When Strivings Cease
In mid-May, I attended a Soul Care conference with Dr. Rob Reimer.
It was amazing.
God moved powerfully.
It wasn’t solely a passive learning experience. Dr. Reimer wants people to put what they’re learning into practice, to get that soul care process started. So, part of the conference is breaking up into small groups (or triads) to discuss what we learned and share our stories. I jumped right into describing my upbringing, sharing some key formative memories, some of my woundings, and some of my current struggles. I don’t think I even fully introduced myself, like you know, mentioning my job.
As we prayed, someone in my small group told me, “I think the Lord wants to tell you to ‘stop striving.’”
Yes. He does.
You know how I know? I just delivered a talk at a breakout session at our district conference a few weeks ago entitled, “When Strivings Cease.” Here it is below.
We’re grateful to be able to share about Alliance Women. We want to serve you well, and serve King Jesus well.
A little bit about me, I’m a Business Intelligence Reports Developer, which is a fancy way of saying I’m a computer programmer. I’m also married to a pastor and we’re part of a replant in Chula Vista that started last September. I have one son, Silas, who is two and a half.
As I was praying and asking the Lord about what to say today, the phrase, “when strivings cease,” came to the forefront of my mind. I’d like to ask you, what do you think of when you hear, “when strivings cease?”
For me, I think about rock climbing. I used to rock climb, and I was always striving for the next hold. I ceased striving when I reached my goal, or I gave up. When you go for a difficult move, and you fall, nothing really happens since you’re roped in and your partner has been taking the slack the whole time. In fact, before you start climbing, the first thing you do is rope in with a double-figure-8 knot. After a fall, rather than go back to the same challenge, you can even take a break and hang on the rope, let your arms (and your emotions) recover, until you’re ready to try again.
How does this relate to prayer? Good question. Many of us here, I presume, are in ministry, and we have tasks that we’ve committed to do. That rope, or prayer, is our first step. Rope-in. Don’t skip that step. And the rope goes with us along the way. And it’s there holding us when we fall and we need to take a break.
Another thing that comes to mind with the phrase "when strivings cease" is delight, specifically delight in the Lord.
There are three books that I've read this past year that I will commend to you today. One is “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire” by Jim Cymbala, recommended to me by David Gilmore. In “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire,” Pastor Cymbala says,
"The more we pray, the more we sense our need to pray. And the more we sense a need to pray, the more we want to pray." [1]
It's a self-feeding cycle.
Or as the Psalmist says, in Psalm 37:4,
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."
He will give you more of Himself.
As I mentioned, we're part of a church replant. I can desire for the church to grow, but there’s only so much striving I can do. God is the one who is going to draw people unto Himself. Just like a real plant, I can’t cause it to grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7 tells us that God causes the growth. We’ve been meeting 3 times a week for 30 weeks and we’re still at the same numerical statistics we started with. But you know what? God sees us, and He’s present with us. And this is the healthiest ministry context we’ve been in. Our weekly prayer meetings are the primary work. Communion with God is the goal to which we strive, and in whom we also rest. I share this to say, if you’re in a difficult ministry context, or in a season where God feels distant, or you just need an ear to let you know you’re not crazy. Let’s get together to chat and pray.
AB Simpon’s hymn, “Once It Was the Blessing” touches on this end goal of delighting in the Lord:
Once ’twas busy planning, Now ’tis trustful pray’r;
Once ’twas anxious caring, Now He has the care.
Once ’twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says;
Once ’twas constant asking, Now ’tis ceaseless praise.
Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;
Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me.
Once the pow’r I wanted, Now the Mighty One;
Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone. [2]
A third, and final thing that I’ll share today, that came to mind with the phrase “when strivings cease” is the fact that “when” is not yet here for some things. I was reading Hebrews 13 the other day and it struck me how often the author says, “keep on,” “remember,” “continue.” Basically, he says, “keep going.” And you know what? The instructions have not changed.
The Great Commission is still an unfinished work. The work of Alliance Women, unity built through prayer, and the need for the evangelization of the world is just as important as it was when the C&MA first started, as it was in the first century.
The vision of the Alliance is "All of Jesus, for all the world, and it takes all of us." Because all the world needs Jesus.
That’s a daunting task. What's step one? AB Simpson said,
“Prayer is the mighty engine that is to move the missionary work.” [3]
A dedication to prayer doesn't have to be elaborate. In fact, in “Every Moment Holy,” which also has an app, there's a simple prayer, for a ritual for your morning coffee.
Meet me, O Christ, in this stillness of morning.
Move me, O Spirit, to quiet my heart.
Mend me, O Father, from yesterday’s harms
.From the discords of yesterday, resurrect my peace.
From the discouragements of yesterday, resurrect my hope.
From the weariness of yesterday, resurrect my strength.
From the doubts of yesterday, resurrect my faith.
From the wounds of yesterday, resurrect my love.
Let me enter this new day, aware of my need,
and awake to your grace, O Lord. [4]
So what am I excited about with this relaunch of Alliance Women? I'm excited to see a mobilization of prayer, and a mobilization of missionary work.
Sarah Neigenfind wrote this in our Alliance Women blurb, and I love how she phrased it. "We are looking forward to where the Lord will lead us in these upcoming years as we seek to have His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven."
And when we really think about prayer, we know heaven is available to us, and we experience moments of heaven on earth.
Skye Jethani wrote a little book, “What if Jesus was Serious About Prayer?” He has 53 points. Point 20 says, “If Jesus was serious…then prayer brings heaven’s power to earth.” He says,
“Prayer is how mere mortals present themselves and their needs to the eternal Creator. That is why we usually think of prayers rising up to the higher realm where God abides. Prayers move upward from earth to heaven. But Scripture reveals another dimension to prayer. Ole Hallesby said, ‘Prayer is the conduit through which power from heaven is brought to earth.’ In other words, prayer can also move downward.” [5]
And referring to Ephesians 2:6 and Ephesians 1:3, Jethani says,
“This is Paul’s way of saying that the power, authority, and resources of heaven accessible to Jesus as He rules over the world are also available to us because we are ‘in him.’...Downward prayer means to draw upon the power of heaven to see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, our prayers carry more authority than we’ve been led to believe.” [5]
So let’s get praying ladies, as we remember that one day, strivings will cease, when the perfect comes to restore all things.
***
Cymbala, Jim. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018), 53.
Simpson, AB. 1891. https://hymnary.org/text/once_it_was_the_blessing
Simpson, AB. Days of Heaven on Earth. 1897. https://biblehub.com/library/simpson/days_of_heaven_upon_earth_/march_8_pray_ye_therefore.htm
McKelvey, Douglas. Every Moment Holy: Volume One Pocket Edition (Nashville: Rabbit Room Press, 2019), 139. See also:
https://store.rabbitroom.com/products/liturgy-prints-every-moment-holy?variant=599658266638
https://www.everymomentholy.com/Jethani, Skye. What if Jesus was serious about prayer?: a visual guide to the spiritual practice most of us get wrong (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2021), 71-72.
