Why Come to Mission Prayer?
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9:37-38
As we were encouraged on Sunday, we need to have the heart of the healer, a heart of compassion that overflows into earnest prayer for labourers into the harvest.
One way we seek to do that as a church is through setting aside one night a month for ‘Mission Prayer’.
During our Mission Prayer Nights we usually spend some time eating together, singing, a short devotional, and then an extended time of guided prayer. You don’t have to be a super prayer to come, you don’t even have to pray out loud! Just come!
If you haven’t yet come, why not?
This is not to guilt trip you or anything, it’s just a good question to ask yourself. It may be that: the time doesn’t work, you have no energy on Friday’s, you send one out of your household, you’ve already got committments, but it may be other reasons. It is worth thinking it through!
I recently read an encouraging blog from one our sister churches in the U.S., Sovereign Grace Church of Orange, and thought i’d share it to encourage even more of you to consider joining our Friday prayer nights!
“There are few things more important for a church than to pray together. As Christians, we’re pardoned, accepted, and welcomed into our Father’s presence. He hears our prayers and responds. What a gracious God!
Here are 5 things that can only happen when we pray together:
God meets us in unique ways when we’re together. He promises his presence to his gathered people (Matt. 18:20, Eph. 2:22, Eph. 5:18-21).
Corporate prayer displays corporate dependence. Praying together makes our reliance on God visible.
Praying together builds consensus. The Spirit plants the same desires in our hearts: for the church to grow in love, for the lost to be found, for the broken to be made whole, and for God’s glory to be revealed. As we listen to each other pray we get the opportunity to say, “amen!”
Hearing others pray provides a window into their life with Christ. We’re encouraged by the good work we see him doing in them and our love for them deepens.
Praying for one another is one of the primary ways we bear burdens (Eph. 4:1-3, Gal. 6:2). It’s much more effective when we do this in-person.”
Are you excited yet? We hope so! Join us on Friday 21st May