As I continue my thought from yesterday, concerning persistence in prayer, I am encouraged that this needs to be part of the culture of the church. It won't be established without teaching and encouragement, for it is clearly counter-cultural to our present Western culture. Lord, help me, and help us to learn about this place of persevering prayer. Help me to learn about putting people before my schedule or personal comfort. That is a scary prayer to pray for me Lord, as I know this is an area where I need to grow, and an area that requires self sacrifice. Lord help us to learn to put others first, to serve others in this way. I am reminded of Jesus statements in Luke 17:
(NIV)Luke 17:5-10
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” [6] He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. [7] “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? [8] Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? [9] Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? [10] So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”
In the same way, we need to have the mindset of servants, willing to put our own needs, and desires behind those of who we serve. I know I never really liked this particular example that Jesus used, because I thought it a bit unfair, but its clear that I don't really have a servant mindset. This seems like such a radical thought, but it certainly isn't in many cultures. This clearly relates to creating a culture of honor, where we honor and care for those that we meet and are in relationship with. What a very different culture than the present "me culture". Lord, help me, help us!
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