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Stretching Ourselves in Prayer
It always makes me chuckle to see a jogger trying to push over a lamp post or a wall as they warm up for a run. Of course they are sensibly stretching their muscles ready to put their bodies through vigorous paces in order to avoid injury.
In Acts 12 we read the story of Peter’s miraculous escape from prison. We are told that the church stepped up their prayer life. After all, one of the apostles, James, had been executed earlier in the day and now Peter is imprisoned.
In describing the nature of Peter’s friends’ prayer, Luke speaks of earnest or constant prayer. The Greek word Luke uses in this context is the word ektenous, from which we derive the word to extend. The word relates to a medical term which literally means “to stretch a muscle to its limits.” So, in preparing for what is to come, it seems advisable to ensure the body is ready.
We have been praying together on Sunday evenings for a few weeks and God seems to be refreshing our passion and enthusiasm for prayer. Its special when there is a grace for prayer – I have even had people let me know and apologise when they can’t join with us! I think we are realising that it’s through prayer that God acts and intervenes in situations where we are impotent to change things. Our prayer rhythm is increasing – it will be wonderful as more and more people join with us on Sunday mornings from 9.30am to pray for our Sunday gatherings. An increasing prayer momentum is a sign of our hunger for God to increase His presence and power among and through us.
We are introducing three new features into our church prayer life. These will provide helps to us as we pray together. The first is an “Impossibility Box.” On the basis that Jesus said, “What is impossible for man is possible for God,” we are creating the opportunity for us to confidentially place our requests before God – the life issues that we know we cannot directly change by ourselves. The other two features are a “Book of Answered Prayer” and a “Thanksgiving Book.”
These two resources can help us remember the prayers we perceive God has answered and inspire us to cultivate more and more of a thankful environment – giving thanks to God for some specific things.
Let’s continue to stretch out to God in prayer – acknowledging our need of God to work through us.
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Steve Prince, 30/09/2010 |
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