People of Prayer

By J. Gregory Alexander
General Minister
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) In Kentucky

I believe God is calling Disciples to be a “people of prayer.” God is calling us to reclaim a personal, intimate relationship with God grounded in prayer and scripture, tempered by reason and tradition. Jesus is our model. Let us be clear about what we mean by prayer.

Sister Joan Chittister, a best selling author and well-known lecturer, writes, “…the function of prayer is not magic. The function of prayer is not the bribery of the Infinite. The function of prayer is not to change the mind of God about decisions we have already made for ourselves.

“The function of prayer is to change my own mind, to put on the mind of Christ, to enable grace to break into me…. It unstops our ears to hear the poverty of widows, the loneliness of the widowers, the cry of women, the vulnerability of children, the struggle of the outcasts, the humanity of enemies, the insights of the uneducated, the tensions of bureaucrats, the fears of rulers, the wisdom of the holy, the power of the powerless.

“Prayer leads us and leavens us and enlightens us. And changes us. It makes us something bigger than we are .”

Prayer is what opens us to God and all that God is doing in the world. Prayer is what allows us to discern our part in God’s missional activity. We pray because we need the Spirit of God to make us big enough, imaginative enough, courageous enough, wise enough, and strong enough to do what God sets before us. God is calling us Disciples to be a people of prayer.

Prayer:

O God, unstop our ears so that we can hear what you hear. Leaven us, enlighten us, change us, and make us big enough to meet the needs that cause your world to cry out to you for help.

Amen