The 10 Days of Prayer General Conference global prayer initiative has been a gigantic success in the Metro North Central Ministerial District. For ten days, members from our sister churches joined the nightly program from 7:00 -7:45 pm. The evening program consisted of a welcome, a children’s story, special music, and a devotional, and concluded with breakout prayer rooms where members from the various churches were able to mingle, encourage, and pray with one another.
I want to thank the Prayer Ministries team (Claudette Charles and Jennifer Peart) for everything they did behind the scenes in helping to format and adjust on the fly to the technological challenges that arose. Speaking of challenges, on our first night, our trusted Willowdale Zoom account only allowed for one hundred participants (which we forgot or did not realize), and a group of would-be worshipers were turned away from attending the meeting. The technical problem viewers encountered was resolved by our A/V department the very next day. Nightly screen attendance averaged around 140 screens per night. “To God be the glory for great things He has done.”
How should we continue the experience of the 10 Days of Prayer? My answer is twofold: First, every family, with or without children, should consider the benefits of a nightly prayer time called family worship. A simple format that includes singing, a short devotional, and time spent in prayer as a family is the ideal blueprint for family worship. Secondly, a new midweek prayer series is beginning Wednesday, January 24, at 7:00 pm on our Zoom platform. The new PM series entitled “After God’s Heart: A Study in Brokenness from the Life of David” is a study worth investing one hour per week. The author is Elizabeth Viera Talbot, and the prayer meeting series will continue for 12 weeks. The study will follow David’s life from his anointing to his downfall and forgiveness. The format of the weekly meetings will consist of a welcome, a short video message by Elizabeth Talbot, and small group discussion questions followed by the essential element of the prayer meeting, which is prayer. Breakout rooms will allow small groups to petition God for healing, forgiveness, mission, and service.
As your Pastor, I find no greater joy than praying with and praying for my members. So often, we do not know the burdens that our brothers and sisters carry, and prayer meeting is the venue where we grow in faith, where we nurture the hurting, and where miracles happen. All of this happens when we connect with a miracle-working God who is but a simple, humble prayer away to those who reach out to Him in sincere faith. The Word of God promises, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”