Scrolling? Be Praying!

I've started reading Britt Merrick's book Godspeed and am enjoying it.  He speaks to the heart of God, one of a mission to reach people with His love and salvation.  God desires to work in and through the lives of His followers to engage people with the gospel wherever they are.  The first few chapters in particular are a needful reminder for Christians to serve God faithfully and embrace God's mission right now where they are.  Merrick writes:

In order to live at Godspeed, the disciples abandoned everything hindering them from living on mission with Christ.  What is Christ calling you to forsake?  What is hindering His mission from going forward through your life?  It's a mistake to think you calling is going to look just like Peter's, because the call of every person is distinct.  For most of us, Jesus isn't calling us to leave.  Instead He's calling us to stay and be faithful.  Even still, faithfulness often requires us to leave something behind.  Whether it's relinquishing a sin, a relationship, a consuming passion, or a selfish comfort, Jesus' call will radically affect our lives.  We the church are a sent people.  You and I are called by God to be on mission with Jesus within our current contexts.  Going on mission doesn't mean buying a plane ticket.  It means going where Christ has already sent us and being faithful to Him there.  Stop reading for a moment, and look around.  Your mission assignment is to this time, to this place, and to the people you interact with along the way. (Merrick, Britt, and Allison Trowbridge. Godspeed: Making Christ's Mission Your Own. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2012. 53. Print.)

As Christians, being faithful to pray is a massive part in us accomplishing God's mission to this world.  The capacity to pray according to God's will through the Holy Spirit to the God who loves, hears, and will answer us is a great gift provided us by God's grace.  I was convicted recently that I can scroll through the news - much of it awful - and continue scrolling without praying to God about what grieves my soul.  What if social media, instead of being a platform for personal expression, became a personal invitation to intercede for others?  How about if news reports became our new list of prayer requests - not praying for what we think needs to happen, but asking God how we might pray and what we might do to make a difference for God's glory and the good of others?

The mission of Jesus to seek and save the lost ought to be ours, as well as encouraging and edifying the body of Christ.  The ministry of Jesus was packed with prayer and He engaged daily with all sorts of people.  Being led by the Holy Spirit Jesus was never enslaved to programs or the expectations of any man or group.  He always did what pleased the Father, and through faith and obedience to God's Word we can do the same.  Instead of quickly scrolling to the next news story to satisfy our curiosity, let's take the time to seek the LORD in prayer.  When we wait on the LORD and prayerfully follow His lead, we will be a viable, fruitful member of the Body of Christ.