I was asked to write a blog article on “3 Healthy Habits for a Healthy Praying Life” and as I thought about it, I decided to emphasize just one healthy habit. The one healthy habit that I long for ALL believers to establish for themselves is a daily prayer time with our Lord.

Unfortunately, it’s rare to find a believer who has a consistent prayer time. I’m not talking about saying grace before a meal or saying quick prayers when you’re stressed out. I think those kinds of engagements with the Lord are more common amongst Christians but what I’m referring to is a specific time set aside each day to talk with the Father.

Now you might be thinking, “Do I really need a daily time to talk with the Lord? Isn’t the blessing of faith in Jesus the fact that I can talk with God anytime and anywhere?” Well, yes, that’s true. Jesus has certainly brought us into the continual presence of God through His Spirit that dwells within us. However, his presence in us doesn’t create an immediate intimate communion with him and knowing of him.

Paul Miller opens chapter 5 of his book, A Praying Life, writing this, “You’d think if Jesus was the Son of God, he wouldn’t need to pray. Or at least he wouldn’t need a specific prayer time because he’d be in such a constant state of prayer. You’d expect him to have a direct line to his heavenly Father, like broadband to heaven. At the least, you’d think Jesus could do a better job of tuning out the noise of the world. But surprisingly, Jesus seemed to need time with God just as much as we do.”

When I first read that chapter years ago, it completely tweaked my understanding of my relationship with God. I thought exactly what Paul Miller had written. I thought Jesus was in constant communion with the Father (which he was), but I didn’t make the connection that in his humanity, his intimate communion with the Father was facilitated by the very human practice of one-on-one time with the Father. Intimacy with God didn’t just happen for Jesus. (Throughout the Gospels, we read that Jesus regularly spends time alone with the Father - Matt 14:23, Mark 1:35, 6:46, Luke 4:42, 6:12, 11:1, 22:39:40).

Jesus spent time alone with the Father because all significant relationships require undivided attention and time together if intimacy is to grow. And so, if Jesus made space for his relationship with the Father, we also need to do the same. There’s more to say about this but for now I pray you’ll begin the practice of having a specific prayer time with the Lord. It’s the primary habit that must be established in order have a healthy praying life.

1. A Packed Schedule

I pray more when I have margins in my schedule. This is a no brainer but for some reason I keep going in circles when it comes to this hinderance to prayer. I think the reason is because I enjoy being needed and getting things done. If there’s something good that needs to get done and I can do it, I think to myself, “Why not do it?” If I can help my kids out, ease my wife’s hectic schedule, save some money and fix something on my own or spend some time with a discouraged friend, then why not do it? But prayer is born out of facing all the things we can’t do in life. We turn and cry out to the Lord because we can’t do something or we don’t know how to do something. But a busy life is usually busy because we are invested in what we can do. So when I’m consumed with what I can do, then I have less time to sit and think about the many things that are beyond my control but not beyond Christ’s love in me. But when I have time to sit and face the things beyond my control but not beyond the Spirit’s love in me, that’s when I start to pray.

2. An Unstressed Life

I pray when I’m in need. I cry out to the Father when a dear friend is diagnosed with cancer or with some illness that I’ve never heard of before. I plead with Jesus when a dad or mom has been laid off of work and they have children to care for, rent to pay and now a new job to find. I come before the Spirit when I’m stuck in conflict and yet I’m longing to respond with the humility and love of Jesus. I intercede before the Lord for friends when they are holding on to the truth that they are new creations in Christ, while at the same time fighting their old nature that’s betraying their sainthood. I pray when I or others are in need. But when life is not stressful, when family relationships are at peace, when friends are doing well, when my business plan is rolling out “as planned”, when I’m not sick, when the people I interact with are pleasant and respectful… that’s when I pray less.

3. A Conflicted Heart

Prayer is personal and intimate conversation with the Lord. It’s open and unhindered communication with one who knows us better than we know ourselves. So, if I am doing something or desire to do something I know is contrary to the Lord’s character, or if I am dwelling on things I know are not pleasing to Him… well, I’m not going to want to talk with Him. We experience this relational dynamic almost every day in our family, friends and work relationships. If you’ve failed to meet a deadline at work, you’re not going to want to go out to lunch with your supervisor. If you’ve cheated on a test or turned in copied homework, then you’re not going to stick around after class and chat with your professor. If you’ve chosen not to listen to your parent or ignored your spouse’s request, then you’re not going to initiate conversation with them. The same is true with the Lord. Your prayer life won’t move forward until you’ve faced the conflict you know is between you and the Lord.

Pastor Kenny has played a key role in coordinating our outdoor services for the past year. Here, he shares some of the challenges this past year and our preparations for moving services back indoors .

Please Share what happened one year ago when the church had to livestream.

Our country decided to follow a nationwide lockdown in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The initial idea was the slow the spread and then it seemed like it turned into an attempt to completely stop the spread.

By God’s providence, we had purchased video streaming equipment a few months earlier for a memorial service we hosted at our church in May 2019. And so, when we were deciding to livestream our worship service, we already had the equipment necessary to do it.

We started live-streaming on Sunday, March 15th, and have been doing it ever since.

What were some of the challenges when the church was able to reopen at limited capacity indoors?

The main challenges were understanding which COVID-19 protocols were necessary. Then the challenge was to make sure we agreed on how the protocols would be followed on Evergreen SGV‘s campus. The other challenge was and continues to be reliable knowledge about COVID-19 in general. However, as more time passes and different states in our country apply various approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears that we are getting a clearer picture of what protocols are necessary for us to follow in order to protect the most vulnerable in our society and which ones we can stop practicing. 

