“Prayer is striking the winning blow at the concealed enemy. Service is gathering up the results of that blow, among the men we see and touch.” – SD Gordon
I heard this quote in the Freeway 418 workshop at the Connect PDX conference October 2nd. At this conference over 125 people from nearly 50 churches united together to learn how to better serve the exploited and vulnerable in our communities.
Where the Church’s Real Wealth Is Found
Thank you once again to everyone who attended or supported Connect PDX! It was an incredible event and we have already seen many ways that God has used it to bring light to the darkness. If you missed Connect PDX but would like to learn more about how you can join in with what God is doing in our communities, take a look at our Organizations page or contact us.
Here is one attendee’s reflection on what God taught her through her time at Connect PDX this month.
“Prayer is striking the winning blow at the concealed enemy. Service is gathering up the results of that blow, among the men we see and touch.” – SD Gordon
I heard this quote in the Freeway 418 workshop at the Connect PDX conference October 2nd. At this conference over 125 people from nearly 50 churches united together to learn how to better serve the exploited and vulnerable in our communities.
Days later, I found myself thinking more about this quote, and who SD Gorden even was. If you’re as unfamiliar as I was, Gordon came into this world in 1859 and became a world-renowned speaker, author of 25 devotionals (“The Quiet Talks” series), and respected theologian. This statement alone showed him as he seemed to be, simple and profound.
Yet I didn’t just want to know about him. I wanted to dig in and see what it meant for me. For this generation’s body of Christ. For the sake of those suffering under weight of sexual slavery.
As I listened with pen in one hand and an apple danish-topped journal in the other, I began to see this sex-trafficking conference through the lens of two of Gordon’s words: Prayer and Service. As if they were two sides of a coin that keeps appearing in my pocket–in all of our pockets. Now more than ever, I want to spend it on the vulnerable until I’m spent, myself.
So the question to ask is not “heads or tails?” It does not need to be prayer OR service. It is “how will I spend this coin today?”
Prayer: Heads
I’m realizing how grossly I’ve underestimated the power of prayer. Even soaked in church and worship since 1978, I am just now beginning to get a small glimpse of the power prayer beholds. The more I surrender to the truth of prayer’s enormous potential, and admit my wavering belief in its effectiveness, the more I see God work as a direct result. Basically, when I pray believing, I usually see Him at work.
Two years ago, a survivor called my cell, in desperate need of someone sane and calm to talk to…and to listen to. Cell service that night was beyond frustrating. Our call must have dropped 8 times. She was trying to open up to me that she was thinking about taking her own life. All I had was the Word, and when that failed to come to mind, or whenever the call failed, I would pray. I remember speaking as much life and truth as I could to her… and then realizing her voice was not there in response to my ramblings. The call had dropped. And I thought for a moment, what if this time, the silence was there because she was gone?
I prayed. Not like, “Lord, be with her”. No, I prayed aloud that night like my prayers were her literal lifeline. I think they were. A few minutes later, we finished our talk…through text. And she slept that night, unharmed. And I switched service carriers. And, oh – that survivor was there for me to hug at the conference last week.
One valuable lesson I’m learning is when we enter into a new territory where our enemy has made himself comfy creating havoc and terror, he takes notice. He puts his stanky steel toed boots on and will not relent until he sees no other choice. So don’t give him one. As Gordon would say. “Prayer is man giving God a footing on the contested territory of this earth. The man in full touch of purpose with God, praying – insistently praying. That man is God’s footing on the enemy’s soil.”
It may seem daunting or too much for some. But Dr. Gary Tribbett reminded us at Connect PDX of the crucial need to stay diligent. To network. To name specific people and their efforts in our prayers. He dug deeper, “If 50 places of worship were represented that day, and each one spearheads a prayer team of 10 from their church to fight the evils of sex slavery in the Northwest, suddenly 500 prayer warriors are deployed. There is strength in numbers. I am convinced there is no better time than now for the church – His Church – to collectively give our unseen enemy a beatdown through believing prayer.
Service: Tails
Want to know what’s been fueling my desire to serve and keep serving? Paul’s words, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” – Ephesians 2:10. How incredible is that? We’re unique tools in his hand, yet we are his masterpiece. Art, crafted into new pieces with a purpose: to carry out the good work he’s had planned just for us to do. Embodying God’s artwork has always brought to mind the medium of mosaics.
My sister is a local artisan versed in this stunning art form, so I get to be constantly reminded when I see her work of how we as Believers are gently, carefully pieced together from broken, old shards. How His color and light shine through the now beautified brokenness.
He has every meeting lined up, so don’t even think about letting inadequacy, Facebook or shame keep you from a single appointment. “Just as the body is dead without breath (spirit), so also faith is dead without good works.” -James 2:26. We must do what we can. If our creator has planned these acts of service long ago, He’s given us the grace and strength to carry them out…to spend the coin again and again.
Praise God, the vulnerable are counting on us.
