Whiteboard Therapy: Wherein together we create an online Bible study in the comments section. All are welcome, no comment or question is too simple or too challenging. We can work out our faith together as a community, with permission to change your mind (or, erase any thought like a whiteboard).

Maybe the verse this week won't be as radical to other people as it is to me, but this really challenged me all week, and I want to unpack it together.

Samuel's Farewell Address

“As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right." - 1 Samuel 12:23

I've heard it said that "It's easy to pray for the things you love", which convicted me because I find myself praying for my wife and I and all too often ending it there. I think it's good for our souls and good for our church for all of its people to pray for it. That makes a lot of sense to me. But...

If we can take this as it is written, it appears that not praying for your community is actually a sin.

Some questions I want to think about:
Why would this be a sin?

How does not praying for our communities separate us from God?

Is it only a sin for Samuel to not pray for his people, because he was Israel's judge? Or is it a sin for anyone to not pray for the corporate community?

And, on a more subjective note, what things do you pray for that you wished everyone prayed for? I've recently started praying for my city's leaders and activist groups, the ministries going on outside my own church, and the people who are in poverty here. And it's filled my soul in a way I didn't see coming. What do you pray for that takes you outside of yourself?

Hope to see you in the comments!

Labels: Jesus