An Experiment
One of the great mysteries of this life we have in Christ Jesus is prayer. Several secular studies on the power of prayer have been published in medical and professional journals since the 1980s. (Source: The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard, p.272.) The result of those studies demonstrates the effectiveness of prayer in our lives and in the lives of those prayed for. What they don’t do is explain how or why prayer is so effective. It’s a mystery.
Of course, as followers of Jesus, we know that prayer is effective. Or do we? In the parable of the unjust judge and widow, found in Luke 18, Jesus tells us that we should persist in prayer and never lose heart. Interestingly enough, the final words of Jesus in that parable are haunting - “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Precisely because it is a mystery, prayer in our modern, technologically advanced world is often neglected. This is true even among Christians. I’m not sure it is something we are consciously aware of, but our actions (or lack of actions) speak louder than words.
In light of that, I’d like to conduct an experiment of my own. It’s an experiment with no safeguards, no scientific controls. It is, however, an experiment that, if you are willing to participate in it, will yield real and lasting results.
I’d like you to pray for Embrace Church and the ministry of our people. I’ve already shared with you that we are a small church, and I’m sure in the eyes of many, somewhat insignificant. But we are in an area of town where there are many needs, and the people living around our church are facing significant challenges. Challenges that only God can overcome.
Specifically, I’d like to ask you to pray for two things.
First, pray that God, through His Spirit, would lead people in our area to our church and that they would begin to receive the life and love of Jesus.
Second - and this one is very specific - join with me in praying for a man whose addiction to alcohol is slowly destroying him. Ask God’s Spirit to surround him and empower him to yield his life to Christ so that he might not only be delivered but that he would become a great man of God in our church and community. (Note: he is not currently attending our church, but his wife is a faithful member.)
As you join me in this prayer experiment, I will give you weekly updates. I’ll let you know what God is doing. I’ll share stories of people and the wonderful ways God is working in their lives.
This is what God’s Kingdom is all about, and the deepest desire of my heart is to see our Lord doing what he does best - quenching thirsty souls with the water of life.
Will you join me in this prayer experiment?
In Christ,
Dan
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