"And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all."
~Matthew 21:22
I am about a year-and-a-half into my first pastorate. What that means is that in that first year, that first trip around the calendar, almost everything I was doing as the pastor of the church, I was doing for the very first time.
In the Baptist Church, when a pastor is called to the pulpit, it is the decision of the congregation. They not only vote in this big meeting, but they interviewed that potential pastor, too--imagine standing up and being interviewed by the entire membership of a church. One question I was asked was what I wanted to accomplish in that first year.
And what I said was, "I'd like to get through the entire year looking like I know exactly what I'm doing."
Of course everyone laughed. I knew they would. But I wasn't kidding. That was an actual goal. To get through communion services, and weddings, and funerals, and baptisms, and special services, and holidays, and Mom's Day, and our annual service at the county park, and in the end look as if I'd been doing it for years.
Transitions are difficult sometimes in churches--especially when you change pastors. I was following a pastor with many, many years of experience, and was (and is) very loved by the congregation. I felt it was very important that I step into that role looking very confident and demonstrating an ability to fill those shoes. And you know what? I made it! Not only did I make it, but just a few weeks after my one-year anniversary as the pastor I was ordained by my church and the American Baptist Church!
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| Pastor Todd Creason at his ordination on 5/4/2024 |
But I was never alone. I prayed. I asked for guidance. I asked for strength. I asked for wisdom. There were a few times I asked for courage when my knees were knocking and my hands were shaking. I prayed for the Holy Spirit's help when I was preparing services. I prayed that what I was preaching and teaching would make a difference in the hearts and minds of those hearing those messages. Sometimes right in the middle of an unplanned event in the middle of a service I'd shoot up a quick prayer arrow. I spent that first year so far outside my comfort zone that I know without hesitation that if it weren't for God's strength behind me I wouldn't have made it. And I still pray for those same things each and every time I sit down to work on a service, or a sermon, or even write a blog post like this one.
You may be familiar with this verse in Matthew, but I'd like to point out one thing you may have missed. I like the NASB translation which reads, " "And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all." Praying isn't a mental exercise. It's spiritual. It comes from deep inside our very souls. It comes from our core--that part of ourselves that God knows. When we pray, we aren't wishing. We pray knowing. Read that verse again, "And whatever you ask in prayer, believing..."
Believing! Going into those prayers knowing without a doubt that God hears your prayers and in one way or another answers every prayer makes all the difference.
If you can pray from that place, from that place of absolute trust and faith--well, those are powerful prayers indeed.
~Pastor Todd Creason
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