Prayers for times when the Church Struggles

Verses: Psalms 74: 1 - 23

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

Have you ever asked yourself why does the Church go through times of struggle?  I believe there is a simple answer but one that is hard to comprehend.  The church struggles because it loses its focus.  We as the body of Church forget the reason that we are in existence.

Think on this a moment hasn’t the church lost sight of its calling over and over again.  How many wars have happened in the name of the Church?  We think that we are doing the right thing yet are we really listening to what God has called us to do.  We attack our own members because we disagree with what they are teaching.   We miss the fact that the Church should stay united.

Even the very denominations that we defend have come from our struggles.  We often fight over petty issues.   One of the biggest splits came over how does someone get baptized?  The church today fights over issues of whether or not members of the Queer community can be part of the church. Then it is not surprising that others fight against us. 

I believe that the Church as a whole forgets that spreading the Good News is our purpose.  We have taken it on ourselves to be the judge and jury of the world.  If you don’t agree with us you must not be a part of us.  Yet, we then complicate things by teaching different things to those that need to hear about Jesus.

The Church needs to become united.  We need to put our differences behind us and set out on the same mission front.  God did not want us to fight amongst ourselves yet we as humans have determined this is the best option.  No wonder so many people hear the term Christian and dodge talking with us.  How does it look to outsiders when we are fighting amongst ourselves?

The hot topic that we are fighting about today will be different in a hundred years.  How many of us really believe that the crusades were the right thing to do?  Wouldn’t it been easier to share the love of God with the world instead of brandishing swords?  The fact is that there are still communities that shy away from accepting Christ because of this action that took place long before anyone of us was even a thought. 

It is shocking to me some of the things that we have done in the name of Christ.  Our ancestors justified slavery because it was in the Good Book.  Our ancestors treated women as property using the Bible for justification.  People were not allowed to marry other races because it was said to be in the Bible.   

I have a feeling that one day people will look back at the marriage of consenting adults either heterosexual or homosexual and say why they fought.  I believe that one day people will not understand the limitations placed on taking communion.  Women as pastors will be a daily occurrence and people will not comprehend how it was different in our days.

I am calling on all Christians to do the right thing.  To put aside our petty differences and work for the one because set out by Jesus.  We need to teach the Good News to all people.  We need to help people grow spiritually with God.  We need to stay united and help others find the Messiah.

If we are not willing to do this then we will continue to see the church struggling.  People will keep their distance between themselves and Jesus because of our pettiness.  The church will be an excuse instead of an answer to the problems of the world. 

The Church needs to put God first and we will see its struggling end.  When the church is concentrated on telling the story of Jesus then we will have peace.  Yet, as long as we fight amongst ourselves we will continue to force people away.  This can happen in the local church as well as the universal church body.

Prayer:

We praise you God for loving us.  We ask you God to help us put aside our petty ways.  Help us become a united church spreading the words of love.  Help us be a light and beacon for others.  In the name of the Almighty we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Is your ideology running people away from the Church?  Are you willing to accept people for who they are?  Are you willing to preach the Good News to the entire world?  What change must you make to ensure the Church doesn’t struggle?