Many say we, Christians in the church, are the hands and feet of God. But, I think too often we fail to realize that we are also the ears and mouth of God. We fail to listen. And we fail to speak into the world, the Word that is Jesus Christ. We also fail to be the body incarnate, where God’s will is actualized in us through the Spirit of Christ.

Michael is here. He is a part-time counselor in the public school system. I was glad to see him today, as I had not seen him for some time. He has lyme’s disease, so sometimes it is difficult for him to get out. But we picked up our banter quickly with ease. Just the way that God and I do so often in prayer. It is almost as if there has not been a break.

This morning I was reading the Interpreter magazine published by United Methodist Communications, an arm for the United Methodist Church. The feature article is entitled “Teach Us To Pray” which is the request of the disciples to Jesus that he teach them to pray as he does (Luke 11:1). The disciples are responding to the importance of prayer in the life of Jesus. They realize that the power of his ministry is fed directly by daily prayers and communion with the Father. So they are seeking the same power for their lives and for their ministry. Something we all can learn from so that we may have the power of God in our daily living.

Among the stray thoughts that I was able to catch hold of as I reflected on the article was how too infrequently I and the church speak about prayer. This is particularly disturbing considering that prayer is the one spiritual discipline that can most impact our daily lives. Prayer not only frames our day and helps us realize God’s presence in our lives, but sustains us as we journey here on earth. So I am making it a priority to write about the spiritual disciplines in our lives, especially prayer more frequently in the weekly Pastor’s Desk.

For myself, I attempt to pray every day because I think that it is the most important thing I can do on any given day, but also because I think that it is one of my primary tasks as a pastor. And though I recognize its importance, prayer remains difficult for me. I find that I am too easily distracted by concern about the briars and thorns and weeds of the day to remain focused for very long. But I try, and rely on the Spirit to pull me through the mire of my thoughts whenever I get stuck.

My prayer consists of two parts. One is listening. The other is talking. Listening for me comes from praying the Bible. I do this in two ways, through daily reading of the Psalms, and through reading specific texts selected from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. As I read, usually out loud to myself, I try to listen to what God is saying. This is a bumpy and crooked road for me, and I find that I can go off the road very easy as I begin to think about this or that goal that I have for the particular day, or ruminate on some conversation or reading from the day before. Nevertheless, I make it through the listening, always for the betterment of my day.

After I have listened for a spell, I will talk awhile to God. One thing I talk about is what God is requiring of me, both as a follower of Jesus, and as a pastor. I will admit that I have protested at time in the manner of Moses before the burning bush. Or sometimes I protest in the manner of Jesus in the garden as he awaits the coming of the temple guards who will lead him to his death on the cross. Or sometimes I sound like a whinny kid being dragged into the bath. But most often I ask for strength to follow the Way of the Cross, though I know that it calls for sacrifice and suffering. Part of this talking is speaking out loud the covenant prayer offered by Wesley in centuries past, placing all I own and all I am in the service of God.

Also part of the talk is about praying for the condition of the world and in the lives of my family, friends, and you the people of Greenwood. I frequently throughout the week pray through the picture directory of Greenwood, stopping at each page to raise the names of members and family alike to God. I pray for God’s grace and mercy in your life, I pray for your health, and I pray that the light of Christ shines both on your path through a dark world, but also that the light of Christ shines broadly in and through you.

And finally, I end each prayer session with the Lord’s prayer. This anchors my day and I am able to get on to what lies ahead with joy and love in my heart. When our new Bishop for the Virginia Conference, Bishop Young Jin Cho took office he issued a prayer covenant to the clergy and the lay members of the Virginia Conference to devote themselves to a practice of an hour of prayer each morning for a 100 days. He recently has extended that offer encouraging clergy and laity to continue practicing spiritual disciplines daily, for at least an hour. He has also announced that the theme for the 2013 Annual Conference is “Teach Us How To Pray.”

So my prayer today is that each of you will devote more time to the spiritual disciplines each day for the glory of God in your life.

Part of my story is that as a young man, a teenager, I made the conscious decision that the church had failed me, and that I did not need the church to be a faithful Christian. I was wrong, and unfortunately it took years for me to realize that. But the point of telling this story on myself, is that prior to my decision, the church I attended, a small Baptist church in Wilmington, NC, had the responsibility of teaching me and leading me in the elements of the faith. While the pastor may had failed me, the church did not in its responsibility as God’s means of grace and truth. And that was huge.

It was only this week as I was preparing for Sunday’s message that it was pointed out to me that my own story fitted within in the biblical story of the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-29) Laurence Stookey in his book Baptism: Christ’s Act in the Church pointed out to me that in this story the young man was brought to his senses by this deplorable condition, and in his right mind saw that there was the hope that he could return to his father’s home, seek forgiveness, and be hired as a laborer in his father’s fields. Stookey asks the question why didn’t the young man go to a stranger and beg for mercy. And the answer is because he had lived in his father’s house, and knew from a personal relationship with his father that he could go back, though not on his own terms. This is huge, I think.

I read this and I saw my own story. Because I grew up in the faith, that is I had others to teach and lead me to faith, I could believe that I could come back to the church, not on my own terms, but come back and find forgiveness, and be lavishly welcomed at my return. This for me is another example why it is so important to know the Biblical stories, for they reveal to us many times what God is doing in our own lives.

To know the stories we have to have someone teach us, and at a young age. Faith is not something that we do on our own. Faith, which is about trust in God and knowing who God is, comes from God. And the church is the instrument by which God imparts both a place to come to trust in God and to learn who God is. The biblical story reveals God, so it must be foundational to our teaching. And how it is told is very important.

We can not do this by making our children a spectacle, or using them as entertainment. We can do it by giving them a suitable structure of teaching and activity that leads them to trust in God and to learn who God is through biblical story telling. This is the principle behind creating a stronger Children’s Church, where they first hear and learn the stories of the Bible, then through teachings and activities they grow in the faith of understanding in what God they give their trust. An important part of this to is that as they grow in their faith, they also participate in the worship of the community using their developing skills not to entertain us, but to give them voice in the worship of our God as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

This is huge and an important purpose given by God to the church. To accomplish it takes resources. It takes time given over to study, preparation, and teaching. It takes funds to provide the needed materials for teaching. It takes the support of parents and grandparents to bring their children every Sunday. It also takes prayer. Much prayer. In other words it takes sacrifices on our part in order to fulfill God’s desires for our children. So we ask that you sacrifice yourself to this purpose of God in giving faith to our young ones. It will be huge in their lives.