Brothers and sisters in Christ,
I pray you and yours are well. In January, we will begin a sermon series on prayer, which is titled “P.R.A.Y.” The purpose of this sermon series is to help you grow in your prayer life by focusing on four very important aspects of prayer:
Passive: Are you willing and open to praying for others? Do you see prayer as an act of service or ministry that you should be doing on behalf of others (especially for those who are not Christian)? How often do you pray the Prayers of the Church, which we lift up in our public worship, when you are at home?
Responsive: When we pray, God gives direction. God gives us directions for a reason—He wants us to act accordingly. Our prayers oftentimes will be times when God leads us to provide care for others. Sometimes this responsiveness is something we accomplish individually; more often it is done in concert with others.
Active: Luther said that it is no more possible for a human not to breathe than it is for a Christian not to pray. This sermon will encourage and equip us to become even more active in our prayer life.
Yield: Being open to God’s leading is critical in prayer. Because if we want anything to happen as a result of prayer, we need to approach our prayers from a perspective of being passive. This is not natural. Our natural mind and prideful personality makes this very difficult. God wants to lead you in new ways.
There are many more things that can be said about prayer, and with time we will cover them. Prayer will always be a major part of our ministry, not only in worship on the weekend, but also throughout the week and in our community.
In Acts chapter six, the Apostles said they would dedicate themselves to two things for sure: Prayer and the Ministry of the Word. I have often reflected on which one of these two priorities they listed first. May we also share this top priority today. Amen.
V/r,
Pastor Jim
“…to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” – John 1:12-13