Prayer walking

Yesterday I went for a prayer walk through downtown Helena. Up through the older, redeveloping Rodney Street neighborhood. Past the courthouse and so many law offices I had never noticed. Over to the Neighborhood Center and the Rocky Mountain Development Council. Down into Anchor Park and past the library. Into the walking mall and then on to Last Chance Gulch. Past restaurants, boutique shops, and banks.

I was tempted to head right into the Fire Tower coffee shop at that point. I could hear the call of the cappuccino. But I looked up, and God's Love, our homeless shelter was right before me. I kept walking, praying for the shelter and those people there, and headed down Helena Avenue. I cut over to the Great Northern Town Center and walked around those big, beautiful, new buildings.

On my walk I noticed homes and businesses, low rent apartments and upscale merchants. Walking in a prayerful attitude I certainly saw things in a new light. We've done a lot of talking about being a church for Helena; it was good to actually walk some of our streets and pray for our city.

Prayer is crucial. We keep saying that as we work on planting this church. But so often prayer is little more than a cliche. I remember long ago I saw a spoof in the satirical Christian magazine, The Door. It had a handy guide to help non-Christians understand Christian lingo; it translated Christian phrases into everyday language. And so what, according to The Door, does it mean when a Christian says, "I'll pray for you"? Nothing.

Ouch. But it only hurts because there's a kernel of truth it.

We cannot let prayer become a meaningless cliche or a merely good intention.

And so we're going to take our praying seriously. On Wednesday this week we'll meet to pray. And some of us will also be fasting that day as well.

If you are so moved, pray for us on Wednesday. Pray that God would refine our vision for this church. That God would give us great compassion for those he wants us to reach and those he wants us to serve. That we would become the people God designed us to be.