Gathering a crowd is easy. Sports teams, musicians, and even churches have discovered plenty of ways to guarantee that a bunch of people will come together at a specific time to do a specific thing. At New Foundation Church, though, we take seriously the words of Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.”
Indeed, so many great things in the Bible began with prayer! Moses’ encounter with God opened the door for the exodus. Elijah’s prayer stopped the rain for three years and then called down fire from heaven. The apostles prayed, and the room where they were gathering was shaken. In fact, even Jesus stopped several times to pray over the next phase of his public ministry.
Because we recognize the importance of prayer, we purpose to be a house of prayer. Everything we do will be bathed in it. To that end, we have produced a prayer calendar to help parishioners focus and collaborate our prayer efforts. Joining the effort is simple:
- Download the prayer calendar in English or Kinyamulenge.
- Match today’s date to the day on the calendar.
- Read the Scripture associated with that day.
- Pray!
Don’t worry if you don’t know how to pray. Prayer is nothing more than a conversation with God. So it doesn’t have to be fancy. You don’t have to use “thee” and “thou.” In fact, it could be as simple as reading the Scripture and saying, “Lord, let it be so in me and my church!”
It will be tempting to think your effort is in vain, but that is not true. Consider these passages:
James 5:15-16: “The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.”
Matthew 17:20-21: “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Philippians 4:4-7: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:26: “In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.”
Your prayer makes a difference, and our prayers together can and will change the world starting in Des Moines.