Ever since Greg Stier spoke at the National Youth Workers Convention, I've been thinking about something he said. He read the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 19), about how the prophets of Baal prayed and begged their god for hours and hours for a single spark of fire on their alter. When none came, they prayed even more earnestly, even mutilating their own bodies in desperation, but still there was no answer from Baal. Finally at the end of the day it was Elijah's turn. He calmly prepared the sacrifice, drenched everything with water and simply prayed,

"O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." (1 Kings 18:36-37)

The idea in scripture is that God IMMEDIATELY answered his prayer by sending down fire from heaven that not only burned the sacrificed bull, but also consumed the entire alter, stones, water and everything! WOW!!

Man, I pray like a wuss!

• When I pray I like to remain somewhat reserved and not pray for things that are too radical so I don't unnecessarily get my hopes up.

• I like to pray for things I feel like I can still keep some kind of control over in case I need to help God out.

• I like to pray with 50/50 faith: "Maybe God will answer, maybe He won't. Who knows? Let's see what happens."

In comparison, I observe a couple things about Elijah.

• He risked his life to be in public. He was a wanted man for being a prophet of God (1 Kings 18:9-14). There was a death wish on his head, so for him to come out from hiding was a very bold and risky action.

• He obeyed God with such confidence that he was willing to put his neck and God's reputation on the line.

• Because of his obedience, he could boldly pray according to the will of God.

• He had no control over the outcome of his prayer or his obedience to God. For all he knew, God would use this situation to prove something else or nothing at all. He had great faith to proceed.

Here's the number one thing I learn from Elijah's example: Maybe I don't always experience the power of God in my life because I rarely give Him the opportunity to do so.

I go to James 5:16 in the New Testament, a verse I memorized for the community aspect of praying for each other. However, I often overlook the second half that says, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." If I want to have a prayer life that is "powerful and effective," apparently the key ingredient to the recipe is righteousness. The obvious question I then ask myself is, "What is righteousness?" and "Do I have it?"

The Message puts it this way: "The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with."

That's what I want, to be like Elijah and live right with God. I want my prayer life to be something that's powerful to be reckoned with. I want to live a life for Him that's bold, risky, confident, obedient and is right smack in the middle of His will.

Whew! Easier said than done.

I just finished reading the statement That They May Have Life which is a very impressive, and timely statement that come from Evangelicals and Catholics Together. It was published in the October edition of First Things It is a statement of joint values between Evangelicals and Catholics. I love it for two reasons:

1) More people need to know that Evangelicals and Catholics all come from the same ingrained belief that life is valuable. We disagree on some points (birth control), but we all should gain value and synergy from sharing in our efforts to save lives.

2) It reminds people that being pro life is not just about abortion. Euthanasia, Embryo harvesting etcetera are also very real, very important battles for the value of life. I encourage you to Read the whole article. My favorite quotes from the statement are:

"To be Christian is to be associated with a historical movement bearing public witness to universal moral truths"

"In our common humanity, we share a God given capacity to reason, to argue, to deliberate, to persuade, and to discover moral truths regarding questions related to the right ordering of our life together."

Please take some time to comment and to see who all has signed onto this statement. It is a who's who list of the Evangelical and Catholic Community.

Happy Sukkot from Every Square Inch!

In John 1 we hear these words:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning..... The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:1-2, 14

The Festival of Sukkot is occuring now and is a time in which the Jews remembered the time spent wandering in the desert. As they wandered in the desert for 40 years, they were provided for by God. During this festival of "booths" the Jewish people go into the fields and like in a booth representative of the tents that their ancestors lived in during those 40 years in the desert.

Jesus, in the same way, came to earth, took on our flesh and pitch his tent or lived in a booth among us. He was the Word, the Logos, very God of very God. He chose to humble himself and dwell with us.

As we enter the Fall harvest season, let us remember the Festival of Booths or Sukkot when the Jewish people would live in their fields and remember the time spent in the desert. We can at the same time remember the God-man who came and pitched his tent among us.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Carl
Administrator, Every Square Inch