Describe what outdoor service first looked liken when it began summer 2020.

We first started outdoor service as an alternative service for those who wanted to worship in-person and were weary of online church. We held the service outside at 9 am without a PA system. Pastor Victor led two worship songs at the beginning, Rocky preached and then we closed in worship. It was simple but sweet. After the outdoor service, we would go inside and do the livestream service at 10:30.

We eventually combined the two services and started to livestream the outdoor worship service as it is today.

Please share how outdoor service has grown since then.

Outdoor service began with about 15 to 25 people but once we created one outdoor service, it quickly grew to approximately 150 each Sunday. Recently, with more and more people being vaccinated, we now average about 225 to 245 people each week. The PA system is clear and the worship team is no longer just Pastor Victor on the guitar but it’s grown to 4 to 5 people worship teams and now even drums! I have already heard many times how people enjoy worshipping outside. However, with increasing temperatures, we are looking forward to going back inside.

Please share some of the discussion going on as we prepare to reopen service indoors again.

As we prepare to go indoors again, we want to focus on two things: One, we want to make sure that we were following the Los Angeles county health department guidelines. Two, we want to address the health concerns our church family might have regarding worshipping indoors.

As for the LA County guidelines, we are currently in the Orange Tier and so we are allowed to meet indoors at 50% capacity. As for the health concerns, we will be following the social distancing protocols laid out by the county and plan to continue to health screen everyone coming into our worship service. We are also assessing the rare possibility of COVID-19 being spread via aerosols since we believe that is the primary concern of most people as we plan to move back into the sanctuary. We will also have an outdoor option available for those who are not ready to return indoors.

Looking back, what are some of the lessons our church can glean from this year?

There are so many lessons we have learned over this past year. 

We have learned that we need to communicate better at all levels leadership and with you, our church family. 

We learned that ALL news sources have an agenda and bias, and so it’s necessary to balance our intake with both Left-leaning news sources with Right-leaning ones. We are better informed when we do our research well. 

We’ve learned that we must focus on growing each believer deeper in their relationship with Christ and with one another (i.e. focus on discipleship) and not on large programs. When all the programs cease, what is left? What is left are relationships and so we want to major in relationship in the upcoming years. 

And last of all, for me, I have learned again that death is our greatest fear and that our message, the gospel message, the message of the whole Bible, addresses this most foundational fear of humanity.

Please join us for “Moving Forward", a presentation assessing the risk of infection from moving services indoors by church member, Dr. James Chow, this Sunday, 4/18 at 1pm. You can sign up at www.evergreensgv.org. 

by Kenny Wada

When I was in high school, by God's abundant mercy, he opened my eyes to see that Jesus gave his life for me so that I might live with him and for him (2 Corinthians 5:15).  He allowed me to see that the Creator and sustainer of all things was inviting me, one out of billions of people, to repent, believe in him, love him and fully enjoy him.  This revelation was unbelievable to me.

Today, I still find it hard to FULLY embrace this truth that in Christ, God desires to know me AND make himself known to me.  And it's not only because I think I'm not that important, but it's also because of other beliefs and attitudes I have that Paul Miller unearthed through his book, A Praying Life. 

The book, A Praying Life, is not just a book about how to pray, but about what life looks like in relationship with God.  It's about relating to a heavenly Father in a secure, free and child-like manner that's unhindered by distrust or self-importance. 

I think one of the endorsers says it best when he (Scotty Smith) writes, "With childlike wonder, sage-like wisdom, and heartfelt candor, Paul shows us that to pray is to see Jesus more clearly and meet him more regularly in every single aspect and moment of the day." 

So if you long to experience a real and working relationship with God, check out Paul Miller's book,A Praying Life.You can also join us as we go through his book for 10 weeks on Tuesday nights from 8pm to 9pm starting on February 23rd. Register here.

by Kenny Wada

Though all of our Congregational Life ministries have either stopped or become virtual gatherings, we continue to ask the Lord to leverage the advantages of online interactions and fill in its inherent deficiencies.  Some of the pluses of online communities are:

1. Easily accessible, so it makes it simple for newcomers to "drop-in" and check out small groups or fellowships

2. More consistent attendance since busy schedules, freeway traffic and unplanned interruptions are less of an issue when attending a meeting is only a click away

3. Less work involved in preparing the meeting space (you don't have to get snacks together or clean up your home!)

4. Easier to meet new people online, stay connected to them through social media and in some ways get to know them quicker because of the ease of communicating online

However, the ease of connecting to an online community is also an inherent weakness.  Online communities require less effort and are therefore less costly than in-person relationships: 

1. You don't have to deal with unpleasant smells like bad breath (your own or someone else’s)

2. You don't have to fear standing alone by yourself because everyone is equally spaced apart in nicely framed rectangles (you can even hide yourself and still listen in on what everyone is saying!)

3. You also don't need or deal with all the awkward tensions and conflicts of in-person interactions

But all these extra efforts, awkward tensions and anxious relational issues are all a part of real, face-to-face relationships that challenge and shape our character and cause us to turn to the Lord for the strength, forgiveness, courage and ability to love like Jesus.  

It is the deep and painful costs of loving real, broken and sinful people that God uses to bring us to the end ourselves and to the beginning of our total trust and dependance upon him.  Nothing brings us quicker to the foot of the cross and the mercy of Jesus than the hardships of in-person relationships.  

I would imagine that your in-person relationships at home have either driven you nuts or have driven you to the foot of the cross.  If that's true for you, that’s because in-person relationships are costly.

May we continue to take advantage of the benefits of virtual communities while remaining aware of their built-in limitations.