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How the Church Helps Me Pray
Dec. 4, 2016
James 5:13-15 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Pastor Brian’s message today might as well been taken directly from Step 11. Well … in all accuracy I have that backward. Step 11 was taken from these scriptures as was today’s message. Both arose from the same source. What is important is that I understand three things:
Alcoholism and drug addiction is an illness and I have it. This is reason enough for me to be regularly engaged in prayer. AA’s founders understood the critical importance of prayer so much so that it is its own step amid the twelve. From Step 1 I know I am powerless over alcohol so my reliance upon God is absolute. - Pray in all circumstances. Pray when I am in need. Pray for the needs of others. Pray when grateful for those calm and tranquil times between life’s normal storms.
- Know that all prayers are answered … but often not how, or when, we would like.
Pastor Brian made a very important connection that should be obvious to us simply from how we begin and/or end most aa/na meetings. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.” “… thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.” Prayer is how we get on God’s page and not vice versa. Its ok to pray for what we need but how many of us have only used “foxhole prayer.” “God, get me out of this mess and I promise to never do it again.” That’s not prayer, that’s trying to make deals with God! Praying for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out will ALWAYS bring about the best possible result. Again, that result may not be what we want but it is what God knows is best at that moment and, just maybe, it isn’t the final FINAL result. Perhaps more shall be revealed.
Another message nuance is James’ directive to pray for each other. Those of us in recovery certainly understand that coming together gives us strength. Isolated we are vulnerable to our own weaknesses. Together we draw upon the combined strength of everyone. Prayer for others, and with others, is the exact same. We escape self-centeredness and focus on the needs of others. This is where a church family has been so important to my sustained sobriety. I do not separate my AA life from my church life. AA drew heavily from James’ words as did Pastor Brian through these last few months resulting in a remarkable coincidence of message and method. My AA life and my church life are simply different places for the same thing and both are equal parts of defining my rebirth.