Prayer Night

Prayer….an essential to our walk with Christ.  So why is it so hard?  I don’t know about you, but I find myself pushing prayer off “to another time” or seeing the advertisement for a prayer night and wondering how long is it going to be.  Why is it hard…I know the answer…my heart is sinful and my trust is lacking.

I have seen prayer work. I watched as my dad received a liver to replace his own sick one filled with cancer that was killing his body.  Yes, it was the doctors that performed the surgery, but I strongly believe that it is God who provided that liver. It is God who gives doctors wisdom, to do such a thing as a liver transplant, and it is God who healed his body.   I watched my youngest daughter come down with a rare nervous system virus when she was 18 months old.  A virus that took my active, waddling toddler back to the stages of newborn, unable to sit up by herself or pick up a toy. I watched as God healed her and worked on my heart to trust in him more deeply.  At Village, we most recently watched as God miraculously healed our friend, Marilyn, from a cancer that was wrecking havoc on her pancreas. Only by God’s healing touch did her tumors and cancer disappear. I have seen God work through prayer.

Prayer was essential even to Jesus. Jesus, who was 100% God and 100% man, knew that prayer was powerful and needed. We can read about him praying in Luke 11:1, “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'” (ESV). Not only did he pray, but he then taught his disciples to pray as well.  Or again in Luke 9:28, “Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up to the mountain to pray.” And Luke 5:16 says that prayer was something he did often, “But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” And then there was the heart-wrenching prayer in Luke 22:42 on the Mount of Olives right before he was crucified, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.”

If Jesus knew how essential prayer is in our relationship with God and took the time to teach his disciples how to pray and spent time praying with them.  I think it is time that I value prayer. Pastor Jeff has asked us to make gathering in prayer as a congregation a priority this year by joining him at the Village Nights of Prayer because prayer is essential in our relationship with God.

Come on Thursday, January 24 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm to pray.