Prayer as an Answer to Violence

The answer to violence is prayer. More specifically, yesterday I heard compelling evidence from my own community that presented faithful, persistent prayers of God's people as a powerful means to combat the rising violence in our society.

The evidence comes from a young, now four year old church plant, the congregation that my own family happens to call home. The city is Jamestown, NY, a once thriving little community of close to 30,000 (it used to be twice that much) that has suffered from a steady increase of crime, addiction, poverty and mental illness for more than 20 years. We live in a rural area outside of town, but through a chain of events that only God could orchestrate, the LORD led us to a church body that was located right smack dab in the middle of the war zone, with people who have a real heart for the battle.

I want to say that it all started in Sunday worship, but I think it goes even further back than that. A group of ministers from around the area have been gathering faithfully on Tuesday mornings for years now to pray together for our city, and for one another. Out of those prayer times God began to unite the hearts of believers and leaders in this community towards some very practical shared ministry efforts that helped to meet community needs and support the war on strongholds like poverty, addiction and homelessness. It also moved the hearts of people in their congregations and drew forth those who had already desired to share God's love with those who need it.

Here's one very powerful way that it it did both in my own church. One morning a little over a year ago, during Sunday morning worship, the LORD laid it upon the heart of one of our members that we as a church should do something very concrete to show love and support to the Jamestown Police Department. A few more weeks of prayer and conversation with some church leaders yielded the idea of the "Adopt a Cop" effort.

A local leather smith (also a church member) fashioned a very high end, custom made key chain with the initials "JPD" to give to every worker within the Jamestown Police Department. Some of the folks from church also made refrigerator magnets with the JPD logo and names of everyone on the force.

Members of our church family were invited to "Adopt a Cop" by purchasing a key chain for one member of the police force for $20, in exchange for which they would receive a magnet with that person's name. The request and challenge was to place that magnet on the refrigerator as a reminder to prayer specifically for that community servant on a daily basis.

The call to take on the whole force, a total I believe of 84 men and women, seemed a bit of a reach for a church which at the time had an average Sunday attendance of 50 people (praise God, we've doubled in attendance since then). Taking into account that this includes couples and children, this represented 10-15 families at best, and in a low income community nonetheless. But some families adopted more than one. Some individuals made the monetary investment in 4-5 key chains, paying the "adoption fee" for those of lower means who might still want to pray. Other churches from the larger Jamestown church community took on the those whom our own congregation could not absorb.

Our family adopted "Lt. Tim Jackson." It has become a very natural part of our nightly family devotions to add him to our prayer list. It really takes very little time (and no money) to ask for God's guidance, provision and favor upon and through a man who faces the front lines of battle on a daily basis. It has not been difficult to say "God, please show your love in a through him, bless him and use him."

People from the church packed small care packages to go along with the key-chains. Church leaders ceremoniously presented them to the police officers and workers for all three shifts right around Valentine's Day. The pastor told the police force members that we wanted to show them love and support. He also felt led to declare that we would pray and believe towards greater victory in our city, that the crime rate would go down. As I understand it, he had not planned in advance on declaring that the crime rate would go down. That was totally a God-led statement.

That was almost exactly a year ago. Yesterday our pastor, Timothy Smart, read us the following highlights from a local newspaper article (as I remember them):
- Crime rates in Jamestown dropped last year.
- Violent crime rates dropped by about 10%.
- Burglary related crimes have dropped by around 25%.
- Crime rates in Jamestown are at a 24 year low.

I know that "adopt a cop" was not the only prayer-based, prayer saturated initiative in our town. I personally know of multiple other efforts, including: a transitional living mission, community wide recovery Bible studies, faith-based anti-drug campaigns and marriage enrichment efforts. The common threads involve God's people coming together in prayer to seek and worship God and the consistent, united efforts of specific prayer to meet our city's needs.

This all reminds me of the words of II Chronicles 7:14: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." This came in response to a request of King Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. In his wisdom, Solomon knew that God's people would eventually rebel, and that their rebellion would bring destruction and decay. He requested that God would provide a way back from the tragic mistakes and missteps that they would inevitably make.

