Late last year noted pastor, Thom Rainer came out with a book entitled, “When the People Pray: An Invitation to Pray for Your Pastor and Revive Your Church.” I haven’t actually read the book (yet), but I do remember listening to a podcast interview with the author.  He described experiencing a time of depletion and discouragement in his spiritual life which culminated in him asking his congregation for prayer support right from the pulpit.  The book, then, was an outflow of that experience which delivered him, completely energized the congregation and sparked a near revival within the church. I remember thinking, “That’s kind of cool.  Feels a bit manipulative and showy  asking in front of the congregation and all, but that’s cool for them.”

Fast forward to Easter and beyond and I found myself in a similar place- not desperate or in crisis mode, but feeling flat, faithless, and uninspired.  I had good days, for sure, but generally, ministry was becoming more work than joy and I found myself isolating.  I think all of us go through seasons like that, but for me, the trajectory seemed to be headed in the wrong direction.  It felt like there was sand in my spiritual gears or like I had an 80-pound pack on my back.

At any point I could have recognized this trend and called for reinforcements. My colleagues, John & Isaac would have come alongside in a minute, as would the elders, Pam, my Life Group, the prayer meeting… but I thought things would right themselves, as some days did.  Plus, I hate drama.

Then came Sunday. Last Sunday’s message came together hard.  I felt like I had done double the preparation, but it still seemed unfinished.  Usually, my messages are well planned, some would say over planned.  But for last Sunday, the sermon just kind of petered out on the page with the final bullet line being…

• “Do you have the Son? Well, do you have life?”

… AND?  What’s the action point?  How does it apply? Where’s the closing illustration or final slide?

 I wasn’t happy with that ending but as I worked on it throughout the week and packed up on Friday, nothing came.  I thought… “Well I guess the Holy Spirit will provide something in the moment, because he sure isn’t giving it to me in my preparation during the week or my Saturday night review, or my Sunday morning review….”

As I closed out the sermon on Sunday in the first service and looked at that final line in my notes, “Do you have the Son?  Well, do you have life?”, the Spirit pricked me: “In some significant areas” YOU are not experiencing life right now, are you? … the true life, abundant life, a joyful life?” It kind of hit me between the eyes and unscripted, I rambled into… “Yeah, so I’ve felt spiritually flat since Easter, having writer’s block, having a hard time writing sermons… blah, blah, blah.”

During the closing song, I felt pretty vulnerable and critiqued what I had said.  “That was horrible.  It sounded  desperate, even panicked.  See what happens when you don’t plan out the ending?”, I thought.  “I need to do a bit of damage control. What should I say?” So, after the closing song, I found myself standing in front of the church and, just like Thom Ranier, stumbled into asking for prayer.

I think God tricked me into exactly what I needed. Because that admission of need followed by a brief time of prayer with the Bethany family, along with several kind and generous emails and texts, plus whoever else is praying for me this week,  freed me from the malaise and spiritual weight I was carrying.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. (Psalm 40:2)

Prayer works.  It’s our greatest resource. And sometimes we need to call in prayer reinforcements to knock back the Enemy and reboot our spiritual operating system.  “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results (James 5:16 NLT).”

Now, I’ve been around long enough to know that there’s no silver bullet for a struggle free Christian life.  But honestly, I’m in a different place now than I was just a few days ago. I know it. I feel it.  I’ve got traction. I’m standing on the rock. I’m out of the pit. And from this new place, I can firmly walk forward with God, when before, I felt caught in a spin cycle.

So, don’t wait for God to trick you into asking for prayer. It’s there for the taking and is a powerful weapon in the spiritual realm.  Release your pride, get real and reach out to other brothers and sisters who can encourage and strengthen you through prayer. Don’t wait for God to out you in front of the church. Life’s hard.  Let’s not make it harder than it needs to  be.  God has given us prayer and he’s given us each other. And that one-two punch sends the Enemy reeling with a knockout blow.