As I was mowing the yard this morning, it occurred to me that there were a few more things that I should have said about prayer yesterday which I couldn't get to because of the time. the greatest difficulty with the Luke 11 passage on prayer is that it is easy to read Christ's words to ask and therefore receive and think that prayer is some sort of cosmic vending machine where we stick our coin in the slot out and out pops what we've selected. Then, when what WE are praying for doesn't come out like we envisioned, we find ourselves disappointed.

  For many of us, Jesus' words are important for we fail to ask, and then wonder why we struggle to find meaning and purpose. But there are some among us who have asked regularly and still continue to struggle in life. For those folks, there is a disconnect with Christ's words. 

  Of course, part of the problem is that our vision is not God's vision. It may very well be that God is answering us, meeting our needs in some way that we can't fully see. There is a mystery to prayer in which we live by faith, offering our needs and desires to God and then allowing God to do what God will, whether it conforms to our vision or not. 

  But I think part of the problem is that we fail to fully understand what Jesus is getting at in his call for persistent prayer. I believe that Christ is trying to help those who would follow him understand that prayer is a discipline which forms us simply because we do it. It isn't a cosmic vending machine, but rather is more like a personal growth program where simply doing it changes us, regardless of the outcome. In a real sense, we pray our way into clarity by coming about and doing it again, and again, and again, trusting that in the end God will provide as God always does. We pray not to get something, but because we are changed and conformed into the image of Christ by praying. 

  It's easy to say this, but much harder to practice in daily life. We are, after all, a people who want results (and live in a society where results matter). And yet, like so much in the life of faith, I think Jesus may be suggesting that the process is more important than the outcome. "Keep praying..." he says, "...because  you will be changed by doing it."

  What helps you in being disciplined in prayer? How have you been changed by regularly talking with God. I would love to hear your comments on this as we work together to become a praying people. 

What difference does church make in your life, and why?

It’s a simple question, but if you are like most regular church goers it’s a question that often goes unasked and unanswered. There are all sorts of reasons that people attend church, from continuing family traditions to finding a community of support to even simple habit, and there is little doubt that participating in faith community leads to ways of being that are different from non-participation. And yet, most studies suggest that very few long time church participants actively think about church as a place of transformation and change, nor the ways that their lives are changed by being a part of a church. Churches have often become places of low expectations, and those expectations keep us from approaching everything we do with anticipation that something significant is going to happen whenever we gather as the body of Christ.

Last year a young mother was talking with me about her struggles in connecting with church. In the midst of our conversation she said, "I don’t want to be coming to a place...I want to be part of a mission." What she was saying was affirmed in a workshop I led yesterday with a bunch of youth - there is a longing to be part of something significant, to make a difference in the world.

I want to suggest that every time we gather, be it to hand out backpacks to area children or to worship on Sunday morning, something significant is taking place. We are tied in to a mission that has been moving forward for some 2000 years, and there are things happening in both the spiritual and the physical realms that lead to change and provides meaning to people in need. Being a part of a church changes us, leading us to a deeper love of God and neighbor - something that makes us very different from the Rotary Club down the street.

It is my hope and prayer that OHUMC both is, and is becoming, a place where every person that walks in the door has a sense that great things are happening, and that lives will be changed because of what we are doing at that moment in time. I invite you to be on the lookout for all that ways that God is at work, so that you can answer clearly about the difference in your life because of being a part of our church.