It is July! And one of the first things that pops into my mind when I think of July are picnics. Summer picnic memories take me way back to my childhood. My mom, always looking for meaningful and inexpensive family times, was quick to suggest a picnic and a hike, a picnic and fishing, a picnic and a parade, a picnic and… well you get the idea. And, my mom made fantastic picnics! These were not “stop and grab a bucket of chicken” or “pb&j and potato chips” picnics. They usually included hamloaf, scalloped potatoes, baked beans, and fruit salad. And, they always included Texas sheet cake.
For those who don’t know, Texas sheet cake is a soft, thin, chocolatey cake with a fudge-like chocolate frosting. The key to a great Texas sheet cake is pouring the warm frosting onto the cake while it’s hot – right from the oven. Then, as the fudge topping cools and solidifies, it also seeps into the cake, permeating it with moist, chocolate goodness. Yum!
July is also the month of summer ministries… missions exposure trip and VBS in the park. After months of planning, the time is here to go out and share the gospel. And, now I question if I have prayed enough and if I have engaged others in praying for the ministries. In James 5:16b, the Bible says “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Have my prayers for my ministry been effectual? Have they been fervent? Have I prayed in righteousness? I Thessalonians 5:17 tells us we should pray without ceasing. I know that I have not prayed without ceasing! Yet, as I think about upcoming ministry, I know that all my efforts are nothing. Everything I have done, prepared, and planned are just little pebbles in my hand, little loaves in my sack. It is only God, through His mighty power and grace who can take those pebbles and slay enemies or take those loaves and feed children. I must pray for God’s work to be done.
So, why picnics and sheet cakes in a blog about prayer? Often I look at prayer as something that I tack on at the end of all my preparations, kind of like frosting on a cake. Something separate and good, but not essential. After all, cake is very edible without the frosting! However, prayer should, at the very minimum, be like the Texas sheet cake frosting– poured on hot and permeating the cake. Prayer should have a transforming effect on our ministry, so that it becomes so much more than our meagre efforts and paper plans, just like the rather mild, dry, thin Texas sheet cake is transformed into fudgy bliss. Even as I would never offer my guests at a picnic a Texas sheet cake without the frosting, I should never offer the people that God allows me to serve in ministry a dry service that is lacking the transforming power of God that comes through prayer and dependence on him.
2Thessalonians 3:1 says, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified…” I also ask that you would pray with us and for us for the upcoming ministries — Mexico outreach and VBS in the park. For, as C. H. Spurgeon has been quoted as saying, “Prayer can never be in excess.”