The Prayer below is from Dr. Bob Burns, Dean of Life Long Learning at Covenant Seminary Saint Louis.  I asked him to pray for the church, Renee and me during this time of transition and he responded with this wonderful prayer.

Lord Jesus, I pray for my brother Mike this morning. You know how hard transitions are — after all, you gave up heaven to become flesh on this broken earth. You know the way Mike’s heart is being torn by this transition:  relationships that have become dear, work that — while at times a pain — has become “normal” for him. The struggles and challenges at Redemption have never been easy, but You have sustained him through them. Our hearts become bound and knitted together through these kinds of struggles. Lord, You know he is still working through the transition out of the military. So there are a lot of losses going on right now. When we make these moves, there are always things we must leave that we never understood were so dear to our hearts.

Lord, was it this hard on Abraham when you told him to leave home? Was it this hard on David when Saul drove him out of Jerusalem? How about David, when Absalom was driving him out of Jerusalem? Or Daniel and his friends when they were taken into exile? And especially Jesus? Lord, we confess that transitions are hard. Loss of the familiar, loss of relationship, loss of weekly routine, loss of weekly preaching. Lots of loss.

And then, Lord, there is the unknown of the future. Lord, I’m sure Mike is looking at coming to the seminary and asking all kinds of questions that can’t be answered until he lives and works in this environment. Lord, he might be worried about the expectations. What about the people he is working with? And then, Father, there are the questions about moving “home” with family and old friends. Lord, you know that “home” is never the same when we come “back.”

So, Father, here is my brother. Give him the confidence that You will never leave him or forsake him. Give him the assurance of Your love. May Your Holy Spirit be very real to him, providing comfort and care, as well as the kick in the butt that we all need to take the next step. Help him to pastor Redemption well in the transition. This is Your church, Lord, not Mike’s. May he make the transition easy on the next pastor. Give the elders and the congregation the capacity to see You, trust You, know that You are going to lead them in the next steps.

Lord, we are broken. We are desperate. Here we are at this age, and we are still like children. But that is okay. When we are weak, You are strong. So let us be weak, Lord. Only that You would be glorified. Magnify Your name in us. May Jesus Christ be praised in our weakness. Amen.