People like YOU bring love to life

Bethlehem Lutheran Church Adelaide SA

Information Management Team Leader/Committee of Lutheran Archives member

Most treasured Bible text: Matthew 6:25–34

‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’

Langmeil Thanksgiving Lutheran Church Tanunda SA

Retired teacher and volunteer at Lutheran Archives

Most treasured Bible text: Psalm 133:1

‘How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity.’

The Ark, Salisbury SA

Lutheran Education SA-NT and WA Executive Assistant/ Committee of Lutheran Archives member

Most treasured Bible text: Psalm 23

‘He makes me lie down in green pastures ... he refreshes my soul ... Surely your goodness and love will follow me all my life.’

Let

I have what could be considered in some circles a shameful secret. Church meetings that start with long prayers and devotions make me fidgety and impatient – frustrated even.

Probably like yours, my life is extremely busy, and my spare time is limited. I feel much more comfortable when agenda items are ticked off quickly and action is the name of the game. Why take three or more hours to achieve what could have been done in 60 to 90 minutes?

I still believe that but, after editing the beautiful stories, testimonies and devotional resources in this edition, I was reminded of something critical: Prayer always comes first. Before we decide. Before we act. Even when the need is urgent – like sharing the hope of the gospel with those who don’t yet know Jesus.

As Pastor Nathan Hedt writes on page 5: ‘I’m convinced that the first step in vibrant, joyful mission is learning from what Jesus said in Luke 10:2. Mission doesn’t begin in action … The praying precedes the going. The command (and invitation) to pray precedes the command and invitation to go. Prayer is a vital foundation for mission.’

Pausing to pray – even momentarily – is the best antidote to impatience. It is the best insurance that our next act will be what Jesus would do. And prayer is a really good investment of time before we speak (or write) too, especially in difficult, urgent or vexed situations. These prayers don’t need to be long; they don’t need to be complex. Just ‘Show me your will, God’ or ‘God, help me’ surrenders us into his loving hands, expresses our reliance on God, pushes down our pride and can soothe our anxieties.

I always need to pray before, during and after writing these editorials, that God will give me words to encourage and build up you, our readers, and, perhaps, challenge each of us a little, too. This edition we are focused on the LCANZ’s Season of Prayer, which may seem strange as we’ve already established that every season is a season of prayer. But this particular two-week, three-Sunday observation scheduled in September is designed to hone and unite our churchwide prayer efforts. It is prayer with an intentional, coordinated, concerted quality about it and a theme of mission, church renewal and church planting. So, among the many resources you’ll always find in The Lutheran, there are those to support your participation in this year’s Season of Prayer observation.

As well as our regular columns, news and views, too, our print subscribers receive a copy of Border Crossings, which shares more exciting and enlightening stories about LCA International Mission’s work with our overseas partners. (Digital subscribers can head to www.lca.org.au/international-mission to access a digital copy under the Resources tab.)

May God bless your reading – and your praying!

PS – We apologise that some subscriber invoices have been delayed and have been working hard to remedy the issues causing this. Thank you for your patience and support.

Our cover: iStock.com.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following pages may contain images of people who have died.