Years ago I participated in something called, "The Lighthouse Project". The basis of it was to pray regularly for our neighbors in the hope of meeting them and sharing the love of Jesus with them. I prayed for our neighbors for quite some time and the Lord provided a number of serendipitous opportunities to meet many of them. Out of those encounters a summer Bible study was launched in a neighbor's home. We had about 15 women that summer, a number of them neighbors who had never studied the Bible before. Out of that study another was launched in a neighboring town at the home of one of our participants who then invited 4 of her friends. One stopped after that summer and the other the next summer when kids were home from school again. It was a hugely exciting answer to prayer and a very spiritually fruitful time.
In the years since, I'm ashamed to say, I hadn't done any really consistent praying for my neighbors unless I knew someone had a specific need. But then a challenge from our pastor, maybe a year ago now, got me started again. I don't pray for them every week, but they occupy a separate page of my prayer list, so I pray for them on a rotation, probably once every other week. I've listed them by name if I know their names, or I remember them by the little I do know about them if I don't.
Guided by "The Lighthouse Project" suggestions of many years ago, I pray that the Lord will bless them:
Then about a month ago, our pastor announced that as a church, we were going to participate in what he called the first of three "Kingdom Assignments". That Sunday anyone who wanted to participate received a $100 bill (from the $5000 the elders had set aside). Along the lines of the parable Jesus taught in Matthew 25:14-30, we were to use our time and talents and the $100 as seed money, and seek to multiply it. At the end of January, all the money that we raise will be collected, with one third of it going to the town in which our church is located; one third to a non-profit agency in Bergen County, NJ where many of our members live, and the remaining third to a non-profit in Rockland County, NY, where the rest of our members live.
There is a HUGE amount of excitement at church. Everyone's creative "wheels" are turning to think of ways to earn money! It's the most ministry excitement we've had in a LONG time!
Immediately, I began to try and think of ways we could combine a way to earn money with a way to bring the neighbors together too. My daughter and I thought of using our baking and cooking talents to make meals and desserts. But before I put a plan on paper and decided on a date to launch it, the unexpected happened! We had a huge snow storm - not in December - which is the more expected time for snow - but on the last Saturday in October, right before Halloween! And what a storm it was!
Because the leaves were still on the trees and the snow was so wet and heavy, the afternoon air was filled with loud cracking sounds, followed by falling tree limbs. Thankfully, we fared well. We lost a number of smaller branches in our back yard that it took us an afternoon to clear. But all day long we watched out our front windows as limbs from tall oaks fell into the yards of our neighbors. The people directly across from us had the worst damage. One of their front yard trees split in two, bringing down cable lines and endangering electrical lines too. Another tall tree lost limbs that nearly hit their cars.
When Sunday dawned, beautiful and sunny, we could better survey the damage. Church had already canceled Sunday school classes, but despite the extra time that gave us for getting to the worship service, once we began to try and get the deep, ice encrusted snow off our cars, we realized we wouldn't get out on time. So we determined to make it a "love our neighbors" day instead. Once we cleared off our cars, and gathered downed branches, we went over to the neighbors and helped them drag their fallen tree limbs into the street. We were at this quite a while until the job we were able to do was done. Professionals had to be called to do the rest.
The next day, the neighbor with the most damage came over to invite us and all of the other neighbors to a pot luck on Saturday night. Many of the neighbors living on our cul de sac were there, including ones we didn't know. It was a great time! We didn't initiate it, but it brought our neighbors together and paved the way for another event that we will initiate during which we'll tell them about our Kingdom Assignment and ask if they'd be interested in helping the non-profit we'll support by ordering some of our baked goods.
When all of this happened I never once thought about my prayers for my neighbors. It was only yesterday in Sunday school when I was telling my junior high students about praying for our neighbors that one of them said: "Oh, so YOU'RE the one we have to blame for that snow storm, just so you could reach out to your neighbors!".
It was a funny moment, but suddenly I thought, "Wow, I know that the Lord didn't send that snow storm just so the Elwoods could connect with their neighbors! But He did help us to see that our kingdom assignment THAT day was to reach out to our neighbors with the love of Jesus. And that was a direct answer to my prayers.
