Supporting others

Do you pray for your project to get done?  Or there is a large work you have faith for, and you pray for it to be accomplished?  I am one of those who is praying for a large work which I have faith is in God’s mind to do.  Last night He said “instead of seeing the project as most important, be supportive of the person whose calling it is to work on the project.”  My mind immediately went to the person whom the project could not be accomplished without.  My perspective changed, for I had thought that my faith needed to “hang in there” for this large work to begin.  It was not that way at all.  The Person responsible for the work was God, and His most talented person for the work was someone I was supposed to pray for and work alongside.  God was telling me that the talented person needed the prayers, and my support.

We can see the support-principle in Jesus’ life on earth.  One of the largest projects imaginable is the harvest of souls.  Jesus told His disciples that the fields were ripe, and to pray for harvesters (Mt 9:37).  He directed their prayers towards adding men and women to the project, and not the harvest alone. Jesus wants to support us in His work, and asks us to bring others in to share in that same work.  When Jesus was nearing the time of His death, instead of praying for the new Church that was to be formed, He prayed for the men who were gifted by God to form it (Jn 17:6-19).  We also need to support each other’s gifts and talents so that together we can accomplish what God asks us to do.

Praying for projects seems to bring them into the realm of possibility because prayer employs our faith.  Praying for laborers, people who will do God’s work, makes it personal.  We grow in love towards our fellow-man, and that love becomes a vehicle for our faith to move in (Gal 5:6).  If we take all responsibility for the work onto our own shoulders, we prevent our own love of fellow-man, and our faith rests in the ideas of our mind.  Yet the truth remains that we ourselves cannot carry all the gifts God has to employ.  This is why Jesus said to call no man “Raca”, or an empty person.  No man is empty, and each carries gifts inside needed for God’s work on earth. 

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10).

Our projects and larger works are seldom one-man-jobs.  When we take them on by ourselves, it could be that we do not have the faith for others to do them.  And perhaps we are afraid that another person may do the work differently than what we envision in our own minds.  However, if we support those whom God brings to our projects and works, we will find that the richness of God’s mind is expressed in the varied talents of many people.  Today when we pray, let us bring to mind people to pray for.  And in our lives, let us support God’s work in them. Amen.