J.R. Briggs
Attempting to behold the miracle long enough without falling asleep
-
Archive for May, 2009
Prayerwalking II
Another question that comes up regularly is: Why should someone prayerwalk? Can’t we just pray right where we are?
Sure we can. We can pray anywhere at anytime for any reason. But there is something intentional and powerful about prayerwalking. There are many benefits.
- It helps you get into a rhythm of prayer. Prayer can be like music. When you hear music you like, you tape your feet and get into the rhythm. It’s true with prayer, too. The strides of your step help you to get into a rhythm with God.
- It’s one thing to sit in your office or living room and pray, but its quite another to be out in the community that you’re praying for. Prayer is heaven crashing together with earth. When you look into people’s eyes as you pass them on the sidewalk or you see areas of need in your town, there’s a deeper sense of connection to God’s purposes.
- You begin to see things you never would see if you weren’t out praying as you walk. (You see much more when prayerwalking, but don’t think its the same thing as prayerdriving or prayerbiking. There are places for both, but this is different.) You begin to have eyes that Jesus has and see what he sees. It’s great to see what you’re praying for.
- Your kingdom imagination is stirred. You ask questions of God when you see new things. God, what does the kingdom breaking forth look like in that neighborhood? What does the gospel look like in this context? How can the gospel restore that park? How can I join you – quite literally – in seeing your agenda lived out in that family/person/business/organization/park/neighborhood/house/etc? What is your dream for that school?
- It gives you things to pray for when you don’t know what to say. Whatever you look at, pass, hear, smell – pray for it. Neighbors. Neighborhoods. Parks. Schools. Businesses. Churches. The weather. People (whether you know them or not). Whatever comes to mind, pray for it. All the senses should trigger longings and yearnings for renewal and shalom to occur in your community by the power of God’s spirit.
- When you walk you will begin to feel overwhelmed with the amount of needs you see around you – and this is a good thing. Prayer is helplessness acknowledged. When we pray with a spirit of helplessness and desperation we are truly praying. I get overwhelmed by the physical, emotional, mental, cultural and spiritual needs I feel all around me…and the best thing I can do is to tell God. If he’s in control of His world then I place those feelings of being overwhelmed to him.
- Others can easily join you. Invite someone to come with you for 45 minutes or an hour (you’ll be surprised at how quickly the time passes). Do it with your smaller group or your family after dinner. Pray out loud and then when you’re done, stop praying and let those with you pray out loud. When there is silence, pray as you feel led. There’s a special bond when you pray with others for your neighborhood and community.
- It’s good exercise, especially as the weather is getting warmer, it allows for a great excuse to get outside.
- Most importantly, we pray so that the kingdom of God will break in and through in our communities. We pray so that the gospel will be realized and Jesus will become more famous in our communities and neighborhoods
Prayerwalking I
Maybe prayer comes easily and naturally for you, but for this pastor, it does not. I’m embarrassed to admit that prayer is not the priority in my life that it needs to be. It takes a lot of effort – with great intention – for me to commit to prayer. I simply can’t sit in my office by myself, bow my head, fold my hands, close my eyes and pray for an hour. I’ve tried. And I just can’t.
But prayer is essential. Absolutely essential. As a pastor it has to be the top priority for me – and most of the time, it is not…but I am growing. I constantly have to ask myself questions like:
- How can I reorient my schedule to reflect a life of prayer?
- Am I praying regularly for my city?
- Does my schedule reflect a life of prayer?
- What in my schedule do I think is more important than prayer?
- Am I saturating everything I do with prayer?
But I’ve realized I pray best in four ways: (a) spontaneously as people and situations come to mind (b) with other people (c) journalling and (d) prayerwalking.
It’s the last one – prayerwalking – that is becoming a greater priority and important experience for me to remain intimately connected to Jesus. It’s fairly new for me. I bet for most people reading this, the first three areas are ways you might have experienced prayer before, but might have had little opportunity to participate in prayerwalking.
The ancient rabbis said that you pray with your feet. And they meant that quite literally. Praying as you walk. It’s active. Experiential. Tactile. Physical. So I’ve started to do it regularly (and recently posted my thoughts/prayers from an experience).
I’m not an expert, but I have enjoyed making this a regular rhythm in my week. I was challenged to do this by a friend who is a church planter on the Upper West Side in New York City. Instead of taking the 12 minute subway ride from his apartment to his office) he walks – rain or shine – to his office (1 hour each way) every day. But he doesn’t walk; he prayerwalks. I was floored when I realized that he prays for his city for two hours.
Two hours.
Every.
Single.
Day.
I’m lucky if I can prayer walk a few times a week! It was his challenge that prompted me to participate in this and make this a regular part of my schedule. I’m so glad he did.
How do you do it? people ask me regularly. Not to be overly simplistic – nor sarcastic – it involves two very simple things: praying and walking. So simple, the excuses not to do it are miniscule. Over the next several posts I’ll be writing more reflections and answering specific questions that have come up repeatedly when people ask me about prayerwalking.
Stay tuned.
Facebook Jesus or Twitter Jesus?
