[This reflection by Dazz Jones was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 02/Jun/2024]
Our Role in God’s Divine Plan
Prayer can be such a mysterious thing to take part in. We can often treat it like a request list, or perhaps sometimes even give it a little bit of a superstitious edge, for example, we could be guilty of using prayer as a way to start and finish our get-togethers or meals out of some feeling of necessity or formulaic duty above the reason of just wanting to include God in what we’re doing and remember his goodness. If it becomes more ritual than relationship, how is it any different to a sports player simply touching a picture of Jesus before they run out onto the pitch and expecting God to bless them? Prayer is all about intention and relationship, we hope it becomes habitual and reflexive, yes, but it cannot become robotic.
God’s kingdom ‘coming to earth’ is also a bit of a mysterious concept sometimes, it’s a phrase we’ll churn-out often in our prayers perhaps … but what would it mean to see it happen in our world?
What is the kingdom of God?
What would it look like if the culture of God’s kingdom touched our own?
What would it mean if we started to use and seek to earn the currency of God’s kingdom in our lives?
What is the language of God’s kingdom and how fluent are we?
Imagine this, starting right now you gave God complete control of your life and limbs, you spoke, ate, slept and acted in exactly the way God directed you to. Where would you end up going? Who would be there or who might you take with you? How much effort would we put in at work? How much time would we spend in front of our screens? How uncomfortable do you feel right now? (if you are anything like me then, very!).
How might we pray differently about this? … startiiiiiiiiing now!
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Last week’s reflection: What Comes After Pentecost? by Michael Goble
Contributed by Dazz Jones; © Dazz Jones