Monday, June 27, 2011

a praying people





Pray to God. Anywhere. No matter what time. About anything or any person. He wants to hear from you.  













Many gold nuggets of truth were spoken at the Alpha International Week at Holy Trinity Brompton, 2011. Check out this video for highlights of the week. One of the key take home points that stood out for me and many others was the tremendous emphasis on prayer. If there was one thing to which I would attribute the success of Alpha, it would be prayer.
As we study the bible and look at church history or talk to believers today about where the church is most vibrant, we read and hear the same thing: the key to more power is more prayer.
I came away from the conference with a heart for intercession and a heart to pray more myself and with others.
Over and over I asked myself the question, “What does it mean to be a praying people?” And evening more importantly, “What does it mean and look like to be a praying leader?”
Robert Speers says, “The evangelization of the world depends first upon the revival of prayer”. So the question is… what are we doing to develop a revival of prayer? 
 I firmly believe this is an area in which we can all grow, and therefore I want to take us on a journey over the next few weeks on the theme of prayer. Over these weeks I will explore the development of a fresh vision for prayer and how it can tangibly influence the advance of the Kingdom here on earth. After all, prayer is the ONE thing that underpins everything we do.
I will also look at some of the hindrances we might have as modern day busy people and describe some of the practical individual and corporate models of prayer that might be useful for you to employ in your individual life or use as you lead other students in your various ministries.