I wrote a song in seminary based on Psalm 127. It wasn't much but it helped me memorize the words - forever etched in my brain . . .
"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain . . ."
God sees things first, but those who are vigilant in their watching through prayer also see things before others.
In prayer we invite God to watch over us, our families, our neighborhoods, our work. . . .
And in so doing, God prepares the way for us to be fruitful - to multiply his Kingdom. God does the heavy lifting.
To do this "watching" without God is to create work without fruit.
Haven't we all been there and done that? Following God's ways are hard enough, fighting upstream against the cultural flow is already difficult so how important is it that we NOT create "work" for ourselves in terms of mission and ministry? What I mean is - prayer is essential to being effective, fruitful. Without it, we can do a lot of good, but we can also wear ourselves out in well-doing while seeing few results.
John 15, Viners. Abide.
Inviting God into the building of houses and watching cities and in our case - being missionaries in our school, work, markets, and neighborhoods is essential.
There should be a warning label on everything we do -
"WARNING - DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS WORK WITHOUT PRAYER!"
Yet, how many times do I start something without starting with prayer?
How many times do I offer a cursory prayer before an activity rather than having been "prayed up?"
How many times before I learn that unless God is in the work, I labor in vain?
The other side of this prayer life is being thankful, and I think too this is an area that "needs improvement" in my life.
Being watchful and thankful changes my attitude towards difficult situations. If I'm note careful, I can be come Eeyore before you know it. I love the practice of some of my friends - posting five things they are thankful for on facebook - daily. What a gentle reminder and witness that as we open our eyes, spiritually, we have much to be thankful for.
We need this (I need this), especially as we wrestle with injustice and inequality and principalities and powers. In fact, Paul penned those words to the Colossians while in prison in chains.
On the front lines of the war between the Kingdom of God and the empire of Rome, can you imagine where Paul would have been without being watchful and thankful?
Powerful.
Keep watch, abide, be thankful. Bear fruit.
"It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late.
to eat the bread of painful labors, work at things you hate.
For He gives to His beloved, even in their sleep.
Abide in the love of Jesus - in His grace, you'll keep."
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