Journal Entry #6 - Prayer

Life: an adventure, a journey with Jesus!
Prayer

Prayer according to Webster’s dictionary is “The act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving).” We simply teach our children that prayer is “talking with God”. But we also know from reading the Bible that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Another leg of the journey is complete! We have friends praying for us. Some have chosen to be partners in prayer, others wish us well and share that they are praying for us, still others think that’s the right thing to say.

Early in January as we said good bye to some square dancing friends, and they assured us they would be praying for us, we couldn’t help but think how some of them still need to know the Lord and the prayer He desires to hear from them is the sinner’s prayer of confession before they can partner in prayer for us.
We know that prayer is essential to our ministry. In fact, it’s essential to any and all ministries. This should go without saying. It’s a fact. It’s scriptural. It’s undeniable. So, why do we not pray without ceasing? We cannot do what we are called to do if we don’t pray. Not only that, we need to have people praying for us. (That’s where you come into the picture.) And, in turn, we need to be praying, specifically, intelligently, with fervor, for others.
Prayer partners are invaluable. They intercede on our behalf and pray for us when we don’t even know it, but we feel it, and we come to realize later that a struggle, concern, or dilemma that we were dealing with is resolved when we least expect it. We don’t always know how to pray. We don’t always know what to pray. We don’t always pray. But having prayer partners assures that at the right time, when we need it most (and may not even realize it) someone will be praying and interceding for us.

Recently on Facebook I re-connected with a couple of friends and I want to share their comments with you.
The first is a young man who grew up with our own girls in Sunday School and Youth Group years ago. When he heard of our relocation plans and call to serve our Father in Peru, his immediate response was that he would share it with his listeners. Now, who listens to him besides his wife, children and a few close friends? Over 500,000 people because David is a deejay on a Christian radio broadcast in California!

And the other is a pastor’s wife from northwest Georgia. She and I worked together a number of years ago and found we had mutual friends in New York and New England. Her husband even attended Camp Berea, a camp very near and dear to us, and one that I grew up attending. Since we are thinking about prayer partners, I know you have come to the conclusion that this friend said she would pray for us. But that’s not all, Eileen said their little church congregation was praying for us already!

The fact is we need an army of 1, or 1,000 or more praying for us and that army will come from you and others like you; from the highways (thousands via the airwaves) and the byways (half a dozen or so from a little church). We need you now more than ever to be there, in prayer for us.

I think of the artwork done by Ken Shaw hanging in the Prayer Room of Bridgeway Church. It is a painting of Moses sitting on a stone, because he was tired. But there, holding up his arms/hands, are Aaron and Hur, one on each side of him. Exodus 17:12. That painting depicts us, tired. Sometimes weary from seeking answers; often contemplating our next steps. We need to make wise choices, to have discernment and wisdom from the Lord. We want to honor Him who loves us. (Galatians 2:20 I/we have been crucified with Christ and I/we no longer live, but Christ lives in me/us. The life I/we live in the body, I/we live by faith in the Son of God who loved me/us and gave himself for me/us.) Then in 2 Thessalonians 2:16 we read not only of His love for us, but His grace gives us eternal encouragement and good hope.

Simply put, we have one request of you, please pray for us!