At church this morning, a lady was telling the pastor that people
outside of our church are asking to be put on our church’s prayer list.
We started a prayer list recently. Last month, the church’s Bible
study group was going through the Bible study curriculum, When God’s People Pray.
I left the study halfway through, for various reasons, but I am
impressed that this study has inspired my church to pray. People meet
twenty minutes before church starts for prayer. When I first heard
about this, I was a bit worried that it would take the pastor away from
greeting people before the service, which is important because it makes
people feel welcome. I don’t think that has happened, though, because
the group only prays for ten minutes, or so, and that leaves the pastor
time to greet people. Whether the group actually meets longer than
that, or whether the pastor continues to greet people before the
service, I do not know. During summers, I usually arrive at church
right when the service is beginning. I leave at 9:40, it is a 15 minute
walk, and so I arrive at 9:55, when the pastor is giving the
announcements.
Inside our bulletin is a list of people to pray for. We had a list
last week. We have a list this week. What I have been doing is placing
that list in my Bible so that I can look at it when I am doing my
prayer and Bible study time. I do not legalistically go through the
entire list, but I pick a name or two (or more), and I pray for those
people and their needs. This is especially helpful when there is a lull
in my prayer time, when I do not know exactly what to say to God.
I have been praying quite a bit for my church’s Vacation Bible
School, which will be going on in a couple of weeks. The reason that I
would like for it to succeed is that I have read that a mark of a
healthy church is that it is reaching out to the community. I rejoice
that my church is trying to do so, and I pray for it to prosper.