Friday, January 01, 2010

The Power of Prayer

The Power of Prayer has really struck me recently, and if I really, truly, believed it worked, I would pray without ceasing. As I was reading, First Press, a bi-weekly news and information mailer, from First Presbyterian Church, I was blown away, after reading the following story.

An Inkling, posted by Keith Hill

"Tears streamed down his cheeks as he told about the letter. His Mom had just died at the age of 97. As he was cleaning out her house, he found an old box of letters, one of which was written to him as a baby by his grandparents. His mom had filed the letter away, and he had never known that it existed. In the letter his grandparents told him that they were very proud to have him in the family, and that they would pray for him daily to become a Christian, and then to become a pastor.

The man I hear tell about this letter is Gary Demarest, a retired pastor, and a leader among evangelicals in the the Presbyterian Church. One reason that the letter touched him so deeply is that he never really knew those grandparents. Moreover, his parents were not practicing Christians, and so Gary grew up ignorant of the faith. By God's grace others introduced him to Christ as a teenager. Soon after, he determined that Go had called him into the ministry. He served as a pastor for over 50 years. Gary was so overwhelmingly grateful for those grandparents who prayed for him that he could hardly tell the story.

All of which leads me to ask: for whom are you praying?"

A friend of mine, Jessica, posted a great blog entry on praying for missionaries. I still covet the prayers of my family and friends because either you are a missionary or you need a missionary. :)

Ways to be active in prayer for missions.

Even if you are unable to go on a cross-cultural missions trip, or financially support missionaries, you can still support us and be involved in missions through your prayers.

The following ideas were taken from World Gospel Mission's magazine The Call, and can be found online here.

1. Select a missionary whose work and daily life are accessible to you. Privately, each morning or evening, pray with fervent desire that your missionary will be blessed.

2. Give prayerful consideration to your life and to all the people in it. Is there any group of people, nation, or race against whom your heart is hardened or whom you struggle to understand or love? Study this group, and learn more about them and their history.

3. Jesus commanded His disciples to begin their missions work in Jerusalem. What center of power is there to which you submit? The national capital? Your school? Your family? Whoever it is, contact them and ask them specifically how you can pray for them. Later, contact them again and ask how things are going in the area where you prayed.

4. Each day for a month, start your morning with a sincere plea to God to make clear His will for your life. Do not argue or bargain—just ask God to show you what He wants.