Praying for Camp Luz

“ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ ” Mt 6:9-10

          Recently, I bought a little book called, “The 21 Most Effective Prayers in the Bible.” While I personally balked a bit at the words “most effective,” I decided to use the book as a devotional for the next twenty-one days. The first three prayers are Eliezer Gn 21:12, Jacob Gn 32:26, and Moses Ex 33:15, which is what I read this morning. I am very careful about these types of books because they lean heavily towards “prosperity theology,” and that is not the direction I lean at all! The danger is that these prayers could become all about me; Give me success, Bless me, Go with me. Really, in context, these prayers are about GOD. All three of these men realized their inability and inadequacy to achieve, accomplish, or acquire anything that God was asking of, or from, them. It was in those moments of sudden realization that they cried out to God for help. In the process of discerning a vision for camp, I have had many such moments!

          This new thing that God is revealing is not about me or about us (camp leaders); it is firmly about what He wants to do in, through, and in spite of, us! I continually go back to Tillie Yoder Nauraine’s words from the late 1940’s:

         

          “I honestly believe that the greatest thing we can possibly visualize for the future of this work is a mere glimpse of what God will actually do for us if we place ourselves and our resources at His disposal.”

          This morning I prayed that God would protect me from trying to accomplish the vision by choosing solutions and methods that are within my grasp; I can be near-sighted when it comes to this vision stuff! I need God to correct my near-sightedness so I can see heavenly solutions and methods. And right then the prayer of Jesus popped into my head, “…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

          And I asked myself, “How does camp-on-earth reflect camp-in-heaven?” Am I/are we, lifting our eyes above and beyond the earthly paradigms for camp, to focus on God’s Kingdom ideal for this ministry? A profound question that certainly echoes Tillie’s quote!

          We have two sayings that we use for Camp Luz; “Another Place God Is” and “God’s Living Room.” We toss these phrases around casually, but if we really believe that God is present, alive, and active in and through these fifty acres, than we need to PRAY….

         

"'Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored! May your kingdom come! May what you want to happen be done in this camp as it is done in heaven!’”

Amen and Amen.