YouthAlpha

Well, it’s been a long, slow process, but recently I got converted. Evangelists have been telling me for ages how much better my life will be if I see things the way they do. They’ve explained that I won’t fully understand until I take the leap of faith, and they’ve testified to their own personal experiences. In the end I’m not sure if I was won over, or merely ground down. Anyway, I finally did it: I upgraded my battered old mobile for a sleek black iPhone.

Despite the fact there have been no blinding lights and no angelic choirs, now I’ve made the switch I must admit that my iPhone really is better. I’m even telling my friends about it, and I actually caught myself advertising an Apple course at the church of All Things Apple.

My old phone was functional, but my iPhone is fun too. What’s more (bear with me here), it’s actually taught me things about communicating with God. My prayer life can easily become merely formal and functional, when it’s meant to be fascinating, enjoyable, intuitive and expansive.

What I’m realising more and more is that prayer isn’t just a way of getting things done and making things happen (a healing here, a heavenly memo there and a parking space at the supermarket on a Saturday afternoon). Prayer is the life-giving heartbeat of a dynamic, colourful, intuitive, intelligent, fun interaction with Jesus Christ.
I sometimes wonder what Adam and Eve talked about with God every evening in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. After all, there was no sin to fight, no sickness to heal, no Gospel to preach, no transformation of society required. They didn’t pray to make stuff happen, they prayed because they enjoyed sharing their lives with God – it was the most natural thing in the world. It was what they were made to do.

We are not Christians because of some cosmic strategy, and we do not pray merely to get things done while functionally serving the Lord. My wife Sammy and I did not have children as a ‘child-raising strategy’, but as an expression of our intimacy: we desired to lovingly raise children to maturity. We pray because we’re wired for delightful intimacy with God.

I’m so excited that you’re setting out on this journey of running a Youth Alpha course. I would encourage you to simply find a friend or two and get together to pray for your course. It’s a good thing to pray for the course in the months and weeks leading up to it, as well as throughout the course itself. Ask others to pray for you and your course, too. If you ask God to do specific things, you’ll be amazed at the miracles you’ll see!

There are no secrets to this stuff, but I would encourage you to try to make it fun as well as functional. Why not include worship, or write down, draw or paint your prayers, or maybe use some visual aids such as photos as you pray for people. Try sticking your small group list on the bathroom mirror, or setting your phone alarm to remind you to pray a one-liner for them at a certain time each day? You can also visit  www.24-7prayer.com  for more ideas and encouraging stories, or get hold of my book Red Moon Rising which will really help you get excited about the power of prayer.

Let’s upgrade our prayer lives by daring to ask big things of God, and making prayer as creative and enjoyable as possible – the word ‘functional’ only makes sense with those first three letters (fun!) at the start.

I hope that as you run Youth Alpha for your friends you also celebrate and grow in your relationship with God, by making time to walk and talk with him each day. That is something my iPhone will never really help me with, but that’s what I’m here for and that’s all that really matters.