that prayer is something that we not only profess is powerful but actually practice. We not only believe in its power but experience it in our own lives and in the lives of others.

I’ve been attending a continuing education event this week in Pigeon Forge, and the theme is “Praying Together.” One of the presenters is a colleague, Rev. Dr. Susan Arnold. After citing various things for which people pray—including personal guidance, health concerns, the needs of family members or friends—she said that there’s one thing that people don’t indicate praying for: their own prayer life. And yet so many of us, even clergy, feel like our prayer lives are not what we would want them to be. So she left us with a question: “When was the last time you prayed for your prayer life?” I’ve been mulling that over ever since I heard her ask it.

She gave us some helpful advice about growing in our prayer life. She said it’s a good idea to ask God what God would want us to pray for (she also said that’s a good question to ask those who ask us to pray for them). She encouraged us to be diligent and persistent in our praying, not to give up, and not to let a dry spell in our prayer life go too long.

I’ve also gone back and looked at the prayer request card we have at the church. It includes a Bible verse from Paul’s letter to the Philippians: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Php 4:6).

“Don’t be anxious about anything.” I’ll admit that’s a lot easier said than done, especially for those of us prone to anxiety. “But in every situation”—even the ones that cause us anxiety—we can ask for God’s help (that’s what petition means). And as we’re asking God for what we don’t have, let’s not forget to thank God for all the blessings that we do have. I’ve found that the practice of gratitude and thanksgiving can actually ease our anxiety and reframe our petitions. And maybe it can also help us to become not just believers in prayer, but belivers in it, too.