The words that strike me most in this declaration are "MY people." God did not say "If the government," "If the media," or "If the other kids' parents" would do something. God said that the results would come when the people of God stood up and cried out. And it's so easy to blame and point the finger at others, but God promised that the real change would come when we as God's people humble OURSELVES and seek him.

This both challenges and convicts me. Over the past week or so I have entertained several conversations about what our government should and shouldn't be doing about the rising violence in our country. My sister at church could have easily begun the same kind of conversation about our community's police force. Instead, in the spirit of listening worship, she obeyed God's call.

So today I feel convicted to step up my own faith game. I want a heart that searches more for God's heart, the only answer that always works, over hypothetical conjecture about what may or may not work. I want a faith that takes hold of the promises bestowed upon me through Scripture, rather than complaining about what happens when people ignore it. I want to celebrate and focus on all of the answers and victory that I know to me mine, and what I am called to share with others through Christ, over puzzling over things beyond my own control. I don't want to ignore the issues, but I need to hold them up in light of God's all-powerful grace and love.

Is anyone out there with me?

The Proactive Rest of Faith

Here's my new personal definition of faith: FAITH IS PROACTIVE REST IN GOD'S PROVISION.

As I meditate about Psalm 4 this morning for my devotions, I am struck by how deeply every single verse speaks to my life.

It encourages me to cry out to God in my anguish and struggle, but to know that God will answer (vv 1-3).

It challenges me to search my own heart, to do my part in serving the Lord and meeting needs, but to trust that God can and will do all that I cannot (vv 4-5).

It validates my personal struggle and heartfelt request for God's favor (v 6). And yet it encourages me with the truth that I as believer have more privilege and blessing in Christ than people with all of the riches this world has to offer (v 7).

And at the end of the day, when I accept it, it can leave me with that peace that passes understanding, that only God can give (v 8, and Philippians 4:7).

I have settled on this new definition of faith specifically from the message of Psalm 4:5: "Offer right sacrifices, and trust in the LORD."

So part of faith means searching my own heart to make sure I am doing everything God would have me do, and listening for God to convict me of areas where I need to grow and change. And part of faith is resting in the knowledge that when I am being truly faithful and seeking God, God can and will take care of everything that I cannot. Faith is not faith without both aspects.

This remind's me of the story in Exodus 14 when the children of Israel are on their way to freedom from slavery in Egypt. As they approach the Red Sea, they hear the sounds of the Egyptian army, the most powerful army in the world, coming towards them.

To the human perception, their only to choices seem to be defeat (slavery or death, or worse) by the Egyptians, or death by drowning. But Moses encourages with with this message:

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still (Exodus 14:13-14).” Here again is that call to "Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)."

Ironically, on the very next verse, God says to Moses "Tell the Israelites to move on (Exodus 14:15b)." So has God just contradicted Moses? Was Moses inaccurate in his encouragement to the Israelites? Was God warning God's people to run from the imminent danger? Absolutely not!

God did all of the fighting, all of the providing in this scenario. God provided a barrier cloud between them that miraculously kept the Egyptians in the dark while Israelites had moved on. God parted the sea and dried the sea floor so that the Isrealites could move through the middle of the sea on dry land. God then remoistened the sea floor so that the Egyptian chariots would get stuck, and God closed the Red Sea over the entire Egyptian army while the Isrealites moved on past the sea towards their freedom.

The Isrealites on had one job here: to "move on" in the direction that God had called them to go. The reason that it could be a proactively restful walk, was that God was doing all of the heavy lifting. It's not that they had no cause for excitement. It's not every day that God splits a sea for a person. But because God was the one fighting for them. they did not need fear or strive. I guarantee that those among the Israelites who accepted and believed this had a much more pleasant walk.

This is a challenge to my own heart today. I have always struggled to comply with the "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) aspect of my walk with God. I suppose I am a naturally fidgety person. But if I am to be completely honest, I must also admit that I also sometimes struggle with procrastination of things that I know are well and good for me to do (i.e. healthy eating, housework, making that call to a person God has placed upon my heart). And yet I know that in those times when I am faithful to seek, listen and obey the call of God upon my own life, and when I choose to stand on the promise of God's Word, the peace is right there.

This proactive rest that I call faith does not come from a lack of movement, but rather from the absence of striving (in my own strength to do what only God can do). To be still does not mean to keep the body from all movement; it means to stop trying to move on my own.