Archive for Prayer
A Challenge to Prayer
from Nathan FishHey church family, we’ve been praying for a long time in our Tuesday morning prayer time that folks within our worshipping community would gather together in prayer. Scripture tells us this is a critical component of our collective connectedness with God:
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:18-20)
From personal experience, I believe praying together also helps us to grow spiritually. I don’t think God wants any of us to miss the blessing of doing this. My challenge to each of you is twofold:
- Find 1 or 2 people to pray with and set a time/place to meet regularly. Make it a part of your planned schedule. You’re very much welcome to join us on Tuesdays at 7:15am at Nexus (we meet most weeks).
- Pray for our leadership – they need our support in this way and will be encouraged to know we are lifting them up. Pray for God’s blessing upon Wayne, Mike, Matt, Robby, and their families, and let them know you are praying for them. Lift up other leaders and potential leaders in our church, as well as missionaries and ministry workers that you know. Here is a link to a guide I like to use as I pray for them daily.
I am excited about what God will do through our simple act of talking with him!
Blessings,Nathan
An Advent Prayer
So, December is here (with a snow-flake or two this morning!) and the so called “holiday season” is upon us. I hope you’ll spend some time with this “prayer.” It’s a reminder of the rhythm of life that God has for us – a healthy, holistic, slower-than-you-think-you-can-manage(!) rhythm …
Happy Advent!
The lord is my pace setter . . . I shall not rush
He makes me stop for quiet intervals
He provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity
He leads me in the way of efficiency through calmness of mind and his guidance is peace
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day, I will not fret, for his presence is here
His timelessness, his all importance will keep me in balance
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity by anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility
My cup of joyous energy overflows
Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours for I shall walk in the Pace of my Lord and dwell in his house for ever.
A version of Psalm 23 from Japan, as reprinted in Mother Teresa, Life in the Spirit: Reflections, Meditations, Prayers
Friday Thoughts on Prayer
A guest blog post from Randy and Marcia Orban:
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Imagine, for a moment, knowing or raising a child who never begged for anything! Try imagining a child who never, ever asked for anything! As you contemplate that scenario, you might initially think, “that would be wonderful!’ However, it wouldn’t be long before you would be saying, “this child is really strange!”
Imagine for another moment, knowing or raising a child who would walk up to a total stranger, asking them to buy the food, clothing or toys they wanted. This just doesn’t happen!
Children ask from those whom they know and trust. Children ask from those whom they know will provide for them. So it is to be in our relationship with our Father in heaven.
Charles H. Spurgeon once said, “Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom.” God delights in our asking because we are His children.
No need is too small for God. Hebrews 4:14-15 tells us that Jesus is now our high priest who makes intercession for us before God the Father. He was tempted in all things and he sympathizes with our needs and weaknesses. All we need to do is honor God by taking all of our needs before his throne in prayer. We can know and trust Him! We can freely receive His mercy and grace.
………..
Please join us for a time of prayer this Sunday from 9:00 – 9:45 a.m. We will pray for our morning worship gathering, the leadership, and all who attend. Come join us if you are free to do so. If not, take a moment to lift up some of the needs below:
- Tonight, pray for God’s protection and blessing on our “Family Night” get together in Radcliff.
- For Saturday, remember the ministry outreach of Open House. Pray that lives are changed for Christ Jesus!
- On Sunday, Wayne will continue his teaching on prayer from the Word. Smother him with your prayers!
- Lift up Matt and all the worship team. Pray for our worship to be a fragrant aroma before God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
……….
Peace in Christ Jesus, Randy & Marcia
A Prayer for A Great “Turn-around”
“O God, as Jesus changed water into wine, turn our daily deadlines into lifelines of mission. When we are most bushed, make us most brushed by the breezes of your Spirit. When the bottom drops out & we don’t seem able to hold any ground at all, show us how to hold on to you to get to high ground. When our journey through life becomes one of walking on eggshells or walking in circles, show us how to walk on water.” Amen
From Leonard Sweet
Intimate, Persistent, Shameless Prayer
In our worship gathering yesterday, we began a series of teachings on prayer. We looked at Jesus’ words in Luke 11:1-13. I’m excited that we’ll be spending the next few weeks exploring prayer together as a church! If you missed Sunday’s message or if you want to follow along with the series, you can listen to the recordings on our podcast page.
As a “sending out” challenge, I asked that we accept Jesus’ offer to go to God in the intimate, persistent, and shameless way he teaches us in the Luke passage. As an encouragement to do that this week, I want to share with you some thoughts on prayer from Randy Orban, who’s part of our community. He sent this in an email a few weeks ago, but I thought it was especially timely:
God desires to have an intimate relationship with us; a love relationship that goes deeper and is fuller than the relationships we have with the ones we love the most here on earth.
Can you imagine having a deep long lasting relationship with your spouse, fiancee or good friend by only devoting 5 to 10 minutes a day in meaningful communication with him/her? Would you want to take the risk of raising your children by giving them sets of tasks and rules to follow while only spending 5 or 10 minutes a day devoted to developing their character and expressing your love for them?
And yet the average professing Christian spends only 5 to 10 minutes a day developing life’s most important love relationship. A relationship with our creator.
Are you praying 5 minutes? Try stretching it to 10. 10 minutes? Go for 15! The more time spent in God’s presence means the reward of being able to know God’s plan for your life while experiencing the joy and pleasures he has reserved for you.
Here’s a way to start: First, praise God for his desire to have a love relationship with you. Second, ask Him to strengthen your prayer life and deepen your relationship with Him. Third, ask Him to fill you with His joy, eternal pleasures, and knowledge of what He has made you for. Come before Him expecting to receive what you ask for!
A Prayer for Our Church
Hey everyone, I want to share a prayer with y’all. This is both a summary of my sermon for tomorrow morning and a prayer for our community in the coming weeks.
Hope you’ll join in -
Lord, what a privilege it is to be your body! But God, we know that with that privilege comes the potential for fouling it all up. We confess that there have been times when the church has not been all that it should be. And although it may be our tendency to focus on how simply profound and complex your church is, I pray that you would remind us just how profoundly simple it all is.
Point us to authentic trust in the sufficiency of your son. God, you came and lived the perfectly faithful Christian life in a man named Jesus of Nazareth; Lord, do it again today – in us! We’ll be your faithful body!
Immerse us, by the power of your Spirit, into a body that reflects the God-ordained diversity of the parts, where we all function inter-dependently, where authentic love trumps selfish pride, and where God-given vision is the driving force behind the adventure that is church life.
Amen.
