When I was a child we used to practice memorized prayers,     specifically before meals and   bedtime. Before meals it was “Come Lord Jesus be our guest, and let this food to us be blessed”. Later it expanded to “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.” I never did understand how “good” and “food” were supposed to rhyme, but we still said it, and I said it with my own children too. Before bed we would pray,  “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord, my soul to keep. If I should die  before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” As an adult looking back on it, praying about death seems pretty heavy for a child, but honestly, as a kid, I never     really thought about it. I’m sure for some children it might have been scary. Society has since   updated that prayer, and it now says, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; God’s love to guard me through the night, and wake me in  the morning’s light.” I like the change.

As a congregation, we have been working through another memorized prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. Each week, we have been focusing on a different word or phrase with hopes of bringing greater understanding and meaning to the prayer that we say so often. In the process, I called our church to prayer. I believe this will be a continual call, as it is one of the primary things we do as Christians.  

  Prayer is how we connect to God and how we discern God’s will. We praise God, and petition for what we need. We pray for forgiveness, and we pray thanksgiving. We pray unceasingly, with constant communication with God—in the shower, in the car, in line at the store, while cooking dinner, etc. We also pray intentionally, with time set apart to focus and listen, often accompanied by reading Scripture. We pray for breakthrough when we need God to move mountains and do signs and wonders in our lives, doing what only God can do.

I am asking everyone to pray, but I also invite you to pray about joining me in Prayer Ministry. God has placed many dreams on my heart about this—prayer vigils, prayer walks soaking the city in prayer, prayer chains, prayer boards, prayer meetings, a breakthrough prayer initiative, and more. Can you imagine what wonders God will do?! I’m excited about it and anticipating the miraculous!!

I offer a “breakthrough prayer” for us to begin praying, and I ask that you pray this, along with many other prayers, often:

Lord, break through and open doors to new hopes and possibilities for our church and in our lives. We surrender our wills to You, and faithfully follow You into the new and unknown future. May Your will be done.  Amen!
 
In Christ’s Service
Pastor Sherry