It was encouragement to me as well to keep on praying because He undoubtedly was busy answering the other prayers I pray for my neighbors too.
In the years since, I'm ashamed to say, I hadn't done any really consistent praying for my neighbors unless I knew someone had a specific need. But then a challenge from our pastor, maybe a year ago now, got me started again. I don't pray for them every week, but they occupy a separate page of my prayer list, so I pray for them on a rotation, probably once every other week. I've listed them by name if I know their names, or I remember them by the little I do know about them if I don't.
Guided by "The Lighthouse Project" suggestions of many years ago, I pray that the Lord will bless them:
- Physically - with good health, protection from injuries, things like that.
- Socially - with good marriages, good relationships with co-workers, extended family, neighbors
- Emotionally - freedom from fear and depression, a sense of contentment
- Financially - with freedom from debt, wise decision making, enough money to cover their bills, job security
- Spiritually - with a sense of their need for God, a soft heart toward Him
- And the last thing I pray for is opportunities to get to know them and show them the love of Jesus.
Then about a month ago, our pastor announced that as a church, we were going to participate in what he called the first of three "Kingdom Assignments". That Sunday anyone who wanted to participate received a $100 bill (from the $5000 the elders had set aside). Along the lines of the parable Jesus taught in Matthew 25:14-30, we were to use our time and talents and the $100 as seed money, and seek to multiply it. At the end of January, all the money that we raise will be collected, with one third of it going to the town in which our church is located; one third to a non-profit agency in Bergen County, NJ where many of our members live, and the remaining third to a non-profit in Rockland County, NY, where the rest of our members live.
There is a HUGE amount of excitement at church. Everyone's creative "wheels" are turning to think of ways to earn money! It's the most ministry excitement we've had in a LONG time!
Immediately, I began to try and think of ways we could combine a way to earn money with a way to bring the neighbors together too. My daughter and I thought of using our baking and cooking talents to make meals and desserts. But before I put a plan on paper and decided on a date to launch it, the unexpected happened! We had a huge snow storm - not in December - which is the more expected time for snow - but on the last Saturday in October, right before Halloween! And what a storm it was!
Because the leaves were still on the trees and the snow was so wet and heavy, the afternoon air was filled with loud cracking sounds, followed by falling tree limbs. Thankfully, we fared well. We lost a number of smaller branches in our back yard that it took us an afternoon to clear. But all day long we watched out our front windows as limbs from tall oaks fell into the yards of our neighbors. The people directly across from us had the worst damage. One of their front yard trees split in two, bringing down cable lines and endangering electrical lines too. Another tall tree lost limbs that nearly hit their cars.
When Sunday dawned, beautiful and sunny, we could better survey the damage. Church had already canceled Sunday school classes, but despite the extra time that gave us for getting to the worship service, once we began to try and get the deep, ice encrusted snow off our cars, we realized we wouldn't get out on time. So we determined to make it a "love our neighbors" day instead. Once we cleared off our cars, and gathered downed branches, we went over to the neighbors and helped them drag their fallen tree limbs into the street. We were at this quite a while until the job we were able to do was done. Professionals had to be called to do the rest.
The next day, the neighbor with the most damage came over to invite us and all of the other neighbors to a pot luck on Saturday night. Many of the neighbors living on our cul de sac were there, including ones we didn't know. It was a great time! We didn't initiate it, but it brought our neighbors together and paved the way for another event that we will initiate during which we'll tell them about our Kingdom Assignment and ask if they'd be interested in helping the non-profit we'll support by ordering some of our baked goods.
When all of this happened I never once thought about my prayers for my neighbors. It was only yesterday in Sunday school when I was telling my junior high students about praying for our neighbors that one of them said: "Oh, so YOU'RE the one we have to blame for that snow storm, just so you could reach out to your neighbors!".
It was a funny moment, but suddenly I thought, "Wow, I know that the Lord didn't send that snow storm just so the Elwoods could connect with their neighbors! But He did help us to see that our kingdom assignment THAT day was to reach out to our neighbors with the love of Jesus. And that was a direct answer to my prayers.
It was encouragement to me as well to keep on praying because He undoubtedly was busy answering the other prayers I pray for my neighbors too.
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