Compassion
How would you describe your prayer life? For many of us, we might find it hard to pray. Perhaps you do not know how to pray. You might have learned how to pray as a child, or recite the Lord's prayer, but with the passing of years you find praying not a delight, but a struggle. Besides, the pace of our modern life leaves little time to pray. And then there is the doubt. You wonder whether or not prayer really makes a difference at all. As churches we might state that our number one task is prayer, but as the NCD research done among our churches reveals, for the vast majority, times of prayer are not an inspiring experience.
We have been considering the Biblical values that shape the culture of the CRCA, a contemporary, Reformed, gospel-focused denomination. The last value is prayerful urgency, which I introduced in a previous blog. By prayerful urgency we are saying that we are humbly dependent upon God and filled with prayerful, sacrificial compassion for the lost in the world. The word "urgency" conjurs up ideas such as dire, pressing, serious, intense, compelling, high-priority. So how do we as churches get to that level of prayerful urgency? This will happen when we are filled with prayerful, sacrifical compassion for the lost in the world. The late Henry Nouwen (d. 1996) put it like this: "Prayer for others ... is the very beat of a compassionate heart." (Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life) What will drive prayerful urgency in our churches? Compassion will! Prayerful, sacrificial compassion!
What is compassion? Compassion denotes care, concern, and empathetic feeling for others. We see this compassion most perfectly in God himself, in his merciful and loving care for the world he has made, and especially in the sacrificial gift of his Son Jesus. In the Psalms we read: "The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion." (Psalm 116:5: cf. James 5:11) Full of compassion! This compassion extends to everything and everybody, as we read in Psalm 145:9: "The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." And His compassion is far from limited. In fact, "His compassion is great!" (Psalm 119:156) "His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) God crowns us with "love and compassion" (Psalm 103:4) The word "crown" used here is a picture of God's compassion flooding over us. Jesus himself modelled compassion throughout his life on earth. His heart of compassion moved Jesus to heal the sick, comfort the grieving, counsel the disstressed, raise the dead, and in the end to "give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45) As we read in Matthew 9:36: "When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."
As churches we value compassion for this is the heart of God for our world. We remember the words of our Lord: "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." (John 13:15; cf. Philippians 2:1) As Christ-followers, God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, we are to clothe ourselves with compassion. (Colossians 3:12) God's heart of compassion for the world is to become our heart of compassion for the world. Through compassion we will feel the hurt, the pain, the lostness, the agony of those around us. As Henry Nouwen writes:
... to pray for all these people is not a futile effort to influence God's will, but a hospitable gesture by which we invite our neighbours into the center of our hearts. To pray for others means to make them part of ourselves. To pray for others means to allow their pains and sufferings, their anxieties and loneliness, their confusion and fears to resound in our innermost selves.... In compassionate prayer, we bring before God those who suffer not merely "over there," not simply "long ago," but here and now in our innermost selves. (Compassion)
As churches we value prayerful, sacrificial compassion since we know that only through such compassion will we be able to have prayerful urgency. Compassion for the lost in all the world will drive us to our knees, again and again. So if you find prayer difficult, if you find you have no time to pray, if you question whether or not your prayers will make a difference at all, then I suggest you do what Jesus did. Look at the crowds. Look to the millions of people in our world today who are lost, like sheep without shepherd. Look at the thousands upon thousands of people who are being led astray, our cities "full of lifes, full of plunder, never without victims!" (Nahum 3:1) Look at the injustice throughout the world, where the unborn are killed, where children are sold into slavery, where people "trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed." (Amos 2:7) And as you look at the crowds, be filled with compassion for the lost in all the world. Invite your neighbours into the center of your heart. Feel their hurt, their pain, their lostness. Filled with compassion you will sense the urgency of prayer. You will cry out to God on the behalf of all the lost in the world. As churches our hearts will beat with hearts of compassion!
If you missed the rest of this series, click on the links below:
CRCA Core Values:
Overview of Core Biblical Values
- Contemporary Reformed (confessional and contextual)
- Word-Based
- Gospel-Focused (kingdom-orientated, outward-looking, evangelistic, disciple-making, community-hearted)
- Local Church Empowering (support, partnership, mutual accountability, encouragement)
- Prayerful Urgency
About the author
Jack De Vries was hired on by the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia and began his work as Ministry Training Coordinator in January 2008. In 2012 this role shifted to that of Ministry Development Coach.
Jack came from Canada where he pastored three Christian Reformed churches: Alliston CRC, Alliston, Ontario(1983-87), a church plant: New Life Community Church, Pickering, Ontario(1987-95), and Bethel CRC, Listowel, Ontario (1995-2007). Jack is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity - 1983) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Doctor of Ministry - 2003) Jack and his wife Jeannie currently live in Petrie, a northern suburb of Brisbane in Queensland. They attend and are members of Bray Park Community Church. They have four adult children and seven grandchildren living in the USA and Canada.
In Isaiah 58:11 we read: "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Australia has seen times of drought and floods. There is another type of drought in Australia; there is a spiritual drought. But God promises to provide refreshing rain, a never ending supply of refreshing water. The water he provides will satisfy the needs of all Australians. As we take up the missional vision God has given us we extend the life changing invitation of Jesus: "Come! Whoever is thirsty, come, and take the free gift of the water of life!" (Revelation 22:17)
