I was recently riding my bicycle past a local church. As I got closer, I noticed there was a man standing in front of the church seemingly yelling passionately at someone with his arms flailing. It soon became apparent that he was just railing at the church building and no one was in sight.
I thought about trying to talk to him, but decided he had to
be on drugs or drunk and that a conversation would be fruitless. However, as I
rode past him he must have heard the sound of the tires on the gravel and
turned around to say, completely in his right mind, “Good morning, how are you?”
I responded with a pleasantry and went on my way.
About a quarter mile past him my conscience got the better
of me and I decided that I needed to talk to him, so I rode back and he was
walking down the road away from me and the church. I greeted him and told him
that I felt like God wanted me to give him a water, as I had an unopened one
with me that I intended to drink later in the ride.
His response was, “Oh **** yeah. Thanks pastor.” I don’t
know how he came to that conclusion, but I gave him the water and asked if he
had a moment to talk. He said he was in a hurry, but what he really needed was
someone to pray for him. I told him I would be happy to pray for him and asked
him for specifics but he said just prayer.
So I put my hand on his shoulder and thanked God for our
opportunity to meet, then expressed thankfulness that we have the opportunity
to come before the throne of grace to receive grace and help in our time of
need no matter how big or small the need is. Then I spent some time going over
the gospel by bringing up that if he had not repented of his sins and put his
faith in Jesus Christ, that today would be the day of salvation. We thanked God
that the blood of Christ cleanses from all unrighteousness and that love covers
a multitude of sins. The whole prayer probably took three minutes, maybe four, which
actually feels like a very long time to pray for someone, but he listened and
did not grow restless.
When I finished I hoped for a deeper conversation, but he
said he had to go, but then he stopped from turning away and said, “I’ve got to
give you something!” I told him he didn’t have to give me anything, but he insisted,
and I was also perplexed because he looked to have nothing to give.
Then he reached in his pocket and gave me the most
nondescript little rock (or more accurately a pebble) that you can imagine. It
looked like he could have picked it up from the parking lot just moments
before. But I received it with thanksgiving and told him I’d continue to pray for
him.
The next time I got in the car I realized I still had the rock
in my pocket so I placed it on the dash of the car and prayed for my friend. In
praying for him I prayed for all sorts of things, first of all for his salvation,
but second that he would find a church home that would disciple him,
then I prayed for his family and relationships, and I ended with the way I end a
lot of prayers, that God would bless him abundantly more than I could ask or
imagine.
That rock on the dashboard reminded me to pray for him over
the next couple of days, then God began to change me. He reminded me that there
are people who I’m praying for regularly, but not praying that he would do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think in their lives (Ephesians 3:20), rather simply just offering up prayers that he would bring them to repentance and love. There is
nothing wrong with those prayers per se, but the goal was not their
ultimate blessing, rather the goal was my benefit through God blessing them.
It's changed the way I’ve prayed for many people in the last
week, asking God to bless them beyond belief, that if he had to choose between
blessing them or me, that he would choose them all day every day (compare
Romans 9:3). But I am ever reminded that he does not have to choose between who
he’ll bless. In your blessing I receive blessing, and in my blessing you receive blessing, it’s a mutual benefit. The
random phrase that came up in my prayers has been asking God to “Bless their socks
off.” I don’t even really know what that means, other than I want you, dear
reader, to have so many blessings from God that you don’t know what to do with
them.
So I still have that rock on my dashboard here more than a
week later, and it’s still reminding me to pray. I lost it on a bumpy road and
panicked for a moment, but I quickly realized that there is nothing special
about this simple, run-of-the-mill pebble; it’s just a reminder to pray. I
couldn’t find it for several days, thinking it had fallen into the air vent,
but it turned up on the floor when I needed a reminder to pray.
Many people in my family have collected rocks for many
years. We have rocks from Loch Ness, the Grand Canyon, South Dakota,
and many others, but I’ve never collected rocks. But I’ll cherish this one for
what God has taught me through it. May God bless you today as you seek his
face, and may your socks be blessed straight off as you pray for God to do the same for those you pray for.
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| My Favorite Rock |
