Devoted to prayer

Are you devoted to prayer? For the month of July, Bishop Paul has called all the churches in Jumbunna Episcopate to focus on prayer and attend a prayer day on July 27th. I hope you will attend if able. Prayer is important for so many reasons and it ought to be a higher priority for us as a Church. As we begin looking at prayer in the early church, as depicted in the book of Acts, we see how the early believers were totally devoted to prayer. In Acts chapter 1 we read that Jesus, before ascending to heaven, had told the believers that they would be His witnesses all over the world. After this all the believers went to Jerusalem to gather in what we call the upper room and once there; devoted themselves to prayer. They didn’t begin planning a big missionary endeavour or devote themselves to whiteboarding an action plan. It says they devoted themselves to prayer! (Acts 1:14) This is the first of three different times in these initial chapters and Acts that we see this phrase “devoted to prayer”. See Acts 2:42 and Acts 6, where the leaders of the church say, “We need to devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word”. I want to encourage each of us to spend more time in prayer this month, and in fact be devoted to prayer. As you think about your life, your family, and all the responsibilities you carry, devote yourself to prayer. Make prayer an even higher priority above strategizing, planning, and preparing. I believe that when we put God first, he crowns our efforts with success. There’s no way the disciples would have succeeded in their mission to spread the gospel if they weren’t grounded in prayer, seeking God’s will and relying on the Holy Spirit to enable them to carry out God’s mission in the world. Prayer comes first! May we each choose to devote ourselves to prayer this month and beyond, trusting God will bring about his plans and purposes in our lives and in the church and world. Let us pray about all our missionary endeavors and action plans, learning to depend completely on God, so His work will be done in His way and His time. Prayerfully Yours, Rev. Tanya