Alumni Prayer Needs

Several people have remarked how all (or most of) the Covenant Theological Seminary alumni updates (posted on the Facebook Group and the Alumni Blog) that I post are of the celebratory kind: a new birth, marriage, a new call, a successful this or that.

True: almost all the publicly posted updates are positive for two reasons. First, those are the updates that alumni feel comfortable sharing publicly. Second, those in ministry (and pretty much any service industry) are the least celebrated people. When's the last time you saw a businessman or woman passing out cool drinks to the hard working lawn maintenance people. Those people are there to serve. Sadly, we often take that to mean they are also there to ignore.

I am daily writing notes, cards, and email to alumni regarding very sad and intensely serious situations in which they find themselves or issues they are attempting to deal with. While it would be inappropriate--and not my place--to share the names or specifics of these people, I can share these prayers.

Going forward, I will be sharing some of these prayers--so that, if for no other reason, others may be encouraged to hear the patient sufferings of fellow believers:

On Lonliness and Transition
Dear Father, we remain unsettled from the moment you ushered our parents from Eden. Sin keeps us so, as does the longing for the unchanging peace we have in your presence. May you grant to _______, ______, and their ________ a peace that assures of your presence, your calling to this place and time; and a comfort in the midst of the listing boat. Give each of them a place of stability near to you that says, “Here, Christ has founded me. Here, I am unshaken.” And from that place of stability give them a ministry of the Word that brings hope to many. Provide friends—as even Paul did not have peace in the absence of Timothy. Provide laughter—as the sorrows of this life are too much to not be broken by song. Provide rest—that they may rise renewed. Do this for Christ’s sake we pray, and in His name, Amen

On Grief and The Loss of a Spouse
I am sure that your memories are collaged of good and bad, joys and grief, laughter and tears, hopes and disappointments, and all other contrasts of this life. My prayer is that the thread of thankfulness would intertwine the whole of your memory with an unbreakable strand. And may that strand weave to completion an eternal gratitude and hope throughout the rest of your days. May the Spirit of God also be the near presence of comfort that whispers peace in the all-too-quiet and all-too-familiar places that _________once filled.