This Sunday is celebrated around the world as World Communion Sunday or All Nations Heritage Sunday – a day where we celebrate the unity of Christ’s Church around the world. On the night he was arrested, Jesus prayed for his disciples and for all who would believe through their message (John 17), including us. Jesus prayed that as Christians we would be one with each other. He said that our unity is a testimony that he was sent from God and that we are loved by God. Despite that, the Church has fractured many times, and even within a single church there can be many fractured relationships. May our prayers reflect God’s desire for our unity, and may our lives be the overflow of that prayer by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer is a vital part of our life and walk with God, so that we can “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings” (Hebrews 10:22). This week we look at Desiring God’s Will. Praying “your will be done” is a request both for God to act in the world and for him to act in us. We need to “reject our own wills and to obey [God’s] will without any back talk” (Heidelberg Catechism). May the desire for God’s will kindle our prayers and our lives.
Prayer is a vital part of our life and walk with God, so that we can “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings” (Hebrews 10:22). This week we look at the role of prayer in Seeking God’s Glory. Praying “hallowed be your name” is central to the rest of our prayers because glorifying the name of God is the ultimate goal of our lives and of all creation. May God’s glory kindle our prayers and our lives.
“I’ll pray for you.” It’s so easy (and important) to say, but how do we go about doing it? Why do we even do it? Does our prayer change God, or does it change us? Prayer is a vital part of our life with God, and this week we are looking at what it means that we advocate, or become advocates, for each other in prayer. We’ll also marvel in the fact that not only do we pray for each other, but Christ himself is praying for us (Romans 8:34). May God kindle our prayers and our lives.
Prayer is much more than words we simply send towards God. Prayer is a vital part of our life and walk with God, so that we can “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings” (Hebrews 10:22). This week we look at prayer as Talking with Our Father, a unique relationship made possible through the work of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We pray within a relationship of intimacy, belonging, and promise – all made possible by God reaching out to us as his children.