[October 9, 2011] —
Q: What is the least popular, least attended church function?
A: There is evidence that it is prayer, way ahead of whatever is second.

And I understand; I find it extremely hard to pray. Luke 11 records that the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord teach us to pray.” I think they meant, Lord inspire us be self-disciplined to pray, rather than teach us HOW to pray. When Jesus answered them He did not just give the model prayer, He talked about why to pray as well.

More In A Micro-Second

I remember hearing Howard Hendricks of Dallas Seminary say that every time the disciples turned around, they found Jesus praying. My prayer has become, “Lord cause me to pray more.” God can do more on our campus in a micro-second than I can do on my own in another 26 years, so why not invite HIM to act?

God has used my wife and children to help me pray, in contrast to church attendance for 50 years that never did. My family put me in the habit of frequent prayer. That habit led me to pray with a graduate teaching assistant last semester.

An Indian M.D., working on a Ph.D. here and scheduled to teach his first University course of his life, he was nervous. He stopped by my office a few minutes before his first class at 8 AM. I offered to pray and he gladly took me up on it. He seemed to really appreciate it, but I didn’t realize how much. He is teaching a new course this term and asked to come by and pray again, so we did.

An Offer To Pray

One of my former undergrad students came by my office this week. He accepted a grad assistantship at another university, but discovered that he was getting something quite different from what he had expected. We prayed about his distress.

I have prayed with students, former students, former student’s spouses, and ministry leaders. We have prayed about jobs and direction, health and spouses, and spouse’s jobs and deaths in the family. We have prayed on the phone and face to face.

A faculty member once gave testimony to offering to pray with non-believing colleagues when they are in crisis. He said they never turned him down.

My record is almost that good. After offering to pray with someone, I have been turned down only ONCE. Every student, every colleague, and every acquaintance I have offered to pray with, has eagerly accepted. Only my second youngest brother turned me down, with some odd theological objections to my praying for him.

If there in one thing we can do that is sure to impact our campus, it is to pray for our students and co-workers. Why don’t you think about finding a time and place to invite a few Christian colleagues to gather for prayer?

Don’t count on many; remember this is an unpopular undertaking. We can’t control others, but we can endeavor to act on the knowledge that we have. And remember whether you gather to pray with others or not, YOU can always pray.

My heart cry is “Lord teach us to pray.”

© 2011 Phillip A. Bishop © istockphoto