Abundance in community - Europe

We can make our plans,
    but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

A group of participants prays and seeks God together at the Europe area Global People Conversation in Germany.  Photo: Elisabeth Berg

Wycliffe Europe organisations meet in various discussion tables to support one another in their involvement in the various Participation Streams of the Wycliffe Global Alliance. At a recent meeting of the Communion with God table, which has a focus on prayer, one of the participants asked a very pertinent question.

She explained that the team that she was part of came to meetings with ideas and possible plans to build strategy, but very often only prayed at the end and for a very short time. Then she asked this question, “How can we seek God’s guidance together?”

This was a timely reminder for all those present and there was no lack of ideas contributed. Very quickly we agreed that praying at the beginning of the meeting rather than at the end of discussions was a good starting point. Other ideas included the suggestion that once a month the team take the whole meeting to pray and listen to God. It can be done creatively with space and time to reflect and offer feedback. Someone else reminded the group of Greg Pruett’s book “Extreme Prayer” in which he challenges us not just to pray about strategy but to make prayer the strategy. Yet another person reminded us that in all the work we do there is a season of preparation, a season of fruitfulness and then a time when we are dormant–resting, reflecting and assessing what has gone before. It’s important to recognise which season we are in and celebrate what God is doing in each season rather than only seeing God at work in the season of fruitfulness. 

Finally, someone laid down the challenge to be like the men of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32 NLT): These men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take. Just as Scripture is clear that wisdom comes from God alone, perhaps we should have a bigger focus on asking our abundant God to provide us with wisdom.

These discussions only came about because the group made space to consider what we were lacking and where we could go for the solution. By grappling with this question together we realised that God has given each person a piece of the puzzle to share with others, and so it was in community that we encountered the many layers of wisdom and were reminded of the different resources available to us for seeking his generous guidance through prayer.