PRAYING TO THRIVE


We're continuing to explore the concept of "Striving to Thrive" as individual Christians and the Church.  My inspiration for this series came from the song, "Thrive" by Casting Crowns, and the guiding metaphor of the tree is from the book, Thrive, by Mark Hall.
John 15:1-8
I Thessalonians 5:16-24

 When a person joins a local congregation of the United Methodist Church, they promise to participate in the ministries of that church by their prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness.  For me, it's like a vow to thrive, both as a member in the community of the local church, by rooting ourselves in our faith in God through Christ and reaching out to the world like the branches of a great tree.  

 We're going to dive deep into what God has for us by "Praying to Thrive."
“No prayer, no power.  Little prayer, little power.  Much prayer, much power!”  Bishop  Calvin Trimble, Bishop for the Iowa Conference UMC.

What do you call a tree with no roots?

Fire wood.

Without a root system that goes deep and wide, no sap, the life blood of the tree, is produced.  Without sap, the tree will not produce leaves and fruit.  Birds will not nest in barren branches; there is no cooling shade in the heat of the summer; no apple pie to welcome the new neighbor with.  Without roots, there is no stability, and the tree will come down in the first big storm.

Yup.  Fire wood.

“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me."  (John 15:4, MSG)

Live.  Remain.  Abide.  Stay permanently connected with, rooted in Christ.  This is the way we live abundantly, bearing fruit, standing strong, making a positive difference in the lives of others.  When we commit to permanently and continually living in Christ, we thrive.  The church thrives.  One of the ways we do that is through a commitment to the spiritual practise of prayer.

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.    (I Thessalonians 5:16-18, MSG)

Pray all the time; pray without ceasing; praying continually.  The where, when and how of praying is simply this:  everywhere, all the time, continuously.  This takes us beyond the casual and occasional contact with God of "wish list" and "distress call" prayers.  This takes us even deeper than the  discipline of daily prayer and listening (meditation).

Praying all the time is a mind set -- setting our minds on God in a way that we are present in every moment, where ever we are, what ever we are doing, to Christ's action in our lives.  It's being awake and aware of the opportunities to be blessed and to bless others.

Praying without ceasing is a heart attitude -- having a hungry heart, the desire to be with God, to experience more and more of Christ.  It is knowing the joy of having our faith deeply embedded in a personal, fruit-bearing relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

This kind of prayer life, whether it our own or lived out in the life of a faith community is powerful.  It is one of the keys to thriving.

Don’t suppress the Spirit .... (I Thessalonians 5:19, MSG)

Don't suppress the Spirit.  Don't quench it by throwing a cold bucket of indifference and shallow spirituality on it.  Don't pull the power cord on the life blood of our lives as Christians by not being present with God through prayer.

As the roots nourish a tree through the sap they produce, as a vine is the source of what enables branches to produce beautiful, life-sharing fruit, our prayer life that keeps us rooted in Christ empowers us with the love, guidance and strength of God through the Holy Spirit.

Without the connection with Christ through prayer, we stifle the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we are cut off from everything God wants to bless us with.  Like branches broken from a tree, our souls start to wither.

Through prayer, the Holy Spirit gives us a vision for God's will for our lives and helps us understand it.  The Holy Spirit also empowers us with what we need to live out our calling.  In prayer, we find encouragement, guidance, comfort and assurance revealed to us by the Spirit.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can do more than just live, we can thrive!


Jesus has told us that if we remain in him, he will remain in us and we will thrive.  Thriving requires a commitment to a continuous and permanent relationship with Christ, and prayer is one of the ways that we do that.

No prayer, no power.  Little prayer, little power.  Much prayer, much power.

And I say:  no prayer, no life.  Little prayer, little life.  Much prayer, and we thrive!



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