Prayer Meeting

Prayer is a mysteriously important lifeline for the Christian. We don't fully understand it, and we're even told we don't know how to do it as we should (Rom 8:26), and yet, it is something we are told to do without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17). Like love itself, we need it, but we can't explain it. We have set aside Wednesday evenings to be a time for the people of Grace Fellowship to gather specifically for the purpose of prayer.

We gather in my office at 7pm, complete our list of requests that the people of Grace have, and then enter into a casual time of prayer. Some of us pray out loud, some silently. Some of us pray short prayers, some longer. Some of us stumble to find the right words, some have the gift of words that just seem to flow. Some of us experience prayer with some measure of emotion, some of us see prayer as a privileged conversation with God. Some of us come every week, some whenever possible. But all of us pray, and all of us pray in the ways that we can - and that's what matters.

We don't expect everyone to pray out loud, to pray eloquently, to "feel" something in particular when they pray, or to even be comfortable praying in a group. Our desire is for the body of believers to be a praying people, whether it's in our particular group or not. We believe prayer is essential for our church to grow in the ways God wants us to grow. We believe prayer is too often a lost and forgotten art, something that can frighten us when it should be the most inviting activity God allows us to have. We want to pray, and we want to encourage you to pray. We believe we pray more fervently when we gather together for the sole purpose of praying as one.

In the future, we would like to occasionally take the prayer group "on the road" - that if there is a particular need, that we pull up our stakes, take the prayer team to where the need is, and pray with you on the spot. Also, some nights we will focus our prayers on a particular area of need, such as children's ministries, our marriages, missionaries, and so on. We will announce in advance when we have a particular focus so that you can make a point of joining us for those issues closest to your heart.

Please submit your prayer requests to the church office for inclusion in the prayer list. If it is confidential, just let the administrative assistant know that. Also, if you submit a prayer request in the Friendship Folders that are passed around during the worship service, the Elders receive those requests and pray for them on Sunday mornings before Sunday School.

Prayer is a privilege. We want to share that privilege with you. We want all of us to help one another become more of a praying people.