Pray It Forward

April 18, 2020

By Nora Cunning, Pastoral and Media Support

At our weekly staff meeting this week Pastor Dan shared with us what he was praying for. One of them is to pray for the staff. He explained why it was important to cover each of us with prayer, especially during this time. Then as a team we decided that each person would pray for the person to the right, according to Pastor Dan’s Zoom grid on his screen. 

I am very grateful to Pastor Dan for his prayers, and I am grateful to Rosella because she got me and has been praying for me. I know this not because they told me or because I have heard their audible prayers, but because something is different this week. I am not necessarily feeling down or in crisis, but I am feeling a bit weary of house quarantine and I have experienced a shift. 

I have been hearing from the Lord this week. The Holy Spirit has been boldly pointing things out to me. There is pressing and pursuit, and I can feel it. Almost as if something has been broken free. I feel like God has removed so much from my life that it has allowed me to come back to Him in a new way. I realize that I have been putting my identity and hope in things that are not of Him. Now that they have been removed, I see that nothing has changed between me and God. He is still with me. His love continues to envelop me because He doesn’t change even when circumstances do. I am very grateful to Him for that, even though I failed to see it until now.

All this to say that praying for other people really matters. It makes a difference, and prayers really do get answered. Prayers are powerful and we all need them. 

I went into my Bible app to test if what I am writing to you is all truth, and this is the good news I found:

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” (James‬ 

Today I encourage you to pray for someone by name. Lift their name to God and ask on their behalf. Intercede for them and cover them in prayer. 

Prayer: Father, thank You for always being faithful in keeping Your word and answering the prayers of your people. Thank you for this community of believers at First Prez. Please bless them and protect them. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

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