Let’s Pray in 2018!

From the Pastor’s Desk (230)

Last year, we started out with an emphasis on managing our financial resources well before God. So, we had T90B exercise which stands for “Tithing for 90 days is basic.” I think many of us have done a great job with this.

This year, I sense that we must work on our prayer life. The ultimate mission of all God’s churches is to save the lost and make them disciples of Christ. The task of saving people can’t be done without God’s supernatural power. The same goes for the task of changing people to be more like Christ. This means, we can’t fulfill the mission of God’s church without God giving us the power to do His work. And this power of God comes to us only when we pray and ask Him for it. Therefore, I want New Life to focus on prayer in 2018 so that we can do a great job of fulfilling the ultimate mission of our church.

Then, what can we do to focus on prayer this year? Let’s start out by doing what we already have.

20 minutes of daily prayer

Let’s spend 20 minutes each day at least four days a week praying to God. From my own experience, it takes at least a few minutes to calm my heart down before God and then spend the next 15 minutes or so interceding on behalf of other people. Although it would be awesome if we can pray all seven days, I also don’t want to set ourselves up for failure. Instead, I would like for us to experience a sense of accomplishment so that we would be encouraged in our hearts. Therefore, let’s aim at praying for four days a week.

Sunday morning intercessory prayer

We divided our entire church in four different groups: married men, single men, married women and single women. Each of these groups is responsible to come out to church either at 8AM or 10AM to do intercessory prayer one month at a time. January is married men’s responsibility, February single men, March married women and April single women, and after this, it gets repeated all over again. So, each group is responsible to pray for three months out of the year. This is a very doable task no matter how busy your life is. New Life membership comes not just with privileges but with responsibilities as well. This is one of the responsibilities we must fulfill as members. I fondly remember participating in this when the church was much smaller and we just had one worship service. Not only did I pray together with other married men, I got to bond with them as well. It truly was both privilege and responsibility.

Monthly House of Prayer (HOP)

Every first Wednesday at 7PM, we gather together at church to praise, hear God’s word, share testimonies, pray and do The Lord’s Supper. This is when the whole church comes together to pray. If you haven’t come out to HOP up until now, I would like for you to come out and experience the power of corporate prayer. If you haven’t been consistent, do your best to come out to all of them if not to most of them. God will meet us when we eagerly seek after Him.

Six day dinner fast and early morning prayer

Each year, we do six day dinner fast and early morning prayer about two weeks prior to our fall retreat or revival so that our hearts will be prepared to meet God and receive all that He has in store for us. When the time comes, I would like to invite you to fully participate in this. Many have experienced God’s power and received answers to their prayers while going through this.

24 hour weekly fasting prayer

Try fasting for 24 hours (for example, fasting from 7PM Monday to 7PM Tuesday) so that you can have more time to pray.

Come out to church early in the morning to pray!

We will open church sanctuary each day at 5:15AM Monday through Friday for anyone who would like to come out to church to pray before going to work/school. In the quietness of the sanctuary, you will be able to focus on God as you read His word and pray to Him.

No prayer, no power. Little prayer, little power. Much prayer, much power! Let’s focus and work on our prayer life this year so that we can experience God in a greater and deeper way and accomplish some God-sized tasks!

Your pastor,

Eric