By Beth A
It’s true I’m a peace forfeiter. It’s hard to admit but it’s true. Not only that, but every day I try to shoulder the weight of all my cares, I stumble upon my own arrogance as I try to tackle each day on my own. Instead of asking the Creator of the Universe for advice I ask my mom and sister (I mean they are wise women, but is there really any comparison?).
One area of spiritual growth and relationship with God that is an on-going struggle for me is prayer. Most times I literally don’t even know where to start. Throughout the whole Bible there are calls to prayer, one of them in particular is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” The will of God is for us to come to Him all the time and for us to come to Him first. Over the course of the fall semester I realized that there must be others out there who like me, want to pursue God through prayer, but are still floundering a bit. The desire to begin a prayer group within GAP became a burden on my heart.
We wanted to call our get together “Amateur Prayer Hour” but Rachel vetoed the idea. Instead we are calling it whatever Viktor titled this blog post. This group isn’t for people that are already masters of prayer, although you are more than welcome, it’s a group for those of us that earnestly desire to answer the charge of 1 Thess 5:17, but could really use an encouraging friend alongside us. It’s for those of us who are seeking to gain confidence in our faith before others (2 Tim. 1:8).
The plan is to get together on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month at 7:15am. The first one will be on the Fourth Friday of February (won’t forget that one!). We’ll start with a short (5 minute) devotion on some aspect of prayer, and then spend about 25 minutes in prayer. The prayer time might take the form of corporate prayer, small group, gender specific, partner, solo, etc. Please show up on time, but feel free to leave as needed to get to work/school on time.
“Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.”