Lord Teach Us To Pray

[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

I Want Them All

Anthony LaBounty,
College of Fine Arts,
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
[Sept. 4, 2011] –

In my spirit I sensed that the Lord was moving on my campus and working in hearts. One thing I knew He wanted from me was to invite others to join me in a faculty prayer time on campus.

At first I thought it would be a faculty “organized prayer group” with the usual trappings, but little by little He showed me that that was not His desire – at least not here and now. For us here in America after the spring and summer months of 2010 passed, fall was marked by a paradigm shift in economic and political terms and, most importantly, I sensed change in the spiritual realm.

Who To Invite?

One morning in early August before the term began, I was walking through campus on my way to get coffee at the snack kiosk we call ‘the grease hut’. The question of how to list the Friday Faculty/Staff Prayer on the daily, campus-wide electronic news bulletin filled my mind. Although I knew the prayer time was to include both faculty and staff meeting on Fridays, still unanswered was: Who among this group of people should be invited?

Should I invite Christians only and use that as a starting point? Should it be under the aegis of Campus Crusade? As I continued my caffeine-driven sojourn, there on the sidewalk I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit quietly, but very clearly declare, “I want them all.”

I was stunned by His gentle voice and the sheer expanse of His desire. Actually I admit I had not been praying for direction or revelation at all. As indicated previously, I was merely thinking about the guest list for the invitation.

Watching To See

Although it raised eyebrows among some Christians, the electronic message publicizing the weekly campus prayer read the same every week:

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