Steve & Janie Sjogren

Let’s go a little deeper on the topic of prayer for church launchers and spouses.

Paul, the grand-daddy of launchers, summarized life in this simple phrase above – ‘To live is Christ…’ He continues with that thought, but that beginning point is enough for now.

In order to live a life of meaning when involved in the start-up of a new church or new work of any sort, we need to be in the trench mindset. When we are in that mindset, all hokey pokey theory flies out the window pretty quickly. As with that famous fifth grade P.E. dance, you either put your ‘Right foot in’ or you don’t! You obey or you resist. Life is meant to be lived as a ‘Yes’ response, one after the other.

To resist the life of ‘Yes’ in prayer is to fight the flow of the invitation of God’s Spirit to us. That sort of spiritual play is something one may get away with when not in the middle of the kind of spiritual turmoil involved in the launching of churches. When in the thick of spiritual conflict with lives on the line, this is not the case. To resist obedience to the invitations of God is about the same as trying to sprint with an efficient parachute pulling behind us.

I have discovered it is soon after a couple starts to connect with those in a new city that the ‘Hokey Pokey’ dance begins to begin. Beliefs we have espoused are put to the test. Those tests occur in the form in one way only and always – people!

Irregular people show up in our lives. They are custom-designed and sent by God to cause you and me discomfort. This is the sort of people-pain that can only be relieved by a running conversation with God.

‘As we go, pray…’ This is the hooky pokey that works.