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You're a tentmaker. You're propelled by a mission assignment beyond your reach: What are the needs of the person you're talking to? How is the Spirit working in their life? Do they know Jesus? What should you say to them? Your role varies, you have to be flexible, because every person is different, and only He knows what you should say or do.
That's why, more than anything else, you need to be praying. Not just grace at the table or prayer at church. You need 24/7, real-time connection with the heart and mind of God. Nothing else will help you more than cooperating with heaven's intense efforts. Nothing you do will give greater power then living under the constant cover of prayer--deeply personal, second-by-second prayer.
In the last issue of CALLED we shared stories of the power of God's Word to impact those around us. This issue we're sharing the power that is drawn from the free, unstoppable flow of communication between you and your Savior. Consider what prayer has meant to other MENA tentmakers. Consider what more it could mean to you.
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STRONG ALONE
STRONGER TOGETHER
"Mum n I headed 2 visit pryr friends. m having blssd time c u soon.” Kania signed off on our chat, leaving me to marvel that her mother was visiting her at all. Should I be nervous that Mum was on her way to meet Kania's new Christian friends--our prayer group, in fact? Only two years earlier it would've been unthinkable for Kania herself to step foot in a Christian meeting. How much could we expect Mum to absorb on a vacation?
But the marvels were just beginning. I didn’t know yet that during their travels Mum would worship in an Adventist church. That she would venture to pray herself and God would respond impressively. That she would be excited to learn about vegetarian dishes, home remedies, and a personal, responsive God. I didn’t know that before their travels were over Mum would declare she was going back home to share everything she had learned.
When there is so much to marvel about, it's easy to forget how it all began--simply, quietly, during months of united, heart-searching prayer. MORE
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Ifseveral should meet together with one accord,
with hearts burdened for perishing souls,
and should offer earnest, fervent prayers,
they would prove effectual.
Ellen White in Prayer, page 40
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GIVE US FRUIT, LORD
 We were quietly relaxing around our meeting room where we'd held worship earlier. It was time for some good Sabbath afternoon fellowship. The potluck dishes had been cleared and a feeling of satisfaction hung over our group. So did a question someone had asked earlier over fruit salad.
"So, have we really made any difference for God in this entire city? Or are we just being, uh, nice foreigners?" His fork, still hanging onto a slice of kiwi, had drawn a circle that took in the whole room, kindly implicating every one of us. Now with lunch over, he seemed to want an answer.
Well, it takes time... We work in faith... God has to do what we can't... He knows who is seeking Him... We can trust He's working...
We had reasonable answers to our friend's probing. But to be honest, we all felt a bit alone trying to make a difference. Would we be stronger to meet the challenge together? Could we help each other see where God was working? None of us could do much alone, but if we combined our desire, could He do more? A long afternoon conversation turned into a commitment.
We decided to meet together each week to seriously talk to God about the lost souls around us and our readiness to reach them for Him. We committed ourselves to a regular time of united, earnest prayer. We made ourselves available together. We sought Him together. And together we lived the story of Kania, "Strong Alone, Stronger Together." And she is only one answer to all our prayers. --MM
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"For where two or three are gathered
TOGETHER IN MY NAME
there am I in the midst of them.
Ask of Me, and I will answer your requests."
The promise is made on condition
that the united prayers of God's people are offered,
and in answer to these prayers
there may be expected a power greater than that which comes
in answer to private prayer.
The power given will be proportionate to the unity of the members
and their love for God and for one another.
Ellen White in Central Advance, Feb 25 1903
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 TAKE 6:04 MINUTES
Solitary prayer. Prayer journaling. Prayer singing. Prayer partners. Prayer warriors. Prayer fellowships. Neighborhood prayer groups. Prayer meetings. United prayer.
A tentmaker's mission calls for a life of prayer. Stop and take 6:04 minutes to enjoy the newest RISE & SHINE training video, "Prayer Is Your Life," produced by a MENA tentmaker who has discovered incredible personal renewal and strength in an intentional, daily prayer life.
MENA Total Employment (TE) members may access the full file of training videos through the TE Member Connections of the MENA TE website, www.temena.net.
