An Orange, a Job, and Good Health
“Please pray that God would give me an orange.” I have written these words before as I shared about the prayer requests and hearts cries of the children I encountered over the past three months. Obviously, hearing the various prayers and requests had an impact on my heart. “Please pray that God would give me money, a home, heal my uncle, a job, knowledge, help to pass my test, understanding, and on and on.” I can look with my heart’s eyes at each face, and feel the weight of each and every one of these requests. They are not altogether different than the way we pray in the states.
In Philippians 4:6 we are told “Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ.” What joy, what hope?!?
In a country said to be predominantly Christian, one can’t help but pause and consider the obvious question. Why then is corruption, poverty and disease the prevailing reality? If Christianity has indeed permeated the core of the culture, then the tenants of Christianity are a lie, or something is missing. Right? I mean, how do we explain this?
Don’t get me wrong, there are “born agains” everywhere, Muslims who were also followers of Jesus, Catholics, Anglicans, and the list goes on. The gospel is proclaimed at most every institution, on signs, billboards, the sides of cars, and even on produce stands. Jesus is not a foreign name amongst this crowd, and pretty much anyone will allow you to pray with them. “Please pray that my business will go better” they will ask as you weave through their wares, or “Please pray that my sickness will leave” “Please, what is God saying about me?” and more, are the requests you can almost always find.
Prayer is such a profound gift. Being able to freely talk with maker of the world, the one who brought us into the world, and the only one who has any power to impact our world is beyond comprehension. Not to mention the fact that in this, He hears us and responds! Psalm 106:44 says that He regarded the Israelites when He heard their cry and then He relented. There are many places we see God moving toward His children as they cry out for Him. So, praying with the people of Uganda was a privilege because I know He regards their cry, but I believe there is so much more.
When we pray sometimes, I believe that we treat God like a vending machine, and we hope that we press the right buttons to obtain what we think we need right then and there. Oftentimes, what we want is a lot like that bag of Oreos, (or pick your poison), bad for us, cheap, and only good for the two seconds it takes to down them. There is no lasting good that comes from getting what we want from the vending machine. God knows what we need and when we need it.
However, it goes deeper than this. What if the prayer requests we offer up, like “God, I need money, or I need an orange, or I need a job” tell a different story? What if when we pray, begging for this and that, we were really asking for something we were not even conscious of? What if all of our anxieties and worries were really just a cry to know and be known? Don't we have peace that is promised in that scripture when we feel that someone understands our needs, cares about them and is willing to help us? I think this feels so much better than just having what we need, because relationship is involved. Peace doesn't come through our getting the answer we think we need as much as knowing we were heard does. In part, praying with someone is an expression of His attentiveness towards us as we cry out. We are being His hands and feet, sometimes even providing substance to the shared needs. This is a beautiful reality, but it can’t stop there. There has to be more to offer the person than our own agreement and occasional help.
I would like to teach and learn with the children of Uganda to relate to God as a Father and to learn about what it means to be a member of the family of God. Our prayers become much more real when we recognize who we are talking to and what His intentions are toward us. What if instead of “God, please give me money” we said, "God, I feel afraid , discouraged, and hopeless, will you please help me to receive love, courage and hope in your presence? God, would you Father me, nurturing my deep need to be provided for and attended to? God, I know you are good, and nothing bad comes from you, thank you for being such a good and faithful Father." Children who begin to know their true identity and the nature of the one who created them will engage with the world so much differently than their predecessors. If a whole generation learned the real truth, not religious traditions, corruption, poverty and disease would be entirely eradicated.
Therein lies my point. Just like in our own journeys as followers of Jesus, we see our continuous need to grow and learn and be transformed, the journey of a nation is no different. We never arrive, but wisdom is justified by her children as we read in Luke 7:35. In other words, there has to be more than meets the eye in a nation considered Christian, if that same nation is suffering daily under the weight of lack, disease, and fear. Did you know that 52% of the population of Uganda is under the age of 15? This isn’t unique to Uganda however, because this statistic is pretty much the reality of the whole of Africa give or take a few. Children are raising themselves, and more and more the only encounter they have with the gospel is the sign they read, or the scripture they hear at school. Imagine what will happen as they enter into adulthood having never been immersed in the truth of who they are and who they belong to? Is it possible that some of the corruption so rampant in so many areas of Africa is a result of whole generations of orphans taking their place in the big world of adulthood without a clue about how to do anything but survive?
In reality, there are many reasons for the problems in Africa of which I know next to nothing about. What I have observed and learned in the past 10 years or so however has given me pause and what I do know is that if prayer requests were an indicator of the spiritual climate of a population, then a beautiful start for seeing a shift would be to begin teaching children the truth of who they are. I believe there are children sitting in slums, classrooms, streets and villages who are destined to change their world. I believe this is possible. Discipling a nation, bringing kingdom culture into each and every other culture, requires lives laid down, and patient endurance until the end. The fact of the matter is the harvest is truly ripe and it is time to reap. Will you pray with me about this, that the Lord would send others to join me and the people of Uganda to love the ones He sends us to?
In the end, I think it all boils down to the simple gospel. When we pray we are to believe that He is who is says He is and will do what He said He will do. “Which of you Fathers, when your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?” Luke 11:11. He told us to be like little children in Matthew 18:2-4 so that we could understand the kingdom of God. He invites us to be ones who trust in the simple truth that we belong to a gracious and kind Father, we are legitimate members of His family and there is hope for our future in the land of the living. I believe that every culture, our personal heart culture, a singular family culture, a workplace culture, and yes, a whole nation’s culture, need the truths contained in a kingdom culture in order to thrive. So, if we can raise up children who know the truth, because we ourselves know the truth, doesn’t it follow that the world will change? Did Jesus not come to restore all things, redeem mankind, and abolish all things in opposition to what He laid His life down for?
As I press into the one who knows me best, and who has opened up an invitation to know Him more and serve His children in Uganda, I am aware of my own daily need of the simple gospel. We cannot speak with authority about something we ourselves haven’t been confronted over, and this is no different. He has made a way for constant communion with Him. This is why we can tell him about "every detail of our lives", and await His peace. I want to encourage, teach and support the people He is sending me to and I want to see an entire generation be raised up who will shift the whole nation of Uganda and elsewhere into their glorious and beautiful inheritance. Would you pause with me in prayer as you read through this scripture in light of these thoughts? I know He hears our cry. At the end of this post there is also a song that I sing as an anthem over the children of Uganda. Will you sing with me?
Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me
Because the Lord has anointed me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks
And the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers
But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,
They shall call you the servants of our God
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles
And in their glory you shall boast.
Instead of your shame you shall have double honor
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion
Therefore in their land they shall possess double
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
For I, the Lord, love justice
I hate robbery for burnt offering
I will direct their work in truth
And will make them an everlasting covenant.
…
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord
My soul shall be joyful in my God
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments.
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth
So the Lord God will cause
Righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
