Don't even get me started on how opening morning went. The best part, as I shared yesterday, was 13 full hours enjoying our Father's creation with my dad. That was great! The worst part? Well, why did it take till midday for Ed Buckner's forecast to come true? And how come all the turkey's I had a pattern on for the past two weeks awoke this morning and acted as if a memo had been passed around our hunting lease announcing, "This is opening morning. The real turkeys are going to be in the woods today hunting us. Act totally different than you have for the last two weeks."
Nevertheless, it was a great day and I can't wait for that 4:30 wake up call tomorrow morning to try again (that is, in the hour-and-a-half we'll have before gathering with our family in Christ).
Tomorrow will be part two of a mini-series that was never intended. Last week's message on James 5.13-16 generated so much feedback and postive discussion that I thought it best to expand on James's teaching on prayer. Last week, we noticed the vital role community confession can play as a part of our prayer prescription.
This week, we'll see how to unlock your prayer potential through "performance-enhanced" prayer.
Jose Canseco's recently released book Juiced is filled with charges of rampant steriod use in Major League Baseball. Steroids, aka "perfomance enhancing supplements," are said to increase your physical strength potential (illegally) at the possible cost of long-term health problems. Canseco's charges were so heavy that a Congressional Committee summoned Canseco, alleged abusers of steroids, and MLB big wig's to Washington for a hearing on the matter.
When it comes to prayer, is there a divinely appointed "supplement" that will help us unlock our prayer potential? James says there is! In fact, he offers up four supplements in verses 16-18: Pray fervently, righteously, earnestly and persistently. Tomorrow, we'll discover more about how these four supplements unleashed power in the prayer life of an ordinary man - "just like us" - Elijah.
My hope is that this unintended detour through James 5 will help our church family become more convinced and committed to being recognized throughout our community as a "house of prayer."