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IF GOD CAN'T LEAD, HE FOLLOWS
As I look back, I know God was following me through all the ups and downs of my life—my brave decision to be baptized at 14, my weak resolve in the face of my parents' opposition. He was even there during all the years of my excuses and compromises. When He couldn't work with me, He kept working around me!
I first recognized what God was doing when my eldest son decided to be baptized. It registered with me that he was even younger than I had been when I stepped out on my own and was first baptized. I watched quietly as my wife and youngest son asked to be baptized soon after. Deep inside, after decades of living just beyond God’s will for my life, I knew I needed to join them in re-baptis m.
At about this same time, our family began a new kind of journey for all of us. We decided to become serious about following the 40 Days of Prayer. We joined a 24-hour prayer chain. We hosted an all-night prayer vigil.
It was during that time that I decided to fast and pray for four days. I pled with God to show us what He wanted us to do. That was the beginning of my personal prayer life, but God had been working all along. MORE
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"It is part of God's plan to grant us,
in answer to the prayer of faith,
that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask."
Ellen White in the Great Controversy, p. 525
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WHEN OTHERS PRAY
According to Scripture, prayer is a place of comfort and safety in the presence of God. Because of Jesus, we're assured we can enter His throne room secure and at ease, even if in awe (Hebrews 4:16). In prayer we experience real-time, personal connection with our Savior. He promises He hears every prayer and responds to our needs.
But not everyone experiences prayer in the same way. How and why a person prays is shaped by their view of the one to whom they are praying. Below is a brief comparison between the prayer life that a biblical view of God provides and one that results with a different view of God. If nothing else, it may give you a sensitivity to the journey of someone who has never before "talk[ed] to God as to a friend" (Ellen White in Steps to Christ, p. 100).
A Personal, Approachable, and Responsive God Who Is My Savior
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An Impersonal and Unapproachable God Who Exists Beyond Time and Place
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I can pray at any time, in any position, in any setting.
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Prayer is an obligation that is prescribed for certain times and associated with specific rituals and behaviors.
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My prayers are an opening of my heart to God.
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Prayer is a recitation of holy text or prepared supplications of the prophets or holy men.
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The privilege of prayer is an act of grace where my Creator-Redeemer relates to me, a sinner.
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Prayer earns God’s favor and contributes towards gaining His approval and the reward of paradise.
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The confidence of my prayers rests on God’s faithfulness to His promises.
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God as a promise-keeper is not a familiar concept, because human beings have no knowledge of divine decisions and nobody knows His commitments.
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Visit the resources available on MENA's tentmaking website for MORE comparisons of how one's view of God shapes our understanding of prayer and our prayer experience.
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HOW THEN DO I PRAY?
Any time we're given the opportunity to pray with someone, we're honored to bring them into God’s presence even though they may have a different understanding of Him. Because it may be a new experience for them, we need the Spirit's leading to know what will speak the clearest to their heart and what they need the most. A few principles always apply, though:
- Be respectful. The casual posture or conversational tone of voice that you may use in your personal prayer can appear highly disrespectful to others. Take your listener into God's presence with a reverence that they recognize, even as you speak to God as Someone you know and trust.
- Use Scripture. The soaring passages of Psalms are powerful to recite as prayer; they speak of God both with awe and with personal knowledge. Those familiar with religious recitation will understand the spiritual expression, even as God's Spirit accompanies His Word into their hearts.
- Pray with humility. Because some may view God as too holy to approach directly, the confidence you have in God's presence should be express with a genuine humility that acknowledges your great need and His great mercy.
- Express your personal surrender. Acknowledging God's leading and your willingness to follow is an important spiritual concept to express when praying with those whose relationship to God is defined by submission. Even though your surrender to God is always within a trusting, loving relationship, every prayer can express complete openness to His will that will resonate with your listeners.
Scripture provides the record of a God who listens to every cry of the human heart--and responds. The latest installment of "His Word, My Witness" presents the privilege of "Praying to A Listening God" for those who have never considered that He hears and responds personally to their prayers. The fseries of "His Word, My Witness" is available to MENA Total Employment members in the Total Employment Member Resources on the website, www.temena.net.
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