Do you really believe that prayer changes things?

I mean seriously do we come to God with a sense of expectancy in our conversations with Him.  Throughout our day are we waiting and looking for ways in which He might be moving?  When we come together on Sunday mornings and we sing songs asking God to meet with us…do we really believe and expect Him to do so?

“You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God” James 4:2

Now this is not a blog about asking God to give you a car or make you wealthy but this verse serves as a reminder that God is our Provider and we need to be coming to Him believing that He provides..  God wants to give good gifts to His Children and the greatest gift of all is Himself. Like pastor and writer Jim Cymbala asks How many blessings from God have we missed out on because we haven’t asked Him?

Over the past several months God has really been placing a burden on our heart (ours meaning Heidi and I) regarding the discipline of prayer. For me prayer has been one of the weaker disciplines in my life.  Sure I prayed… about the big things…. About the things I felt I had no control over.  But most of the time I was too busy doing ministry and reacting to life to really take time to pray.  Does this ring true to any of you?    And what is the fruit of such living?  Honestly for me…. I have walked in anxiety, fatigue, and discouragement.

But a major turning point began a few months ago.  It started with reading Richard Foster’s chapter on prayer in his book “Celebration of Discipline” In that chapter he talked about God using prayer to change things. There are many instances in the bible where God changed His mind in response to the prayers of His people. I asked myself, do I really believe that prayer changes things?  Do I believe that God can truly change lives of those I minister to?  Do I believe He is on the verge of doing something miraculous at Grace?  The scary thing is I’d been so concerned with just surviving the ministry week I hadn’t taken much time to wrestle with questions like that.  So, my wife and I began getting up earlier and being very intentional in the way that we prayed.  Being as specific as possible even over little things, and we have seen God do some amazing things in the lives of our young adults. There is such an expectancy in our hearts regarding his intentions for Grace Community Church and we have a hunger for his people to deepen in their relationship with Him.

We want to see His people get on board in asking Him to use this church as an agent of restoration and life change through Christ in this community.  Starting in the fall we will be teaching a prayer class at The Journey.  Through it we hope to equip and encourage people to engage God in conversation expecting to see Him move.  Sure we will teach ‘about’  prayer. .. but we will spend a lot of the time ‘praying’.   If you are interested come talk to me, Heidi or Gerry.  If you aren’t able to attend the prayer class we have a prayer night at our place 2817 NE Rene Ave. Gresham, OR. 97030.  On the first Wednesday of every month starting at 6:30.  We’d love to pray with you.   One other resource I’d recommend is this sermon from Jim Cymbala on prayer. Take an hour and let it challenge you.