- I’ve long said (and believed with all my heart) that prayer is the fuel that makes any church really thrive. Simply put—God wants to talk to His children and He’s far more likely to rain down favor and blessing upon the children who spend time with Him, seek guidance from Him, and confess their sins to Him, than He is with a gathering of “Christians” who don’t really know Him but find it useful to sprinkle His name into a few sermons or slogans to keep that 501c3 tax status current! So, why is prayer (by far) the most difficult thing to get any group of believers doing at any church?Simply put, many people just don’t know how to pray.
That’s why I couldn’t be more proud of my wife for helping us back up a few steps and begin growing the prayer ministry where it began with the disciples when they asked Jesus a simple question, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). From this one simple request we learn two things about those 12 men who camped out with Jesus 24/7 for 3 years.
* They eventually realized that the strength, joy, communion, and power that Jesus lived by, taught by, and did miracles by—came out of His deep and intimate relationship with His Father. In short, Jesus prayed—a lot.
* They eventually realized that in order to move forward even one more inch in their spiritual journey, they needed to learn the importance of prayer.
* They eventually realized that they didn’t even know how to pray.
But they made the right decision. Instead of wallowing in their self pity and confusion—they simply asked God for help—something you and I can do as well. In the book of James—chapter 1—we learn that wisdom can be ours simply for the asking.
So, that’s why I’m thrilled that our church is stepping forward to learn of both the vital importance of prayer and how to pray. Our prayer started off with enthusiasm at Impact, but soon dwindled to a handful of people and eventually only one or two each week. Clearly, we were right where they disciples were before they came to the realization about prayer that changed everything for them. So, two weeks ago we revamped the prayer ministry to include not only prayer, but instruction on how to pray. And guess what? 21 people showed up to pray and learn about prayer! This week there were 32! Now, we can all truly expect great things at Impact because God loves it when His people pray!
- Tonight, we had the first of our once a month nights of worship (N.O.W) that we are calling, “Thirst.” It was a great success and the presence of God was all over that place. If you missed it, I encourage you to come out to the next one. They will be on the last Sunday evening of each month (6:00pm in the Cuthbertson Auditorium).