Ministers Desk 8th September 2013

One of our congregation’s Core Values is Fervent Prayer.  Here we say that “we value praying together and individually, recognising prayer as essential to life and our relationship with God.”  Paul writes in Colossians 4:2 “keep on praying and guard your prayers with thanksgiving.”  In stating that this is a core value we state that we value a life filled with prayer in which we communicate with God.  But the fervent adjective tells us that this life of prayer is marked by intensity and great zeal.

 

Fervent prayer is not necessarily characterised by any physical signs, such as speaking out loud or the volume of prayer or even physical posture.  Fervent prayer can be silent or aloud, offered standing, sitting or kneeling.  These considerations do not matter.  Rather, fervent prayer is putting our whole self, all of our attention, our mind, our will and our emotions on God. 

 

As we do that we remind ourselves of the heart and character of God.  In Matthew 15:22-28 the Canaanite woman desperately wanted her daughter to be delivered from demon possession.  When Jesus refused her request she still persisted in asking, because she understood the heart and character of Jesus.  In response Jesus healed her daughter and commended her saying “woman, you have great faith.”  Fervent prayer is faith-filled prayer.

 

Fervent prayer also seeks to put ourselves in the will of God.  It doesn’t seek to manipulate God.  On the night on which Jesus was betrayed Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed fervently.  The result was that when the time came for him to be arrested, tried and executed he was able to do this with courage and conviction.  On the other hand, the disciples who had slept ran away at the first sign of trouble.  They faced these troubles in their own strength and from their own perspective, Jesus faced them in God’s strength and understanding.

 

On Monday night the Elders considered this core value and where it is active in our congregation.  We recognised that in many instances it is something that is not directly observable, since it takes place privately in people’s homes.  However, through comment that people make and their willingness to ask for and to offer to pray we can be confident that fervent prayer is an integral part of our congregation.

 

The Elders encourage us to continue to pray fervently by making prayer an regular part of each day.  When we pray we should Adore God, Confess our sin, Thank him and offer Supplication for the needs of others.  As we pray we should be listening to God as well as speaking to him.  We are also encouraged to build our church as a community of pray by requesting pray through the care cards and praying for the prayer requests that are listed in the notice sheet.  Being part of a prayer network also helps us to be committed to praying for the life of this congregation.

 

Thank you for the prayers that you offer constantly.

 

Grace and peace

David Fender