Neighborhood Alliance Church

Sharon and I have just enjoyed a week’s vacation. We drove across Snoqualmie Pass, through central and eastern Washington to reach Pomeroy, where one of my sisters now lives. As we drove through “wheat country,” we saw several groves of wind turbines—those tall white windmills now being used to generate electrical power. After returning home, I did a bit of research on these intriguing machines.

Why do those wind turbines fascinate me? Maybe it’s because they remind me of our lives as Christians. For example, the turbines have no power of their own. They are completely dependent on the movement of the wind through their gigantic blades. Without wind they produce nothing. How like us! Apart from the moving of the Spirit of Christ in us, we can produce nothing of spiritual value (and by the way, the Greek word for “spirit” can also be translated as “wind”).

Each wind turbine we saw had three blades attached to a generator located at the top of a tower. The whole top apparatus was made to swivel and align itself with the wind when it shifted. The wind will not adjust itself to the turbine. Instead, the turbine must adjust to the wind. This reminded me that we need to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). When the Spirit of God slows down, speeds up, turns or stops, we need to be sensitive enough to him to change our course accordingly.

The wind turbine tower is a tube—large enough in diameter to enclose a ladder by which maintenance people can climb up to service the generator. Part of the power from each wind turbine is used to light the interior of the tower and to run the computer that monitors and controls it. But the strength of the wind generates not only enough power for each turbine’s own needs, it also produces surplus power that is sent into an electrical grid to supply power to many others. In a similar way, the Spirit of Christ in us supplies not only our own personal needs but also empowers us to help meet the needs of others.

Although we could not see this from just driving by the wind turbines, I learned later that the wind grows stronger at higher elevations. So the higher the tower, the greater the power. Again—how like our Christian lives. As we draw near to God, the more the power of his Spirit will be available to flow through our lives. “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8).

After installing a wind turbine, the manufacturer could say: “You will receive power when the wind blows on you.” That’s much like what Jesus actually did say about his followers: “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Scripture tells us that we Christians “do not know what we ought to pray for” (Rom. 8:26). To compensate for our weakness, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. It should come as no surprise, then, that the prayer-wise Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible writers should have included in Scripture some examples of how to pray for fellow believers.

Just the other day, in a morning time of quiet with the Lord, I came across another prayer we can use as a model when we pray for others. David originally prayed this prayer. It’s found in Psalm 28:9—”Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.” Four simple but profound requests for God’s people: Save them. Bless them. Shepherd them. Carry them.

Lord—teach us to pray!