Kumbaya: Praying for Our Community

You would have to be of a certain vintage to remember the Christian chorus “Kumbaya.” It was popular when I was a teen (hence the term “vintage”). If you’ve never heard the simple chorus, you can check it out here on Youtube. And if you are vintage like me, you’ll stroll down memory lane when you hear that familiar tune.

“Kumbaya” means “come by here.” Originally, we are told, “kumbaya” was a prayer sung by slaves in the American southeast. When I was a teen, we sang that song to invite God’s Presence with us in our own angst and searching.

I sometimes whisper “Kumbaya” as a prayer when I hear a siren.

Why does the sound of a siren trigger the “Kumbaya” prayer?

Because of something I heard my aunt say when I was a boy. Aunt Suzie, who hailed from the small Texas town of Mexia, explained that when you live in a small town and you hear a siren, you can be fairly certain you know the person involved: someone’s house is on fire, someone is in the middle of a medical emergency, someone has run afoul of the law. The sound of a siren means that someone is having a bad day – maybe the worst day of his life – and in a small town, you probably know that person.

Praying when I hear a siren is one way to be a prayerful presence in my community. There are other ways. I remember when I was rehabbing my new knee a couple of years ago, I had to walk around my neighborhood to get in my minutes of walking. That gave me the chance to think about and pray about my neighbors as I walked past their houses every day. I turned my knee rehab into prayer walks.

I recently read an article by Thom Rainer about ten ways to pray for your community.

Some are obvious: praying when you see a police station, firehouse, hospital, or funeral home, for instance. Those are places where people are dealing with crises on a regular basis.

But other suggestions from Rainer, particularly his insights concerning the outward appearances of homes, were intriguing.

From the article:

You notice evidence of children in a home: “Maybe there are toys in the driveway or a swing set in the back yard,” says Rainer. “Perhaps the kids are playing outside. When I see these evidences, I pray for (a) wisdom for parents, and for (b) grace that the parents and the children will know the Lord.”

Kumbaya, my Lord.

Come by here to provide Your wisdom and protection for these parents and this family.

You see a “For Sale” sign in the yard: “Here,” says Rainer, “I pray that the family moving out will experience a gospel witness and find a church home wherever they’re moving. I then pray for the family moving in that (a) if they’re believers, we could join forces to reach the neighborhood, or (b) if they’re not believers, someone—beginning with me—will be a witness to them.”

Kumbaya, my Lord.

Come by here to provide smooth transitions for the family going and the family coming.

You see a home in apparent disarray: Rainer offers a keen insight here. “Often, those signs indicate some kind of chaos in that home. That could be anything from family conflict to unemployment to health issues to aging homeowners—but prayer is in order. God knows what’s going on behind closed doors.”

Someone’s crying, Lord.

Come by here to comfort and provide.

O Lord, Kumbaya.

His providential placement

In His sovereignty, God has strategically placed each of us in a neighborhood, office, or shop where we are surrounded by people who don’t know Him. The first step to sharing the Gospel with our unbelieving friends isn’t inviting them to church; the first step is praying for them, by name if possible.

And as we become aware of needs in their lives, the next step toward a robust spiritual conversation might just be telling them we will pray for them (and if we’re already in the habit of praying for them, we are more likely to keep our word).

They are not our neighbors and colleagues by happenstance but by God’s design. When we pray for God to come to our unbelieving neighbors and friends, we can look for Him to prepare their hearts to hear the Good News about Jesus.

To see the whole article by Thom Rainer, go to https://www.tyndale.com/sites/church-connect, and search for “Ten Ways to Pray in Your Community” or click here for a pdf of the article.

Persevere, Paul Pyle Pastor of Discipleship