Wednesday, November 2, 2011

In the Hot Seat 1

When it comes to prayer time in a small group, you never know what kinds of requests will come. Sometimes the group just senses the intense emotion of the request -- this is not just another ordinary request, it is one of concern, pain, stress, worry. In other words, a burden only Jesus can carry. It is at one of these moments that a leader might decide to put that person(s) in the hot seat. I’ve seen it take place many times. Here is just one: 
An ordinary night as the small group was finishing up, it was time for prayer requests.  As it came time for this one man to speak, his burden was heavy and his stress level was high as he shared his need. This man is a business owner.  He is very laid back and takes much of life in stride, so people rarely know what is really going on. Tonight was not one of those nights.  
 This man’s business was struggling so the group had prayed that God would expand his territory. God did. What a blessing! The expansion was taking place, but no income yet been seen.  Now his bills were due: business vendors were seeking their money as well as creditors in his personal life. All he could say was, “We don’t have any money.”  This was a cause for pain and strife which came out in his prayer request. His wife shared the same burden.  
“Can we put you in the hot seat?”, the leader asked. With a little hesitation they agreed.  Two chairs were set up; the husband and wife sat down. The rest of the group gathered around them, gently placing their hands on the couples’ shoulders and knees. Prayer for this couple began -- each person speaking as the Spirit led them. 
“The sermon the week before had been “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” so we asked God for just that: Peace for today; enough bread to get him through today; enough trust in the Almighty . . . for today.  Amen.”
The next day the group received this text: “Just thought I would share this with you all . . . after our prayer last night, my stress level went way down. Thank you. Today we  only got one thing in the mail -- a check for the balance of a job that’s not even finished yet. God is faithful. I am weak, but He is strong. . . .”  The check wasn’t enormous, but was enough to get them into a place where they could breathe a little and keep moving forward. The mail carrier rarely comes into this man’s office to deliver the mail.  This day -- as if he knew it held a blessing -- he did, saying, “I just thought I would shake things up a little bit”.  A prayer answered. 
Lord, give us this day our daily bread.

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