“A nature like ours”
Church family, our theme this month is short, and it is a call: Let Us Pray. Our sermon series says it plainly. Prayer still works.
James wrote to believers who were scattered, sick, and worn down, and he did not hand them a program. He told them to pray, and to pray for each other.
Notice two things. First, this is a together verse. Confess to one another. Pray for one another. Prayer was never meant to be only a private moment we squeeze in when we have a minute. It is what a church family does for each other.
Second, look at the last words: as it is working. Prayer is not a wish we send up and forget. While you sleep, while you wait, while nothing on the outside seems to move, the prayer of a righteous person is working.
And before somebody says, “Pastor, I’m not Elijah,” James already answered you. In the very next verse he tells us Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. He prayed, and heaven answered. That same God is listening to you.
So here is what we are declaring together this month. We are a praying people, seeking God daily, praying for one another, and bringing every need before Him in faith. As we align our hearts with His will through daily prayer, we position ourselves to see God move in every situation for our good and His glory.
That is why, from November 1 through 30, our whole church family, youth and adults, is taking the 30-Day Churchwide Prayer Challenge: Then Let Us Pray. Every day has one Scripture, one prayer, and one simple action. Pick up a booklet in the foyer or open today’s prayer on our website. Pray it at home, pray it with your children, pray it on your lunch break. Just pray.
Our leaders gather for retreat and vision planning on the 13th and 14th, and I ask you to cover them in prayer. The week of the 16th, we continue our consecration fast. On the 22nd, our Hospitality Ministry will give out three gift cards for Thanksgiving. And on the last Sunday of the month, we worship alongside Pastor Robert Walker and the New Lebanon Baptist Church family. A praying church is a united church.
November may end, Wrights Grove, but our prayers should never stop. Let us pray.