Social networking tools are talked about everywhere…
Just about everyone is on Facebook these days. I’m a late adopter (signed up at Christmastime) maybe the last 20something on the planet to join. Initially I found FB to be interesting, but I’m slightly disappointed that (a) it hasn’t lived up to all the hype (b) that so many people waste so much time using it and (c) our definition of “friend” in the English language is being dramatically altered by this social networking tool (can I really be a ‘friend’ to someone who I have never actually met before or haven’t talked to since the third grade?) But that’s for another time, I guess…
Twitter seems to be in the hottest social networking tool – its in the news a lot these days. If you know me well you know that I’m actually loving Twitter and use it a lot more than Facebook. I can stay in touch with friends, other pastors, leaders and thinkers, meet new people, learn about networks and read about up to the second breaking news all in one place. (You should set up an account. Try it for a month. If you don’t like it, drop it). It’s a simple concept. Easy to manage. Clear. Not a huge time waster. Straight to the point. (I’m rarely on Facebook these days and do most of my status updates from an application on my Twitter account).
You may have noticed that Jesus is using social networks now. Yeah, he has both a Facebook and a Twitter account.
And it struck me…
You can be Jesus’ ‘friend’ on Facebook – even become a fan – but the only option you have with him on Twitter is to follow. It might seem silly (and the analogy certain breaks down) but it was a good challenge for me: Is Jesus simply my buddy? Am I just a fan of him? Or am I willing to follow him?
The crowds came to hear Jesus and be around him, but only a few were capable of following him. John 6 mentions that many ‘fans’ of Jesus deserted him and no longer followed him around listening to his tachings. In addition, the twelve disciples complained that Jesus’ teachings were difficult. He asked them, “Do you want to leave too?” Jesus gave them the opportunity to walk away if they wanted to.
The startling truth is that Jesus wants followers, not fans.
We all have to answer the question: Will I be a fan or will I be a follower? Facebook Jesus or Twitter Jesus?
Hanging with Mohammed
When I’m in the neighborhood, I try to make it a point to swing by and pay a visit to my friend Moahammed, the Imam at the North Penn Mosque, which happens about every other week. I learn a lot from Mohammed and Mohammed tells me that he learns a lot from me as well.
Last week I stopped by to say hello. We chatted for a bit. He told me about his family. He told me about some of the reasons behind some dietary restrictions for Muslims, as well as information about his home country of Bangladesh. He also asked me how I was doing and how Renew was going. Then he said, “When is your next service? I’ve never been to a church before. Do you think it would be alright if I visited and brought about six people from the mosque with me to your next service?”
Um. Yeah.
I shouldn’t be surprised about this. I have been praying for him.
The most Amazing Race. Ever.
My brother and I are about to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time: officially apply to be on the hit reality TV show The Amazing Race. We love the show, as do millions around the country, and have watched several seasons. We love Phil (and his accent) and we have found ourselves saying many times, “Man, that would be so much fun! We’ve got to apply for that one day!”
So we decided to stop talking about it and actually do something about it. We’ve printed out out the eligibility paperwork, we started filling out the application and have brainstormed ways to film our required three-minute video (which we will do when we are together next month in Colorado).
Some of you are thinking: Yeah right. Thousands of people apply for that show. You’ve got no shot. What makes you think you have a chance of being picked?
Sure. We know our chances of getting picked to be contestants on a future season of the Amazing Race are about as good as winning the lottery – seven times. We know that full well. But part of the fun is at least trying (The math never changes: you don’t get picked to be on a reality show 100% of the time you don’t apply). So, what the heck – why not at least give it a shot, ya know? If we apply and don’t get picked at least we will never have to worry about that nagging thought of regret in the back our heads thinking, ‘We’ll never know…’ (Plus, the anticipation will be fun – as will shooting the video and enjoying the whole application process. That in itself is a memory maker with my brother right there. It’s a great excuse to build a memory).
Why us?
Alan is three years younger than me. We have a close relationship, but we couldn’t be further apart in terms of personality. We love traveling and new adventures. We get on each other’s nerves when we’re around each other for a long period of time. However, past – and current – contestants on The Amazing Race have a bit more flair than that. The producers are looking for something different (but not too different) – people the audience can connect with. Contestants on Amazing Race seasons have included teams such as two single moms, NFL cheerleaders, former Survivor contestants, couples with feuding personalities, two middle-aged brothers who work as stuntmen, a mother and her deaf son, gay couples, hippies, etc. We also understand that a label of “two white brothers in their twenties” isn’t an attractive team on the Amazing Race. Those are a dime a dozen. Contestants have to be unique and possess some sort of emotional “hook.”
So what’s our hook?
Well, we think we’ve got something here that’s worthy of at least applying.
Two brothers…
[good]
…who love to travel
[we've been to several countries. Alan was born in Puerto Rico. I've lived/studied in the Middle East during a semester in college. We've visited several countries - both for vacation and for mission trips]
…who are pastors
[Alan is a youth pastor in Colorado Springs. I'm a church planter on the north side of Philly. No three-piece suits for us. Alan has a shaved head, tattoos, a soul patch and piercings in his ears and in (on?) his mouth. And me? Well, a soul patch...past that, I'm just not that cool. We don't believe the show has ever had two pastors as a team, let alone brothers who are pastors. It would be fun to alter the deeply entrenched stereotype of who typical 'pastors' are. But my dad did say that it were gay pastors our chances of being picked would dramatically increase...]
