From the Pastor’s Desk (60)
One of the core values of New Life is “Energized through Prayer!” We realize that without prayer we can’t do anything for God. It is because prayer is a declaration of dependence on God. If we fail to depend and rely on God for his direction and strength, we will end up doing things that God never desired for us to do and easily tire in our ministry and spiritual journey. Each time we kneel before the Father we are humbling ourselves and trusting Him for the direction and the strength in fulfilling His will in our generation. When we do this, God is faithful to meet us and give us the desire and the power to accomplish His glorious purpose in our lives.
I try to practice daily prayer by coming to church at 6:30AM and humbly yet expectantly kneel before the Father until 7:45AM. Often times I just feel like I am going through the motion. However, every once in awhile I get so rejuvenated in my prayer that I am full of joy, energy and purpose as I get up from the floor and start the day.
My sincere desire for New Life is that we will become a praying community because this is the only way we will thrive as people of God devoted to do His will. And now is the time, I believe, for New Life to step up and respond to the challenge of becoming a powerfully praying church. When we have leadership or shepherds meeting, we begin and end it with prayer. I also constantly remind the shepherds of the importance of prayer in their house church ministry. Praying individuals will grow and praying house churches will multiply!
New Life can’t, however, become a praying community only because few leaders are praying hard. It must become an all-out effort by everyone who is a member of this local church. As of now, we have two praying ministries in our church. I want all of you to take some time to pray before the Lord and make a serious commitment to get involved in these ministries.
First is House of Prayer. Every first Wednesday of each month, we gather together in our Worship Center at 7PM to worship God and do intercessory prayer. Those of you who regularly come out to this prayer meeting understand how intense and exciting it is to gather together with others to pray on behalf of others. I am praying that a half of New Life Sunday worship attendance will show up and pray together. If you come out you will be investing about 2.5 hours including the driving time on a monthly basis. That’s equivalent to the time taken in say, watching just one movie. But I assure you that the dividend will be so much greater!
Second is Sunday morning Intercessory Prayer. Every Sunday morning from 8:45 to 9:30 we gather together in our Conference Room to lift up various groups and individuals to God through prayer. Several individuals have done this consistently. We will, however, revamp this in a wholly different way to enable everyone to take part in it practically. Starting from March, we will break up New Life into four groups and have each group be responsible and come out to pray one month at a time. For example, married men will come to pray for January, single men February, married women March and single women April. And we will repeat the process from May.
If you are married, every other month you will come to church separately to get involved in this. You will spend few extra dollars for gas, but again, the dividend will be so much more awesome and valuable. You will appreciate your spouse more especially if you have children to get ready on Sunday morning all by yourself. You will enjoy quiet moments with God as you come to church all alone without your spouse and children. You will also connect with others who are in a similar situation as you pour your heart interceding in prayer for others. If you are single and desire to get married someday, you are preparing yourself spiritually to become the Mr. or Mrs. Right for someone that God has in store for you. Most importantly, you are taking a vital role in making New Life a praying community that God is pleased to use in fulfilling His awesome will in this generation.
In order to start this process, I will need two people to serve from each group. One will be contacting and reminding people of your turn one week before your month, and the other will be facilitating the prayer time when you actually gather together to pray.
New Life must be energized through prayer. Won’t you help it come true?
Pastor Eric
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