Have you ever fallen asleep while praying? Ever felt guilty about it and scolded yourself over it? I sure have. Plenty of times. Until something recently made me look at it differently.

One evening not too long ago, after the kids had gone to the their rooms, I came into the living room to find my wife Cindy reclining on the sofa after a long day. Beautiful. I couldn’t resist the moment, so I nestled my way in behind her, wrapping my arms around her to keep her from falling off. Before long she was far away in dreamland.

I layed there for a long while soaking in the moment before I too fell asleep. I was entranced by our mutually shared warmth, security, comfort, peace and joy. Pure contentment.

Was I offended and upset that she had fallen asleep on me? Not a chance. In fact her peaceful sleep in my arms brought me tremendous satisfaction. What better place for her to fall asleep? What higher honor could she bestow on me than to rest in my arms?

This experience made me think about prayer and all the times I’ve fallen asleep during it. Perhaps God isn’t up there offended and angry about it. Perhaps he’s thrilled that my last waking moments were spent with him and that I fell asleep peacefully in his arms.

Today I just finished a biography of Amy Carmichael and she seems to agree with this. In her later, invalid years she came up with seven instructions on prayer. Number six is this: “Don’t worry if you fall to sleep. ‘He giveth unto His beloved in sleep.'”

Perhaps the religion/relationship distinction comes into play here. If it’s true that God wants a relationship with us, then falling asleep while snuggling with Him isn’t such a bad thing at all. Conversely, if our faith merely consists of performing religious duties, (i.e. saying our prayers) than falling asleep is an offensive crime.

I think it’s so easy to accidentally slip back into the religion mentality, forgetting that it really is all about relationship. This encounter with my wife jolted me back to a better way of looking at my spiritual life.

Certainly the entirety of our prayer life can’t consist solely of snuggling and sleeping in the arms of God. Any relationship needs honest, heartfelt communication–both ways. But I, for one, am done kicking myself for the times when I fall asleep while praying.

Last week marked the death anniversaries of the two youth group members who have died since I’ve been at New Covenant. Ryan W. died 10 years ago and Michelle Pinkston died 1 year ago. I’ve been reflecting on what was similar and different about their lives and deaths.

SIMILARITIES

Both grew up in our church.
Both from strong Christian families.
Both were active in youth group, doing drama, music, the Mexico trip.
Both were really fun, life-of-the-party types. Popular and well-liked.
Both died suddenly as a total shock to everyone.
Both deaths made me cry for very different reasons.

DIFFERENCES

Despite his good start, Ryan strayed from the Lord his junior year, quit coming to church, made a series of poor choices which ultimately resulted in his death.

Michelle kept the faith, focused on loving others, used her talents to glorify God, served God in many ways, completed college with numerous awards and achievements, and was killed in a car accident on her way home.

Ryan started well and finished poorly.
Ryan’s funeral was a somber occasion, filled with regret, guilt, and tears of despair.

Michelle started well and finished well.
Michelle’s funeral was a worshipful occasion, filled with praise to God for a life well lived. There were tears from the grief of separation, but they were also tears of joy knowing she heard the words “Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome home!”
Today, the mention of Michelle’s name brings to mind “finishing well.”

CONCLUSION

How you finish matters.  It is a lot of what will be remembered about you. We don’t know when our life will be over, it could happen suddenly, without warning like it did for these two.

Choose to finish well by always living well. Michelle did that by making good choices. Please be like her.

For 1,700 years it has been a Christian tradition to celebrate Lent. That means that ever since the 3rd Century, this has been done each spring. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Blaise Pascal, Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, and others likely took part in this historic observance.

Because we’re not liturgical like Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists Episcopalians and others, churches like ours have tended to throw out all the ancient traditions.  If they’re meaningless, empty traditions, they ought to be thrown out.  But I think Lent is one tradition we should retain.

Jesus gave up everything for us, so the custom of denying ourselves some comfort for the 40 days prior to Easter is an appropriate way to commemorate his death. It can be a way to draw close to Jesus as we in some small way “share in his sufferings.” An especially good practice for any of you fellow ascetics!