…with two very different personalities
[yeah...if we actually get picked we will both we scared to death to have cameras following us around because we're afraid what we might say and do to each other. Alan told me that it would be a "great sacrifice" to put up with me, his bossy, uptight, upstrung, Type A older brother for the entire race...Idiot.]
…both have adopted two children
[Alan and his wife Julie are in the process of adopting siblings from Ethiopia. Megan and I are currently working with an adoption agency to go through the process of adopting baby #2. If When we get picked for the show we both will have both sets of adopted children in our family. Alan & Julie and Megan & I didn't just adopt. We love adoption and have become huge cheerleaders and advocates for adoption. Alan & Julie are going the international adoption route while Megan & I have gone the domestic adoption route]
…Both know the struggle of attempting to pay for adoptions due to their steep expense
[Adoptions can cost anywhere from $20,00 to $30,000 per child. Expensive. But absolutely worth it. But expensive! Alan and I make pastor's salaries. Enough said...]
…Therefore we’ll be racing to win a million dollars – not for ourselves – but so that we can give every penny away to other couples like ourselves who want to adopt, but don’t have the means to pay for it.
[Sure, it'd be fun to keep the money, but it would be so much more meaningful and purposeful to race for something beyond ourselves. Plus, altruism is in these days, right? Do the quick math: with $1 million, not including taxes, we could have the unbelievable privilege of funding up to 50 adoptions! The Scriptures are very clear that followers of Jesus are to take care of orphans. How cool would it be for people around the country to root for two brothers/pastors who are racing for the sake of orphans? If we were selected, but didn't end up winning the race, our story and our efforts would help to highlight the importance of adoption - a cause that we care so deeply about.]
A race around the world…for orphans around the world.
[Amazing race with amazing grace... By the way, our lives love the idea, too!]
What do you think: Do we have a shot? Are we unique enough? Who knows. But it’ll be fun trying.
Here goes nothin’!
Lansdale Farmers Market gets more coverage
The Renew Community’s efforts to bring a farmers market to Lansdale continue to progress. Last summer we approached borough council members. We said we’re here to help. We want to bless Lansdale in the name of Jesus however we could. We asked if there might be interest in binging a farmers market to downtown Lansdale and if so, we’d be glad to organize and lead it. They were very excited about it and we began moving forward on the plans.
Little did we know how excited the community would be – and how much press we would be receiving.
This morning the (Lansdale) Reporter’s feature article was on the progress of the market and the efforts of many people to see this come to fruition. The image above was the front page photograph featuring Bill Stevens (a launch team member and director of the Farmers Market) and Joe McGonigle, a farmer and one of the anchor vendors schedule for the LFM.
Random links to start your week off on the right foot…
An empty airport gets $150 million…good to see our tax dollars at work.
Marko says we need to chillax about the Swine Flu – and I agree.
Amazing sand castles. Can you make one of these?
Could you take this Thirty Day Financial Challenge? I dare you…
Dang. This is an amazing beatbox routine.
Hilarious infomercial about the iBible shown at a recent Christian conference.
My brother’s thoughts on his first diaper change ever (and it was Carter’s diaper). He better get used to it fast!
Ed Stetzer gives his thoughts on the State of the Church
Thinking about planting a church? Acts29 gives 10 Qualifications for being a Church Planter.
Tim Keller delivered the best teaching on idols I’ve ever heard. Check out the notes here.
Check out this amazing video of a fifth grade music class (called PS22) doing their rendition of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.” Straight-up awesome and inspiring. I love the passion of the students – and their teacher!
David Fitch gives readers his fascinating – and counter-intuitive – thoughts on Instilling Missional Habits in your church. A must read!
India is now selling the Bible study that I wrote. India!
An undelivered Nixon speech has been found. Hey, ya never know… Just in case, right?
Forget power point presentations. This is unbelievable.
What NOT to say and do in an interview (these videos are hilarious).
Harvest Business tells us How to write emails that people will actually read.
Transparent Computer Screens – how do they do that?
Elizabeth Gilbert talks at TED about how to nurture creativity.
Like golf? Got a box of Kleenex? Then watch this.
13 Questions Christian parents would ask their children regularly. Agree or disagree?
Are the suburbs becoming cool again?
One of my newest favorite websites: New Math.
Tuesdays right before lunch: studies show its the most stressful time of the week.
Books I’m currently reading
Biblical Eldership (Alexander Strauch)
The Emotionally Healthy Church (Peter Scazzero)
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Fee and Stuart)
God in Search of Man (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel)
Feel: The Power of Listening To Your Heart (Matthew Elliott)
Prayer (O. Hallesby)
Simply Christian (N.T. Wright)
Letters and Papers from Prison (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
For Men Only (Feldhahn)
The Book of Matthew (the Holy Spirit)
What are you reading? Any recommendations you’d like to pass along?
Recent Comments