"When God wants to do something great, He raises up His people to pray"

We live in this world as God's people; as people who enjoy the wonder of a relationship with the God who has made all things and is above all things.   And within the context of this relationship God invites us into what He is doing in the world.  One of the ways He does this is through the gift of prayer. 

Prayer isn't a last resort, some whimsical hope or technique we need to learn.  It is the heart-cry of people who know their God.  People like you and me.  It's not about the crafting of words because in actual fact the Holy Spirit even takes those things we can't even put into words and carries them to God.  It's the desperate cries of desperate people to the Lord God Almighty.  Such prayer is "powerful and effective"; it makes a difference; it changes things.

The Bible paints a vivid picture of people who are caught up in the wonder of this relationship with God, who seek His presence and see things happen because they prayed.  One such instance was when King Herod had Peter arrested.  This was a pretty scary situation; James had already been killed.  But notice what Luke writes ... Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him (Acts 12:5).  It was the desperate cries of desperate people to the Lord God Almighty.  And as the account unfolds we see God rescuing Peter out of the prison. 

As we read this account Luke's point is obvious. God wants us to understand that even though He is above and beyond all things and can do whatever He wants and however He wants too, He chooses to involve us and in some inexplicable way responds to our cries.  And so we pray with confidence and expectation, knowing God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine".

This week is a week of prayer here at ashgrove. In addition to the many opportunities we have to pray week by week we wanted to create space where we could come together and simply pray (Thurs 6:30am, Fri 7:30pm, Sun 8:00pm).                   

We are praying for ...

*our local community - for families under marital and financial pressure

*our church family - that God would open our eyes to see what He is doing in our various spheres and that we would know His power to be who He wants us to be in those situations

*christmas@ashgrove - that people would come - that they would on the day taste and see that the Lord is good - that they would hear the good news concerning Jesus

*our nation - that marriage, God's idea of a man and a woman committed to one another in a loving relationship, would be preserved in our laws

*our global mission team - Cathy, Michelle, Janeen, Jeff (Jargal), Andy (Oksana), Simon and Seon-A - the Karen Church in Northern Thailand

*God's guidance -  as we plan for 2011 - as prepare to take the next step on the property re-development