And it’s also a great time to focus on self-control rather than our usual mode of indulgence.  An especially good practice for any of you like me who need to practice restraint!  When else are we especially encouraged to exercise restraint in our indulgent society?

It begins this Wednesday “Ash Wednesday” when ashes are typically “painted” on the forehead in the sign of the cross to symbolize humility and repentence: a modern day version of “sackcloth and ashes”.

With or without the ashes, I challenge you to think of what you’ll seek to cut out of your life during this Lenten season. Not as an empty ritual, but rather as a way to love and connect with Jesus.

For 1,700 years it has been a Christian tradition to celebrate Lent.  That means that ever since the 3rd Century, this has been done each spring.  Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Blaise Pascal, Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, and others likely took part in this historic observance.

Because we’re not liturgical like Catholics or Lutherans, churches like ours have tended to throw out all the ancient traditions.   But I think Lent is one tradition we should retain.

Jesus gave up everything for us so the custom of denying ourselves some comfort for the 40 days prior to Easter is an appropriate way to commemorate his death. It can be a way to draw close to Jesus as we in some small way “share in his sufferings.”  An especially good practice for any of you fellow ascetics!

And it’s also a great time to focus on self-control rather than our usual mode of indulgence.  An especially good practice for any of you like me who need to practice restraint!

It begins this Wednesday “Ash Wednesday” when ashes are typically “painted” on the forehead in the sign of the cross to symbolize humility and repentence: a modern day version of “sackcloth and ashes”. 

With or without the ashes, I challenge you to think of what you’ll seek to cut out of your life during this Lenten season.  Not as an empty ritual, but rather as a way to love and connect with Jesus.

Hi!  I’m in Poland right now, and you can read updates from our trip on Pastor James Wartian’s blog!  And photos can be viewed at www.poland.impactforjesus.org. 

Tonight I caught eleven of our senior highers at the Adult Shop and it thrilled my heart!

Of course we were there to pray! It’s been two years now since we started praying weekly at the Adult Shop. Let me explain to you parents what this is all about because on the surface I know it sounds a little dubious!

Two years ago this month, Jordan Koskamp, Bill Uelze, myself and a couple of guys from Cedar Valley were brainstorming ways to help impact our city. My pastor friend Charles Daugherty had recently told me of another city where people prayed drug dealers out of town. We had just become aware of the new Adult Shop North–which is only a mile from our church–and decided to start to pray it away.

So that night we started what has become a weekly prayer time in cars on the street in front of the A-Shop (located next to Frontier Garden Center, which is across from the Happy Chef on Blairs Ferry.) We pray from 9:30-11:00.

Tonight was typical. The eleven of us prayed for God to overcome evil in our city, country, world, and in our own hearts as well. We pray for each person who comes to the A-Shop as well as the owner and employees. We pray “for” them, not “against” them. They are not the enemy, but they’ve been seduced by the enemy. We pray for freedom from their bondage and for them to find real satisfaction in Christ.

We’re not there to judge, but to bless. A couple of times, we’ve had pizzas delivered inside to show them our love. Tonight, we started a new tradition.  I’m going to bring in a dish of candy to the desk worker and let him know we’re praying.

It’s a place where you can feel the spiritual battles raging and we’ve sensed some victories as well. Often we’ve sensed we’ve prayed people away, who drive in and then end up changing their minds and don’t go in.  One man sat in his car for about 20 minutes, deciding whether to go in before finally coming to his senses and driving away.

We always pray for our church, our youth group, and our personal holiness as well. But by the grace of God any of us would be caught up in Satan’s deceptions.

Hopefully this explains to you parents what this is all about. I’m almost always there myself each week and if not, there is another adult youth sponsor. If your kids want to come, just drive down the street “Crane Lane”. All the cars parked on the street belong to our group. We pack ourselves into the largest of the vehicles for the prayer time, so just walk up and we’ll add you to a carload.  Typically, just look for my van with the green trim and the running lights on.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Mark