November 2021 Ridiculous Hour Foundation Mobile Mission

©2021 Kat Silverglate, Mission Founder

We had a pastor who often reminded our congregation:

”When someone walks into a church, they aren’t kidding.”

I kinda knew what he meant from my own experience; but certainly nothing could have imprinted the meaning on me more deeply than the way the phrase “oh by the way” eventually did.

I’m not sure exactly who said it or when it happened, but I do remember standing with a group of friends after a church service when someone I didn’t know very well pulled me aside for a private moment: 

“Oh, by the way,” they began. “Thank you for praying for _________________. Things have really turned around. I knew you’d want to know.”

I’m pretty sure I felt grateful for all that God was doing in this one ridiculous life, but I was also caught off guard. Embarrassed. I had promised to pray. I had intended to pray. But I had completely forgotten about the request until this person started to share his or her story of God’s faithfulness. The moment left a serious imprint. And a slightly tweaked iteration of that early pastoral wisdom -- when someone asks you to pray, they aren’t kidding.

At some point, the phrase “will you pray for me” became a trigger that sent me right to that old imprint. And not in a good way either. Inside, I’d get all tied up in knots and anxious. My mind would go from “I need to write this down,” to “how am I going to remember not to forget this?” to “why do I forget sometimes?”

And then one day, either someone shared this practice with me or the counter productivity of guilt pushed me to look for a better way. In short, I dropped the “why.” I ditched the question “why do I forget?” and decided to simply PRAy.

Pray Right Away

Isn’t it interesting to look at the word “pray” without the “y?” Both the literal “y” and the figurative “why.” When we stop with the guilt, we find within the word itself an acronym that encourages us in our faithfulness. P.R.A. – pray right away.

Think about it, the moment someone asks you to pray, you can do it as they walk away, as you hang up the phone, or as you finish reading their text. Or, you can simply offer, when appropriate, “would you like to pray together now?”

Of course this doesn’t mean you won’t continue to pray. Or pray later. Or write it down. Or pay attention when the Holy Spirit brings this person to your heart. What it does mean is that we have agency to form practices that help us along in our journey. Oh, and by the way, this practice of choosing to pray right away was a game changer for me. 

The Psalmist gives us his own “by the way” celebration of God’s faithfulness in Psalm 89:1:

I will sing of the LORD’s

great love forever; with

 my mouth I will make

your faithfulness known

through all generations

What a wonderful way to use BTW in our daily lives; a way to use the phrase “by the way” as a gift to others. Those words, when followed by a celebration of God’s faithfulness, bring hope. If ever there was a reason to sing, isn’t this it? If there ever was a reason to celebrate and to share hope, isn’t this the way?  “Oh, by the way, God...”

Shouldn’t we be “by-the-waying” all over each other?

I know my faith grows every time someone slows down enough to share God’s faithfulness in their lives. To update me on a prayer request. When they dare to speak of how the Lord is moving in and around them. Every BTW a gift.  Every share a blessing.  

Our Mission this Month:

You have two BTW “Post It” notes in your mission pack. We found them on Amazon by a company called knockknockstuff.com. You also have two simple white cards. One has a sticker on the back that says “thank you.” The other is blank. Here are our BTW ideas. Our podcast has more! 

1. BTW Note with Blank Card: At some point this month, see if you have an opportunity to PRAy [pray right away]. Consider [if appropriate] sending a note to the person who asked you to pray: “BTW, I’m continuing to pray.” Your faithfulness points to Him. And His faithfulness points to hope. Psalm 89:1.

• BTW Note with Thank You Card: Have you ever shared God’s faithfulness after asking someone to pray? “BTW, God gave me peace, thank you for praying!” “BTW, I feel the Lord’s comfort, thanks for prayer!” “BTW, God...” Consider how the simple act of sharing God’s faithfulness brings hope to you and to others. Psalm 89:1.

On our podcast this month, we share a few more BTW ideas. We pray God inspires us all to rethink our response to the invitation to pray without ceasing and to declare His faithfulness to the generations.

We’d love to hear your BTW story! How did you choose to use your equipping piece this month? Email us at [email protected]!