"Passionately Seeking & Speaking the Love of Jesus Christ"
Dateline: Phillips West
Last week we had a time of prayer after the Sunday worship service. There has been an unprecedented rash of armed robberies in South Minneapolis and we prayed for the police department and for our citizens. On the way home, for some reason, I decided to stop at a different location to make a bank deposit for the church. I usually go to a drive-thru at the bank but this time I decided to stop at an ATM in a convenience store instead. When i arrived there was a man at the ATM and a police officer standing next to the machine doing paperwork. I immediately began a conversation with the officer about how our church was just praying for him. I told him who I was and he began to open up about details in the armed robbery investigation. He seemed to be encouraged by our prayers and was very helpful.
The very next day Brittany and I brought Antioch to his 1 year exam at the doctor's office. When our names were called we followed a nurse back to the room. On the way there, I overhead the nurse tell someone that her daughter had just suffered an asthma attack and was in the hospital. She was distraught by the fact that she was unable to leave work to get over to her up to that point. As soon as I heard this conversation, I knew I needed to pray for this woman and her daughter. As we sat in the room I answered questions about Antioch diligently but the entire time my mind was racing through proper ways to instigate a conversation about prayer. I began to see different scenarios in my head and all of them were negative. I even pictured the woman swearing at me and telling me to mind my own business, slamming the door in my face as she left, etc.
I wanted to drop it altogether but my heart was pumping and the Holy Spirit was commanding me to act. Finally, through the fear, as she got up to leave the room and send in the doctor, I spoke up, "Can I ask you one more thing?" She replied, "Yes." I went on, "I couldn't help but overhear that your daughter is in the hospital. The Lord has put on my heart to pray for you. Can I pray for you?" She quickly sighed a sigh of relief, grabbed my hand and I prayed for her, her daughter, and the medical staff at the hospital.
The moral of the story is that even long-haired, tattooed, loud-mouthed, pastors get scared. There is no rhyme or reason to it, we all just get scared. One night you may do as I did and boldly approach a police officer without even thinking about it (even though he might think you are a freak-I thought about this after I did it) and the next day you may be nearly paralyzed with fear by a "damsel in distress." Fact is, we all get scared in the line of duty for the Lord. That is going to happen and it does not matter...What matters is whether or not we get past the fear and do what the Holy Spirit is telling us to do.
