Pray for One Another

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30, NIV 2011).

I believe in the power of prayer. It’s important that we pray for those of our congregation who are sick, or facing hardship. I hope that we pray for one another at other times as well. The Apostle Paul places the statement near the end of his letter to the Christian in Rome. He encourages the Christians to join in his struggle by praying for him. Prayer is a powerful tool that we can use to help one another in our struggles.

Before, I’ve asked you to pray for me and the leaders of this congregation. Will you make it a priority to pray for the leaders? Also, let’s pray for one another. It’s often our first inclination to criticize, or to talk about someone rather than to take the time to pray for our brother or sister in Christ. All of us face struggles in life. All of us can use prayer. Will you take the time to pray for the other members of this congregation? As I pray for each of you by name, I pray to the best of my knowledge. If you have specific needs, will you please let me know, so that I can pray more specifically and more accurately?

Prayer is powerful. Not only can prayer change the situations we are praying about, but it can change us, too!

It was so good to have several visitors in our worship service yesterday. I wanted to especially mention how good it was for me to meet Rich and Gloria Bucher. I could hear in the laughter that was shared, and the way one story followed the other how much the Buchers mean to North Danvers Mennonite Church.