“Praying For Our Partnership In The Gospel!”

“Praying For Our Partnership In The Gospel!”(Phi.1:1-11).
“I thank my God every time I remember you. I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus…”
During a retreat at the Sisterhood of Emmanuel, Bafut to prepare us for ordination(1994) I learned this great lesson: The Sisters pray not less than five times a day. And the prayer points are quite intercessory. We are sustained because the world over there are those who devote themselves praying for us.
During that retreat I also prayed it was my prayer that certain senior colleagus should not be present and robed on that day of ordination. I didn’t want them to lay their hands on my head.
After thirty years of ministry I have seen and tasted hate, humiliation and made a waste paper by some colleagues to confirm to me that not everybody who puts his hand on you at ordination blesses you. However, I have received immeasurable love from the majority of them.
Being human as I am I have no doubt that some young ministers may have prayed too that at their ordination I shouldn’t lay hands on their heads.
How often do we thank God for other people and pray genuinely for them? We who profess Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God are sometimes – through our actions – worst than Nietzsche who said “God is dead!”
More and more the laity is becoming helpless in the grip of the clergy, who should actually be at the service of the laity. Paul schools us that the Christians we serve, the deacons and the elders are in partnership with us in the gospel.
“A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests…”
Like Paul to the Philippians this too should be our prayer for our partners in the gospel: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”
Love has a growth process. Whatever grows has to be nurtured in order to be sustained. Love needs knowledge and understanding, which in turn enables us to discern what is best and can keep us pure and blameless until the day of Christ.
Let us in prayer and thanksgiving pray for all who partner with us in the gospel.
Prayer: Holy Spirit enlighten us on the nature of our partnership in the gospel so that we can grow in actionalbe love for one another. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.